Monday, June 29, 2009

Iraqis rejoice as U.S. troops leave Baghdad

(BAGHDAD, IRAQIS, SECURITY, IRAQI, TROOPS, FORCES, ATTACKS)


Iraqis rejoice as U.S. troops leave BaghdadBy Tim Cocks and Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops pulled out of Baghdad on Monday, triggering jubilation among Iraqis hopeful that foreign military occupation is ending six years after the invasion to depose Saddam Hussein.
Iraqi soldiers paraded through the streets in their American-made vehicles draped with Iraqi flags and flowers, chanting, dancing and calling the pullout a "victory."
One drove a motorcycle with party streamers on it; another, a Humvee with a garland of plastic roses on the grill.
U.S. combat troops must pull out of Iraq`s urban centers by midnight on Tuesday under a bilateral security pact that also requires all troops to leave the country by 2012.
All had left the capital by Monday afternoon, Major-General in Staff, Abboud Qanbar, head of Iraqi security forces in Baghdad, told Reuters.
Another Iraqi official who would not be named, said some units in cities outside Baghdad would leave at the last minute. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said 30 bases remained to be handed over. There are still some 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Addressing military leaders in Baghdad, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said: "Our sovereignty has started and ... we should move forward to build a modern state and enjoy security which has been achieved."
Many Iraqis were elated even though they feared militants might use the withdrawal as an opportunity to step up attacks.
"The American forces` withdrawal is something awaited by every Iraqi: male, female, young and old. I consider June 30 to be like a wedding," said Ahmed Hameed, 38, near an ice cream bar in Baghdad`s upmarket Karrada district.
"This is proof Iraqis are capable of controlling security inside Iraq," added the recent returnee from exile in Egypt.
The government has declared June 30 a national holiday, "National Sovereignty Day."
"BIG JOY"
A spate of bombings in recent days, including two of the deadliest for more than a year that killed 150 people between them, have raised fears militants will try to step up the pace of attacks.
Yet few Iraqis see that as reason for the Americans to stay.
"It is a big joy to see them leaving," said Abu Hassan, 60, a shop owner. "There might be some more attacks because of struggles between the different parties, but Iraqis are controlling security now. It`s up to our forces now."  Continued...
Original article

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Doctors to say soon whether Nazi guard fit for trial

(DEMJANJUK, TRIAL, GERMAN, SHOULD, WINKLER, WITHIN, WE`LL)


Doctors to say soon whether Nazi guard fit for trialBy Dave Graham
BERLIN (Reuters) - Doctors should rule this week whether accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk is fit to stand trial on charges of assisting in the killing of thousands of Jews in World War Two, German prosecutors said Monday.
The 89-year-old Demjanjuk arrived last month from the United States to face charges he aided the killing of 29,000 Jews in 1943, and has been held in a German jail since May 12, pending a medical examination of whether he is fit to appear in court.
His family have fought efforts to put him on trial, arguing he suffers from spinal problems, kidney failure and anemia.
Munich state prosecutor Anton Winkler said doctors were expected to deliver their report this week.
"We believe he should be fit to stand trial within limits at least," said Winkler. "Once the assessment is there, I think we`ll bring charges within two weeks -- so at the moment that should be by mid-July."
Though Demjanjuk would probably have to be examined in court for shorter periods than younger suspects, available evidence suggested a trial should be possible, Winkler added.
If it goes ahead, it would likely be Germany`s last major Nazi trial.
Born in Ukraine, Demjanjuk tops the Simon Wiesenthal Center`s list of its 10 most-wanted suspected war criminals. Munich prosecutors want him tried for assisting in murders at Sobibor extermination camp, in what is now Poland.
He denies any role in the Holocaust.
Guenther Maull, Demjanjuk`s German lawyer, declined to make an assessment of his health.
"We`ll have to see what `within limits` really means," he told Reuters in response to Winkler`s comment. "And we`ll have to look into that again if it should go to trial."
Both prosecutors in Munich and Maull say Demjanjuk could go on trial by the autumn if he is deemed fit to stand.
Demjanjuk has said he was drafted into the Russian army in 1941, became a German prisoner of war a year later and served at German prison camps until 1944. He immigrated to the United States in 1951 and became a naturalized citizen in 1958.
In 1981, he was stripped of his U.S. citizenship and extradited to Israel, where he was sentenced to death in 1988 after Holocaust survivors said he was the notorious guard "Ivan the Terrible" at the Treblinka camp, where 870,000 people died.
Israel`s Supreme Court later overturned his conviction when new evidence showed another man was likely the Treblinka guard.  Continued...
Original article

