Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/484312
ByMstyslavChernov The Associated Press SHYROKYNE, UKRAINE To reach rear-guard govern- ment positions in the sea- side town of Shyrokyne, Ukrainian soldiers gin- gerly wind their off-road- ers through private gar- dens hugging a precipice along the Azov Sea. The truce announced in mid-February has never taken here, so traveling by the main roads is too dan- gerous. Government and Rus- sian-backed separat- ist forces face off in daily gun and artillery battles across an unseen line cut- ting through the town. The skirmishes are fierce, but contained — for now. Still, the enduring unrest arouses deep anxieties that a conflict which has already claimed more than 6,000 lives in eastern Ukraine could flare up again across the entire 280-mile front line. Shyrokyne itself is not much of a prize. It is the in- dustrial port city of Mari- upol, 6 miles further west, that Ukrainian forces want to defend from the rebels at all costs. Residents and govern- ment troops alike believe the separatists' ultimate aim is to take Mariupol — and eventually create a land bridge between Russia and Crimea, which Russia an- nexed last March. Crimea has no physical link to Russian territory now and a bridge being discussed is years away from comple- tion. Government forces in Shyrokyne are only truly at ease behind three defen- sive lines separating them from the heat of fighting in the center. At a makeshift garrison installed there, on the grounds of a restaurant near the shore, two tanks stood parked Sunday un- der a striped awning. Several hundred meters away, mortar shells land- ing in the sea sprayed up columns of water. "They are hurling anti- tank shells at the lighthouse. Another one just came this way," said a bearded, bar- rel-chested fighter with the government's Azov Battal- ion who gave only his nom de guerre, Al. As reports came that two enemy tanks had been spot- ted, Al's thoughts turned to the combat ahead. "It is all about to start," he said. To proceed closer to the area where the battle is fiercest, soldiers abandon their cars and race on foot toward a school, climbing through a hole in the fence. The asphalt on the road had been torn up by explo- sives, so only armored vehi- cles could get through with ease. The responsibility for defending Shyrokyne is shared between the Azov and Donbass battalions, who take weekly turns to serve in the town. Coordi- nation is sometimes poor, however. As Azov troops jogged for cover behind the school Sunday, one soldier shouted: "What are you do- ing? Are you crazy running like that? There are booby traps there." Another soldier corrected him. "Nah, the booby traps are over there," he said, waving his hand vaguely to the left. "The Donbass guys put them there." Inside the school, chil- dren's drawings still deco- rated the walls. One man fried sausages and another chowed down on boiled oats as a mobile phone blared out music by a Rus- sian death metal band. Un- derfoot, amid the spent bul- let cartridges and shrap- nel, students' art collages lay covered in fallen plaster. As the sound of mor- tars grew more intense, all the men ducked inside for cover. "There they go, they've started again," said an Azov spotter with the nickname Mathematician. A cease-fire between Ukrainian and rebel forces was forged after marathon negotiations between the leaders of Ukraine, Rus- sia, Germany and France on Feb. 12. Under the truce, fighting was supposed to stop and heavy weapons were to be pulled back from the front line. Responsibil- ity for verifying the cease- fire lies with monitors from the Organization for Secu- rity and Cooperation in Eu- rope. Mathematician said the rebels always wait for the OSCE teams to leave be- fore resuming their attacks. "As soon as the OSCE leaves, the firing starts," he said. Separatists accuse Ukrainian forces of similar deviousness, and it's hard to know definitely even at the front line who started any specific round of firing. The head of the OSCE monitoring mission on Monday demanded that his teams be granted secure ac- cess to Shyrokyne. "Both sides in this area continue to violate numer- ous provisions of the (cease- fire) agreements, including those related to cessation of fire, prohibition of attack- ing moves, withdrawal of heavy weapons, and deploy- ment of (airborne drones)," said Ertugrul Apakan. