Around The World

Ecuador plane crashes in Colombia\nQUITO, Ecuador -- An Ecuadorean jetliner carrying 94 people, including seven children, crashed in Colombia on Monday in the fog bound mountains of the Andes. \n The Boeing 727-100 from Ecuador's TAME airline originated in the capital, Quito, and was headed to the Ecuadorean border city of Tulcan, 110 miles to the northeast. \n The plane crashed near Ipiales, just over the border from Tulcan, said TAME spokeswoman, Toa Quirola. "We don't have any more information at this time," she said. The mayor's office of Ipiales said the city was foggy at the time the plane went down.\nSaudis want suspects released for questioning\nDUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- More than 100 Saudis are among the suspected al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners held by the United States at a Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Saudi Arabia's interior minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, said Monday. \n It was the most specific number given so far by Saudi officials, and it would mean that Saudi citizens make up the bulk of the 158 prisoners currently detained at Guantanamo. Nayef told reporters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that the kingdom wants its detained citizens to be handed over so it can interrogate them. \nHundreds of bodies in Nigerian canal \nLAGOS, Nigeria -- As onlookers wept and wailed, hundreds of bodies were pulled out of a canal in Nigeria's largest city Monday after they drowned while trying to flee explosions at an army weapons depot. \n Many victims apparently didn't realize how deep the water was and drowned when they ran and drove vehicles into the Oke Afa drainage canal in Lagos, witnesses said. They were fleeing explosions at the city's Ikeja military base, which propelled shrapnel and shock waves for miles Sunday night. Rescue volunteer Ben Nwachukwu said more than 200 bodies were pulled from just one part of the canal.Authorities issued no official death count.\nPolice step up Jerusalem patrols\nJERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised a victory over terrorism to his battered people on Monday, as his police deployed on sidewalks and rooftops in Jerusalem, the scene of recent bloody attacks.An 81-year-old Israeli man who was killed Sunday in a bombing in Jerusalem's hard-hit downtown was buried Monday. \nU.N. attempts to scale back forces in Lebanon\nUNITED NATIONS -- The Security Council on Monday backed Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recommendation to cut the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon from about 3,500 to 2,000 troops by the end of the year. \n Following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in May 2000, the secretary general and the Security Council have been trying to scale down the U.N. force, whose primary mission was to verify the troop pullback. \n Saying it looks forward to an "early" end of the U.N. mission, the council unanimously approved a resolution extending the U.N. peacekeeping operation until July 31 and endorsing Annan's recommended troop cuts.