Gunman attacks tourists at ruins
A gunman opened fire on Western tourists at Roman ruins in the heart of Jordan’s capital Monday, killing a British man and wounding six people before being overpowered. Police said the attacker came from the same area as the slain leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.
The attack at an ancient amphitheater came despite a heavy clampdown on security in this key U.S. ally since a string of deadly bombings at hotels last November that al Qaida in Iraq claimed to have staged.
Police were trying to determine whether the alleged gunman, Nabeel Ahmed Issa Jaourah, was enticed by Islamic militants or a terror group to carry out the shooting, said a Jordanian security official, who agreed to discuss the investigation only if not quoted by name.
The official said Jaourah, 38, is from Rusaifa, a village outside Zarqa, the hometown of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was killed June 7 when a U.S. warplane bombed his hideout in Iraq. Zarqa is an industrial town northeast of Amman that is a hub for extremist Muslims.
MEXICO CITY
Election results announced today
Mexico at last will have a final decision today on its disputed July 2 presidential race, with the nation’s top electoral court expected to declare ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon president-elect.
But the long-awaited ruling by the Federal Electoral Tribunal – which comes two months, three days and tens of thousands of pages of legal challenges after voters cast their ballots – is unlikely to end potentially explosive uncertainty or close the growing political divide gripping the country.
Most court rulings so far have favored Calderon, who has a 240,000-vote advantage over leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Lopez Obrador, who stepped down as Mexico City mayor to run for president, already has said he won’t accept a ruling against him and is moving forward with plans to establish a parallel government.
JERUSALEM
Olmert urges talks with Palestinians
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert signaled a need Monday to pursue talks with the Palestinians, an official said, apparently edging away from a unilateral West Bank pullback plan that swept him to power in March.
There have been no official contacts between Israel and the Palestinians since the militant Hamas group, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January.
Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Israel had no preconditions for a meeting between Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah Party, who favors peace talks with the Israelis.
Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erekat, an Abbas ally, said the president, known as Abu Mazen, was prepared to talk.