Leaders watch Libya's reaction to bomber
EDINBURGH, Scotland, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Britain's foreign secretary Friday warned Libya its reputation was on the line as the world tracks its reaction to the 1998 Pan Am bomber's return home.
David Miliband said Libya's diplomatic relations would be damaged if a sense of celebration persists with the return of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan spy convicted of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in which 270 people died in Lockerbie, Scotland, The Times of London reported. Al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, was released Thursday on compassionate grounds and flown from Glasgow to Triopli.
British and Scottish officials joined the United States Friday in criticizing the way al-Megrahi was welcomed home as a hero, The New York Times reported. Alex Salmond, the Scottish first minister, said he didn't think the display was "appropriate."
"Obviously the sight of a mass murderer getting a hero's welcome in Tripoli is deeply upsetting, deeply distressing," Miliband told the BBC. "I think it's very important that Libya knows, and certainly we have told them, that how the Libyan government handles itself in the next few days after the arrival of Mr. Megrahi will be very significant in the way the world views Libya's re-entry into the civilized community of the nations."
U.S. President Barack Obama, during a radio interview Thursday, said U.S. officials contacted the Libyan government to try to ensure al-Megrahi was "not welcomed back in some way, but instead should be under house arrest."
Miliband said British officials were not involved in discussions surrounding al-Megrahi's release. U.S. officials tried to pressure Scotland to keep al-Megrahi imprisoned at Greenrock Prison.
Emergency security meeting held in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is vowing to derail any terrorist plots that threaten to disrupt next January's parliamentary elections.
Maliki made the promise following an emergency security meeting to discuss explosions in downtown Baghdad that killed nearly 100 people and wounded about 500 others, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The Iraqi government announced Thursday it had detained 11 army and police commanders for negligence regarding the explosions.
Maliki blamed the attacks at the finance and foreign ministries on Sunni extremists.
Sunni lawmaker Omar al-Jubouri said the bombings were probably intended to weaken Maliki's political standing at a time when politicians are scrambling to form coalitions ahead of the January elections.
Another Sunni lawmaker, Omar Abdel Sattar, said he worries further sensational attacks could widen sectarian rifts in Iraq and exacerbate tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.
Hitchhiker shoots Good Samaritans
HEMPSTEAD, Texas, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Texas authorities searched Friday for a hitchhiker suspected of shooting two men and carjacking a couple who stopped to offer him a ride.
The suspect was described by authorities as an armed and dangerous Hispanic man between the ages of 35 and 45, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith said the suspect hijacked a Ford Escape sport utility vehicle along U.S. 290 near Hempstead Thursday night after the owner and his pregnant wife stopped to give him a ride.
Smith said the man then drove to a nearby church, put up the SUV's hood and shot two Good Samaritans who stopped to help him.
The conditions of both victims was unknown, the Chronicle said.
Hempstead is 50 miles northwest of Houston.
Men survive fiery airplane crash in N.J.
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J., Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Police in Bergen County, N.J., say two men on board a small aircraft survived a fiery crash near Teterboro Airport Friday.
Little Ferry Police Officer Adam Warne said when he responded to the emergency call he found the airplane's pilot and passenger alive but injured a safe distance from the fiery wreckage, New York's WPIX-TV reported.
"I saw the wreckage and they both said 'We were in the plane.' So I was a little taken aback," Warne said, "(I asked) 'How did you walk away from this?'"
One of the victims was identified as George Maddox of Reading, Pa. The other's name wasn't given. It wasn't clear who was piloting the plane, authorities said.
One man was in critical condition with severe burns while the other survivor was hospitalized with head injuries. Both were expected to survive. No other injuries were reported in relation to the crash.
Little Ferry Police Chief Ralph Verdi said prior to crashing in a parking lot near the airport during an attempted landing, the twin-engine Jaguar Special Edition Beechcraft King Air issued no distress calls.
WPIX said the cause of the crash, which reportedly produced a fire with flames at least 20 feet high, was under investigation.
