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France arrests suspect in Brussels Jewish museum shooting
By Ingrid Melander and Adrian Croft
PARIS/BRUSSELS Sun Jun 1, 2014 1:07pm EDT
1 of 2. A couple stand in front of the Jewish Museum near a police officer in Brussels June 1, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Francois LenoirPARIS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A 29-year-old Frenchman believed to have returned recently from fighting with Islamist militant rebels in Syria has been arrested for the killing of three people at Brussels’ Jewish Museum last month, prosecutors said on Sunday.
Mehdi Nemmouche was detained on Friday after a random check at a bus terminal in the French city of Marseille showed he was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle, another gun and ammunition similar to those used in the shooting last weekend, French and Belgian prosecutors said.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters Nemmouche had been carrying a video where a voice resembling his own claims responsibility for the shootings.
European governments have become increasingly worried that citizens going to fight in Syria will import Islamist militancy on their return.
Nemmouche served five jail terms in France before spending most of 2013 in Syria, Molins said.
"During his last stay in jail, he was noticed for extremist (Islamist) proselytism," Molins said. "He spent over a year in Syria, where he seems to have joined the ranks of combatant groups, jihadist terrorist groups."
Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told a separate news conference that the Kalashnikov had been wrapped in a flag with the inscriptions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an ultra-conservative militant group reconstituted from an earlier incarnation of al Qaeda and active in Syria and Iraq.
FRANCE "DETERMINED"
An Israeli couple and a French woman were killed when a man entered the Jewish Museum in the centre of the Belgian capital on May 24 and opened fire with a Kalashnikov. A Belgian man remains in critical condition in hospital.
A 30-second video clip from the museum's security cameras released by police showed a man wearing a dark cap, sunglasses and blue jacket entering the building, taking a rifle out of a bag and shooting into a room before calmly walking out.
The attack evoked memories of the killing of four Jews in 2012 at a school in France by Mohamed Merah, a gunman inspired by al Qaeda.
After Nemmouche's arrest was announced, President Francois Hollande said France was determined to do all it could to prevent radicalised youths carrying out attacks.
"We will monitor those jihadists and make sure that, when they come back from a fight that is not theirs, and that is definitely not ours, ... they cannot do any harm," he told reporters. "We will fight them, we will fight them, and we will fight them."
He said about 700 French jihadists were either in Syria or had returned to France after fighting there, a major concern in a country that is home to both Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities, the latter mostly of North African origin. (Full Story)
France announced new policies in April that aimed to prevent young Muslims becoming radicalised and to stop French citizens joining the Syrian civil war.
TERRORISM CHARGES
Nemmouche is being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and possession of weapons, all in the context of terrorist activity, Molins said, adding that the suspect had made no comment on the accusations.
Soulifa Badaoui, who has worked as a lawyer for Nemmouche the suspect in the past, told BFM TV that he was "not observant at all" at the time.
Belgian federal magistrate Erik Van der Sypt told Reuters that Belgium would seek Nemmouche's extradition from France.
European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor urged more action to stop hate crimes.
"...For too long, authorities in Europe have acted speedily after the fact," he said in a statement. "It is now time for all ... to make the prevention of these vicious crimes a top priority."
Security around all Jewish institutions in Belgium was raised to the highest level after the shooting, and French authorities also stepped up security after two Jews were attacked the same day as they left a synagogue in a Paris suburb wearing traditional Jewish clothing.
About half of Belgium's 42,000-strong Jewish population live in Brussels. France's Jewish community is the largest in Europe at some 550,000, though violence such as the 2012 school murders and economic woes have prompted an increase in emigration to Israel or elsewhere.
(Additional reporting by Nicolas Bertin and Jean-Baptiste Vey in Paris and Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
U.S. soldier flies to freedom after Afghan prisoner swap
By Warren Strobel and David Brunnstrom
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan/WASHINGTON Sun Jun 1, 2014 1:19pm EDT
1 of 7. U.S. Army Private Bowe Bergdahl watches as one of his captors display his identity tag to the camera at an unknown location in Afghanistan in this July 19, 2009 file still image taken from video.
