U.S. diplomat recounts frustration at lack of help during Benghazi attack

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former U.S. diplomat in Libya gave a dramatic account on Wednesday of the attack on the mission in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador, and told lawmakers that more could have been done to stop the assault by suspected Islamist militants.

Gregory Hicks, the second in command at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time, expressed his frustration in an emotionally charged congressional hearing that a U.S. military jet and special forces were not sent to help in Benghazi.

"They were furious," Hicks said of the four special operations members in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, who wanted to go to Benghazi, but were told not to.

As the first U.S. official who was in Libya during the attack to testify publicly, Hicks detailed a series of frantic phone calls to Washington and between Tripoli and Benghazi the night of the attack on September 11, 2012.

One call from U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens was cut off after Stevens said, "Greg, we're under attack."

Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack by suspected Islamists linked to al Qaeda on a lightly defended U.S. diplomatic mission and a more fortified CIA compound in Benghazi.

The testimony from Hicks and two other U.S. officials gave Republicans new fuel to assail President Barack Obama's administration over security lapses in Benghazi as well as early, conflicting accounts of what happened there.

The Benghazi incident followed Obama as he campaigned for re-election, with Republicans accusing him of being weak on foreign affairs. But after months of criticism, there is little sign it posed a serious threat to his reputation or his poll numbers.

Hicks gave an emotional account during the hearing of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee. His eyes grew teary and he choked up, collecting himself by sipping water as he gave a minute-by-minute description of the hectic night.

Hicks learned of Stevens' death in a 3 a.m. call from the Libyan prime minister. "I think it is the saddest phone call I have ever had in my life," he said.

If a U.S. jet had been scrambled and sent over the eastern Libyan city when the assault on the diplomatic facilities began, Hicks said, it might have deterred the assailants.

He was asked at one point how he responded to news that more resources would not be sent to Benghazi to help. He answered: "My reaction was that, 'OK, we're on our own. We're going to have to try to pull this off with the resources that we have available.'"

PARTISANSHIP

Democrats charged Republicans during the hearing - the latest of a series - with politicizing the attacks and making false accusations about members of the Obama administration.

"What we have seen over the past two weeks is a full- scale media campaign that is not designed to investigate what happened in a responsible and bipartisan way, but rather to launch ... unfounded accusations to smear public officials," said U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the committee.

Republicans focused their criticism on security, early accounts of the report and the conduct of the investigation, such as witness Eric Nordstrom not being questioned by the board probing Benghazi, although he had first-hand knowledge of the attacks.

"The witnesses before us are actual experts on what really happened before, during and after the Benghazi attacks," said Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the Oversight Panel, who referred to Hicks, Mark Thompson and Nordstrom as "whistleblowers."

"These witnesses deserve to be heard on the Benghazi attacks, the flaws in the accountability review board's methodology, process and conclusion," he said.

Democratic members of Congress closely questioned Hicks and the other two witnesses: Thompson, the acting deputy assistant secretary for counterrorism at the State Department; and Nordstrom, a regional security officer in Libya.

Some noted, for example, that Hicks' assertion that a U.S. military plane could have been sent from Italy to help contradicted testimony by U.S. military commanders, including General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"I have seen nothing to make me question the truthfulness of our nation's military commanders," Cummings said.

Benghazi became the topic of the day in Washington, featuring in media briefings at the State Department, Pentagon and White House as Obama administration officials tried to get out ahead of Republican criticism.

"It is a simple fact that from first hours of Benghazi attack there have been attempts by Republicans to politicize it," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

A State Department official said the department had participated in eight hearings, more than 20 inter-agency briefings and responded to more than 100 letters and questions since September 11.

Republicans deny that they are motivated by a desire to discredit a Democratic White House or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, considered a favorite to be the party's presidential nominee in 2016.

An official inquiry into the incident released in December concluded that "leadership and management failures" in two State Department bureaus led to a security posture "inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place."

(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Alistair Bell, Jim Loney and Peter Cooney)

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Israeli attack exposes Assad's air defense weakness: rebels

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

AMMAN (Reuters) - It was too late when air raid sirens wailed at one of Syria's most fortified military compounds. Israeli jets were already attacking the Hameh complex and civilian employees in nearby housing were scrambling for cover with their families.

Around Damascus the warplanes staged a series of raids in the early hours of Sunday including on President Bashar al-Assad's air defenses, opposition and rebel sources said. But none had more devastating results than at Hameh, a high-walled site linked to his chemical and biological weapons program.

"Families ran to basements and stayed there," said one witness of the attack on Hameh that lit up the night sky and shook the ground kilometers (miles) away. "We heard ambulances. There were very few workers at the compound at that time but an attack of this scale must have killed a lot of soldiers among the guards and patrols."

The raids have raised fears that Israel could be drawn into Syria's civil war, in which the United Nations says 70,000 people have died since an uprising against Assad family rule began two years ago. Damascus has accused Israel of effectively helping what it calls al Qaeda Islamist terrorists.

Western intelligence sources said the attacks were designed to prevent Syria sending Iranian-supplied missiles to the Shi'ite Hezbollah group in neighboring Lebanon for possible use against Israel. An Israeli general played down the consequences on Monday, saying: "There are no winds of war".

The witness said windows were blown out in workers' flats several hundred meters (yards) from Hameh's perimeter, even though the centre of the blasts was further away on the huge site, which is surrounded by air defenses.

