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| June 28, 2008 | Saturday | Jamadi-us-Sani 23, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 Pakistan launches anti-Taliban crackdown near Peshawar LANDIKOTAL, Pakistan, June 28 (Reuters) Security forces launched an offensive against Taliban fighters near the northwestern city of Peshawar Saturday. The crackdown in the Khyber tribal region followed a series of sorties by Taliban fighters into Peshawar to push people to observe their interpretation of Islamic law. “There has not been any resistance from any group or miscreants,” according to a government statement in Peshawar. Major-General Alam Khattack, who is leading the offensive, said it was focused on Bara town, around 5 km west of Peshawar, and could be extended to other parts of Khyber. “It was initially planned for four or five days but it may be extended further,” he told a news conference in Peshawar. A senior security official said the troops fired mortar rounds into militants' bases and destroyed eight of them, including the house of local militant commander Mangal Bagh. He said one militant was killed in an exchange of fire. Roads in and out of Bara were closed, and a curfew ordered. “People are in a state of fear. They are moving to safer places. All shops are shut,” a resident of Bara told Reuters. Bara is about 45 km southeast of Khyber's main town, Landikotal. Officials said militants had become active in Khyber over the past year and had ganged up with criminals. In recent weeks, miliatant vigilantes loyal to Bagh began roaming into some neighbourhoods of Peshawar. In Peshawar, paramilitary soldiers set up bunkers in Hayatabad, a neighbourhood close to Khyber, and patrolled the streets in vehicles mounted with machine guns. (First Posted @ 14:10 PST Updated @ 20:36 PST)  Pakistani Taliban chief halts peace talks; threatens attacks in Punjab and Sindh PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 28 (AFP) Pakistan's top Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud suspended peace talks with the government Saturday as troops launched an offensive against militants threatening the country's main northwestern city. “We are suspending peace talks with the government because the government is constantly using force against us,” Mehsud told AFP by satellite telephone from his stronghold in the South Waziristan tribal district. “The government is not showing any seriousness and is using force against us. But if the government takes any military action we are also ready for martyrdom,” Mehsud said. He voiced apprehension that the action in Khyber was just the first of several operations planned against Taliban groups in various parts of the northwest, and he threatened retaliation across Pakistan unless the offensives stopped. “I am warning that the fire will not only burn in tribal areas and Frontier Province, it will engulf Punjab and Sindh also,” Mehsud said. (First Posted @ 15:15 PST Updated @ 17:52 PST) Pakistan to launch military operation against Taliban stronghold PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 28 (AP): Pakistan prepared Saturday to launch a military operation against Taliban militants who have threatened Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told The Associated Press the army was readying the paramilitary Frontier Corps to target militants in the Khyber tribal region next to Peshawar. Khyber is also a key route for U.S. military supplies into neighboring Afghanistan. “The operation is imminent,” Maj. Gen. Abbas said, but declined to give further details. Meanwhile, a round-the-clock curfew was imposed in the Bara area bordering Peshawar, and heavy contingents of troops were deployed, blocking the main road into Khyber, said Mujeeb Khan, a senior local official. “All bazaars are shut, and residents have been asked not to come out of their homes,” he said. Provincial officials say the operation will be launched within 48 hours, but the troop deployment suggested it was effectively under way. Local newspapers reported hospitals in Peshawar had been put on alert. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was in Peshawar on Saturday on a trip he insisted was unrelated to any impending operation. In a sign of expected resistance, a Taliban-linked group said an offensive in the area would only create further problems. ''If the government thinks there is any issue to address, that should be resolved through talks not by the use of force,” said Munsif Khan, spokesman for the Virtue and Vice organization. “We are ready for talks with the government.”Taliban have posted notices in some villages outside Peshawar telling residents to seek justice through their parallel courts rather than the local judiciary, Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal regions said. Federal and provincial representatives hammered out the details of the Khyber operation in meetings Friday in Peshawar and discussed the situation in the restive Swat area, where the provincial government signed a peace deal with a radical pro-Taliban cleric, provincial officials said. Afrasiab Khattak, chief negotiator for the provincial government, told AP the province is considering a second operation in Swat, where militants forced out by an army offensive last year are regaining a foothold. There have been arson attacks on girls schools and an upscale hotel in recent days. (Posted @ 13:25 PST) NWFP Govt fully authorized to ink peace pacts with militants: PM Gilani PESHAWAR, Pakistan June 28 (APP): Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani said Saturday the Federal Government fully supports the peace pacts inked by the NWFP Government with the militants for the establishment of peace and harmony in the restive areas. He was talking to reporters at Peshawar Airport before his departure for Wali Bagh, Charsadda, to condole with ANP President Asfandyar Wali over the death of his brother Sangeen Wali Khan. “We have a coalition government in the centre and the NWFP, and abide by the peace agreements the provincial government has signed with the militants” Gilani said, expressing regret over incidence of violence after the peace pacts. The Prime Minister said it should not have occurred as the pacts are meant to be honored and respected in all forms and manifestations. “We are a political government and wanted to settle every matter through political dialogues”, he explained. He said that pacts were being inked with those elements who wanted to give up militancy and live in peace and declared to come hard on the people who wanted to pollute the peaceful atmosphere for the fulfillment of their nefarious designs. The government will not allow any one to use its soil for the attainment of their vested agenda, he declared. (Posted @ 13:35 PST) Fifty, including JKLF leader Yasin Malik, injured in growing Kashmir protests SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, June 28 (Agencies): Fifty people, including Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front(JKLF) leader Yasin Malik, were hurt when police and protesters clashed for a sixth consecutive day Saturday in occupied Kashmir as resistance to the provision of land to a Hindu pilgrim body deepened. Malik was leading a protest rally in Srinagar when he came under-fire from Indian troops, witnesses said. “Central Reserve Police also tortured Malik,” a JKLF spokesman said, adding that Malik sustained injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Three Kashmiris have died in police fire this week and over 250 have been injured in clashes, evoking memories of widespread anti-India protests that swept the region after a separatist insurgency broke out in 1989. Daily life has halted in Srinagar since the protests began on Monday. Protesters have been setting fires, destroying government property and hoisting green Islamic flags. Shops, offices and banks also remained shut for the sixth consecutive day as protests spread to other parts of Muslim-majority Kashmir valley. Riot police used teargas and fired into the air to disperse protesters at over a dozen places in Srinagar on Saturday, injuring 50 people, police and residents said. Police also foiled an attempt by protesters to attack a police station, eye-witnesses said. Thousands of people marched from downtown Srinagar to the commerical area of Lal Chowk, chanting “we want freedom” and “we will not allow sale of Kashmir.” On the way, protesters set fire to effigies of state leaders. The unrest was sparked by a state government decision last week to transfer some land to a Hindu trust for the construction of accommodation for tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims making an annual pilgrimage to a mountain grotto. Separatists say it is a ploy to settle Indian Hindus in occupied Kashmir. (First Posted @ 12:40 PST Updated @ 21:08 PST) Taliban to step up fight in new Afghan areas: US WASHINGTON, June 27 (AFP): The Taliban will likely try to boost its presence in new areas of Afghanistan while continuing to fight in its south and eastern strongholds, the Pentagon warned in a new report Friday. “The Taliban will challenge the control of the Afghan government in rural areas, especially in the south and east. The Taliban will also probably attempt to increase its presence in the west and north,” the Pentagon said in its first report to Congress on security in the country. The greatest challenge “to long-term security within Afghanistan is the insurgent sanctuary within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan,” the 72-page report said. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)  Afghans find body of ex-president slain decades ago KABUL, June 28 (Reuters) Afghan authorities have discovered mass graves containing the bodies of ex-President Mohammad Daud Khan, family members and aides, who were killed in a Soviet-backed coup three decades ago, his grandson said. “Two mass graves, one containing 16 bodies and the other 12, were found. We recognized by their shoes and clothes that the graves belonged to the deceased Daud Khan, his family and cabinet members,” his grandson Mahmoud Ghazi Daud told reporters Saturday. The graves were recently discovered by a commission appointed in April by President Hamid Karzai at the request of Daud Khan's family. Daud Khan, Afghanistan's first president, was shot dead in the presidential palace in a military coup in April 1978. Daud Khan came to power in a coup himself when he overthrew his cousin Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, in 1973. He tried to counter the influence of militants and established a republic, introducing reforms and eventually favoured relations with the west over the Soviet Union. (Posted @ 21:12 PST) Two foreign aid workers kidnapped in Somalia released STOCKHOLM, June 28 (AFP) Two aid workers from Sweden and Denmark kidnapped by militants in Somalia on Saturday have been released, the Swedish TT news agency reported, citing Raddningsverket, the government's risk assessment and emergency management agency. (First Posted @ 15:50 PST Updated @ 21:06 PST) Shoaib Suddle appointed DG, IB KARACHI, June 28: The Inspector General of Sindh Police, Dr. Shoaib Suddle was appointed as new Director General of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), private television channels reported. (Posted @ 20:20 PST) US hands over four F-16 aircraft to Pakistan ISLAMABAD, June 28: The United States handed over to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) four F-16 Fighter aircrafts, private television channels reported. (Posted @ 20:15 PST) Magnitude 6.3 aftershock hits Indian islands WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) A magnitude 6.3 aftershock struck India's remote Andaman Islands on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It said the quake, shallow at 21.7 miles deep, was centered 90 miles southwest of Port Blair. There was no immediate tsunami warning and a similar magnitude quake on Friday in the same area caused no damage or casualties. (First Posted @ 13:40 PST Updated @ 20:06 PST) Cricket: Bangladesh score 283-6 vs India in Asia Cup tournament KARACHI, June 28 (Reuters) Bangladesh made 283 for six against India in the super league stage of the ninth Asia Cup one-day tournament at the National Stadium, Karachi on Saturday. Scores: Bangladesh 283 for 6 off 50 overs (A. Kapali 115, T. Iqbal 55) v India. (FirstPosted @ 15:55 PST Updated @ 19:58 PST) Cricket: New Zealand 266-5 v England, fifth ODI LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) New Zealand scored 266 for five wickets off their 50 overs after being put in to bat by England in the fifth one-day international at Lord's, London on Saturday. Scores: New Zealand 266 for five off 50 overs (S. Styris 87 not out, J. Oram 52) v England. (First Posted @ 15:45 PST Updated @ 19:52 PST) Pakistan orders deportation of eight foreigners studying at seminary KARACHI, June 28 (AP) The Pakistani government is deporting eight foreign students, Mufti Naeem Ahmed, head of the Jamia Binuria seminary, said. The Interior Ministry is ordering the students to leave the country within 15 days. The students are from the United States, Thailand and Fiji. Ahmed says the government gave no reason for the order and the seminary will appeal to have it rescinded. About 500 of the seminary's 5,000 students are foreign. (Posted @ 19:35 PST) All 18 bodies recovered from wreckage of Indonesian military plane JAKARTA, June 28 (AP) Rescuers recovered all 18 bodies Saturday from the wreckage of an Indonesian military plane that crashed into a jungle-clad mountain, air force spokesman Chaeruddin Ray said. Among the passengers were a Singaporean, an Indian and a Briton working for a Singapore-based company. They were testing new camera equipment on the Casa-212 plane when it went down Thursday during an aerial surveillance mission. The wreckage was spotted Friday on the rugged, steep slopes of Salak Mountain, 60 miles from Jakarta, but search and rescue teams were not able to reach the site until early Saturday. (First Posted @ 15:55 PST Updated @ 19:28 PST) Cricket: Security expert on Pakistan inspection tour KARACHI, June 28 (Reuters) Cricket boards from Australia, England and New Zealand have sent security consultant Reg Dickason to Pakistan on an inspection tour after some players expressed reservations about playing in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in September. Dickason told reporters Saturday: “I have met the Pakistan board official and the independent security consultants of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and I will be having more meetings.