Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Khamenei vows no retreat on Iran election result

Khamenei vows no retreat on Iran election result
Demo detainees aired on Iran TV
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By Zahra Hosseinian and Hossein Jaseb
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared on Wednesday that a disputed election result would stand, despite street protests that Iranian officials say Britain and the United States have incited.
(EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.)
"I had insisted and will insist on implementing the law on the election issue," Khamenei said. "Neither the establishment nor the nation will yield to pressure at any cost."
Now that police and religious militia have regained apparent control of the streets after the biggest anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran's hardline leadership is blaming the discontent on foreign powers.
"Britain, America and the Zionist regime (Israel) were behind the recent unrest in Tehran," Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran was weighing whether to downgrade ties with Britain after each country expelled two diplomats this week. He also announced he had "no plans" to attend a G8 meeting in Italy this week on Afghanistan.
His remarks, a day after U.S. President Barack Obama said he was "appalled and outraged" by the clampdown in Iran, provided more evidence of rising tension with the West.
Western diplomats had seen the June 25-27 event as a rare chance for Group of Eight nations to discuss with regional powers such as Iran shared goals for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The unexpected upheaval in Iran has thrown a spanner into Obama's plans to engage the Islamic Republic in a substantive dialogue over its nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful but which the West suspects is for bomb-making.
Security forces have clamped a tight grip on Tehran to prevent more rallies against the June 12 poll, which reformists say was rigged to return President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power and keep out moderate former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi.
DEEP DIVISIONS
The furor over the election has exposed deep rifts within Iran's political elite, with Khamenei solidly backing Ahmadinejad against Mousavi, who has the support of former presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami.
Many of Iran's senior Shi'ite clerics in the holy city of Qom have stayed out of the political fray, although Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri has called for three days of national mourning from Wednesday for those killed in protests.
Montazeri was once named successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, but fell out with the father of the revolution before he died in 1989. He has spent years under house arrest in Qom.
At least 17 people have been killed in the protests. Amateur footage of clashes with security men, and of some of the deaths, has been posted on the Internet and viewed around the world. Continued...
Source: Reuters

China airs worry about North Korea after talks

By Chris Buckley
BEIJING (Reuters) - China shares the region's "serious concerns" about a nuclear North Korea, a senior Chinese military officer said after talks with Pentagon officials that also sought to ease friction at sea between the two big powers.
Lieutenant-General Ma Xiaotian did not announce new steps against Pyongyang. But he continued China's recent practice of openly airing worries about its isolated neighbor, which conducted a second nuclear test on May 25, prompting new United Nations sanctions.
"For the regional security of northeast Asia, the North Korean nuclear issue is not only a serious concern for the United States and neighboring South Korea and Japan, but is also for China," Ma told a news conference on Wednesday after the talks with a U.S. delegation led by Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy.
But Ma also repeated China's position that the dispute with North Korea must be defused through negotiations.
"We hope and encourage the relevant parties to take positive steps and more stabilizing measures to control developments on the Korean Peninsula, to address the issues through diplomatic negotiations, consultations and dialogue."
ENFORCING UN SANCTIONS
The United States has ratcheted up the pressure on North Korea, tracking its ships in a bid to deter arms shipments banned under the recent U.N. Security Council resolution.
But Flournoy said she told the Chinese officials that Washington will consult with nations in the region.
"The U.S. assured our Chinese counterparts that we're committed to implementing the U.N. resolution fully, responsibly and in concert with other nations in the region," she told a separate news conference after the talks with Ma.
She and Ma both said their talks did not address the specifics of China's potential role in enforcing the U.N. resolution against North Korea.
Pyongyang, for its part, is showing no signs of trying to defuse regional tensions.
A source in South Korea's Presidential Blue House said the North is now preparing for test launches of a long-range missile and of mid-range missiles, local media reported.
South Korean government sources have said the North could be ready to fire its Taepodong-2 missile, which could reach U.S. territory, in a matter of weeks. It would take far less time to prepare mid-range missiles, which can hit all of South Korea and most of Japan.
AVOIDING SEA INCIDENTS
At the military talks, China and the United States also agreed to hold talks in July to discuss preventing incidents at sea, including ones in which Chinese vessels have jostled U.S. navy ships in waters off China's coast. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.S. drones prowl over Pakistan's South Waziristan

