Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Syria Misses Chemical Weapons Deadline
The Security Council is meeting on Thursday to discuss this and hear directly from the weapons inspectors. “Syria has missed today’s deadline for giving up another portion of its entire chemical weapons arsenal, raising alarm that President Bashar al-Assad will renege on the agreement that curbed a potential US military strike last summer. Syria delivered the most dangerous components – sarin, mustard, and VX gases – in early January, about a week after the deadline. It was supposed to hand over the “less dangerous” components today.” (CSM http://bit.ly/1cVZdI1)
CAR: Soldiers Participate in Brutal Lynching
A ceremony meant to highlight the professionalism of the CAR military ended with the lynching of a suspected Muslim.”The Central African Republic’s interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza, addressed 4,000 soldiers at a ceremony to launch a renewed national army Wednesday, an event meant to symbolize the military’s role as a professional force that protects all civilians. She told the soldiers gathered in Bangui, the capital, that she was proud of the armed forces, calling on them to report for duty and to support her actions. But moments after the president and dignitaries left, violence exploded. Witnesses said a group of soldiers accused a man of belonging to a mainly Muslim group, the former Seleka rebels, who took over the country last year. What happened next was swift and brutal. The soldiers seized the man and repeatedly stabbed him.” (LAT http://lat.ms/1cVYHK4)