News In Brief

New US ambassador arrives in Libya
Afp, Tripoli

The new US ambassador to Libya arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday, an embassy source said, nine months after her predecessor and three other Americans were killed in an Islamist attack in Benghazi.
Career diplomat Deborah Jones yesterday presented her credentials to the General National Congress, Libya's highest political and legislative authority, state news agency LANA said.
Jones succeeds Chris Stevens, a popular figure among the Libyan people, who was killed along with the other three when Islamists overran the Benghazi mission and a nearby CIA annexe on September 13.

WikiLeaks assisting Snowden
Afp, Washington

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Wednesday he had been in contact with representatives of Edward Snowden to discuss his possible bid for asylum in Iceland following his disclosure of US surveillance programs.
In a conference call with reporters, Assange said he had been in contact with representatives of Snowden, who has been based in Hong Kong since May 20, to discuss a potential attempt at securing asylum.
Former US government contractor Snowden, 29, fled to Hong Kong on May 20 but the United States has yet to file any formal extradition request after his bombshell leak of information about National Security Agency surveillance programs.

ICC postpones Kenya president's trial
Afp, The Hague

The International Criminal Court yesterday postponed until November 12 Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's crimes against humanity trial in connection with deadly post-election violence.
Kenyatta, 51, faces five counts of crimes against humanity including murder, rape and forcible transfer for his role in the unrest which ripped through Kenya after disputed election results in late 2007.
Some 1,100 people died in the bloodshed after allegations of vote rigging, shattering Kenya's image as a beacon of regional stability.

'China used military against Uighur'
Afp, Tokyo

Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer yesterday claimed the Chinese government used military force in the latest episode of what she calls "ethnic cleansing" in the troubled province of Xinjiang.
Twenty-one people, including police officers and officials, were killed in violent clashes in the ethnically divided region on April 23, officials have said.
Chinese state media has made no mention of any military involvement in the incident, with an earlier report saying gunfights had broken out after police tried to search the home of locals suspected of possessing illegal knives.
Xinjiang is home to around nine million Uighurs, many of whom complain of religious and cultural repression by Chinese authorities -- accusations the government denies. The region is regularly hit by unrest.