World Scene

SAUDI ARABIA

Al Qaeda boasts of infiltration success

CAIRO | Al Qaeda claimed responsibility Sunday for a suicide attack that injured a Saudi prince and said the bomber — a wanted militant who had fled to Yemen — arrived on a royal jet after convincing the ruling family he wanted to surrender.

Despite the attack on Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, his father, Interior Minister Prince Nayef, said the kingdom would not change its offer for militants to repent. Saudi Arabia has been praised for having one of the world’s best terrorist rehabilitation programs in the world.

Saudi officials said the prince was lightly wounded in the bombing at his home in Jidda on Thursday night while he was receiving well-wishers for the holy month of Ramadan.

The prince and his father are two of the kingdom’s top anti-terrorism officials. Prince Nayef is a half brother of Saudi King Abdullah and one of the most powerful members of the royal family.

AFGHANISTAN

Voting fraud charges keep growing

KABUL | Major fraud complaints in the Afghan presidential election surged Sunday to nearly 700, raising concern that the volume of cases that must be investigated will delay announcement of a winner and formation of a new government.

President Hamid Karzai is leading with 46.2 percent of votes from the Aug. 20 ballot, followed by former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah with 31.4 percent, according to official figures from 35 percent of the polling stations. Mr. Karzai must win more than half the votes to avoid a runoff.

Final results cannot be certified until the election-complaint commission finishes investigating all major fraud allegations. Officials had hoped to release the final tally by Sept. 17, but the huge number of complaints makes that unlikely.

INDIA

Moon unit breaks down

BANGALORE | India terminated its first mission to the moon Sunday, a spokesman for the national space agency said.

Communications with the unmanned Chandrayaan-1 craft broke down early Saturday. The cause of the malfunction is being investigated.

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