WEEK 3- Taoyuan blames ex-official for fire deaths

Taoyuan blames ex-official for fire deaths

By Jake Chung  /  Staff writer, with CAN

Sat, Jan 31, 2015 

The Taoyuan City Government yesterday implicated former deputy county commissioner Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) in the deaths of six firefighters after a fire in a bowling alley in Sinwu District (新屋).

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) accused Yeh of holding a special meeting on April 2 last year to help the owners of the plot of land on which the bowling alley was built circumvent regulations on land use, adding that the land had been registered for agricultural use.

At the meeting, it was decided that any decisions regarding the land would be made by the department of agriculture instead of the bureau of urban development, Cheng said.

A report was changed to say that the building was not public property, Cheng said.

The decision was an error and it indicated administrative laziness among civil servants in the then-county government, Cheng said.

The contents of the meeting must be looked into and laid open for public scrutiny, Cheng added.

There might have been mistakes made by the past administration, but we must face facts and not seek to cover them up, Cheng said, adding that the city government would fully cooperate with investigations.

“Every mistake that is uncovered in the investigation will become the basis for government’s reforms,” Cheng said.

Cheng said that the Sinwu case involved an illegal construction built 20 years ago that had in the past year been flagged for a joint inspection, but the case had not been handled properly.

The problem clearly does not lie with any individual public servant, but with the local administration of the time, Cheng said, adding that a new government is expected to correct the mistakes of previous governments.

According to preliminary investigations by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office, a then-county official surnamed Chang (張) and a Sinwu District Office official surnamed Cheng (鄭) have been accused of colluding over the construction of the building and are in custody.

The Department of Agriculture said it had alerted the Department of Public Works that the construction was in violation of regulations and should be prioritized for removal, but the district office said it had been awaiting further investigations.

 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/01/31/2003610493

Structure of the Lead：

        WHO- The Taoyuan City Government

   WHEN- yesterday

 WHAT- former deputy county commissioner Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) in the deaths of six firefighters

 WHY- a fire in a bowling alley

WHERE- Sinwu District (新屋)

 HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. death：死亡

   2. bowling alley ：保齡球館

   3. circumvent：規避

   4. register ：註冊

   5. scrutiny：審查

   6. reforms ：改革

   7. Agriculture：農業

Week 2- Taliban

‘Facilitator’ of attack on school killed in Pakistan

AFP, PESHAWAR, Pakistan

Sun, Dec 28, 2014 - Page 5

Pakistani security forces have killed a Taliban commander who allegedly facilitated the Peshawar school massacre, which left 148 people dead in the country’s worst-ever terror attack, officials said on Friday.

Named only as “Saddam,” the militant was killed on Thursday night in a gunbattle with security forces in the restive Khyber tribal district, which borders the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar where last week’s attack took place.

“Commander Saddam was a dreaded terrorist, who was killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces in Jamrud town of Khyber tribal region,” top local administration official Shahab Ali Shah said at a press conference in Peshawar. “Six of his accomplices were injured and arrested.”

He added that Saddam is believed to have facilitated the school attack, although the extent or capacity of his alleged involvement was not yet known.

“Authorities are currently interrogating the injured terrorists,” Shah said.

He described Saddam as an important commander in Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and said he had masterminded several bomb attacks.

Saddam and his accomplices had been involved in several recent attacks on security forces that had resulted in heavy casualties, Shah said.

The military said it killed 23 militants in aerial strikes in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border on Friday evening.

“In very effective and precise aerial strikes in North Waziristan this evening, 23 terrorists including some important commanders were killed,” the military said in a statement. “A huge underground ammunition dump and tunnel system have been destroyed.”

The Taliban and other militants have taken refuge in the Khyber region from a major Pakistani army offensive launched in June in North Waziristan, another restive tribal area on the Afghan border that has been a hub for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants since the early 2000s.

In related news, a US drone strike on a Taliban compound in North Waziristan killed at least four militants on Friday, officials said, the second such incident in a week. Another drone strike in North Waziristan on Saturday last week killed at least five militants, officials said. The area is generally off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.

Washington pressed Islamabad for years to wipe out militant sanctuaries in North Waziristan, which have been used to launch attacks on NATO forces in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military says it has killed more than 1,700 militants so far in its heavy offensive in the tribal zone, with 126 soldiers having lost their lives.

Pakistan has ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of the attack on Tuesday last week of an army-run school in Peshawar, where 134 children were among the victims shot to death by heavily armed Taliban militants.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced the establishment of military courts for terror-related cases in order to accelerate trials, and he has also lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating it for terrorism-related cases.

Officials said on Monday that Pakistan plans to execute about 500 militants in the coming weeks.

 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2014/12/28/2003607793

Structure of the Lead：

        WHO- officials

   WHEN- Friday

 WHAT- Pakistani security forces have killed a Taliban commander

 WHY- not given

     WHERE-Peshawar school

 HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. commander：指揮官

   2. allegedly：據稱

   3. facilitate ：促成

   4. massacre：大屠殺

   5. Saddam ：薩達姆

   6. gunbattle：槍戰

   7. terrorists：恐怖份子

   8. Taliban：塔利班

   9. militants：武裝份子

  10. execute：處決