Palestinians knock over new section of border wall

Palestinians knock over
new section of border wall

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas-backed militants driving bulldozers knocked down more fortifications Friday along the Gaza-Egypt border — a brazen challenge to Egyptian riot police who abandoned their positions after attempting to reseal the frontier using human chains, dogs and water cannons. Militants in black clothing, some of them masked, stood atop a bulldozer as it knocked down concrete slabs under the watchful eyes of Hamas security officials, who turned a blind eye and were later seen patrolling on the Egyptian side of the border.

Thousands of Palestinians flooded into Egypt, pushing through several openings as Egyptian troops retreated to their bases on the other side of the border. Palestinians positioned cranes next to the border and lifted crates of supplies into Gaza, including camels and cows. Hamas, after blasting open the border wall earlier in the week, offered further proof Friday that it simply cannot be ignored — driving home in no uncertain terms that a high price will be paid by anyone who seeks to shape Gaza’s border arrangements without the militants’ consent.

Teen accused in plot
to hijack airplane

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities said a teenager accused of concocting an ill-conceived plot to hijack an airliner got on board with handcuffs and duct tape — a combination that doesn’t violate security procedures aimed at thwarting terrorists. The 16-year-old boy was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight at Nashville’s airport Tuesday and arrested. Authorities said he was calm during the flight, made no apparent attempt to commandeer the plane and had little chance of succeeding had he tried.

Transportation Security Administration spokesman Sterling Payne wouldn’t comment on how authorities became suspicious of the teenager, but the agency expressed concern about the items he was allowed to carry on board. “This case highlights the importance of integrating law enforcement and security,” the TSA said in a statement. “None of the items in his possession were prohibited.”

Gunman apologizes, seeks
early release from prison

BRENTWOOD, N.H. — The gunman in the notorious Pamela Smart murder case tearfully apologized to his victim’s family Friday as he asked for early release from prison. Gregory Smart’s father said he was moved by William Flynn’s words — but not enough to support his release anytime soon.

Flynn, 33, was 16 in 1990, when he shot Pamela Smart’s husband in the couple’s condominium. He said he killed Gregory Smart at the behest of Pamela Smart, a media coordinator at Flynn’s high school who had been carrying on an affair with the teen. Pamela Smart “was an adult I thought cared about me, paid attention to me,” Flynn said, constantly wiping away tears at Rockingham County Superior Court. “I had never felt important before. Not only was she an adult, she was attractive. All the guys in school were attracted to her.”

Flynn told Gregory Smart’s family, “I know that I can never make amends for the pain ... and I promise you I will carry this guilt and remorse with me every day for the rest of my life.”

Chavez accuses Colombia,
U.S. of plotting an attack

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez on Friday accused neighboring Colombia and the United States of plotting a military “aggression” against Venezuela. “I accuse the government of Colombia of devising a conspiracy, acting as a pawn of the U.S. empire, of devising a military provocation against Venezuela,” Chavez said.

“A military aggression is being prepared,” Chavez added, saying that Washington aims to “oblige us to respond, and later a war could be set off.” He cited intelligence reports but did not offer evidence to support his claim. Venezuela and Colombia have been locked in a diplomatic crisis since November, when Colombian President Alvaro Uribe ended Chavez’s mediation role with Colombia’s leftist rebels in seeking a hostages-for-prisoners swap.

30 killed in violence,
Pakistani army says

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Fighting spread in Pakistan’s volatile borderlands Friday as the military pounded hideouts of Taliban militants who had hijacked ammunition supply trucks, killing up to 30 suspected rebels, the army said. Two paramilitary troops were killed and 10 wounded in the clashes around Dara Adam Khel, a town on a key strategic route linking Pakistan’s northwestern frontier with the rest of the country.

Associated Press