IS CHIEF BAGHDADI LIKELY STILL ALIVE – US GENERAL
Thai sculptor Chin Prasong poses for a portrait next to two sculptures of dogs owned by the late Thai King on Thursday.
Elusive Islamic State leader Abu Bakr alBaghdadi is probably still alive and likely hiding in the Middle Euphrates River Valley, a senior US general said Thursday. “We’re looking for him every day. I don’t think he’s dead,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of the counter-IS coalition in Iraq and Syria, told reporters in a conference call. Townsend admitted he didn’t “have a clue” where Baghdad is precisely, but believes he may have fled with many other IS soldiers into the Middle Euphrates region stretching from Syria to Iraq, after coalition and local force assaults on the IS bastions of Mosul, Raqa and Tal Afar. “The last stand of ISIS will be in the Middle Euphrates River Valley,” Townsend said. “When we find him, I think we’ll just try to kill him first. It’s probably not worth all the trouble to try and capture him.”
COLOMBIAN SECURITY FORCES KILL TOP DRUG TRAFFICKER
BOGOTA: Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday said security forces had killed the second-in-command of the Gulf Clan, the country’s foremost drug gang. Writing on Twitter, Santos added authorities would elaborate on the circumstances of the killing of Roberto Vargas Gutierrez, alias “Gavilan,” who had been sought for a 500 million pesos ($170,000) reward. The Gulf Clan, which accounts for some 70 percent of Colombia’s cocaine production, was born from the remnants of an outlawed rightwing paramilitary group which fought rebels during the country’s half-century civil conflict. The paramilitaries were officially disbanded in 2006, but authorities say their members are still making money from drugs and violence. Its leader, Dairo Antonio Usuga, alias Otoniel, is the most wanted man in the country. The US has placed a $5 million bounty on him. Colombia is the world’s leading coca leaf grower and also the biggest source of cocaine, producing 866 tons in 2016, according to the UN.
FARC REBELS REBORN AS ‘REVOLUTIONARY’ PARTY
BOGOTA: Colombia’s FARC former guerrilla group re-launches itself Friday as the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force, sealing its transformation into a leftist political party following its disarmament after a half- century civil conflict. The name controversially retains the same acronym and the revolutionary spirit of the communist guerrilla group, which fought a bloody 52-year campaign against the state before signing a peace deal last year. The party will hold a formal launch ceremony on Friday on Bolivar Square, near the presidential palace in the heart of the political district in the capital. Demobilized and renamed, it now faces a struggle for political acceptance in a country scarred by decades of attacks and kidnappings.
US BAN ON NORTH KOREA TRAVEL COMES INTO FORCE
SEOUL: Washington’s ban on US citizens traveling to North Korea came into force on Friday, with the two countries at loggerheads over Pyongyang’s weapons ambitions.The measure was imposed following the death of student Otto Warmbier in June, a few days after the 22-year- old was sent home in a mysterious coma following more than a year in prison in the North. On its website the State Department said it took the decision due to “the serious and mounting risk of arrest and long-term detention of US citizens.” Exemptions to the travel ban are available for journalists, Red Cross representatives, those traveling for humanitarian purposes, or journeys the State Department deems to be in the national interest of the United States.
6.2-MAGNITUDE QUAKE HITS WESTERN INDONESIA
PADANG, Indonesia: A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of western Indonesia early Friday, US seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The quake hit the Mentawai islands in West Sumatra province about 75 kilometers (46 miles) southwest of the provincial capital Padang at 00:06 a.m. (1706 GMT), at a depth of 49 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey. The disaster agency said officials were checking for damage and casualties.