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the dis- parity between what Rus- sia and the separatists say and what they do threatens stability in the region. "Russia and the separat- ists claim to be honoring the ceasefire, but in real- ity, they are violating it on a regular basis, and are en- croaching further beyond the ceasefire line," she said, and reiterated a call for un- fettered access for OSCE monitors. Later on Sunday after- noon, sounds resembling outgoing mortars could be heard from a field near Shy- rokyne. Soldiers refused to give an AP reporter access to the area. "We don't have any mor- tars," Mathematician said, smiling. "They only allow us to have small arms. But when they (rebels) get really brazen, we call in support and flatten them." Many in the Azov Battal- ion have unabashed Ukrai- nian nationalist sympa- thies, prompting rebels to label them neo-fascists. EASTERN EUROPE Cl as he s ra ge i n Uk ra in ia n to wn , making a mockery of cease-fire MSTYSLAVCHERNOV—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Fighters of the Azov Battalion rest at their base in the town of Shyrokyne, eastern Ukraine, on Sunday. ODED BALILTY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Ultra-Orthodox Jews carry one of seven Jewish siblings killed in a New York house fire, during their funeral, in Jerusalem on Monday. By Oded Balilty The Associated Press JERUSALEM Seven Jewish siblings who died in a dev- astating New York house fire were laid to rest in Je- rusalem on Monday at an emotional ceremony at- tended by several thou- sand mourners. Friends and relatives of the Sassoon family at- tended the service, as well as supporters who only learned of the tragedy through the news. The chief rabbi of Israel and mayor of Jerusalem also paid their respects. The bodies of the chil- dren, ages 5 to 16, were flown to Israel overnight from New York and were immediately taken to Jeru- salem in a convoy escorted by police. According to Jewish tradition, funerals take place as soon as pos- sible after death. "Why seven? Seven beau- tiful lilies," the children's fa- ther, Gabriel Sassoon, cried out in an anguished eulogy. "So pure. So pure." He recounted how his children enjoyed studying the Torah and other Jew- ish texts. "They were such inno- cent children," he said, his voice choking up. He later called out the names of his children, one by one. Sassoon described how his wife, although burned, managed to jump out of a second-floor window to try and get help to save her children. He said he is drawing on his faith for strength. The children's bodies, wrapped in shrouds, were placed on stretchers for the memorial service, held in a room at Jerusalem's main cemetery packed with scores of mourners. Thou- sands more stood outside. Some mourners rocked back and forth in prayer, their cheeks wet with tears, as they listened to the eulogies. Afterward, many in the crowd walked with the family in a pro- cession to bury the bodies. David Lau, Israel's chief rabbi for Ashkenazi — or European—Jews,described the fire as an unspeakable tragedy and urged the fam- ily to remain strong. "Each one is a flower in God's gar- den," he said. The fire has shattered the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in theMidwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. Investigators believe it was caused when a hot plate, left on for the Jewish Sab- bath, malfunctioned, set- ting off flames that incin- erated the stairs of their home, trapping the chil- dren in their second-floor bedrooms as they slept. The blaze killed three girls and four boys. Both the mother and a daugh- ter — Gayle Sassoon and 14-year-old Siporah Sas- soon — remain in critical condition. Siblings killed in New York fire buried in Israel BROOKLYN TRAGEDY By Ian Deitch The Associated Press JERUSALEM Prime Min- ister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Israel's Arab citizens on Monday for re- marks he made during last week's parliament election that offended members of the community. The move appeared to be an attempt to heal rifts and mute criticism at home and in the United States. Netanyahu drew accusa- tions of racism in Israel, es- pecially from its Arab mi- nority, and a White House rebuke when, just a few hours before polling sta- tions were to close across the country, he warned that Arab citizens were voting "in droves." But President Barack Obama's chief of staff, De- nis McDonough, rejected Netanyahu's attempt to distance himself from his comments, telling an Is- rael advocacy group Mon- day that the U.S. can't just overlook what Netanyahu said on the eve of his re- election. Netanyahu, who's Likud Party won re-election in the vote, met with mem- bers of the Arab commu- nity at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on Monday and apologized. He said he knows his "comments last week of- fended some Israeli citi- zens and offended mem- bers of the Israeli-Arab community." "This was never my in- tent. I apologize for this," Netanyahu said. "I