Japan launches a massive tsunami bodies (PA) research - 4 hours ago
SHICHIGAHAMAMACHI, Japan (PA) - soldiers pushed swamp with thin poles Monday that 25,000 troops pickled northeast coast of the Japan of the bodies of nearly 12 000 missing persons, in the largest search since last earthquake and tsunami.
The operation was the third intensive military research since the disaster of 11 March, fragmented buildings, cities and killed up to 26 000 people. With hindsight of the waters, officials hope the team, which also includes the police, the coast guard and US troops, will make significant progress during the two-day operation.
In the town of Shichigahamamachi, a line of about two dozen Japanese soldiers walked in unison through the soggy Earth and muddy pools of water, plunging their poles approximately 2 feet (60 centimeters) in the muck to ensure that they lack any body buried below.
The research focused on a marsh drained in recent weeks by members of the infantry regiment 22 of the army with special pump trucks.
In all, 370 soldiers of the regiment were looking for a dozen people still missing from the Shichigahamamachi. The regiment was to research the area with a quota more small, but have tripled the number of soldiers, he was with intense research of two days, said colonel Akira Kun itomo, the Commander of the regiment.
The research is much more difficult than that for the earthquake victims, which would mainly be buried under the rubble, said Michihiro Ose, a spokesman for the regiment. The tsunami may have left victims anywhere, or even withdrawn their towards the sea.
"We just don't know where are the bodies," he said.
Bodies found both weeks after the disaster are likely to be unrecognizable, black and swollen, dare to say.
"We would not even know if they are male or female," he said.
A total of 24,800 soldiers - supported by 90 helicopters and aircraft - were sent to comb through the rubble of the buried remnants, 50 boats and navy 100 divers searched the waters up to 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the coast to find those swept out to sea.
"Since more than a month the severe earthquake and tsunami, but we have still a lot of missing persons," Ministry of defence spokesman Norikazu Muratani said. "We want to recover and return to their families."
More than 14 300 people have been confirmed dead and almost 11,900 are still missing. First intense scanning of the Army being for body discovered 339, while his second place 99 Muratani, said. Numbers in the search for Monday were not immediately available.
After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, body found along the Indonesian coast for several months later as people cleared debris in reconstruction efforts. However, 37,000 of 164 000 people who died in Indonesia simply disappeared, their bodies washed likely to the sea.
Last week, two underwater robots provided by the Institute of International Rescue non-profit systems has conducted research for five days in the waters off the coast of the northeastern coast of the Japan, near three devastated towns.
Robots are cars, houses and other debris in the sea, but no body, said Mika Murata, an official of the Institute.
The Japanese Government has been criticized for his response to the earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent nuclear disaster, with some members of the opposition of the country, urging Prime Minister Naoto Kan to resign.
The members of the party in power of the Kan has won only three of the ten elections in the course of the weekend, mainly for local government positions.
The losses came two weeks after the Party of the Kan has lost nearly 70 seats in an election for prefectural assemblies.
Monday, Kan said in a sometimes hostile Parliament that his Government all that its possible to take control of the radiation leaks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power, which led the Government to evacuate residents of a (12-mile) zone of 20 kilometres around paralyzed reactors.
"The nuclear accident is still underway," he said. "The priority is now to stabilize it."
Associated Press writer Shino Yuasa contributed to this report.
Copyright ? 2011 the Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Translate Request has too much data Parameter name: request Translate Request has too much data Parameter name: request Gunfire in locked-down Syrian city - Middle East - Al Jazeera English .qodLinker{border-width:0px;border-style:none;}.qodLinker img{border-width:0px;border-style:none;} NewsIn DepthProgrammesVideoBlogsBusinessWeatherSportWatch Live AfricaAmericasAsia-PacificCentral & South AsiaEuropeMiddle EastFocusOpinionFeaturesInteractiveSpotlightBriefingsYour ViewsRiz KhanWitnessInside StoryListening PostPeople & PowerMore??Counting the CostNewsThe Business Blog??? Middle East Gunfire in locked-down Syrian city Reports of shooting as thousands protest in Homs while Syrian government claims country is facing "armed insurrection". Last Modified: 18 Apr 2011 22:09 Email Print Share Send Feedback
Gunfire has been heard in the Syrian city of Homs where thousands of anti-government protesters had gathered in the main square, a day after activists said at least 25 people were killed there.
