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Show DAILY A6 Thursday, January 24, 2008 HERALD border bombed, thousands cross Igypt-Ga- za concern about the border breach. Israel demanded that Egypt take control of its border. Hamas called on its rivals to help come up with new arrangements for Gaza's J crossings. Egypt's leader said he had no choice but to let in the beleaguered Palestinians. But Arab Ibrahim Barzak THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The RAFAH, Gaza Strip Palestinian woman in a wheelchair was stumped by a low wall in her path. Like tens of thousands of Gazans, she was heading to Egypt after militants blew down the main border barrier. But the woman in her 50s was on her own, and there was no way she could get over the smaller hurdle, which others easily jumped. A uniformed Egyptian policeman walked toward her, picked her up in her wheelchair and carried her across the obstacle to send her on her way. Only a day earlier, Egyptian border guards had tried to beat back hundreds of Hamas supporters to prevent a border breach. Surreal scenes played out Wednesday across the seven-mil- e border, as huge crowds of Gazans. cooped up for two years by Israel and Egypt, overran what was once a for midable barrier. They came on foot, in cars and in donkey carts, flooding through a border barrier blown up by militants puncturing a gaping hole in Israel's airtight closure of the Gaza Strip and giving a boost to Hamas. In a shopping spree that was both festive and frenzied, Gazans cleared out stores in ah Egyptian border town, buying up everything from TV sets to soft drinks to cigarettes. g f r i r and U.S. officials in Washington said the Egyptian government assured the United States the border would be closed ' .... t rquickly. For ordinary Gazans, it was I a day. of joy and plenty. Osama Hassan, 25, said the border opening will enable him t . fianIf to marry his 5 ' because cee next week, they S 0 were able to get items they need to set up a household. He bought a special mattress for his injured back and she assembled kitchen supplies. Hassan said he belongs to Fatah, not Hamas, but still KEVIN FRAYER Associated Press wants to "kiss the forehead" of Gaza's Hamas prime minister. Palestinians cross over a destroyed section of the border wall from Rafah, in the southern Gaza Hamas did not take responsiStrip, to Egypt on Wednesday. Masked Palestinian gunmen blew holes into the Gaza-Egybility for a series of explosions border wall, and thousands of Gazans trapped in their territory by a tight blockade poured that destroyed the fence, but it into Egypt. seemed unlikely the systematic operation could have happened It also raised Israeli fears of without its approval, if not acAs waves of people ticipated in the border breach. an influx of weapons and militive involvement. Residents That breach, though likely swarmed through the demilitants said Hamas-linke- d tants to Gaza and threatened stroyed barrier some estitemporary, seemed certain to undermine crucial Egyptian cut through the metal wall to strengthen Hamas in its mated the crowd in the hundreds of thousands participation in a Mideast peace with blow torches a month ago Egyptian showdown with Israel, the weakening the structure so security forces lined up on one West and its Fatah rivals re- push by President Bush. Official reaction to the day's that it could fall easily when side of the border and Hamas lieving some of the pain of an the blasts went off. events ranged from dismay international blockade of the forces lined up on the other The appearance of the fallen to embarrassment to outright side. None of them interfered Gaza Strip following Hamas's in any way, and it appeared wall backed up that assertion. violent takeover of the coastal anger. The United States expressed It was neatly sliced at knee- Hamas militants actively par territory in June. iiiimii .. i rr ; level, with the bottom section still standing and the rest , toppled over. Hamas police quickly took J control of the shopping exodus,v channeling the crowds through two sections of the frontier. "Freedom is good. We need no border after today," said Mohammed Abu GhazaL a '. Gazan. Children bought soft drinks : and chocolate, women scooped ' up cheese and cleaning prod- men on stocked up ucts, and all expensive or cigarettes simply unavailable in Gaza because of Israel's shutdown of cargo crossings. Other Palestinians staggered over toppled metal plates that ' once made up the border fence, ' carrying TV sets, cell phones, tires and plastic bottles filled with fuel. Some brought in goats and chickens. Four Palestinians in wheelchairs were pushed over the border, where ambulances picked them up for treatment in Egypt. At one point, a dozen ; people crowded around a motorcycle to lift it over a low border wall in Egypt. Shoppers depleted stores in the border town of Rafah, . prompting Ashraf an Egyptian, to ride his into the Gaza Strip going against both traffic and logic. "I need to buy bread for my children," he said. "TheTales- left us with nothing. It's true, they are dear to us, but today, they were like locusts." mo-torbi- Small Welsh town has 7th apparent suicide this year, police say Gregory Katz intervention vented by seems to be the only topic under ; discussion in the cafes and shops of There is a this former coal mining community BRIDGEND, Wales of 40,000. deepening sense of foreboding and "People are saying it might be hopelessness in this South Wales some sort of cult, but we don't market town as the number of know," said Luke Wills, 25. "There is young people who have killed themselves keeps rising. The death. toll something amiss, but we don't know now is seven. what." The rash of deaths Police say there appears to be no and frontpage news stories about other young common link between the deaths. But at least one newspaper published people whose suicides were pre THE last-minu- ASSOCIATED PRESS a photograph of two of the dead together, fueling speculation of suicide pacts struck among friends linked by Internet social networking sites. "It's nothing like that. What people are saying is not true," said Alicia NataJohns, a friend of sha Randall, who was found dead last week. "People get down and they do it," she added, saying the young people acted on their own and were not influenced by others. "It's all from the same group, I knew these people." In addition to Randall, six men between the ages of 17 and 27 have also been found dead in the area. Authorities have ruled three of the cases to be suicides; the others are under investigation, but suicide is suspected. The deaths have contributed to a mood as grim as the nearly perpetual damp mists that shroud Bridgend in the long winter months. Surrounded by rolling green hills, the small com mercial city empties quickly at night- fall, giving it a desolate feeling. The despair is not surprising tQ, Wills, a lifelong resident who works in a clothing shop and said there is nothing for young people to do ex- cept drink alcohol and take drugs. He said even the bowling alley closed recently. "There's nothing for anyone to do," he said with a shrug. "There's a recreation center for kids, but you have to pay to use it." RSStiLiHHEMSI a lis R i VI i :4k r Will. - mm m l tVJIV on mt& I- iwvwiAii j y tiffMillfi v (Hfllp' ifbuiiliJluiff mm mi mmmwB mm : t ftiiii(8;;:liiwii'(li''liM!l'5il(t:l!iii;ry!iii1i;.- ;.V.iIi;;IciW":ih 0 f Q 1. u ?JiIr i i7i Earn Reward Points toward mora Dillard's Reward Certificates every time you shop. Subjnct to credit approval. 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