U.N.`s Ban to visit Myanmar to urge democratic reform

(VISIT, TRIAL, KYI`S, ARREST, MYANMAR, HOUSE, UN)


By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Myanmar this week to urge its military leaders to press ahead with democratic reforms and free all political prisoners, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Monday.
Ban will visit the country formerly known as Burma on July 3-4, spokeswoman Michele Montas told reporters, adding that there were several pressing issues he would focus on in his discussions with the junta.
"These are the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the resumption of dialogue between the government and opposition ... and the need to create conditions conducive to credible elections," she said.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate and the country`s main opposition leader, has been in prison or under house arrest off and on since 1989.
The military junta that has ruled Myanmar since 1962 put Suu Kyi on trial again recently, accusing her of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an unauthorized guest to stay at her lakeside home.
Her trial is expected to resume on July 3, the day Ban arrives in Myanmar. U.N. diplomats have said the secretary-general was concerned his visit could be used as propaganda to legitimize Suu Kyi`s trial.
"The timing of this visit is not ideal," said one Western diplomat on condition of anonymity. "But the (secretary-general) is one of our few ways of exerting pressure on the regime."
Western governments have dismissed Suu Kyi`s prosecution as a "show trial" intended to keep her out of multi-party elections planned next year, which critics say will entrench almost half a century of army rule in the former Burma.
Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American intruder to stay at her home last month, which prosecutors said was a breach of a security law protecting the state from "subversive elements."
American John Yettaw swam across the Inya lake to Suu Kyi`s home on May 4 to warn her "terrorists" were planning to assassinate her. He and two of Suu Kyi`s housemaids have also been charged with breaking the same security law.
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Vicki Allen)
Original article

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U.N.`s Ban to visit Myanmar to urge democratic reform

U.N.`s Ban to visit Myanmar to urge democratic reform

(VISIT, TRIAL, KYI`S, ARREST, MYANMAR, HOUSE, UN)


By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Myanmar this week to urge its military leaders to press ahead with democratic reforms and free all political prisoners, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Monday.
Ban will visit the country formerly known as Burma on July 3-4, spokeswoman Michele Montas told reporters, adding that there were several pressing issues he would focus on in his discussions with the junta.
"These are the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the resumption of dialogue between the government and opposition ... and the need to create conditions conducive to credible elections," she said.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate and the country`s main opposition leader, has been in prison or under house arrest off and on since 1989.
The military junta that has ruled Myanmar since 1962 put Suu Kyi on trial again recently, accusing her of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an unauthorized guest to stay at her lakeside home.
Her trial is expected to resume on July 3, the day Ban arrives in Myanmar. U.N. diplomats have said the secretary-general was concerned his visit could be used as propaganda to legitimize Suu Kyi`s trial.
"The timing of this visit is not ideal," said one Western diplomat on condition of anonymity. "But the (secretary-general) is one of our few ways of exerting pressure on the regime."
Western governments have dismissed Suu Kyi`s prosecution as a "show trial" intended to keep her out of multi-party elections planned next year, which critics say will entrench almost half a century of army rule in the former Burma.
Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American intruder to stay at her home last month, which prosecutors said was a breach of a security law protecting the state from "subversive elements."
American John Yettaw swam across the Inya lake to Suu Kyi`s home on May 4 to warn her "terrorists" were planning to assassinate her. He and two of Suu Kyi`s housemaids have also been charged with breaking the same security law.
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Vicki Allen)
Original article

Partial recount in Iran, reformers want annulment

(ELECTION, MOUSAVI, STATE, OUTCOME, TEHRAN, RECOUNT, POLICE)


