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Family of dead US militant, son criticizes strikes

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  Anwar al-Awlaki, a leading member of al-Qaida's Yemen branch MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, AP CAIRO — A statement from the family of a Yemeni militant and his son, both U.S. citizens killed in separate airstrikes, criticizes the American attacks as unjustified. Anwar al-Awlaki, a leading member of al-Qaida's Yemen branch, was killed in a Sept. 30 airstrike. His son Abdul-Rahman was killed along with six others on Friday. In the statement posted Tuesday on a militant website affiliated with al-Qaida, the family said the son was just 16 years old and was searching for his father when he was killed. "The American administration is trying to absolve itself of killing innocents," the statement said. There has been some criticism of the killing of the militant because he was a U.S. citizen, but the Obama administration has defended it as legitimate anti-terror activity.

BlackBerry outage linked to decrease in UAE road accidents

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BlackBerry - Archive By YOUM7 STAFF Last week’s three-day BlackBerry outage has been directly linked to substantially lower numbers of road accidents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to United Arab Emirates news website the National. In Dubai, traffic accidents decreased by 20 percent during the outage, which affected internet services and BlackBerry Messaging (BBM). In Abu Dhabi, accidents fell 40 percent and there were no fatal accidents, reported the National. Brig Gen Hussein Al Harethi, the director of the Abu Dhabi Police traffic department, told the National, “Accidents were reduced by 40 per cent and the fact that BlackBerry services were down definitely contributed to that."

Rioters hijack Rome protests, police fire tear gas

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Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italian riot police fired tear gas and water cannons in Rome on Saturday as violent protesters hijacked a peaceful demonstration against corporate greed, smashing bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles. Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands nicknamed "the indignant" marched without incident in cities across Europe, as the "Occupy Wall Street" protests linked up with long-running demonstrations against European governments' austerity measures. Heavy smoke billowed in downtown Rome as a small group broke away and wreaked havoc in streets close to the Colosseum and elsewhere in the city. Clad in black with their faces covered, protesters threw rocks, bottles and incendiary devices at banks and Rome police in riot gear. With clubs and hammers, they destroyed bank ATMs, set trash bins on fire and assaulted at le...

Ban Ki Moon calls for democratic elections in Egypt

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  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon By DBA- Translated by ANAS HABIB OSLO, Norway: The upcoming elections in Egypt must be fair and democratic, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon Monday during a visit to Norway. "The Egyptian and Tunisian people managed to realize their dreams and ambitions by achieving a democracy," he said. "The two oppressors in both countries, Ben Ali and Mubarak, were toppled by the people's power." The Secretary-General said that he is in contact with Egyptian political leadership, and emphasized that the next elections must be fair and democratic. He did not comment on Sunday’s clashes between protesters and military police outside of Maspiro, the building hosting Egyptian television. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store expressed his concerns about the clashes, and said that the transitional process must continue.

New Tunisian PM gets White House welcome U.S. President Barack Obama

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  U.S. President Barack Obama AFP WASHINGTON – U.S. President Barack Obama was Friday to hold talks with Tunisian Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, the first of the new generation of Arab spring leaders to be welcomed to the White House. Obama was to meet Essebsi at 3:45 pm (1945 GMT) for talks in the prestigious Oval Office, before a brief joint press appearance. Essebsi's visit comes two weeks before key October 23 elections, the first since the toppling of long-time dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. Ben Ali's ouster in January sparked the so-called Arab Spring and Tunisia will be the first of the countries where popular revolts took place to go to the polls. "This is a moment of great promise for the Tunisian people, and the president is pleased to welcome the prime minister... to underscore his support for this transition," said National Security Council spokesman To...

Top NATO commander to recommend Libya mission end Moammar Gadhafi

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  Moammar Gadhafi AP BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO's top commander says he will recommend the end of the alliance's Libya mission. Adm. Jim Stavridis made the announcement Friday before a meeting of the alliance's North Atlantic Council. Stavridis called it "a good day for NATO. A great day for the people of Libya." The recommendation comes a day after Moammar Gadhafi was killed in Libya.

Gadhafi body stashed in shopping center freezer

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  Gadhafi body in freezer RAMI AL-SHAHEIBI - Associated Press MISRATA, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi's blood-streaked body has been stashed in a commercial freezer at a shopping center as Libyans try to keep it away from crowds as they figure out where and when to bury the hated leader. An AP correspondent saw the body Friday at the shopping center in the coastal city of Misrata, home of the fighters who killed the ousted leader a day earlier in his hometown of Sirte. The body, stripped to the waist and wearing beige trousers, is laid on a bloodied mattress on the floor of a room-sized freezer where restaurants and stores in the center keep perishables. A bullet hole is visible on the left side of his head and in the center of his chest. Dried blood streaks his arms and head.

UN rights office urges probe into Gadhafi death

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FRANK JORDANS- Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office called Friday for an investigation into the death of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured alive by rebel forces in his hometown of Sirte before shaky amateur footage showed fighters standing over his bloodied body. "We believe there is a need for an investigation," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. "More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in some form of fighting or was executed after his capture." "The two cell phone videos that have emerged, one of him alive, and one of him dead, taken together are very disturbing," he told reporters in Geneva. A Libyan official said Friday that the burial of Gadhafi has been delayed until his death can be examined by the International Crimin...

