Pakistani protester dies in clashes with police

August 31, 2014

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani police on Sunday clashed with scattered pockets of anti-government protesters trying to advance on the prime minister's residence after a night of violence that saw hundreds wounded and the first death in more than two weeks of demonstrations.

The violence has raised the stakes in a political standoff, in which cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri have led twin protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, alleging massive voting fraud in the election that brought him into office last year in the country's first democratic transfer of power.

Backed by parliament and many political parties, Sharif has refused to step down. Government negotiators have tried to convince Qadri and Khan to end their protests. Senior hospital official Dr. Wasim Khawaja said Qadri supporter Naveed Razzaq drowned in a ditch after he was in a crowd that was bombarded with tear gas. Hundreds of people were wounded overnight as police battled protesters with tear gas, batons and rubber bullets near the premier's official residence and the adjacent parliament building.

The protesters started regrouping at daybreak Sunday and made repeated attempts to make their way through heavy deployment of police and barricades to reach the premier's residence. Police strengthened their lines and responded by lobbing tear gas canisters.

Scores of protesters, including women, carrying hammers and iron rods broke down a fence outside the parliament building late Saturday, enabling hundreds of people to enter the lawns and parking area, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene.

Islamabad police chief Khalid Khattak said the protesters were armed with large hammers, wire cutters, axes and even a crane. More than 300 people — including women, children and police officers — were admitted to two government hospitals in the Pakistani capital, medics and police said. The injured had wounds from tear gas shells, batons and rubber bullets, said Dr. Javed Akram, who heads the capital's main hospital.

Akram said 182 people, including 37 police officers, were treated at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. Another 152 people were brought to a government hospital near the scene of the clashes, said another physician, Dr. Tanvir Malik.

The protests began with a march from the eastern city of Lahore on Independence Day, Aug. 14, that eventually reached Islamabad. Khan and Qadri had called for millions of protesters to join, but crowds have not been more than tens of thousands.

The protesters' presence and heightened security measures have ground much of the capital to a halt. On Saturday similar marches were held in Lahore and Karachi, and on Sunday small demonstrations were held in other towns.

Riot police initially showed restraint during Saturday's march, but when the crowd started removing shipping containers used as barricades, they fired salvos of tear gas canisters that forced the crowds back.

Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan visited the scene of the protests late Saturday to boost police morale. "A group wanted to capture the prime minister's house and other buildings. We are under oath, and the police as well, to protect the state assets," he told reporters.

Associated Press photographer Anjum Naveed contributed to this report.

Traffic resumes after Hong Kong clears protesters

December 12, 2014

HONG KONG (AP) — Traffic was back to normal Friday in Hong Kong's financial district after authorities demolished a protest camp at the heart of the city's 2 ½-month pro-democracy movement.

Hundreds of police officers, some armed with chain saws and bolt cutters, on Thursday methodically dismantled barricades, tore down canopies and removed banners in a daylong operation to shut the protest site sprawled across a normally busy highway.

Police said 249 people were arrested for unlawful assembly and obstructing police officers, bringing the total number of those detained since the movement began 75 days earlier to about 900. There were no violent clashes seen in previous confrontations. The student-led protesters had occupied streets in the Admiralty neighborhood and two other areas since Sept. 28 to protest Beijing's restrictions on the first election of the city's top leader.

"It's now convenient for everybody, but I also feel very unfortunate that we can't argue with the government," said Ngai Tsui-kuen, a courier. The unprecedented campaign, which began as separate protests led by student and activist groups, got a jumpstart in September when police fired dozens of tear gas rounds on a group of demonstrators angered over the prolonged detention of key student leaders. The resulting movement paralyzed traffic, polarized public opinion and, activists said, marked the start of an era of civil disobedience in Hong Kong, an orderly Asian financial hub where residents are increasingly worried about mainland China's increasing sway.

It also adds to the challenges for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has taken a tough stance against dissent in other regions at the country's edges. On Thursday, hundreds of demonstrators heeded police warnings to leave the protest zone to avoid being arrested, but dozens remained on the street. They chanted "I want true democracy" and "We will be back" but offered no resistance as they were taken away one by one, many lifted off the ground.

"I feel very sad because it seems that the whole occupy movement is over," said Mo Lau, a student. "But I believe that we will see more actions as our demand has not been addressed. In the short term, I think there will be a lot of demonstrations or protests."

