Iraqi forces closing circle on Fallujah
CAMP TARIQ , Iraq — Iraqi troops pushed toward Fallujah from the south Friday, aiming to surround the militant-held city, Iraq’s elite counterterrrorism forces said.
The operation to retake the city from the extremist Islamic State group was officially announced late Sunday.
“Our troops are now in the process of surrounding the city from all [sides],” said Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, the head of the counterterrorism forces’ Fallujah operation. “By doing so, we will besiege the city of Fallujah in full. And then we will start storming the city from several directions with new forces.”
Fallujah is 40 miles west of Baghdad.
Booby traps and large numbers of civilians unable to escape are expected to complicate operations moving forward, al-Saadi said.
The spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiites called on Iraqi forces battling to retake Fallujah to protect civilians there. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said “saving innocent people from harm’s way is the most important thing, even more so than targeting the enemy.”
Count puts mayor at Philippines’ helm
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine lawmakers on Friday completed the official vote count from May 9 elections and announced that Mayor Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency by an overwhelming margin, while Rep. Leni Robredo triumphed as vice president.
Duterte, the tough-talking mayor of southern Davao city, received more than 16.6 million votes, 6.6 million more than his closest rival, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who was backed by outgoing President Benigno Aquino III.
About 81 percent of more than 54 million eligible voters cast ballots for a successor to Aquino and thousands of other national, congressional and local officials whose terms end June 30, according to lawmakers and official figures released by Congress.
Duterte had led by a wide margin in an earlier unofficial count, and most of his rivals have conceded defeat. The vice presidential race, however, was closely fought.
Presidents and vice presidents are elected separately in the Philippines, and often are from different parties.
London to review terror preparations
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he plans to hold a review into preparedness for a terrorist attack in the British capital.
Khan appointed Toby Harris, a member of the House of Lords and former member of the Police Counter Terrorism Board, to head the review, which will assess the ability of London’s agencies and authorities to cope with “multiple simultaneous incidents,” the mayor’s office said Friday in an emailed statement. Harris is to report his findings in the summer.
“Nothing is more important to me than keeping Londoners safe,” Khan said. “As a father of two daughters, I worry about my family going about our city just as I worry about all Londoners. I want to be reassured that every single agency and individual involved in protecting our city has the resources and expertise they need to respond in the event that London is attacked.”
Harris’ review will look at the capital’s Metropolitan Police, including its armed response capacity, as well as the British Transport Police and City of London Police.
Last Argentine dictator gets 20 years
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s last dictator and 14 other former military officials were sentenced Friday to prison for human-rights crimes committed during the Operation Condor conspiracy to hunt down dissidents across South America and beyond.
An Argentine court on Friday sentenced former junta leader Reynaldo Bignone, 88, to 20 years in prison for being part of an illicit association, kidnapping and abusing his powers in the forced disappearance of more than 100 people. The former general, who ruled Argentina in 1982-83, is already serving life sentences for multiple human-rights violations during the country’s 1976-83 dictatorship.
Fourteen other former military officials received prison sentences of eight to 25 years for criminal association, kidnapping and torture. Two of the accused were absolved.
Operation Condor was started in the 1970s by six South American dictators who used their secret police networks in a coordinated effort to track down their opponents across borders and eliminate them. Some leftist dissidents had sought refuge in neighboring countries only to be detained as part of the state-sponsored terror campaign.