“ ”The Champions Trophy is still some two months off and that is obviously work in progress. I think everybody would like to play here that is why so much work is being put into the security arrangements by the PCB and ICC security experts.” Dickason is currently in Karachi to see the security drills and policy put in place for the ongoing Asia Cup. (Posted @ 19:20 PST) Govt believes in freedom of judiciary; reinstatement of judges: PM Gilani LAHORE, June 28 (APP) Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday said the government believes in independence of judiciary and rule of law and is committed to the reinstatement of the deposed judges. “The draft of the constitutional package has been handed over to the coalition partners, and after consensus on the package it will be tabled in the parliament,” he said while talking to reporters at the airport after his arrival in the provincial metropolis. He said the parliament was a supreme institution and any decision about the constitutional package will be taken in the parliament. Gilani said there was complete unity among the coalition partners and if there will be any major difference of opinion on any point it will be resolved through dialogue. He said PPP was committed to the continuity of the coalition government to strengthen democracy in the country. “If the coalition government won't succeed it will be something very unfortunate and harmful for the democracy,” he said. He said during his visit to NWFP he assured the provincial government that the federal government believes in provincial autonomy and it was the responsibility of the provincial government to protect life and property of the citizens. To a question, the PM said the government believes in negotiations instead of operation against militants to resolve all issues. However, he said it is up to the NWFP government to take any decision in this regard. (Posted @ 19:16 PST) Mild tremor jolts Pakistan’s Pishin PISHIN, Pakistan, June 28 (APP) No casualty or damage to property was reported after a 3.5 magnitude earthquake jolted Pishin at Saturday noon, Met office sources said. The quake’s epicenter was 45 kilometers southwest of Quetta. The tremor created panic among the residents of the town who left their offices and homes in fright. (Posted @ 18:54 PST) Iraq police find seven bodies, suspected Qaeda jail SAMARRA, Iraq, June 28 (Reuters) Police raiding a suspected al Qaeda hide-out found a secret prison and the bodies of seven Iraqis bearing gunshot wounds and torture marks, Iraqi police said Saturday. Police said they believed the six men and one woman had been kidnapped. Police arrested 11 suspected al Qaeda members in the raid on a house in Benat al-Hassan, on the outskirts of Samarra, early Saturday, said Captain Muthana Shakir, commander of Iraq's Rapid Intervention Force in Samarra, 100 km north of Baghdad. The U.S. military said Saturday U.S. and Iraqi forces had killed three militants, including an al Qaeda cell leader, and captured a dozen suspected militants in various operations in northern Iraq. (Posted @ 18:20 PST) Plane crashes in southern Sudan, seven killed KHARTOUM, June 28 (AP) A small plane en route from Khartoum to the city of Juba crashed in southern Sudan, killing seven people on board, while one survived, the Sudanese civil authority said. The Sudan News Agency, SUNA, said air operations officer Mohamed Hamza was the crash's only survivor. Seven others, including four Ukrainians, one Armenian and two Sudanese, were killed in the crash Friday. The director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority, Gen. Abu Bakar Gaafar, said the cause of the crash near the town of Malakal was “bad weather.” (Posted @ 18:06 PST) Four police killed in ambush in eastern Algeria ALGIERS, June 28 (AP): Gunmen attacked patrolling police cars and a nearby police station in the eastern Algerian coast in near simultaneous ambushes that killed four officers and wounded two, Algerian media and local officials said Saturday. The El-Watan newspaper and other dailies said some 30 gunmen ambushed a two-car police patrol Thursday on a road near the village of Les Aftis, some 350 kms east of Algiers. (Posted @ 16:45 PST) Nine killed, four wounded in southern Russia ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia, June 28 (AP): Five militants and four police were killed and four more