Among those arrested were pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, pop singer Denise Ho, veteran pro-democracy activist Martin Lee and pro-democracy legislators including Albert Ho. Leaders from the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism, two student groups that have played key roles in organizing the protests, were also taken to police stations.

The sprawling Admiralty encampment, next to city government headquarters, was the focal point of what became known as the "Umbrella Movement" because of the protesters' use of umbrellas to fend off police pepper spray.

The protesters reject Beijing's restrictions on the election of the city's top leader scheduled for 2017, but failed to win any concessions from Hong Kong's government. "People will come back again, they will come back with stronger force," said Alex Chow, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, who was arrested.

Pro-democracy lawmakers said they would pressure the government in the legislature by blocking funding requests and the government's electoral reforms. "A dialogue can only happen when we vote down the coming political reform package," said pro-democracy lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan, who was the last to be taken away by police.

Associated Press journalist Wendy Tang contributed to this report.

Ukraine: Truce results in 1st casualty-free day

December 12, 2014

SYDNEY (AP) — Ukraine's president said Friday that a fragile truce between his government's troops and Russian-backed separatists in east Ukraine had resulted in the first day free of deaths or injuries for his soldiers since the conflict erupted months ago.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, wrapping up a three-day visit to Australia, said the lull in fighting — which began Tuesday after the president proposed a "day of silence" — appeared to be holding.

"Today is the first 24 hours for seven months ... when we have a real cease-fire in Ukraine," he said in a speech at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, prompting applause. "You simply can't imagine how important it is for me. This is the first night when I don't have neither lost nor wounded Ukrainian soldiers. When we don't have any lost or wounded civilians."

Poroshenko called the truce in a bid to revive a much-violated cease-fire agreement signed in September. But he acknowledged it was too early to declare the latest deal a victory. "This is only 24 hours — everything is so fragile," he said. "But I pray that we should continue this process. And if we will be united, we will win, no doubt. Not win by military means, but we will launch the political dialogue, bring peace, bring stability to my nation, to the continent and to the whole world."

The war has left more than 4,300 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands. Poroshenko accused Russia of punishing his country for "choosing freedom." "This is not just the war for our independence," he said. "This is the war for democracy, global democracy. And this is the war for security, global security."

UK, Irish premiers take charge of Belfast talks

December 11, 2014

DUBLIN (AP) — The British and Irish prime ministers took control Thursday of multi-party talks on Northern Ireland's future with survival of the region's Catholic-Protestant government at stake.

The arrival of David Cameron and Enda Kenny in Belfast harkened back to the highest-pressure moments in Northern Ireland's two-decade peace process, when leaders from London and Dublin frequently worked together to coax polarized local parties toward compromise.

Speaking outside the negotiating venue, Cameron said he and Kenny would press local leaders to concede ground to their rivals once again so that Northern Ireland's five-party administration, led by the Irish Catholics of Sinn Fein and British Protestants of the Democratic Unionist Party, could be repaired. Local leaders, in turn, made their own mostly financial demands.

Cameron said talks expected to run through Saturday represented "the crucial phase" of a 9-week-old diplomatic push, with all sides agreed that a deal or defeat must be declared by Dec. 24. Failure could mean the 2015 collapse of the local administration and a restoration of direct London rule, the system that prevailed from 1972 through most of the early 2000s.

The Democratic Unionist-Sinn Fein alliance was forged in 2007 after the outlawed Irish Republican Army renounced violence and disarmed, and the IRA-linked Sinn Fein voted to accept Northern Ireland's police. Such power-sharing between former enemies was the central goal of the U.S.-brokered 1998 Good Friday peace accord.

Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists have remained united when challenged by attacks from IRA die-hards who reject the cease-fire. But over the past year, their unlikely partnership has degenerated into open contempt on an ever-growing list of often symbolic disputes. Unresolved issues include promotion of the Gaelic language, the parading rights of hard-line Protestant groups and how best to investigate unsolved slayings from a 45-year conflict that has left 3,700 dead.

Nigeria election: Jonathan v. Muhammadu Buhari

December 11, 2014

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari will challenge President Goodluck Jonathan at February presidential elections in Nigeria, according to results Thursday from party primaries.

The Feb. 14 vote is expected to be the most closely contested since decades of military rule ended in 1999 in Africa's most populous nation and its biggest oil producer. Jonathan was the sole candidate at the governing party primaries though his election early Thursday flouted an unwritten party rule that the presidency should rotate between a Christian southerner, like himself, and a northern Muslim.

