World in brief: Riots grow after squatter eviction
Anarchists from across Northern Europe flocked to join protesters in the Danish capital on Saturday after two nights of riots sparked by the eviction of squatters from an abandoned building that had been a center for young leftists and punk rockers.
More than 500 people, including scores of foreigners, have been arrested since the riots started Thursday. Authorities said more than 200 were arrested early Saturday following overnight clashes in which demonstrators pelted police with cobblestones and set fire to cars.
Police said 50 more people were arrested as scuffles broke out in various parts of the city early today after a day of relative calm. Several fires were set across the city.
One protester was reportedly wounded in violence Saturday, while 25 were injured the night before in what police have called Denmark’s worst riots in a decade.
Police said activists from Sweden, Norway and Germany had joined hundreds of Danish youth in the protests. Sympathy protests were held in Germany, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Sectarian violence targeted by leaders
Following their first official talks in Saudi Arabia, the Iranian and Saudi leaders on Saturday pledged to fight the spread of sectarian strife in the Middle East, which they said was the biggest danger facing the region.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and King Abdullah also stressed the importance of maintaining Palestinian unity and bringing security to Iraq, the official Saudi Press Agency said.
The agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying he supported Saudi efforts to calm the situation in Lebanon and end its political crisis. Iran supports Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah group, which is trying to topple the U.S.- and Saudi-backed government.
The talks between the two leaders have been touted as a possible means to defuse sectarian tensions in Iraq and Lebanon, and prevent Iran from sliding further into isolation.
Islamabad, Pakistan
Pakistan says U.S. can’t cross border
Pakistan vehemently denied Saturday the U.S. military’s claim that coalition forces in Afghanistan have the authority to pursue Taliban fleeing across the border into Pakistani territory.
“There is no authorization for hot pursuit of terrorists into our territory,” Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, spokesman for the Pakistan Army, told the Associated Press on Saturday. “Whatever actions are needed to fight terrorism, we are taking them.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry rejected an assertion by Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, chief operations officer for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, that his forces routinely fire on and pursue Taliban into Pakistan.
“No foreign forces are allowed to cross into our territorial border,” said ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam. “Pakistan and United States are partners in the war on terror – not adversaries.”
Aslam’s and Arshad’s comments came two days after Lute told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington that “we have all the authorities we need to pursue, either with (artillery) fire or on the ground, across the border.”