Canadians flock to Parliament Hill, site of attack on soldier

 

(Reuters) - Canadians returned to the reopened grounds of their parliament building on Saturday, three days after a homegrown radical rushed in armed with a rifle after killing a soldier in the second domestic attack in a week on the country's military.
The grounds of the hilltop gothic building, whose clock tower is a centerpiece of Ottawa's skyline, attracted scores of visitors, many still stunned by Wednesday's attack, which took place as Prime Minister Stephen Harper was meeting with lawmakers.
The attacks on Monday and Wednesday were the work of Canadian citizens, reportedly recent converts to Islam, who appear to have operated independently, police said.
The first victim, 53-year-old Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, died when a man ran him over with a car in Quebec, while the second, 24-year-old Corporal Nathan Cirillo, was gunned down while standing a ceremonial watch at a monument to Canada's war dead near Parliament Hill.
Police presence was light at the grounds, which had been closed to the public since Wednesday. The parliament building itself remained closed, but House Speaker Andrew Scheer said it would reopen for tours and visits on Monday.
"The very fact of us being here on this spot means they did not win," said 41-year-old Toronto teacher Franco Ferrari.
He said he had brought his son and his sons friends to Ottawa on Thursday night.
"I wanted them to see this," Ferrari said. "I wanted to show them that we will not be bullied."
The attackers, 32-year-old gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, described as troubled and drug-addicted, and 25-year-old Martin Rouleau, who drove over two soldiers, one of whom survived, both developed their radical views in Canada, police said.
Both men were shot and killed by security officers.
The attacks came as Canada deployed additional planes to the Middle East to take part in a campaign of air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.
Canadian officials vowed on Friday to toughen laws against terrorism, but critics warned against moves that would curtail civil liberties in a country that prides itself on its openness.
The attacks appeared to provoke vandalism at a mosque in Cold Lake, Alberta, more than 3,000 kilometers (1860 miles) west of Ottawa. Windows on a mosque were found smashed on Friday, with the words "Go home" spray-painted on the building.
Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau on Saturday condemned the incident.
"The vandals who carried out these acts are criminals and cowards," Trudeau said, "and their actions run counter to basic Canadian values."
A crowd of several dozen people assembled in downtown Montreal on Saturday for an impromptu memorial to Cirillo and Vincent, leaving flowers and signing memorial books that had been left in tribute to the slain soldiers.
"What happened this week with the murder of those two military is a turning point in our history," said Louise Beaudry, the 65-year-owner of a translation agency, who attended the Montreal event. "We need to revise the way the security is organized for everybody in the country ... We need to be realistic."
(Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Lisa Von Ahn) 

Top US diplomat Kerry defends soldier swap with Taliban

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State John Kerry defended Sunday the swap of five Guantanamo detainees for American Bowe Bergdahl, amid reports the captive US soldier was kept at times in a metal cage and in total darkness.

Kerry doubled down on President Barack Obama´s controversial decision to make the trade in exchange for the release of Bergdahl, who the top US diplomat said was at risk of being tortured by his captors.

"It would have been offensive and incomprehensible to consciously leave an American behind, no matter what, to leave an American behind in the hands of people who would torture him, cut off his head, do any number of things," Kerry told CNN´s State of the Union program.

Bergdahl was released last Saturday to American troops in Afghanistan in exchange for the five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Kerry made his remarks amid a news report Sunday about the grim conditions in which Bergdahl was held while a hostage in Afghanistan.

The New York Times wrote that the army sergeant has told medical officials that he was kept in total darkness in a metal cage for weeks, as a punishment for trying to escape.

Bergdahl, who is receiving medical treatment at an army facility in Landstuhl, Germany, is healing physically, but is still emotionally too fragile to be reunited with his relatives, said the daily, citing anonymous US officials who have been briefed on his condition.

"Physically, he could be put on a plane to the US tomorrow, but there are still a couple of mental criteria to address: the family unification piece and the media exposure piece," said one US official who has been briefed on his condition told the Times.

The newspaper also reported that Bergdahl has had no access to news media and at present is unaware of the controversy raging in the United States about whether the administration put US security at risk by freeing the five Taliban inmates.

Kerry said the freed Taliban, who have been released to the government of Qatar, are unlikely go back on their word and take up the struggle again against the US.

"I´m not telling you that they don´t have some ability sought some point to go back and get involved. But they also have an ability to get killed doing that," he told CNN.

