Political Assassinations

BEIRUT - Five years ago, Lebanese thronged the streets of Beirut to protest Syrian control over their country in a movement that quickly ended decades of military domination.

BEIRUT - Hezbollah's leader said Friday he will not respond to a U.N.-appointed prosecutor's demand for the group to hand over all information relevant to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

JOHANNESBURG - Equatorial Guinea's government on Tuesday defended the execution of four alleged coup plotters just an hour after they were condemned in a case that Amnesty International called a "pretense of justice." The main opposition coalition described the executions as "political assassinations." The government of the oil-rich but impoverished Central African nation said in a statement that the former military and government officials were given a fair trial in open court.