Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/334913
THEASSOCIATEDPRESS From le , Australian correspondent Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian acting bureau chief of Al-Jazeera Mohamed Fahmy, and Egyptian producer Baher Mohammed, appear in a defendant's cage in a courtroom in Cairo, Egypt. BySarahElDeeb The Associated Press CAIRO AnEgyptiancourt on Monday convicted three Al-Jazeera journalists and sentenced them to seven years in prison on terror- ism-related charges after a trial dismissed by rights groups as a politically mo- tivated sham. The verdict brought a landslide of in- ternational condemnation and calls for the newly elected president to inter- vene. The ruling stunned the defendants and their fam- ilies, many of whom had hoped their loved ones would be released because of international pressure on the case. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who a day earlier had discussed the case in a meeting with President Abdel-Fattah el- Sissi, denounced the verdict as "chilling and draconian." The unprecedented trial of journalists on terror charges was tied up in the government's fierce crack- down on Islamists and the Muslim Brotherhood since the ouster last year of Is- lamist President Moham- med Morsi by el-Sissi, then the army chief. Further fu- eling accusations that the trial was politically moti- vated is the Egyptian gov- ernment's deep enmity with the Gulf nation Qa- tar, which was a close ally of Morsi and which owns the Al-Jazeera network. Prosecutors had ac- cused the three — Austra- lian Peter Greste, Cana- dian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Ba- her Mohammed — of pro- moting or belonging to the Brotherhood and of falsify- ing their coverage of pro- tests by Morsi's support- ers to hurt Egypt's secu- rity and make it appear the country is sliding into civil war. The government has branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organization. The journalists, who were detained in De- cember, say they are be- ing prosecuted simply for doing their job and are pawns in the political ri- valry. During the 5-month trial, prosecutors pre- sented no evidence back- ing the charges, at times citing random video foot- age found with the defen- dants that even the judge dismissed as irrelevant. They depicted typical ac- tivity like editing as a sign of falsification. Mohammed, the team's producer, had three years added to his 7-year sentence for possessing ammunition, based on a single spent car- tridge he picked up at a pro- test as a souvenir. A Dutch freelance journalist — who did not work for Al-Jazeera but met Fahmy once for tea at the hotel where the team lived and worked — re- ceived a 10-year prison sen- tence. She and two British Al-Jazeera journalists who got the same sentence were tried in absentia. "They will pay for this, I promise," Fahmy, who was Al-Jazeera English's acting Cairo bureau chief, shouted angrily after the sentences were announced as guards pulled him by his already injured shoul- der from the courtroom and his mother and fian- cee broke into tears. "Did anybody see any evidence against him? Did he do anything? Any- thing?" Fahmy's mother, Wafaa Bassiouni cried. His brother Adel said the family would appeal. But he had little hope, say- ing, "This is a screwed up system. This whole govern- ment is incompetent." 3reporters sent to prison prompts outcry EGYPT By Toby Sterling The Associated Press NICOSIA, CYPRUS Syria finished handing over to Western powers Monday the 1,300 tons of chemical weapons it acknowledged possessing, completing a deal reached last fall under threat of U.S. airstrikes. The most dangerous ma- terial will be transferred to an American ship, which will move into interna- tional waters and use spe- cialized equipment to de- stroy the chemicals over the next two months. Other ma- terial will be disposed of at toxic waste sites in various countries. Questions persist over whether Syrian President Bashar Assad is hiding un- declared poison gases or at- tacking rebels with chlorine — a toxic industrial gas that is not specifically classified as a chemical weapon. But politicians and activ- ists hailed Monday's mile- stone as a victory for inter- national diplomacy, and, at the least, a clear reduction in the amount of chemicals available for use in Syria's bloody civil war. The news came amid ex- tremely high tension across the Middle East, as Is- rael carried out retaliatory strikes on Syria and a Syr- ian cabinet member warned that Sunni insurgents in Iraq have been funneling weapons to rebels in Syria. The material handed over by Syria included mus- tard gas and precursors to the nerve gas sarin. Syria agreed to surrender its arsenal when the U.S. threatened missile strikes in retaliation for a chemi- cal attack on a rebel-held suburb of Damascus. The attack is believed to have killed more than 1,000 peo- ple. The deal was put to- gether by the United States and Russia, which has been Assad's most powerful in- ternational backer during the war. