KIRKUK: More than 35 people died in a suicide attack and other bombings in northern Iraq and Baghdad yesterday, worsening sectarian strife as Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki faces mounting pressure from minority Sunni Muslims and Kurds. Shoppers and police helped drag bloodied survivors out of the rubble and wrecked vehicles after a car bomb and a suicide bomber in a truck set off huge blasts in Kirkuk, near the local headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Maliki, a Shia, is locked in a feud with ethnic Kurds in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan over disputed oilfields and is also confronting Sunni protesters in a western province calling for him to step down. “A suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives detonated the vehicle outside the KDP headquarters.
Riyadh offers to free activists if sign pledge
RIYADH: A group of prominent Saudi political activists who were jailed for long terms more than a year ago have been offered release if they sign a document pledging to abandon their activities, their lawyer said. Bassim Alim, who represented 16 Saudi activists sentenced in November 2011 for terms of between five and 30 years for convictions ranging from financing terrorism to incitement against the king, said 10 of the men had signed the document.
Omani court upholds jail terms for bloggers
MUSCAT: An Omani court of appeal yesterday upheld jail terms ranging between one year and 18 months against eight writers and bloggers convicted of defaming the sultan and cyber crimes, a lawyer said. The court jailed five defendants for one year each, and sentenced the other three to 18 months, with each of the eight fined OR1,000 ($2,600), the lawyer said. Agencies
