CONFLICT & TERROR 04/28

Colombia says FARC rebels fire mortars from Ecuador

Colombia's army on Saturday said FARC guerrillas opened fire on its troops with home-made mortars from across Ecuador's border in the latest incident to test frayed relations between the Andean neighbors. Full Story

China to supply anti-terror equipment to Pak

China will supply anti-terror paraphernalia to Pakistan to help it fight terrorism, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said. Full Story

Iran denies any clash with US vessel in Gulf: Report

Iran denies that any confrontation took place between Iranian boats and a US vessel in the Gulf, a source in the naval force of the Revolutionary Guards told a state-run Al-Alam television on Friday. Full Story

Meshal: Hamas ready for truce, but only as 'tactic'

Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshal on Saturday said the Palestinian militant group would accept an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire with Israel but it would only be a "tactic" in the group's conflict with Israel. Full Story

Gunfire Forces Afghan President Karzai to Flee Ceremony in Kabul

Automatic gunfire broke out at a ceremony marking the defeat of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, forcing dignitaries including Afghanistan's president to take cover. A defense ministry spokesman said President Hamid Karzai, all Cabinet members and foreign diplomats were safe. Two lawmakers were reported wounded. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for attack, saying four militants with suicide vests and guns were deployed nearby. Full Story

Britons kidnapped in Iraq are held by Iran

Five British hostages who were kidnapped in Iraq almost a year ago are being held inside Iran by Revolutionary Guards, according to two separate sources in the Middle East and London. The hostages were handed over to the Revolutionary Guards by their Iraqi kidnappers last November, the sources believe. One of the sources said they were being held in the western Iranian city of Hamadan. Full Story

Workers Walk Out Of Giant Oil Refinery

Up to 1,200 workers at Grangemouth oil refinery have begun a 48-hour strike which has forced the closure of a pipeline that carries 40% of the UK's fuel.The walkout, triggered by a row over proposed changes to staff pensions, gets under way at 6am. Full Story

Pakistan Is at an Impasse Over Reinstating Judges

After weeks of deliberation, Pakistan's newly formed coalition government appears to have reached an impasse over its month-old promise to reinstate dozens of judges fired last year by President Pervez Musharraf. Full Story

Chavez May Help Hostages In Columbia

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson says Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is "disposed to help" three American hostages who are being held captive by rebels in Colombia. Richardson says he had a "very productive meeting" with Chavez on the issue Saturday night. Full Story

Sri Lanka Tigers bomb army sites

Tamil Tiger aircraft have bombed a Sri Lankan military position in the north of the island, where security forces were carrying out an offensive against the group. The air raid early on Sunday was the first by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in nearly six months. It comes two days after a deadly bus bombing killed at least 26 people. Full Story

Saudi Arabia releases popular blogger

A friend of Saudi Arabia's most popular blogger says authorities have released the writer months after arresting him without charge. Full Story

Casablanca mattress factory fire kills as many as 55 workers

A fire roared through a mattress factory in a poor section of Casablanca Saturday, killing up to 55 workers and injuring as many as 24 others, Moroccan officials said. The head of the Red Crescent rescue operation said an emergency exit was blocked and firefighters arrived some two hours after the blaze began at about 10 a.m. Full Story

20 people hurt after German train apparently hits sheep

Police say that 20 people suffered bruises and some fractures after a train traveling from Hamburg to Munich apparently collided with a flock of sheep near a rail tunnel. Deutsche Bahn says the train was near the western city of Fulda when the accident occurred around 9 p.m. on Saturday. About 20 sheep were found dead near the nearly seven-mile tunnel. Full Story

Hundreds flee wildfires in Spain

Hundreds of people fled wildfires Saturday on the Spanish island of La Gomera, with some residents taking refuge on the beaches, provincial authorities said.Separate blazes broke out around the towns of Hermigua, Vallehermoso and Agulo in the northern part of the island. There were no immediate reports about the source of the fires/ Full Story

Prime minister says Thailand will not cut rice exports

Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej promised Sunday that the kingdom would not cut rice exports, as soaring prices of Asia's staple grain continued to fuel concerns of a shortage. Samak said in his weekly television address to the nation that there was plenty of rice in Thailand, the world's biggest exporter. Full Story

Syria president denies building nuclear reactor

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied in remarks published on Sunday that a site raided by Israel last year was a nuclear reactor under construction as charged by the United States. Last September's Israeli air strike "hit a military site under construction, not a nuclear site as Israel and America claimed," Assad told the Qatari daily Al-Watan in an interview. Full Story
Burma activists stage anti-junta protest

