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Truce quietens streets in Cairo, army apologises
Lanka will act on evidence of atrocities by troops
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2 killed ahead of Arab League meet on Syria
Sino-Pak security cooperation no threat to any country: Kayani
Yemen gunmen kill five in Sanaa, 17 dead in south
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Truce quietens streets in Cairo, army apologises Cairo, November 24 Egypt's ruling military council, which has vowed to start parliamentary elections as scheduled on Monday, said it was doing all it could to "prevent the repetition of these events". In a statement, it apologised, offered condolences and compensation to families of the dead, and promised a swift investigation into who was behind the unrest. Demonstrators in Tahrir said the truce had taken hold from midnight. At dawn, the area was quiet for the first time in days. A group barring a street leading to the Interior Ministry, flashpoint for much of the violence, was guarding a barricade made of a broken metal fence, a telephone booth laid on its side and part of a lamp post. At the other end of the street, littered with shattered glass, lumps of concrete and heaps of rubbish, at least two army armoured personnel carriers blocked the route. Lines of Tahrir protesters manned similar barriers to block access to Mohamed Mahmoud Street, scene of repeated fighting. The sustained protests in Cairo and some other cities pose the gravest challenge to Egypt's army rulers since the council led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi took over from Hosni Mubarak, overthrown on February 11 by a popular uprising. The demonstrations appear to have polarised Egyptians, many of whom worry that unrest will prolong economic stagnation that has deepened the poverty of millions. A few streets from Tahrir, Egyptians went to and from work as normal. A banner in Tahrir read: "The marshal and the police want to ignite the country. The people want to topple the marshal." The thousands who thronged the square were undeterred in their determination to rid Egypt of army rule. "He goes, we won't," declared another banner referring to Tantawi. Al Jazeera television said Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawy had proposed to the military council that it postpone the election. It was not immediately possible to verify the report. "So far, elections are on schedule, but this could change if the truce falls apart," a security source said. — Reuters Uneasy times Truce near the Interior Ministry building takes hold from midnight Tahrir protesters stay on, army offers condolences Start of election hangs in balance Voting starts abroad Kuwait: Egyptian expatriates have begun voting in Egypt's parliamentary election, despite confusion over procedures and doubt over whether voting will start in their homeland o as planned. An electoral official said voting at embassies abroad had started on Wednesday. — Reuters
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Lanka will act on evidence of atrocities by troops
Colombo, November 24 Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa's comments come as President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his elder brother, prepares to make public next month the findings of a commission that probed the end of the separatist war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which Sri Lanka won in May 2009. Sri Lanka is facing Western calls for an external investigation. But the United States, India and other countries have said credible action based on the findings of the local inquiry, along with political concessions to minorities including Tamils, would obviate the need for an outside probe. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the decorated veteran infantry officer who engineered the final campaign to destroy the LTTE, said the government would act on the findings of the local panel, the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission. — Reuters
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2 killed ahead of Arab League meet on Syria Nicosia, November 24 The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a sniper killed a man in the Bayyada area of the flashpoint central city of Homs, where security forces shot dead another civilian during a raid in Karm el-Zeitoun district. It said heavy machinegun fire blasted the city of Rastan following a one-hour clash early today between soldiers and army defectors. Today, six children and five mutinous soldiers were among 34 people killed across Syria, according to the Britain-based group. Ahead of Arab League meeting in Cairo, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Adnan Mansur said Beirut would not endorse potential sanctions against Syria. — AFP France intervenes France will seek Arab support for a humanitarian corridor in Syria, the first time a major power is pushing for international intervention in the eight-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who first floated the proposal for humanitarian intervention, said he would propose it to a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers gathering. — Reuters
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Sino-Pak security cooperation no threat to any country: Kayani Islamabad, November 24 Pakistan-China relations were "purely strategic" and not aimed against any country, Kayani told a news briefing at the conclusion of the two-week-long YouYi-IV joint military exercise near Jhelum in Punjab province. The YouYi (Friendship) exercise will strengthen strategic relations between Pakistan and China, Kayani said. Ties between the armies of the two countries were not based on aggression against any particular country, he added. Back in New Delhi, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai in his recent address at the National Defence College had talked of media reports about the developments in Pakistan's nuclear and missile programmes. "The close military and strategic ties between China and Pakistan impacts on our security environment," he had said. — PTI
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Yemen gunmen kill five in Sanaa, 17 dead in south Sanaa, November 24 If the deal goes according to plan, Saleh will become the fourth Arab ruler brought down by mass demonstrations that have reshaped the political landscape of the Middle East. "We were marching on Zubayr street demanding Saleh and his followers be tried when we were attacked by armed men in civilian clothes who opened fire on us directly," a protester told Reuters. The deal, brokered by Yemen's wealthier Gulf neighours, granted Saleh and his relatives immunity from prosecution. The latest bloodshed in Sanaa, which witnesses blamed on Saleh loyalists, underscored the volatility of the impoverished country which 10 months of street demonstrations aimed at toppling the leader have brought to the brink of civil war. Thursday's shooting followed street clashes between Saleh's foes, once united in protest against him and inspired by the example of revolts in Tunisia, Egypt and then Libya. — Reuters
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on Thursday succeeded in calming violence that has killed 39 people in five days, but demonstrators occupying Cairo's Tahrir Square vowed to stay until the army gives up power.
Pakistan's army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today said the Sino-Pak security cooperation should not be perceived as a threat to any country, a statement that comes closely after India said the "close military and strategic ties" impacts its security environment.
Gunmen killed at least five people protesting against a deal to end the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh in the Yemeni capital on Thursday, a day after the president bowed to popular pressure and agreed to step down.