Opposition sources said the warplanes also hit facilities manned by Assad's Republican Guards on Mount Qasioun, which overlooks central Damascus, and the nearby Barada River basin.

The area is believed to be a supply route to Hezbollah, according to residents, activists and opposition military sources. Their statements could not be verified due to restrictions on media operating in Syria.

RIGHT ON TARGET

One rebel commander said Assad's forces have been fortifying their positions on Qasioun since the uprising began in March 2011. "The Israelis still managed to get to the weapons stores. The secondary explosions indicate that they were right on target," he said, adding that Syrian air defenses, already weakened by the civil war "could not do anything".

Other opposition sources also said the targets included air defenses comprising Russian-made surface to air missiles and heavy anti-aircraft guns, deployed on Qasioun and overlooking the rebellious Damascus district of Barzeh.

"The destruction appeared to be massive. We have heard that the army has asked rank and file personnel based in Qasioun and those on leave to stay away. The military usually does this sort of thing when there is a big mess to sort out," said one activist in Damascus, who did not want to be named.

Assad's forces have fired on rebels from Qasioun, which is largely a closed military zone apart from a strip of restaurants, flattening areas of Damascus below.

However, it was unclear whether Israel was effectively helping the rebels by raiding the Qasioun sites, as Damascus has said, or attacked the air defenses purely to safeguard its own operations against Iranian-supplied missiles.

The Syrian government has said that Israel raided three military sites. Several media published what they described as a photo supplied by the official Syrian news agency showing a huge pile of collapsed concrete at a flattened building in an unspecified site they said was targeted by the Israelis. Reuters could not verify the photo.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a strong opponent of Assad, said on Tuesday the Israeli air strikes had given the Syrian government an opportunity to cover up its own killings.

"The air strike Israel carried out on Damascus is completely unacceptable. There is no rationale, no pretext that can excuse this operation," Erdogan told parliament in Ankara.

Opposition sources familiar with the Hameh site said a large section of the compound housing missile systems appeared to have been hit. Mobile missile launchers, part of a Russian-supplied SA-17 air defense system deployed elsewhere on Qasioun, also appear to have been destroyed, they said

Western intelligence agencies suspect work on chemical weapons has been conducted at Hameh. Assad's government and the rebels have accused each other of carrying out three chemical weapons attacks, one near Aleppo and another near Damascus in March, and another near Homs in December.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group based in Britain, said at least 42 Syrian soldiers were killed and 100 others are missing.

Other opposition sources put the death toll at 300 soldiers, mostly belonging to the Republican Guards, an elite unit that forms the last line of defense for Damascus and comprises mainly members of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has controlled Syria since the 1960s.

Although casualties among Assad's troops appeared to be high, opposition sources said the raids were mainly targeted on storage facilities. "Whatever they hit, there is little chance that anything was left intact," another source in Damascus said.

(editing by David Stamp)

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FBI releases photos of three men from Benghazi attack site

May 1 (Reuters) - Post position for Saturday's 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after Wednesday's draw (listed as barrier, HORSE, jockey, trainer) 1. BLACK ONYX, Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen 2. OXBOW, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas 3. REVOLUTIONARY, Calvin Borel, Todd Pletcher 4. GOLDEN SOUL, Robby Albarado, Dallas Stewart 5. NORMANDY INVASION, Javier Castellano, Chad Brown 6. MYLUTE, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss 7. GIANT FINISH, Jose Espinoza, Tony Dutrow 8. GOLDENCENTS, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill 9. OVERANALYZE, Rafael Bejarano, Todd Pletcher 10. PALACE MALICE, Mike Smith, Todd Pletcher 11. ...

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Dutch man arrested in Spain in connection with cyber attack

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A 35-year-old Dutch man has been arrested in Barcelona by Spanish police over last month's massive cyber attack which disrupted global internet services, the Dutch public prosecutor's office said on Saturday.

The man, who was identified by the Dutch public prosecutor only by the initials "S.K.", was arrested in connection with attacks on Spamhaus, the public prosecutor's office said, adding that the house where he was staying was also searched, and that the police seized computers and mobile phones.

Spamhaus, a London and Geneva-based non-profit group which helps weed out unsolicited "spam" messages for email providers, said last month it had been subjected to "distributed denial of service" or DDoS attacks on an unprecedented scale for more than a week.

"(S.K.) is suspected of unprecedented heavy attacks on the non-profit organization Spamhaus, where anti-spam databases are managed. These so-called DDoS attacks last month were also performed on Spamhaus partners in the United States, the Netherlands and Great Britain," the prosecutor's office said.

The man is expected to be expected to be handed over to the Dutch authorities, according to the statement.

Spamhaus publishes blacklists used by Internet service providers (ISPs) to weed out spam in email traffic.

The group is directly or indirectly responsible for filtering as much as 80 percent of daily spam messages, according to Cloudflare, a company that said it was helping Spamhaus mitigate the attack.

(Reporting by Sara Webb; Editing by Stephen Powell)

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Embassy attack spreads Libyan instability to capital

By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Ghaith Shennib

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's central government has long had only a tenuous grip on the eastern city of Benghazi, but the bombing of the French embassy in Tripoli shows its control of the capital may now also be under threat.

