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UP FRONTSaturday 16 January 2016
Family of slain American gather for funeral in Florence
The wooden casket carrying the remains of Ashley Olsen, 35, is brought into the Santo Spirito ba- TRISHA THOMAS Fiorentini, a local artist,
silica during her funeral service in Florence, Italy, Friday, Jan. 15, 2016. Prosecutors say she was NICOLE WINFIELD discovered Olsen’s body
killed by a Senegalese man, Cheik Tidiane Diaw, she met at a disco, after a night of cocaine- Associated Press Jan. 9 after he asked her
fueled sex followed by a fight. FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — landlord to let him into the
Friends and family of an apartment because he
(AP Photo/Fabrizio Giovannozzi) American woman killed in hadn’t heard from her in
her Florence apartment several days.
gathered Friday for a fu- Prosecutors say she was
neral and burial in her ad- killed a day earlier by a
opted Tuscan homeland Senegalese man she met
as authorities prepared at a disco, after a night of
to present their case to a cocaine-use and sex fol-
judge against the prime lowed by a fight.
suspect in her slaying. The suspect, Cheik Tidiane
Friends carrying red, white Diaw, acknowledged to
and pink roses joined rela- investigators that he had
tives of Ashley Olsen, 35, pushed Olsen twice to the
and her beloved beagle ground after she pushed
Scout for the funeral inside him in an attempt to get
the Santo Spirito basilica. him to leave her apart-
Olsen’s boyfriend, Federico ment. But he said he never
Fiorentini, entered the ba- strangled her and left her
silica holding a bouquet of alive on her bed, accord-
flowers and held Scout on ing to his lawyer, Antonio
his lap during the service. Voce.q
Al-Qaida claims brazen attack
on hotel, cafe in Burkina Faso
B. OUEDRAOGO security forces first arrived,
Associated Press they turned around rather
OUAGADOUGOU, Burki- than confront the attack-
na Faso (AP) — Al-Qaida ers.
militants struck an upscale A man who works the day
hotel and nearby cafe in shift at the Cappuccino
Burkina Faso’s capital late Cafe, Alpha Ouedraogo,
Friday that are popular with had left just 90 minutes be-
Westerners, taking an un- fore the attack began. He
known number of hostages said he had been in touch
and forcing others to hide by phone with other em-
for their lives. Three hours ployees and that more
later, gunfire could still be than a dozen of them were
heard as soldiers in an ar- in hiding and awaiting res-
mored vehicle finally ap- cue.
proached the area where Burkina Faso, a largely Mus-
cars had been set ablaze. lim country, has been in tur-
The local al-Qaida affiliate moil since its longtime presi-
known as AQIM claimed dent was ousted in a pop-
responsibility online as the ular uprising in late 2014.
attack was ongoing in Last September members
downtown Ouagadougou of a presidential guard
at the 147-room Splendid launched a coup that last-
Hotel, according to the SITE ed only about a week.
Intelligence Group. Friday’s violence mirrored a
In a message posted in Ar- devastating attack on the
abic on the militants’ “Mus- Radisson Blu hotel in neigh-
lim Africa” Telegram ac- boring Mali back in No-
count, it said fighters had vember that left 20 people
“broke into a restaurant of dead. In that case, Malian
one of the biggest hotels in troops — backed by French
the capital of Burkina Faso, and American special forc-
and are now entrenched es — swarmed in to retake
and the clashes are con- the building and free terri-
tinuing with the enemies of fied guests and hotel staff
the religion.” during a siege that lasted
Witness Vital Nounagnon more than seven hours.
told the AP that he saw While Burkina Faso has
four men attack the hotel largely been spared from
and neighboring Cappuc- the violence carried out by
cino Cafe about 7:30 p.m. Islamic extremist groups in
Another witness who gave Mali, a Romanian national
only his first name, Gilbert, was abducted last April.q
said that when Burkinabe
