World / Nation briefs November 28, 2011

US student: I was beaten after Cairo arrest

Forced to lie still for hours in the dark, the American students held during protests in Egypt were told they would be shot if they moved or made any noise, one of them said Sunday on his first full day home.

"It was the most frightening experience of my life, I believe," Derrik Sweeney said.

Speaking to The Associated Press by Skype from Jefferson City, Mo., Sweeney said the evening of Nov. 20 started peacefully in Cairo, with Tahrir Square "abuzz with ideas of democracy and freedom."

The three wandered the streets and wound up in a large group of protesters outside the Interior Ministory, Sweeney said. The demonstrations escalated, with the protesters yelling and perhaps throwing stones, he said.

"Eventually the police shot back something, I'm not exactly sure what," he said. "We didn't wait to see. But as soon as we saw some sort of firing coming from the gun and heard it, the whole crowd stampeded out and we sprinted away."

He said they fled to an area that seemed calmer and were approached by four or five Egyptians in plain clothes.

The Egyptians offered to lead them to safety but instead took them into custody, Sweeney said.

They were threatened to be force-fed gasoline, beaten and forced to lie in a near-fetal position in the dark for six hours with their hands in cuffs behind their backs, Sweeney said. He said they were told: "If you move or make any noise, we will shoot you."

"They were hitting us in the face and in the back of the neck," he said. "Not to the point of bleeding or I can't say I have any lasting major scars at this point, but they were hitting us."

Father: Son answered ad to provide for boys

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The father of an Ohio man found dead after answering a Craigslist help-wanted ad said Sunday his son sought the job in order to better provide for his three boys.

Timothy Kern, 47, of Massilon was found dead Friday, buried near an Akron, Ohio, shopping mall. The Summit County Medical Examiner's office said he was shot in the head.

Kern's father, Jack Kern, told The Associated Press on Sunday that his son was employed "here and there" and responded to the ad for a farmhand job because he wanted the best for his own sons, ages 17, 18, and 28.

Jack Kern said the ad offered $300 a week to tend more than 680 acres, similar to a Craigslist ad that police say lured another man to his death.

"That's all he (Timothy) wanted - to give his kids a better life," Jack Kern said. "This job seemed like a great opportunity. He was really upbeat about the whole thing."

Authorities say a Craigslist ad was used to lure Norfolk, Va., resident David Pauley, 51, to Ohio, apparently with the intent of robbing him. Pauley was found dead in a rural area of Noble County, 90 miles south of Akron. A South Carolina man also answered the ad and was shot Nov. 6 before escaping, police say. Two suspects are in custody and a judge has issued a gag order in the case.

- The Associated Press