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Obama in Baghdad to push
for political progress
BAGHDAD: President Barack Obama flew
to Baghdad yesterday to meet US military
commanders and Iraqi leaders, making his
first trip as president after announcing his
new strategy to wind down the unpopular
six-year-old war.
Obama’s visit to Baghdad was
shrouded in the secrecy typical of similar
trips made by his predecessor George
W. Bush. For security reasons the visit
was not publicised beforehand and was
made known only after Air Force One had
touched down at Baghdad International
Airport.
Obama flew from Istanbul at the end
of his first major international tour, mak-
ing his first visit to Iraq since before he
won the White House in the November
2008 US election.
His arrival came a day after a string
of seemingly coordinated bombings
across the Iraqi capital killed 37 people.
Yesterday, a car bomb killed nine people
Iraq shoe-thrower’s sentence cut
BAGHDAD: An Iraqi reporter who was
jailed for hurling his shoes at former
US President George W. Bush has had
his sentence slashed to one year from
three, the Iraqi Judiciary Council said
yesterday.
Muntazer al-Zaidi, 30, shot to instant
global fame in December when he threw
his shoes at the visiting president, who
was deeply unpopular in Iraq because of
the 2003 US invasion and the sectarian
carnage it unleashed.
He had pleaded not guilty to the
charge of assaulting a visiting head of
state and his family were devastated at
and wounded 20 in the Shi’ite Kadhimiya
district of northwest Baghdad, police
said.
The attacks underscored security
challenges as the US military prepares to
implement Obama’s order to withdraw all
combat troops by August 2010.
Obama said he had come to Iraq for
face-to-face meetings and to get a better
sense of the security situation.
“We spent a lot of time trying to get
Afghanistan right (but) there’s still a lot of
work to be done here,” he told reporters
in Baghdad before meeting the top US
commander in Iraq, General Raymond
Odierno.
The sectarian warfare and insurgency
unleashed by the 2003 US-led invasion
have receded sharply over the past
year, but Iraqi security forces still face
huge challenges as they take on policing
and military operations from the United
States. – Reuters
what they called an excessive initial pen-
alty of three years in prison. The shoes
missed Bush, who ducked nimbly.
“The appeal court issued its deci-
sion today to decrease the sentence
against Muntazer al-Zaidi from three
years in prison to one year, taking into
consideration that he’s still young and
doesn’t have any previous convictions,”
said Abdul Sattar al-Birqdar, spokesman
for the Iraqi judicial council.
“Thank God, today we found out the
Iraqi judiciary is so strong in Iraq. Of
course, I am happy,” said Zaidi’s brother,
Haithem. – Reuters
Quake toll passes 200,
aftershocks delay rescue
L’AQUILA (Italy): The death toll from a dev-
astating earthquake in central Italy rose to 207
yeserday and aftershocks hampered the race
to dig possible survivors out of the debris. Res-
cuers worked under floodlights through the
night and thousands of people whose homes
were wrecked sheltered in tents and cars.
“The hope of finding anyone under the
rubble now is very small,” said a civil protec-
tion agency official at a camp set up outside
L’Aquila, the historic mountain city shattered
by the quake.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said 207
people were now confirmed as dead in the
worst quake to strike Italy in 30 years. Of some
1,500 people injured, about 100 were in seri-
ous condition.
The new aftershocks struck fear into people,
with residents running out of tents screaming
and crying after a particularly strong tremor.
Buildings shook and masonry fell onto the
streets but no new injuries were reported.
Rescue “We advise people not to go back into their
workers homes,” Berlusconi told a news conference
survey in L’Aquila, adding that rescue efforts to find
destroyed people still alive will go on for at least two
houses the more days.
morning An aftershock yesterday which hit at about
after the 11.26am (4.32am in Malaysia) and registered
quake struck a magnitude of 4.7, was felt as far away as
the Italian Rome.
village The estimated number of homeless was
of Onna revised to 17,000 from a previous 50,000 and
yesterday. the number of missing was under 50.
Thai protesters trap PM at
beach hotel for three hours
PATTAYA: Hundreds of protesters trapped Thai
premier Abhisit Vejjajiva inside a beach hotel for
several hours yesterday, raising tensions ahead
of a key Asian summit being held here later this
week. About 400 red-clad supporters of fugitive
former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra sur-
rounded the hotel in the resort town of Pattaya
where Abhisit was holding a cabinet meeting
amid tight security.
British-born Abhisit had moved yesterday’s
cabinet meeting to Pattaya because Thaksin
loyalists have blockaded the main government
offices in Bangkok for nearly two weeks to press
for fresh elections.
The protesters dispersed and allowed Abhisit
to leave after about three hours, but the incident
further upped the ante in a long-running feud
between Thaksin’s loyalists and Abhisit’s nearly
four-month-old government.
Thai Defence Minister General Prawit
Wongsuwon had earlier managed to evade the
protesters by escaping from a side entrance
used by suppliers to the luxury hotel.
The resort is set to host leaders of Asean and
key regional partners including China and Japan
theSun | WEDNESDAY APRIL 8 2009
Shows of solidarity came from home and
abroad. Italian soccer teams said revenue
from this weekend’s matches would be sent
to help victims. Universities and newspapers
throughout the country took collections.
Officials said the quake would severely
affect the region’s economy, much of which
is based on tourism, agriculture and small,
family-run businesses.
A camp was set up on a sports field outside
medieval L’Aquila but there were not enough
tents and most people spent the night in their
cars as temperatures in the mountainous,
windy area hovered near freezing.
“I can’t even bear to think of the future,”
said Angela Camon, 37, who spent the night in
a tent with her husband and a bible. “There is
nothing to go back to.”
Berlusconi, who has declared a national
emergency, visited L’Aquila again to survey
the damage and promised residents the gov-
ernment will help them rebuild their homes.
More than 24 hours after the quake, emer-
gency workers dug out two students who had
been trapped under rubble.
A fireman recounted how he pulled a boy
alive from the mangled remains of his house
after a day-long search.
“All we could see was his head sticking
from the rubble, his entire body was buried.
We kept digging, picking piece by piece of
debris and we finally managed to get him out
– when we did the fatigue was great but so
was our joy,” he said. – Reuters
REUTERSPIX
at a summit starting on Friday.
The summit – already postponed from De-
cember due to ongoing political unrest – would
go ahead as planned, said Vitawas Srivihok, the
senior Asean department official at Thailand’s
foreign ministry.
“The ‘Red Shirts’ protest will not affect foreign
leaders attending the summit,” Vitawas said,
referring to the protesters by their nickname.
The incident came a day before a mass rally
planned by Thaksin’s supporters in Bangkok
which organisers say hundreds of thousands of
people are expected to attend.
Thailand, a key tourism destination, has been
crippled by political turmoil since billionaire
tycoon Thaksin was toppled in a military coup
in September 2006.
He is living in exile to avoid a two-year jail
term imposed last year over corruption allega-
tions which he says are politically motivated.
In their bid to force Abhisit from office, the
“Red Shirts” have taken a leaf from the playbook
of rival demonstrators who drove Thaksin’s allies
from government with a huge street campaign
last year. – AFP