The early morning car bomb devastated France's embassy, wounding two French guards, in the most significant attack against foreign interests in Libya since September's deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

The U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed in the Benghazi attack leading to a lingering political row in Washington with Republicans accusing President Barack Obama's administration of withholding information and the White House defending its handling of the issue.

In a blow to the Libyan government's hope of asserting its authority after the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, the French embassy bombing, was the first of its kind in Tripoli. Both France and Libya called the attack a "terrorist act",

"Given the events in Benghazi in the last year, it may not be that surprising that even areas where there is more state control are not immune," a Western diplomatic source in Tripoli said. "People can't just point to the east now."

In the capital, the presence of state security forces is more evident than elsewhere - pick-up trucks bristling with weapons protect ministries or stand guard at roundabouts.

But the city of around 1.7 million people is not immune to violence - gunfire still often rings late into the night as armed brigades fight pitched battles against rival groups.

In the last month, the justice ministry was stormed by angry militiamen, the prime minister's aide was abducted and a car carrying the head of the national assembly was shot at.

Foreigners have been targeted in everyday crime - car jackings and theft - but the city has been seen as relatively safe compared to the rest of the North African country.

"Security in Libya is related to the post-revolution status and the fact that the ministries of interior and defense are being rebuilt," said Nizar Kawan, a national assembly member.

"The balance of power is not yet on the state's side even though it should have overall power in the country."

SECURING THE COUNTRY

There has been no claim of responsibility for the bombing but al Qaeda's north African arm, AQIM, threatened retaliation for the French intervention in Mali as recently as last week.

Westerners in the region have been on alert since January's bloody hostage-taking at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria.

Officials said it was too early to say who was responsible.

In Benghazi, British, Italian, United Nations and Red Cross missions have already been the targets of violence. U.S. officials say militants with ties to al Qaeda affiliates were most likely involved in the September 11 Benghazi attack.

"We cannot definitely say this attack was linked to what happened in Benghazi," Interior Minister Ashour Shuail told reporters. "The problem is not just the security of embassies but the security of the whole nation."

Previous incidents in Tripoli have been minor compared to Tuesday's. In June, a small bomb exploded outside the consulate of neighboring Tunisia; in January, a bomb was thrown at an empty building which U.N. officials had considered using.

"(The attack) signals that what in the past was perceived of as some isolated groups operating in the east, in reality are probably a broader network that has links across the country," Claudia Gazzini of International Crisis Group said.

"Maybe in the east it's easier to operate and carry out such attacks; in Tripoli there is a higher number of government security forces but that doesn't necessarily imply that there is control over the capital."

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's government has sought to clamp down on armed groups, with an Operation Tripoli campaign aimed at dislodging militias from public buildings. But it has faced resistance and still only commands few disciplined police or military officers, often outmatched by thousands of militiamen.

"There is no security at night, we see no police patrols. We want respect from the state," said Abdelhakim Mohammed of the Supreme Security Committee - a grouping of ex-rebel fighters, now better armed and powerful than the police.

"Ministers keeping call us militias to discredit us."

Analysts say various groups could see gain from attacking French interests in Libya, but they also point to the power struggle between the Libyan authorities and militias.

"The French embassy bombing may have been part of a militia turf war," said Geoff Porter, director of North Africa Risk Consulting. "A signal to Zeidan that he should steer clear of the more powerful and well-established Tripoli militias and perhaps Operation Tripoli would be best left to peter out."

Diplomatic missions are now likely to step up security in light of the attack, which may also deter wary investors.

"The exposure of the capital's vulnerability to terrorist attack will come as a severe blow to the Libyan government's faltering efforts to restore investor confidence in the country," IHS Country Analyst Richard Cochrane said.

(Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Giffords Staffer Memorial Shadowed by Gun Debate, Boston Attack

Gabe Zimmerman

WASHINGTON - Amid a national debate on gun control, a meeting room in the Capitol was dedicated today to a congressional aide killed in the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz.

Gabe Zimmerman was killed when a gunman opened fire at a constituent meet-and-greet event hosted outside a Tucson supermarket by then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, killing six and shooting the congresswoman in the head. Giffords, her former staff members, and husband Mark Kelly were among those in attendance at the ceremony for her lost colleague.

"He was called the constituent whisperer," Kelly said. "Because if there was ever a grumpy or agitated constituent at the office or at an event, Gabe was the only person that could figure out how to console them. He had a gift with people."

The afternoon event was not intentionally timed with the national debate on gun rights, but Kelly, an astronaut who has taken an ardent role as a gun control activist with his wife since the tragedy, remarked on the coincidence.

"Some people say that a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun," he continued. "I always remind people that there was a good guy with a gun at the Safeway that morning. But in the chaotic 15 seconds that unfolded where 33 rounds were shot, he didn't have any time to react."

Kelly said it was "no surprise" to him to learn that Zimmerman reportedly ran towards the gunfire unarmed during the shooting.

Giffords had difficulty speaking at the event due to head injuries she sustained in Tucson, and allowed her husband to speak on her behalf. The ceremony was also attended by Zimmerman's family, Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker John Boehner, and representatives Nancy Pelosi, Jeff Flake, Steny Hoyer, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and Ron Barber - the last a former staffer for Giffords and her successor in office.

Along with the remembrance of Zimmerman today came an added tone from the bombings Monday at the Boston Marathon.

