Sri Lanke regime to pull out of failed truce
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The government decided Wednesday to withdraw from an internationally brokered cease-fire that had largely collapsed since the resurgence in the nation’s civil war two years ago, an official said.
The Cabinet unanimously approved the prime minister’s proposal to pull out from the 2002 truce, Media Minister Anura Yapa said.
The cease-fire, brokered by Norway, had been considered the best chance of ending two decades of civil war between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels, who seek an independent homeland for ethnic Tamils in the north and east.
B.C. resort avalanche kills man, injures another
WHISTLER, British Columbia — An avalanche near a popular ski resort swept two men off a cliff, killing one and seriously injuring the other, authorities said Wednesday.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the men likely triggered the avalanche Tuesday in a remote area marked “permanently closed.” The injured man, who was on a snowboard, was in a Vancouver hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, Staff Sgt. Steve Leclair said. The man who died was on skis.
Witnesses questioned in envoy shooting
KHARTOUM, Sudan — Authorities questioned witnesses Wednesday in the killing of a U.S. diplomat shot as he returned from a New Year’s Eve party in the capital. The U.S. sent its own investigators.
One woman said she rushed to help the badly wounded American, who pleaded, “I am dying, I need help,” the independent Al-Rai Al-Amm newspaper reported.
John Granville, 33, an official for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was being driven home at about 4 a.m. Tuesday when another vehicle cut off his car and opened fire before fleeing, the Sudanese Interior Ministry said. Driver Abdel-Rahman Abbas was killed.
Sudanese officials insist the shooting was not a terrorist attack, but the U.S. Embassy said it was too soon to determine the motive.
Two aid workers released unharmed
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Two foreign aid workers kidnapped by gunmen were released unharmed after a week, officials said Wednesday.
Dr. Mercedes Garcia of Spain and nurse Pilar Bauza Moreno of Argentina were seized Dec. 26 by six gunmen while driving to a clinic in Puntland, a semiautonomous region in northeastern Somalia. They were treating children with malnutrition.
Catholics, Muslims plan talks
VATICAN CITY — Catholic and Muslim representatives plan to meet in Rome in the spring to start a “historic” dialogue between the faiths, Vatican officials said.
Pope Benedict XVI proposed the encounter as part of his official response to an open letter sent to him and other Christian leaders in October by 138 Muslim scholars from around the world. The letter urged Christians and Muslims to develop their common ground of belief in one God.
Three representatives of the Muslim scholars will come to Rome, a cardinal said. The agenda, he said, had three main topics: respect for the dignity of each person, interreligious dialogue based on reciprocal understanding, and instruction of tolerance among the young.
700 near erupting volcano evacuated
SANTIAGO, Chile — About 700 people were evacuated as a volcano erupted Wednesday in southern Chile, rocking the area with explosions and spewing lava and ash. But the Llaima volcano’s eruptions were slowing by Wednesday afternoon, so a larger evacuation did not appear necessary.
