LONDON: The family of the Libyan accused of bringing down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie have said the US staged an abduction using a local militia leader, The Observer reported on Sunday.

Mohammed Abouagela Masud was charged last week in the US more than 30 years after the 1988 bombing that killed 270 people.

The 71-year-old’s family say he was kidnapped from his home in Tripoli in November by gunmen led by a local warlord on the orders of the US.

KIRKUK: At least seven members of Iraq’s federal police were killed Sunday during an attack near Kirkuk in the country’s north, where remnants of Daesh group militants are active, police and government sources said.

A bomb blast initially targeted a truck transporting the men. It was followed by “a direct attack with small arms,” near the village of Chalal Al-Matar, a federal police officer who attributed the assault to Daesh, said on condition of anonymity.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

CAIRO: Proficiency in Arabic should be a prerequisite for those seeking government jobs in Egypt, according to an organization seeking to save the language.

The Egyptian Arabic Language Academy has made a number of recommendations to education ministries aimed at protecting the language from the influence of foreign technology and education, which it says is harming the language skills of children and students.

CAIRO: Egypt has confirmed plans to use biogas technology to meet its energy needs.

Biogas is a renewable energy source that uses gases produced from raw materials including agricultural and municipal waste. It is already used in hundreds of places around the world.

CAIRO: The case of a four-year-old boy, Shenouda, who was raised by a Coptic couple who found him abandoned outside a church, has sparked a heated debate in Egypt involving human rights activists and lawmakers.

Activists have called for the case to be brought before the House of Representatives in the hope that Egypt’s laws regarding the adoption of children by Christians will be amended.