Briefs, March 10, 2013
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada was arrested in London for breaching his bail terms, days before the British government begins an appeal against a court decision blocking his deportation to Jordan.
LONDON - Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada was arrested in London for breaching his bail terms, days before the British government begins an appeal against a court decision blocking his deportation to Jordan. Accused by Britain of posing a security risk and being a spiritual inspiration for one of the 9/11 hijackers, Qatada is wanted in his native Jordan to face terrorism charges. Reuters
AMMAN - Twenty-one United Nations peacekeepers captured by Syrian rebels and held for three days in a southern Syrian village crossed safely into neighbouring Jordan, rebels and a UN official in Damascus said. The Filipino peacekeepers were seized in the village of Jamla by the Martyrs of Yarmouk rebel brigade on Wednesday. Reuters
DUBAI - Nigeria-based Islamist group Ansaru said it had killed seven foreign hostages it seized on February 7 from a construction company in Nigeria, SITE Monitoring Service said. The group also issued screen shots of a video purporting to show the dead hostages, SITE said. Ansaru abducted a Briton, an Italian, a Greek and four Lebanese workers. Reuters
KABUL - A suicide bomber blew himself up at a defence ministry gate in Kabul killing nine civilians and wounding 14 others during a visit to Afghanistan by US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel. Hagel was nowhere near the blast, said a spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility. Reuters