"I don´t think anybody should doubt the capacity of the United States of America to protect Americans. Nobody."The Times reported that Bergdahl, 28, has emerged from captivity physically in better condition than expected, although he suffers from skin and gum disorders typical of poor hygiene and exposure.
Meanwhile the FBI reported it was investigating threats to his relatives back home in Idaho.

"We are aware of the threats and are working with our local law enforcement partners to investigate," FBI spokeswoman Jacqueline Maguire told AFP on Sunday, without providing details as to the nature of the threats."As always, we take these types of threats seriously," she said.

Captured US soldier was treated well: Taliban

KABUL: The Taliban said Friday that US Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was treated well during the five years they held him captive and was even allowed to play soccer with the men holding him.

The spokesman, Zaibullah Mujahid, told The Associated Press by telephone that Bergdahl was held under "good conditions," and was given fresh fruit and any other foods he requested.

"You can ask him in America about his life (in captivity). He will not complain," Mujahid said.

He said Bergdahl was held in different locations inside Afghanistan, without providing further details.

He said the soldier enjoyed playing soccer as well as reading, including English-language books about Islam.

Since Bergdahl´s release senior officials, including President Barack Obama, have said the prisoner swap that involved the release of five high-profile Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay, and which has caused a furor in the United States, was hastened by concerns the Army sergeant´s physical health was deteriorating.

But the Obama administration later told senators it did not notify Congress about the pending swap because of intelligence the Taliban might kill Bergdahl if the deal was made public, congressional and administration officials said Thursday.

Under the deal, five Taliban militants were released from Guantanamo and flown to Qatar, where they are to remain for a year under conditions that have not been spelled out in public.

A federal law requires Congress to be told 30 days before a prisoner is released from Guantanamo, but Obama administration officials said it did not apply in what they deemed an emergency situation. (AP)

Afghan Taliban free US soldier after five years

PESHAWAR: The Afghan Taliban on Saturday confirmed to have freed US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, they had abducted in June 2009 from Afghanistan, in exchange of their top Taliban commanders.

“Yes our talks finally proved successful for prisoners’ swap. We returned our valued guest to his countrymen and they released our people, including the top five commanders held in Guantanamo Bay since 2002,” a senior Taliban commander told The News on phone from somewhere in Afghanistan.

Pleading anonymity, he said talks for prisoners’ swap had been going on for the past several weeks. He didn’t mention the name of the country but said a brotherly Muslim country, having sympathies with the Taliban, played an important role in bringing together the Taliban and US officials to help exchange each others’ prisoners.

The Taliban commander said Bowe Bergdahl had mostly been held in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan after what he termed his ‘dramatic’ kidnapping from Afghanistan’s Paktika province in June 2009.

“After the deal was finalised, Bowe was taken to Ali Sher town of Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province by the third party and delivered to Americans. We don’t know further what happened to him,” the Taliban commander said.

According to the Taliban, they had informed Bergdahl a few days ago about his likely release but he didn’t believe as before this he was once handed over to members of the Quetta Shura or council, the decision-making body of the militants, for his scheduled release in exchange for the five commanders two years ago when they started peace talks with US in Qatar.

“The talks at that time failed and he was again handed over to his captors and that’s why he didn’t trust when was told about his likely release,” he recalled.

He claimed Bergdahl has made several friends among the Taliban but his suffering began when his close friend and senior Taliban commander, Maulvi Sangeen Zadran was killed in a US drone attack in North Waziristan tribal region last year.

“He was actually kidnapped by the militants of Maulvi Sangeen and that’s why the late commander would love him and take care of him,” the Taliban commander said.

Before his release, the Taliban claimed he was given a traditional Afghan turban as a gift.

“It is war in which they kill us and we kill them but we did whatever we could to make him happy and return with good memories,” the Taliban commander said.

The Taliban commander claimed they finally got back their five prisoners including Mulla Fazal Akhund, Noorullah Noori, Abdul Haq Waseeq, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Mohammad Nabi in exchange for the US soldier.

“We initially demanded the release of these people. They arrived in Qatar and joined their families,” he said.

According to Taliban sources, Mulla Fazal Akhund, who belongs to the Kakar tribe and is from Derawad in the central Urozgan province, was the Taliban army chief at the time of his capture.

