Session adjourned - Gulf Daily News

2 Gulf Daily News Tuesday, 25th June 2013Mystery deepens as Snowden ‘vanishes’ in MoscowMOSCOW: Fugitive US intelligenceleaker Edward Snowden yesterday vanishedin Moscow after failing to take aflight to Cuba on which he was booked,as Washington demanded that Moscowexpel him back to the US.Russia’s Interfax news agency confirmedthat he was not on the Havana flight andquoted an informed source as saying hewas likely already out of the country.Snowden had arrived in Moscow onSunday from Hong Kong, from where heby Ecuador after the US revoked his passport.The White House dubbed Snowdena traitor to his country and warned bothRussia and China that their relations withthe US might be damaged by their refusalto extradite him.cials to have spent the night in a distinctlyunglamorous “capsule hotel” atMoscow’s Sheremetyevo airport awaitinghis onward connection. Accompanied byWikiLeaks activist Sarah Harrison, he hadbeen expected to take Aeroflot’s flightSnowden, who embarrassed US leaked to the media details of secret cyberespionageObama meanwhile said that the US was yesterday from Moscow to Havana afterPresident Barack Obama with his revelationsof massive surveillance programmes,failed to appear on the Aeroflot flight toHavana from where he had been expectedto continue to Ecuador and claim asylum.programmes by both US andBritish intelligence agencies.WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange saidSnowden was “safe” after leaving HongKong with a refugee document suppliedfollowing all appropriate legal channelsand “working with various other countriesto make sure that the rule of law isobserved.”Snowden was said by Russian offi-airline sources confirmed he had checkedin and had a seat allocated.But the flight left with a pack of hopefuljournalists on board and no sign ofSnowden among the passengers.Lebanese armystorms mosqueSIDON: Lebanese soldiersstormed a complex holdinggunmen loyal to a radicalIslamist cleric in the city ofSidon yesterday and arresteddozens of his supporters,security sources said, in asecond day of clashes fuelledby Syria’s civil war.The fighting is the deadliestoutbreak in Lebanon sinceSyria’s two-year conflict began.The army said 12 soldierswere killed in the city, whilesecurity sources gave a higherarmy toll of 18 dead and 128wounded.A medic told Reuters that 22bodies had been pulled fromthe mosque complex but heexpected the final death countto be higher.He said 94 wounded hadbeen treated by the Red Cross.Fighting spread to a secondcity yesterday, with Sunnifighters in the northern cityof Tripoli opening fire on themilitary and blocking roadswith cement blocks and burningtyres.n Lebanese soldiers fire their weapons, as medics transport the lifeless body of a solider, during clashes in Sidon and, right, aBy nightfall, clashes theremedic helps an injured soldier after his body caught firehad injured two soldiers andthree gunmen.Hizbollah, was still at large after on Sunday. The army said opening fire on an army checkpoint.eradicate strife, and will notthat the army is determined toHardline Sunni cleric Sheikh the battle in Sidon.clashes broke out on SundayAhmed Al Assir, who has The army is trying to kill or after security forces detained Army commanders pledged halt its military operations untilaccused the army of backing capture him, accusing him of one of Assir’s followers. to crush Assir’s forces. security is restored to the city,”the interests of the Shi’ite group killing soldiers “in cold blood” His supporters retaliated by “We affirm to all Lebanese the army said yesterday.Ten car bombs kill 39 people in BaghdadBAGHDAD: Ten car-bomb explosionskilled at least 39 people across the Iraqicapital yesterday, police and medicalsources said.In the central district of Karada, twoparked car bombs went off killing at leasteight people, and another two car bombsexploded simultaneously near a marketin Jihad, killing eight.The attacks were the latest in a waveof violence that has claimed more than2,000 lives since the beginning of April.The deadliest attack came at nightwhen two car bombs exploded withinminutes on a commercial street in themixed neighbourhood of Jihad in westernBaghdad, killing eight people andwounding 21 others, police said.Police said car bomb exploded near asupermarket on a main commercial streetin the Shi’ite Karrada neighbourhood,killing five people and wounding 16.Just after sunset, police said a carbomb went off near an outdoor marketin the suburb of Nahrawan, killing fourcivilians and wounding 15 others.Minutes later, a car bomb went offnear a market in the Shi’ite-majorityneighbourhood of New Baghdad. Policesaid that three people were killed and10 others were wounded. Minutes later,a second car bomb hit a bus stop in thesame neighbourhood, killing two peopleand wounding eight others.Also, two people were killed in acar explosion in the Christian-Shi’iteneighbourhood of Garage Al Amana insoutheastern Baghdad.In the morning, a provincial policeofficer in Ninevah said a suicide attackerrammed his explosives-laden car into anarmy patrol in the city of Mosul, killinga soldier and a police officer. He said thatseven people, including two civilians,were wounded.Another officer said a second bomberblew set off his explosive-rigged beltinside a university campus in the city ofTikrit, killing a police officer.The violence came as tens of thousandsof Shi’ites poured into the holycity of Karbala, 80km south of Baghdad,for the annual festival of Shabaniyah,marking the anniversary of the birth ofthe ninth-century Shi’ite leader known asthe Hidden Imam.n SnowdenBerlusconiconvictedin sex trialMILAN: Silvio Berlusconi washanded a seven-year jail sentenceyesterday for abuse ofoffice and paying for sex with aminor, adding to the complicationsfacing Italy’s government.The former prime ministerwill not have to serve any jailtime before he has exhaustedan appeals process that couldtake years, but the convictionangered members of his centre-rightparty who questionedwhether he should continue tosupport the coalition.The 76-year-old mediatycoon expressed outrage at theverdict which he said was politicallymotivated. “An incrediblesentence has been issued of aviolence never seen or heard ofbefore, to try to eliminate mefrom the political life of thiscountry,” Berlusconi said.“Yet again I intend to resistagainst this persecution becauseI am absolutely innocent and Idon’t want in any way to abandonmy battle to make Italy acountry that is free and just.”Berlusconi’s lawyers saidthey would appeal against theruling that also banned himfrom holding public office.Berlusconi was found guiltyof paying for sex with nightclubdancer Karima El Mahroug duringsex parties at his home nearMilan. The judges also convictedhim of abuse of office by arrangingto have El Mahroug releasedfrom police custody when shewas held in a theft case.Saudi weekend tobegin on FridayRIYADH: Saudi Arabia isswitching its weekend to beginon Friday to align its bankingand business days with mostother nations in the region.A royal decree will takeeffect this week, Saudi PressAgency said yesterday.An advisory body in Aprilrecommended changing fromthe current system in whichthe two-day weekend begins onThursday.A similar proposal in 2007failed, but the Saudi businesscommunity has been lobbyingfor the switch for years tomatch the schedule in regionalcommercial hubs, such asDubai. Oman switched toFriday-Saturday weekends lastmonth. Most other countries inthe Gulf start their weekendson Friday.