Gadhafi is gone but other US foes remain

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DOUGLAS BIRCH - Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi now joins the ranks of powerful foreign figures who have battled the United States only to come to a bad end. But even with the demise of the Libyan dictator, plus Osama bin Laden, Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, there are still autocrats around the world hostile to the U.S., notably in Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea and Iran. America's most determined foes have been bucking more than just the world's sole surviving superpower, which spends as much on its military as all other countries combined. All faced social and technological trends that made their work more difficult by opening more borders to trade and travel, promoting ethnic and religious tolerance and wiring the world for high-speed Internet. But as long as the U.S. maintains its leadership role in wo...

NATO set to decide when to end mission in Libya

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  Archive SLOBODAN LEKIC - Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO's governing body meets Friday to decide when and how to end the seven-month bombing campaign in Libya, a military operation whose success has helped reinvigorate the Cold War alliance. Meanwhile, a NATO official said commanders were not aware that Moammar Gadhafi was in the convoy that was struck Thursday in Sirte by missiles fired from a French warplane, and which led to his subsequent death. "The convoy was a clear military target," said the official who could not be named under standing rules. "We later learned that Gadhafi was in the convoy. Therefore the strike likely contributed to his capture." After Libya's former rebels killed Gadhafi, officials said they expected the aerial operation to end very soon. But the North Atlantic Council may also decide to keep air patr...

Gadhafi dead: NTC spokesman

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  Muammar Gadhafi has been killed AFP BENGHAZI - Veteran Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi has been killed by new regime forces in their final assault on the last pocket of resistance in his hometown Sirte, a National Transitional Council spokesman said. "We announce to the world that Gadhafi has been killed at the hands of the revolution," Abdel Hafez Ghoga said. "It is an historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Gadhafi has met his fate," he added.

Polls open in Tunisia's first post-revolution elections

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  TUNIS AFP TUNIS - Polls opened Sunday in Tunisia's first-ever free elections, with an Islamist party poised to win nine months after the surprise toppling of strongman Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali that sparked the Arab Spring. Some 7.2 million people are eligible to elect a 217-member assembly that will write a new constitution after decades of autocratic government under Ben Ali, ousted in a popular revolt. Polls opened at 7:00 am, with the independent elections body (ISIE) urging voters to turn out in numbers "to continue the work of the martyrs and to realize the objectives of the Tunisian revolution.” "I am very excited about voting in the first democratic elections. Freedom was expensive, we have to pay our dues!" hotel employee Mondher Hamdi, 23, told AFP. "I didn't sleep at all last night from excitement," Houcine Khlifi, 62, said while queuing outsi...

Prosecution listens to Manial Shiha testimonies

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  Salah Diab By MAI ANANY - Translated by NOURHAN MAGDI South Giza prosecution, headed by Judge Megahed Ali Megahed, continued investigations into the Manial Shiha incident in South Giza. Around 5,000 residents gathered outside businessman Salah Diab’s villa in Abu Al-Numrus in South Giza, after his men fired on residents, injuring 15. Clashes began after a dispute broke out between the residents and Diab about a fence. Head of South Giza prosecution, Hani Abdel Tawab, and deputies Abdel Hamid el-Garf and Mohamed el-Tamawy listened to the testimonies of the defendants. A source from public prosecution told to Youm7 that if the defendants agreed to reconcile they would be released. The defendants agreed to reconciliation. Source added that to defend the rights of the injured, the case would be transferred to the criminal court.

Egyptian activists attend conference in Washington

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Bothaina Kamel By MENA - Translated by HEBA HABIB A number of Egyptian activists in attended a conference in Washington organized and funded by Egyptian-American organizations Friday to discuss the latest developments in Egypt and the prospect for the transfer of power to a civilian authority. The conference called for Egypt's political forces to unite and cast aside their differences to achieve the objectives of the January 25 Revolution . The conference opened Friday night and ends Sunday. Several organizations participated, including the Egyptian Society for Change, We are All Khaled Said , and the April 6 Youth Movement . Participants discussed issues of citizenship and the right of Egyptians abroad to vote, as well as Egypt’s social and economic challenges. The head of the conference, Adel Kubi, said that "Wherever they are, whether in Washington or Suez, Egyptians must con...

Gadhafi's death energizes Syrian, Yemeni protests

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Gadhafi Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Energized by the killing of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, thousands of protesters in Syria and Yemen poured into the streets and said their longtime rulers will be next. Syrian President Bashar Assad's security forces opened fire on the protesters, killing at least 24 people nationwide on Friday, according to activists. It did not stop the crowds from chanting, "Your turn is coming, Bashar." Yemenis delivered a similar message to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who survived an assassination attempt in June. "Gadhafi is gone, and you're next, oh butcher," they chanted. The armed rebellion that drove Gadhafi from power — with NATO air support — appears to have breathed new life into the uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world. "Our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you, Libya!" Syrian protester...

