A regularly updated column of news briefs from around the region
Prophet graffiti in West Bank mosque
JERUSALEM - Muslim worshipers in a northern West Ban village found slurs against the Prophet Mohammed sprayed on the walls of their mosque on February 17 for a second time this week. An Israeli officer said that he suspected hardline Jewish settlers were behind the graffiti in the village of Nabi Elias, near the town of Qalqilya. Major Adam Avidan said that the villagers had wiped clean the slogans that read in Hebrew: "Mohammed is a pig, death to Islam".
Suspected Sudan cholera kills at least 47
NAIROBI - The death toll from a suspected cholera outbreak in southern Sudan has climbed to 47 with nearly 1,500 people ill, United Nations officials said on February 17, and fears rose of a major epidemic. The deaths and cholera symptoms among the ill were first reported in late January in the town of Yei, where 26 people have died, and then spread to the southern Sudanese capital of Juba, where 21 have now died, they said.
White House says Abu Ghraib pics 'old news'
WASHINGTON - The White House said on February 16 in response to newly public photographs of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq that the US military had acted to make sure that such violence would never happen again. Spokesman Scott McClellan said that the new set of pictures aired this week were from the same abuse that was revealed two years ago, stoking anti-US sentiment across the Muslim world. "This administration acted quickly, and our military acted quickly, to hold people to account and bring them to justice, and to also take steps to prevent something like that from happening again," said McClellan.
Egypt tests chickens
CAIRO - Officials in Egypt's southern governorate of Qena began testing chickens for avian flu after the mysterious deaths of some 130 of them in one village on February 16. The death of the birds at a number of homes in Ezzab Al Masri prompted residents to alert officials, fearing the outbreak of a disease.
Israeli, Greek leaders remember Holocaust
SALONIKA, Greece - Israeli President Moshe Katsav on February 16 traveled to the northern Greek port city of Salonika to pay homage to a once-thriving center of Jewish culture in the heart of the Balkans. Some 50,000 Jewish citizens of Salonika - or 96 percent of the city's Jewish community - perished in Nazi concentration camps. Katsav's visit was the first ever by an Israeli head of state to Greece.
Egypt judges' immunity lifted over vote fraud
CAIRO - Four judges have had their immunity lifted to face questioning in the state security court over charges that they made of fraud in Egypt's legislative elections, judicial sources said on February 16. They are accused of having leaked information to the press on the alleged involvement of fellow judges in electoral fraud during the November-December polls.
Trial of Afghan spy chief trial 'flawed'
KABUL - A legal rights group said on February 16 that the trial of an Afghan intelligence chief accused of systematic killings and other abuses more than 20 years ago was fundamentally flawed and should be delayed. The trial of Assadullah Sarwari, arrested 13 years ago, would undermine judicial reform in Afghanistan should it go ahead without being remedied, the Afghanistan Justice Project (AJP) said. The "way that justice is being done in this case only serves to bury the truth, and has really very little to do with justice," AJP director Patricia Gossman said, adding, "Afghanistan cannot make progress on judicial reform if at the same time it is trying war crimes suspects in kangaroo courts."
Italian aid workers asphyxiate in Kabul
KABUL - Two Italian aid workers were found dead in their beds in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on February 16 after a problem with their heating system caused them to asphyxiate, the Italian embassy said. "They had a problem with the heating system and basically they died while sleeping because of intoxication," the embassy attaché for counselor affairs, Nicola Minasi, said.
First dehydration deaths found in Somalia
MOGADISHU - The OXFAM relief agency has reported finding the first seven people who died of dehydration in drought-stricken Somalia. The agency said 10 water tankers left Mogadishu on February 15 for the southern part of the country, where assessment teams found the corpses. All surface water has gone, and there is only about three glasses of water available per person per day, which must be used for drinking, cooking and washing, the BBC reported. Temperatures rise above 38 Centigrade (100F) most days, and the World Meteorological Association has warned the Horn of Africa will remain in the grip of a drought until at least April.
Tehran rally at German embassy
TEHRAN - A group of Iranian students rallied calmly on February 16 outside the German embassy in protest against Berlin's stance on Iran's nuclear activities and the cartoons portraying the Prophet Mohammed. The protestors carried placards saying German Chancellor Angela "Merkel equals Hitler" and "Mohammed, Prophet of peace and freedom".
