W O R L D

Noose tightens around Assad
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain recall envoys from Damascus
Amman, August 8
President Bashar al-Assad extended a tank onslaught in Syria’s Sunni Muslim tribal heartland today, residents said, in a crackdown on dissent that prompted an extraordinary warning from Saudi Arabia that he should stop the violence or risk defeat.

People take part in an Amnesty International demonstration in solidarity with Syria’s protesters in Berlin. — Reuters

Riots spread in London Questions raised over security of 2012 Olympics London, August 8 The British capital continued to smoulder under a series of “copycat” riots that engulfed the city for a second day, with looting and arson reported in new areas, just miles from the site of next year’s Olympic Games, prompting authorities to arrest as many as 160 people. Pedestrians stand near a broken window outside a McDonalds restaurant after overnight looting in Brixton, south London, on Monday. — Reuters

Taliban had lured Chinook into trap
Puli Alam, August 8
The Taliban lured US forces into an elaborate trap to shoot down their helicopter killing 30 American troops in the deadliest such incident of the war, an Afghan official said today.

‘The White Mouse’, WW II spy, is dead Sydney, August 8 Nancy Wake, a much-decorated World War II spy and known as “The White Mouse” for her ability to remain undetected, and who at one point was the Gestapo’s most wanted person, has died in London at the age of 98. Born in New Zealand, Wake moved to Australia as a toddler, where she was raised. Nancy Wake

B’desh former PM Khaleda Zia booked for graft
Dhaka, August 8
A top Bangladeshi anti-graft panel today filed a corruption case against former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, soon after a special court issued an arrest warrant against her fugitive eldest son for allegedly laundering $2.73 million received as bribes.

Noose tightens around Assad
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain recall envoys from Damascus

Amman, August 8
President Bashar al-Assad extended a tank onslaught in Syria’s Sunni Muslim tribal heartland today, residents said, in a crackdown on dissent that prompted an extraordinary warning from Saudi Arabia that he should stop the violence or risk defeat.

King Abdullah broke Arab silence after the bloodiest week of the almost five-month uprising for more political freedoms in Syria, demanding an end to the bloodshed and recalling the Saudi ambassador from Damascus. Hours later Kuwait and Bahrain recalled their envoys too.

The steps by Gulf Arab states who watched the unrest mutely but nervously for months deepened Assad’s international isolation. Western nations have imposed sanctions on his top officials while countries with close ties to Damascus such as Russia and Turkey have warned Assad he is running out of time.

The Saudi criticism was the sharpest the oil giant has directed against any fellow Arab state since pro-democracy uprisings began to sweep across the Middle East in January, toppling autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt, kindling civil war in Libya and rattling entrenched elites throughout the region.

“What is happening in Syria is not acceptable for Saudi Arabia,” Abdullah said in a written statement read out on Al Arabiya satellite television.

“Syria should think wisely before it’s too late and issue and enact reforms that are not merely promises but actual reforms,” said the Saudi king, an absolute ruler whose country has no elected parliament. “Either it chooses wisdom on its own or it will be pulled down into the depths of turmoil and loss.”

Syrian tanks and troops poured into the eastern Sunni city of Deir al-Zor in the latest stage of a campaign to crush centres of protest against 41 years of repressive rule by the Assad family and domination by his Alawite minority community.

“Armoured vehicles are shelling the al-Hawiqa district heavily with their guns. Private hospitals are closed and people are afraid to send the wounded to state facilities because they are infested with secret police,” Mohammad, a Deir al-Zor resident who did not want to give his full name.

He said at least 65 persons had been killed since tanks and armoured vehicles barrelled into the provincial capital, 400 km northeast of Damascus, on Sunday, crumpling makeshift barricades and opening fire.

The assault on Deir al-Zor, in an oil-producing province bordering Iraq, took place a week after tanks stormed Hama, where residents say scores have been killed.

The Arab League called for an end to the bloodshed. But its chief said on Monday it would use persuasion rather than “drastic measures” to resolve the conflict, while Kuwait ruled out military action against Assad. — Reuters

Riots spread in London
Questions raised over security of 2012 Olympics

London, August 8
The British capital continued to smoulder under a series of “copycat” riots that engulfed the city for a second day, with looting and arson reported in new areas, just miles from the site of next year’s Olympic Games, prompting authorities to arrest as many as 160 people.

Groups of masked youth looted shops, attacked police officers and set fire to vehicles in raging violence, sparked by the killing of a youth in police shooting in Tottenham, raising questions over security of the 2012 Games.