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemi- cal Weapons, the watchdog agency overseeing Syria's disarmament, confirmed that the final 100 tons of chemicals had been loaded onto a Danish ship in the Syrian port of Latakia. The completion of the task came nearly two months past the April 27 deadline set by the United Nations. The OPCW said that was because of security concerns amid the fighting. "The last thing you want, of course, is when you're dealing with chemical weapons elimination, that chemical weapons material falls into the wrong hands," Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint U.N.-OPCW mission in Syria, said at the project's staging ground in Cyprus. Ahmet Uzumcu, direc- tor general of the OPCW, acknowledged that Syria could still be hiding some of its arsenal. "I can't say ... that Syria doesn't have any chem- ical weapons anymore," Uzumcu said. But he said that that was true of any country that his organization works with. And he added that Syria's declared arsenal was close to estimates made by out- side experts. He described the Syrian government's overall coop- eration as "satisfactory." Kaag said her team's ex- perts "are working closely with the Syrian Republic to look at any discrepancies or any revisions" in Syria's declaration that need to be made. Others applauded the move. "To its great credit, the OPCW, the United Nations, the United States, Russia and a diverse coalition of more than two dozen states stepped up to the unprece- dented task of verifiably re- moving a country's entire chemical weapons stock- pile under tight deadlines and wartime conditions," said Daryl Kimball of the Washington-based Arms Control Association. TOXINS Syria hands over last of cache Chemical weapons hand-over part of deal with US THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sigrid Kaag, special coordinator of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for the UN speaks during an interview at a UN compound in Nicosia, Cyprus. Kaag said that '100percent' of Syria's chemical weapons material has been removed or destroyed inside the war- torn country. By Ibrahim Garba The Associated Press KANO, NIGERIA An explo- sion at a medical school in Nigeria's northern city of Kano killed at least eight people and wounded 12, according to police who blamed Islamic extremists. Kano state police Com- missioner Aderenle Shinaba said one suspect was de- tained and his vehicle seized for investigation. At the School of Hygiene in a northern residential suburb of Nigeria second largest city, an ambulance rushed out of the cordoned off gate. "People were shouting 'Get out! It's a bomb!" said student Aishatu Musa. She said she ran along with ev- eryone else. Shinaba told The Asso- ciated Press "There was an explosion in the school this afternoon by 15:05 hours and it happened right in- side the school premises." It was the third bomb blast in four months in Nigeria's second largest city. He said 20 people were taken to the hospital, but eight died. Boko Haram did not im- mediately claim respon- sibility but the school matches two of its targets — schools and Western med- icine. Boko Haram has at- tracted international con- demnation since April when it kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls who remain cap- tive. The U.S. Embassy in Ni- geria, promoting a new U.S. government effort to sup- port girls' education world- wide, Monday posted on Twitter, "When we #Let- GirlsLearn, we improve the stability of a nation." U.S. drones and experts are among foreigners help- ing in the search to rescue the girls. Nigeria's government and military have failed to curb the 5-year-old Islamic uprising despite a year-old state of emergency in three northeastern states — not including the northern state of Kano — that cover one-sixth of the country. This year, the insurgents have embarked on a two- pronged strategy — bomb- ing in cities and a scorched- earth policy in rural areas where they are devastating villages. The capital, Abuja, the central city of Jos and northeastern state capi- tal of Maiduguri, the birth- place of Boko Haram, all have been bombed. On Saturday, scores of Boko Haram fighters at- tacked four villages near Chibok town, from which the girls were kidnapped. Witnesses said Monday that at least 33 villagers were killed as well as six vigi- lantes from civilian groups that have recently had some success in repelling Boko Haram. A spokesman for the vig- ilantes, Muhammed Gava, said his group killed at least 25 insurgents. Villagers who escaped said the attackers drove into town Saturday morn- ing and just opened fire on anyone in sight. When peo- ple tried to escape into the bush, they pursued them on motorbikes and shot them down, said survivors who walked to Chibok. They spoke on condition of ano- nymity for fear of reprisals. Scores of huts were set ablaze and burned down, said villager Pogu Shikarkir, who helped bury 25 corpses. The military did not im- mediately respond to the attack, with some 200 sol- diers and about 100 police officers in Chibok refusing to go to the scene though the nearest village, Kwa- rangilam, is just 15 kilome- ters (nine miles) away, resi- dents said. An Air Force