Iraqi probes 'death squads'
BAGHDAD - Iraq's interior ministry on February 16 said that it was creating an investigation to probe reports of a "death squad" within the police force that targeted the Sunni minority. US Major-General Joseph Peterson, in charge of training the Iraqi police, told the Chicago Tribune newspaper that 22 traffic policemen, dressed in police commando uniforms, were arrested in late January in northern Baghdad as they were taking away a Sunni to be shot.
Four killed in new Taliban attacks
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Suspected Taliban rebels killed two policemen in Afghanistan while a bomb blast claimed the lives of two militia soldiers working with security forces, officials said on February 16. About 60 suspected Taliban rebels armed with machine-guns and rockets raided the police post in southwestern Nimroz province on February 15, killing at least one policeman and injuring four others, the provincial governor said.
Armenian patriarch denounces church attack
ISTANBUL - The Armenian Orthodox Patriarch in Turkey on February 15 denounced an armed attack on a church in this mostly Muslim country that he said was linked to the uproar over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Unidentified assailants fired 10 shots at the door of the Surp Krikor Lusavoric Church in the conservative central city of Kayseri and shouted anti-Christian slogans and "Allahu Akhbar", or "God Is Great", the patriarchate said.
Al Jazeera hires award winning news anchor
NEW YORK, NY, USA - The soon-to-be-launched English-language news channel of the Arabic television station Al Jazeera has hired award winning CNBC Asia news anchor Teymoor Nabili, Al Jazeera announced on February 15. Teymoor, who has been CNBC Asia's anchor in Singapore since 2001 and previously worked with the BBC, will be the new channel's male news anchor in Kuala Lumpur, along with Veronica Pedrosa, formerly of CNN International.
Yemen editor ran cartoons 'to defend Islam'
SANAA - The defense lawyer of a Yemeni newspaper editor detained for reprinting the Prophet Mohammed cartoons said on February 15 that his client only ran the controversial caricatures as a means to condemn them. "Reprinting [the cartoons] was meant to defend Prophet Mohammed ... and to denounce them," Mohammed Nagi Allaw told the court.
Ethiopia drought 'alarming'
ROME - Famine conditions in southeastern Ethiopia are causing severe food shortages for more than 1 million people and livestock deaths, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned on February 15. In an $18.5 million emergency appeal, the Rome-based organization said that the Somali and Oromiya regions were particularly hard hit.
Suspected cholera outbreak in Sudan
NAIROBI - At least 34 people have died in the last two weeks in a suspected cholera outbreak in southern Sudan that has taken nearly 1,500 ill, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on February 15. The deaths and illnesses with cholera-like symptoms were first reported in town of Yei in late January and have spread to the southern Sudanese capital of Juba, WHO said in a statement released in the capital of neighboring Kenya.
Ten detained in pro-Kurdish demo in Turkey
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey - Turkish riot police on February 15 detained 10 people in the mainly Kurdish southeast when they broke up a rally marking the capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan seven years ago. The 300-strong group gathered in the small town of Cizre, close to the border with Syria, chanting slogans in favor of Ocalan and refusing police orders to disperse, local security sources said.
Abbas asks peace monitors to return
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on February 15 asked international observers to return to the West Bank city of Hebron, pledging to guarantee their safety after their offices were attacked. A team of 60 or so European observers pulled out of the flashpoint city on February 8 when their offices were attacked in riots protesting against the publication of controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in Europe.
Two intelligence agents beheaded in Afghanistan
HERAT, Afghanistan - The headless bodies of two Afghan intelligence agents were found dumped in a desert in Afghanistan on February 15, two days after they were kidnapped by suspected Taliban rebels, officials said. The agents were snatched on the weekend while on a mission in western Farah province, governor Hazatullah Wasefi said. Their bodies were found in a desert in the province near the Iranian border, Wasefi said.
Pope names new ambassador to Egypt
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has named the Vatican's top official in charge of inter-faith dialogue as his apostolic nuncio to Egypt and the Cairo-based Arab League, the Vatican announced on February 15. British Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, 69, had been appointed head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue by Benedict's predecessor, the late John Paul II.
UAE fears leakage from Iran's reactor
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The interior minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) voiced fears on February 15 of a leakage from neighboring Iran's planned nuclear reactor. "The danger poised by Bushehr nuclear reactor is that it is unpredictable, while protection is practically impossible," Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahayan said. Iran, with Russian help, is building a nuclear reactor on its Gulf coast but is facing international pressure over its nuclear work amid fears it is seeking to build weapons.