U.S. drones prowl over Pakistan's South Waziristan
By Hafiz Wazir
WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - U.S. drones prowled the sky over Pakistan's South Waziristan on Wednesday, a day after one of the aircraft attacked a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, killing about 70 militants.
The U.S. attack came as the Pakistani army is preparing an all-out assault on al Qaeda ally Mehsud, who has been accused of orchestrating a campaign of bombings in Pakistan, including the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
The push into South Waziristan on the Afghan border looms as the army is finishing off an offensive in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, launched after Taliban gains raised fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's future.
Pakistan is a vital ally for the United States as it strives to defeat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan, where thousands of extra U.S. soldiers are arriving.
The pilotless U.S. drone strike late on Tuesday, on a funeral for one of six militants killed in a similar strike earlier in the day, suggests closer coordination between the United States and Pakistan.
But Pakistan, which officially objects to such strikes, is unlikely to confirm that in a country where many people are suspicious of the alliance with the United States in its global campaign against militancy.
Intelligence officials said late on Tuesday 45 people had been killed in the drone attack as mourners were leaving the funeral. On Wednesday they said about 70 people had been killed. A Taliban spokesman said 65 had been killed.
A Taliban official said Mehsud had been in the area but was not hurt. Security officials and villagers said the Taliban had sealed off the site.
"Bodies are still lying there and the Taliban are not allowing anybody close while their men are coming and going in vehicles," resident Ghulam Rasool told Reuters by telephone.
The militants also fired at U.S. drones flying over the remote, mountainous region.
"Militants fired with machineguns at two drones in Makeen and Laddah, forcing them to fly back," said another resident, referring to two areas under Mehsud's control.
TALIBAN CLAIM KILLING RIVAL
The military has been launching air strikes on Mehsud's bases over the past week or more while soldiers have been securing main roads into the region, sealing off his stronghold.
A military convoy, including tanks and armoured personnel carriers, headed toward the area on Wednesday, a Reuters reporter in the region said.
Tuesday's drone attacks happened hours after a gunman working as a guard killed a rival of Mehsud who had spoken out strongly against the Taliban chief. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Philippines arrests JI-linked Muslim rebels

Philippines arrests JI-linked Muslim rebels
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine soldiers have arrested a Muslim guerrilla who helped transfer funds from the regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah (JI) to local separatist rebels, an army spokesman said on Wednesday.
The presence of Islamic militants in areas where government forces are fighting Muslim guerrillas could scare away potential investors for vast plantations, undeveloped oil-and-gas fields and untapped gold and copper mines in the southern Philippines.
Army commandos caught Ansar Venancio during a raid at a rebel hideout in Marawi City on the southern island of Mindanao two weeks ago, Lieutenant-Colonel Arnulfo Burgos said on Wednesday, adding his arrest will help uncover links between JI militants and rebels on Mindanao.
"He facilitated the stay, travel and transfer of funds from JI to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)," Burgos said, referring to the country's largest Muslim rebel group.
The MILF has denied any links with JI and al Qaeda, but it is possible some members may have personal ties with foreign militants, rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu has said.
Under heavy guard, Venancio and Mubin Sakandal, one of the organisers of the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf, both wearing hospital gowns after undergoing medical check-ups, were paraded before journalists at an army base in Manila on Wednesday.
Burgos said about three dozen JI members from Indonesia and Malaysia are either seeking refuge or helping to train local Muslim rebels in the battle for control over a large marshland on Mindanao, an area believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits.
Nearly 600 people have been killed since August 2008 when rogue MILF members went on the rampage after peace talks between the government and the rebels collapsed after a court ruling stopped the signing of an ancestral homeland deal.
Fighting across Mindanao has escalated with MILF rebels helping their rogue comrades, officials and aid workers have said. They fear the violence could surge with money and weapons arriving from Islamic militants abroad.
(Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

