hMore mourning in Iraq

hMore mourning in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Suspected Shiite militiamen hit military bases with mortar rounds and sprayed machine gun fire at a Polish helicopter Monday, setting off fierce fighting that killed at least four civilians in a volatile area south of Baghdad. It was the latest flare-up of internal Shiite feuds that threaten to destabilize the oil-rich southern region and undermine U.S. progress against al-Qaida in Iraq elsewhere in the country. In the latest such attack, an explosives-laden car blew up in western Baghdad’s religiously mixed Harthiyah neighborhood Monday night, killing at least six people and wounding 25, police said. A mother, above, mourned the death of one son and injuries to two others. Most of the victims were among families on their way home after spending the day in a nearby amusement park for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Interpol launches hunt
for pedophile in Thailand

PARIS — First Interpol unmasked his face. Now it knows his name. The international police organization, working off tips from people who responded to a global appeal for help, said Monday it has identified a suspected pedophile shown in Internet photos abusing young boys. The man, whose face initially was disguised behind a digitalized swirl, is now thought to be on the run in Thailand, Interpol said. He is said to be an English teacher at a school in South Korea. The man was allegedly shown sexually abusing 12 young Vietnamese and Cambodian boys, apparently ranging in age from 6 to early teens, in about 200 photographs posted on the Internet. Using techniques that neither they nor Interpol would discuss, German police recreated an image of the man’s face and released four reconstructed photos of him last week. Interpol said more than 350 people then supplied tips to authorities worldwide. Officials are still collecting and analyzing evidence to bring charges against the man if he is arrested, it said.

Turkey set for Kurd fight

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey moved closer to opening a new front in the Iraq war Monday, with the government asking parliament to approve a cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels. Still, its leaders were reluctant to stage an incursion that could hurt Turkey’s standing with Washington. Parliament was widely expected to authorize the Cabinet’s motion seeking authorization for a military campaign in northern Iraq, and NTV television said a vote would happen Wednesday.

Craig files ruling appeal

MINNEAPOLIS — Embattled Sen. Larry Craig asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday to overrule a county judge who refused to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea in an arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting. Craig’s appeal was filed at the court in St. Paul less than two weeks after Hennepin County District Court Judge Charles Porter refused to overturn the guilty plea, saying it “was accurate, voluntary and intelligent, and ... supported by the evidence.” Craig, a Republican from Idaho, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August after he was accused of soliciting sex in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in June. The four-page filing did not detail the basis for the appeal, noting only that Craig was appealing Porter’s Oct. 4 order.

Search for hiker continues

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Emergency responders and volunteers searching for an autistic hiker in a national park found his hat Monday, a day after he strayed from his parents during a hike. The hat was found close to where Jacob Allen, 18, had last been seen Sunday afternoon, search group spokesman Chris Stadelman said from the command post near Davis. “We’re trying not to read into it too much one way or the other,” he said. Allen wandered ahead on the Boar’s Nest Trail while hiking with his parents, Jim and Karen Allen. He didn’t answer when they called his name, Stadelman said. Allen’s mother described him as severely autistic. More than 50 emergency responders and volunteers were focusing on 10 square miles of the Monongahela National Forest, an area with rugged terrain that includes sections of thick brush and steep inclines.

Associated Press