20/08/2011 BBC Weekend News


20/08/2011

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Good afternoon. Police in the West Midlands have released video

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showing rioters firing what's believed to be live rounds at

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officers during the violence in Birmingham earlier this month.

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Shots were also directed at a police helicopter in the Newtown

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area on August 9th. Police say a minimum of four handguns were used.

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Jane-Frances Kelly reports. This dramatic new CCTV footage shows a

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masked man among a group of 30 to 40 you this. He carefully observes

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have surroundings before taking a man firing. They say a minimum of

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four hand guns were used and 11 shots fired at officers and also at

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the force helicopter which took these black-and-white shots. West

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Midlands police say they have taken the unusual decision to release the

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footage because of its disturbing nature. I look at that footage and

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think the only motive can have been to maximise the harm that they

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could cause to police officers and potentially other members of the

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public. Earlier, the group caused damage to a pub while staff were

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still inside. The crowd threw chairs into the road. A small

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amount of money was stolen. Officers say petrol bombs were also

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thrown at a police car. They say the use of alcohol and petrol leads

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them to believe there was the intention to set the part the like.

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It was clear they intended to cause damage to those premises. We know

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they were in possession of petrol bombs and there was a concerted

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effort to build -- the Bernath building down. It presented a risk

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to the lives of people inside. violence has been particularly

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tragic. During the week thousands turned out for the funerals of

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three men hit by a car during the riots that should the country a

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fortnight ago. The father of one of the victims has been praised for

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bringing the community together in the aftermath. Now police are

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investigating a major incident in which they say it was lucky nobody

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lost their lives. Rebel fighters in Libya appear to be closing in on

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the capital, Tripoli. They've been engaged in fierce battles with

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troops loyal to Colonel Gaddafi. Rebels claim to have seized most of

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the city of Zlitan to the east. In Zawiya, street battles ended with

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the rebels in control of the city centre. Plans are being put in

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place to get those foreign nationals who wish to leave out of

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Tripoli. Live now to Tripoli and our Correspondent there, Matthew

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Price. What is the latest situation? That city is now in

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rebel hands. They have pushed out the authorities. It represents that

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the Libyan army has clearly had its capacity to fight badly affected by

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the NATO airstrikes against it in recent weeks in that area. Those

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claims of rebel against to the east are less hard to -- are less easy

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to verify. We have to be cautious. But if they turn out to be true

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then it is very significant because it would mean either the Libyan

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army is pulling back from its positions in order to defend

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Tripoli, or it is losing the will and indeed the capacity to fight.

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There are many rumours going around at the moment. Colonel Gaddafi and

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his family possibly about to leave the country, whether that is

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wishful thinking or based on reality, it is impossible to know.

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The government here is calling for a ceasefire. It is well recognised

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amongst diplomats that I have spoken to that if the fight get to

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Tripoli it will be a bloody urban warfare. There is a lot of

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diplomacy in the background trying to avoid that.

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The foreign office minister Alastair Burt has indicated that

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Britain will back further sanctions against the Syrian government this

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week. Syrian activists say 40 people were killed yesterday by

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security forces despite official assurances that all military action

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against civilians had stopped. The Scottish government says it stands

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by the decision two years ago today to release the Libyan man convicted

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of the Lockerbie bombing. Abdelbasset al Megrahi, who has

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cancer, was freed on compassionate grounds after doctors advised that

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he had just months to live. 270 people were killed when Pan Am

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flight 103 exploded in 1988. Raymond Buchanan reports. This was

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the last time the Lockerbie bomber was seen in public. He recently

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appeared at a prayer Gaddafi rally in Tripoli. It is now two years

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since the last -- since he left his jail cell, sent home to die with a

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life expectancy of three months. That decision by ministers in

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Edinburgh has been criticised. But the First Minister in Scotland

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still insists it was the right thing to do. The key thing for us,

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this has survived through the cabinet secretary and WikiLeaks

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release of information, after two years every inquiry and piece of

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information demonstrates that the Scottish government made a decision

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based on Scottish justice and in good faith. But Labour have called

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on Mr Salmon to apologise and the Conservatives are urged him to

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publish or medical evidence on which the decision was made.

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Neither is likely to happen. Even with the recent turmoil in Libya,

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al-Megrahi has been maintained contact with criminal-justice

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officials here. It was a condition of the deal which saw him released

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from prison. If he broke those conditions then technically he

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could be returned to a Scottish jail. Most of the 270 victims of

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the Lockerbie bombing were from the US. Now senators want any new

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Libyan regime to send him across the Atlantic to face justice. They

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say he remains a terrorist with American blood on his hands.

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Norwegians are holding a weekend of remembrance for the 77 people who

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were killed by Anders Breivik in bomb and gun attacks last month.

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