Source: Reuters

Corruption tops many Iraqis' concerns, not security

By Aseel Kami
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Many Iraqis, inured to violence after years of slaughter between Shi'ites and Sunnis, seem more worried about the corruption that has crept into every corner of life and is eating away at Iraq's nascent public institutions.
The violence triggered by the 2003 U.S. invasion is fading and as it does, Iraqis focus more and more on the problems plaguing their daily lives, such as intermittent electricity, a lack of clean drinking water and an overwhelmed sewage system.
Topping the concerns of many is a pandemic of corruption, which is undermining efforts to rebuild and provide basic services and could ultimately brew so much discontent that the flagging insurgency may find rich soil in which to renew itself.
"I cannot move one step without bribing people," said Adel Hamza, who as head of public relations at a foreign construction company is responsible for getting contracts signed, stamped and authenticated by Iraqi authorities. "Everyone has got their mouths open as if I am feeding birds."
It is difficult to find someone in the government who can put a figure on the amount being embezzled or paid in bribes for government contracts, passports or other official paperwork.
One senior official, speaking on condition he not be identified, said at least $4 billion of Iraq's $58.6 billion 2009 annual budget was expected to go astray.
As oil prices surged to historic highs last year over $147 per barrel, the Iraqi economy was flooded with cash. Only Somalia and Myanmar were seen as more corrupt than Iraq in 2008, according to corruption watchdog Transparency International.
MALIKI VOWS CRACKDOWN
The end of June will mark the start of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, when the combat troops that invaded to topple Saddam Hussein pull out of Iraqi cities, leaving security in urban centres in the hands of Iraqi police and soldiers.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other politicians have warned that Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and other violent groups are likely to try to take advantage of the U.S. pull-back to launch more attacks in a bid to reignite sectarian warfare.
A spate of bombings around Baghdad and in other areas killed 27 people Monday and a massive truck bomb Saturday killed 73 outside a mosque near the northern city of Kirkuk.
Haider Abdul-Muhsin says that when he needs to get Interior Ministry officials to sign identification documents, he has to spread money around like confetti.
"From the entry gate where a security guard stands till I get to the officer, I have to pay money to get my paperwork processed. This is not normal," said Muhsin.
He believes corruption lies behind the dilapidated state of his neighborhood, where sewage pools in cracks in the pavement. A renovation project begun three years ago was never finished. Muhsin said he heard the contractor took the money and ran.
"My district looks like it was hit by a rocket," he said. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.S. warns of threats against Sudan government, West

By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Islamic militants have threatened violence against Sudan's government and could target Western interests following the death of a suspected militant, the U.S. embassy in Khartoum said on Wednesday.
The U.S. embassy, which urged its citizens to keep a low profile and restrict their travel, did not give details of the "jihadist website" it said had published the threats or the suspected militant that had been killed.
The warning comes at a time of already heightened tension in the capital, where a judge was due on Wednesday to issue a verdict in the case of five men accused of murdering a U.S. aid worker and his driver.
Sudan, which hosted al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the 1990s before expelling him, has been on a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1993.
The U.S. embassy's warden message said: "Statements threatening violent action against the government of Sudan have been posted on a jihadist website, following the death of a suspected Islamic extremist."
It said calls to attack government targets "and/or Western interests" might be repeated during Friday prayers, and warned citizens not to travel inside the capital from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on that day.
Sudanese state media last week reported a university professor, wanted on charges related to extremism, had died after a police chase.
A police spokesman was quoted as saying someone threw a stone at the suspect while he was trying to get away from officers on a motorcycle on Wednesday last week, thinking he was a thief, and he died later in hospital of head injuries.
U.S. officials have acknowledged Sudan has been cooperative in sharing intelligence on militant groups since the September 11 attacks in 2001. But Western embassies have continued to warn that militants remain active in Sudan.
Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri in 2007 criticised President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for letting international peacekeepers into the country's Darfur region and accused him of abandoning Islam to appease the United States.
In August 2007, Sudanese security services said they had broken up a plot to attack the French, British, U.S. and U.N. diplomatic missions in Khartoum.
(Writing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: Reuters

