W O R L D

Gunman killed in shootout with French commandos
Toulouse, France, March 22
A 23-year-old gunman who said Al-Qaida inspired him to kill seven people in France died in a hail of bullets on Thursday as he scrambled out of a ground-floor window during a gunbattle with elite police commandos.

Members of the RAID special force leave the unit after the assault. — AFP

Clashes across Syria despite UN ceasefire call
Beirut, March 22
Clashes flared across Syria on Thursday, opposition activists said, a day after the UN Security Council had called on all sides to stop fighting and seek a negotiated settlement to the year-long uprising.

A wounded man being taken away after he was allegedly shot by a Syrian forces sniper. — AFP

Soldiers seize power in Mali
Bamako, March 22
Renegade Malian soldiers declared on state television on Thursday they had seized power in the West African state in protest at the government's failure to quell a nomad-led rebellion in the north.

100 years after, Titanic story lives on New York, March 22 Shipwrecks and maritime disasters have always captivated the public imagination and none more so than the luxury liner RMS Titanic, which sank on her maiden voyage one hundred years ago this year. 1,517 persons died in the Titanic tragedy in April 15, 1912

UN resolution: Sri Lanka puts up brave face
As the Sri Lankan government put up a brave face after a US-led resolution calling for an internationally assisted inquiry into alleged human rights violations in the country was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, the Indian High Commission in Colombo issued a statement to soften the impact of its decision.

Gunman killed in shootout with French commandos

Toulouse, France, March 22
A 23-year-old gunman who said Al-Qaida inspired him to kill seven people in France died in a hail of bullets on Thursday as he scrambled out of a ground-floor window during a gunbattle with elite police commandos.

Mohamed Merah, a Frenchman of Algerian origin, died from gunshot wounds at the end of a 30-hour standoff with police at his apartment in southern France and after confessing to killing three soldiers, three Jewish children and a rabbi.

He was firing at police as he jumped out of the window, Interior Minister Claude Gueant told reporters near the five-storeyed building, in a suburb of the southern city of Toulouse.

Two police commandos were injured in the operation — a dramatic climax to a siege which riveted the world after the killings shook France a month before a presidential election.

"At the moment when a video probe was sent into the bathroom, the killer came out of the bathroom, firing with extreme violence," Gueant said. "In the end, Mohamed Merah jumped from the window with his gun in his hand, continuing to fire. He was found dead on the ground."

Elite RAID commandos had been locked in a tense standoff since the early hours of Wednesday with Merah, periodically firing shots or deploying small explosives until mid-morning on Thursday to try and tire out the gunman so he could be captured. — Reuters

Clashes across Syria despite UN ceasefire call
Govt tanks shell Hama, violence in other cities

Beirut, March 22
Clashes flared across Syria on Thursday, opposition activists said, a day after the UN Security Council had called on all sides to stop fighting and seek a negotiated settlement to the year-long uprising.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the Council's unanimous statement had sent a clear message to Syria to end all violence, but the appeal had little impact on the ground, where rebels are seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

Sources said Syrian tanks had heavily shelled a large neighbourhood in the city of Hama on Thursday after fighting between Free Syrian Army rebels and pro-Assad forces. The shelling destroyed houses in Arbaeen neighbourhood of N-E Hama, which has been a centre of revolt. Sources said at least 20 people had been killed in army attacks there in the last two days.

It is impossible to verify reports from Syria because authorities have denied access to independent journalists.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported heavy fighting in al-Qusair, a town which lies close to the Lebanese border. Three residents died in the fighting and four soldiers were killed when rebels ambushed their checkpoint.

Syrian troops also attempted to storm the northern town of Sermeen on Thursday, killing two people and wounding dozens, the SOHR said, quoting its network of contacts within Syria. "Syrian forces are still not able to get inside the town because of fighting, but they are shelling Sermeen and using heavy machine guns," said SOHR head Rami Abdelrahman. Fighting also erupted in southern Deraa, where several soldiers died in an ambush, he said, while Assad's forces conducted raids in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor and coastal Latakia province to try to snuff out rebel fighters. — Reuters

Soldiers seize power in Mali

Bamako, March 22
Renegade Malian soldiers declared on state television on Thursday they had seized power in the West African state in protest at the government's failure to quell a nomad-led rebellion in the north.

Former colonial power France said it was suspending security cooperation with Mali and urged constitutional order to be re-established promptly, a call echoed by the European Union.

The coup has been fronted by soldiers of the rank of captain or lower and, if successful, will add a new layer of insecurity to a Saharan region battling Al-Qaida agents and a flood of weapons trafficked from Libya since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

The army has for weeks appealed to the government for better weapons to fight the northern Tuareg rebels, now bolstered by heavily armed ethnic allies who fought on Gaddafi's side last year but have returned to Mali.

Members of the newly formed National Committee for the Return of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDR) read a statement after heavy weapons fire rang out around the presidential palace in the capital Bamako throughout the night.

"The CNRDR ... has decided to assume its responsibilities by putting an end to the incompetent regime of Amadou Toumani Toure," said Lieutenant Amadou Konare, spokesman for the CNRDR. — Reuters

100 years after, Titanic story lives on

New York, March 22
Shipwrecks and maritime disasters have always captivated the public imagination and none more so than the luxury liner RMS Titanic, which sank on her maiden voyage one hundred years ago this year.

With the loss of 1,517 lives on April 15, 1912, three hours after the ship struck an iceberg, the real life tales of love and heroism spawned a legend which shows no sign of abating.

"TITANIC: The Tragedy That Shook the World," by the editors of LIFE at Time Home Entertainment Inc, includes photos and stories of the ship.

"Some of the the richest people in the world board in France, some of the poorest people in the world board in Ireland, and a mix survive," said Robert Sullivan, managing editor of LIFE Books in New York City. "It turns out to be an extraordinary variety of stories."

The book begins with the construction of the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic as one of three sister ships built by the White Star line to usher in a new era of opulent sea travel.

It offered the finest accommodations to first-class passengers such as New York notables John Jacob Astor IV, his pregnant wife Madeleine, and Benjamin Guggenheim on its first sailing from Southampton, England to New York, via Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland.

They were joined by lesser lights such as Margaret, now popularly referred to as "Molly", Brown. — Reuters

UN resolution: Sri Lanka puts up brave face
Chandani Kirinde in Colombo

As the Sri Lankan government put up a brave face after a US-led resolution calling for an internationally assisted inquiry into alleged human rights violations in the country was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, the Indian High Commission in Colombo issued a statement to soften the impact of its decision.

“It is a matter of great satisfaction to us that 15 countries voted with Sri Lanka, despite the intensity of pressure, in a variety of forms, exerted on them all. We convey to them our warm thanks and deep appreciation,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The US resolution was carried in the UNHRC with 24 countries voting for and 15 against it with eight abstentions. India voted for the resolution which has taken many in the country by surprise.

The High Commission said it underlines that any assistance from Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights or visits of UN Special Procedures should be in consultation with and concurrence of Sri Lankan Government.