Pakistan frees 562 Afghan prisoners
KARACHI - Pakistan on February 15 released 562 Afghan nationals including children who had been kept in jail for up to a year after violating immigration laws, officials said. The freed Afghan nationals were handed over to the officials at the Afghan Consulate, who will make arrangements for their deportation, said Rauf Siddiqui, home minister of southern Sindh province.
Israel releases newly elected Hamas MP
NABLUS, West Bank - Israeli authorities on February 15 released after five months in custody an MP for the radical Islamist movement Hamas who was elected in last month's Palestinian general election. Ahmed Ali Ahmed, also known as Ahmed Haj Ali, was released from a detention facility in Israel's southern Negev Desert, a Hamas source said.
Greek coast guard accused of beating Afghan minor
PATRAS, Greece - Greece's merchant marine ministry has launched an investigation into claims that an Afghan minor was badly beaten by coast guards, causing the death of his cousin from a heart attack as he watched the scene, the ministry said on February 15. The alleged incident at the western port of Patras occurred late on February 13 when the 15-year-old boy attempted to sneak into a truck parked inside the enclosure of the port. According to the local Afghan migrant community, the boy was intercepted by coast guard officers, who proceeded to beat him.
Palestinian shot dead by Israeli troops
JENIN, West Bank - A 20-year-old Palestinian with learning difficulties was shot dead by Israeli troops on February 15 during clashes near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, medical and security sources said. The victim, named as Mujahed Samadi, had wandered out into the streets with a stick in his hand that the Israelis appeared to have mistaken for a weapon.
Taliban leader arrested, school torched
KABUL - Afghan security forces have captured a mid-level Taliban commander after his men torched a school in southern Afghanistan, a government official said on February 15. Mullah Shah Nazar, a district governor in southern Kandahar province during the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule, was arrested late on February 14 after his men set ablaze a school in Ghazni province, the interior ministry said.
Arsonists torch car of Israeli police chief
JERUSALEM - Unknown assailants have torched the car of the police officer who led the recent clearance of a rogue Jewish settlement in the West Bank, police said on February 15. The car of commander Meir Bukowsa was set ablaze overnight in the village of Shoham east of Tel Aviv. His house had already been placed under special protection amid fears of reprisals from Israeli hardliners opposed to the evacuation of the illegal outpost in Amona, near Ramallah.
Spain sends aid to Western Sahara refugees
MADRID - Spain is sending 10 tons of humanitarian aid - water, emergency rations and sheeting - to the Western Sahara after torrential rains left some 50,000 refugees there in urgent need of help, aid workers and officials said on February 14. Flood waters have destroyed mud brick houses and other shelters in three camps in the desert region of Tindouf in Algeria, home to tens of thousands of people who fled from Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in 1975 after Spain gave up its rule of the phosphate-rich region.
Olmert slams Iran president for 'hatred'
JERUSALEM - Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on February 14 that he recalled no other major leader in recent years who has displayed such hatred and aggression toward Israel as Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. "I do not recall any other leader of a large state who used such hatred and aggressiveness toward Israel in recent years", Olmert was quoted as saying by the online edition of the mass-selling Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Rockets hit Israel, Israel bombards Gaza
GAZA CITY - Palestinian militants fired two rockets into southern Israel on February 14, one of which struck the industrial zone of the Mediterranean port city of Ashkelon, causing no casualties or damage. Israeli artillery continued to bombard the northern Gaza Strip, where a block of flats was earlier damaged, security sources and witnesses said.
Seven Iranians sentenced over bomb blasts
TEHRAN - Iran has sentenced seven people for murder in connection with bombings in southwestern Khuzestan province that left eight people dead in January, the official IRNA news agency reported on February 14. All those convicted were Iranian and have the right to appeal.
Yemen offers reward for Al Qaeda jailbreakers
SANAA - Yemen offered on February 14 a reward of more than $25,000 for information that could lead to the capture of any of the suspected Al Qaeda militants who escaped from jail this month. The is being offered for the capture of the 23 suspects who broke out of a Sanaa prison jail on February 3, embarrassing the authorities and angering the United States.
