Farc camps 'had Swedish weapons'

Author: majid khan /


Officials in Sweden are investigating reports that Swedish weapons were found in camps of Colombia's Farc rebels.

The Colombian government says it believes the rocket launchers had originally been bought by Venezuela.

Defence journal Jane's Intelligence Weekly reported last week that weapons thought to have been sold by Sweden to Venezuela were found in a Farc camp.

Venezuelan officials said the latest reports were a "media show" aimed at harming their country.

A political adviser to the Swedish ministry of commerce told AFP news agency that Sweden was calling on Venezuela to explain how the weapons ended up in a Farc camp.

"We have asked the officials of the government of Venezuela to give us information on how they believe this material was found in Colombia," said Jens Eriksson.

Jan-Erik Lovgren, of the Swedish Inspectorate for Strategic Products, told Radio Sweden that the country had not exported weapons to Venezuela since 2006.

Anti-tank weapons

On Monday, Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos said the anti-tank rocket launchers seized from the Farc had been purchased by Venezuela in Europe.

"In several operations in which we have recovered weapons… we have found powerful ammunition (and) powerful equipment, including anti-tank weapons which a European country sold to Venezuela and which turned up in the hands of the Farc," he told Colombia's Caracol radio.

In response, the Venezuelan interior minister, Tareck El Aissami, said the allegations that weapons bought by Venezuela had ended up in rebel hands were a "media show".

"It's part of a campaign against our people, our government and our institutions," he said.

On Sunday, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe criticised nations which sold weapons that ended up in the hands of guerrillas, but he did not name any individual countries.

Colombia has fallen out with its neighbours in the past over suspected links to the Farc movement.

Colombia and Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties last year after Colombian troops raided a Farc base just over the Ecuadorean border.

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Author: majid khan /

Meeting Somalia's al-Shabab

Author: majid khan /


Southern Somalia is a dangerously unpredictable place.
We flew into the region, unsure what reception we could expect from the commanders of al-Shabab, the radical Islamist insurgent group, viewed by some as al-Qaeda's proxy in the Horn of Africa.
Our plan was to stay overnight in a town called Wajid - until we learned that al-Shabab had just publicly beheaded three men in the area and shot dead a community leader.
We changed our schedule fast.
We were travelling with the United Nation's World Food Programme, which, despite operating in one of the world's most dangerous environments, is managing to feed some 3.5 million Somalis.
"It is very, very difficult," said WFP's deputy country director Denise Brown.

Killer jailed after jeopardy case

Author: majid khan /


A man has been jailed for life for killing his ex-girlfriend, seven years after being acquitted of the crime.
Mario Celaire, 31, was cleared in 2002 of killing Cassandra McDermott, 19, in Norbury, south-east London, in 2001.
Celaire, who now admits manslaughter, received a minimum 23-year sentence at the Old Bailey for trying to murder another former partner, Kara Hoyte, 21.
He was prosecuted again under double jeopardy laws when Ms Hoyte told police Celaire had confessed to the killing.
He was also ordered to serve a minimum of eight years for Ms McDermott's manslaughter, to run concurrently.
The former Maidstone United footballer is the first person in the UK to be convicted of a crime for which he was previously acquitted by a jury.
'No mercy'
The convicted rapist, from Sydenham in south-east London, admitted trying to murder Ms Hoyte in a hammer attack, in February 2007.
Sentencing him, Judge Paul Worsley said Celaire had "showed no mercy" to his two victims.
"You present a very real and continuing danger to young women with whom you enter into a close relationship."
The judge said Celaire had waited until the last minute to plead guilty to see if the evidence of the severely disabled Ms Hoyte would stand up to scrutiny.

Jackson tickets via internet draw

Author: majid khan /


Tickets for a public memorial service for Michael Jackson in Los Angeles on Tuesday will be available via the internet, organisers have revealed.
Details were announced by AEG Live, the star's promoter, which owns the Staples Center where the service will be held.
Eleven thousand free tickets are to be issued for the service. Only US residents can apply.
Fans wishing to attend must register at staplescenter.com for their tickets and names will later be chosen at random.
'It's about the fans'
Another 6,500 tickets will be issued for a simulcast of the service at the nearby Nokia theatre. It means a total of 17,500 fans will be able to see the events free.
Officials said 8,750 pairs of tickets would be allotted to the successful entrants after 1800 Saturday (0100 GMT Sunday) and notifications would go out later on Sunday.

Deadly military crash in Pakistan

Author: majid khan /


Up to 26 Pakistani security personnel are feared dead after an army transport helicopter crashed in the tribal region of Orakzai, military officials say.
Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC the helicopter crashed on the border of the Khyber and Orakzai tribal region.
The cause of the crash is unclear, although officials said the most likely explanation was a technical failure.
The crash comes as a suspected US drone strike in South Waziristan killed at least 10 militants, officials said.
The BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Islamabad says it is understood the MI-17 helicopter had been flying back to Peshawar from the Afghan border region when the pilot put out a Mayday alert.

Injured Muralitharan out of Pakistan Test

Author: majid khan /


Injured Muralitharan out of Pakistan Test

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan will miss what is expected to be an emotional return to test cricket against Pakistan this weekend, officials said Friday. A knee injury has ruled 'Murali' out of Saturday's game at Sri Lanka's Galle International Stadium, the first Test between the two teams since a militant attack in Lahore, Pakistan, left eight people dead. he two teams, however, recently contested the finals of the World .... Full Story