"You probably more than anyone in this room today can understand how the people in Boston feel today," Biden told the assembled family. "Lots of times we're united in our victories, but more often we're united in our tragedies. It gives you a window into how difficult things are for other people."

Although he admitted words of encouragement in a time of tragedy could seem "hollow," he recollected a conversation with his own mother following the death of his first wife and daughter in a car accident.

"She said, 'Joey, if you look hard enough something good will come out of everything bad,'" he said, gesturing to Gabe Zimmerman's father, Ross Zimmerman. "We will come out of what's happened in Boston stronger, and believe it or not you will be stronger. He's in your bloodstream, pal. He's part of you. There's no way - there's no way it ever goes away."

Ross Zimmerman said the fact that the dedication of the room to his son would come a day after the attack on the Boston Marathon was "strange and surreal," as he and his son were avid marathon runners. But he asked for future lawmakers roaming the halls of congress to see the plaque hanging in the Zimmerman Meeting Room and remember the ideals of public service for which his son strove.

"An echo of Gabriel will persist, perhaps for centuries," Ross Zimmerman said. "That isn't worth the loss but the echo is good and true."

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Student arrested in Texas college stabbing attack

CYPRESS, Texas (AP) — A student went on a building-to-building stabbing attack at a Texas community college Tuesday, wounding at least 14 people — many in the face and neck — before being subdued and arrested, authorities and witnesses said.

The attack about 11:20 a.m. on the Lone Star Community College System's campus in Cypress sent at least 12 people to hospitals, while several others refused treatment at the scene, according to Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Robert Rasa. Two people remained in critical condition Tuesday evening at Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute, spokeswoman Alex Rodriguez said.

Diante Cotton, 20, said he was sitting in a cafeteria with some friends when a girl clutching her neck walked in, yelling, "He's stabbing people! He's stabbing people!"

Cotton said he could not see the girl's injuries, but when he and his friends went outside, they saw a half-dozen people with injuries to their faces and necks being loaded into ambulances and medical helicopters.

Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said it was not immediately clear what type of weapon was used, but there were indications when calls came in to the department that "students or faculty were actively responding to work to subdue this individual."

"So we're proud of those folks, but we're glad no one else is injured any more severely than they are," Garcia said.

Michelle Alvarez told the Houston Chronicle she saw the attacker running toward other students and tried to back away. She said she didn't even feel it as he swiped at her.

"He came running and swinging at my neck, as I tried to get out of the way," she said.

Student Michael Chalfan said he was walking to class when he saw a group of police officers also running after the suspect. He said one officer used a stun gun to help subdue the man.

Lone Star officials initially urged people on campus, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Houston, to take shelter and be on alert for a second suspect. But the sheriff's department said authorities believe just one person was responsible.

"It was the same suspect going from building to building," department spokesman Thomas Gilliland said.

Garcia said buildings still were being searched hours later, and authorities would not provide more details about the suspect including his name. Long lines of vehicles carrying students and staff streamed off campus as law enforcement directed traffic away from the school.

Teaundrae Perryman said he was in class when he received a text message from a friend and went outside to see a young woman being loaded into an ambulance with what appeared to be stab wounds to either her neck or head. He said he didn't receive an email alert from the college until 11:56 a.m.

"I was concerned but I wasn't afraid because I was with a large group of people," the 21-year-old said, later adding, "The police got to the scene very quickly."

One student said she learned one of her classmates was stabbed after leaving the school's Health Science Center building.

"I called to check on another classmate who was still inside the building and she said the classroom was on lockdown and she said one of the classmates had been stabbed," said Margo Shimfarr-Evans told KHOU-TV. "It happened in the hallway."

Courtland Sedlachek, 18, was in class when his phone started buzzing along with the phones of everyone else in class. The room was temporarily locked down, but students were let out and off campus a short time later, in what Sedlachek described as an orderly evacuation.

The attack came three months after a different Lone Star campus was the site of a shooting in which two people were hurt. The suspected gunman in that incident is charged with aggravated assault.

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Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant, Terry Wallace and David Warren in Dallas contributed to this report.

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Syrian officials: 10 killed in university attack

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Mortar shells slammed into a cafeteria at Damascus University on Thursday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20 in what was the deadliest in a string of such attacks on President Bashar Assad's seat of power, state media and officials said.

Rebels began firing shells at the capital earlier this year, and the strikes have become increasingly common in recent weeks as rebels clash with government troops on the east and south sides of the city.

State-run TV said the casualties occurred when mortar shells struck the cafeteria of the university's architecture department in the central Baramkeh district.

At one point, the official news agency SANA said 15 people were killed, but later the news agency put the death toll at 10. A Syrian official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements said 20 people were wounded in the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came two days after rebels barraged Damascus with mortar shells that killed at least three people and wounded dozens.

The shelling rarely causes many casualties, but it has shattered the aura of normalcy the regime has tried to cultivate in Damascus. In recent days, rebels have struck deeper than ever into the heart of the city in a new tactic to try and loosen Assad's grip on his main stronghold.

The government blamed "terrorists," the term it uses for rebels fighting to oust Assad, and called the attack as a "barbaric massacre."

Government-run Al-Ikhbariya TV showed footage of plastic tables and chairs turned upside down, shattered glass and pens and books scattered on the floor. Pools of blood were seen on the floor of the open-air cafeteria. The station showed paramedics trying to revive a wounded girl.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the attack, saying many of the wounded were in critical condition.

