QUOTE OF THE DAY
“They want to end Anwar’s political career, but they underestimated the wrath of the people.”
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was sentenced to five years in jail on sodomy charges that he called politically motivated Article, 7A
German apologizes for 1943 massacre
LIGIADES, Greece - A visibly emotional German president apologized Friday for a massacre by German soldiers in a Greek village during World War II, at the end of a three day visit that combined political talks with efforts to bring closure to wounds from Germany’s wartime occupation.
Speaking at a hillside monument in Ligiades, Joachim Gauck expressed “shame” at the 1943 atrocity in which Nazi troops executed dozens of villagers, including months-old babies, in reprisal for a partisan attack. He was accompanied by Greek President Karolos Papoulias, a resistance fighter as a teenager who is from the nearby town of Ioannina.
“I wish to articulate what the perpetrators, and those who were politically responsible for so many years in the postwar period, did not want, or were not able, to utter,” Gauck said.
“That what happened here was a brutal injustice, and it is with feelings of shame and pain that I beg forgiveness from the families of those who were murdered.”
His apology came at a time of increased anti-German sentiment, as Berlin has been one of the most ardent proponents of austerity measures imposed in return for rescue loans.
Rebel leader convicted in Congo attack
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The International Criminal Court on Friday convicted a rebel leader of charges including murder and pillage regarding a deadly attack on a village in eastern Congo but acquitted him of rape, sexual slavery and using child soldiers.
Germain Katanga showed no emotion as judges convicted him as an accessory in the attack on the strategic village of Bogoro on Feb. 24, 2003, in which about 200 civilians were hacked or shot to death and many women were raped and turned into sex slaves.
In a 2-1 majority verdict, the court said Katanga played an important role in the attack on Bogoro by arming rebel fighters, “reinforcing the strike capability of the militia,” Presiding Judge Bruno Cotte said.
Katanga will be sentenced after a separate hearing. He is likely to appeal the convictions.
Syria group labels al-Qaida rival betrayer
BEIRUT - An al-Qaida-break away group said Friday that it faces a war with rival Islamic factions that want to destroy it, describing Syria’s al-Qaida-linked branch as the “front of betrayal and treason.”
The statement by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was released a week after the leader of the powerful al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front gave the breakaway faction a five-day ultimatum to accept mediation by leading clerics to end infighting, or be “expelled” from the region.
Battles between the rival groups that began in early January have killed more than 3,000 people, activists said. The fighting, in which the Nusra Front is backed by other Islamic groups, has concentrated in northern Syria.
The Islamic State’s spokesman, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, said in a 22-minute audio clip posted on jihadi websites that his group’s rivals tried to defeat it “when they saw it was getting more powerful.”
Al-Adnani said his group did not reject offers for arbitration by Islamic clerics, and he criticized the Nusra Front’s top cleric and a member of its Shura Council.
Egypt crackdown draws U.N. reprimand
CAIRO - A group of 27 countries on the United Nations Human Rights Council expressed concerns Friday over the Egyptian government’s use of violence against opposition protesters.
Egyptian security forces dispersed supporters of toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on Aug. 14, killing hundreds. Protests and clashes continue almost weekly around the country, with Morsi supporters calling for protests nearly every Friday since he was ousted in July.
In the U.N. declaration, the 27 countries, among them the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Turkey, called on the Egyptian government to be held accountable for its actions over the past several months, and for any future investigations’ findings to be made public.
“We express concern about the restrictions on the rights to peaceful assembly, expression and association, and about the disproportionate use of lethal force by security forces against demonstrators which resulted in large numbers of deaths and injuries,” the declaration read.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 03/08/2014