Disaster-prone Bangladesh trials cell phone alerts

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of mobile users in Bangladesh's flood and cyclone-prone areas will now receive advance warning of an impending natural disaster through an alert on their cell phones, a government official says.
Bangladesh -- one of the world's most densely populated countries -- is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, including cyclones, storm surges, droughts, floods and earthquakes, which often affect millions of people.
In a bid to minimize loss of life and damage to property, Bangladeshi authorities have signed an agreement with two mobile operators in the country to provide disaster early warning alerts to subscribers.
Grameenphone and state-owned Teletalk will send instant messages to their subscribers in two of the most vulnerable areas -- flood-prone north-central Shirajganj district and cyclone-prone Cox's Bazar district on the coast.
"This new initiative will mean that people will get an alert on their phones warning them that they are likely to face flooding or a cyclone," Syed Ashraf, communications specialist for the country's Disaster Management Bureau, told Reuters by telephone.
"So they will then be able to take action like evacuate their homes and seek shelter in assigned places."
USER-FRIENDLY
Bangladesh, with a population of around 162 million, has more than 46 million mobile phone subscribers.
Ashraf said the messages would not be the usual SMS format, but would flash automatically on the screen of mobile phone sets, instead of going to message boxes.
This way, people would not have to even push a button on their handsets, making it very user-friendly, he added.
Bangladesh is one of the riskiest countries in the world for natural disasters, according to a U.N. list published last week.
Cyclone Aila, which struck the coastal belt last month, killed more that 170 people, damaged over 500,000 houses and affected more than 3 million people.
The country has an effective early warning system operated by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society through its 42,000 volunteers who move around with bicycles and megaphones informing people of the impending danger and advising them to evacuate their homes.
But some of the more remote disaster-prone areas are not covered by volunteers and often villagers have no idea that their homes are likely to be flooded or that a severe cyclone is heading their way.
Officials say the new service aims to strengthen the existing early warning mechanism, reduce the number of people killed or injured and minimise loss of property.
The initiative will be piloted over the next six months with the intention of expanding it across the country.
(Reporting by Nita Bhalla; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Source: Reuters

China's top dissident arrested for subversion

BEIJING (Reuters) - One of China's best known dissidents, Liu Xiaobo, has been formally arrested on suspicion of inciting subversion, following his detention late last year for promoting a petition calling for an end to one-party rule.
State news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday prosecutors approved Liu's arrest on Tuesday for "alleged agitation activities aimed at subversion of government and overthrowing of the socialist system."
"Liu has been engaged in agitation activities, such as spreading of rumors and defaming of the government, aimed at subversion of the state and overthrowing the socialism system in recent years," Xinhua quoted police as saying in a statement.
The move brings one of the best-known critics of China's ruling Communist Party a step closer to trial, and it will be a blow to supporters and human rights groups who had hoped he would be released after China passed the sensitive twentieth anniversary of the 1989 pro-democracy protests.
Xinhua reported that Liu "confessed to the charge in preliminary police investigation."
But his family and friends have said he has been unfairly persecuted for peaceful expression.
Liu, 53, has been one of China's most prominent dissidents since 1989, when he was heavily involved in the protests in and around Tiananmen Square that were crushed on June 4 that year.
Late last year, he was among the dissidents and rights activists who launched "Charter 08," a petition calling for the dismantling of one-party rule and creation of multi-party democracy.
"Liu Xiaobo is expressing his right to free speech. This is a basic right ... the Communist Party simply shouldn't be detaining people like this," Jiang Qisheng, a dissident who also signed Charter 08, told Reuters in an earlier interview.
Liu was jailed in the wake of 1989 and again in 1996. But he has remained a vocal and acerbic critic of the government, often publishing essays on overseas Chinese websites. He also helped found the Independent Chinese PEN group, which has campaigned against censorship and political controls.
(Reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim and Chris Buckley in Beijing and Lucy Hornby in Shanghai; Editing by Ken Wills and Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: Reuters

