Houston

Court tosses conviction of imprisoned CIA officer

A federal judge threw out the conviction of a former CIA operative who has spent 20 years in prison for selling arms to Libya, saying the government knowingly used false evidence against him.

Edwin P. Wilson, 75, was convicted in 1983 of shipping 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives to Libya — something he said he did to ingratiate himself with the Libyan government at the CIA’s request.

In a scathing opinion released Tuesday, U.S. Judge Lynn N. Hughes said the federal government failed to correct information about Wilson’s service to the CIA that it admitted internally was false.

South Korea

Navy fires warning shots at N. Korean patrol boat

South Korea’s navy fired warning shots early today after a North Korean patrol boat entered waters controlled by the South, the South Korean military said.

The incident on the tense western sea border between the two Koreas came a day after North Korea accused South Korean war ships of frequently intruding into communist waters and warned of a possible naval skirmish.

The North Korean navy boat sailed 990 yards into waters controlled by the South but turned back after 10 minutes when a South Korean war ship fired four warning shots, said a spokesman at the South Korean military’s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Jerusalem

Palestinian prime minister proposes truce plan

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Wednesday he had a two-stage strategy for achieving a cease-fire to end three years of Mideast violence: first, negotiate a truce with militant Palestinian groups, and then ask the Israelis to match it.

A new truce would replace one that collapsed in the summer. On June 29, the main Palestinian militant groups declared a unilateral halt to attacks against Israelis. It held for about six weeks, until a new wave of suicide bombings and Israeli military operations.

This time, Qureia said, he would bring in the Israelis as part of the deal, but first, he would persuade violent groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad to go along.