Credit: Reuters/via Reuters TV/FilesBAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The sole American prisoner of war held in Afghanistan was flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany on Sunday after being freed in a swap deal for five Taliban militants who were released from the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl had been held for nearly five years and his release, following years of negotiations, suddenly became possible after harder-line factions of the Afghan Taliban shifted course and agreed to back it, U.S. officials said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he hoped the exchange might lead to breakthroughs in reconciliation with the militants.
He denied accusations from some Republicans the swap resulted from U.S. negotiations with terrorists, saying it had been worked out by the government of Qatar.
"We didn't negotiate with terrorists," Hagel said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press". "As I said and explained before, Sergeant Bergdahl was a prisoner of war. That's a normal process in getting your prisoners back."
Bergdahl, 28, was handed over at about 6 p.m. local time on Saturday, a senior official said. The U.S. forces, who had flown in by helicopter, were on the ground very briefly, said the official, who would not specify the precise location.
The Afghan Taliban said earlier they had released Bergdahl near the border with Pakistan in eastern Afghanistan.
A U.S. defense official said Bergdahl became emotional on his way to freedom, after being handed over to U.S. special forces.
"Once he was on the helicopter, he wrote on a paper plate, 'SF?'" the official said, referring to the abbreviation for special forces. "The operators replied loudly: 'Yes, we've been looking for you for a long time.' And at this point, Sergeant Bergdahl broke down."
"NEVER FORGOTTEN"
U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the release in an appearance with Bergdahl's parents, Bob and Jani, in the White House Rose Garden, saying that "while Bowe was gone, he was never forgotten".
U.S. defense officials said Bergdahl had arrived at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and after receiving care would be transferred to another military medical facility in San Antonio, Texas.
Bergdahl, from Idaho, was the only known missing U.S. soldier in the Afghan war that began soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States to force the Taliban - accused of sheltering al Qaeda militants - from power.
He was captured in unknown circumstances in eastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, about two months after arriving in the country.
In exchange for Bergdahl's freedom, the U.S. released five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo. A senior Gulf source confirmed they had arrived on Sunday in Doha, capital of Qatar, the Gulf emirate that acted as intermediary in the negotiations.
They would not be permitted to leave Qatar for a year, the source said, adding that their families had been flown from Afghanistan.
Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah said Qatar got involved in the case because it was a "humanitarian cause".
U.S. officials referred to the release of the Taliban detainees as a transfer and said the restrictions placed on them included monitoring of their activities.
Those assurances were greeted with scepticism by U.S. Republicans and some Afghan officials, who voiced concerns that the men, described as senior Taliban figures, would rejoin the insurgency against the government in Kabul.
"They will be very dangerous people, because they have connections with regional and international terror organizations around the world," a senior Afghan intelligence official said.
That view was echoed on the streets of Kabul. "It will strengthen the insurgency," said Sayed Najibullah, a tailor. "President Obama showed that his soldier's life was more important than a country’s national interest."
There was no immediate comment from the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who Hagel said had not been told in advance of the prisoner exchange.
In Washington some Republicans said the prisoner swap amounted to a negotiation with terrorists. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas called it a "dangerous price" to pay.
"Have we just put a price on other U.S. soldiers? What does this tell terrorists, that if you capture a U.S. soldier, you can trade that soldier for five terrorists we've gone after," Cruz said on the ABC news program "This Week".
Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said on "Meet the Press": "The release of five mid- to high-level Taliban is shocking to me, especially without coming to Congress. It says in the law you have to notify Congress."
Bergdahl's release comes after Obama outlined a plan on Tuesday to withdraw all but 9,800 American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and the remainder by 2016, ending more than a decade of U.S. military engagement.
(Additional reporting by Mirwais Harooni and Jessica Donati in Kabul, Amena Bakr in Doha and Missy Ryan, Roberta Rampton, Mark Hosenball, Will Dunham, Elvina Nawaguna, Patricia Zengerle, David Morgan and Bill Trott in Washington; Writing by Alex Richardson and Jim Loney; Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Lynne O'Donnell)
Nearly 800 killed in Iraq's bloodiest month this year: U.N.
