U.S. Military Plane Crashes in Albania
TIRANA, Albania -- A U.S. military airplane crashed in central Albania while on a training mission Thursday, and nine American personnel aboard were believed to have been killed, the Defense Ministry said.
The plane took off from Tirana's Mother Teresa Airport and crashed on Driza Mountain in the district of Gramsh, 50 miles southeast of Tirana, the capital, Defense Ministry spokesman Agim Doci said.
He said the plane was there as part of joint exercises with the Albanian military.
Pentagon spokesman Jim Turner said the plane that crashed was a C-130 and that a search was underway using another aircraft in the area. Turner said he had no word on the crew's status. There were reports that poor weather was hampering the search, he said.
The Albanian News24 television station reported that the location of the crash was remote and hard to reach, adding that a helicopter was seen circling the area.
Residents said an explosion caused by the crashing plane felt "like an earthquake," the station said.
AFRICA
• LUANDA, Angola -- Angola's death toll from an Ebola-like virus has climbed to 126, the Health Ministry and World Health Organization said, making it the deadliest recorded outbreak of the rare Marburg disease.
There is no vaccine or cure for Marburg, which spreads through bodily fluids and can kill rapidly, according to the WHO. The virus was identified last week as the death toll spiraled.
The worst outbreak of the virus on record killed 123 people in neighboring Congo between 1998 and 2000. That was the last known outbreak.
• ROME -- Rwanda's main Hutu rebel group announced it was ending hostilities and for the first time denounced the 1994 genocide of Tutsis that has been blamed on many of their members.
A delegation representing the rebel organization, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), made the announcement after secret negotiations at the Sant'Egidio religious community in the heart of Rome.
"The FDLR condemns the genocide committed against Rwanda and their authors," FDLR President Ignace Murwanashyaka said, reading from a statement. "Henceforward, the FDLR has decided to transform its fight into a political struggle."
• ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Ethiopia ordered the expulsion of three Americans who were helping prepare the country for elections in May, alleging that they entered the country illegally.