About 100 activists demonstrated Sunday at the Burma Embassy in Bangkok, denouncing next month's referendum as a ploy to help Burma's ruling junta keep its grip on power. The demonstrators, organized by the Joint Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, chanted slogans against the May 10 referendum on a draft constitution the junta says is part of a "road map to democracy." Full Story

Women protest against anti-Islam movie, Danish cartoons in Karachi

Thousands of Pakistani women rallied here yesterday to protest against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed and a Dutch film said to insult Islam, witnesses said.The women shouted death to Denmark and death to Netherlands, as they marched about a kilometre on a busy street. Full Story

Haiti's Preval names new prime minister

Haitian President Rene Preval named a new prime minister on Sunday after lawmakers fired his predecessor to quell violent protests over rising food prices in the impoverished Caribbean nation. Full Story

US issues strategy to prevent small boat terror attack in US waters

As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles (152,880 kilometers) of US coastline and inland waterways. Full Story

Pakistan Is at an Impasse Over Reinstating Judges

After weeks of deliberation, Pakistan's newly formed coalition government appears to have reached an impasse over its month-old promise to reinstate dozens of judges fired last year by President Pervez Musharraf. Full Story

Is Al-Qaeda Back in Baghdad?

A series of bombings rocked predominantly Sunni areas of Baghdad over the weekend, threatening to draw al-Qaeda back into the capital's spotlight, just as Iraqi and American military commanders announced limited progress made on another fiery front line. Full Story

Turkish soldiers battle Kurdish separatists

Thousands of Turkish soldiers fought Kurdish separatists Sunday in two large operations, military sources said, a day after Turkish warplanes struck at rebel targets in northern Iraq. Full Story

Rockets bombard Green Zone of Baghdad

Militants bombarded the Green Zone with rockets on Sunday, taking advantage of the cover of a blinding dust storm to stage one of the heaviest strikes in weeks. Full Story

UK debates 42-day pre-charge detention

As the British parliament debated the increase in pre-charge detention of terror suspectsfrom 28 to 42 daysto combat terrorism, the government was criticized by Labour party backbenchers in the second reading of the counter-terrorism bill earlier this month. Full Story

Zimbabwe election results 'out this week'

Zimbabweans have been told they can expect the result of their presidential election to be revealed this week, a month after voters went to the polls. Full Story

Tibetan protest near Chinese embassy in Nepal, 150 detained

Police detained 150 Tibetans who held a protest on Sunday near the Chinese Embassy visa office in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu. Full Story

Israel's Air Force Chief:

If any country takes the words of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad more seriously than the United States, it is Israel. And that's not surprising:

Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, and Israeli intelligence estimates that Iran could be two years away from having a nuclear weapon. Full Story

UN troops 'armed DR Congo rebels'

The UN has covered up claims that its troops in Democratic Republic of Congo gave arms to militias and smuggled gold and ivory, the BBC has learned. Full Story

Forces see spike in IEDs in April

American and Iraqi forces in Baghdad have been targeted with 251 improvised bombs this month  nearly double the monthly average  as fighting in and around Sadr City intensified. Full Story

Bomb defused at Sri Lanka bus station: police

A powerful bomb was found and defused at a crowded bus station in northwestern Sri Lanka early Monday, minutes before the device had been set to go off, police said. Full Story

China train collision kills at least 66

Two passenger trains collided in eastern China on Monday, killing at least 66 people and injuring hundreds as carriages derailed and toppled into a ditch, state media said. Full Story

Oil prices hit new trading record near US$120 on supply concerns

Oil prices hit an all-time high near US$120 a barrel Monday after a weekend refinery strike closed a pipeline system that delivers a third of Britain's North Sea oil to refineries in the U.K. Full Story

38 militants killed in latest Baghdad fighting

The U.S. military says American and Iraqi troops have killed 38 militants in fighting in Baghdad. That number includes 22 in an attack Sunday night on a checkpoint in a Shiite militia stronghold. Full Story

Militants behead 'spy' in Pakistani tribal area: police

Pro-Taliban militants beheaded a policeman in Pakistan's troubled tribal belt bordering Afghanistan on Monday after accusing him of spying for security forces, police said. Full Story

Japan detects bird flu in four wild swans

Japan has detected a strain of bird flu in four wild swans after stepping up checks following major outbreaks of the disease in neighbouring South Korea, local and government officials said on Monday. Full Story

Washington to ask boaters, states to help prevent attacks

As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist the country's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb along the country's 95,000 miles of coastline and inland waterways. Full Story

Thai police seize more than 1,000 fake passports in raid

Thai authorities have seized more than a thousand fake Asian and Western passports and arrested a man in one of the biggest anti-counterfeiting operations in recent years, police said on Sunday. Full Story

Courtesy Terrorism Research Center, Inc.