Syria's crisis began in March 2011 with protests demanding Assad's ouster. Following a harsh government crackdown, the uprising steadily grew more violent until it became a full-fledged civil war. The U.N. says Syria's two-year civil war has killed more than 70,000 people.

The mortar attack at the university occurred as officials denied opposition claims that an Iranian cargo plane allegedly carrying weapons to Assad's regime was hit as it landed at Damascus International Airport.

Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera TV quoted activists as saying that the plane was hit Wednesday night and caught fire as it was landing. State-run TV denied the report while the Observatory chief, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said he could not confirm that such an incident happened.

Ghaidaa Abdul-Latif, the general director of the Syrian Arab Airlines, denied in a telephone interview with The AP the occurrence of any incident at the airport. She stressed that all reports about the incident were "absolutely untrue."

Earlier in the day, activists said Syrian rebels attacked army checkpoints in and around a key southern town that is a gateway to Damascus.

The Observatory said rebel attacks were under way in and around Dael in the strategic Daraa province, which borders Jordan. The Local Coordination Committees, another activists group, said regime bombardment of Dael killed at least three people on Thursday.

The Observatory also reported violence in other parts of Syria, including the northern regions of Idlib and Aleppo, and air raids on the suburbs of Damascus.

The fighting comes as Mideast powers opposed to Assad have stepped up weapons supplies to Syrian rebels in coordination with the U.S. in preparation for a push on the Syrian capital, according to officials and military experts who spoke to the AP in Jordan.

In Jordan, the U.N. refugee agency said a riot broke out at a refugee camp for Syrians in the country after some of the refugees were told they could not return home.

Ali Bibi, a U.N. refugee liaison officer in Jordan, said it was unclear how many refugees were involved in Thursday's melee at the Zaatari camp. The riot broke out after some Syrians in the camp tried to board buses to return to their country.

He said Jordanian authorities refused to let the buses head to the border because of ongoing clashes between the rebels and Assad's forces in southern Syria, just across the border from Jordan. Bibi said there were no immediate reports of injuries.

Turkish officials on Thursday denied reports that the country was deporting several hundreds of Syrian refugees for causing disturbances inside a refugee camp near the border. A Foreign Ministry official said, however, that a group of 100 refugees asked to be allowed to leave the camp and to return to Syria on their own free will.

A fire at the camp in the town of Akcakale late Wednesday killed a 7-year-old child and sparked unrest among the refugees.

A camp security official said local authorities identified about 300 people who allegedly caused the disturbance and prepared to deport them. But the move was stopped by government officials, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the situation in the camp with journalists.

The U.N. refugee agency could not immediately confirm the reports, but said it was concerned by allegations of possible deportations from Akcakale and was seeking further information.

In Israel, the military said it was beefing up medical teams along the border with Syria following several cases of wounded Syrians crossing the frontier to seek medical assistance.

A military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under military protocol, said on Thursday there have been "numerous incidents" in recent months in which Syrians wounded in the fighting in their country arrived at the frontier for first aid from Israeli medics.

Eleven of them were taken and treated at Israeli hospitals, including one who died from his wounds on Wednesday. Others returned home after their conditions have improved.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity under military protocol. He said the military's focus in the Israeli-held Golan Heights was still on security and defense but that Israel sent extra medical teams to the area realizing more wounded could soon arrive.

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Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Suzan Fraser in Ankara Turkey, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

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Syria regime, rebels want probe of chemical attack

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's government and rebels on Wednesday both demanded an international investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack, as the country's feared arsenal became the latest propaganda tool in the 2-year-old civil war.

The U.S. ambassador to Syria said the Obama administration has no evidence that chemical weapons were used, but he warned that an increasingly desperate President Bashar Assad might be tempted to use his stockpile.

The use of chemical weapons by either side is a nightmare scenario. Along with its warnings about Assad, the West is just as concerned that rebel forces, including some linked to al-Qaida, could get their hands on Syria's chemical weapons supplies.

Despite the importance, any clear confirmation of the nature of the attack that took place Tuesday in the northern village of Khan al-Assal, killing at least 31 people, is unlikely. Syria's government seals off areas it controls to journalists and outside observers.

The two sides blamed each other for a chemical attack without offering clear proof or documentation, as has frequently been the case in the Syrian civil war.

If confirmed, it would be the first time a chemical weapon has been used in Syria's war that has already killed an estimated 70,000 people.

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told reporters at the United Nations Wednesday that he had asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to form "a specialized, independent and neutral technical mission to investigate the use by the terrorist groups operating in Syria of chemical weapons" in Khan al-Assal.

Jaafari called the attack "very serious and alarming and unacceptable and unethical."

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said he would have something to say "once we receive any formal request, which we have so far not received." He said the secretary-general remains convinced that the use of chemical weapons by any party under any circumstances would constitute "an outrageous crime."

Syria's main opposition group also demanded an international investigation.

"All evidence now indicates that the Assad regime is using these weapons against its own people," the main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said.

"The Coalition demands a full international investigation, and asks for a delegation to be sent to inquire and visit the site," the group said in a statement.

President Barack Obama has declared the use, deployment or transfer of the weapons to be his "red line" for possible military intervention in the Arab country.