Swiss head to polls amid immigrant, EU debt fears

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Archive AFP GENEVA - Switzerland headed to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament, with fears over immigration and the impact of the eurozone's public debt crisis set to lean voters far-right. With an unemployment rate of just 2.8 percent and healthy public finances and output figures, the alpine state is an island of prosperity in Europe. Nevertheless, the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) appears to have struck a chord with the population through its aggressive campaign claiming that the "mass immigration" of foreigners was taking away Swiss jobs. Voters had already received their ballot slips over two weeks ago, and with school holidays underway in many cantons, most have already cast their votes by post. Polling stations were to remain open for a few hours on Sunday morning, with ballot boxes to be sealed by midday and sent to counting centers. Results are...

Tantawi meets with Palestinian President

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  Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas By DENDRAWI EL HAWARY - Translated by HEBA HABIB Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces , met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his accompanying delegation visiting Egypt Saturday. Abbas thanked the council, the government, and the Egyptian people for their efforts in the prisoner exchange, their ongoing support for the Palestinian people and, their promotion of reconciliation among Palestinian factions. The meeting discussed the regional events and their impact on the peace process, and Palestinian efforts in the international arena towards realizing the legitimate rights through the General Assembly of the United Nations. The meeting was attended by Lieutenant General Sami Anan, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Kamel Amr, intelligence ...

Google mulls bid for Yahoo!: report

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Google AFP WASHINGTON - US Internet giant Google is mulling a bid for rival Yahoo! and has talked to at least two private-equity firms to consider how the deal would be financed, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. "Google and prospective partners have held early-stage discussions but haven't put together a formal proposal," the newspaper said, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter. The report, however, stated that Google might end up not pursuing a bid for Yahoo!, once seen as the Internet's leading light but which has struggled to build a strongly profitable, growing business out of its global web presence. Yahoo! has been the subject of massive interest from other companies since the sacking last month of chief executive Carol Bartz, less than three years after she was brought in to help turn around the struggling Intern...

Turkish military strikes kill 49 rebels in two days: army

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  Archive AFP ANKARA - Turkish military strikes have killed 49 Kurdish rebels in two days during a major offensive in the country's mainly Kurdish south, the army announced on Saturday. "A total of 49 terrorists were rendered ineffective over the last two days," said the General Staff in a statement posted on its website, adding that the operation was continuing. Kurdish rebels on Wednesday killed 24 soldiers and wounded 18 along the Iraqi border, the army's biggest losses since 1993. The simultaneous attacks prompted the Turkish military to launch air and land operations against bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Around 10,000 troops on the ground were involved in Turkey's operations, backed by jets and helicopters. The army statement said "operations continue in a few areas across the border (northern Iraq) and two sepera...

Saudi crown prince dead Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz

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  Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz by Assad Abboud, AFP RIYADH - Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz has died, a palace announcement on state television said on Saturday, throwing his brother Prince Nayef into line to succeed King Abdullah as leader of the key oil producer. The crown prince, aged around 86, who had served as the kingdom's defence chief for nearly five decades, had been in the United States since mid-June for medical treatment. He was operated on in July but no information had been released on his health since then. A half brother of King Abdullah, Sultan had spent long periods abroad for medical treatment. He died while the monarch himself, 87, remains in hospital in Riyadh, a week after he had an operation on his back. State television aired footage Wednesday of King Abdullah in hospital as he received royal dignitaries. The kin...

Barak: Israel needs new rules for prisoner swaps

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  Gilad Shalit AFP JERUSALEM, AFP - Israel must set new rules governing prisoner exchanges such as the one implemented to secure soldier Gilad Shalit's release, Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday. "I'm happy about the deal on the exchange for Gilad Shalit, but we must set new rules," he told the free daily newspaper Israel Hayom. Barak spoke a little less than a week after Shalit, who was held captive in Gaza for over five years, returned to Israel in return for the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners to be freed over two months. The deal had broad support inside Israel but was criticized in some quarters as a capitulation that strengthened Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules Gaza and was among the groups that captured Shalit in 2006. On Sunday, Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Living said the deal had shift...

Survey: Low Coptic intention to participate in elections

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  Naguib Gabriel, head of the union By NADER SHOUKRY - Translated by HEBA HABIB The Egyptian Union of Human Rights conducted an opinion poll on the participation of Copts in the upcoming elections and the extent of their vision for the success of the Copts in parliament. The results indicated that 23% of Copts intend to participate in the elections, while 67% of those polled would not be participating. The survey covered the governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, Beni Suef, Minya, Fayoum, Sohag, Asyut, and Giza. The sample included 5,000 Copts from each province. Naguib Gabriel, head of the union, said that the results indicated that 50% of Copts in Cairo, 40% of those in Alexandria, 30% in Beni Suef, 30% in Sohag, 10% in Minya, and 10% in Fayoum intended to participate. Gabriel added that the average participation ratio of the volume of the sample, which represented was 23% down from up ...