Libyan leader hails Russian energy ties

MOSCOW - Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafy said yesterday that he hopes to increase energy ties with Moscow during his first visit to post-Soviet Russia, which hopes to persuade him to back plans for an OPEC-like natural gas cartel. Moscow hopes a cartel would strengthen its leverage over Europe. "We consider oil and gas cooperation especially important now," Ghadafy said in the Kremlin. (AP)

BANGKOK - Thailand's exiled former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, told tens of thousands of supporters yesterday that he cannot return as long as he faces a prison sentence. Thaksin, the elected leader from 2001 until he was ousted by a military coup in 2006, was convicted in absentia this year on conflict-of- interest charges. He spoke in a broadcast to supporters at a Bangkok rally. (AP)

YAOUNDE - Gunmen yesterday withdrew a threat to kill 10 hostages, some of them French, but said they would hold them until demands for talks with the government are met. Militia commander Ebi Dari said by phone that the hostages were in good health. Rebels in speedboats seized six French workers, two Cameroonians, one Senegalese, and one Tunisian from a tug Friday. (AP)

TBILISI - Georgia's parliament endorsed diplomat Grigol Mgaloblishvili as prime minister yesterday in a step billed as the start of a reform drive. Saakashvili has promised changes in what analysts say is an attempt to offset domestic criticism over Georgia's defeat by Russia in a five-day war. (Reuters)

MOGADISHU - A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said. Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a Kismayo stadium packed with 1,000 spectators, Amnesty International and Somali media reported, citing witnesses. (AP)