Ankara—A small group of
Kurdish rebels crossed into Turkey from northern
Iraq unarmed on Monday in a show of support for
the Turkish government’s plans for peace.
Thirty-four Kurds walked across the
Iraqi-Turkish Habur border gate, where
authorities set up tents. The group were
immediately detained by paramilitary police for
questioning, the state-run Anatolia news agency
reported. The group includes eight rebels the
rest are noncombatants, including women and
children. Kurds in northern Iraq celebrated with
music and beat drums as the group left from a
refugee camp in a convoy, Turkey’s Anatolia news
agency reported.
Khartoum—Two female aid workers arrived in
Khartoum on Monday exhausted and eager to go
home after surviving nightmare experiences such
as mock executions during 107 days of gruelling
captivity in Darfur. A gang of armed men
kidnapped Irishwoman Sharon Commins, 33, and
Ugandan Hilda Kawuki, 42, on July 3 from a
compound run by Irish relief group GOAL in the
North Darfur town of Kutum. “We are very happy
to be here,” Commins said as she walked on the
tarmac of Khartoum airport.
Dhaka—Bangladesh has launched a massive hunt
for nabbing some members of two Indian insurgent
organisations, United Liberation Front of Assam
(ULFA), and Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO)
including its chief DK Roy.
Kabul—The Afghan electoral crisis intensified
Monday as officials responsible for declaring
final results from the August presidential
ballot refused to accept findings of a
U.N.-backed investigative panel that would force
a runoff, those involved in the process said.
The Electoral Complaints Commission completed
its investigation last week into allegations of
ballot-stuffing and intimidation in the Aug. 20
vote. Two international officials who have seen
the results said enough votes for President
Hamid Karzai were thrown out that his totals
dropped below the 50 percent threshold needed to
avoid a runoff with top challenger Abdullah
Abdullah.
THE Nobel Committee again piqued the interest of
those who marvel at the impact of an annual
ritual of global branding that in 1973 labeled
Henry Kissinger a peace laureate! As with many
aspects of unconventional warfare, what emerges
in the foreground often obscures behaviour that
remains concealed in the background. Anyone
paying attention knows that pro-Israelis
manipulated the intelligence that induced the US
to invade Iraq. That same source is now hoping
to expand this war to Iran without being
detected.
