A former Serbian police officer has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, after being found guilty by a Bosnian war crimes court. Judge Jasmina Kosovic said that Bozidar Kuvelja "participated in the expulsion of the Srebrenica population, detention of men and execution of detainees", stating , "He is found guilty for crimes against humanity and the court sentences him to 20 years imprisonment." However, Kuvelja was acquitted of charges of genocide with the judge noting the prosecutor had failed to prove that there was intent on the part of the...
Twenty-nine police officers were injured on Saturday during the 40th day of protests over the removal of Union flag at the City Hall. Loyalists and nationalists started rioting at the sectarian interface by Short Strand, in East Belfast. After the rioting subsided in the evening, it erupted again after 9pm with loyalists attacking police with bricks, stones and missiles by Castlereagh Street. Police used water cannon to push rioters away from interface.
French President Francois Hollande has said that his government is ready to stop rebels who are currently in control of the north Mali. The rebels have been advancing southwards and captured more territory in recent weeks, prompting Mali’s President Diancounda Traore to send a letter to Paris and UN chief Ban Ki-moon, pleading for assistance. "They (rebels) are trying to deliver a fatal blow to the very existence of this country," Mr Hollande said. "France, like its African partners, cannot accept this. I have decided that France will respond, alongside our African partners, to the request...
Rebels and government forces in the Central African Republic have agreed to a ceasefire after talks held in Gabon. The ceasefire follows three days of negotiations after a month-long rebellion was sparked in early December. The deal states that President Francois Bozize can remain in power until 2016 and calls for the dissolution of the country’s National Assembly as well as the appointment of a Prime Minister. Rebel spokesman Eric Massi told Reuters , “This is a good deal to bring peace," "But the ceasefire is contingent on several of our demands being met and we will judge Mr. Bozize's...
France’s President Francois Hollande has confirmed that French troops are supporting Mali’s army in clashes with rebels in the north. He said the soldiers "have brought support this afternoon to Malian units to fight against terrorist elements". Mr Hollande added that the military intervention would last "as long as necessary". "Mali is facing an assault by terrorist elements coming from the north whose brutality and fanaticism is known across the world," he said. A state of emergency has been declared in the country and President Dioncounda Traore called on his people to unite to "free every...
After weeks of fighting with government forces, Syrian rebels have captured Tafatnaz military airport, a key base in the north of the country. The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said that the fighting at the airport ended at 9am GMT and that the base is now entirely in rebel hands, although government jets have been bombing the base in attempts to destroy it. Tafatnaz is the largest base to be seized so far and is an important gain for the rebels who already control vast sections of the north and east of Syria. Read more on Sky News here .
Three Kurdish women activists - including a co-founder of the PKK - have been found shot dead in a Kurdish information centre in Paris, the BBC reports . French Interior Minister Manuel Valls called the killings "intolerable". The three women had "undoubtedly" been executed, Mr Valls said, adding that the French authorities were determined to "shed light on this act". "In this neighbourhood, in this Kurdish information centre, in the 10th arrondissement [district] where many Kurds live, I also came to express my sympathy to the relatives and close friends of these three women," he said...
The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Thursday called the UN-Arab League envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, "flagrantly biased" and accused him of being one of those "conspiring against Syria and its people." The remarks were made in response to comments made by Brahimi earlier in the day when he asserted that President Assad could not have a role in a transitional government: "In Syria...what people are saying is that a family ruling for 40 years is a little bit too long," "President Assad could take the lead in responding to the aspiration of his people rather than resisting it."
Amnesty International has released a statement urging for a full investigation into the murder of three Kurdish activists in Paris, calling for ‘no stone to be left unturned’. The human rights group’s Europe and Central Asia Programme Director John Dalhuisen said, “There must be justice for these apparently political killings – no stone must be left unturned in the investigation by the French authorities." “The Turkish authorities must cooperate fully in the investigation to bring those responsible to justice." “Both sides must ensure that the killings do not derail negotiations aimed at...
Condemning the deaths of two Indian soldiers in Kashmir, New Delhi summoned Pakistani envoy to lodge a "strong protest" against the incident on Wednesday. Accusing the Pakistani soldiers of crossing into the heavily militarised Line of Control in the disputed region of Kashmir, Indian officials described the mutilation of the soldiers bodies as "barbaric and inhuman". India's Minister of External Affairs, Salman Khurshid, said : "I think it is important in the long term that what has happened should not be escalated," "We cannot and must not allow the escalation of any unwholesome event like...