plane re- sponded Saturday after- noon, bombing two ar- mored cars filled with Boko Haram fighters and strafing remaining fighters, said a soldier who spoke on con- dition of anonymity. NIGERIA Explosion at medical school kills 8 By Marko Drobnjakovic The Associated Press DONETSK, UKRAINE Pro- Russian insurgents in east- ern Ukraine agreed Mon- day to respect a cease-fire declared by the Ukrainian president, raising hopes for an end to months of fighting that have killed hundreds and ravaged the country's industrial heart- land. The announcement came as the Russian and U.S. presidents traded demands over the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Pu- tin urged direct talks be- tween the government and the rebels. President Barack Obama warned Putin that Moscow will face additional costs if it does not help ease the crisis. The insurgents' pledge to respect the cease-fire came on the first day of talks be- tween a former Ukrainian president, the Russian am- bassador, European offi- cials and the eastern sep- aratists who have declared independence. While the government side was nom- inally not represented, ex- President Leonid Kuchma attended the discussions at the request of the sitting president. The negotiations were launched in line with Pres- ident Petro Poroshenko's peace plan, which started Friday with a weeklong unilateral cease-fire in the fighting that has killed more than 350 people and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. Alexander Borodai, one of the rebel leaders who took part in Monday's talks in Donetsk, said reb- els would respect Poroshen- ko's cease-fire, which lasts through 0700 GMT (2 a.m. EDT) Friday. The insurgents had pre- viously demanded the Ukrainian military with- draw its troops from the east as a condition for any talks, so Borodai's state- ment represented a soft- ened stance that raised ex- pectations that the cease- fire could hold. Even before the insurgents made their pledge, the government said that there had been no fighting in the east since Monday morning. Since the cease-fire was declared Friday, the Ukrai- nian government has ac- cused the rebels of firing at government positions, while insurgents blamed Ukrainian forces for fail- ing to honor the promise to halt hostilities. Porosh- enko has said government troops will fire back if at- tacked. The rebels, who have de- clared regions on border with Russia independent and fought government troops for two months, also promised to release observ- ers from the Organization for Security and Cooper- ation in Europe who have been held hostage. "This will be one of the steps that will improve the mutual understanding of both sides," said Alexei Karyakin, a representative of the insurgents in the Lu- hansk region. In Moscow, the Kremlin said Putin underlined in his conversation with Obama that to normalize the sit- uation in eastern Ukraine, it's necessary to "effectively end fighting and start di- rect talks between the con- flicting parties." UKRAINE Rebels agree to abide by cease-fire 13540 Trinity Ave, Red Bluff (530) 527-8262 • (530) 528-8261 IFNOANSWERCALL529-7400 www.garysautobodyandtowing.com AUTO BODY REPAIR WEBILLALL MAJOR INSURANCE COMPANIES • ECO-FRIENDLY&DRUGFREE • COLLISION REPAIR APPROVED BY ALL MAJOR INSURANCE COMPANIES • LIFETIME WARRANTY • STATE-OF-THE-ART DOWN DRAFT SPRAY BOOTH • NATIONAL AWARD WINNING RESTORATION • AUTO & RV REPAIRS • ECO-FRIENDLY & DRUG FREE • FAST! COURTEOUS SERVICE • CLEAN AIR CONDITIONED TRUCKS • REASONABLE RATES • LOCAL & LONG DISTANCE • FORK LIFT SERVICE • ANTIQUE & LUXURY CAR TOWING • ON & OFF ROAD RECOVER • MOTOR HOMES & RV'S TOWED • AUTO & RV REPAIRS • INSURANCE WORK • 5TH WHEEL TOWING • AUTO BODY WORK Full Auto Detailing Available Free with collision repair GARY'S AUTO BODY & 24 HOUR TOWING, INC. 24 HOUR TOWING AbundantLifeFellowship 21080 Luther Rd. SUNDAY SCHOOL.........................9:45AM MORNING WORSHIP..................11:00AM SUNDAY EVENING ........................ 6:00PM TUESDAY: LADY'S PRAYER CIRCLE.....9:30-10:30AM BIBLE STUDY .................................. 6:00PM SATURDAY: MEN'S PRAYER MEETING ........... 5:00PM AWarmWelcomeAwaitsYou 7166 TH St, Corning 530-824-4546 Familybusiness,owned&operated DOMESTIC & EUROPEAN AUTO REPAIR Certified Mechanic Smog, Brakes, Diesel Smogs, Oil Change, Transmission, Alignment & More flyingaperformance@att.net FLYING TheHopeChest Thrift Shop servingthecommunitysince1965 ProceedsfromTheHopeChesthelp support Family Counseling Center Mentionthisad RECEIVE 50% OFF one regular priced item Mon.-Fri. 10-4 • Sat. 9-4 1359 Grant St., Red Bluff 530-527-0270 LikeusonFacebookoremailusat hopechest@yahoo.com One time use only www.expresspros.com 530-527-0727 243 So. Main Street RespectingPeople. Impacting Business Call us. And get back to work. Call us any time for: • An extensive network of recruiting sources • Testing and training • Experienced recruiters • Full-time employees • HR expertise and support services • Temporary Workers • Evaluation hire • Carefully screened candidates • Dedicated service | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014 4 B