Thesun 2009-04-28 Page10 Yemen Frees Ship Captures Pirates

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theSun

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| TUESDAY APRIL 28 2009

Berliners reject proposal to upgrade religious education in schools BERLIN: Berliners voted on Sunday against the introduction of religious education as a formal, time-tabled component of the curriculum at schools in Germany’s capital city. This means Berlin will retain its unusual status within Germany, by keeping religion off the core school curriculum and making children attend compulsory ethics classes instead. Of those who voted in Sunday’s referendum, 51.3% were against the proposal put forward by the “pro-reli”

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Sri Lanka says combat gives way to rescue COLOMBO: Sri Lanka yesterday ordered troops to stop using heavy weapons against the Tamil Tiger rebels, and instead focus on protecting and rescuing tens of thousands of people still trapped in the last rebel pocket. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) immediately accused the government of disregarding its own commitment by launching two air raids on the tiny rebel-held area. Sri Lanka’s announcement came a day after it dismissed an attempt to declare a truce by the rebels, now cornered in less than 10sq km of coastline by 50,000 troops fighting to finish Asia’s longest modern war. “Combat operations have reached their conclusion,” a statement from President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s office said. Soldiers would “confine their attempts to rescuing civilians who are held hostage and give foremost priority to saving civilians”. Troops have been ordered not to use heavy-calibre guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons, the statement said. Nonetheless, troops kept moving

forward, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. “The rescue operation is continuing,” he said, adding special forces, commandos and snipers have been deployed. Analysts said the announcement appeared designed to mollify diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire, which Sri Lanka has ruled out given the LTTE’s history of using breaks in the fighting to rearm and its rejection of two truce offers this year. The rebels have vowed no surrender in their fight for a separate state for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, a struggle that began in the early 1970s and erupted into civil war in 1983. For weeks before yesterday’s move, the military had said it was only using small arms in order to protect civilians in what it has dubbed the largest hostage rescue operation in the world. “I don’t see any substantial change. This would probably be in deference to international opinion,” said Col R. Hariharan, who was head of military intelligence for the Indian army during its 1987-1990 peacekeeping mission in Sri Lanka. – Reuters

Some of the civilians who fled the area held by the LTTE stand in a line to receive food aid in a refugee camp in northern Sri Lanka.

(pro-religion) campaign group, after more than 95% of the ballots had been counted. The preliminary results returned a 48.5% vote in favour of pro-reli’s proposal. Due to low turnout, this represented just 13.7% of those eligible to participate in Sunday’s referendum. A total of 25% would have been necessary to carry the motion. As a result, pupils in Berlin will continue to attend compulsory ethics classes, while religion remains an optional additional subject.

An estimated 28.2% of eligible voters, or roughly 710,000 Berliners, took part in Sunday’s referendum. It had been predicted that sunny spring weather in the capital would dent turnout. Proponents of Berlin’s status quo say the city’s compulsory ethics classes allow pupils from different faiths, or none, to jointly confront issues and promote tolerance. Faith groups argue that children are missing out on receiving a sound education in religious values. – dpa

Yemen frees ship, captures pirates SANAA: Yemeni special forces yesterday freed a Yemeni oil tanker seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, killing three pirates and capturing at least nine on board, a government official said. The ship, named Qana, was seized by Somali pirates off Yemen’s coast on Sunday but was empty of oil cargo. The deaths yesterday took to five the number of pirates killed as Yemeni forces battled for two days to take back the vessel. They were escorting the tanker to the Yemeni port of Aden on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Pirates have made millions of dollars over the past year from seizing ships and taking crews hostage. Pirates have increased raids on ships passing through the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping lane for oil and cargo, since February. Better weather has allowed them to operate

more freely despite foreign navy patrols off the coast of Somalia. Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia, is a small producer of oil and exports 200,000 barrels per day but is one of the world’s poorest countries. The tanker, with a 23-strong crew of which three are Indian and the rest Yemenis, has a capacity of 3,000 tonnes but was not carrying any cargo when it was seized. The pirates had briefly seized three other vessels earlier before Yemeni forces freed them, a Yemeni official said. On Sunday pirates freed the Yemeni-owned Sea Princess II tanker that had been held since Jan. 2. The London-based IMB watchdog said piracy incidents nearly doubled in the first quarter of 2009, almost entirely due to Somalia and there were 18 attacks off its coast in March alone. – Reuters

Police foil internet group suicide bid SEOUL: South Korean police said yesterday they have foiled an internet-based group suicide attempt, as media reports warned that the practice is spreading in the country. Five people who had agreed online to kill themselves were stopped by police at a Seoul hotel on Sunday, Seodaemun district police said in a statement. The group were allowed to return home but police said one may face a charge of abetting suicide since he opened a website on the subject. In South Korea, aiding or encouraging suicide is punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Police said they were stepping up clampdowns on “suicide” websites. In the past three weeks 14 people have been found dead in apparent group suicides in the sparsely-populated eastern province of Gangwon, according to Yonhap news agency yesterday.

Most inhaled toxic fumes from burning coal briquettes, it quoted police as saying. “Group suicide is spreading and becoming a thorny issue nationwide,” an unnamed police official told Yonhap. “We will tighten online surveillance and punish operators of suicide cafes without exception.” Those involved range from schoolchildren agonising over poor academic performances to adolescents with failed love affairs and mid-life office workers burdened by huge debts, according to local media. The government has been working on a package of measures to reduce the high suicide rate. South Korea ranked third in terms of suicides per head of population among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development member nations in 2007, with 18.7 in every 100,000 South Koreans killing themselves. – AFP

Jailed US-Iranian reporter ‘very weak’: Father TEHERAN: The father of an Iranian-American journalist jailed by Iran on charges of spying for the United States said yesterday he feared for her life almost a week after she went on hunger strike. Reza Saberi said he and his wife Akiko visited their daughter Roxana (pix) in Teheran’s Evin jail on Sunday, taking flowers for her 32nd birthday. “She is very, very weak and frail ... she is in a bad condition. She can hardly stand up,” he said. “I’m worried about her health. I’m worried about her life.” The 68-year-old said he had asked his daughter to stop her action, but she did not want to discuss it during the 20-minute visit. She started refusing food last Tuesday, he said. The US-born freelance reporter was sentenced to eight years in jail on April 18, in a verdict that could complicate Washington’s efforts towards reconciliation with Iran after three decades of mu-

tual mistrust. A citizen of both the United States and Iran, Roxana was arrested in late January for working in the Islamic Republic after her press credentials had expired. She was later charged with espionage. The US says the charges against Roxana, who has worked for the BBC and the US National Public Radio, are baseless and has demanded her immediate release. US President Barack Obama has expressed deep concern for Roxana’s safety and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said releasing her would serve as a goodwill gesture. – Reuters