view myself as the prime minis- ter of each and every citi- zen of Israel, without any prejudice based on religion, ethnicity or gender." "I view all Israeli citizens as partners in the building of a prosperous and safe state of Israel, for all Israe- lis," he also said. A recently established al- liance of four small, mostly Arab parties called the Joint List made unprece- dented gains in the March 17 election, earning enough votes to make it the third- largest party in Israel's parliament. Arab citizens make up 20 percent of Isra- el's population. Equality is guaranteed in Israel's laws but many Arabs have long complained of discrimina- tion, mainly in the job and housing market. Ayman Odeh, the head of the Joint List, told channel 2 TV that Netanyahu's apol- ogy was not accepted. "This is not a real apol- ogy," Odeh said. "He incited against citizens who were exercising their basic right to vote for Knesset." Odeh also accused Ne- tanyahu of "zigzagging" by saying one thing one day and a different another. In the final days of the campaign, Netanyahu an- gered the U.S. by taking a tough stance toward the Palestinians and by say- ing a Palestinian state will not be established on his watch in the current climate of regional chaos and violence. Resolving the conflict between Is- rael and the Palestinians in a two state solution is a key U.S. foreign policy priority. In his speech to J Street, an Israel advocacy group that is sharply critical of Netanyahu, McDonough warned Israel against an- nexing the West Bank, where Palestinians hope to establish their future state. He said Netanyahu's prediction that a Palestin- ian state wouldn't come about on his watch was "very troubling" and called into question Netanyahu's broader commitment to the two-state solution the U.S. and Israel have officially supported for years. "We cannot simply pre- tend that these comments were never made," Mc- Donough said. ELECTION REMARKS Netanyahu apologizes to Arab minority DAN BALILTY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters at the party's election headquarters In Tel Aviv on Wednesday. By Ahmed Al-Haj The Associated Press SANAA, YEMEN Yemen's embattled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has asked Gulf countries to in- tervene militarily against Shiite rebels who have seized the capital and are advancing toward his new base in the south, his for- eign minister told Saudi media Monday. Riad Yassin said Hadi has also asked the United Nations to impose a no- fly zone so that the rebels, known as Houthis, cannot use the airports they seized. He accused the rebels of be- ing a proxy of Shiite Iran, charges they deny. Yassin spoke to Saudi- owned Al-Hadath TV on Monday. He made similar comments to the Saudi- owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal meanwhile warned that "if theHouthicoupdoesnotend peacefully, we will take the necessary measures for this crisis to protect the region." He did not elaborate further. Riyadh also re- newed its offer to host talks between Yemen's rival groups— which has already been rejected by the rebels. The six-nation Gulf Co- operation Council — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emir- ates, Oman and Bahrain — warned earlier this year that they would act to pro- tect the Arabian Peninsula's security and described the Houthi takeover of parts of Yemen as a "terrorist" act. "Time is not on our side," Yassin told Al-Hadath. He didn't say what Gulf mili- tary intervention would en- tail but said the Houthis' ad- vance toward Hadi's base in the southern city of Aden must be stopped. He said the rebels want to foil attempts to reach a political solution. Yassin said the request was made to the Gulf Coop- eration Council after war- planes struck near the pres- idential palace in Aden over the weekend. Hadi was not harmed in the attack. The Gulf countries' emer- gency military force, known as the Peninsula Shield, in- tervened in Bahrain in 2011 to help the Sunni monarchy crush protests backed by the Shiite majority. The call for intervention comes days ahead of an Arab Summit in Egypt. It's unclear whether Hadi will be able to attend. MIDDLE EAST Yemen president calls for Gulf military, UN action Juli Foster Exclusive Agent 250 Walnut Street Red Bluff, CA 96080 Office 530-527-5534 Cell 530-339-1595 Fax 530-527-4808 julifoster@allstate.com CA Insurance License Number OD41159 24-Hour Customer Service New Year Special MODERNCLEANERS 609WalnutSt.,RedBluff•527-4308 $ 4 00 OFF DryCleaning Order of $20. 00 or more Mustbepresentedwithincomingorder. Excludes Laundry Not good with other offers. Expires 3/31/15 20815 Dalby Ln. 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