Karzai steps up Pakistan accusations
KABUL, Afghanistan – In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Hamid Karzai accused Pakistan of being behind a recent series of attacks and of blocking his government from striking a peace deal with the Taliban, the Afghan president’s office said Sunday.
Karzai routinely makes such accusations against Islamabad, but his tone in recent days has been particularly pointed and direct. They come after three attacks in five days in the capital Kabul, the latest coming Saturday when assailants fired machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at the country’s electoral commission ahead of next week’s general election.
He told Kerry on Saturday the attacks were complex in nature and stage-managed by “foreign intelligence agencies,” a reference to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. He also told Kerry he did not accept U.S. arguments it had no influence “over countries that support terrorism” and said the U.S.’s refusal to go after the Pakistani intelligence agency could further hurt its relations with Afghanistan.
U.S. officials confirmed the phone call took place but declined to comment on the conversation.
Ruling French Socialists headed for a drubbing
PARIS – French pollsters said the governing Socialists lost ground to the conservative right in municipal elections Sunday that are seen as a referendum on embattled President Francois Hollande and certain to lead to a government shakeup.
Estimates showed the anti-immigration far-right adding several towns to its victory bucket after a symbolic win in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont in last week’s first round.
The low participation rate, estimated at no more than 62 percent, was expected to break an all-time record.
The only good news for Hollande was solid indications by pollsters the crown jewel, Paris, would remain in its hands.
Brazil police push into Rio’s slums
RIO DE JANEIRO – More than 1,400 police officers and Brazilian marines rolled into a massive complex of slums near Rio de Janeiro’s international airport before dawn Sunday in the latest security push ahead of this year’s World Cup.
Not a shot was fired as the Mare complex of 15 slums became the latest impoverished area to see security forces move in to take control and try to push out heavily armed drug gangs ruling Rio’s shantytowns for decades.
In the coming days, Army soldiers will begin patrolling the virtually treeless, flat area of about 2 square miles in northern Rio hugging the main road to the airport and is home to about 130,000 people.
Security forces will eventually set up permanent posts in Mare as part of the “pacification” program that began in 2008 and is meant to secure Rio ahead of not the World Cup and also the 2016 Summer Olympics. Police have installed 37 such posts in recent years in an area covering 1.5 million people.
Sunday’s operation comes at a critical time for the security effort: In recent months, gangs have brazenly attacked police outposts in other shantytowns on orders from imprisoned gang leaders who want to stymie the spread of “pacified” slums. With each area policy occupy, gangs lose valuable territory for the manufacture and sale of drugs.
Egyptians to elect president in late May
CAIRO – Egypt’s presidential election will be held in late May, the electoral commission announced Sunday – finally – setting dates for the crucial vote widely expected to be won by the country’s former military chief who ousted an elected president last year.
The commission set the first round of voting for May 26 and 27, with results expected by June 5. If a second round is necessary, it will be held by mid-month, with results announced no later than June 26, the commission said.
The country’s powerful former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last summer, has announced his bid for office and is widely expected to win. His victory would restore a tradition of presidents from military backgrounds Egypt had for all but one year since 1952, when officers overthrew the monarchy and became the dominant force in politics.
Associated Press
