IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Morocco

Al-Qaida-linked suspect arrested

Moroccan police have arrested a French citizen of Algerian origin near Tangiers on suspicion of recruiting men to travel to Syria and Iraq to fight for al-Qaida, authorities said. A statement issued by the Interior Ministry late on Sunday described the suspect as a veteran member of the international terror network, who fought in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bosnia. It said he was charged with raising funds and manpower for fighting in Syria.

Nigeria

Hospital shut down for Ebola

The Nigerian city of Lagos on Monday shut down and quarantined a hospital where a man died of Ebola in the first recorded case of the highly infectious disease in Africa's most populous country. The hospital will be shut for a week and all staff monitored to ensure the virus has not spread, he added. Ebola has killed 672 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since it was first diagnosed in February.

Georgia

Authorities to probe ex-leader

Georgian authorities said they are opening a criminal case against former president Mikhail Saakashvili. Prosecutors in the small Caucasus nation made the announcement on Monday after Saakashvili failed to appear before investigators for questioning. Officials charged Saakashvili with illegally breaking up a 2007 protest, taking over a television station and seizing the property of a businessman.

AP-Reuters-AFP

(China Daily 07/29/2014 page12)