ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Ali Arshad Hakeem has declared war on some of Pakistan’s worst offenders. And they are not the Islamist militants blamed for so many of the country’s woes.
Somalia wants Ugandan troops to remain
KAMPALA/MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s prime minister said on Saturday that it could be a challenge for his country if Uganda followed through on a threat to withdraw troops fighting Islamist rebels in southern Somalia.
EU considers sending 200 troops to train Mali army
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is considering sending about 200 troops to train Mali’s army to retake the Islamist-held north, but is not willing to deploy them in battle, EU officials said on Tuesday.
Two militant suspects killed in police raid on Kenyan coast
MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) – Kenyan police shot dead a Muslim cleric suspected of ties to Somalia’s al Shabaab militants in the city of Mombasa on Sunday, the latest in a string of raids against alleged sympathizers of the Islamist militants along the east African coast.
Tunisia jails Salafist leader in U.S. embassy attack for one year
Tunis (Reuters) – A Tunisian court on Wednesday sentenced a leader of radical Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia to one year in prison for inciting an attack on the U.S. embassy in Tunis last month in which four people were killed.
Damascus car blast kills six despite proposed ceasefire (PHOTOS)
A wreckage of burnt cars following a bomb explosion in the neighbourhood of Daf al-Shuk in southern Damascus on October 24, 2012. (AFP Photo)
A car blast has struck southern Damascus, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more. It comes shortly after the UN peace envoy announced that the Syrian government and “most” rebel commanders had agreed on a truce during a Muslim holiday.
A car stuffed with explosives went off in the Damascus suburb of Daf al-Shouk late Wednesday, killing six people and injuring 20, Syrian state TV reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, however, reported that at least eight people had been killed as “a car bomb hit the area between Tadamun and Daf al-Shouk, targeting a vehicle carrying 24 passengers.”
Earlier in the day, UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi announced in Cairo that the Syrian government and “most” rebel commanders had reached an agreement on a ceasefire during the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins on Friday.
Although the Free Syrian Army, the main opposition group, has agreed to a truce, the Islamist Al-Nusra Front, which is held responsible for the majority of suicide bombings in Syrian cities, rejected the offer. “There is no truce between us and this transgressing regime that is shedding the blood of Muslims,” the group said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is expected to make a “final decision” on the proposed ceasefire on Thursday.
A wreckage of burnt cars following a bomb explosion in the neighbourhood of Daf al-Shuk in southern Damascus on October 24, 2012. (AFP Photo)
A wreckage of burnt cars following a bomb explosion in the neighbourhood of Daf al-Shuk in southern Damascus on October 24, 2012. (AFP Photo)
So Much For This Weekend’s Holiday Ceasefire in Syria
Today began with a rare bit of good news from civil war-torn Syria, with UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi announcing that that the Assad regime and opposition forces had agreed to a ceasefire during this weekend’s Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha. By this afternoon, however, the latest reports suggest that Syria’s foreign ministry is still studying the proposal and hasn’t made a final decision just yet. Given recent history, that means international observers and opposition forces aren’t exactly holding their breaths.
Here’s Reuters with the latest:
The [ministry's] statement threw Brahimi’s efforts to arrange a pause in the bloodshed in Syria into even more confusion, as divided rebel groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad gave mixed messages….
Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League special envoy, had crisscrossed the Middle East to push the warring factions and their international backers to agree to a truce during the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha— a mission that included talks with Assad in Damascus at the weekend.
It remains unclear whether the government’s delay will mean an end to the prospects of the holiday ceasefire, although it is starting to look that way. The al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group that says it has carried out several high-profile bomb attacks, said it would not be tricked into playing "filthy games." The main armed rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, meanwhile, took a slightly more measured stance, saying it would reciprocate any ceasefire observed by the government but nonetheless expressing serious doubt that Assad would ultimately sign on to the deal.
A previous ceasefire arranged last April between the government and opposition forces collapsed within days after both sides accused each other of breaking it. … Read More
