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6C Sunday, December 23, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
WORLD
London flights resume; drone suspects in custody
JOHN STILLWELL I Associated Press
Passengers at Gatwick airport settle down to wait for their flights following
the delays and cancellations brought on by drone sightings near the
airfield, in London, Friday Dec. 21.
BY GREGORY KATZ
Associated Press
LONDON — London’s Gatwick
Airport was plagued by long lines
and flight delays Saturday but no
new drone sightings, allowing Brit
ish officials to hope the worse was
over after two people were arrested
in connection with the drone inva
sion that had shut down the coun
try’s second-busiest airport.
Check-in lines at Gatwick
stretched the length of the depar
tures hall as harried travelers tried
to make good on Christmas plans
upended by three days of extended
shutdowns caused by drones being
spotted over the airfield.
The persistent drone crisis at
Gatwick, 30 miles south of London,
has had a ripple effect throughout
the international air travel system
since Wednesday night, when the
first drone was spotted.
A Gatwick spokesman said Sat
urday that “things are going in the
right direction” and should be back
to normal by the end of the week
end after a horrendous few days
that saw tens of thousands of travel
ers stranded or delayed.
Sussex police released few details
about the two suspects arrested late
Friday in the worst drone-inflicted
travel chaos to hit Britain. Police
say the investigation is ongoing and
the military was still deployed to
prevent further drone incursions
from shutting Gatwick’s airspace.
Police said Saturday the drone
suspects are a 47-year-old man and
a 54-year-old woman from Craw
ley, a town 5 miles from the airport.
They were arrested on suspicion of
disrupting civil aviation.
The suspects, who have not been
named or charged, were being
questioned in custody. Sky tele
vision showed footage of police
searching a house, reportedly
where one suspect was living.
British police have not said if they
think the two suspects acted alone
or as part of a group. The motive for
their aggressive drone flights has
not been established, but officials
say there are no indications it is
“terror related.” There have been
no new sightings since the arrests.
Gatwick’s arrival and departure
boards showed that most flights
operated Saturday but there were
still a significant number of delayed
takeoffs and landings. In all, the air
port hoped to run 757 flights, serv
ing just under 125,000 passengers.
Still, Gatwick authorities urged
passengers to check the status of
their flights Saturday with their air
lines before heading to the airport,
which handles 43 million passen
gers a year.
“Passengers should expect some
delays and cancellations as we con
tinue to recover our operations fol
lowing three days of disruption,” a
Gatwick spokesman said.
New drone sightings Friday eve
ning caused fresh problems for
holiday travelers at Gatwick, which
had just reopened after a 36-hour
shutdown. Authorities had to hast
ily suspend flights for more than an
hour Friday afternoon on one of the
busiest travel days of the year.
Police: Al-Qaida linked to blast
at Somalia presidential palace
FARAH ABDI WARS AM EH I Associated Press
A man walks near destroyed buildings after a bomb blast in
the capital city of Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Dec. 22.
BY ABDI GULED
Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya - An
explosives-packed vehicle
detonated at a military
checkpoint near Somalia’s
presidential palace, killing
at least 16 people and wound
ing more than 20 others,
police said. The al-Qaida-
linked al-Shabab extremist
group, which often targets
Mogadishu, claimed respon
sibility for the attack.
Those killed include three
staffers from the London-
based Universal TV sta
tion, including prominent
journalist Awil Dahir Salad,
said police Capt. Mohamed
Hussein, who gave the toll of
dead and wounded.
The bomber targeted the
checkpoint near the rear
entrance of the heavily for
tified palace, Hussein said.
A lawmaker and a deputy
mayor of Mogadishu were
among those wounded, he
said.
Soldiers also were among
the dead, Col. Ahmed
Mohamud said.
The blast and a smaller
one nearby appeared to tar
get those heading to work on
what was a business day in
the Horn of Africa nation.
A plume of smoke rose
over the capital as ambu
lances rushed to the scene.
“At first I saw a vehicle
driving to and fro, then we
tried to stop people walking
here and there, and then
in the blink of an eye the
vehicle exploded, causing
havoc,” traffic police officer
Mohamed Harun told The
Associated Press.
Al-Shabab, the most active
Islamic extremist group in
sub-Saharan Africa, was
pushed out of Mogadishu
years ago but continues to
control rural Somalia.
The U.S. military, which
partners with Somali forces
and a 20,000-strong African
Union peacekeeping mis
sion, has greatly increased
airstrikes against al-Shabab
under the Trump admin
istration. At least 47 U.S.
strikes have been carried out
this year.
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