WASHINGTON: A US State Department official held direct talks for the first time over the weekend with the main Syrian Kurdish political party as the United States builds a coalition against Islamic State militants, a State Department official said yesterday. “We have for some time had conversations through intermediaries with the PYD (Kurdish Democratic Union Party). We have engaged over the course of just last weekend with the PYD,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. A senior administration official said the talks took place in Paris. The PYD has close ties to the PKK, a Turkish Kurdish party that waged a militant campaign for Kurdish rights and has threatened to abandon a peace process with Turkey in response to the current attack on Kobane by IS militants.
Life terms for 25 Mursi backers
CAIRO: An Egyptian court handed down life sentences yesterday to 25 supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi over violence in a southern town in August 2013, a judicial source said. A court in the southern province of Assuit sentenced 25 defendants to life in prison, three were handed three-year terms, and two others jailed for two years, the source said. A life sentence in Egypt amounts to 25 years behind bars. Those convicted were found guilty of torching police stations and government buildings in the town of Al Ghanaim on August 14 of last year. Another 141 defendants, including an official from Muslim Brotherhood, were acquitted, the source said, while a police sergeant was jailed for one year. Those convicted have the right to appeal.
Israeli forces kill Palestinian boy
RAMALLAH: Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian boy in a village in the occupied West Bank yesterday, local medics and residents said. Bahaa Badr, 13, was shot in the chest as Israeli forces entered Beit Liqya near the dividing line with Israel and were pelted with stones by local youths, the sources said. It is unclear whether the boy took part in the confrontation and the Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gunmen kill 3 peacekeepers in Darfur
KHARTOUM: Gunmen killed three Ethiopian peacekeepers who were guarding a water hole in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region yesterday, their force said. Two of the soldiers died at the scene in Korma, north Darfur, and a third died later from his wounds in Khartoum, said the joint UN/African Union UNAMID peacekeeping mission. The attackers stole the Ethiopians’ patrol vehicle, it added. A total of 61 UNAMID peacekeepers have now been killed in action since their force was set up in 2007. Agencies
