South Sudan kills 40 in ‘friendly fire’

JUBA: South Sudan’s military yesterday raised to as many as 40 the death toll from a “friendly fire” incident last week in which it sank one of its own river boats at night.

“The final death toll is between 37 and 40” from the incident last Wednesday in which the army fired at the boat transporting soldiers on the River Nile, military spokesman Philip Aguer said.

Tensions remain high around border areas with Sudan, South Sudan’s former civil war foe, and the boat was mistaken for an enemy craft in an area where rebel groups operate.

Aguer said the army had launched an investigation into the “unfortunate accident” involving a boat that was carrying about 170 soldiers from Melut towards Malakal.

He said the ship’s crew had not communicated clearly with South Sudan’s army, the SPLA, about its movements.

“The boat left late, there was no information passed to the [river] station ahead, and the SPLA have orders not to travel after 6pm, and to pull in at the nearest station to wait for daylight,” he said.

“The commander of the force made a big mistake,” Aguer said, adding that the commander was killed.

Aguer said soldiers on shore had fired warning shots when the boat failed to stop at a river checkpoint in Lul, and that troops on board returned fire. – Sapa-AFP PARIS: A French court is set to announce today whether it will enforce an injunction that Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Kate, have sought against magazine Closer to prevent further publication of topless photos of her.

In an affair that has rocked Britain and reawakened a debate on privacy laws, lawyers for the royal couple, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are seeking damages from Closer and have filed a separate complaint against a photographer that could lead to a criminal case.

The couple want to stop Closer from selling its photographs to any other media, including on the internet, although an Irish newspaper has already broken an informal agreement in the British press not to publish them.

An official at the Nanterre court, near Paris, said the decision was due to be handed down today.

Copies of Closer’s Friday edition flew off the shelves in France, snapped up by collectors, British tourists and curious French readers, as controversy over the photos raged.

“The stock has run out,” said newspaper vendor Jeremy Alluard, adding that his 30 copies of the magazine had sold out in an hour and a half.

“There’s no way of getting any more at the depot; there are no more to be had,” he said.

A second vendor, Omar Abdel, said he had sold many copies to British tourists who