NATO: Noose tightening on Libya's Gadhafi
TRIPOLI, Libya, June 26 (UPI) -- Patience is necessary in the NATO mission to stop Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's military from targeting rebels, the mission's commander said.
Canadian Gen. Charles Bouchard told the Washington Post more than 4,700 NATO airstrikes have been conducted as the mission moves into its fourth month. He added Gadhafi's resilience couldn't last forever.
"The noose is tightening around him, and there are very few places for him to go," Bouchard said. "You don't stay in power for 41 years and expect that he's going to leave at the first sign of stresses."
While NATO warships enforce an arms embargo in the Mediterranean Sea, aircraft have been bombing Libyan military positions that target rebels and civilians. Bouchard said NATO was in a difficult position in that some targets couldn't be taken out because of the risk of injuring civilians or knocking out civilian infrastructure, such as pipelines or railroad tracks.
Accordingly, the Libyan military has resorted to staging around such places and in some cases, dressing as civilians, the Post said.
Videos posted of dead Syrian children
DAMASCUS, Syria, June 26 (UPI) -- At least two videos of Syrian children allegedly killed in anti-government violence were posted online during the weekend, CNN reported.
One of the videos showed a dead 13-year-old boy in a Damascus suburb, while the second showed a funeral for two children and an adult elsewhere in the Syrian capital. The broadcaster said it wasn't possible to verify the authenticity of the videos.
Meanwhile, Syrian Gen. Riad Haddad said in an interview some 1,300 soldiers and police officers have been killed since mid-March when the unrest and demonstrations erupted.
As in Libya with Col. Moammar Gadhafi, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has refused to heed international calls to stop using the military to put down demonstrations calling for political reform.
Thousands of Syrians have fled north into Turkey to escape the violence, although Haddad told CNN many of them were anti-government "terrorists."
Because of tight control over foreign media, death and casualty numbers vary greatly among aid and relief organizations. In London, the Syria Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday at least 1,100 people have been killed since March and more than 10,000 have been imprisoned.
Chinese dissident Hu Jia released
BEIJING, June 26 (UPI) -- Prominent Chinese dissident Hu Jia was released from prison and at his home in Beijing Sunday, his wife Zeng Jinyan said.
Hu was imprisoned for 3 1/2 years for his activism on behalf of the environment and those with AIDS. He was released early Sunday morning, the Washington Post reported.
"Sleepless night," Zeng posted on Twitter after the two arrived at their home. "Hu Jia arrived home at 2:30 in the morning. Safe, very happy. Needs to rest for a while. Thanks, everyone."
Hu was arrested in December 2007 and in April 2008, a court in Beijing found him guilty of "incitement to subvert state power." The Post said that is a catchall law often used to target critics of China's Communist government.
Hu, 37, is reportedly in poor health, suffering from cirrhosis of the liver and other undisclosed ailments. The Post said Hu was repeatedly denied a medical parole during his imprisonment.
Another prominent Chinese dissident, artist Ai Weiwei, was freed Wednesday after being held incommunicado for 80 days. He was held on tax evasion charges.
Mail to resume in Canada this week
OTTAWA, June 26 (UPI) -- Mail delivery will resume in Canada this week after a 53-hour parliamentary filibuster ended and a bill was passed to send 50,000 workers back to their jobs.
The socialist New Democratic Party stalled passage of the Conservative government's bill for days, claiming it didn't give Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers enough time to negotiate their own settlement.
Canada Post locked out workers June 14 after they had staged 12 days of rotating strikes around the country. The post office said the strikes cost at least $100 million in revenue.
The strikes began after seven months of fruitless negotiations on wages and sick leave provisions, Postmedia News said.
The back-to-work legislation was to be taken up Sunday morning by the senate, where the Conservatives also have a majority. Once passed, the bill then must be signed into law by the governor general, meaning postal operations could resume as early as Monday night or Tuesday morning, the report said.