people were wounded in southern Russia Friday, officials said. The local interior ministry said police killed three suspected militants, including one woman, in Dagestan province Saturday. A police spokesman in neighboring Chechnya said a clash in the province left two militants and four police dead, and four more police wounded. The spokesman said the clash occurred when police pursued a group of militants suspected of killings of civilians and arsons. (Posted @ 16:45 PST) Sindh Assembly unanimously passes 2008-09 budget KARACHI, June 28 (APP): Sindh Assembly unanimously passed Rs 267.764 billion budget for the province on Saturday after it carried the Finance Bill without any opposition. (Posted @ 16:15 PST) British soldier killed in Afghanistan LONDON, June 28 (AFP): A British soldier died and two others were injured when their patrol vehicle rolled over in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Saturday. The accident, which the MoD said “was not combat-related”, happened in central Helmand province, late Friday. (Posted @ 16:00 PST) Azerbaijani soldier killed in Iraq BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 28 (AFP): An Azerbaijani soldier was killed while serving with US-led forces in Iraq, the ex-Soviet republic's defence ministry said Saturday. Rafael Agayev died in Iraq “while carrying out his duties,” the ministry said in a statement. (Posted @ 15:50 PST) Aligarh Triple Blue Hasan Abbasi dies KARACHI, June 28 (APP): Mohammad Hasan Abbasi (85), Aligarh University’s triple blue in football, hockey and tennis died here on Friday after heart- attack and was laid to rest at Paposhnagar graveyard. Hasan Abbasi served as Assistant Collector in Pakistan Customs and Ministry of Finance before retiring in early eighties. Soyem will be held at New Town Masjid, Jamshed Road between Zohar and Asar prayers on Sunday. (Posted @ 14:55 PST) Blast in barbershop in Peshawar ISLAMABAD, June 28 (APP): A blast occurred in a barbershop in Pushtkhara area of Peshawar but no loss of life was reported. According to police, the explosives were planted by unknown persons and destroyed the shop completely. (Posted @ 13:45 PST) U.S. calls on North Korea to come clean on uranium SEOUL, June 28 (Reuters) - North Korea still has not responded to U.S. suspicions of proliferating nuclear technology and enriching uranium for weapons, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday. On Thursday, secretive North Korea delivered a long-delayed list of its nuclear activities, as it was required to do in a six-way disarmament-for-aid deal. The inventory mostly outlined Pyongyang's programme to produce arms-grade plutonium. “Thus far we don't have the answers we need on either,” Rice said in a joint news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan. She said that she expected the North to live up to its obligations under the deal, and “at the end of this we have to have the abandonment of all programmes, weapons and materials”. (Posted @ 12:55 PST) At least two killed, 17 injured in powerful blast in northern Lebanon TRIPOLI, Lebanon, June 28 (AFP): At least two persons were killed and 17 injured on Saturday in a powerful blast that shook a six-storey residential building in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, a security official told AFP. Rescuers evacuated victims from the site of the blast in the neighborhood of Bab al-Tebbaneh. The first floor with four apartments was destroyed by the blast along with several stores located on the ground floor. Cars parked nearby were also damaged. (Posted @ 09:45 PST, Updated @ 13:05 PST) Sri Lanka says another 46 killed in fresh fighting COLOMBO, June 28 (AFP): Sri Lankan security forces killed at least 44 Tamil Tiger rebels for the loss of two of their own soldiers in fresh ground battles in the island's embattled north, the defence ministry said Saturday. The rebels were killed in separate clashes on Friday in the northern district of Vavuniya and Mannar, the ministry said, adding that at least 30 rebels were also wounded. The ministry said 25 bodies of Tiger fighters killed in previous fighting were returned to the rebels on Friday through the Red Cross. (Posted @ 12:55 PST) US seeks UN resolution on Zimbabwe next week: Rice SEOUL, June 28 (AFP): The US wants to introduce a UN Security Council resolution next week to send a “strong message of deterrence” to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters traveling with her to Seoul Saturday. “The US has already put in place a wide range of sanctions. I think we will have to look to see if there are more.” On Friday the Security Council failed to agree on a statement declaring Zimbabwe's run-off election illegitimate in the face of South African opposition, merely