Pakistan rebels offering a truce
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Pakistani Taliban announced Saturday that the group will observe a onemonth cease-fire as part of efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the government, throwing new life into a foundering peace process.
Spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement emailed to reporters that the top leadership of the militant group has instructed all of its units to comply with the cease-fire.
Violence earlier Saturday showed how difficult it could be to enforce a cease-fire, let alone forge a peace agreement.
Two bombs exploded minutes apart in northwest Pakistan, striking tribal police assigned to guard polio workers and killing 11, police said.
Afghan cites U.S. abuse
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan radio broadcaster on Saturday accused U.S. Special Forces of abuse when they arrested him and two other employees Thursday.
Qazi Nasir Mudassir owns Radio Paighame Milli in the Mohammad Agha district of Logar province, 30 miles south of the capital, an area of insurgent activity. He said American soldiers beat him and threaten to kill him to extract information during his detention. They were apparently unaware, he said, that his radio station is supported in large part by pro-government, pro-coalition propaganda advertisements paid for by the U.S. military.
All three were released without charges the next day.
Japan brothels assailed
SEOUL, South Korea — Unleashing fresh criticism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, President Park Geun-hye of South Korea on Saturday urged him to be honest and courageous enough to face his country’s history of aggression in the early 20th century, especially its enslavement of Asian women in Imperial Army brothels.
Just a day earlier, Mr. Abe’s government said it would reexamine a landmark 1993 apology it made to the sex slaves, commonly known by the euphemism “comfort women.”
Ms. Park made her comments during a nationally televised speech on the anniversary of a 1919 uprising by Koreans against their colonial masters.
2 Libyan officers slain
CAIRO Two Libyan army latest in a series of attacks on security personnel.
The LANA news agency reported that unidentified gunmen killed Makhlouf bin Naser in the coastal city of Sirte and Wanees Mohammed in the restive eastern city of Benghazi.
There were no claims of responsibility.
The assassinations come amid mass protests in several Libyan areas against security deterioration.
Egypt’s new government
CAIRO — Egypt’s new interim government was sworn in Saturday, a lightly reshuffled Cabinet with familiar faces that keeps powerful ministers in charge of the country’s security and military services in place ahead of an anticipated presidential election.
The new Cabinet, Egypt’s sixth government since its 2011 revolt against autocrat Hosni Mubarak, retains Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as defense minister. Many believe the wildly popular Marshal Sissi, who led the July 3 overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, will run for president.