BAGHDAD Sun Jun 1, 2014 8:56am EDT
A man walks past the site of Wednesday's car bomb attack in Baghdad May 29, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Ahmed MalikBAGHDAD (Reuters) - Nearly 800 people were killed in violence across Iraq in May, the United Nations said on Sunday, making it the deadliest month so far this year.
Of the total 799 people killed, 196 were members of the Iraqi security forces, and the rest were civilians - often victims of attacks by Sunni Islamist insurgents who have been regaining ground and momentum in Iraq over the past year.
The real toll is in fact higher because the UN figures do not include casualties in the western province of Anbar, where the Iraqi army has been fighting tribal and insurgent groups since they overran two cities at the start of the year.
Despite deteriorating security, Iraq's incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won the largest share of parliamentary seats in national elections last month, dealing a blow to his opponents who blame him for leading the country to ruin.
Bloodshed remains below the levels seen in 2006 and 2007 when sectarian Shi'ite-Sunni killings reached their peak, but last year was Iraq's deadliest since violence began to ease in 2008.
“I strongly deplore the sustained level of violence and terrorist acts that continues rocking the country," UN envoy to Iraq Nikolay Mladenov said in a statement.
"I urge the political leaders to work swiftly for the formation of an inclusive government within the constitutionally mandated timeframe and focus on a substantive solution to the situation in Anbar.”
Excluding Anbar, the worst affected governorate was Baghdad, where 315 people were killed. The Sunni-dominated northern province of Nineveh was the second most violent, followed by Salahaddin, Kirkuk and Diyala.
The UN said figures from the Anbar health directorate put the number of civilian casualties there at 195, with about half in the provincial capital Ramadi and the rest in the city of Fallujah, which is just 70 km (43 miles) west of Baghdad.
Monitoring group Iraq Body Count put the monthly civilian death toll across Iraq higher at 1,027, bringing its tally so far this year to 5,055, of which 521 people were killed in Fallujah alone by government forces.
(Reporting by Isabel Coles; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Huge Thai security force deployment stifles coup protests
By Paul Mooney and Simon Webb
BANGKOK Sun Jun 1, 2014 9:03am EDT
1 of 2. A soldier takes up position in front of a large screen at the Victory Monument, where anti-coup protesters were gathering on previous days, in Bangkok May 30, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Damir SagoljBANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's military government sent thousands of troops and police into central Bangkok on Sunday, stifling any mass dissent against the army's coup on May 22 and limiting protesters to small gatherings held mostly around shopping malls.
The military toppled the remnants of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's administration after months of protests forced ministries to close, hurt business confidence and caused the economy to shrink.
Yingluck herself was ordered to step down two weeks before the coup when a court found her guilty of abuse of power.
A force of 5,700 police and soldiers was deployed in central Bangkok on Sunday, and rapid deployment units were on hand to stop protests against the coup that might spring up elsewhere, deputy police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said on Sunday.
The military has banned political gatherings of five or more people and protests that have taken place in Bangkok have been small and brief.
A group of protesters gathered on Sunday on an elevated walkway leading to the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, scene of small protests in the days after the military declared martial law on May 20 prior to its full takeover of government. Hundreds of troops with riot gear arrived and suddenly stormed the walkway, sending protesters and onlookers fleeing.
Earlier, a group of about 30 people protested inside Terminal 21 mall in the Asoke area and a group of a similar size gathered at Thammasart University near the Royal Palace, one of the sites most visited by tourists in Bangkok.
Many protesters signalled their opposition to the coup by holding three middle fingers of one hand up in the air, which some said stood for freedom, equality and brotherhood. A few displayed signs bearing the words "No Coup". Police detained one of the protesters in Asoke. On Saturday, as on the two previous days, the authorities closed normally busy roads around Victory Monument, which was becoming a focal point for opposition to the coup. The area was flooded with police and troops but no protesters turned up.
Some top-end malls in the Ratchaprasong area chose to close or have reduced opening hours and the operator of the Skytrain overhead rail network shut several stations in the central area.
In the morning, Ratchaprasong swarmed with police and media but there was barely a protester to be seen.
The cavernous Central World mall opened four hours later than normal at 2 p.m. (0700 GMT). By mid-afternoon there were only a handful of shoppers in the mall, parts of which were burnt to the ground in the mayhem after an army crackdown on protesters in 2010.
