QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The vessel has now left the port of Latakia for international waters.”
Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch diplomat coordinating the joint mission to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons, the first batch of which were loaded onto a ship and taken out of the country Tuesday Article, this page
Judges to decide how ill Musharraf is
ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani court trying Gen. Pervez Musharraf on charges of high treason Tuesday said it would examine a medical report on his condition to decide whether the former president can be excused from hearings while he remains in hospital.
The court said it would rule on the matter in two days.
Musharraf remains at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi, where he was taken Thursday after suffering what was described as a “heart problem” while on his way to court.
Musharraf returned to Pakistan almost a year ago hoping to take part in the country’s coming election but immediately encountered extensive legal problems relating to his near decade in power. The 70-year-old took power in a coup in 1999 and ruled the country until he was forced to step down in 2008 when he became deeply unpopular.
The high-treason case relates to his 2007 decision to impose a state of emergency and detain a number of judges including the country’s chief justice. The move backfired, leading to widespread protests by the country’s lawyers against his rule.
The prosecutor in the case, Akram Shaikh, told the court he doubts Musharraf is ill and accused the former ruler of trying to evade appearing in court.
Taliban deny sending girl bomber, 10
KABUL, Afghanistan - The Taliban denied Tuesday that they dispatched a 10-year-old girl to carry out a suicide attack against Afghan police, a day after the girl said her brother wrapped her in an explosives-packed vest but that she refused to blow herself up at a checkpoint in Helmand province.
Border police in the southern Afghan province arrested the girl’s father, Abdul Ghfar, and were searching for the brother, said a police commander. The girl, who was detained Monday and identified herself only as Spozhmai, said her brother is a Taliban commander.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahamdi denied any involvement in the alleged plot, which he dismissed as government propaganda.
“We never do this, especially with girls,” he said.
Spozhmai spoke to journalists Monday after Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry announced her detention and said she was 10 years old. Police said they believed her account.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the Taliban, saying that “using a child as a suicide bomber is un-Islamic and goes against Afghan culture and beliefs.”
Although the Taliban deny it, human-rights groups say the insurgent group has occasionally dispatched children for suicide bombings. Girls have been used only rarely, said Heather Barr, Afghanistan senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Air Force copter crash kills 4 in England
LONDON - A U.S. Air Force Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in the coastal marshes of eastern England during a training mission Tuesday night, killing all four crew members aboard, officials said.
The helicopter crashed about 6 p.m. near Salthouse on the Norfolk coast, a statement from the U.S. Air Force said.
The aircraft was based at the nearby Royal Air Force station in Lakenheath, Suffolk County, which hosts Air Force units and personnel.
The helicopter, assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing, was flying low at the time of the crash, the statement added.
In Washington, a U.S. defense official said the accident killed the four U.S. Air Force crew members aboard. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the crash publicly.
Police in Norfolk County also said they believed all four crew members had died. They said family members will be notified before details of the victims can be released.
It is not yet known what caused the accident.
Spanish princess charged with fraud
PARIS - The youngest daughter of King Juan Carlos of Spain was charged Tuesday with money laundering and tax fraud by a judge who ruled there was evidence she had committed crimes.
Princess Cristina, 48, was summoned to appear in court March 8 as part of a 200-page ruling from Jose Castro, an examining magistrate from Palma de Mallorca.
The charges are part of the investigation of a corruption scandal that has also ensnared her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, a businessman and former Olympic handball athlete, who is also fighting charges of fraud, tax evasion, and embezzlement of about $8 million in government money though his nonprofit foundation that organized sports conferences.
The princess and Urdangarin have publicly denied the charges.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 01/08/2014