Egypt: 23 killed in feud between families
LUXOR, Egypt – A bloody feud in southern Egypt between an Arab clan and a Nubian family killed at least 23 people in two days of fighting, leaving bodies strewn on hospital floors and homes torched in its wake, government officials and witnesses said Saturday.
An Interior Ministry statement said the fighting in Aswan province erupted over the harassment of a girl, and students from the two sides later sprayed offensive graffiti at a local school.
Vendetta killings are common in southern Egypt, where perceived violations of honor often spark violence, but this violence apparently raged while security forces did nothing to stop it.
Guinea: Crowd attacks Ebola treatment center
CONAKRY, Guinea – A crowd angry about an Ebola outbreak that has killed 86 people across Guinea attacked a center where victims were being held in isolation, prompting an international aid group to temporarily evacuate its team, officials said Saturday.
The violence took place in the southern town of Macenta, where at least 14 people have died since the outbreak emerged last month. The mob descending upon the clinic accused Doctors Without Borders health workers of bringing Ebola to Guinea, where there had never previously been any cases.
Some young people threw rocks at the aid workers, though no one was seriously hurt, said Sam Taylor, a spokesman for Doctors Without Borders.
UN top chief visits Central African Republic
BANGUI, Central African Republic – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon vowed Saturday the world would not forget Central African Republic, as he visited the country wracked by sectarian violence that has left thousands dead and forced most of the nation’s Muslims to flee.
Ban’s visit – his first since the bloodshed erupted in December – came just before he goes on to Rwanda to mark the 20th anniversary of the genocide there.
“The international community failed the people of Rwanda 20 years ago. And we are at risk of not doing enough for the people of the CAR today,” Ban told members of a transitional council tasked with preparing the country for elections by February 2015.
Explosions, clashes kill 21 soldiers in Iraq
BAGHDAD – An explosion at a booby-trapped house, ensuing clashes with militants and roadside bombings killed 21 soldiers Saturday in Iraq, authorities said.
Violence has been escalating in Iraq. Last year, Iraq saw its highest death toll since the worst of the country’s sectarian bloodletting began to subside in 2007, according to United Nations figures.
The country will hold its first parliamentary elections since the withdrawal of U.S. troops on April 30.
Al-Qaida calls for Syria arbitration over killing
CAIRO – Al-Qaida’s leader called on fighters to determine who killed his chief representative in Syria, a man many militant groups believe died at the hands of a rival militia, in a move highlighting a conflict between rebels that has killed hundreds.
In a thinly veiled criticism of the breakaway Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant organization, Ayman al-Zawahri called the killing of Abu Khaled al-Suri an act of “sedition” that should be handled in accordance with Islamic law.
Al-Suri was killed Feb. 23, when two suicide bombers blew themselves up inside the militant leader’s compound in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.
Hagel: U.S. committed to protecting Japan
YOKOTA AIR FORCE BASE, Japan – Against the backdrop of Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimean region, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday he will convey to Japanese leaders the U.S. is strongly committed to protecting their country’s security.
He said it is understandable that countries are concerned by the unfolding events in Ukraine, where Russian troops remain massed along the border. The issue reverberates in Asia, where China, Japan and others are in bitter territorial disputes, including over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
“I think anytime you have a nation – Russia in this case – try to impose its will to refine and define international boundaries and violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a nation by force, all of the world takes note of that,” Hagel told reporters traveling with him to Tokyo.
Associated Press