The London police launched a massive investigation into what they described as “copycat criminal” violence, as Home Secretary Theresa May rushed back from her summer holiday. She warned that those responsible “will be made to face the consequences of their actions”.

Irate mobs looted a giant electrical retail store in the black-dominated southern area of Brixton as violence was reported in several boroughs in north, south and east London following earlier trouble in Tottenham in the north.

Even the posh Oxford Circus at the heart of the city’s tourist area also reported sporadic violence.

The looting across London was carried out by “small and mobile groups”, the Scotland Yard said.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanag admitted on Radio 4 that there were too few officers in Tottenham on Saturday night. But he blamed Twitter for fueling looting and violence.

“Social media and other methods have been used to organise these level of greed and criminality,” he added.

Scotland Yard said nine officers were injured, including three who were hospitalised after being hit by a fast moving vehicle.

The police said 16 persons have been charged with offences including burglary, theft and violent disorder.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has launched an inquiry into the shooting. — PTI

Taliban had lured Chinook into trap

Puli Alam, August 8
The Taliban lured US forces into an elaborate trap to shoot down their helicopter killing 30 American troops in the deadliest such incident of the war, an Afghan official said today.

The senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity that a Taliban commander, Qari Tahir, lured US forces to the scene by tipping them off that a Taliban meeting was taking place. He also said four Pakistanis helped Tahir carry out the strike.

“Now it’s confirmed that the helicopter was shot down and it was a trap that was set by a Taliban commander,” said the official, citing intelligence gathered from the area. “The Taliban knew which route the helicopter would take,” he added.

“That’s the only route, so they took position on the either side of the valley on mountains and as the helicopter approached, they attacked it with rockets and other modern weapons. It was brought down by multiple shots.”

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss the issue, also said President Hamid Karzai’s US-backed government “thinks this was a retaliation attack for the killing of Osama bin Laden.”

The Taliban themselves did not make such an assertion on claiming responsibility for the attack, which took place in the Taliban-infested Sayd Abad district of Wardak province, just southwest of Kabul.

A total of 38 persons - 30 US troops, seven Afghan commandos and an interpreter - were killed when their Chinook came down during an anti-Taliban operation on Friday.

The crash marked the biggest single loss of life for American and NATO forces since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Taliban in late 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks.

US media has reported that the dead included members of the Navy’s Seal Team Six, the secretive unit behind the daring raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan in May. US administration sources interviewed by AFP said the casualties did not include anyone who took part in the bin Laden raid on May 2. — AFP

UK soldier ‘chopped fingers off dead Taliban for souvenirs’

London: A British soldier fighting in Afghanistan has been accused of chopping off the fingers of dead Taliban fighters, which he then kept as ‘macabre’ souvenirs. The squaddie, from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, is said to have carried out the horrific ritual during the battalion’s last tour which ended in April, the Daily Mail reported. The Ministry of Defence, which is probing the allegations, would not be drawn on whether the soldier in question had been suspended pending the investigation’s findings. — PTI

‘The White Mouse’, WW II spy, is dead

Sydney, August 8
Nancy Wake, a much-decorated World War II spy and known as “The White Mouse” for her ability to remain undetected, and who at one point was the Gestapo’s most wanted person, has died in London at the age of 98.

Born in New Zealand, Wake moved to Australia as a toddler, where she was raised. After a brief stint as a nurse, she worked as a journalist in Europe and married a French businessman, Henri Fiocca, in 1939.

Trapped in France when the Nazis invaded, the dark-haired Wake soon became a Resistance courier and later a saboteur and spy. Betrayed, she escaped to London, but her husband was tortured and killed by the Gestapo.

She later parachuted back into France and became a liaison between London and local Resistance groups. “In my opinion, the only good German was a dead German, and the deader, the better,” she said in an interview in her later years. “I’m only sorry I didn’t kill more.”

Her lengthy resume of awards included Britain’s George Medal, the US Medal of Freedom and the Croix de Guerre from France. In 2004 she was made Companion of the Order of Australia. — Reuters

B’desh former PM Khaleda Zia booked for graft

Dhaka, August 8
A top Bangladeshi anti-graft panel today filed a corruption case against former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, soon after a special court issued an arrest warrant against her fugitive eldest son for allegedly laundering $2.73 million received as bribes.

"We have filed the case against Begum Khaleda Zia and the three others for misappropriating nearly Taka 8 crore, misusing their official status," Harun-ur-Rashid, assistant director of the Anti- Corruption Commission said.

He said initial investigations found that Zia, her former political secretary Harris Chowdhury and two other junior aides misappropriated the amount in the name of Zia Charitable Trust when Zia headed a BNP-led overnment during 2001-2006. — PTI