The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We are really suffering for 42 years, and people are asking here for the same things as other people of the world - they want the real democracy.”

Ahmed El-Hadi Remeh,

an engineer standing in a square in Zawiya, Libya Article, 1AGunmen in Congo aim for president

KINSHASA, Congo - Armed gunmen also wielding machetes attacked Congo’s presidential residence Sunday, and at least nine people were killed during nearly an hour of gunfire, a witness said. The president and his wife were not home at the time.

President Joseph Kabila blamed opponents ahead of the elections set for November.

Communications Minister Lambert Mende later appeared on national television and said the matter was under control. He said some of the assailants had been killed or wounded, while others were arrested.

A witness near the presidential residence who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution reported seeing the bodies of seven attackers and two bodyguards.

Kabila first took office after his father, Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001. The younger Kabila was later elected in 2006 in the country’s first democratic election.

Death toll hits 115 in Somali violence

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A government offensive against al-Qaida-linked militants largely subsided Sunday as officials said that at least 115 people had been killed since the violence started several days ago.

Ali Muse, the chief of the Mogadishu ambulance service, said that 49 civilians had died and 157 had been wounded since the government launched the operation Wednesday.

In addition, at least 60 militants have been killed along with six peacekeepers, according to Biyereke Floribert, a spokesman for the Burundian peacekeepers who are serving in the African Union force backing the Somali government.

Muse said heavy fighting had subsided but sporadic gunfire still could be heard.

The militants were regrouping to plan retaliatory attacks but “we are ready for them,” Floribert said.

Al-Shabab has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida and controls much of the capital, and southern and central Somalia.

On Sunday, al-Shabab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohammed Rage also threatened neighboring Kenya for allegedly helping Somali government troops and their allies attack the militants’ bases.

U.S., S. Korea drill;

North calls it a plot

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean and U.S. troops have kicked off their annual drills, while North Korea has vowed retaliation for what it says is a rehearsal for invasion.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries say the drills that began today are to practice responses to any potential emergency on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea issued a statement Sunday calling the drills a “dangerous” plot aimed at toppling the North’s government.

North Korea routinely issues threats over the annual joint military drills, but its latest warning could rekindle tensions that rose sharply after two recent deadly episodes blamed on the North.

North Korea fired artillery at a front-line South Korean island in November, killing four people. Forty-six sailors died when a South Korean warship sank eight months earlier. North Korea has denied firing a torpedo at the ship.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 02/28/2011

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