Ugandan newspaper again publishes list of gay men

KAMPALA, Uganda – A controversial newspaper in Kampala published photos, names and home addresses of gay Ugandans on Monday — the second time the paper has done so — prompting a rights group to seek a legal injunction against the publication.

The paper's managing editor, Giles Muhame, said he plans to continue publishing photos of gay men in order to "help them live responsible lives."

Earlier this month the paper — called Rolling Stone but not linked to the American magazine of the same name — published a front page story featuring a list of what the paper said were Uganda's 100 "top" homosexuals. Rights activists said the story prompted attacks against at least four gay Ugandans.

Sexual Minorities Uganda has asked the country's highest court to issue an injunction against publishing the faces of gays in future editions.

"We now live in fear," said Julian Onzeima, the group's coordinator. "The Rolling Stone paper has led to people turning against us."

Gays in Uganda say they have faced a year of attacks and harassment since a lawmaker introduced a bill in October 2009 that would impose the death penalty for some homosexual acts and life in prison for others. The bill has not come up for a vote.

The legislation was drawn up following a visit by leaders of U.S. conservative Christian ministries that promote therapy they say allows gays to become heterosexual.

The bill became political poison after international condemnation, and many Christian leaders have denounced it.

Fifty-two killed in Iraq church raid

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – An al Qaeda attack that killed 52 hostages and police in a Catholic church in Baghdad was aimed at driving the embattled Christian minority out of the country, Iraq's human rights minister said on Monday.

Church officials described the attack, which began when gunmen seized the Our Lady of Salvation Church during Sunday mass, as the bloodiest against Iraq's Christians in the seven years of sectarian war that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

A Christian lawmaker said the botched raid to free the hostages proved that the Iraqi security forces lack the capability to maintain peace.

Lieutenant General Hussein Kamal, a deputy interior minister said 52 hostages and police were killed and 67 wounded in the incident, which ended with police storming the Assyrian Catholic church to free more than 100 hostages seized by guerrillas.

The death toll was many times higher than that given overnight in the hours after the raid.

"What happened was more than a catastrophic and tragic event. In my opinion, it is an attempt to force Iraqi Christians to leave Iraq and to empty Iraq of Christians," Human Rights Minister Wijdan Michael, a Christian, said at the scene.

Al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility in a statement posted on Islamist websites for the attack on "the dirty den of idolatry."

At least one bomb exploded at the start of the siege. Sporadic gunfire rang out for several hours over the Karrada neighborhood near the heavily fortified Green Zone district where many embassies and government offices are located.

U.S. and Iraqi military helicopters thundered overhead as security forces cordoned off the area.

A federal police source who declined to be identified said Sunday's rescue operation was extremely difficult.

"The attackers were among children, armed with weapons," the source said. "Most of the casualties were killed or wounded when the security forces raided the place."

Officials say some of the attackers blew up explosives vests or threw grenades during the raid. Security sources said many of the victims died in gunfights between police and insurgents.

"SENSELESS VIOLENCE"

Iraq's Christians, who once numbered 1.5 million out of a total Iraqi population of about 30 million, have frequently been targeted by militants since the invasion, with churches bombed and priests assassinated. Many have fled.

Our Lady of Salvation was one of five churches in Baghdad and Mosul hit in coordinated attacks in August 2004 in which 12 people were killed.

Pope Benedict condemned Sunday's attack in remarks to pilgrims gathered to hear his prayer in St Peter's Square for the Catholic All Saints' Day holiday.

"I pray for the victims of this senseless violence, made even more ferocious because it struck defenseless people who were gathered in the house of God, which is a house of love and reconciliation," he said.

Although violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the height of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07, attacks by Sunni insurgents and Shi'ite militia continue daily.

The failure of Iraqi leaders to agree on a new government since an inconclusive March election has added to tension just as U.S. forces cut back their presence and ended combat operations ahead of a full withdrawal next year.

A Christian lawmaker denounced the performance of Iraqi forces and said insurgents were exploiting the political vacuum.

"This operation hits at the credibility of the government and its ability to handle, preserve and impose security and the enforcement of law," member of parliament Younadam Kana said.

"Because of their lack of professionalism, and the hasty action taken by security forces in freeing the hostages, many innocent people were killed."

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Iraq would not be deterred from clawing its way out of bloodshed and violence.

"This crime of terrorism was aimed at destabilizing security and stability and creating chaos and driving Iraqis from their homeland," Maliki said in a statement, demanding vigilance from Iraq's security forces.

Sunday's attack followed the bombing of a cafe in Diyala province on Friday in which 22 people died, interrupting a relatively long period without a major assault by suspected Sunni Islamist insurgents.

The previous high-profile suicide bombing took place on September 5 when insurgents stormed an army base in Baghdad.

Greek police intercept parcel bomb addressed to Sarkozy

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek police said it had intercepted on Monday a booby-trapped parcel addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, after another package exploded at a courier company in Athens.

"One of the explosive devices that the suspects were carrying was addressed to the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy," a police spokesman told Reuters.

He said the other parcels were addressed to the embassies of Belgium, Netherlands and Mexico. The latter one exploded earlier in Athens, slightly injuring one female employee at a courier company. The others were detonated by police.

