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Drug gang banners appear in central Mexico city Pope will visit
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A drug gang unfurled banners in a Mexican city that Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit next month, telling rival traffickers to keep out and keep the peace during the papal visit next month.
One of the banners was signed by The Knights Templar, a violent, pseudo-religious cartel from the neighboring state of Michoacan. The cloth banners with hand-painted messages were found and quickly removed on Tuesday, a few weeks after the local Roman Catholic archdiocese had issued a public plea to drug gangs not to mar the Pope's visit with violence.
"We just want to warn that we do not want more groups in the state of Guanajuato. Confrontations will be inevitable. You have been warned, New Generation, we want Guanajuato in Peace, so don't think about moving in and much less causing violence, precisely at this time when His Holiness Benedict XVI is coming," according to the sign. Municipal police sent a photo of the banner to The Associated Press.
"New Generation" refers to a rival gang from the neighboring state of Jalisco, which is believed to be allied with the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. The two groups, along with the Zetas, have been locked in battles in all three states.
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Radical Islamist sect claims Nigeria military strikes, denies sending state-run TV a message
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A radical Islamist sect has claimed responsibility for attacks on military bases in a central Nigerian city at the heart of ethnic and religious unrest in the country.
A spokesman for the sect known as Boko Haram told The Daily Trust newspaper of Nigeria's Muslim north that it carried out Tuesday's attacks on an army and air force base in Kaduna. Military officials say only a bomber was killed in the attack, though witnesses saw soldiers in blood-drenched uniforms.
The sect also denied sending a video message aired Tuesday on the state-run Nigerian Television Authority in which they purportedly accepted an offer to negotiate for peace with the oil-rich nation's weak central government.
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Sikh temple under construction in suburban Detroit vandalized with epithets, images
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — An advocacy group has asked authorities to investigate the vandalism of a Sikh house of worship under construction in suburban Detroit.
The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday the vandalism happened in Sterling Heights at the site of the planned gurdwara, or temple. The group says it was vandalized between Sunday evening and Monday morning.
Graffiti included racial epithets, drawings of what appear to be a cross and gun, and references to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Detroit FBI spokesman Simon Shaykhet declined comment.
The temple is expected to be finished this summer.
Sikhism developed in northern India. Sikhs in the U.S. have occasionally been the target of anti-Muslim sentiment because they wear turbans and have beards.
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MEXICO CITY (AP) — A drug gang unfurled banners in a Mexican city that Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit next month, telling rival traffickers to keep out and keep the peace during the papal visit next month.
One of the banners was signed by The Knights Templar, a violent, pseudo-religious cartel from the neighboring state of Michoacan. The cloth banners with hand-painted messages were found and quickly removed on Tuesday, a few weeks after the local Roman Catholic archdiocese had issued a public plea to drug gangs not to mar the Pope's visit with violence.
"We just want to warn that we do not want more groups in the state of Guanajuato. Confrontations will be inevitable. You have been warned, New Generation, we want Guanajuato in Peace, so don't think about moving in and much less causing violence, precisely at this time when His Holiness Benedict XVI is coming," according to the sign. Municipal police sent a photo of the banner to The Associated Press.
"New Generation" refers to a rival gang from the neighboring state of Jalisco, which is believed to be allied with the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. The two groups, along with the Zetas, have been locked in battles in all three states.
___
Radical Islamist sect claims Nigeria military strikes, denies sending state-run TV a message
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A radical Islamist sect has claimed responsibility for attacks on military bases in a central Nigerian city at the heart of ethnic and religious unrest in the country.
A spokesman for the sect known as Boko Haram told The Daily Trust newspaper of Nigeria's Muslim north that it carried out Tuesday's attacks on an army and air force base in Kaduna. Military officials say only a bomber was killed in the attack, though witnesses saw soldiers in blood-drenched uniforms.
The sect also denied sending a video message aired Tuesday on the state-run Nigerian Television Authority in which they purportedly accepted an offer to negotiate for peace with the oil-rich nation's weak central government.
___
Sikh temple under construction in suburban Detroit vandalized with epithets, images
STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — An advocacy group has asked authorities to investigate the vandalism of a Sikh house of worship under construction in suburban Detroit.
The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund said Tuesday the vandalism happened in Sterling Heights at the site of the planned gurdwara, or temple. The group says it was vandalized between Sunday evening and Monday morning.
Graffiti included racial epithets, drawings of what appear to be a cross and gun, and references to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Detroit FBI spokesman Simon Shaykhet declined comment.
The temple is expected to be finished this summer.
Sikhism developed in northern India. Sikhs in the U.S. have occasionally been the target of anti-Muslim sentiment because they wear turbans and have beards.
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