World Briefs

WASHINGTON - In a press conference after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama had met privately for about 90 minutes, the President emphasized that Israel must start taking the peace process seriously by putting a halt to the construction of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, lifting the blockade on Gaza and accepting the idea of a Palestinian state next door.

Obama's no-nonsense words were a far cry from the easy ride that Israeli Premiers got from the Bush Administration.

BOGOTA – Colombia's defense minister resigned on Monday, saying he will launch a presidential bid if current President Alvaro Uribe decides not to seek a third term.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who has received credit for some of the military's biggest successes against leftist rebels, said he is stepping down on May 23 after nearly three years in the post.

Colombian law says public officials have to step down a year ahead of the May 2010 election in order to seek the presidency.

Uribe has not said publicly whether he will seek a third term, something that would require a constitutional change.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka's president declared his country "liberated from separatist terror" Tuesday as state television broadcast images of the body of Tamil Tiger rebel leader Prabhakaran after it was recovered from the battlefield.

But in his victory address to parliament, President Mahinda Rajapaksa appeared to reach out to the Tamils, for whom the rebels had said they were trying to carve out a homeland. "Our intention was to save the Tamil people from the cruel grip of the (rebels). We all must now live as equals in this free country," he said.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Former President Bill Clinton became the UN's special envoy to Haiti on Tuesday, with a mission to help the impoverished nation achieve some measure of stability after devastating floods and other crises.

Clinton — to be paid $1 a year and travel to Haiti several times a year — said: "I believe Haiti is better positioned to make progress for its people than at any time since I first visited in 1978."

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday the United States was sending $110 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Pakistan, part of the administration's new strategy for countering the appeal of Taliban militants in the nuclear-armed American ally. Clinton detailed the aid package at the House.