"Police believes there is no link with Al Qaeda. We are still investigating," he said adding that the two men arrested were suspected to be linked to a Greek leftist guerrilla group.

Indonesia volcano erupts again, tsunami deaths hit 430

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano erupted on Monday for the third time in a week, driving the number of refugees to almost 70,000, as the death toll from a tsunami thousands of kilometers to the west rose to 431, officials said.

The fresh eruption forced a thick ash cloud around 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) into the air above Merapi, which sits on the outskirts of Yogyakarta city in Central Java, and caused panicked residents to flee villages on the slopes of the mountain for safety shelters.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said that 38 people have been killed and 69,533 evacuated since Merapi began erupting last week, while Indonesia's vulcanology agency warned that flights around Yogyakarta may be disrupted.

Scientists are also monitoring increased activity at two other volcanoes, Mount Anak Krakatau in the Sunda strait and Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, an official from the vulcanology agency said.

Merapi's third eruption comes as Indonesian disaster officials are struggling to deliver aid to the remote Mentawai islands in Sumatra province, where a 7.5 magnitude quake triggered a tsunami last week.

The tsunami killed 431 people and another 88 are still missing, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency said.

Nigeria: Iran won't discuss arms seizure

ABUJA, Nigeria – Iran's embassy in Nigeria says it won't elaborate on military-grade weaponry seized in Nigeria's busiest port and linked to Iran.

A statement released Monday says that "any unnecessary word would add to the confusion already existing." The embassy also said no Iranian had been arrested over the weapons seizure.

Nigerian security agents seized the weapons shipment Tuesday, hidden inside 13 shipping containers supposedly containing building materials. Instead, officials say the shipment contained 107 mm artillery rockets and other weapons.

The shipper says the arms came from Iran. Israeli officials claim the weapons were heading to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Hamas has denied the claim.

Taliban hold secret talks with Afghan president

KABUL, Afghanistan – Three Taliban figures met secretly with Afghanistan's president two weeks ago in an effort by the Afghan government to weaken the U.S.-led coalition's most vicious enemy, a powerful al-Qaida linked network that straddles the border region with Pakistan.

A former Afghan official said the meeting in Kabul included an ex-Taliban governor, Maulvi Abdul Kabir. He comes from the same Zadran tribe as the leaders of the Haqqani network, an autonomous wing of the Taliban responsible for many attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces, the former official said over the weekend.

U.S. and Afghan officials hope that if Kabir agrees to quit the insurgency, it could split the Zadran tribe and undercut the pool of recruits from which the Haqqanis currently draw fighters. But it was unclear whether any progress toward that end was made during the talks.

Weakening the Haqqanis' grip over the Zadran tribe could help shift the power balance in eastern provinces where the network poses a major threat. The Haqqani network, led by ailing Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, is believed to be sheltering top al-Qaida leaders across the border in Pakistan.

Kabir served as governor of Nangarhar province and deputy prime minister during the Taliban rule, which ended with the U.S.-led invasion of 2001. He is believed to run the Taliban council in the Pakistani city of Peshawar but is not considered a powerhouse in the Taliban.

The two other Taliban who took part in the talks were Mullah Sadre Azam and Anwar-ul-Haq Mujahed.

Mujahed is credited with helping Osama bin Laden escape the U.S. assault on Tora Bora in 2001, the former official said. He has been in Pakistani custody since June last year when he was picked up in a raid in Peshawar, where one of several Afghan Taliban shuras, or councils, is located.

The men were brought by helicopter from Peshawar and spent two nights in a luxury Kabul hotel before returning to Pakistan.

The U.S. earlier this month acknowledged facilitating some Taliban trips to Kabul but provided no specifics. The Pakistani military has not commented on such reports

The former Afghan official, who asked not to be named because of his relationship with both the government and the Taliban, described Kabir and his associates as "midlevel" contacts because they have little, if any influence over more powerful Taliban factions.

A Western official confirmed a meeting had taken place but said he did not know who attended and whether progress was made. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to talk to media about the issue.

Karzai has formed a 70-member council to try to reconcile with the Taliban and find a political solution to the insurgency. The Taliban's top leadership has denied that any of their representatives have been involved in talks. They claim their leaders will not discuss peace with the government unless foreign troops first leave Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, last week said news reports of extensive discussions between Afghan government officials and senior Taliban commanders were off base. He told reporters in Washington last week that there have been no such talks or discussions, let alone negotiations.

However, Holbrooke did say that individuals who have fought alongside the Taliban — apparently not Taliban leaders themselves — have been reaching out. Holbrooke mentioned no names but said those who are making such contacts are "provincial leaders, individual commanders."

In a related development, Arsala Rahmani, an ex-Taliban who is now on Karzai's newly established peace commission, told the AP that the Afghan government has asked Pakistan to repatriate 31 suspected Taliban in its custody. The most senior Taliban in Pakistan custody, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's No. 2, was picked up in a joint raid with the CIA earlier this year. Pakistani authorities have quashed repeated rumors of his release saying he is still in custody.


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Wasngton Post Sells Newsweek

Washington Post on Wednesday sold its controversial news magazine for $1.00 to an unamed source. In its financial report to the SCE last month a liability offer of engagement named an Austrialian financier as executor of the magazine's debt but with little known reasons for such position.