Charges Dropped Against Ex-President

Former President Kenneth Kaunda walked out of the High Court in the capital, Lusaka, after the government dropped charges alleging he knew about an October coup attempt against his successor. “I feel great,” said Kaunda, the Southern African nation’s founding father, wearing the thick white beard he has grown since his Dec. 25 arrest. Supporters waved their fists, with fingers outstretched in V-for-victory signs, and cheered. His lawyer denied reports that Kaunda, 74, who ruled for 27 years until he was ousted in the nation’s first democratic elections, in 1991, was forced to retire from politics as a condition of his release.