Colombia: Military reports capture of 11 rebels in sweep
Colombia’s military said it captured 11 rebels from the nation’s smaller
guerrilla army Saturday during a nationwide operation against the group
after a rupture in peace talks. The 11 fighters from the National
Liberation Army, or ELN, were seized in the coastal city of Cartagena,
navy Vice Adm. Fernando Roman told Radionet radio station. He said the
combatants – among them, a commander – were responsible for extortion,
bombings and kidnappings in the northern region.
France: Botched bank robbery leaves three dead
A robber shot and killed three people and seriously injured three others
during a botched bank holdup in a suburb north of Paris, police said. A
man wearing a mask was seen taking about 10 people hostage inside the
Caisse d’Epargne bank in a shopping center in Cergy-Pontoise, police said.
The gunman fired shots inside the bank, killing the branch’s director and
a bank employee and seriously injuring one person. After leaving the
building, he shot at people in two cars as he tried to steal an escape
vehicle. One driver was killed, and his wife was injured. Another motorist
had serious injuries. Four other people who were taken hostage had less
serious injuries. The assailant ran off empty-handed with police in
pursuit.
Iraq: Syrian prime minister arrives for state visit
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa Miro arrived in Baghdad, becoming
only the second Arab head of government to visit Iraq since the 1991 Gulf
War. Arriving at the airport named after President Saddam Hussein, Mr.
Miro said he expected to sign an agreement to boost trade and cultural
cooperation, the official Iraqi News Agency reported. He also called for
the lifting of U.N. sanctions maintained against Iraq since its invasion
of Kuwait in 1990, the agency said.
India: Taxi, rickshaw drivers strike
Thousands of New Delhi’s taxi and rickshaw drivers went out on strike
Friday to protest a shortage of compressed natural gas – a shortfall that
has undermined a plan to clean up the air of one of the world’s most
polluted cities. The Supreme Court recently forced taxi cabs and motorized
rickshaws to use compressed natural gas instead of diesel, but the
government gas monopoly says the demand for the cleaner-burning fuel is
now three times more than it can provide. Frustrated drivers say they must
wait for hours to refuel. Drivers left thousands of commuters stranded in
India’s capital. The city has 14 million people but only 6,000 buses. Most
midlevel downtown workers rely on the vehicles. There was chaos at railway
stations, and while buses continued to operate, they were overcrowded.
Cambodia: King moves to allow tribunal
Cambodia took a big step toward obtaining justice for victims of the
murderous Khmer Rouge as King Norodom Sihanouk signed a law enabling the
establishment of a U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal. King Sihanouk’s action
brings the prospect of a trial closer than ever, but its timing and nature
remain open to questions. Cambodia and the United Nations must work out
details of international involvement in the tribunal.
Briefly ….
Filipino soldiers rescued three men seized in June by Muslim
extremists who still hold about 18 hostages, including at least two
Americans, on the southern island of Basilan. …
Three Germans
detained after the Group of Eight riots were released by a court in
Genoa, Italy.
Lebanese army units fanned out in Christian areas Saturday to
prevent renewed protests by Christian groups opposed to Syria’s domination of Lebanon.
Flash floods triggered by heavy rain inundated farms and villages in much of northeastern Iran, killing at least 67 people, state media and officials said.
In Thailand, flash floods swept down mountains in the northern part of the country, killing at least 46 and leaving up to 100 missing.