Iran cracks down as reformists call for mourning

Iran cracks down as reformists call for mourning
Demo detainees aired on Iran TV
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By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - A security crackdown appears to have quelled street rallies against Iran's disputed poll, but the leadership faced a new challenge on Wednesday from calls by reformist clerics for national mourning for dead protesters.
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
While defiant cries of "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) were again heard from Tehran rooftops as darkness descended overnight, Iran's hardline Islamist leadership, for now at least, seemed to have gained the upper hand.
Hundreds of riot police and Basij militiamen on Tehran's main squares appeared to have largely put an end to mass protests against the June 12 election, which reformists say was rigged in favor of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
At least 10 protesters were killed in the worst violence on Saturday, and about seven more early last week. Many of the deaths have been filmed by fellow demonstrators, posted on the Internet and viewed by thousands around the world.
U.S. President Barack Obama toughened his stance on Tuesday and said he was "appalled and outraged" by Iran's crackdown.
Iran has accused the protesters of being backed by the West, the United States and Britain in particular, and have paraded arrested young demonstrators on state television confessing to being incited by foreign news broadcasts.
The Foreign Ministry accused U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of interfering in Iran's affairs "under the influence of some powers," an apparent reference to Britain and the United States.
MOURNING Tehran's hardline leadership is locked in a dispute with Western powers over its nuclear program, which it says is intended for generating electricity but which the West suspects could yield nuclear weapons that could destabilize the region.
Obama said the United States would not interfere in the protests, describing accusations it was instigating them as "patently false and absurd."
"This tired strategy of using old tensions to scapegoat other countries won't work any more in Iran," he said.
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a dissident but yet one of the most senior clerics in Iran, called for three days of national mourning from Wednesday for those killed.
"Resisting the people's demand is religiously prohibited," Montazeri said in a statement on his website.
Montazeri was once named successor to Ayatollah Rohullah Khomeini, but fell out with the founder of the Islamic Republic shortly before his death in 1989. Montazeri has been under house arrest in the holy city of Qom for around a decade.
Reformist cleric Mehdi Karoubi who came third in the election also signaled opposition would continue, calling on Iranians to hold ceremonies on Thursday to mourn the dead. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.S. drone strike kills 45 in Pakistan

U.S. drone strike kills 45 in Pakistan
By Alamgir Bitani
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A U.S. drone killed at least 45 Pakistani Taliban militants on Tuesday when it struck after a funeral of an insurgent commander killed earlier in the day, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
U.S. ally Pakistan officially objects to the strikes by pilotless U.S. aircraft though the attack came as the Pakistani army is preparing an offensive against Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan on the Afghan border.
The military went on the offensive against Taliban fighters allied with Mehsud in the Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad, in May and are in the final phase of that operation.
The next target is Mehsud.
"Three missiles were fired by drones as people were dispersing after offering funeral prayers for Niaz Wali," one intelligence official said referring to a Taliban commander who was one of six militants killed in an earlier drone attack.
The army had no information on the attack on the funeral in the remote area under Mehsud's control, a military official said.
Mehsud, an al Qaeda ally accused of plotting the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, had been in the area but was not hurt, a Taliban official said.
The United States has offered a reward of $5 million for information leading to Mehsud's location or arrest.
The offensive in Swat came after Taliban gains raised fears for the future of nuclear-armed Pakistan, a vital ally for the United States as it strives to defeat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan.
The government has ordered an offensive against Mehsud in his South Waziristan stronghold.
The Taliban have responded with a string of bomb attacks in towns and cities and assassinations of opponents.
OPPONENT KILLED
Earlier on Tuesday, a gunman working as a guard killed a rival of Mehsud who had spoken out strongly against the Taliban chief and may have been about to mount a challenge against him.
The murdered militant commander, Qari Zainuddin, was killed in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan, police said. The gunman escaped.
President Asif Ali said Pakistan had to fight to the end and Mehsud was just one "player." Continued...
Source: Reuters

Antigua sacks regulator over Stanford "cancer"

