In the World
Holocaust-denier leaves Argentina
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - A British bishop whose denial of the Holocaust embroiled the pope in controversy left Argentina yesterday after the government ordered him out, calling his statements "an insult" to humanity.
A local television station showed Richard Williamson angrily pushing a reporter as he hurried to catch his flight to London. Argentina's government on Thursday ordered the bishop to leave the country or face expulsion.
Images broadcast on Buenos Aires' Todo Noticias television showed Williamson hurrying through the airport as television reporter Norberto Dupesso moved alongside to ask a question.
Williamson, his lips pursed in a grimace, raised his hand inches from the reporter's face, then pushed past, shoving him into a pole with his shoulder. - AP
On video, officer tells of executions
NAIROBI, Kenya - A Kenyan policeman who was later killed saw other police officers execute 58 suspects instead of arresting them, he is seen saying on a newly released video.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, a government appointed body, released the video yesterday and demanded the resignation of the country's police chief, Mohammed Hussein Ali. In the recording, made in July, Police Constable Bernard Kiriinya described how as a driver he witnessed 58 such executions within one year.
Four months later Kiriinya was killed, said Hassan Omar Hassan, the vice chairman of the commission. "Based on our preliminary investigation on the circumstances surrounding his death," Hassan said, ". . . [the commission] strongly believes that the police are behind the execution of the whistle-blower."
- AP
Lawmaker defies ban on Kurdish
ISTANBUL, Turkey - The leader of Turkey's Kurdish lawmakers startled the country yesterday by speaking in his native language in parliament, breaking the law in a country that has tried for decades to keep a firm grip over the restive minority. Kurdish lawmakers gave him a standing ovation.
State-run television immediately cut off the live broadcast of legislator Ahmet Turk, ostensibly to celebrate UNESCO world languages week. But his real aim was to challenge the country's policy toward its Kurdish population.
"Kurds have long been oppressed because they did not know any other language," Turk said. "I promised myself that I would speak in my mother tongue at an official meeting one day." Turkish law banned the speaking of Kurdish at all until 1991, and today it is barred in schools, parliament, and other official settings. - AP
Elsewhere:
Islamic insurgents attacked a peacekeeping base in the Somalian capital for the second time in a week yesterday, and clashes between the soldiers and militants left at least 18 people dead throughout Mogadishu. The fighting came two days after a suicide bomber attacked an African Union peacekeeping base, killing 11 Burundian soldiers.
























