In the World
NORTHERN IRELAND
Police get 48 more hours
to question Sinn Fein chief
Northern Ireland police were granted an extra 48 hours Friday to interrogate Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams about the 1972 IRA killing of a Belfast widow, infuriating his Irish nationalist party and raising questions about the stability of the province's Catholic-Protestant government.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed in a statement its detectives received permission at a closed-door hearing with a judge to detain Adams for up to two more days.
Had the request been refused, authorities would have been required to charge Adams or release him Friday night, two days after his arrest in the abduction, slaying and secret burial of Jean McConville, a mother of 10. The new deadline is Sunday night, although this too could be extended.
The unexpectedly long detention of Adams left senior party colleagues seething. Sinn Fein warned it could end its support for law and order in Northern Ireland - a key peacemaking commitment that enabled the creation of a unity government seven years ago - if Adams is charged. - AP
LIBYA
Gunmen attack in Benghazi
Gunmen attacked a security forces headquarters in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi early Friday, killing nine people and wounding 24, authorities said, blaming an Islamic extremist group allegedly behind the attack of a U.S. diplomatic post there. Libyan commandos later arrived and fought the attackers, though the official said they suffered heavy casualties. A local hospital official said some of the slain troops were badly butchered, with some corpses burned.
- AP
INDIA
Rebels kill 22 in village
Separatist rebels wearing black masks opened fire on Muslim villagers and set their homes ablaze in remote northeastern India, killing at least 22 people over two days, police said Friday. It was the worst outbreak of violence in the region in two years. The gunmen are members of the Bodo tribe and belong to a faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, said regional police inspector general L.R. Bishnoi. Bodo tribesmen have long accused Muslims of sneaking into India illegally and encroaching on their ancestral land. - AP