Opposition parties dispute Nigerian elections

Abuja, Nigeria

Nigeria's main opposition parties joined forces today to demand the annulment of results from state balloting they branded "sham elections" and called for a postponement of the presidential vote scheduled for this weekend.

A communiqué signed by 18 parties called on Nigerians to "protest in a nonviolent manner" against election results that showed the governing party rolling up huge victories in state races.

The opposition parties, including those of presidential candidates Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Atiku Abubakar, demanded a "level playing field" for all candidates and threatened to boycott Saturday's vote setting up Nigeria's first transfer of power from one civilian leader to another.

Government officials weren't available for comment.

Violence and irregularities marred state elections last weekend, with at least 21 people killed.

Manila, Philippines

Body found; it may be U.S. volunteer

Philippine authorities today found a body they believe to be that of a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in a northern mountain town where she disappeared during a hike more than a week ago, an army general said.

Maj. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang said a body matching the description of Julia Campbell, 40, of Fairfax, Va., was found near the village of Batad.

Campbell went missing April 8 about 160 miles north of Manila. Police said earlier that she may have fallen off a cliff. Maclang said it was too early to determine if foul play was involved.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Shootouts kill at least 20

Shootouts involving drug gangs and police Tuesday left at least 20 suspected gang members dead, officials said.

The deaths are the latest in an upsurge of killing that has made Rio de Janeiro one of Brazil's most violence-plagued cities.

At least 14 alleged drug-gang members were killed in an hours-long shootout in the Morro da Mineira shantytown near Rio de Janeiro's downtown district, said a police spokeswoman who declined to be identified. In a second, apparently unrelated shootout, police killed six alleged drug-gang members in a shantytown on Rio's west side.

Cairo, Egypt

Engineer accused of selling documents

An engineer from the Egypt's nuclear agency stole documents and gave them to Israel's Mossad intelligence service in exchange for $17,000, an Egyptian prosecutor said Tuesday, announcing the man's arrest on espionage charges. The engineer's family denied the accusations.

State security prosecutor Hisham Badawi said two foreigners, one Japanese and one Irish, also were wanted.

Badawi identified the Egyptian engineer as Mohammed Sayed Saber. He said Saber, 35, was arrested Feb. 18 after he returned to Egypt from Hong Kong, but authorities withheld news of his detention during the investigation.

In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said: "These sort of charges unfortunately appear all too often in the Egyptian media and they always prove to be baseless."

Also

Mexican police arrested Juan Oscar Garza, a key figure in the Gulf Cartel drug gang, in Reynosa, just south of McAllen, Texas, officials said Tuesday.

Seattle Times news services