The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Rwanda rescues baby gorilla from poachers
- Libyan TV shows footage of Khamis Gaddafi
- Renewed bloodshed as NATO, Gaddafi accounts collide
| Rwanda rescues baby gorilla from poachers Posted: 09 Aug 2011 09:21 PM PDT KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwandan authorities have rescued a baby gorilla of the critically endangered mountain species from poachers who said they had bought it for $15,000 in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Police rescued the male mountain gorilla, aged between 8 and 12 months, on Monday night, the authorities said on Tuesday. "The baby gorilla was found in the hands of three poachers, namely Jean Baptiste Mushebeje, Musabyimana Elia and Tuma Janvier, who are all being held in police custody in Gisenyi," the Rwanda Development Board said in a statement. "Currently the baby's external conditions show that he is in good health." Last month, Rwanda handed over six orphaned gorillas to the DRC after poachers smuggled them out of the country to sell as exotic pets or for consumption as bush meat. Wildlife conservation and endangered species group WWF (World Wildlife Fund) classifies mountain gorillas as critically endangered, with about 680 surviving in the wild, all in central Africa. However, poaching has decimated populations of the endangered primates and the Rwandan government has vowed to step up efforts to stop trafficking. The rare mountain gorillas are found in a Ugandan national park or in the Virunga Volcano Region, which straddles the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC. (Editing by James Macharia Gareth Jones) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. | ||
| Libyan TV shows footage of Khamis Gaddafi Posted: 09 Aug 2011 08:20 PM PDT BERLIN (Reuters) - Libyan state television showed on Tuesday what it said was footage of Muammar Gaddafi's son Khamis, who rebels said last week had been killed, visiting Libyans wounded in an air attack east of Tripoli. The Libyan government has denied rebel claims that Khamis, commander of one of Gaddafi's most loyal and best-equipped units, had been killed by a NATO air strike near Zlitan.
Libyan TV said the footage was recorded on Tuesday. If genuine, it would be the first visual proof by Gaddafi's government that Khamis Gaddafi was still alive. Wearing a military uniform and an orange beret and bearing a striking resemblance to Khamis, a man was heard chatting to people the network said were wounded earlier on Tuesday in a NATO air strike on farmhouses near Zlitan. The government said dozens of civilians were killed in the attack. NATO said it hit a legitimate military target and was investigating the incident. "They bombed the house. You mean you did not expect to be bombed," Khamis could be heard asking a woman lying in a hospital bed. (Reporting and writing by Joseph Nasr, editing by Tim Pearce) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. | ||
| Renewed bloodshed as NATO, Gaddafi accounts collide Posted: 09 Aug 2011 08:20 PM PDT MAJAR, Libya (Reuters) - In Libya's civil war, where conflicting accusations collide and dusty farmlands have become a battleground, there was little doubt about the conflict's human toll, no matter its nature or numbers. The scene was gruesome and chaotic in the seaside town of Zlitan on Tuesday as sweaty cameramen and government officials crowded into the tiny, sweltering hospital morgue, clutching scarves and paper masks to protect against the sickening smell. The sights, as medical workers unzipped some of the body bags lying haphazardly on the floor, were even worse: jumbled body parts coated with blood and dust; a foot stacked the wrong way against someone's corpse; the heartbreaking sight of a limp child still in diapers. Such is the reality of the Libya conflict more than four months after Western nations began their airstrikes to help a ragtag rebel force defeat troops loyal to longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. The allegations from Gaddafi's government on Tuesday that the latest NATO strikes had killed scores of civilians could further strain a campaign that has waning support and no clear end in sight. Officials in Tripoli, hoping to show the world that NATO bombings have strayed from military targets, rushed foreign reporters onto a bus to witness the aftermath of airstrikes they said had killed 85 civilians - 33 children, 32 women, 20 men - late the night before. "Only God knows why these people were targeted," said Faraj Mohamed, another resident of the village of Majar, where the isolated farmhouses were struck about 10 kms (six miles) south of the Mediterranean coast. For residents like Mohamed, mindful of Italy's colonial experiment in Libya and decades of Western interest in its oil riches, the deaths were further proof that no good could come of foreign involvement here. When reporters arrived, they saw that massive blasts had collapsed the concrete farmhouses, surrounded by high walls in the middle of stubbly, dry fields. Inside, the rubble was littered with blankets, mattresses and children's schoolbooks. There was no evidence of weaponry. Footage later provided by government officials showed men combing through one of the bomb sites, apparently the night before, picking hands and feet and other body parts out of the rubble. The battered corpse of an infant was placed on a blanket along with the remains of another child. But onlookers milling around the scene of the strikes the next day had confused and sometimes conflicting narratives. There were neighbors who couldn't remember the names of dead; people who became confused about the death toll; accounts of the series of strikes that were difficult to piece together. Perhaps people didn't understand the questions posed through interpreters or in foreigners' Arabic; perhaps grieving relatives and neighbors were in shock. Nor did reporters see more than about 30 corpses throughout the day, though they were told the rest of the bodies were brought to Tripoli or were still trapped in the rubble. NATO, which accuses Gaddafi forces of housing military assets alongside civilians, said soldiers may have been killed in the strike it said hit a military staging ground south of Zlitan, where nearby rebels are hoping to break a long impasse against Gaddafi. While NATO said there was no proof civilians had been killed, it is virtually impossible for the alliance to verify who is killed in such strikes. OPACITY The confusion on Tuesday was just one example of the murkiness that has characterized a conflict that NATO powers have kept at arms' length and which the Gaddafi government has sought to depict as a Western crusade against Islam. Rebels claim regularly to seize towns that Tripoli says are firmly in its control. The government accuses NATO of choking off food and power supplies; NATO says Gaddafi is denying his people basic rights. It is often difficult for reporters to verify claims on either side. The credibility of the rebels' leadership meanwhile has been hit by the mysterious assassination of its military chief. The scene at the crowded, claustrophobic hospital morgue on Tuesday afternoon was another reminder of the toll the current conflict has taken as Libya drifts back into greater isolation and the body count rises on both sides. In a nearby hospital room, Majar resident Ali Muftah Hamid Gafez stood by the bed of his wife, Fattiya, whose left leg had apparently been severed the night before. "I was sitting with my friends in the house, when we suddenly heard the bomb. Then I blacked out," she whimpered, appearing frightened of the crowd of reporters assembled at the foot of her bed. She pulled the covers up over her head, and waited for the foreigners to leave. (Editing by Tim Pearce) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: World Updates To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan