World in Brief

www.washingtonpost.com Thursday, January 23, 2003; Page A18

THE AMERICAS High Court Suspends Chavez Referendum CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's Supreme Court yesterday suspended a nonbinding referendum planned for February on the rule of President Hugo Chavez, dealing a blow to opposition hopes to inflict a symbolic political defeat on the populist leader.

The decision inflamed tensions between Chavez and his foes in the eighth week of an opposition strike that has slashed oil output in the world's No. 5 oil exporter and pushed the faltering economy deeper into recession. Chavez's government suspended foreign exchange trading in a desperate bid to stem capital flight and a slide in the currency as the government struggled to counter the effects of the 52-day-old protest.

Electoral authorities had set the referendum for Feb. 2 after the opposition collected more than 2 million signatures to request it. It would have asked voters whether Chavez should resign, although the result would not have been legally binding.

Reuters

ASIA 4 Pakistani Officials Expelled From India NEW DELHI -- India ordered the expulsion of four Pakistani Embassy officials, another indication that despite pulling back from war footing, neither of the nuclear-armed rivals is ready for improved relations.

The officials were told to depart within 48 hours, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Navtej Sarna. Sarna implied the four were spying, saying they "were found indulging in activities incompatible with their official status."

A spokesman for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, Kamran Niaz, called India's move "unfortunate" but would not say whether Pakistan would make a reciprocal move.

The officials asked to leave the Pakistani Embassy were diplomats Mansoor Saeed Sheikh and Mian Muhammad Asif and staff members Muhammad Tasneem Khan and Sher Muhammad.

Associated Press

EUROPE American Briefly Flees Prison in Monaco MONACO -- An American imprisoned in Monaco for the arson death of billionaire banker Edmond Safra escaped from his cell but was recaptured hours later at a French Riviera hotel.

Ted Maher, a former Green Beret who had been Safra's nurse, and an Italian inmate sawed six bars from their cell window late Tuesday or early yesterday. They removed two steel grills before climbing down a 26-foot wall on a sash made of plastic bags.

Maher, 44, and Luigi Ciardecci stuffed their beds to fool guards, who noticed their absence at breakfast, prosecutor Daniel Ferdet said. Police caught Maher at a hotel in the southern French city of Nice, acting on "a clue from a Monaco witness," the prosecutor said without elaborating. Ciardecci was still at large.

Maher began serving a 10-year sentence last year after he admitted setting a fire on Dec. 3, 1999, that killed Safra, 67, the founder and principal stock owner of the Republic National Bank of New York.

The fire also killed one of Safra's other nurses, Vivian Torrente.

Associated Press