The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Afghan Vice President Fahim dies of natural causes Posted: 09 Mar 2014 01:39 AM PST KABUL, March 09, 2014 (AFP) - Afghan Vice President Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim, formerly one of the country's much-feared warlords, has died of natural causes, officials said Sunday, adding that three days of national mourning would be held. Fahim, a leader of the Tajik ethnic minority, served as senior vice president to President Hamid Karzai, who is due to step down at elections next month as NATO combat forces pull out of Afghanistan after 13 years of fighting the Taliban. Aged 56, Fahim was accused of being a ruthless strongman who maintained his own militia forces, but he also received American support as Afghanistan sought stability after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. "With deep sadness, the 1st vice president, Marshal M.Q. Fahim has passed away. May his soul rest in peace," presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said on his Twitter account. "The government of Afghanistan has called for a three-day national mourning, during which the national flag will be half-hoisted for his demise." |
| Sri Lanka warns developing nations Posted: 08 Mar 2014 08:00 AM PST COLOMBO: Sri Lanka warned that US efforts to force an international investigation into alleged war crimes on the island could have an "adverse impact" on all developing nations. The Colombo government told the ongoing UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva that a draft resolution against Sri Lanka could set a "bad precedent". The US has given notice of a resolution backing UN rights chief Navi Pillay's call for an external probe into charges that Sri Lankan troops killed up to 40,000 civilians while crushing Tamil rebels in 2009. "Being intrusive, politicised and in clear contravention of accepted principles of conduct in the council, the resolution sets a bad precedent, and can in the medium-to-long term have an adverse impact on all developing countries in the council," Sri Lanka's envoy in Geneva, Ravi Aryasinha, said. In his statement to the council, a copy of which was released in Colombo, Aryasinha said the draft resolution was also a violation of Sri Lanka's sovereignty as well as its constitution. Dozens of pro-government women staged a demonstration outside the US embassy in Colombo, denouncing the US-led censure move at the UNHRC. International rights groups and UN experts had said there are "credible allegations" that up to 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed after government forces ordered them into a no-fire zone in 2009. The US-led resolution asked Pillay to give an oral report on progress to the council at its 27th session in September, and provide a written report by March 2015. The draft also called on Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of military excesses and expressed "serious concern" over continuing reports of human rights violations five years after the end of the decades-long separatist war. — AFP |
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