Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/451730
ByMstyslavChernov The Associated Press DONETSK, UKRAINE Pro- Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine on Friday rejected a previously signed peace deal and announced a new multi-pronged offensive against Ukrainian govern- ment troops, defying diplo- matic efforts to end the spi- raling crisis. The main separatist leader in the Donetsk re- gion said the insurgents won't engage in further cease-fire talks, and an- other rebel went even further saying they will not abide by a peace deal signed in September. Separatist leader Alex- ander Zakharchenko said rebel fighters launched the new offensive to gain more territory and forestall a Ukrainian attack. He de- clared they will push the government troops to the border of the Donetsk re- gion and possibly even fur- ther. "Attempts to talk about a cease-fire will no longer be undertaken by our side," Zakharchenko said. The peace deal signed in September in the Belar- usian capital of Minsk en- visaged a cease-fire and a pullout of heavy weapons from a division line in east- ern Ukraine. It has been repeatedly violated by both sides, and there has been a surge in fighting in the last few weeks that swelled the death toll to nearly 5,100 since April, according to the United Nations' human rights agency. Wednesday's talks be- tween Russian, Ukrai- nian, French and German foreign ministers in Berlin produced an agreement to uphold a demarcation line defined in a peace deal signed in September in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Under the deal reached in Berlin, Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed sepa- ratists are to pull back their artillery 15 kilometers (9 miles) on either side of the line, although there was no agreement on a withdrawal of troops. But rebel spokesman Ed- uard Basurin threw that agreement into doubt, say- ing the insurgents "will no longer consider the Minsk agreement in the form it was signed," although he added that they will re- main open for peace talks. Basurin's bold statement contradicted the official po- sition of Russia, which has repeatedly pledged respect for the Minsk agreement even though it has been re- luctant to meet its end of the deal that also requested the withdrawal of foreign fighters and that the OSCE should be allowed to mon- itor the Russian-Ukrainian border. Battles intensified last weekend over Donetsk air- port, a gleaming show- case for the Euro 2012 soc- cer championship that has been reduced to piles of rubble and steel beams by months of clashes. Reb- els eventually took control of its terminal, although fighting has continued on its fringes. Zakharchenko said rebel fighters were advancing in three directions in the Donetsk region and also pressing their attack in two other areas in the Luhansk region. "We will hit them un- til we reach the border of Donetsk region, and ... if I see the danger for Donetsk from any other city, I will destroy this treat there," Zakharchenko said. A top NATO official con- firmed the rebels have pushed further west and have been beefed up with reinforcements. U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove said air defense and elec- tronic warfare equipment have been detected in east- ern Ukraine — hardware that, in the past, coincided with the incursion of Rus- sian troops into Ukraine. A pro-Russian insur- gency flared up in April in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine following Russia's annexa- tion of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Russia insists that it does not support the rebels, but Western mil- itary officials say the sheer number of heavy weapons under rebel control belies that claim. At the international economic forum in Da- vos, Switzerland, a Rus- sian deputy prime minister vowed that Moscow would not be cowed by the sanc- tions the West has imposed upon Russia for its actions in Ukraine. Igor Shuvalov warned the West against trying to topple Russian President Vladimir Putin, reflecting the Kremlin's view that the European Union and U.S. sanctions are aimed at re- gime change. UKRAINE Pro-Russianrebelsreject peace deal, launch offensive MSTYSLAVCHERNOV—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Pro-Russian armored vehicles move toward Slovyanoserbsk, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Mourners carry the body of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia outside the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh. By Abdullah Al-Shihri and Aya Batrawy The Associated Press RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA As Saudi Arabia mourned its late ruler, King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud quickly set the course for the mon- archy's future Friday by naming a second-in-line to the throne from the next generation of princes for the first time. The appointment came as the ultraconservative Sunni-ruled kingdom bur- ied King Abdullah after a subdued and austere fu- neral attended by Muslim dignitaries from around the world. Abdullah, who led the country for nearly two decades, died early Friday at the age of 90 after falling ill with pneumonia. Buried that same af- ternoon in an unmarked grave, Abdullah's body was shrouded in a simple beige cloth, his remains interred without a coffin in line with Islamic tradition that all people — even kings — are equal in death before God. Just hours before, the ruling family once again showed its shrewd ability to coalesce quickly around thorny issues of succession. A royal decree affirmed Salman's half brother Muqrin, 69, as Crown Prince and the king's im- mediate successor. Salman named Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as deputy crown prince. It marked the first time a grandson of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, is in line to be- come king. King Salman, 79, prom- ised in a nationally tele- vised speech to continue the policies of his prede- cessors. "We will continue ad- hering to the correct pol- icies which Saudi Arabia has followed since its es- tablishment," said Salman, a veteran of the country's top leadership who served for nearly 50 years as the governor of the capital, Ri- yadh, and later as defense minister. Salman likely will avoid directly challenging the kingdom's influential clerics and is not expected to usher in sweeping polit- ical reforms or rapidly ex- pand women's rights, in line with previous mon- archs. The decision to name Mo- hammed as deputy crown prince helps alleviate un- certainty over which of the late King Abdul-Aziz's hun- dreds of grandsons would ascend to the throne. New generation enters li ne t o Sa ud i th ro ne RULING FAMILY SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 7 A