LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“They own nothing on the ground.Their morale is weak.And if we can attack all the military airports, it will conclude the battle.”
Abdel Qader Saleh, the chief of the Syrian opposition’s military council,
referring to the forces of President Bashar Assad Article, 1ASomalis flee as Kenyan shells hit port
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Hundreds of residents have fled the southern Somali port of Kismayo after the Kenyan navy shelled the town ahead of an expected ground operation to capture it, officials and residents said Tuesday.
Kismayo is the main remaining stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked militants of al-Shabab. The group, considered terrorists by the United States and others, is waging an insurgency against the U.N.-backed Somali government, which is being bolstered by African Union troops including Kenyan forces.
Residents say the militants have ordered them not leave Kismayo, but the prospect of being caught in a war between the militants and the Kenyan forces is outweighing whatever punishment they risk for disobeying.
Kenyan military spokesman Col. Cyrus Oguna said seven people believed to be members of al-Shabab were killed in shelling Saturday and Monday that targeted an arms cache, a mounted gun position and a militant roadblock.
Oguna said Kenyan ground troops were moving closer to Kismayo - they are now just 56 miles away - in preparation for a military assault.
Colombia, leftist rebels to enter talks
BOGOTA - Colombia and its main leftist rebel group said Tuesday that they have signed an accord to start peace talks next month aimed at ending a stubborn, halfcentury-old conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
In a nationally televised speech, President Juan Manuel Santos called the pact a road map to “a definitive peace.” It was reached after six months of direct talks in Cuba, with that country’s government and Norway serving as brokers after 18 months of preparatory work.
The agreement, signed Aug. 27, does not include a cease-fire.
It also doesn’t grant a safe haven to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, as during the last peace talks. Those talks lasted three years and ended disastrously in 2002, when the group skyjacked a plane and kidnapped a senator, ending then-President Andres Pastrana’s patience. While enjoying the protection of a Switzerland-sized safe haven in southern Colombia, the rebels had continued to wage war and kidnap elsewhere while building up their cocaine business.
Shortly after Santos spoke, the rebels held a news conference in Havana and played a video of their 53-year-old commander, Timoleon Jimenez, who acknowledged that the group had felt pressure from Colombia’s U.S.-backed military.
Canada asks if torso at falls from U.S.
ST. CATHERINES, Ontario - Police said Tuesday that there is a good possibility that a murder victim’s torso found floating near Niagara Falls last week could have come from the U.S.
Authorities called on the public to check on female family members, co-workers or neighbors they haven’t heard from in some time.
A tourist spotted the torso near the base of the falls Wednesday.
New York State Capt. Steven Ingrelli said that because the U.S. shares the river with Canada, it’s possible the body may have entered the water from there.
Police have said the case is not related to body parts found in Toronto earlier in August. Such cases have received extra attention after porn actor Luka Magnotta was accused of dismembering a Chinese student in Montreal and mailing his body parts to political parties and a school earlier this year.
Neighbors help Portugal douse fire
LISBON, Portugal - Water-dumping aircraft from Spain and France joined Portugal’s battle Tuesday to halt the spread of wildfires through thick woodland in the country’s north.
Spain and France sent two aircraft each, Portugal’s Civil Protection Service said, a day after authorities appealed for help for fire crews struggling to contain blazes amid high temperatures and strong winds.
At midafternoon Tuesday, the Civil Protection Service said just over 1,000 firefighters were tackling 10 blazes in the steep hills and dense forests in northern Portugal that are tinder-dry after months of drought.
More than 350 vehicles and 19 aircraft, including those from Spain and France, were on duty, it said on its website.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 09/05/2012