Iran says death sentence still stands against Rushdie
TEHRAN - Iran's fatah or religious edict condemning British author Salman Rushdie to death over his novel The Satanic Verses will remain in force "forever", the official news agency IRNA said on February 14. The announcement was made on the anniversary of the 1989 edict issued by the leader of Iran's Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Turkish court throws out PM's cartoon case
ANKARA - A Turkish court on February 14 rejected a demand by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for compensation from a magazine Penguen for depicting him in the form of various animals in a case seen as a test for freedom of expression, the Anatolia news agency reported. The magazine caricatured Erdogan as an elephant, a giraffe, a monkey and several other animals under the title "The World of Tayyips".
But the court ruled in Tuesday's hearing that the cartoons were not offensive and did not carry the intention of insulting the prime minister. Penguen's cartoons were meant to protest against a fine imposed on a political cartoonist who had depicted Erdogan as a cat entangled in a ball of wool over the government's failure to pass a bill easing conditions for religious school graduates to pursue higher education in fields other than theology.
US, Israel plot Hamas failure
JERUSALEM - Israel and the United States are working jointly to bring about the failure of Hamas as the majority Palestinian government, the New York Times said on February 14. The ultimate goal is to force a new set of elections under current Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman and Fatah Party leader Mahmoud Abbas, sources from both countries told the newspaper. The main thrust would be to starve the PA of international funds and make life so miserable for citizens that Abbas would have to call for a new election.
US wants 1985 hijacker from Lebanon
WASHINGTON - Although a Lebanese man served 19 years in a German prison for hijacking a TWA flight in 1985, the United States wants him extradited to face other charges. US State Department officials said that they have formally requested the extradition of Mohammed Ali Hamadi from Lebanon, although the two countries do not have a formal extradition treaty, CNN reported. Hamadi was released from a German prison in December for his role in the 17-day-long hijacking of TWA Flight 847 to Beirut.
Injury toll in Turkey blast goes up
ISTANBUL - Fifteen people were injured, two seriously, in a bomb blast that ripped through an Istanbul supermarket, and not six, as earlier reported, Turkish police said on February 14 according to the Anatolia news agency. A separatist group called the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons claimed responsibility for the explosion, which targeted a store in a chain belonging to a deputy in the ruling Justice and Development Party.
Gaza apartment block hit by Israeli artillery
GAZA CITY - A block of flats in the northern Gaza Strip was damaged during an Israeli artillery bombardment on February 14 that followed the firing of a Palestinian rocket across the border, security sources and witnesses said. One of the shells caused widespread damage to two apartments in the town of Beit Hanoun although there were no immediate reports of casualties, the sources said.
Sufis, Iranian police clash in holy city
TEHRAN - Clashes broke out on February 13 between members of the Sufi sect and Iranian police in the Shia Muslim holy city of Qom, the semi-official Fars news agency and Websites reported. Fars said that some 50 Sufis demonstrated against the closure of their place of worship in Qom. "There was some violence," it said, without elaborating. Sufism is a mystical sect of Islam that is regarded with suspicion by many Shia and Sunni Muslims.
France to treat Libya Aids children
TRIPOLI - A group of HIV-positive Libyan children at the center of the case of five Bulgarian nurses detained over their infection are to be sent to France for treatment, officials said on February 13. The development follows a December 25 verdict by the Libyan supreme court overturning death sentences and ordering a new trial for the Bulgarians and a Palestinian doctor. A first group of 30 children is scheduled to go to France on February 27 for treatment.
Kuwaiti opposition blasts new cabinet
KUWAIT CITY - Kuwaiti opposition groups blasted the emirate's new cabinet on February 13, accusing it of containing "corrupt" elements and predicting that it will fail to implement reforms. "We are shocked that ministers who fought against corruption were excluded ... [while] the princes of corruption have been retained," former liberal MP Abdullah Al Nibari told a public gathering attended by all opposition groups.
Arab League chief pledges support to Hamas
KHARTOUM - Arab League chief Amr Moussa on February 13 pledged support to Hamas, which won the Palestinian elections and said that it was the duty of Arab states to support the Islamist movement if it forms a government. A Hamas government would have "numerous duties related to the Palestinian situation and dealing with the force of occupation, and this calls for a strong Arab support", he told reporters in Khartoum.
Iran slams German paper for suicide cartoon
BERLIN - The Iranian embassy in Germany has protested to a German newspaper for publishing a "disgusting and abhorrent" cartoon portraying Iranian footballers as suicide bombers. Under the headline, "Why the German army absolutely must be deployed for the World Cup", the cartoon published on February 9 shows four Iranian footballers with bombs strapped around their stomachs alongside four German soldiers. Iran is among the qualifiers for the 32-nation World Cup that kicks off in Germany on June 9 with the final on July 9.
