WORLD BRIEFS

SUDAN: UN observers flee shooting

Security forces opened fire Wednesday on anti-regime demonstrators surrounding the cars of a UN team meant to monitor a shaky cease-fire, sending the observers speeding off for cover, according to activists. The fresh violence in a suburb of Damascus provided the first public glimpse of the work of the small team struggling to reinforce the international community's stumbling efforts to end 13 months of deadly conflict. Eight people were wounded in the shooting, complicating the planned deployment of a larger UN mission to help enforce the cease-fire.

SUDAN: Menacing words from north leader

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir threatened Wednesday to topple his rival government to the south, harsh words that could escalate the conflict between the two nations as clashes over their shared border intensify. As the international community pushed for a peaceful solution, al-Bashir vowed to "liberate" the people of South Sudan, which broke away from Sudan in July after decades of civil war, creating the world's newest country. But the two never agreed on how to share the oil wealth found in the region between the countries, and the border was never fully demarcated. On Tuesday, soldiers from Sudan and South Sudan clashed at a border river dividing their two countries, leaving 22 more dead.

MALI: Junta's seizure of politicians decried

Regional mediators urged the junta leader on Wednesday to release politicians and high-ranking officers from the ousted government who have been detained by soldiers. The arrests have raised concerns about whether Capt. Amadou Sanogo is in fact transferring powers to the new civilian interim government, as promised. A number of senior politicians and high-ranking officers in Mali's security forces were arrested on Monday night and Tuesday by the junta though Sanogo has signed an agreement that is supposed to return Mali to constitutional rule. Many of those arrested have close ties with the ousted president Amadou Toumani Touré.