Morsy want al-assad tried for war crimes

Morsy wants al-Assad tried for war crimes UPDATED: Jan 6, 2013 16:54 GMT Egyptian President MohamedMorsy supports calls by people in Syria for PresidentBashar al-Assad to be tried for war crimes, he told CNN on Sunday in an exclusive interview. Morsy has also invited the heads of the two major Palestinian factions to meet in Cairo in hopes of building unity -- a task he acknowledged won't be easy. Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer in Cairo, Morsy said he invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to meet withKhaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, who lives in Cairo. Hamas controls Gaza; Abbas'party, Fatah, controls the West Bank. The two factionshave clashed violently overthe years. The United States, Israel, and the European Union list Hamas as a terrorist organization. The group hascarried out numerous attacks killing scores of civilians. Morsy, who came to power in June after the country's first democratic elections, helped broker an end to theNovember conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza. In the interview Sunday withCNN, Morsy sought to assure viewers around the world, as well as people in his own country, that he is committed to promoting democracy and protecting minorities, including the country's Coptic Christians, from discrimination. Having spent time in the United States receiving a doctorate at the University of Southern California, Morsy knows U.S. democracy-- and said he is committed to allowing free speech. Asked about Syria, he repeated his previous calls for al-Assad to leave power. And, he said, he supports the many Syrian people who want al-Assad charged with war crimes for what he has done in the conflict since 2011.

U.S troops arrive in Turkey

U.S. troops arrive in Turkey; rebels battle for airport in Syria UPDATED: Jan 4, 2013 08:41 GMT U.S. troops arrived in Turkey on Friday to man Patriot missile defense batteries near the Syrian border, according to Turkish state media. Syria has previously launched Scud missiles at cities near the Turkish border in a desperate bid toextend its firepower. In response, the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands deployed Patriot air defense missiles to the border region to intercept any Syrian ballisticmissiles. The missiles and troops will be under the overall controlof NATO, but the missiles will be operated by U.S. forces A group of 27 U.S. troops landed in Gaziantep, Turkey, where they will survey the Patriot deployment, according to Turkish state news agency, Anadolu. U.S. officials did not release any information about the troops arrival, but had said last month that forces will bedeployed to Turkey. "We've made very clear to them that were going to protect countries in this region," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month. "We have to act to do what we have to do to make sure that we defend ourselves and make sure that Turkey can defend itself." The fight for the helicopter airport Taftenaz airbase in northern Syria has been a deadly thorn in the side of rebels for months. For the third day Free Syrian Army fighters tried towrest control of the helicopter airbase from government forces

U.S troops arrive in Turkey

U.S. troops arrive in Turkey; rebels battle for airport in Syria UPDATED: Jan 4, 2013 08:41 GMT U.S. troops arrived in Turkey on Friday to man Patriot missile defense batteries near the Syrian border, according to Turkish state media. Syria has previously launched Scud missiles at cities near the Turkish border in a desperate bid toextend its firepower. In response, the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands deployed Patriot air defense missiles to the border region to intercept any Syrian ballisticmissiles. The missiles and troops will be under the overall controlof NATO, but the missiles will be operated by U.S. forces A group of 27 U.S. troops landed in Gaziantep, Turkey, where they will survey the Patriot deployment, according to Turkish state news agency, Anadolu. U.S. officials did not release any information about the troops arrival, but had said last month that forces will bedeployed to Turkey. "We've made very clear to them that were going to protect countries in this region," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month. "We have to act to do what we have to do to make sure that we defend ourselves and make sure that Turkey can defend itself." The fight for the helicopter airport Taftenaz airbase in northern Syria has been a deadly thorn in the side of rebels for months. For the third day Free Syrian Army fighters tried towrest control of the helicopter airbase from government forces

Gunman kills atleast three people in Philippine town

Gunman kills at least three people in Philippine town UPDATED: Jan 4, 2013 08:26 GMT A gunman opened fire in a town near the Philippine capital on Friday, killing at least three people and wounding 10 others, police said. The attacker was subsequently killed in a gun battle with police officers who had tried to persuade him to surrender, said Plaridel Daprosa, an officer at the municipal police station in Kawit, the town where the shooting took place. Police are still investigating the motive for the attack, which happened Friday morning in a residential areaof Kawit, a town about 20 kilometers south of central Manila, Daprosa said. Before the shooting, Filipinos had already been debating whether their country, where gun crimes are frequent, needed stricter controls on firearms. The concerns had been prompted by the death of a seven-year-old girl, Stephanie Ella, who was shot in the head amid celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve, according to CNN affiliate ABS-CBN. A four-year-old boy was also killed by a stray bullet on the same day, ABS-CBN reported. But it was Stephanie's death, which happened while she was watching fireworks with her father, that set off soul-searching about gun ownership in the Philippine news media. "This incident should not be allowed to become just another statistic," Vice President Jejomar Binay said in a statement Thursday about the girl's death. The Philippines already has enough laws governing the use of guns, he said, "but the problem has always been in the enforcement of the laws, especially those on loose firearms." The country's police firearms and explosives office says there were 1.2 million registered firearms inthe Philippines as of last year, ABS-CBN reported. Ontop of that, the office estimates there were roughly 600,000 unlicensed firearms in circulation nationwide. The Philippines has a population of about 104 million people.

Gunman kills atleast three people in Philippine town

Gunman kills at least three people in Philippine town UPDATED: Jan 4, 2013 08:26 GMT A gunman opened fire in a town near the Philippine capital on Friday, killing at least three people and wounding 10 others, police said. The attacker was subsequently killed in a gun battle with police officers who had tried to persuade him to surrender, said Plaridel Daprosa, an officer at the municipal police station in Kawit, the town where the shooting took place. Police are still investigating the motive for the attack, which happened Friday morning in a residential areaof Kawit, a town about 20 kilometers south of central Manila, Daprosa said. Before the shooting, Filipinos had already been debating whether their country, where gun crimes are frequent, needed stricter controls on firearms. The concerns had been prompted by the death of a seven-year-old girl, Stephanie Ella, who was shot in the head amid celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve, according to CNN affiliate ABS-CBN. A four-year-old boy was also killed by a stray bullet on the same day, ABS-CBN reported. But it was Stephanie's death, which happened while she was watching fireworks with her father, that set off soul-searching about gun ownership in the Philippine news media. "This incident should not be allowed to become just another statistic," Vice President Jejomar Binay said in a statement Thursday about the girl's death. The Philippines already has enough laws governing the use of guns, he said, "but the problem has always been in the enforcement of the laws, especially those on loose firearms." The country's police firearms and explosives office says there were 1.2 million registered firearms inthe Philippines as of last year, ABS-CBN reported. Ontop of that, the office estimates there were roughly 600,000 unlicensed firearms in circulation nationwide. The Philippines has a population of about 104 million people.