World Briefs

BAGHDAD – The jailed journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush has asked for a pardon for what he described as "an ugly act," a spokesman for Iraq's prime minister said Thursday.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi remained in custody Thursday night.

"It is too late now to regret the big and ugly act that I perpetrated," al-Zeidi wrote in a letter delivered to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, according to the prime minister's spokesman.

The spokesman, Yassin Majid, told AP that al-Zeidi recalled an interview he conducted with the prime minister in 2005 when al-Maliki invited him into his home, saying: "Come in, it is your home too."

ARUSHA, Tanzania – A former Rwandan Army colonel behind the 1994 slaughter of more than 500,000 people was convicted of genocide Thursday and sentenced to life in prison, the most significant verdict of a U.N. tribunal set up to bring the killers to justice.

Col. Theoneste Bagosora was found guilty of crimes against humanity, and the court said he used his position as director of Rwanda's Ministry of Defense to direct Hutu soldiers to kill Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Former military commanders Anatole Nsengiyumva and Aloys Ntabakuze also were found guilty of genocide and sentenced to life in prison. The former chief of military operations, Brigadier Gratien Kabiligi, was cleared of all charges and released.

ATHENS, Greece – Riot police clashed with rock-throwing demonstrators in central Athens on Thursday, sending Christmas shoppers and people in cafes running for cover. Frightened parents scooped up their children from a Christmas carousel in the city's main square and fled.

The protesters broke away from a peaceful rally and hurled rocks and firebombs at police and buildings near parliament, overturned a car and set fire to trash bins. They also splashed police with red paint. Police responded with tear gas and flash grenades.

BAGHDAD – More than 20 employees of Iraq's defense and interior ministries have been arrested on allegations they were plotting to revive Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party, government officials said Thursday.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Yassin Majid, told The Associated Press that 24 employees of the two ministeries were arrested on suspicion of "facilitating activities for terrorists and outlaws and officials of the former regime."

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf told reporters that those arrested were primarily traffic police officers, but he dismissed suggestions they were planning a coup.