CAMDEN — Afghanistan: Taliban’s
leader Omar has died
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official said today his government is examining claims that reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is dead. The Taliban could not be immediately reached on the government's comments about Omar, who has been declared dead many times before.
Omar, the one-eyed, secretive head of the Taliban and an al-Qaida ally, led a bloody insurgency against U.S.-led forces after they toppled him from his rule in Afghanistan in 2001.
Zafar Hashemi, a deputy spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, made the announcement at a hastily called news conference today in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
A Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to brief journalists, called the circling rumors "speculation" designed to disrupt peace talks.
The rumors come two days before the next round of talks between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives is due to be held in Pakistan. A senior government official confirmed the meeting will take place in the resort town of Murree, where the first round was held on July 7.
If Omar died, it could complicate the peace process as it removes a figurehead for the insurgents, who until now have appeared to act collectively but are believed to be split on whether to continue the war or negotiate with Ghani's government. Ending the war has been a main priority for Ghani since he took office last year.
Israeli bulldozers start to demolish settlement
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli bulldozers began demolishing a contested housing complex in a West Bank settlement on Wednesday as the prime minister's office announced the "immediate construction" of some 300 new units at another location in the same settlement and advanced plans for about 500 new units in east Jerusalem.
The move, which is likely to draw international rebuke, comes amid a standoff in the Beit El settlement, to the north of Jerusalem in the West Bank.
The standoff escalated sharply today, after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition to overturn its initial ruling to demolish a complex in Beit El and ordered the destruction completed no later than Thursday. The complex was deemed illegal because it was under construction without prior Israeli authorization.
The military moved in and removed protesters holed up inside, but hundreds of Jewish settlers gathered at the scene and some fought with Israeli forces, who responded by firing water cannons at the protesters.
Tempers are high among some in the settler community as it marks a decade since Israel's "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip, when Israel in the summer of 2005 withdrew all its civilians and soldiers from all of the settlements there and also from two in the West Bank.
Israel initially promised to build the 300 housing units in Beit El three years ago, when it ordered the removal of other buildings constructed on private Palestinian land.
They say these neighborhoods will remain a part of Israel under any future peace agreement, but the Palestinians consider them settlements and say construction there is illegal, a position backed by the international community.
Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967.
Lion’s killer says he thought hunt was legal
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota dentist who went on a guided bow hunting trip for big game in Zimbabwe said that he had no idea the lion he killed was protected and that he relied on the expertise of his local guides to ensure the hunt was legal.
Walter Palmer, who has a felony record in the U.S. related to shooting a black bear in Wisconsin, released a statement Tuesday after Zimbabwean authorities identified him as the American involved in the July hunt. They said Palmer is being sought on poaching charges, but Palmer said he hasn't heard from U.S. or Zimbabwean authorities.
The 55-year-old was identified by the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe and police as the American facing poaching charges for the crossbow killing of Cecil, a well-known lion. Local authorities allege the lion was lured from a protected area and killed in early July.
Zimbabwean conservationists said the American allegedly paid $50,000 for the trip.
The lion's death has outraged animal conservationists and others, including U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat. In a statement late Tuesday, the congresswoman called for an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see whether any U.S. laws were violated.