Mystery surrounds disappearance of 2 Chinese nationals after Kabul shootings

By Heath Druzin

Stars and Stripes

Published: August 11, 2013

KABUL ? Depending on who you talk to, a Chinese man who disappeared after a deadly attack in the Afghan capital last week either made a daring escape from kidnappers or is a murder suspect who fled the scene of a quadruple slaying.

The man, who has not been named, along with another Chinese national, disappeared after four people were shot to death at a house party in Kabul Thursday night, according to Afghan officials. Three of those killed were Chinese nationals ? a man and two women ? and the fourth was their Afghan guard, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

Quoting Chinese embassy officials, Xinhua, reported that one of the men who disappeared was taken hostage by Afghans but managed to untie himself, jump out of his captors? car and find safety at a U.S. military base, before being transferred to ?a safe place? by embassy officials.

Officials with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed that a Chinese national came to the gate of a base in eastern Afghanistan Friday and was helped by troops there before being flown by military aircraft to Kabul, where he was met by Chinese officials. They said they could not speculate on any involvement he may have had with the Kabul shooting.

?We can confirm that ISAF provided assistance to a Chinese citizen in order to facilitate his safe return to Chinese diplomatic representatives in Kabul, Afghanistan,? Col. Jane E. Crichton said.

Afghan officials, however, gave a different version of the story than that reported in Chinese media.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that the two Chinese men fled the scene of the party and are suspects in the slaying. Sediqqi said one of the men who disappeared was picked up by Afghan police officers and is being interrogated.

?It could be an internal issue because there is no indication of terrorism,? he said.

No one answered the phone at the Chinese Embassy Sunday.

The motivation for the attack, which occurred in a residential neighborhood of Kabul, is unclear. A Taliban spokesman denied the insurgent group was involved. Such attacks on foreigners are still relatively rare in Kabul, though there have been several kidnappings this year.

Police are still searching for the second Chinese man who disappeared from the scene, Sediqqi said.

There is a small Chinese community in Kabul, some of whom run small businesses, and a larger Chinese contingent working on natural resource ventures, such as mining. The three Chinese who were killed and the two who disappeared were all ?self-employed business people,? according to Xinhua.

druzin.heath@stripes.com
Twitter: @Druzin_Stripes

Source: http://www.stripes.com/news/mystery-surrounds-disappearance-of-2-chinese-nationals-after-kabul-shootings-1.234824

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Israeli PM Netanyahu undergoes hernia surgery

JERUSALEM (AP) ? The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he has successfully undergone hernia surgery.

Netanyahu's office said early Sunday he is recuperating at a Jerusalem hospital following overnight surgery for an umbilical hernia. A medical team diagnosed the hernia after Netanyahu felt pain on Saturday.

The Prime Minister was given general anesthesia, and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon was appointed acting Prime Minister during the few hours Netanyahu was unconscious. Netanyahu will be released later Sunday to recuperate further at home.

The weekly Cabinet meeting has been postponed.

The prime minister's office says Defense Minister Yaalon is leading a ministerial meeting on prisoners' affairs in Netanyahu's place.

Ministers are expected to approve the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of U.S.-led Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that begin this week.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-pm-netanyahu-undergoes-hernia-surgery-061525200.html

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Source: www.independent.co.uk --- Thursday, August 08, 2013
She?s been named one of the world?s 100 most influential people and now Adele is flexing her power. An album by gothic folk duo The Civil Wars is heading for number one after the star urged her 16 million Twitter followers to buy it. ? ? ? ? ...

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Gov. action averts San Francisco transit strike

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? With an eleventh hour order, Gov. Jerry Brown averted a strike of San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit system late Sunday night, easing the minds of hundreds of thousands of anxious commuters.

In the order, Brown named a board of investigators for a seven-day inquiry into the contract dispute that threatened to shut down, beginning Monday, the nation 's fifth largest rail line.

Brown's order comes under a law that allows the state's intervention if a strike will significantly disrupt public transportation services and endanger public health.

"For the sake of the people of the Bay Area, I urge ? in the strongest terms possible ? the parties to meet quickly and as long as necessary to get this dispute resolved," Brown said in the order.

In a statement, BART spokesman Rick Rice said the transit authority's board president Tom Radulovich sent a letter to the governor requesting his intervention and a cooling off period of 60 days. The governor issued an order with considerably less time of a week.

"The formal impartial fact-finding that accompanies the cooling-off period will help clarify the points of difference between the proposals," the statement said.

Union leaders issued a critical statement after the order, accusing BART management negotiators of stalling until only hours remained before the strike would have begun to provide counter proposals on core pay and benefits.

"Our hope is that the Governor's Board of Investigation will reveal how little time BART management has spent at the bargaining table in the past 30 days, compared with how much time they've spent posturing to the media," said SEIU 1021 President Roxanne Sanchez.

BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said late Sunday that it is "extremely frustrating" that the unions were misrepresenting the improved proposals they've been getting, including wage increases, and the transit authority was hard at work all weekend despite allegations of absence.

"We made several proposals this weekend and they all went in one direction and that was up, up, up," said Trost.

Bay Area Rapid Transit managers and union leaders had returned to the bargaining table Sunday in hopes of heading off a strike that would have affected 400,000 commuters and created traffic nightmares for the San Francisco area for the second time in a month.

Representatives from BART management and the agency's two largest employee unions negotiated for about 14 hours Saturday and resumed bargaining Sunday morning as a midnight deadline loomed. Brown's order came at around 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

Big differences remain on key issues including wages, pensions, worker safety and health care costs, but the parties had expressed some optimism that an agreement could be reached to avert a strike planned for Monday.

Despite allegations of stalling late Sunday, earlier in the weekend union leaders cautiously expressed hope for agreement and said progress was being made.

"The parties made some important but incremental moves yesterday, and I hope to get to a deal," Josie Mooney, chief negotiator for the Service Employees International Union 1021, said Sunday before heading into negotiations. "If the parties work very hard, then it's certainly possible in the amount of time we have left."

"There was definitely movement from both sides," BART chief negotiator Thomas Hock said as he left negotiations late Saturday night. "Hopefully, if we keep moving, we will get to a proposal that both sides can agree to."

BART's two largest unions issued a 72-hour notice Thursday that employees would walk off the job if they didn't reach agreement on a new contract by midnight Sunday.

"BART really is the backbone of the transit network. No other transit agency has the ability to absorb BART's capacity if there's a disruption," said John Goodwin, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

In the event of a strike, transit agencies had planned to add bus and ferry service, keep carpool lanes open all day and even give away coffee gift cards to encourage drivers to pick up riders. They were also encouraging workers to avoid peak traffic hours or telecommute if possible.

When BART workers shut down train service for four days in early July, roadways were packed and commuters waited in long lines for buses and ferries. The unions agreed to call off that strike and extend their contracts until Sunday while negotiations continued.

Bay Area and state officials have been pressuring BART managers and union leaders to reach an agreement this weekend, saying a strike would create financial hardship for working families and hurt the region's economy.

___

Mohajer reported from Los Angeles.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gov-action-averts-san-francisco-transit-strike-065810998.html

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