Antigua sacks regulator over Stanford cancer
By Pascal Fletcher
MIAMI (Reuters) - Antigua and Barbuda's government on Tuesday dismissed the country's chief financial regulator over his alleged role in the Allen Stanford fraud case, and vowed to root out further corruption "cancer" if it existed.
Leroy King had already been suspended last week as head of the Caribbean nation's Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) over U.S. charges that he collaborated with Texas billionaire Stanford in a $7 billion "massive Ponzi scheme".
In announcing the Antigua and Barbuda cabinet's decision, Attorney General Justin Simon told Reuters he had received from U.S. authorities a request that King be detained pending a formal extradition process. This request for his arrest would be considered by the local judicial authorities, he said.
"Cabinet ... has agreed to accept the (FSRC) recommendation that Mr. King's employment as administrator be terminated with immediate effect," Simon said in an interview by telephone from the Antiguan capital St. John's.
Antigua and Barbuda was at the heart of Stanford's business empire stretching from the Caribbean to the United States, Latin America and Europe. Antigua's biggest bank, Stanford International Bank Ltd. (SIB), sold the certificates of deposit (CDs) the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says bilked thousands of investors out of billions of dollars.
Stanford's detention hearing in Houston is set for Thursday morning.
The scandal surrounding Stanford, a flamboyant sports entrepreneur who was known as "Sir Allen" in Antigua after he was granted a knighthood by the government, had damaged the nation's image as an offshore finance destination, Simon said.
"The (SEC) report clearly is adverse ... and the effect clearly is not something of which we can be proud," he said.
On Friday, the amended SEC charges against Stanford, four associates and King alleged that the Antigua regulator received "thousands of dollars in bribes" from Stanford to ensure the FSRC "looked the other way" and conducted sham audits.
The SEC said King, acting as gamekeeper turned poacher, helped Stanford and his associates evade and obstruct U.S. probes into the Stanford business empire for several years.
Simon said the Antigua FSRC, now under new leadership, would "widen the scope of the investigation to include other offshore companies during the tenure of Mr. King".
This was "to ensure that the cancer which has been discovered has not spread, that it is limited to the Stanford situation," he said.
DID REGULATOR ACT ALONE?
The board of the Antigua financial regulatory authority, Simon said, was now being chaired by Althea Crick.
She had in the past led the country's financial watchdog "until Mr. Stanford may have influenced her removal," the attorney general said, acknowledging the power which the Texas billionaire had wielded over the country's financial sector. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.S. urges Sudan to carry out North-South peace deal

By Arshad Mohammed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States urged Sudan's north and south on Tuesday not to allow disputes over oil and elections to unravel the 2005 peace deal that ended their two-decade civil war.
Disagreements over how to implement the deal could drag the African oil exporter back into conflict if not settled ahead of a ruling on a disputed oil region in July, elections in 2010 and a referendum on southern secession the following year.
"The stakes are enormous," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, reflecting fears among officials and analysts that the civil war, in which two million people died, could erupt again. The war was separate from the Darfur conflict which continues in western Sudan.
Steinberg spoke at a U.S.-hosted conference that gathered officials from north Sudan's dominant National Congress Party, the south's Sudan People's Liberation Movement and 20 countries to try to keep the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on track.
The agreement set an interim period, with a coalition government between the Muslim north and mostly Christian south and the sharing of oil wealth. It ends in 18 months with a referendum in the south for which analysts say the government is unprepared.
A return to war would be disastrous effect for Sudan, its oil industry -- where Total of France, CNPC of China, Petronas of Malaysia and other major firms are active -- and surrounding states.
A key dispute between the two sides has been control of the oil-producing Abyei region in central Sudan. The north and south claim parts of it and their troops have clashed there since the 2005 deal.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is due to rule on the dispute in July but it is widely believed neither side will be satisfied by its decision.
'SOFT LANDING'
The U.S. special envoy for Sudan, Gen. Scott Gration, said the Khartoum government and the SPLM, which rules the south, had agreed to work together to prevent the verdict from igniting violence.
"We have taken a commitment to ensure that we will do everything we can and come up with a plan to ensure a soft landing from both sides," Gration told reporters.
Another U.S. official said the parties had agreed in several days of talks in Washington to send representatives together with Gration to Abyei when the ruling comes out to quell dissatisfaction.
The February election is another area of disagreement. The SPLM says a census under-counted southerners and has demanded a redrawing of constituencies.
Analysts say the government has done little to prepare for the possibility of a southern vote to secede in the January 2011 referendum. Such a breakup could ignite conflicts over borders, oil and the land rights of militias that roam between the two areas.
The U.S. official, who spoke on condition he not be named, said representatives of the north and the south wanted to continue three-way talks, with the U.S. serving as a mediator, next month in Khartoum and in August in Juba.
(Editing by Alan Elsner)

