The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Suspected kidnappers killed in China's restive west
- Yangon blast kills 17, injures 80 - Myanmar police
- Mexico arrests drug dealer linked to boss Guzman
| Suspected kidnappers killed in China's restive west Posted: 28 Dec 2011 07:11 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) - Police in China's restive far-western Xinjiang region killed seven "kidnappers in a hostage rescue", official media reported on Thursday, calling the suspects members of a "terror gang". The kidnappers took two people hostage late on Wednesday in Pishan County in the southern part of Xinjiang, said the region's official news website (www.tianshannet.com). When police responded "the assailants resisted arrest and launched assaults, killing one police officer and injuring another", said the report. Seven of the suspects were shot dead and four were wounded and caught, said the report. The two abductees were freed. The reports did not say explicitly whether the alleged kidnapping was related to ethnic tensions in the region, where many members of the largely Muslim Uighur minority resent the presence of Han Chinese and the controls of the central government. "Pishan, an oasis county near the Taklamakan Desert, is located in the ethnic Uighur-dominated area of Xinjiang that is no stranger to violence," Xinhua news agency said in a report. Calls to the Xinjiang government by Reuters were not answered. In July 2009, Uighurs rioted against Han Chinese residents in Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, killing at least 197 people, mostly Han, according to official estimates. Xinjiang sits astride south and central Asia, and China sees it as a bulwark in this volatile part of the world, making it all the more jumpy about unrest. In September, courts in Xinjiang sentenced four people to death for violence in two cities over the summer that left 32 people dead. The government blamed the incidents in Kashgar and Hotan -- both in the majority Uighur southern part of Xinjiang -- on religious extremists and separatists who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan for their people who speak a Turkic language. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Ron Popeski) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. | ||
| Yangon blast kills 17, injures 80 - Myanmar police Posted: 28 Dec 2011 06:40 PM PST YANGON (Reuters) - At least 17 people died and 80 were injured in an early morning explosion at an industrial district Thursday in an eastern suburb of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, police said.
Earlier, witnesses had spoken of about 50 dead bodies after the 2 a.m. (7:30 p.m. British time Wednesday) blast in an industrial district of the country's commercial hub. But a police officer said 12 men and five women had been confirmed dead as of 6 a.m. He said further deaths were expected. Some witnesses said a fire had broken out at a chemical storage warehouse, causing an explosion that triggered several smaller blasts. Police said three firemen were among the dead. Fire engines from all parts of Yangon were at the scene, witnesses said. Fire was reported to have spread to a nearby shipyard and factories. Television pictures showed rescue teams carrying casualties on stretchers in the middle of the night around what appeared to be badly damaged buildings. The shock from the loud explosion in the area was felt by many people in eastern and central Yangon. Police would not comment on the cause of the disaster. "There are many casualties. We are not in a position to give you further information. We are still looking into it," a second police officer from Mingalar Taungnyunt Township Police Station told Reuters. Last Wednesday, December 21, a woman was killed and another injured when what was described as a bomb exploded in a public toilet near the main campus of Yangon University. Bomb blasts are common in Myanmar, which has been torn by ethnic rebellions and armed struggle against successive governments since independence in 1948. (Writing by Alan Raybould; Editing by Ron Popeski) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. | ||
| Mexico arrests drug dealer linked to boss Guzman Posted: 28 Dec 2011 06:36 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico captured a suspected drug trafficker with links to the country's most wanted man, Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, whose operations have recently suffered a string of blows.
Mexico's federal police said on Wednesday they captured Luis Rodriguez Olivera, known as "El Guero" (Blondie), for whom U.S. authorities have offered a reward of up to $5 million. In a statement, Mexican police said Rodriguez Olivera and his brothers were responsible for trafficking cocaine to the United States between 1996 and 2008 for Guzman's gang. A "wanted" statement on the U.S. State Department's website said Rodriguez Olivera and his brothers split with the Sinaloa cartel around 2005 and later forged a strong relationship with Guzman's rivals, the Zetas cartel. One intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the 39-year-old Rodriguez Olivera had ties to Guzman but had latterly struck out on his own. Federal police arrested him on Tuesday in Mexico City airport. Later on Wednesday, the government said it had seized eight containers carrying more than 120 tonnes of monomethylamine in the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas in Michoacan state. It was the second big seizure announced this week of monomethylamine, a compound used to make methamphetamines. According to calculations by security analysts, the shipment could have been worth $300 million dollars or more. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Full coverage of drugs war http:/link.reuters.com/wam89p ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ President Felipe Calderon's conservative administration has been dominated by a military crackdown on drug cartels that has claimed more than 46,000 lives in the past five years, eroding support for his National Action Party, or PAN. The PAN has trailed its main rival for months as Mexico gears up for a July 2012 presidential election, and analysts say it needs to rack up some victories in the fight on drugs. Javier Oliva, a drug war expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said Michoachan-based cartel La Familia was the most likely intended recipient for the Lazaro Cardenas shipment, though the Zetas were also a possibility. The shipment set out from Shanghai and was destined for the Guatemalan port of Puerto Quetzal, the government said. Though the Sinaloa cartel deals in methamphetamines, it is not regarded as exercising much control over Lazaro Cardenas. Mexico had already arrested three senior traffickers allied to Guzman in the past three months. (Editing by John O'Callaghan) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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