Jordan: Journalist sentenced for souvenir explosion

A Japanese photographer was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison Sunday after a bomb he took from Iraq as a souvenir exploded and killed an airport security guard in Jordan.

Hiroki Gomi was passing through a security checkpoint at the Amman airport on May 1 when an X-ray machine detected the cluster bomb. The explosive detonated as a guard searched the bag, killing the man and wounding three people.

Gomi, of Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, said he didn’t know the bomb was live. He was talking on his cell phone several feet away when it exploded.

“We take this verdict seriously and would like to express again our condolences to the relatives of the deceased and our apologies to those who were injured,” the newspaper in a statement.

Congo: Probe identifies killers of observers for U.N.

United Nations investigators have identified the killers of two U.N. military observers in northeastern Congo and believe the two may have been tortured before they were murdered.

Investigators “have been able to gather some information regarding the circumstances under which they were killed,” U.N. spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai said.

The workers’ bodies were exhumed May 18 in Mongbwalu, a gold mining center about 40 miles northwest of the town of Bunia in the Ituri province.

Mounoubai declined to give more details, but other U.N. officials said the two — Maj. Sarwat Oran of Jordan and Capt. Siddon Davis Banda of Malawi — were captured and tortured before being shot in the head.

United Nations investigators have also uncovered evidence of cannibalism during the fighting for Bunia, capital of the troubled Ituri district, Mounoubai said. Church leaders and residents have said cannibalism took place during the fighting.

Morocco: Mohammed VI to skip summit with Bush

Moroccan King Mohammed VI will skip a planned trip to Egypt this week for a summit gathering President Bush and Arab leaders, a government official said Sunday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision was made because Morocco was still dealing with the aftermath of terrorist attacks last month in Casablanca.

Bush is to meet Tuesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and the leaders of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.

A day later, Bush is to have meetings in Jordan with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Mohammed VI has been facing a crisis at home since May 16, when Islamic militants launched near-simultaneous attacks at five locations in Casablanca.