QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The only one who benefits from these side wars is the regime.”
Omar Mushaweh, a member of the Western-backed rebel coalition fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime, responding to a statement in which 13 key rebel groups rejected the coalition’s authority Article, this page
Filipino evacuees face disease, U.N. says
MANILA, Philippines - The United Nations expressed concern Wednesday over the fate of more than 100,000 Filipinos displaced by two weeks of fighting between government troops and Muslim rebels, saying they were at risk of disease from crowded and unsanitary conditions in evacuation centers.
The Philippine government said the crisis in southern Zamboanga city was nearing an end with the surrender of another large batch of the insurgents, who took nearly 200 civilians hostage Sept. 9 after a failed attempt to occupy the city.
The U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in the Philippines, Luiza Carvalho, said the fighting has left about 132 people dead, affected 158,000 people and destroyed more than 10,000 homes. About 109,000 people are displaced in Zamboanga and almost 19,000 in neighboring Basilan province, she said.
She said there was a risk of a disease outbreak while food, drinking water, health services and cooking utensils were in short supply.
Meanwhile, the Philippine military said thousands of troops continued to clear out the last two of five coastal communities where most of the fighting has been centered.
29 dead, 21 hurt in Iraq militant assaults
BAGHDAD - Militants assaulted a government building in northern Iraq and launched other attacks Wednesday that killed 29 people, including four attackers, officials said.
The bloodiest was an assault on the local council building in the northern town of Hawija. The attackers detonated three car bombs before engaging security forces in an hour-long firefight, said Brig. Gen. Mohammed Khalaf, the commander of the army’s 12th Division.
Khalaf put the death toll at seven civilians and two soldiers in addition to 21 others wounded. Four militants were killed while the rest fled, he added.
Hawija, a former insurgent stronghold, was the site of an April crackdown by security forces on a Sunni protest camp that set off the current surge of violence in the country, in which more than 4,000 people have died.
Attacks elsewhere in the country killed 16 others, medical officials confirmed on condition of anonymity.
Brotherhood paper’s office shuttered
CAIRO - Egyptian security forces on Wednesday shuttered the office of the newspaper of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party and confiscated furniture and documents, journalists from the Freedom and Justice daily said.
In a statement Wednesday, the journalists appealed to Egypt’s press syndicate to take action against the closure in Cairo’s Manial district.
The closure happened two days after a court ordered the group outlawed and its assets seized. Egypt’s interim government said Tuesday that it would not ban the group until the ruling was upheld by a higher tribunal.
Islam Tawfiq, a Freedom and Justice editor and a member of the Brotherhood, said the newspaper would continue to be published, and its edition for today was ready for print.
He said the newspaper’s staff members had evacuated the office in June under threat of attack, days before mass protests against ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Sudan drops off Net as rioting goes on
KHARTOUM, Sudan - Sudan dropped almost completely off the Internet on Wednesday as riots over the lifting of fuel subsidies entered their third day and protesters battled security forces in the capital.
Renesys Corp., a company that maps the pathways of the Internet, said it could not confirm whether the blackout was government-orchestrated. In Egypt, Sudan’s neighbor, authorities shut off Internet access during a 2011 uprising.
“It’s either a government-directed thing or some very catastrophic technological failure that just happens to coincide with violent riots happening in the city,” said senior analyst Doug Madory. He said it was almost a “total blackout.”
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it was alarmed by the reports of what seemed like an official attempt to stifle coverage, and called on the government to restore the country’s connection.
In Khartoum, meanwhile, Sudanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters who demonstrated and torched a police station north of the capital.
At least two people have died in three days of rioting over the lifting of fuel subsidies. Officials condemn the protests as acts of sabotage, describing them as “premeditated.”
Front Section, Pages 6 on 09/26/2013