Around the World

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

RUSSIA

Box of Hunting Ammo Means Jail for U.S. Pastor

A Moscow court on Monday convicted an American pastor of smuggling hunting ammunition into Russia and sentenced him to three years and two months in prison.

Phillip Miles, pastor of Christ Community Church in Conway, S.C., part of an evangelical fellowship, has been in custody since his arrest Feb. 3, several days after arriving in Moscow.

Miles has said he brought the .300-caliber cartridges for a friend who had recently bought a Winchester rifle -- a gun rarely found in Russia. He said he did not know bringing such ammunition into Russia was illegal.

"I'm very disappointed. It's a strange sentence for one box of hunting bullets," he said as bailiffs led him from the court in handcuffs. His lawyer, calling the sentence surprisingly severe, said he would appeal.

AFGHANISTAN

Girls' Schooling Lags

Only 35 percent of students in Afghanistan's schools are girls, and while overall enrollment is increasing, the percentage of female students is not, an aid group said Monday.

A shortage of female teachers, a number of boys-only schools and cultural barriers are factors keeping girls out of school, the group Care International said.

The education of girls in post-Taliban Afghanistan is held as an example of success by Afghan and Western officials. During Taliban rule, which ended after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, girls were banned from going to school and only about 1 million boys attended classes.

INDONESIA

Militant Leaders Guilty

Two leaders of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiah were sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison in Indonesia, dealing another blow to a group blamed for a string of deadly bombings in Bali and Jakarta.

Abu Dujana, the group's military commander, and Zarkasih, who acted briefly as caretaker leader, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit terrorist attacks, harboring fugitives and stockpiling illegal arms.

Neither Dujana nor Zarkasih was charged in connection with the bombings from 2002 to 2005, which killed more than 240 people, many of them foreign tourists.

The government's crackdown on Jemaah Islamiah has resulted in hundreds of arrests in recent years, thanks partly to forensic and technical help from foreign governments.

SRI LANKA

Aid Group Withdraws

The international aid group Action Against Hunger has pulled out of Sri Lanka, saying it has no trust in a government investigation into the massacre of 17 of its workers nearly two years ago, a spokeswoman said Monday.

The 17 local employees, working on tsunami relief, were killed after a fierce battle between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeastern town of Mutur in August 2006. European monitors blamed security forces, while the government blamed the rebels.

Last month, an international panel of experts monitoring the government's commission of inquiry announced it was resigning in frustration. The panel criticized the probe as lethargic, said it did not meet international standards and accused the government of lacking the will to properly investigate the incidents.

Also Monday, the military said government planes bombed three Tamil Tiger boats off the northern coast after fighting in recent days left 47 rebels dead. Thousands have died in almost daily land, sea and air battles in recent months.

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Torch Protesters Hit in Malaysia

A crowd of Chinese onlookers heckled and hit members of a Japanese family with inflated plastic batons after the three unfurled a Tibetan flag before the start of the Malaysian leg of the Olympic torch relay. The family was detained by police, who also took into custody a Buddhist monk and a British woman wearing a "Free-Tibet" T-shirt. All five were released.

Ethiopia Breaks Ties With Qatar

Ethiopia broke diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing the Persian Gulf Arab state of supporting terrorism in Somalia and Ethiopia and spreading instability in the Horn of Africa. Qatar, which like Ethiopia is a U.S. ally, dismissed the accusations as "frivolous and irresponsible."

U.S. May Pull Out of S. America

Washington has no plans to replace its only military post in South America if Ecuador's government will not renew a lease on its drug-interdiction air base, the chief of the U.S. Southern Command said. Instead, the military would use existing bases in El Salvador, Curacao and Key West, Fla., for its drug-surveillance flights, Adm. James Stavridis said.

Peacekeepers Leaving Philippines

Malaysia will withdraw its unarmed peacekeepers from the southern Philippine region of Mindanao in September, the government said, dealing a blow to multinational efforts to secure peace in a region troubled by nearly 40 years of conflict. Libya and Brunei also have small contingents in the monitoring team.

Deadly Fighting in Burundi

Six rebels and a soldier were killed in fighting about 12 miles outside Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, the military said. The clash took the death toll from fighting between government troops and the National Liberation Forces to at least 33 in the last five days.

From News Services