Top stories from DAWNS Digest
UN Human Rights Investigator: Syrian Rebels Have Used Chemical Weapons
This would certainly complicate international efforts to support the rebels. “U.N. human rights investigators have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria’s civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, one of the lead investigators said on Sunday.’Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated,’ [Carla] Del Ponte said in an interview with Swiss-Italian television.” (Yahoo! http://yhoo.it/10cLAZZ)
Church Bombed in Arusha, Tanzania
This could be a major escalation of sectarian tensions an the erstwhile peaceful country. “A suspected bomb attack on a new Catholic church in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha killed at least one person and wounded dozens of others on Sunday, police said. The Vatican’s ambassador to Tanzania, Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, was attending the official opening of the church when the explosion occurred, but escaped unharmed…Two Christian leaders were killed in Tanzania’s semi-autonomous, predominantly Muslim islands of Zanzibar earlier this year and there have been attacks on Muslim leaders and mosques.” (Voice of America http://bit.ly/10do0lC)
Top Tribal Leader Killed in Abyei
A militia allied with Sudan surrounded a convoy carrying Kuwal Deng Mayok, the top Dinka leader who allies with South Sudan, and killed him along with a UN peacekeeper. “A top tribal leader allied to South Sudan was killed in clashes involving a rival Sudanese tribe in the Abyei region disputed by the African neighbors on Saturday, both sides said, an incident that risks fuelling new tensions in the flashpoint area.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/10cL2TZ)