Bomb hits Cairo, Al Qaeda-linked group claims attacks

Reuters

A police officer inspects a crater made after a bomb attack in front of the Cairo Security Directorate building, which includes police and state security, in downtown Cairo on January 24, 2014.

Cairo:  A bomb exploded near a police academy in Cairo on Saturday, security sources said, a day after a wave of deadly blasts raised fears that an Islamist insurgency was gaining momentum.

An Al Qaeda-inspired group, based in Egypt's lawless Sinai Peninsula, claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks which killed six people, said the SITE monitoring organisation.

No one was wounded in Saturday's explosion, said the interior ministry, but more violence was expected as rival political movements gather to mark the third anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Islamist militants based in the Sinai Peninsula have stepped up attacks since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July. Hundreds of security forces have been killed.

Militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (Supporters of Jerusalem) claimed responsibility for the attacks, including a car bomb at a security compound in central Cairo, in a message posted online, said US-based SITE.

The message told Muslims to stay away from "enemy headquarters and security centres".

Last year, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for a failed assassination attempt on the Interior Minister.

The army-backed government, along with state-run and most private media, accuse Mursi's Brotherhood of carrying out terrorist attacks.

Authorities have tightened security around Cairo in anticipation of trouble, as rival political factions plan to gather to mark the anniversary of Mubarak's downfall.

Police and army have deployed heavily, and helicopters flew over a ghostly quiet downtown Cairo on Saturday morning.

Mohamed Saleh, a 63-year-old taxi driver, said he planned to commemorate the 2011 revolt by going to Tahrir Square, the symbolic heart of the uprising, but the square was tightly sealed off by armoured vehicles on Saturday morning.

"This was a complete popular uprising by the people," Saleh said, recalling the historic 18 days of protests that led to Mubarak's ouster. "It was protected by the army," he added.

Clashes in the capital and several other cities on Friday between Mursi supporters and security forces killed 14 people, in another sign of high tensions in the biggest Arab nation.

Australia rejects claims that navy mistreated asylum seekers

Updated: January 23, 2014 09:24 IST

Sydney:  Australia on Wednesday rejected claims by a group of asylum seekers that they were beaten and suffered burns while being returned to Indonesia by the Australian navy under a policy that has strained ties between the countries.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday aired video of asylum seekers getting treatment for burns they said were caused by navy personnel forcing them to hold onto hot pipes coming out of their boat's engine while it was being towed back to Indonesian waters.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison lashed out at the media for reporting what he called "unsubstantiated allegations" and said that he would conduct no investigation into the incident as he accepted the word of navy personnel.

"The Australian government is not going to put up with people sledging (verbally abusing) the Australian navy," he told reporters in Sydney. "I've been given assurances about their conduct and I believe those assurances because I believe in those individuals."

Indonesian police confirmed that a group of asylum seekers had required treatment for severe burns on their hands after they were picked up in Indonesian waters on January 6.

"I received a report from police in Kupang that they said they were burned because they were forced to hold on to the boat engine," said Agus Barnas, spokesman for the coordinating ministry of legal, political and security affairs.

"They said they were forced by the Australians. We are trying to find out more."

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was asked at a news conference on a visit to Washington whether Australia would be willing to accept an Indonesia invitation to send officials to review the evidence.

"I cannot imagine for a moment that the professional people that we have in our forces would have behaved in that fashion," she said. "But of course if there is any cooperation that we can extend to ensure that these allegations are scotched, then we would be prepared to do it."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's conservative government came to power last September partly because of its tough position on asylum seekers. It maintains offshore detention centres in the impoverished nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru that hold thousands of asylum seekers.

The number of refugees reaching Australia pales in comparison with other countries, but it is a polarising political issue that also stokes tension with Indonesia.

ASYLUM SEEKERS, PHONE TAPS HIT RELATIONS

Relations between the countries have been prickly over Abbott's pledges to break the business of people traffickers operating from Indonesian ports.

Ties hit a 13-year low late last year after media reports that Australia had tapped the phones of top Indonesians, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife.

Australia apologised to Indonesia last week for naval breaches of its territory as part of Canberra's policy of stopping boats carrying would-be asylum seekers.

Abbott, in the Swiss resort of Davos for the World Economic Forum, said on Tuesday that Australia stood by its policies.

"For us, stopping the boats is a matter of sovereignty and President Yudhoyono, of all people, ought to understand, does understand, just how seriously countries take their sovereignty," Abbott told reporters. "So we will continue to do what we are entitled to do to secure our borders."

Those comments prompted an angry Indonesian response.

"The government of Australia under the leadership of Prime Minister Tony Abbott also should understand the meaning of Indonesian sovereignty, which has been violated by the Australian navy," Djoko Suyanto, coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said in a statement.

The incident comes as U.S.-based rights watchdog Human Rights Watch, in its 700-page annual World Report, issued a blistering assessment of Australia's asylum seeker policy.

"Successive governments have prioritised domestic politics over Australia's international legal obligations to protect the rights of asylum seekers and refugees," it said.