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India: Cricket World Cup Could be Terror Target

09 March 2011 19:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Indian intelligence officials are asking World Cup cricket venues and coastal states to increase security in anticipation of possible terrorist attacks, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

News of the warning from India’s home affairs ministry was made public Wednesday, with some officials saying members of terror cells may have already entered the country.

The warning says there are no specific threats, but that suspected terror operatives have been trying to obtain details about the timing and venues for World Cup cricket matches.

The officials also say that some oil installations along India’s coastline could be targeted, and that some of the terror cells have been seeking information about various explosive chemicals.

Intelligence officials says they suspect al-Qaida and Lashkar-e-Taiba are trying to carry out the attacks.

The Cricket World Cup began in February and ends April 2. The matches are being played in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

In 2008, Pakistani-based terrorists attacked Mumbai, killing 166 people.

The attack drew worldwide attention and derailed peace talks between Indian and Pakistan.

Last month, an Indian appeals court upheld the conviction and death sentence of the only surviving gunman from the Mumbai attacks.

Ajmal Kasab had been found guilty in May of a string of offenses, including murder, waging war against India, and terrorism.

Kasab was one of 10 young Pakistanis who attacked luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a busy train station in India’s financial capital in November 2008

AU Talks on Ivory Coast Crisis Underway

Baku â€“ APA. Mediators in the Ivory Coast crisis are set to meet with the country’s internationally-recognized president, Alassane Ouattara, during talks in Ethiopia, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

A spokesman for Alassane Ouattara says Mr. Ouattara has left Abidjan for Addis Ababa, where high-level mediation talks began Wednesday.

This marks the first time Mr. Ouattara has left Ivory Coast since the start of the unrest that followed the November 28 presidential poll. He had been barricaded in an Abidjan hotel surrounded by troops loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo.

The Associated Press says Mr. Ouattara left the city on a special U.N. helicopter flight.

Mr. Gbagbo is not attending the talks in Ethiopia, but his representatives are said to be present.

The incumbent president has refused to give up power despite intense international pressure. Both the African Union and the United Nations recognize Mr. Ouattara as the winner of the November election.

An AU-appointed mediation panel includes the presidents of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, South Africa and Tanzania, all of whom have gathered in Addis Ababa for the talks.

Previous mediation efforts by leaders from the African Union and the west African bloc ECOWAS have failed.

The United Nations says fighting between Gbagbo and Ouattara supporters in Ivory Coast has killed at least 365 people since the crisis began.