Source: Reuters

Madagascar leader says ex-president planning coup

PARIS (Reuters) - Madagascar's president said in comments published Tuesday the man he ousted as the country's leader was planning a coup in a bid to come back to power.
Andry Rajoelina, 35, came to power in March when President Marc Ravalomanana stepped aside after pressure from the opposition and army chiefs.
Ravalomanana, who fled to southern Africa, insists he remains the legitimate leader of the Indian Ocean island and has rejected sharing power with Rajoelina.
"Today there are people who are thirsty for power," Rajoelina told French RFI radio in an interview recorded on Friday. RFI released written excerpts of the interview, which is due to be broadcast Thursday.
"There are people who are even ready to come and retake power with mercenaries. Everyone is talking about it. And that is what Mr Ravalomanana is doing," Rajoelina said.
Southern African leaders suspended Madagascar from the Southern African Development Community in March, saying they would not recognize Rajoelina, who took power in a move condemned as a coup by the international community.
Former president Ravalomanana was sentenced in absentia this month to four years in jail and a $70 million fine for abuse of office in buying a presidential jet. He has rejected the ruling.
"He (Ravalomanana) is making telephone calls, calling his supporters ... and telling them that he will soon be back, with soldiers, that he will soon retake power," said Rajoelina, who last month refused to allow Ravalomanana to return from exile..
"What is really upsetting in all this is that he is ready to retake power even if it causes civil war in Madagascar," he added.
The African economic bloc COMESA said earlier this month a military intervention to restore constitutional order on the island could be an option but SADC said it would insist on a peaceful solution to the situation.
Internationally mediated talks between the island's feuding leaders aimed at creating a consensus government collapsed a week ago, and the SADC has said it will speed up its efforts to help restore political order.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Source: Reuters

U.S., EU act against China on raw material exports

U.S., EU act against China on raw material exports
US files WTO case against China
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By Susan Cornwell and Darren Ennis
WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States and European Union took action against China on Tuesday for restricting exports of industrial raw materials, intensifying a trade struggle at a delicate time for the global economy.
In the United States the decision to bring the dispute before the World Trade Organization was seen as part of a more muscular trade policy promised by the Obama administration, but it added to tensions at a time when Washington counts on Beijing to keep buying its debt.
Europe and the United States had earlier failed to persuade resource-hungry China to reduce its export tariffs and raise quotas on materials like bauxite, coke and manganese that are used in steel, microchips, planes and other products.
Billions of dollars in trade flows are affected, and China gives its industries an unfair edge, U.S. officials said.
"After more than two years of urging China to lift these unfair restrictions, with no result, we are filing at the WTO today," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told a news conference in Washington.
"We are most troubled that this appears to be a conscious policy to create unfair preferences for Chinese industries" that use the materials, he said.
As a first step, the United States and the European Commission -- which oversees trade for the 27-nation EU bloc -- formally sought consultations with Beijing at the global trade watchdog. If these talks fail, after 60 days the next step would be to request a WTO panel to hear the complaint.
"It is very much hoped that we will not have to proceed to the next stage," Kirk said.
In Brussels, EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said: "The Chinese restrictions on raw materials distort competition and increase global prices, making things even more difficult for our companies in this economic downturn."
"I hope that we can find an amicable solution to this issue through the consultation process," she said in a statement.
CHINA LIMITING EXPORTS
The EU and the United States say China restricts exports of raw materials despite a pledge to eliminate export taxes and charges made when it joined the WTO in 2001.
This hurts foreign "downstream producers" of goods, such as aluminum producers and steelworkers, since the export restraints limit their access to raw materials and raise world market prices for the materials while lowering the prices that domestic Chinese producers have to pay, U.S. officials said.
U.S. officials said the nine materials covered by their case were bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide, silicon metal, yellow phosphorus and zinc.
In Ottawa, Canadian officials indicated they had not ruled out joining the case. "For the moment, we are closely monitoring developments in this file," said Melisa Leclerc, spokeswoman for Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Relics of old Afghanistan reveal Jewish past