Partial recount in Iran, reformers want annulmentBy Fredrik Dahl and Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - A partial recount of Iran`s disputed election won by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began on Monday, but one defeated reformist candidate said an annulment of the poll was "the only way to regain the people`s trust."
In a sign that the process would not put into question Ahmadinejad`s victory, IRNA news agency said recounting so far in one Tehran district gave him more votes than in the June 12 poll that unleashed the worst unrest since the 1979 revolution.
Witnesses reported an increased police presence in some Tehran squares ahead of the expected announcement of the recount outcome later on Monday.One witness said dozens of riot police vehicles were driving toward southern Tehran.
Pro-reform cleric Mehdi Karoubi, fourth in the official count, reiterated his call for the vote to be annulled in a letter to Iran`s top legislative body, the Guardian Council, which is recounting a random 10 percent of the votes.
"The election`s annulment is the only way to regain the people`s trust," said Karoubi, in a position shared with defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, who met on Sunday with a committee of the Council in a bid to resolve a political crisis that has exposed rifts in Iran`s ruling establishment.
The Council`s spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai told state radio that talks over Mousavi`s proposal had no clear outcome, but the moderate candidate was not available for comment. Mousavi has said a "national arbitration committee" should examine the vote.
RECOUNT RESULTS
"This recount is being done before (state broadcaster) IRIB cameras in various provinces and cities and we will subsequently announce the outcome for public information. ... We will try to release the outcome by the end of working hours (on Monday)," Kadkhodai said.
State media have said 20 people were killed in violence since the election won by the hardline president, and authorities have accused Mousavi of responsibility for the bloodshed. He says the government is to blame.
Mass protests, which had echoes of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the shah, were broken up by pro-government Basij militia and riot police driving the reformist demonstrators who said the poll was rigged off the streets.
The hardline leadership, locked in a row with the West over its nuclear programme and which says the poll was fair, has also blamed turmoil in the world`s fifth biggest oil exporter on foreign powers rather than popular anger. "Americans and the Zionists (Israel) wanted to destabilise Iran," Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said.
"Even months before the election they started to talk about the possibility of vote-rigging in Iran, and they continue this path after the election," the minister added.
Iranian authorities said on Monday five out of nine detained British embassy local staff had been released, while four others were being held for questioning. Britain has rejected accusations that the embassy helped to foment the mass rallies.
The United States and other major powers have questioned the election`s fairness and condemned the bloodshed in its turbulent aftermath. Britain and Iran have expelled two of each other`s diplomats since the election.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Sunday had demanded the release of all the staff held and said his European Union colleagues had agreed to a "strong, collective response" to any such "harassment and intimidation" against EU missions.  Continued...
Original article

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Israel to build 50 new homes at W.Bank settlement

(SETTLEMENT, CONSTRUCTION, ISRAEL, ISRAELI, WOULD, ABBAS, STATE)


Israel to build 50 new homes at W.Bank settlementBy Ori Lewis
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel`s Defense Ministry said Monday it had approved construction of 50 new homes at a West Bank settlement as part of a plan for 1,450 housing units, an expansion that defies a U.S. call for a settlement freeze.
News of the planned building work emerged hours before Defense Minister Ehud Barak was due to travel to the United States for talks aimed at narrowing a rift with Washington over the settlement issue.
He will meet President Barack Obama`s Middle East envoy, George Mitchell.
An affidavit submitted by the Defense Ministry to the Supreme Court outlined plans to relocate settlers from Migron, an outpost built in the West Bank without Israeli government permission, to the settlement of Adam, north of Jerusalem.
According to the document, a response to a court case brought by the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now, a master plan for Adam calls for construction of 1,450 homes there.
But the ministry said it had given the go-ahead for the construction of only 50 of the dwellings and any additional units would require its separate approval.
Peace Now said some 2,500 settlement homes are currently under construction in the West Bank. Obama has pressed Israel to halt settlement activity as part of a bid to revive peace talks under which the Palestinians would gain statehood.
Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, territory Israel captured in a 1967 war. Palestinians say settlements, deemed illegal by the World Court, could deny them a viable and contiguous state.
STATEHOOD
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his refusal to resume negotiations with Israel until it froze settlement.
"We won`t accept the continuation of settlements," Abbas said.
Abbas also urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to drop his conditions for the creation of a Palestinian state, which include international guarantees it would have no army and a demand Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
"Israel should accept the two-state vision and not put conditions that would render the issue meaningless," Abbas said, echoing comments he made through a spokesman after a Netanyahu policy address on June 14.
In a rare dispute between Israel and its main ally, the United States, Netanyahu has refused to declare a settlement freeze, saying that some construction should continue to match population growth within the enclaves.
Barak left open the possibility of a limited, temporary halt to construction in settlements, in remarks Sunday in response to an Israeli newspaper report that he would propose a three-month moratorium.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
Original article

