Ex-soldiers turn in old guns, try to join police

CAP-HAITIEN - Dozens of ex-soldiers surrendered seven dilapidated guns Sunday and applied to become Haitian policemen, saying they are ''ready for peace'' after helping to overthrow former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last year.

The paltry handover of weapons - six aging M1 rifles and a corroded Uzi 9mm - underscored the difficulty facing Haiti's interim government as it seeks to disarm rival factions and street gangs.

About 280 members of Haiti's demobilized army stood in formation at their old base in this northern town as interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and U.N. envoy Juan Gabriel Valdes looked on. After singing Haiti's national anthem, seven soldiers stepped forward and saluted Latortue before handing him their weapons.

ITALY

Explosion revives fears of 'Italian Unabomber'

MOTTA DI LIVENZA - An electric candle exploded in the hands of a 6-year-old girl during Mass on Sunday, seriously injuring her and renewing fears that a serial bomber who has terrorized northeastern Italy for more than 10 years had struck again.

Two others in the Catholic church in the town of Motta di Livenza were slightly injured. Venice Prosecutor Luca Marini, who has investigated previous bombings, said an explosive device was hidden in the candle, according to the Italian news agency in Treviso.

Whoever is behind a dozen similar explosions in northeastern Italy since at least 1994 - including two others that have injured children - has been likened in the Italian media to the American recluse the ''Unabomber.''

SAUDI ARABIA

Police kill suspected militant, arrest 3 more

RIYADH - Saudi police killed an alleged Islamic militant and arrested three others Sunday in a shootout at a suspected terror cell hideout in the Red Sea city of Jiddah, the Interior Ministry said.

Security forces had sought one of the people arrested for allegedly belonging to a ''deviant group,'' a term Saudi authorities commonly use to refer to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.

The clash was the latest in a 2-year-old crackdown on Islamic militants by the Saudi monarchy, which has been struggling to end suicide bombings and terror attacks on security and Western targets.