Mulla Fazal was reportedly leading his fighters in northern Afghanistan where he surrendered to Uzbek warlord General Abdur Rasheed Dostum on condition that he won’t be handed over to the US.

Gen Dostum later handed over him and several hundred other Taliban prisoners to the US reportedly after taking money from the Americans. Noorullah Noori, who hails from Ghazni province, was the governor of Balkh province, while Khairullah Khairkhwa served as Afghanistan’s interior minister during the Taliban rule and also remained the governor of Herat province.

He belongs to Spin Boldak village in Kandahar province sited near the Pakistani border town of Chaman. Abdul Haq Waseeq was the deputy Taliban intelligence chief when he was captured. He belongs to Paktia province. Similarly, Mohammad Nabi was an important military commander when the Taliban were in power. He belongs to the Haqqani network.

Bombers kill soldier, policeman ahead of Egypt vote campaign

CAIRO: Bombers killed a policeman and a soldier in Egypt Friday, hours before campaigning starts in presidential polls which the former army chief who deposed the elected Islamist leader is expected to win.

Militants have unleashed a wave of attacks targeting security forces since presidential frontrunner Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Mohamed Morsi in July.

The army led by the now retired field marshall also installed an interim government that has waged a deadly crackdown on Morsi´s supporters and his Muslim Brotherhood movement.

A bomb struck a traffic police kiosk near a courthouse in the north Cairo district of Heliopolis, killing one policeman and wounding four others, interior ministry spokesman Hany Abdel Latif told.

The interior ministry later said the bomb had been concealed in a traffic light.

The attack came just hours after two suicide bombers attacked a checkpoint and a nearby bus outside the South Sinai provincial capital Al-Tur, security officials said.A soldier was killed and six policemen wounded by the first bomber, and five civilians wounded by the second, the officials said.

Security forces have deployed in strength to protect the resorts along the South Sinai coast that are a major plank of the country´s battered tourism sector.

Friday´s bombings came a day before the start of official campaigning in the May 26-27 presidential election which will see leftist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi as Sisi´s sole rival.

Sabbahi came third in the 2012 election which Morsi won, and is seen by supporters as the only leader representing the aspirations of those who revolted against longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011.A statement from the prime minister´s officer said, meanwhile, that Friday´s violence would not undermine Egypt´s determination to hold "fair presidential and parliamentary polls".

Morsi´s Brotherhood, which swept all elections since Mubarak´s fall, is blacklisted as a "terrorist" organisation and said it will boycott the polls.

Indian soldier, three militants among six killed in Kashmir gunfight

SRINAGAR: Three suspected militants disguised in army uniforms hijacked a taxi in the Indian-held Kashmir on Friday and killed three people before being shot dead by security forces, police said.

The attack was the deadliest in months by suspected militants fighting the Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan territory and came just ahead of India’s general elections in which Kashmiris are slated to vote.

The militants seized the shared passenger taxi early Friday morning near the LoC with Pakistan in the south of the scenic territory. The dead included the driver of the vehicle hijacked by the gunmen near Dayalchak, 340 kilometres from Kashmir’s main city Srinagar. A passenger and a soldier also lost their lives.

The gunmen dressed up in army uniforms fired at the jeep used as a shared taxi to ferry people between towns and then hijacked it, killing the passenger on the spot.They abandoned the vehicle near an Indian Army artillery unit a few miles away. Security forces intercepted the gunmen, triggering a three-hour firefight that ended with the deaths of the suspected militants and one of the soldiers.

“All three militants were killed. Their bodies were recovered as well as that of the driver,” Inspector General of Police, Rajesh Kumar, told AFP. Kumar said the gunmen have not yet been identified and no militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the clear if the gunmen killed the taxi driver or whether he died in the exchange of fire with soldiers, police said.

About a dozen rebel groups have been fighting security forces in Indian-held Kashmir since 1989 for independence or merger of the territory with Pakistan.Tens of thousands, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting. Security was stepped up across Indian Kashmir after Indian elections were announced earlier in March. Kashmiris will be voting in the polls that will be held in five stages to ensure security of voters across the restive territory between April 10 and May 7.

The Indian government and security establishment had recently expressed fears of a possible escalation in rebel attacks in Kashmir ahead of the election. In the last major attack in September 2013, suspected rebels attacked a police station and an army unit near the area where Friday’s incident happened, killing 10, including two police and four soldiers.