Pakistan’s government urged opposition leaders Tuesday to refrain from holding rallies ahead of next month’s elections, citing an escalating terrorist threat. The party of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif quickly rejected the recommendation, accusing officials of trying block its campaign against President Pervez Musharraf. The political squabble comes in the aftermath of the Dec. 27 assassination of Benazir Bhutto,.
Kenya’s parliament narrowly elected the opposition party’s choice as speaker on Tuesday, setting up a new showdown between a president and the rivals who accuse him of rigging his re-election - allegations that have led to weeks of deadly violence. The session was the first time President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga were in the same room since Odinga accused Kibaki of stealing the Dec. 27 vote. More than 600 people have died in rioting and tribal unrest.
Militants stormed Kabul’s most popular luxury hotel Monday, hunting down Westerners who cowered in a gym during a coordinated assault that killed seven people and could signal a new era of brazen Taliban attacks. The gunmen threw grenades and fired AK-47s, and one blew himself up despite heavy security at the Serena Hotel. Amrullah Saleh, the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence service, said Tuesday that three militants attacked the hotel and that security cameras showed at least one wore a police uniform.
An explosion targeted a U.S. Embassy vehicle Tuesday in northern Beirut, killing at least three Lebanese and injuring an American bystander and a local embassy employee, U.S. and Lebanese officials said. The blast, which damaged the armored SUV and several other vehicles, took place just ahead of a farewell reception for the American ambassador at a hotel in central Beirut. No Americans were in the car, which was carrying two Lebanese employees of the embassy, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington.
