Suspected Taliban guerrillas riding in a fleet of vehicles shot up a government office in Musa Qala in southern Afghanistan late Saturday, killing four Afghan soldiers, an official said Sunday. One gunman also was killed. The official said about 100 Afghan troops rushed from the provincial capital, Lashkargah, and began combing the area for the attackers Sunday.
Hong Kong: March marks protest
Thousands of people marched through Hong Kong on Sunday to commemorate the killing of students by Chinese troops who broke up pro-democracy rallies in Tiananmen Square 15 years ago. The June 4, 1989 crackdown, in which Beijing used soldiers and tanks against the unarmed activists, shocked Hong Kong, then a British territory. Hong Kong reverted to China in 1997.
China: Tiananmen protester free
A Chinese political activist who participated in the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square was released Sunday after serving nine years in prison, his mother said. Li Hai, 50, was sentenced in 1996 for divulging state secrets after he compiled lists of people imprisoned in the wave of arrests that followed the bloody crackdown on demonstrators 15 years ago.
Pakistan: Riot after cleric shot
Thousands of Sunni Muslims rampaged through Karachi on Sunday, ransacking property and stoning vehicles after unidentified gunmen assassinated an influential pro-Taliban cleric. Enraged by the drive-by shooting of Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, rioters set fire to banks, shops, a police station and a KFC fast food restaurant, and traded gunfire with security forces, leaving more than a dozen people injured.
Israel: Cabinet overhaul threatened
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened Sunday to reshuffle his Cabinet to win approval for his plan to withdraw from all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four others in the northern West Bank., Israeli media reported. Sharon’s made his threat as the Cabinet debated his withdrawal proposal for the first time. The all-day session ended without a vote.
Venezuela: Recall vote agreement
President Hugo Chavez is willing to face a recall referendum if the opposition gathers enough petition signatures to force the vote, former U.S. President Carter said after meeting the Venezuelan leader Sunday. Carter met Chavez as opposition leaders concluded a three-day campaign in which they sought to have supporters ratify their signatures on petitions for an August presidential recall vote.
From Herald news services
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