The U.S. ambassador to Syria said Wednesday the Obama administration has no evidence to support President Bashar Assad's claims that U.S.-backed rebels used chemical weapons in northern Syria, but is looking carefully at the conflicting reports.

"So far we have no evidence to substantiate the reports that chemical weapons were used yesterday," Robert Ford told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He later clarified that the administration was extremely concerned and was trying to verify reports that such weapons were used in the Aleppo province and the Damascus suburbs.

He warned that Assad might resort to using chemical weapons if he faces defeat.

Ford was withdrawn from Damascus in October 2011 and has not returned since.

Russia and Iran, Assad's main allies, backed his regime's charges.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast blamed "armed opposition groups," calling use of chemical weapons "an inhuman act."

"Undoubtedly, the responsibilities of a repetition of such crimes would fall on those committing it and the countries that support them," he was quoted by state TV as saying, apparently referring to Gulf states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia

"There's definitely a propaganda war between the regime and opposition," said Ayham Kamel, a Middle East analyst at the Eurasia Group in London.

"Because we cannot verify either claims, we are going to be stuck in the same cycle of accusations, unless some international mission is actually sent there to verify what happened," he said.

Jordan's king warned Wednesday that an extremist Islamic state could form on his border.

King Abdullah II told The Associated Press in an interview that in his view, Assad was beyond rehabilitation, and it was only a matter of time before his authoritarian regime collapses.

"The most worrying factors in the Syrian conflict are the issues of chemical weapons, the steady flow or sudden surge in refugees and a jihadist state emerging out of the conflict," the king said.

The opposition's disunity was on display again Wednesday.

About a dozen members of the Syrian National Coalition suspended their membership a day after it elected the first rebel prime minister.

Among them were senior members including Suheir Atassi, Kamal Labwani, and spokesman Waleed al-Bunni.

Coalition member Mohammed Qaddah confirmed the suspensions. Asked whether it was related to divisions over the election of Ghassan Hitto, a little-known American-educated IT manger, to head an opposition interim government, he said "it was one of several reasons."

Atassi said she suspended her membership because there was a group in the coalition that seeks to control it, while the others are expected to follow. "I refuse to be a follower and I refuse to be simply a woman who decorates their gatherings and conferences while they make all the decisions," she wrote on her Facebook page.

Coalition members have complained of the dominance of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood in the SNC, and Hitto was one of the top Brotherhood candidates.

Kamal Labwani said Hitto "was just a face" since he had no popular support in the country and suggested he was imposed by the Brotherhood and its Qatari backers.

Assad made a rare public appearance Wednesday, visiting a fine arts school in Damascus and meeting the parents of students who were killed in the civil war, state TV reported.

Photos run by the Syrian state media showed Assad shaking hands and listening closely to people who were said to be parents of war victims. It was his first appearance outside his palace since January, when he delivered a speech.

In Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said five rockets fell on the Lebanese side of the border in the town of al-Qasr. It said there were no casualties.

On Monday, the NNA said Syrian warplanes hit targets along Syria's border with Lebanon. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman condemned the air raid. The Foreign Ministry in Damascus denied Syrian aircraft bombarded Lebanon.

___

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Ben Hubbard in Beirut, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Donna Cassata in Washington and Jamal Halaby in Amman contributed to this report.

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Syrian enemies demand inquiry into "chemical" attack

By Erika Solomon

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Both sides in Syria's conflict on Wednesday demanded an international inquiry into a deadly attack they each cite as evidence that the other has used chemical weapons.

The deaths of 26 people in a rocket attack on a northern town on Tuesday have become the latest focus of a propaganda war between President Bashar al-Assad's supporters and opponents, who accuse each other of firing a missile laden with chemicals.

The United States and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria, took contrasting views of the strike on Khan al-Assal, near Aleppo, which, if confirmed, would be the first use of chemical weapons in the two-year-old conflict.

Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Damascus who left Syria more than a year ago, said his government had no evidence so far to substantiate reports that chemical weapons munitions had been used in Syria on Tuesday.

"But I want to underline that we are looking very carefully at these reports," he added, in testimony in Washington to a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on the crisis in Syria.

Ford also said there would be consequences for Syria's government if it were found to be using chemical weapons, but would not discuss what those would be.

Washington has so far shunned direct military intervention in Syria, although it says Assad must be removed from power after 43 years of his family's iron rule in the major Arab and two years after the start of an uprising against it.

Rebels might latch onto any suspicions of chemical weapons use to bolster a case for Western military intervention, although not all of Assad's opponents favor this.

Russia, citing information from the Damascus government, has accused rebels of carrying out a chemical strike.

Syria's restrictions on independent media and foreign aid groups make it hard to verify what happened, but survivors interviewed in hospitals complained of breathing difficulties.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition said it wanted an international investigation into alleged chemical attacks on Tuesday in both Khan al-Assal and Otaiba, a town near the capital Damascus.

"The Coalition would like all parties and individuals involved in this reprehensible crime to be brought to justice," it said in a statement.

Syria's Foreign Ministry has asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to set up an independent, neutral specialist technical team "to investigate the use of chemical weapons by the terrorists in Khan al-Assal", state television reported.

Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad had said on Tuesday that officials would test soil and rocket debris in Khan al-Assal and report their findings to the "relevant bodies".