Relics of old Afghanistan reveal Jewish past
By Golnar Motevalli
HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Behind a parade of old mud brick shops, through narrow winding alleys, a tiny door opens onto a sundrenched courtyard, where school children giggle and play alongside the ghosts of Afghanistan's Jewish past.
The Yu Aw is one of four synagogues in the old quarter of Herat city in west Afghanistan, which after decades of abandonment and neglect, has been restored to provide desperately-needed space for an infant school.
When Israel was founded in 1948, the estimated 280 Jewish families that lived in Herat began leaving. Today, there are no Jews left in the city and only one left in the entire country, the last remnant of a community that dates back some 2,500 years.
"Before this was a community center and school it was a synagogue for the Jewish families who lived in the area," said Fatemeh Nezary, a teacher and supervisor of the school.
"The children don't know, they are too young to understand right now," she said, pointing toward her small class of doe-eyed five-year old girls and boys.
The Herat synagogue, over a century old, is comprised of a modest stone courtyard framed by a series of small rooms including a main prayer room which still has a raised platform where the torah would have been read.
Parts of the prayer room's high ceilings are decorated in painted Persian-style floral patterns and motifs.
The "mikvah," an echoey underground chamber underneath the courtyard, has also been restored. Decades of rubbish was gutted from its cavity to reveal a natural pool of water which is thought to have been used for bathing rituals.
"Wherever possible we try and put back the elements. We can't put back what we don't find, some of the buildings have been stripped," said Jolyon Leslie, a South African architect who leads restoration projects in Herat's old city on behalf of the Agha Khan Trust for Culture.
"What we're trying to do is protect as many old historical monuments as possible. Whether it's a mosque whether it's an ex-synagogue like this or whether it's a hamam, to try and put them in public use," Leslie said.
"It's important that Heratis understand for future generations that this was a very rich society in the sense of its religious diversity and it's pluralism," he added.
Where Jewish prayers once rang out, now Afghan children chant nursery rhymes. The platform where the torah would have been read is left undisturbed to bask in warm sunshine which floods through wide, arched bay windows.
"There's a huge shortage of classes in this part of the city and some 60,000 people (here) and some 20,000 of those are children ... we really wanted to invest both in protecting the historic monument but also in having a new use," Leslie said.
"It's a mixture of conservation and social development."
Three other synagogues in the same neighborhood are being renovated. Two will also be used as schools for children living in the neighborhood. The third is now a mosque for the residents who live in a cluster of simple, centuries-old abodes. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.S., EU start WTO case against China on raw materials

U.S., EU start WTO case against China on raw materials
By Susan Cornwell and Darren Ennis
WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States and European Union on Tuesday began a case against China at the World Trade Organization over its export restrictions on industrial raw materials, saying Beijing was trying to tilt the playing field in favor of its own industries.
The action followed failure to persuade resource-hungry China to reduce its export tariffs and raise quotas on a number of key materials such as coke, zinc and yellow phosphorus.
The materials are used in steel, microchips, planes and other products, and the trade flows affected are worth billions of dollars, U.S. officials said.
"After more than two years of urging China to lift these unfair restrictions, with no result, we are filing at the WTO today," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told a news conference in Washington.
"We are most troubled that this appears to be a conscious policy to create unfair preferences for Chinese industries" that use the materials, he said.
The United States and the European Commission -- which oversees trade for the 27-nation EU bloc -- are formally seeking consultations with Beijing at the global trade watchdog. If these talks fail, after 60 days the next step would be to request a WTO panel to hear the complaint.
"It is very much hoped that we will not have to proceed to the next stage," Kirk said.
In Brussels, EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said in a statement, "The Chinese restrictions on raw materials distort competition and increase global prices, making things even more difficult for our companies in this economic downturn."
"I hope that we can find an amicable solution to this issue through the consultation process," she said.
CHINA LIMITING EXPORTS
The EU and the United States say China continues to restrict exports of raw materials despite its pledge to eliminate export taxes and charges when it joined the WTO in 2001.
This seriously disadvantages foreign "downstream producers" of goods, such as aluminum producers and steelworkers, since the export restraints limit their access to raw materials and raise world market prices for the materials while lowering the prices that domestic Chinese producers have to pay, U.S. officials said.
U.S. officials said the nine materials covered by their case were bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide, silicon metal, yellow phosphorus and zinc.
In Ottawa, Canadian officials indicated they haven't ruled out joining the case. "For the moment, we are closely monitoring developments in this file," said Melisa Leclerc, spokeswoman for Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day.
Taking action at the WTO is expected to further damage already brittle trade relations with China. U.S.-China tensions have been exacerbated by the growth in the U.S. trade deficit. This is the first case brought by President Barack Obama's administration against China at the WTO. Continued...
Source: Reuters
 

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