QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Read for yourselves the evidence from thousands of sources. This is the indiscriminate, inconceivable horror of chemical weapons. This is what Assad did to his own people.”
Secretary of State John Kerry, as the U.S. released an unclassified intelligence report suggesting President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons in Syria Article, 1A
Colombia farm protest eases after 2 die
BOGOTA, Colombia - President Juan Manuel Santos ordered troops onto the Colombian capital’s streets Friday after rioting in which at least two people died, and small farmers said they were lifting road blockades elsewhere after 11 days of protests.
Bogota was peaceful Friday, with no disturbances reported as Santos ordered troops to reinforce police on the streets.
No major military mobilization was noted, however.
The violence broke out Thursday afternoon after some 30,000 people, many of them university students, marched in support of the farmers, who have been blocking highways and staging protests over a variety of issues.
On Friday, Santos announced that he had asked government negotiators to return from talks with the farmers in neighboring Boyaca state, though he did not say why.
Four hours later, protest leaders said they would no longer block highways but would retain roadside pickets.
Lebanon charges 5 in Tripoli bombings
BEIRUT - Lebanese authorities charged five men Friday in connection with deadly bombings last week in the northern city of Tripoli that have raised sectarian tensions to dangerous levels in the country, a security official said.
The blasts, which targeted two Sunni Muslim mosques and killed 47 people, came less than two weeks after a deadly explosion in a Shiite neighborhood south of Beirut.
The official said three of the defendants, identified as Hashem Menkara, Ahmad al-Ghareeb and Mustafa Houri, face charges of orchestrating the Aug. 23 bombings in Tripoli. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of regulations preventing him from being named.
The three Lebanese men have ties to the Islamic Unification Movement, a Sunni organization that enjoys good relations with Lebanon’s powerful Shiite militant Hezbollah group as well as the Syrian government.
The official identified the other defendants as Mohammed Ali, a Syrian officer, and Khodr al-Aryan, a Syrian civilian. The two have been charged with preparing the explosives for the attack, the official said.
Indonesia upholds death for U.K. woman
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia’s highest court has upheld the death sentence for a British woman convicted of smuggling $2.5 million worth of cocaine into the resort island of Bali, a court official said Friday.
The three-judge panel unanimously rejected Lindsay Sandiford’s appeal Thursday, said Supreme Court spokesman Ridwan Mansur.
Sandiford, 57, was arrested last year when 8.4 pounds of cocaine was discovered stuffed inside the lining of her luggage at Bali’s airport. During the trial, she said she was forced to carry the drugs by a gang that threatened to hurt her children.
She was found guilty in January by a district court and sentenced to face a firing squad. She lost an appeal three months later when the Bali High Court upheld the lower court’s ruling. She still has the opportunity under Indonesian law to seek a judicial review of her case and also appeal for presidential clemency.
War missing focus of Sri Lanka march
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Hundreds of people held candles and photographs of loved ones as they marched in Sri Lanka’s capital Friday demanding that authorities provide information about relatives who were reported missing during the country’s civil war.
The vigil, marking International Day of the Disappeared, coincided with a visit by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to assess the government’s progress in investigating wartime abuses.
During the quarter-century civil war, which ended in 2009, an undetermined number of suspected rebels, journalists and activists were abducted by “white van squads” purportedly operated by pro-government paramilitaries. Many were never seen again.
Relatives said they also don’t know the whereabouts of family members who surrendered to the army at the end of the war.
Pillay, who ends her week-long visit today, is to report to the U.N. Human Rights Council next month on the status of the investigation into abuses allegedly committed by government troops and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, including abductions and forced disappearances.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 08/31/2013