issuing an oral statement of regret. Rice said her Africa envoy Jendayi Frazer will join an African Union meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Monday. “I hope there will be equally strong statements coming out of the AU,” she said. The United States and European Union have condemned Friday's vote in Zimbabwe as a “sham” and the major powers said it would not be recognised. Mugabe was assured of victory as the sole candidate following a boycott by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the winner of the first round. (First Posted 10:20 PST, Updated @ 12:50 PST) Suspected smugglers kill six Afghan mine guards KABUL, June 28 (AFP): Six security guards were killed and three injured late Friday when gunmen attacked their posts near a mine in Spera district of Khost province, a provincial spokesman said. “We believe the killers were chromate smugglers,” he said. (Posted @ 12:30 PST) Niger army says kills 17 rebels, retakes position NIAMEY, Niger June 27 (Reuters): Niger said its armed forces killed 17 members of a Tuareg-led rebel group on Friday in an operation that recaptured a northern position seized by the desert insurgents a year ago. (Posted @ 11:25 PST) Israeli troops kill Palestinian teen HEBRON, West Bank, June 27 (Reuters): Israeli forces killed a 17-year old Palestinian boy during a raid on Beit Umar village near the West Bank city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Friday. An Israeli army spokesman said troops fired at a group of militants who hurled firebombs at them, hitting one. (Posted @ 11:15 PST) Cricket-Australia beat West Indies by 63 runs in 2nd ODI St George’s, Grenada, June 27 (Reuters) : Australia beat West Indies by 63 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method in the second one-day international at the National Cricket Stadium, St George's, Grenada on Friday. Scores: Australia 213 for five off 50 overs (M. Hussey 62, M. Clarke 56); West Indies 140 for eight off 41 overs. Australia lead the five-match series 2-0. (Posted @ 11:05 PST) Tennis: Wimbledon upsets - LONDON, June 27 (AFP): Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer was knocked out of Wimbledon on Friday by Croatia's Mario Ancic in the third round. Ancic won 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/3) and faces Spain's Fernando Verdasco for a place in the quarter-finals. Top seed and French Open champion Ana Ivanovic was sent crashing out of Wimbledon on Friday by Chinese wildcard Zheng Jie, the world 133, 6-1, 6-4 (Frst Posted @ 10:35 PST, Updated @ 10:55 PST) Aerial photographers killed in plane crash near Moscow MOSCOW, June 27 (AFP): A small plane crashed Friday by a river near Moscow killing all five people on board who were conducting an aerial photography assignment, officials said. (Posted @ 10:45 PST) Seven killed in Sudan cargo plane crash KHARTOUM, June 27 (AFP): A cargo plane crashed mid-flight in Sudan on Friday, killing seven crew members, including five foreigners, The plane crashed an hour and 10 minutes after take off from Khartoum, bound for the southern Sudanese capital Juba, apparently due to a thunderstorm. One person survived. (Posted @ 10:45 PST) Champion’s Trophy Hockey: Argentina beat South Korea 4-2 ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, June 27, 2008 (AFP): Argentina defeated South Korea 4-2 to reach 10 points in the men's field hockey Champions Trophy here Friday to give themselves a chance of a finals berth on Sunday. (Posted @ 10:35 PST) Colombia's president calls for snap election BOGOTA, June 27, 2008 (AFP): President Alvaro Uribe called for a replay of his 2006 reelection on Friday, after the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a review of a 2006 law that allowed the president's reelection because it was approved by lawmakers found to have taken government bribes. “If the Supreme Court has any doubts about my election, let's consult the people to see what they have to say.” (Posted @ 10:30 PST) Tropical storm Fengshen kills nine in China: report BEIJING, June 28 (AFP): Tropical storm Fengshen killed nine people as it tore across China's south, pounding the densely populated area with torrential rains, state media said Saturday. The strong rain affected about 340,000 people, destroyed more than 1,200 houses and inundated more than 640,000 hectares (1.6 million acres) of crops, Xinhua reported. (Posted @ 10:10 PST) Guatemala minister and deputy die in chopper crash GUATEMALA CITY, June 27 (AFP): Guatemala's Interior Minister Vinicio Gomez and deputy minister Edgar Hernandez were among four people killed Friday in a helicopter crash, a presidential spokesperson said. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
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