101.   New President B.J. Habibie ordered the release of two prominent political prisoners Monday as a first step toward sweeping political reforms after former leader Suharto quit under pressure.

102.   On Thursday, it ordered their release, arguing that their criticism did not violate any law.

103.   On Tuesday, Judge Lise Pierre-Pierre ordered the release of the remaining eight, saying there were no grounds for their detention.

104.   On Thursday, the court annulled the sentences and ordered the release of Hussein and Helal.

105.   Police have freed an Egyptian cleric accused of propagating Shiite Muslim theology more than four months after prosecutors ordered his release.

106.   President Fidel Ramos later pardoned them and ordered their release.

107.   President Vicente Fox announced Thursday that he had ordered the release of two peasant environmental activists whose conviction on weapons and drug charges had been condemned worldwide.

108.   President Saddam Hussein on Friday ordered the release of three Filipinos held in a Baghdad prison, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.

109.   President Vicente Fox ordered the release Thursday of two peasant anti-logging activists whose conviction on weapons and drug charges had made them a cause celebre among environmentalists.

110.   Rwanda had suspended ties with the U.N. tribunal for Rwanda in November after judges ordered the release of a chief suspect.