Tunisia's ex-strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison for complicity in the murders of 43 protesters in the 2011 revolution. Hedi Ayari, a judge from the Tunis military court, said Ben Ali was judged with around 40 of his former officials. General Ali Seriati, ex-head of presidential security, was given a 20-year prison term, AP reports. Former interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem got 15 years. The case against Ahmed Friaa, another former interior minister, was dismissed. Families of the victims said the sentences for Seriati and Kacem were too lenient.
Hundreds flee Damascus as violence grows
Residents flee Syrian capital Damascus after Wednesday’s bombing that targeted the country’s top defense officials. The military gave residents 48 hours to leave violence-afflicted areas between security forces and rebels pushing their “Damascus Volcano” offensive. “These extremely violent clashes should continue in the next 48 hours to cleanse Damascus of terrorists by the time Ramadan begins” on Friday, a security source told AFP. Hundreds of people were on the move in the western district of Mazzeh alone, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said.
Iran foreign ministry condemns ‘terrorist acts’ after Bulgaria attack
Tehran on Thursday strongly condemned “all terrorist acts” after a suicide bombing in Bulgaria killed six people, including five Israelis. “The Islamic republic, the biggest victim of terrorism, believes terrorism… is inhumane and so strongly condemns” it, TV channel Al-Alam cited foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying. “Iran's position is to condemn all terrorist acts in the world,” he added. Israel had accused Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah of being behind the deadly attack in Bulgaria.
Israel to block Syrian refugees – defense minister
Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak has warned that his country will stop Syrian refugees from entering the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights if they try to flee there. Barak on Thursday was touring the area, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. “If we have to stop waves of refugees we will stop them,” AP quoted him as saying. Pro-Palestinian protesters tried to enter the territory from Syria twice in 2011. Israel is concerned about the deteriorating situation in Syria.
UN Syria mission irrelevant without peace process - chief monitor
The chief UN observer in Syria has warned his mission is irrelevant without a political process seeking to end the conflict. Maj. Gen. Robert Mood said in Damascus on Thursday that “we are not on the track for peace.” He cited intense fighting in and near the capital this week, AP reports. A rebel bomb attack on Wednesday killed the defense minister, his deputy and a former defense minister. The monitoring mission expires on Friday, and the UN Security Council is to vote on Thursday on whether to renew it.
Indian legislators begin selection of next president
Thousands of national and state legislators in India began selecting India's next president on Thursday. The largely ceremonial role is expected to go to the governing Congress Party's former finance minister. Pranab Mukherjee has traveled the country to shore up support among the 4,896-member electoral college, AP said. The opposition candidate is the former parliamentary speaker Purno Agitok Sangma. Results of the vote are expected on Sunday. Mukherjee, 76, has served at different times as foreign minister, defense minister and finance minister.
Suspected Burgas attacker Michigan ID fake – Bulgarian PM
A Michigan license carried by the suspected suicide attacker in the bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists was a fake, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said on Thursday. “We worked on this with colleagues from the FBI and CIA,” the PM said as cited by AP. “They said that there is no such person in their database.” He did not release a name of the suspect in the attack at the airport in the Black Sea resort city of Burgas on Wednesday. Officials also lowered the death toll to seven, including the suspected bomber, after mistakenly reporting that someone had died overnight.
Syrian opposition, government sources differ on Assad’s whereabouts
The whereabouts of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remained unclear on Thursday morning. Conflicting reports started to emerge after Wednesday’s deadly blast in Damascus that hit the country’s top brass. Syrian opposition sources and a Western diplomat said Assad has left the capital and is in the coastal city of Latakia. But the Lebanon daily As-Safir cited official Syrian sources as saying that Assad was in his Damascus office and proceeding with work as usual. The president has not made a public appearance since Wednesday's bombing, which killed his brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and two other key defense officials.
Mufti injured, his deputy killed in Tatarstan attacks
Tatarstan’s Mufti Ildus Faizov has been injured in an attack on his car in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan. The mufti's car was blown up at the intersection of Musin Street and Chetayev Street in the republic’s capital, Kazan, Rishat Khamidullin, the head of the Tatarstan Muslim Board secretariat, told Interfax on Thursday. The Emergency Situations Ministry for Tatarstan confirmed that an SUV believed to be carrying Faizov burst into flames at the intersection. Valiulla Khazrat Yakupov – Faizov’s deputy and head of the Tatarstan Muslim Board educational department – was killed in a separate attack. Yakupov was reportedly gunned down when he was coming out of his home on Thursday morning.
China has 538 million Internet users – report
China's online population has risen to 538 million people, a report released by the China Internet Network Information Center on Thursday shows. The number of Internet users is up 11 per cent in comparison with the same time last year. The quantity of users who go online from mobile phones and other wireless devices rose to 388 million, AP said. This figure is up 22 per cent from a year earlier.
