A4 RED DEER ADVOCATE Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013
Suicide bombing kills guard at US Embassy BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ANKARA, Turkey — In the second deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in five months, a suicide bomber struck the American Embassy in Ankara on Friday, killing a Turkish security guard in what the White House described as a terrorist attack. Washington immediately warned Americans to stay away from all U.S. diplomatic facilities in Turkey and to be wary in large crowds. Turkish officials said the bombing was linked to leftist domestic militants. The attack drew condemnation from Turkey, the U.S., Britain and other nations and officials from both Turkey and the U.S. pledged to work together to fight terrorism. “We strongly condemn what was a suicide attack against our embassy in Ankara, which took place at the embassy’s outer security perimeter,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney. “A suicide bombing on the perimeter of an embassy is by definition an act of terror,” he said. “It is a terrorist attack.” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said police believe the bomber was connected to a domestic leftist militant group. Carney, however, said the motive for the attack and who was behind it was not known. A Turkish TV journalist was seriously wounded in the 1:15 p.m. blast in the Turkish capital, and two other guards had lighter wounds, officials said. The state-run Anadolu Agency identified the bomber as Ecevit Sanli. It said the 40-year-old Turkish man was a member of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, which has claimed responsibility for assassinations and bombings since the 1970s. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States but had been relatively quiet in recent years. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her farewell speech to State Department staff moments after she formally resigned as secretary of state, said “we were attacked and lost one of our foreign service nationals.” She said she spoke with U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, “our team there and my Turkish counterpart. I told them how much we valued their commitment and their sacrifice.” Sen. John Kerry, the incoming secretary of state, also was briefed. The U.S. Embassy building in Ankara is heavily protected and located near several other embassies,
Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Elevated view of the side entrance of the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, after a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device, Friday. The bomb appeared to have exploded inside the security checkpoint at the entrance of the visa section of the embassy. A police official said at least two people are dead. including those of Germany and France. U.S. diplomatic facilities in Turkey have been targeted previously by terrorists. In 2008, an attack blamed on al-Qaida-affiliated militants outside the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul left three assailants and three policemen dead. On Sept. 11, 2012, terrorists attacked a U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The attackers in Libya were suspected to have ties to Islamist extremists, and one is in custody in Egypt. Friday’s bombing occurred at a security check-
Protesters march on presidential palace; at least one man killed BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
point at the side entrance to the U.S. Embassy, which is used by staff. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said a man detonated a suicide vest at the checkpoint on the outer perimeter of the embassy compound. “He came to this first point of access to the compound ... where you have to have your ID checked, you have to go through security,” Nuland said. The guard who was killed was standing outside the checkpoint, while the two wounded guards “were standing in a more protected area,” said Interior Minister Muammer Guler said.
Authorities hunt killer mistakenly freed from Chicago jail
EGYPT
CHICAGO — Authorities in Illinois and Indiana searched Friday for a convicted murderer who was mistakenly released from custody in Chicago, with the two sides differing over whether a paperwork error could be to blame. Steven L. Robbins, 44, was released Wednesday evening from a jail in Chicago, where he had been taken to answer to drug and armed violence charges in Cook County Circuit Court. Those charges were dropped, and Robbins was freed instead of being sent back to Indiana to continue serving a 60-year murder sentence. The public was not alerted that a potentially dangerous convict was on the loose until about 24 hours later. Indiana Department of Corrections said in a news release that “for reasons yet unknown, the offender was released by Illinois authorities without being held for return.” The department submitted paperwork telling Illinois officials that Robbins was supposed to be returned to Indiana, spokesman Douglas Garrison said Friday. “It’s quite clear that all of the paperwork from IDOC was in order, so that they would have known that he was supposed to be returned to us,” Garrison said.
Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
An Egyptian shouts slogans during anti-President Mohammed Morsi protest in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Friday. thrown over the fence, the security forces unleashed water cannons, then tear gas, then riot police descended on the streets outside the palace. Hours of clashes ensued, with streams of tear gas and stones flying through the air as security forces pushed the protesters back. A particularly heavy volley of dozens of tear gas canisters over a few minutes scattered much of the crowd, fleeing into side streets as riot police pursued and the sound of birdshot being fired echoed. Associated Press footage showed police stripping one protester on the ground and kicking him before dragging him into a van. The Interior Ministry, in charge of police, later said in a statement on state media that it would investigate the incident, calling it “regrettable and unacceptable.” More than 50 people were hurt during demonstrations around the country, the Health Ministry said.
HINT: My chubby pet was one of Red Deer’s most famous citizens in the 1940s. Author Kerry Wood wrote a book about our adventures. Answer: Doris Forbes & Mickey the Beaver
CAIRO, Egypt — Protesters denouncing Egypt’s Islamist president hurled stones and firebombs through the gates of his palace gates on Friday, clashing with security forces who fired tear gas and water cannons, as more than a week of political violence came to Mohammed Morsi’s symbolic doorstep for the first time. The streets outside the presidential palace were a scene of mayhem for hours into the night. Security forces pumped volley after volley of tear gas, set fire to protester tents and at one point dragged a protester to the ground, stripped him and beat him. Protesters burned tires and hurled stones and fireworks. A 23-year-old died when he was shot in the chest and forehead, the Health Ministry said. The march on the palace, where Morsi was not present, was part of a wave of demonstrations in cities around the country called by opposition politicians, trying to wrest concessions from Morsi after around 60 people were killed in protests, clashes and riots. But many of the protesters go further, saying he must be removed from office, accusing his Muslim Brotherhood of monopolizing power and failing to deal with the country’s mounting woes. Many have been further angered by Morsi’s praise of the security forces after the high death toll, which is widely blamed on excessive use of force by the police. The day’s unrest, however, risked boosting attempts by the government and Brotherhood to taint the opposition as violent and destructive — a tack Morsi supporters have taken for weeks. In a statement issued amid the clashes, Morsi accused protesters of trying to break ito the palace and said “political fores involved in incitement” are responsible for the violence. He called on all factions to condemn the violence and said security forces would “act decisively to protect state institutions.” A day earlier, the top opposition figures met with the Brotherhood for the first time and agreed on a joint promise to avoid violence. That drew sharp criticism from many anti-Morsi activists who said the politicians had played into the Brotherhood’s hands and given legitimacy to any crackdown. The fighting started when a crowd of several thousand marched to the palace in an upscale district of the capital, chanting, “the people want the fall of the regime,” and “leave, leave, Morsi.” Security forces allowed them to reach close to the main gate, and some protesters hurled shoes and stones through the fence into the grounds. Some climbed on the fence, apparently to better throw stones, but it did not appear they were breaking in. At first, police and Republican Guards inside did not respond. But when several firebombs were
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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