Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces battled Shiite fighters in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood in clashes that killed 22 people and wounded dozens despite a cease-fire between the government and the militia, officials said Sunday. To the north, police said gunmen seized 42 students off a bus near the city of Mosul – al-Qaida’s last major urban stronghold – but later released them unharmed. The U.S. military said that fighting broke out overnight in Sadr City, a stronghold of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s militants. Officials at two local hospitals said 22 people were killed and 92 wounded.
Police repeatedly scuffled with protesters as Olympians and dignitaries carried the Olympic torch during a chaotic relay through snowy London on Sunday. Demonstrators tried to board a relay bus after five-time Olympic gold medalist rower Steve Redgrave launched the procession at Wembley Stadium– presaging a number of clashes with police along the torch’s 31-mile journey. In west London, a protester tried to grab the torch out of the hands of a TV presenter, forcing police to briefly stop the procession as officers detained the man. Another demonstrator tried to snuff out the flame with what appeared to be a fire extinguisher.
A suicide bomber killed 14 people at an opening ceremony for a marathon in Sri Lanka Sunday, including a government minister who was nearing the starting line with a flag and a former Olympian. More than 90 others were wounded in the attack. Officials blamed the bombing on the Tamil Tigers, rebels who have fought since 1983 for an independent homeland for the ethnic minority Tamils, marginalized for decades by successive governments run by majority ethnic Sinhalese. The rebel group routinely denies attacks on civilians, and their spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is hinting that he may run for a second term. Karzai told a news conference Sunday that he has reached some of his goals since being elected in 2004, but that there is still more work left to be done. He says he prays that the people of Afghanistan are happy with his time in office and that they allow him to “complete the work that I started – if they vote for me.” Karzai’s term is scheduled to end in 2009.
China vowed Saturday to ramp up a campaign requiring Tibetan Buddhist monks to denounce the Dalai Lama and declare their loyalty to Beijing. But resentment over “patriotic education” has ignited protests that have left eight people dead in recent days in a southwestern province and could fuel future unrest despite a massive security presence aimed at quelling the demonstrations. The Tibet Daily newspaper reported Saturday that the government pledged to “strengthen patriotic education” especially among young monks to help them “become patriotic, religion-loving and law-abiding.”