British PM says Syrian president must step down
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said Syria's president must step down following the escalation of violence and bombings in Damascus. It is time for Bashar Assad “to go” and transition his regime, otherwise civil war is inevitable, Cameron said. The premier made the call in Kabul on Thursday, where he is meeting with the Afghan president and Pakistani prime minister to discuss the war in Afghanistan, AP reports. Cameron also appealed to Russia and China to support a new UN resolution on Syria. The draft document is tied to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which could eventually allow the use of force to end the conflict.
Bulgaria bombing suspect ‘had driver's license from Michigan’ – official
A bombing that killed eight people and injured dozens more on a bus full of Israeli tourists on Wednesday was most likely a suicide attack, Bulgaria's interior minister said on Thursday. Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the suspected attacker was carrying a driver's license issued in Michigan. The suspect appeared within view of a security camera near the bus for almost an entire hour before the attack took place in the Black Sea city of Burgas. The death toll has risen to eight, as the Bulgarian driver of the bus died in the hospital, AP said. Six of the victims are Israeli citizens, while the nationality of the suicide bomber remains unknown. Iran's state TV on Thursday rejected accusations of Tehran's involvement in the attack.
Brussels and Washington ready for new Iran sanctions - report
The US and EU are in discussions over the possibility of placing another round of sanctions on Iran, a senior US official told the Jerusalem Post. “There is quite a list of additional measures that can be taken,” he told reporters after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Israel. Both the US and Israel are insistent that Tehran’s nuclear program must be halted, and that sanctions are the preferred strategy to achieve this aim. “There is still time for diplomacy to work if Iran will respond to pressure,” he added. The US, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany have held three rounds of P5+1 talks with Iran in recent months, which to date have not yielded results.
More than 30 die as ferry sinks in Indian Ocean
At least 31 people have died after a ferry with over 250 passengers capsized off the coast of the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar in East Africa. Officials claim 145 people were rescued, but the death toll is expected to rise as many passengers are unaccounted for. Those injured were taken to hospital, and the rescue effort is ongoing.
Stolen Matisse recovered by FBI
Undercover FBI agents have recovered an Henri Matisse painting with an estimated value of $3 million. The French painter’s masterpiece “Odalisque in Red Pants” was stolen from the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art and replaced with a fake in its original frame over a decade ago. The “Odalisque in Red Pants,” painted in 1925, was purchased in 1981 from a New York gallery by the Venezuelan museum for $480,000. The FBI apprehended a man and a woman after they tried to broker a deal to undercover federal agents posing as art collectors at the Loews Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. Identified as Antonio Marcuello Guzman and Maria Martha Elisa Ornelas Lazo, the pair tried to sell the masterpiece for $740,000.The Bureau has not yet revealed whether the couple have been implicated in the theft of the work.
UK police charge three men of Pakistan terror training
British police have charged three men with traveling to Pakistan to train for terrorist activity. Richard Dart, Imran Mahmood and Jahangir Alom travelled to Pakistan between 2010 and 2012 "with the intention of committing acts of terrorism or assisting another to commit such acts," Scotland Yard said. Another person, Ruksana Begum, was charged with having material likely to be of use for terrorism, AP reports. The case is not thought to be related to the upcoming Olympic Games in London.
Egyptian police arrest 14 protesters near Syrian embassy
Egyptian police fired tear gas at demonstrators who attempted to storm the Syrian embassy in Cairo. At least 14 people were detained, according to police. Witnesses say clashes began after protesters threw rocks at police and tried to remove the embassy’s flag. Earlier in February, Syrian protesters stormed the embassy, vandalizing it and setting its first floor on fire.
US can defeat any Iranian attempt to block Hormuz - Panetta
The United States has the military capacity to defeat any Iranian attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday. "We've invested in capabilities to ensure that the Iranian attempt to close down shipping in the Gulf is something that we are going to be able to defeat, if they make a decision to do that," he said. The statement comes after a US Navy ship opened fire at a small boat in the Gulf, killing one civilian on Monday. Tehran has recently renewed threats to block the Strait in retaliation for tighter international sanctions over its controversial nuclear program. The US has pledged to keep the strategic oil lane open, and recently boosted its naval presence in the Gulf, dispatching additional minesweepers, another aircraft carrier and other warships to the area.
Obama condemns 'barbaric terrorist attack' on Israelis in Bulgaria
US President Barack Obama has condemned a deadly terrorist attack on an airport shuttle bus in Burgas, Bulgaria. At least six people have been killed, and 32 hospitalized; some of them in critical condition as a result of the blast. “These attacks against innocent civilians, including children, are completely outrageous,” he said. Obama has promised that the US will stand with its allies and provide “whatever assistance is necessary” to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the
At least 24 dead as ferry sinks off Tanzania coast
A ferry carrying 280 people sank in rough waters near the island of Zanzibar. 24 bodies have been recovered, but more than 140 people are still unaccounted for. There are two Europeans among the dead.
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