"I feel safer now so, no, I didn't change my plans to come," said an expatriate American woman who has lived in Thailand for 30 years. "This country has been in turmoil for three years. It couldn't move forward under the previous government. I hope things can be resolved now."
"RECONCILIATION"
Thailand's deep political divide pits the Bangkok-based royalist establishment dominated by the military, old-money families and the bureaucracy against supporters of former telecommunications mogul Thaksin Shinawatra, who is adored by the poor in the north and northeast.
Thaksin is the brother of Yingluck and was considered the real power behind her government. He was ousted as prime minister in a previous coup in 2006 and lives in self-imposed exile since fleeing a 2008 conviction for abuse of power.
In a televised address late on Friday, army chief and coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the military would need time to reconcile Thailand's antagonistic political forces and push through reforms.
He outlined a process beginning with three months of "reconciliation". A temporary constitution would be drawn up and an interim prime minister and cabinet chosen in a second phase, taking about a year, he said. An election would come at an unspecified time after that.
The United States, European Union countries and others have called for Prayuth to restore democracy quickly, release political detainees and end censorship.
Australia scaled back relations with the Thai military on Saturday and banned coup leaders from travelling there.
Sihasak Phuangketkeow, permanent secretary at Thailand's Foreign Ministry, played down foreign concerns and pleaded for understanding from his country's allies.
"Importantly, we have already started a process of heading back on the democratic track," he said. "As things progress, I do hope that our friends and partners will take these developments into consideration."
(Additional reporting by Viparat Jantraprap in Bangkok and Masayuki Kitano in Singapore; Writing by Alan Raybould; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Netanyahu urges world not to recognize Palestinian unity government
By Jeffrey Heller
JERUSALEM Sun Jun 1, 2014 1:00pm EDT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a special cabinet meeting marking Jerusalem Day at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem May 28, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Gali Tibbon/PoolJERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned against any international rush to recognize a Palestinian government due to be announced under a unity pact between the Fatah and Hamas Islamist groups.
Israel and the West classify Hamas as a terrorist organization and have no official dealings with the movement, which advocates the destruction of the Jewish state.
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party signed a reconciliation deal with Hamas in April, said a unity government due to be announced on Monday would be comprised of ministers without political affiliation, a status that could ease the way for Western engagement.
"I call on all responsible elements in the international community not to rush to recognize a Palestinian government which has Hamas as part of it and which is dependent on Hamas," Netanyahu, who has said such an administration would be a front for the Islamist group, told his cabinet.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization that calls for Israel's destruction, and the international community must not embrace it. That would not bolster peace, it would strengthen terror," Netanyahu said in public remarks at the cabinet meeting.
Israel froze U.S.-brokered peace talks with Abbas when the unity deal was announced on April 23 after numerous unsuccessful attempts at Palestinian reconciliation since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces in fighting in 2007.
BOYCOTT?
Abbas said on Saturday that Israel "informed us ... they would boycott us if we announced the government". Netanyahu, in his brief statement on Sunday, made no reference to any Israeli sanctions.
Israel has withheld tax revenues from Abbas's aid-dependent Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, in retaliation for his signing in April of international conventions and treaties after Israel reneged on a promised release of Palestinian prisoners.
On Saturday, a Palestinian official said Israel had denied requests by three Gaza-based Palestinians expected to be named as ministers to attend the new government's swearing-in ceremony in the occupied West Bank.
Abbas has said a joint government with Hamas would continue to abide by his policy of recognising Israel, though the Islamist group insists it would not change its own policy of rejecting Israel's existence.
He has been keen to assure Western donor countries he will remain the key Palestinian decision-maker and that security coordination between his forces and Israel will continue.
Both Fatah and Hamas see benefits to a unity pact, though disagreements have blocked them from achieving such a government for years.
With a strict blockade imposed by neighbours Israel and Egypt, Hamas has been struggling to prop up Gaza's economy and pay its 40,000 employees. Abbas, for his part, wants to shore up his domestic support since the peace talks with Israel collapsed.
(Editing by Andrew Roche)
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