HARD EVIDENCE SCARCE

The World Health Organization said it would send medical supplies to Aleppo on Wednesday but could not verify if chemical agents had been used. Experts contracted by the U.N. agency will visit Aleppo health facilities to identify immediate health needs and provide support for treatment of toxins, it said.

Syria's military has turned increasingly heavy weapons on those opposing Assad's rule, using firearms, then tanks, artillery, aircraft and long-range missiles, but it has denied it would use chemical weapons, if it had them, on its own people.

The most notorious chemical weapons attack in the Middle East was in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Halabja, where some 5,000 people died in a strike ordered 25 years ago by then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Colonial power Britain had earlier used poison gas to quell revolts in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

But there has been little hard evidence that Tuesday's attacks involved chemical munitions, some weapons experts say.

David Friedman, a former specialist on weapons of mass destruction with Israel's Defense Ministry, said he did not believe chemical weapons had been used in the Khan al-Assal attack, citing witness testimony and television footage.

Some of those hospitalized after the attack told a Reuters photographer of a strong smell of chlorine in the air and that many victims had fallen down dead after the blast.

Friedman said a rocket might have hit chemicals stored in the area. "As for the smell of chlorine, this could have been due to the indirect explosion of something containing industrial chemicals," he argued, saying this was common in urban combat.

At least 70,000 people have been killed by conventional weapons in Syria's two-year-old conflict, but conflicting claims about chemical weapons are often bandied about.

The United States and Israel fret that Syria's presumed chemical arsenal might fall into the hands of Syrian Islamist militants fighting Assad, or be diverted to his Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah allies - fierce foes of the Jewish state.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said the government had sent two letters to the United Nations in the past voicing fears that hostile powers may supply chemical weapons to "terrorists" to fabricate claims that the government is using such arms.

The Information Ministry has also said al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front rebels had previously seized a private factory in eastern Aleppo that had tonnes of poisonous chlorine material.

(Additional reporting by Dominic Evans and Oliver Holmes in Beirut, and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

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Alleged chemical attack kills 25 in northern Syria

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's state news agency accused rebels on Tuesday of using chemical weapons in an attack in the northern province of Aleppo which it said killed 15 people.

"Terrorists fired a rocket containing chemical substances in the Khan al-Assal area of rural Aleppo and initial reports indicate that around 15 people were killed, most of them civilians," SANA news agency said.

It was not immediately possible to verify the report and SANA gave no further details. There was no immediate response from Syrian rebel forces.

President Bashar al-Assad, fighting a two-year uprising against his rule, is widely believed to have a chemical arsenal. Syrian officials have neither confirmed nor denied having a chemical weapons capability but have said that if it existed it would be used to defend against foreign aggression, not against Syrians.

Western nations have warned Damascus against any use of chemical weapons and have also expressed concern about stockpiles falling into the hands of militant groups.

(Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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Muslims attack Christians in Egypt's south

ASSIUT, Egypt (AP) — Hundreds of Muslim villagers in Egypt's south have attacked Christian-owned stores in search of a girl whose family claims was abducted.

The villagers assaulted the stores Tuesday and surrounded two churches in the city of al-Wasta in Bani Suef province in Egypt's south. Security forces guarded the churches. No casualties were reported.

The college-aged girl disappeared around one month ago. The crowd accused local Christian of kidnapping her.

Bani Suef's prosecutor, Hamdi Farouk, said there was no reason to believe Christians were involved in her disappearance.

Security chief Ibrahim Hudeib said the girl left her house with her gold and passport in hand and may have fled with a local Muslim boy.

Past clashes have been sparked by rumors of conversion, Muslim-Christian love affairs and the construction of churches.

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Arrested Islamists suspected of planning attack in France

PARIS (Reuters) - Three suspected Islamist militants arrested in southern France appeared to be planning an attack in the days ahead, the Paris prosecutor said on Monday, the anniversary of an al Qaeda-inspired shooting that rocked France.

Police found weapons and explosives at the home of one of the suspects in the town of Marignane, near Marseille, and intercepted communications between the men suggested they were close to going into action, prosecutor Francois Molins said.

The three men, who were taken in for questioning last week with a fourth man who was later released, were to be placed under formal investigation later on Monday.

"The investigation showed we were faced with a veritable laboratory for making improvised explosive devices and, even if we had no evidence of a precise plan, the messages exchanged by the participants suggested the timetable could be accelerated," Molins told reporters.

The timing of the arrests was poignant, coming exactly a year after 23-year-old gunman Mohamed Merah began a rampage that killed three Jewish children, a rabbi and three soldiers in the southern city of Toulouse. He was subsequently tracked down and killed in a shootout with police.

Speaking as Defence Minister Le Drian led a memorial ceremony in Toulouse for Merah's first victim and posthumously awarded him the prestigious "Legion d'Honneur" medal, Molins said the arrested men, in their 20s, wanted to emulate Merah.

"It was clear they were training themselves in making explosives based on a jihadist radicalization, a glorification of Mohamed Merah, and an affirmed desire to go into action."

France, which centralizes its terror investigations in Paris, is on high alert for any home-grown militant activity since its military intervention against Islamist fighters in Mali in January prompted threats of retaliatory action.

