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Gaza Militant Dies of Wounds as Truce Holds

A militant died on Thursday of wounds sustained in an Israeli raid a day earlier as calm returned to the skies over Gaza after a truce took hold, ending 72 hours of bloodshed.

As Gaza began preparing for Eid al-Adha, which starts Friday, medical sources said 24-year-old Ahmed Hrzalla, a militant with the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) who was severely wounded in an air strike in Rafah, died of his injuries.

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Bulgaria Bus Bomber Had up to Five Foreign Helpers

The bomber who blew up an Israeli tourist bus in Bulgaria in July, killing six people, had up to five foreign helpers locally and the attack was planned abroad, the interior minister said Thursday.

"The number of people who participated on Bulgarian territory is between three and five," Tsvetan Tsvetanov told the 24 Hours newspaper.

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Police: Suspect in Libya U.S. Mission Attack Killed in Cairo

A gunman killed during a police raid on an apartment in northern Cairo is suspected of involvement in a deadly attack last month on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, police said Thursday.

Various media reports meanwhile suggested that the man who died in Wednesday's raid was a Libyan citizen who is believed to be an Al-Qaida militant.

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U.N. Investigators Decry Syria 'War Crimes', Eye Damascus Visit

The members of a U.N. probe into rights abuses in Syria on Thursday said "crimes against humanity" and "war crimes" were happening in the country, and said they were trying to set up a visit to Damascus.

One of the newest members of the four-person team, renowned former war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, told reporters in Geneva that "crimes against humanity and war crimes for sure" were being committed in Syria.

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Syria Rebels Take over Aleppo Kurdish Area, Seize Army Post

Syrian rebel forces took over a strategically important Kurdish neighborhood in Aleppo and seized a military post in the country's northeast on Thursday, residents and a watchdog said.

As observers waited to see if President Bashar Assad's regime will accept the proposal for a ceasefire during the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, residents in Aleppo's northern Ashrafiyeh district told AFP about 200 rebels had moved in to the area for the first time.

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Skies Quiet over Gaza as Truce Deal Takes Hold

The skies over Gaza were quiet early Thursday as an Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas took hold after a spurt of violence left four Palestinians dead and two Thai workers wounded in Israel.

"There has been no rocket fire at Israel nor any Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since Wednesday night," a spokeswoman for the Israeli military told AFP.

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Free Syrian Army Says to Cease Fire if Govt. Does So First

The rebel Free Syrian Army will cease fire during this week's Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday if government forces stop shooting first, its commander said on Wednesday.

"The FSA will stop firing if the regime stops," said FSA military council chief General Mustafa al-Sheikh, speaking to Agence France Presse by telephone from Turkey in reference to a proposal by international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

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Libya Fighters Seize Ex-Gadhafi Bastion

Libyan pro-government forces on Wednesday seized control of Bani Walid, one of the last bastions of Moammar Gadhafi's ousted regime, an AFP correspondent in the town said.

Hundreds of fighters, mostly former rebels from the rival town of Misrata, converged on the center of Bani Walid, firing in the air to celebrate and hoisting the Libyan flag on abandoned public buildings, he said.

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Security Council Backs Brahimi's Call for Syria Ceasefire as Envoy Says Regime, Most Rebels Agree to Truce

Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday that Syria and "most" rebel chiefs have agreed to a truce this week, boosting hopes of a breakthrough in the conflict, but the main armed opposition group was skeptical.

Syria said it was studying the U.N.-Arab League envoy's initiative for a four-day ceasefire during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and would announce its decision on Thursday, the day before it is supposed to take effect.

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Syria Launches Air Raids ahead of U.N. Briefing

Syrian warplanes raided the rebel-held town of Maaret al-Numan on Wednesday, monitors said, as peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi prepared to brief the U.N. Security Council on his ceasefire efforts.

The U.N.-Arab League envoy has proposed a ceasefire for the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Adha which start on Friday but without securing any firm commitment from the government or rebels who have been locked in conflict for the past 19 months.

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