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

In brief: Former Haitian presidential security chief shot to death

From Wire Reports

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The chief of presidential security under former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was shot to death Monday in the capital, where he had lived since returning to the country after finishing a prison sentence in the United States.

Oriel Jean, who had received a reduced sentence because he provided substantial assistance to U.S. authorities investigating allegations of drug trafficking tied to the Aristide government, was killed in an apparent ambush in the Delmas district of Port-au-Prince, police said.

National police spokesman Gary Desrosiers said two men on a motorcycle came up to Jean and one opened fire before they fled into the crowded streets. No suspects were in custody.

Jean, who was about 50, had returned to Haiti after completing a sentence in the U.S. for money laundering.

Blast kills 1, injures 10 in Cairo

CAIRO – A midday bomb blast in a boulevard in downtown Cairo killed one person and wounded 10 on Monday, the health ministry said. Shortly afterward, a little-known group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bomb was hidden under a car parked near the High Court – the country’s highest criminal court – and went off in Cairo’s Ramses neighborhood. The area is crowded, with dozens of street vendors selling their ware on stalls set up on the asphalt. Nearby are several bus stops, a railway station and a subway station.

Police cordoned off the area, and state TV later reported that a second bomb was dismantled.

The wounded included seven policemen, the health ministry said.

Egypt has seen a wave of attacks, mostly targeting the country’s security forces, since the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.

A group calling itself “Revolutionary Punishment” claimed responsibility on its Twitter account for Monday’s attack, saying they targeted a police checkpoint. The group is believed to mostly consist of Islamist youths seeking revenge for the ongoing crackdown on Morsi’s supporters.

On Sunday, a bomb went off near a police station in the southern city of Aswan, killing two civilians and wounding a soldier and four others.