The World

Fuel spill damages Puerto Rican shore

GUANICA, PUERTO RICO – Miles of rocky shoreline and mangrove thickets have been fouled by a fuel spill drifting along Puerto Rico’s southwest coast, environmental officials said Friday.

Specialists walked blackened shores as helicopters flew over the area to assess damage and track the slick, which also could threaten a pristine coral reef off the coast of La Parguera, a diving site popular with tourists.

Authorities were still investigating the origin of the spill, which stretched along an estimated eight miles of shoreline from the southwestern town of Guanica to Guayanilla Bay.

“The impact area of this spill has been quite extensive,” said Javier Velez Arocho, the secretary of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, which has closed beaches in the area.

Capt. James E. Tunstall, the commander of U.S. Coast Guard operations in the eastern Caribbean, said five shoreline assessment teams were deployed to determine the nature and extent of the contamination.

So far, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service personnel had not received any reports of birds or fish being killed by the spill.

Pakistani troops may be freed

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, PAKISTAN – More than 120 Pakistani soldiers seized by Islamic militants near the Afghan border soon will be released after the intervention of local tribal elders, an official said Friday.

The troops were traveling in a 16-vehicle convoy providing security for trucks hauling food Thursday in the South Waziristan tribal area when bad weather forced them to stop and set up camp, a security official said on condition of anonymity.

The soldiers – who were traveling between Wana, the main town in South Waziristan and Ladha – were surrounded by militants who believed they were conducting a military operation.

Relief is now anger at captives

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – Relief at the release of 19 countrymen held hostage by the Taliban gave way Friday to anger at the victims themselves, members of a Christian church who were criticized for ignoring warnings against travel to Afghanistan.

Critics said the group’s actions forced their government into negotiations with the Islamic militants that damaged the nation’s international reputation.

A day after the last hostages were let go, some of the church workers apologized for the trouble caused by their captivity. With the crisis over, South Koreans turned their focus to what went wrong, who is to blame and what lessons can be drawn from the six- week ordeal.

In other news

SWEDISH MUSLIMS DEMONSTRATED Friday against a newspaper that published a drawing depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body and demanded its chief editor apologize.

ARGENTINA FORMALLY ASKED the U.S. on Friday to extradite a Venezuelan-American businessman wanted on fraud charges stemming from the airport seizure of a suitcase stuffed with hundreds of thousands of dollars in undeclared cash.

THE ARMY AND U.N. PEACEKEEPERS sent reinforcements to eastern Congo on Friday after clashes involving gunmen loyal to a renegade general forced civilians to flee.

– Edited from wire reports by Deepika Rao

(c) 2007 Augusta Chronicle, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.