Displaced Turkish Cypriot returns home
NICOSIA - A Turkish Cypriot man won a legal battle to move back to his home in the Greek Cypriot south on February 13, more than 30 years after the island was divided on ethnic lines by Turkey's invasion of the north. Arif Mustafa is to receive the keys to his home in the south after a high court appeal against a 2004 landmark ruling was withdrawn by a displaced Greek Cypriot family living in the property. In September 2004 the Greek Cypriot high court ordered the restitution of the property to Mustafa, although it had been inhabited for the past 30 years by the Greek Cypriot family.
Argentine weekly prints Mohammed cartoons
BUENOS AIRES - The Argentine weekly Noticias published this week four of the 12 controversial cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed that have provoked violent protests and outrage in many Muslim countries. The cartoons were printed as part of a two-page article in the weekly's international section titled "Don't draw the face of Mohammed", which explained the controversy over the publication of the cartoons in a Danish magazine.
Austria condemns Holocaust cartoon
VIENNA - Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union, on February 13 condemned the publication on an Iranian Website of a first cartoon in an international contest on the theme of the Holocaust. The "misuse of symbols" and the violation of taboos such as the Holocaust must be condemned, Schuessel said following a meeting with representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities in Vienna.
Moroccan court punishes over articles on royal harem
CASABLANCA, Morocco - A Moroccan court on February 13 handed down a suspended prison sentence and the maximum fine to two journalists of a weekly magazine that published a series of articles about royal harems. Nour Eddine Miftah, editor of Al Ayam, and journalist Meriem Moukrim, editor of two of the articles, were each given a four-month suspended sentence and fined 100,000 dirhams ($11,000). They were accused of publishing false information and photographs of members of the royal family without their consent.
Iran Jews criticize premier for Holocaust denial
TEHRAN - The head of Iran's Jewish community has criticized President Mahmud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust, in a letter posted on several Websites on February 13. "How could one close his eyes to all the undeniable evidence of the expulsion and massacre of Jews in Europe and World War II," the head of the community, Harun Yashayai, said in the letter to Ahmadinejad. "Challenging one of the most obvious and devastating events of the twentieth century has astounded the world and frightened Iran's small Jewish community," he said in the letter reportedly sent to Ahmadinejad on January 26.
Egypt warns of 'clash of civilizations'
CAIRO - Egypt's foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on February 13 "We are witnessing the early signs of a campaign and a clash between the West and Islam," over the international uproar about cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, adding, "It is therefore important and necessary that whoever believes in dialogue, peace, understanding and peaceful coexistence takes steps to contain the situation." Abul Gheit was speaking at a Middle East security conference co-sponsored with NATO.
US worries over terror in Sahara
RABAT - The US is concerned about the risk of terrorist activities by Al Qaeda in the Sahara region, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told a Moroccan newspaper. Rumsfeld arrived on February 12 in Rabat for a two-day visit to Morocco as part of his tour of the North African region. "We and our partners in North Africa remain concerned about the ability of violent extremists to operate in the Sahara," he told the official Assahra Al Maghribia newspaper. Rumsfeld said that Al Qaeda and its affiliates seek out remote areas "where the rule of law is difficult to enforce as they seek to set up new bases of operations".
Israeli parachutist alert false alarm
HALHOUL, West Bank - The reported disappearance of an Israeli civilian parachutist near the Palestinian village of Halhoul near the city of Hebron that prompted a search with helicopters and aircraft was a false alarm, an army spokesman said on February 12. "We found nothing and no parachutist has been reported missing. It is possible that a large plastic bag carried by the wind gave rise to this rumor," said an Israeli army spokesman. Two Apache helicopters and an F16 fighter plane took part in the search along with dozens of ground troops.
Egypt frees last Sudanese protestors
CAIRO - Egypt said on February 12 that it had freed the last 156 Sudanese who had been detained and threatened with expulsion after police brutally broke up a Cairo sit-in demanding resettlement. The foreign ministry said in a statement that the Sudanese in the last batch to be released were not entitled to refugee status and were technically considered illegal immigrants in Egypt. "But because the authorities care about their situation and want to keep those families united, it has been decided they would not be expelled," the statement said.
