CAIRO

Protesters, security forces clash, leaving one man dead

Fresh clashes between security forces and Egyptian protesters demanding the military step down broke out Saturday in front of the Cabinet building, leaving one man dead, as violence threatened to overshadow this week’s parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the ruling military council that took power after Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, met separately with opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei and presidential hopeful Amr Moussa. Egyptian state TV gave no details.

The new prime minister also held a series of meetings trying to sway youth groups to his side.

State TV said Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri, who is unpopular in part because he served under Mubarak, offered Cabinet positions and is pondering starting an advisory council to be composed of leading democracy advocates and presidential hopefuls.

The suggestion, however, failed to disperse the protesters.

WASHINGTON

Alleged hackers arrested in plot to fund terrorism

Four people have been arrested in the Philippines for allegedly hacking into AT&T customers’ phones in order to funnel money to a Saudi-based terror group, according to police.

The Philippine Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said it worked with the FBI to arrest the suspects last week. The hackers, according to investigators, worked for a group that helped finance a deadly 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India.

AT&T’s systems weren’t compromised, but some of its customers were targeted, spokeswoman Jan Rasmussen said Saturday.

The FBI would not comment Saturday.

AT&T wrote off some fraudulent charges on customers’ bills, but Rasmussen wouldn’t say how much. Philippine police put the alleged hacking cost to AT&T at $2 million.

— From news service reports

 

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