An activist on the ground told Al Jazeera that security forces had opened fire on protesters. At least two people are reported injured while tear gas has also been used, according to Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus, Cal Perry.
Homs has been shut down by the army with three rings of checkpoints surrounding the city, our correspondent added. Security forces had given protesters until 2.30am to clear the square, but gunfire was reported at 2.15am.
Most of the square had been cleared with people scattering across the city, according to our correspondent. But protesters are afraid to go to hospitals, he says.
"They are afraid if they go to the hospitals the security forces will be waiting for them there and they will end up in detention," says Perry.
The latest protests against president Bashar al-Assad's 10-year rule come as Syria's interior ministry on Monday night said the country was facing an "armed insurrection".
The government blames armed gangs for the unrest and says several members of the security forces have been killed and wounded in days of violence.
"Some of these groups have called for armed insurrection under the motto of Jihad to set up a Salafist state," the ministry said in a statement. "What they did is an ugly crime severely punished by law. Their objective is to spread terror across Syria"
A protester who gave his name as Rami earlier told Al Jazeera that thousands people were staging a sit-in in the centre of Homs and would "continue to protest until the regime is overthrown".
Suhair Atassi, a prominent rights activist, said 10,000 people were at the square late on Monday night.
Some tents were raised and protesters said they had renamed the Al-Saa (Clock) Square 'Tahrir Square', in reference to the focal point of the uprising in Egypt which led to the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak.
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Earlier in the day, thousands attended the funerals for protesters killed in Homs, shouting slogans against Assad, who succeeded his father as president in 2000, continuing an era of Baath Party rule stretching back to a 1963 coup.
Witnesses said mourners chanted "From alleyway to alleyway, from house to house, we want to overthrow you, Bashar," and "Either freedom or death,?the people want to topple this regime".
Monday's protests were the largest to hit Syria's third largest city since?protests in the country began?one month ago.
"I'm 45 years old. It's the first time in my life I break the barrier of silence, the first time I feel freedom," a protester who gave his name as Abu Omar told Al Jazeera.
"The regime does not wish us to enjoy freedom or dignity. For decades we've been ruled by an iron fist, by the force of weapon."
Demonstrations were also reported in the southern city of Daraa, in the Barzeh district of the capital, Damascus, and in Ain al-Arab in the mainly Kurdish north. About 1,500 people gathered at the Shaghour bridge between Aleppo and Latakia in the morning.
Homs violence
A?protester in Homs told Al Jazeera that protesters were killed after evening prayers on Sunday when a group of around 40?demonstrators gathered outside the Bab al-Sibaa mosque chanting "freedom".
The protester, who gave his name as Abu Haider, said seven cars pulled up to the protesters and men in civilian clothes jumped out and opened fire on the crowd without warning.
Pictures were posted online of people praying in a square in Homs on Monday [Twitpic-Shantal7afana]
"First we were calling for reforms, now we're calling for regime change,"?he said. "No one will accept the death of the martyrs."
The nearby town of Talbiseh, where activists said five people were killed on Sunday, was sealed off by government forces on Monday.
Walid al-Muallem, Syria's foreign minister,?met foreign ambassadors earlier in the day and?told them that reforms are on their way and that peaceful protest will be tolerated, but?not destruction of government properties and other disruptive behaviour.
The latest developments came two days after Assad said Syria's decades-long emergency laws would be lifted within a week and also promised a number of other reforms.
Despite the apparent concessions, nationwide protests were held on?Sunday, which was Syria's Independence Day, commemorating the departure of the last French soldier 65 years ago.
Source: Al Jazeera Email Print Share Send Feedback Topics in this articlePeopleBashar al-AssadAbu HaiderAbu OmarSuhair AtassiSalafiHosni MubarakRamiCountrySyriaEgyptCityHomsDaraaAleppoTalbisehLatakiaDamascus Featured on Al Jazeera Nigeria: Ripe for a WikiLeaks revolution? Leaked cables helped expose high-level corruption, but will those revelations impact upcoming elections? Libya after the NATO invasion There can be no quick fix for a Libya caught between a loose-cannon despot and an opportunistic Western intervention. China's interests in Gaddafi Huge oil and financial deals play major part in Beijing's support for Libya's despot and halt to foreign intervention. Recognising Palestine? The efforts of the Palestinian Authority to push for statehood are nothing more than an elaborate farce, writer says.
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