Sunday,  September 2, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 049 • 29 of 33 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 28)

police, the man claimed Chishti said it was a way to get rid of the Christians.
• The man's testimony only surfaced more than two weeks after the girl was originally arrested, raising questions about why he did not come forward sooner.
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Are hijackings history? Seizures of aircraft on the wane even before post-9/11 security boost

• AMSTERDAM (AP) -- It was once the nightmare of air travelers the world over: a passenger jet parked in a remote corner of an airport surrounded by armed police and ambulances.
• The frightening scene that played out this past week at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport turned out to be a false alarm. But it revived memories of an aviation era when hijackings were more common than in the post-9/11 world of ultra-tight security checks at airport gates, air marshals on flights and reinforced cockpit doors.
• Figures compiled by the International Civil Aviation Organization show seven "unlawful seizures" of planes in 2001, the year of the al-Qaida attacks on the United States. The highest number in any year since was five in 2009. The group recorded no airliner seizures in 2010 or 2011.
• Despite the drop, authorities are far from complacent and attempted attacks continue -- the group showed acts including sabotage attempts rising from just two in 2005 to 14 in 2009 before dropping off sharply to three in 2011.
• Jim Marriott, chief of the organization's Aviation Security Branch, said the group is organizing a high-level conference next week aimed at further boosting security.

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Syrian state news agency says 15 killed in explosion in Damascus suburb

• AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Syria's state news agency says a car bomb near a Palestinian refugee camp in a suburb of the nation's capital has killed at least 15 people.
• SANA says the explosion in the Damascus suburb of al-Sbeineh late Saturday also wounded several people and caused heavy damage to buildings in the area.
• It blamed the blast on an "armed terrorist group," the term it uses to describe the rebel Free Syrian Army seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad.
• SANA did not provide further details in its report Sunday.
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