Sunday, April 10, 2005; Page A28

PRAGUE -- Czech Prime Minister Stanislav Gross said Saturday that he would resign and make way for a new coalition government because of a scandal surrounding the financing of his luxury apartment.

Gross did not specify a date for his resignation, but he said the Czech ambassador to the European Union, Jan Kohout, was his Social Democrat party's candidate to replace him.

The scandal arose over questions of how Gross paid for a luxury apartment. Initially he said he paid for it with his own money and a mortgage; then he said he had borrowed money from his uncle.

Gross has denied wrongdoing but apologized for how he handled the crisis.

AFRICA

• LUSAKA, Zambia -- A truck packed with high school students skidded off a mountain road in northern Zambia, killing at least 38 and seriously injuring 50, police said.

The accident occurred Friday on the outskirts of the small town of Kawambwa, about 450 miles northeast of the capital, police spokeswoman Brenda Muntemba said.

• KINSHASA, Congo -- Government soldiers and U.N. troops in Congo arrested a militia leader in a crackdown on armed groups that have terrorized the lawless Ituri district and killed more than 60,000 people since 1999.

The arrested leader, Kahwa Mandro, heads the PUSIC militia, one of half a dozen ethnic-based groups operating in Ituri.

EUROPE

• OSLO -- A suspect in the brazen daytime theft of two Edvard Munch masterpieces -- "The Scream" and "Madonna" -- was being questioned over the weekend, and police said they were hopeful more arrests would follow.

The man, who has not been identified, was arrested Friday in Oslo.

THE MIDDLE EAST

• CAIRO -- Egyptian authorities are investigating whether a suicide bomber carried out an attack that killed three people, including an American tourist, in a packed Cairo market, officials said.

The rudimentary seven-pound bomb packed with nails exploded Thursday in Khan al-Khalili tourist bazaar.

A Michigan newspaper, citing a family friend, identified the American killed as Alex Mirandette, 18, from the Grand Rapids suburb of Kentwood.

THE AMERICAS

• PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Haitian police shot and killed a prominent rebel leader who helped force former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide into exile last year, a U.N. official said.

Police killed Remissainthe Ravix during a shootout in an industrial area in the capital of Port-au-Prince, a U.N. civilian police spokesman said.

ASIA

• KATMANDU, Nepal -- Nepalese soldiers recovered 47 more bodies of Maoists killed in a raid on an army base two days ago, raising the rebel death toll to 97 in the most violent battle here in five months, an army official said.

-- From News Services