Seven detained in pro-Kurdish rallies in Turkey
ISTANBUL - Turkish police on February 12 detained seven people when demonstrations calling for the release of jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan turned violent in Istanbul and Antalya. In Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city, demonstrators in a group of about 250 pelted police with Molotov cocktails and stones in the Gaziosmanpasa district, Anatolia news agency said. In the southern city of Antalya Ocalan supporters also clashed with the police and two people were arrested.
Military delays bomb buster
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon says that a new high-tech robotic vehicle that destroys roadside bombs needs further testing before it can be sent into battle. The remote-controlled vehicle, called the Joint IED Neutralizer, blows up roadside bombs, known as improvised explosive devices, with a directed electrical charge. Critics say that Pentagon bureaucracy is slowing deployment of the vehicle and costing lives. More than 50 percent of US combat deaths in Iraq have been caused by roadside bombs, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Afghan police seize 700 homemade bombs
KABUL - Afghan police seized on February 12 about 700 homemade bombs being smuggled into Afghanistan from Pakistan and hidden in orange crates, the government said. A range of wires and fuses were also found among the improvised explosive devices discovered in eastern Kunar province on the border with Pakistan, the interior ministry said. One person was arrested, a ministry spokesman said.
UAE jails 12 men over 'gay wedding'
DUBAI - A United Arab Emirates (UAE) court has jailed 12 men who were arrested after being discovered preparing for a gay wedding but acquitted another 14 defendants, an official said on February 12. "Eleven men have confessed to practicing homosexuality. They were sentenced to five years in prison [for homosexuality] and one year for obscenity," the official said. "Another man was sentenced to one year in prison for obscenity, but was acquitted of homosexuality charges ... while 14 others have been released after being found not guilty," he added.
Algerian newsmen face jail over cartoons
ALGIERS - The managing editors of two Algerian weekly newspapers are in detention and face trial for re-publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, press reports said on February 12. Berkane Bouderbala of the weekly Essafir was reportedly jailed on February 11 and Kamel Boussad of the Panorama weekly on February 9, both at Algiers' Serkadji prison. The two men face up to five years in prison, and both publications have been suspended.
Kidnapped Iranian female pilgrims found
BAGHDAD - Three female Iranian pilgrims who were kidnapped in Iraq last week along with a group of male pilgrims have been found safe and sound, officials said on February 12. The three women were found in good health by an Iraqi army patrol 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of SADDAM HUSSEIN'S hometown of Tikrit where they had been left by their kidnappers, the governor of Salaheddin province Hamad Mahmoud Al Shigti said. But there was no sign of the kidnapped eight male Iranian pilgrims.
Iraqi detainee killed by fellow inmates
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi prisoner in the notorious US detention facility of Abu Ghraib has died after being beaten by fellow inmates, the US military said on February 12. The 53-year-old male detainee stopped breathing on February 11 "as a result of complications from an assault by an unknown number of detainees", it said in a statement. There are 10,000 Iraqis in US custody.
Former Kurdish leader killed in Iraq
ANKARA - A former leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Faysal Dunlayici, was killed in a bomb attack on February 10 near Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported on February 11. Dunlayici, who spent several years in German prisons in the 1990s for attacks against Turkish targets there, was the European spokesman for the Turkish-based PKK.
20 killed in Sudan military plane crash
KHARTOUM - A Sudanese military plane blew up when it crash-landed in the south of the country on February 11, killing 20 people on board, a military official told reporters. The Antonov plane spun off the runway and exploded after one of its tires burst upon landing in the town of Aweil in Bahr Al Ghazal province. Antonov is a Ukrainian state-owned company.
Four mountaineers killed in Turkish avalanche
ANKARA - An avalanche killed four Turkish mountaineers when it struck their coach on a mountain road in southern Turkey on February 11, the Anatolia news agency reported. The coach was carrying 14 members of a mountaineering club from Ankara's Hacettepe University who were heading to climb the 3,756-meter (12,300-foot) peak Demirkazik in the southern province of Nigde, the agency said.
Woman hurt in dynamite attack in Beirut
BEIRUT - A female passerby was slightly hurt in an explosion on February 11 after someone threw a stick of dynamite at a car driven by a Syrian driver in the Lebanese capital, a security source said. "Unknown people in a passing car threw a stick of dynamite at a car belonging to Syrian Kassem Ali Fares," the source said. Pedestrian Fatma Khalaf was lightly injured and taken to hospital. The source gave no details about Fares or why his car had been targeted.
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