QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I announce to our people the news that the years of split are over.”
Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza, after Hamas reached an agreement with the other main Palestinian faction, the Palestine Liberation Organization, to form a unity government Article, this page
Bomb kills Egyptian police general
CAIRO - A senior Egyptian police officer was killed by a bomb placed under his car in a western Cairo suburb Wednesday as Islamic militant groups keep up a campaign of violence since last summer’s ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Brig. Gen. Ahmed Zaki was the second police officer of that rank killed this month in a bombing.
Al-Qaida-inspired militant groups have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. The groups have said their bombings and shootings are to avenge the crackdown on Morsi’s Islamist supporters in which more than 1,300 people have been killed and thousands arrested.
The government said suspected militants have killed more than 450 policemen and soldiers since July.
The government accuses Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood of orchestrating the violence, saying it is ultimately behind the militant groups. It declared the group a terrorist organization late last year. The Brotherhood denies the claim, saying the terror brand is aimed at wiping it out as a political force.Yemen: Attack’s toll on al-Qaida tops 60
SANA, Yemen - Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Wednesday said the death toll of this week’s military campaign against al-Qaida has reached more than 60 suspected militants, including several of the group’s leaders.
He did not give names of the leaders killed.
Meanwhile, a high-ranking security official said authorities are examining DNA samples of the dead to determine their identities. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
On Sunday and Monday, the military, reportedly backed by U.S. drone strikes, hit an al-Qaida base in the remote southern mountain valley called Wadi al-Khayala. The bombed sites included a training ground, a storehouse for weapons and food as well as vehicles.
Sherpas protest treatment, exit Everest
KATMANDU, Nepal - Dozens of Sherpa guides packed up their tents and left Mount Everest’s base camp Wednesday, after the deaths of 16 of their colleagues in an avalanche exposed an undercurrent of resentment by Sherpas over their pay, treatment and benefits.
With the entire climbing season increasingly thrown into doubt, the government quickly announced that top tourism officials would fly to base camp today to negotiate with the Sherpas and encourage them to return to work.
Nepal’s government has been criticized for not doing enough for the Sherpas in the wake of the deadliest accident ever on the mountain.
After the avalanche, the government said it would pay the families of each Sherpa who died about $415. The Sherpas are seeking more insurance money, more financial aid for the victims’ families and new regulations to ensure climbers’ rights.
Without the help of the Sherpas, who are key guides and also haul tons of gear up the mountain, it would be nearly impossible for climbers to scale Everest. Many climbers would have to forfeit most or all of the money they have spent to go up the mountain - $75,000 or more.
Turk premier conciliatory on massacre
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday offered an unprecedented conciliatory message on the eve of the anniversary of the massacre of Armenians almost a century ago.
Erdogan called the events of World War I “our shared pain” and acknowledged that the deportation of Armenians in 1915 had “inhumane consequences.”
Erdogan released a statement expressing hope that those killed are in peace and offering Turkey’s condolences to their descendants. He delivered the message a day before Armenians mark the 99th anniversary of the killings in 1915 by Ottoman Turks.
Many historians consider the massacre the first genocide of the 20th century and estimate that about 1.5 million Armenians died. Turkey rejects the term genocide, saying those figures are inflated.
Erdogan, in his message, acknowledged that the deportations had dire consequences, but he did not use the term “genocide.” He said millions of people “of all religions and ethnicities” lost their lives during the war.
The Armenian National Committee of America dismissed Erdogan’s statement as “simply 99 years of genocide denial repackaged.”
Front Section, Pages 6 on 04/24/2014