World briefs (2/14/12)
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Indonesian terror suspect Umar Patek gestures after his trial in West Jakarta court in Jakarta on Tuesday.
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JAKARTA, Indonesia -- An Indonesian court on Monday indicted Umar Patek on charges including premeditated murder for his reported role in the 2002 terrorist bombings on the resort island of Bali.
Mr. Patek is believed to be a leading member of the radical movement Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaida splinter group blamed for the Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
Mr. Patek is one of the last remaining suspects in the Bali blast, and security analysts say his trial is important because of its potential to reveal crucial information about the links between al-Qaida and its affiliated terror networks in Southeast Asia.
BEIRUT -- The top U.N. human rights official, Navi Pillay, castigated Syria's leaders Monday, accusing them of intensifying their deadly repression of the political opposition with indiscriminate brutality and "overwhelming force" after the Security Council's effort to reach a compromise solution to the nearly year-old conflict collapsed in diplomatic failure more than a week ago.
But it remained unclear what, if anything, the General Assembly could do to change the behavior of President Bashar Assad of Syria as loyalist forces in that country were reported to have resumed their bombardment of the embattled city of Homs for a 10th consecutive day. Hundreds of people there are believed to have been killed.
Also, Syrian rebels repelled a push by government tanks into the central town Rastan held by forces fighting President Bashar Assad's regime in an 11-month conflict that looks increasingly like a civil war.
ISLAMABAD -- A seven-judge bench of Pakistan's top court charged Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani with contempt of court for failing to pursue long-standing corruption allegations in Switzerland against his boss, President Asif Ali Zardari.
The indictment, which comes after weeks of legal wrangling, was not unexpected. But it sets Mr. Gilani on a firm confrontation course that could cost him his job, topple the fragile coalition government and precipitate elections later this year.
LONDON -- A radical Islamic preacher who has been detained for most of the past 6 1/2 years but never charged with an offense was released from jail Monday to public criticism over why he is being allowed to remain in Britain.
British officials say they will continue to try to find a way to ship Abu Qatada, 51, back to Jordan, where he faces terrorism charges. Last month, the European Court of Human Rights blocked Abu Qatada's deportation on the grounds that he could be convicted on evidence obtained by torture.
Trevor Kavanagh, associate editor of News Corp.'s Sun tabloid, the best-selling British newspaper, said Monday that multiple inquiries by police and regulators into the British press are hurting free speech and constitute a "witch hunt," following the arrest of five of its employees. ... Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a top Taliban official, died in a Pakistani prison, the Taliban announced Monday, saying the death occurred almost two years ago.
-- Compiled from news services
First Published February 14, 2012 12:13 am
