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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Comatose former prime minister dies

The Spokesman-Review

Former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, a political force in Turkey for almost half a century who ordered the invasion of Cyprus and later pushed his country toward the West, died Sunday. He was 81.

Ecevit died at Ankara’s GATA military hospital after nearly six months in a coma following a stroke, the hospital said in a statement, citing circulatory and respiratory problems as causes of death.

Under Ecevit’s leadership, Turkey was accepted as a candidate for membership in the European Union in 1999. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer issued a statement praising Ecevit for his political ethics, manners and intellect, and for upholding Turkey’s secular values.

“The Turkish people will always respectfully remember his services to the country,” Sezer said.

BEIJING

China, Africa announce deals

China and Africa showed the potential of their burgeoning partnership Sunday, closing out a landmark summit by announcing hefty business deals while rebuffing criticism that their relationship soft-pedals human rights concerns.

Chinese President Hu Jintao already had pledged billions of dollars in aid and loan packages to Africa during the two-day meeting, part of Beijing’s efforts to strengthen ties to Africa amid China’s search for new oil sources and export markets.

In a declaration read at the end of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China and 48 African nations pledged a partnership based on “political equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchanges.”

“We hold that the world today is undergoing complex and profound changes, and that the pursuit of peace, development and cooperation has become the trend of the times,” Hu said after the meeting.

The event included heads of state from 35 of the 53 African nations, and top officials from 13 others.

OAXACA, Mexico

Protesters march for police ouster

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched through this tense colonial city on Sunday, demanding that security forces abandon camps they set up last week to end a five-month protest.

Masked police officers clutching automatic weapons watched the protesters from rooftops as they marched to a plaza about a block away from the encampments, yelling “Get out federal police!”

The leaders then formed a human chain to keep the crowd of 20,000 from confronting police, but about 400 people broke through and attacked the officers with stones and bottles. Some of the police lobbed rocks back, while officers on rooftops used slingshots to shoot marbles at those trying to confront the police.

A radio station at Oaxaca’s university reported that gunmen had fired at protesters near the university, injuring a 21-year-old student, who was taken to a public hospital.