(Reporting by Catherine Bremer and Patrick Vignal; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Malaysian troops attack armed Philippine group in Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian troops launched an attack on an armed Filipino group on Tuesday, trying to end a standoff on Borneo island after violence in recent days that killed at least 27 people, a Malaysian government official said.

The operation to take over an area occupied by about 180 Filipinos, dozens of them armed, began at 7 a.m. (06.00 p.m. EST Monday), a spokesman for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said. The government sent seven army battalions to the area in eastern Sabah state on Monday to reinforce police.

Two policemen were killed along with 12 militants when Malaysian security forces tried to tighten a cordon around the armed group on Friday. That sparked more violence over the weekend with six policemen and seven more gunmen killed in another area, raising concerns the violence was spreading.

"After the first attack, I have asserted that the intruders must surrender and if they refuse the authorities of this country will take action," Najib said in a statement.

"The government has to take the right action in order to preserve the pride and sovereignty of this country."

The group, which arrived by boat about three weeks ago, say they are descendants of the sultanate of Sulu in the southern Philippines, which ruled parts of northern Borneo for centuries. They are demanding recognition and an increased payment from Malaysia for their claim as the rightful owners of Sabah.

Malaysia has refused their demands and along with the Philippine government had urged the group to return home.

The violence has sparked a political crisis ahead of elections for both the Philippine and Malaysian governments and raised concerns of instability in resource-rich Sabah state.

(Reporting by Niluksi Koswanage; Writing by Stuart Grudgings; Editing by Dean Yates)

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Police question Israeli about attack on Arab woman

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police say they have questioned a 17-year-old Israeli girl from a West Bank Jewish settlement suspected of participating in a group attack on a Palestinian woman last week at a Jerusalem train station.

Jerusalem Police Chief Yossi Parienty told Israeli reporters Sunday that the Palestinian woman told police that Israeli women spit on her, attacked her and ripped off her headscarf. A bystander photographed the incident and the photos were publicized widely in Israeli media.

Relations between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem are tense. There have been similar attacks between the two groups on Jerusalem's light rail.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the suspect is in police custody and police are looking for two other female suspects.

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Ft. Hood suspect may plead guilty, describe attack

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — More than three years after the deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood, an Army psychiatrist may soon describe details of the terrifying attack for the first time, if he's allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges.

Maj. Nidal Hasan would be required to describe his actions and answer questions about the Nov. 5, 2009, attack on the Texas Army post if the judge allows him to plead guilty to the lesser charges, as his attorneys have said he wants to do.

Any plea, which could happen at the next hearing in March, won't stop the much-anticipated court-martial set to begin May 29. He faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder.

Under military law, a judge can't accept a guilty plea for charges that carry the death penalty. Hasan's lawyers have said he is ready to plead guilty to charges of unpremeditated murder, which don't carry a possible death sentence, as well as the 32 attempted premeditated murder charges he faces.

If the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, allows him to plead guilty, she will hold an inquiry in which Hasan must discuss the attack. If he says anything that isn't consistent with what happened or indicates he isn't truly acknowledging his guilt, the judge would stop the hearing and not accept his guilty plea, according to military law experts. He is not required to apologize or say that he is remorseful.

Some military law experts say it's a legal strategy designed to gain jurors' sympathy so that they might not sentence him to death if he's convicted later.

"The judge has to make sure he's pleading guilty willingly and that this isn't a ploy," Jeff Addicott, director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, said Friday.

A Senate report released in 2011 said the FBI missed warning signs about Hasan, alleging he had become an Islamic extremist and a "ticking time bomb" before the attack at Fort Hood. It's unclear if Hasan would discuss his motivation, but the judge must determine if he is sincere in pleading guilty or is simply trying to avoid the death penalty, said Addicott, who is not involved in Hasan's case.

Addicott said the judge will be even more thorough during the inquiry because Hasan is a psychiatrist who is "highly intelligent and knows how to manipulate human thinking."

Witnesses have said that after lunch on Nov. 5, 2009, a gunman wearing an Army combat uniform shouted "Allahu Akbar!" — "God is great!" in Arabic — and opened fire in a crowded medical building where deploying soldiers get vaccines and other tests. He fired rapidly, pausing only to reload, even shooting at some soldiers as they hid under desks and fled the building, according to witnesses.

When it was over, investigators found 146 shell casings on the floor, another 68 outside the building and 177 unused rounds of ammunition in the gunman's pockets. Authorities and several witnesses identified the gunman as Hasan, an American-born Muslim who was to deploy to Afghanistan soon.

Greg Rinckey, who formerly served in the Army JAG Corps and is not involved in Hasan's case, said pleading guilty without a deal may signal to the judge that the government is being unreasonable by proceeding with a trial. He also said Hasan's attorneys have few, if any, options for a defense.

"His attorneys know he's going to be convicted at trial, so why not get some brownie points?" said Rinckey, a New York attorney who specializes in military law. "But once they admit to it, it's harder to appeal."

Hasan's trial is expected to last through September. Prosecutors have nearly 300 witnesses, including a terrorism expert who will testify that Hasan is a homegrown terrorist. Among the mounds of evidence is a transcript of a telephone call between Hasan, while in jail, and Al-Jazeera in which he allegedly apologized for being part of "an illegal organization" — the U.S. Army. Prosecutors are expected to show emails that Hasan exchanged with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical U.S.-born Islamic cleric killed in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. drone strike.

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