Dozens of ruling party legislators have defected over the issue, costing Jonathan's party its majority in the lower house of Parliament. Nevertheless, Jonathan told party faithful Thursday that "today we are stronger, bigger, and more in tune with the yearnings of our people."

Buhari, a Muslim northerner who overthrew a democratically elected president in 1983 and then himself was deposed in a coup in 1985, handily won primaries of a four-party opposition coalition, according to results Thursday.

The opposition accuses Jonathan, 57, of failing to contain an Islamic uprising that has killed thousands and driven 1.2 million people from their homes. It will be the fourth time at the presidential polls for Buhari, a 71-year-old former army general who is touted as more likely to succeed in the fight against the extremists. Buhari also is praised for fighting corruption while he was in power.

Alluding to that in a speech to party delegates, Buhari said "I am not a rich person. I can't give you a fistful of dollars or naira to purchase your support." He accused Jonathan of incompetence, saying "Instead of resolving problems, this government multiplies and manufactures them."

Jonathan is accused of fueling corruption in an administration that has confronted one multimillion-dollar scandal after another. In his acceptance speech, Jonathan said Nigeria's GDP has grown from $35.9 billion when his party came to power in 1999 to $510 billion today.

Orphan seal Andriana is a Greek survivor

December 11, 2014

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — An animal charity in Greece says an orphaned baby seal from an endangered species is likely to survive after receiving 25 days of treatment at a zoo near Athens.

One-month-old Mediterranean monk seal Andriana was found in November on the Aegean Sea island of Skopelos, critically ill after being separated from her mother for at least five days. Marianna Psaradellis, rescue coordinator at the Athens-based seal protection organization MOm, told the AP Thursday that Andriana had responded well to medication and gained weight. She is to be released in a protected marine park on the island of Alonissos in March, fitted with a satellite tracker.

MOm says 600 seals of the species remain alive, most in Greece.

Pakistan army to mediate between PM, protesters

August 28, 2014

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's powerful military returned to the political arena on Thursday, agreeing to mediate between the government and protesters who have camped out in the capital for two weeks demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over alleged voting fraud.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, who have led parallel anti-government protests, met with army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif late Thursday after saying they had agreed to his role as "mediator and guarantor" in talks with the premier.

The move marks a tentative return to politics for the military barely a year after Sharif became prime minister in Pakistan's first democratic transfer of power. The country has a long history of political turmoil and military interventions in politics, and Sharif himself was removed from office during a previous stint as prime minister in a military coup in 1999.

This time around, he has sought to assert his independence from the military with friendly policies toward Pakistan's longtime rival India and an attempt to negotiate peace with Taliban insurgents, which made little progress.

His decision to bring treason charges against the former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew him in 1999, is believed to have angered the military. But his main challenge over the past two weeks has come from the protests, which at their height brought tens of thousands of people into the capital's so-called Red Zone, where they camped outside parliament and demanded he resign over alleged fraud in last year's election.

Pakistani Defense Minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif welcomed the offer of mediation, which came after the premier asked the military to broker talks. "I think we should view it positively that the army is playing a constitutional and legal role," he told Pakistan's GeoNews TV.

It was not immediately clear whether the military would be able to broker a deal. After the meeting, Khan said the general told him the army would guarantee an independent and impartial judicial probe into the allegations of vote fraud. But Khan said he "made it clear" that "there can't be an independent investigation so long as Nawaz Sharif is prime minister."

The decision to invite the army to mediate came after direct talks with the two protest leaders collapsed earlier Thursday, with Qadri, a popular Pakistani-Canadian cleric, saying he had "shut the door" on further talks with the government.

It also came after police filed charges of abetting murder against the prime minister and others over the killing of 14 Qadri supporters during clashes with police in June in the eastern city of Lahore. The police accepted the charges following a complaint by Qadri's Minhaj-ul-Quran organization.

The criminal case names 20 other defendants, including Sharif's younger brother Shahbaz, who serves as chief minister of the eastern Punjab province, as well as other ministers and police officers, said police officer Sharif Sindhu.

The prime minister enjoys immunity as long as he remains in office, and has refused to step down. The anti-government demonstrations initially paralyzed Islamabad. In recent days they have fizzled out, though the crowds outside parliament still surge in the evenings.

The entry of the military raised hopes the crisis might soon be resolved but also alarm among some activists. "Now, we all know who rules Pakistan," political commentator Asma Jehangir told DawnNews TV.

Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Zaheer Babar in Lahore contributed to this report.