NAIROBI: A police spokesman says 24 people have been killed in violence overnight between residents of a central Kenya town and members of a banned sect.Deputy Police spokesman Charles Owino says residents of Karatina town have been fighting members of the banned Mungiki sect because they have been extorting money from local residents. Owino says that most of those killed were Mungiki members. The government banned Mungiki in 2002 but the gang has continued to operate, extorting money from owners of minibus taxis and other public transport vehicles. The group is known for beheading some of its victims
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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