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Lebanon`s Hariri begins tough job to form government

(HARIRI, HEZBOLLAH, BETWEEN, POWER, LEBANON`S, DAMASCUS, ELECTION)


Lebanon`s Hariri begins tough job to form governmentBy Laila Bassam
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri began parliamentary consultations Monday aiming to form a unity government with rivals including the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
The main potential stumbling block facing U.S.-backed Hariri is a demand by pro-Syrian Shi`ite Hezbollah and its allies for veto power in cabinet, a senior political source close to the opposition told Reuters. Hariri has rejected the idea.
The Hariri-led "March 14" coalition rode to a surprise victory in the June 7 parliamentary election, winning 71 of 128 seats in the chamber, dealing a blow to an opposition which was hoping to gain the upper hand in Lebanon`s political landscape.
"The opposition interprets real participation as a third plus one (veto power) and this is the main obstacle against forming a government quickly and what may delay the formation," the senior source said.
Hezbollah and its allies have 11 of 30 seats in the outgoing cabinet, securing them effective veto power over its decisions.
Sunni Muslim Hariri, strongly backed by Saudi Arabia, has been keen on securing the backing of his powerful Shi`ite rivals, who are close allies of neighboring Syria, to ensure a smooth launch for his administration.
Immediately after the election, he called for the contentious issue of disarming Hezbollah to be shelved. The group, labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, fought Israel in a 34-day war in 2006.
Mohammad Raad, leader of Hezbollah`s parliamentary bloc, said after meeting Hariri the country desperately needed "a unity government and real participation."
In Damascus, the Syrian News Agency said President Bashar al-Assad met Saudi Prince Abdel Aziz bin Abdullah and discussed Lebanon. The statement did not give details on when the meeting took place, but sources in Damascus said it was Sunday.
Improved ties between Riyadh and Damascus are credited with helping calm the political arena in Lebanon, which was pushed to the brink of civil war last year when tensions erupted into fighting between supporters of rival politicians.
Continued cooperation between the two capitals is seen vital for Lebanon`s stability.
While a Qatari-sponsored deal in May, 2008 defused Lebanon`s worst crisis since the 1975-90 civil war, sectarian tensions rose again in the run-up to the election.
Underlining the country`s fragility, a clash in Beirut on Sunday between supporters of rival factions killed one person.
Lebanon`s sectarian power-sharing system allocates the premiership to a Sunni. Hariri, 39, is the son of slain statesman Rafik al-Hariri.
(Additional reporting by Khaled Oweis in Damascus)
(Writing by Yara Bayoumy)
Original article

Pol Pot paintings saved my life, S-21 survivor says

(PRISON, JUSTICE, PEOPLE, TRIBUNAL, ACCOUNT, GUARDS, CRIMES)


Pol Pot paintings saved my life, S-21 survivor saysBy Ek Madra
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A survivor of the Khmer Rouge`s notorious Tuol Sleng prison wept at the trial of his torturer Monday and called for justice for the 1.7 million Cambodians who died under Pol Pot`s tyrannical regime.
In a harrowing account of his detention at the S-21 interrogation center, where more than 14,000 people died, artist Vann Nath said his life was only spared because chief torturer Duch liked his paintings of "Brother Number One," Pol Pot.
"I survived because Duch felt good when he walked into my workshop," Nath said in his testimony against the ailing chief of the S-21 prison, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav.
"My suffering cannot be erased -- the memories keep haunting me," said Nath, who lost two children to Pol Pot`s 1975-1979 "killing fields" reign of terror.
With no death penalty in Cambodia, Duch faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted by the joint U.N.-Cambodian tribunal on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and homicide.
Duch has admitted his part in the deaths but maintains he was only following orders.
His trial is the first of five Pol Pot cadres indicted by the tribunal. The others are "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, former President Khieu Samphan, and ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, all of whom have denied knowledge of the atrocities.
Pol Pot, the architect of the ultra-Maoist revolution, died in 1998 near the Thai-Cambodia border.
HARROWING ACCOUNT
Nath said he was beaten, electrocuted and left on the brink of starvation by Duch and his guards. He gave a graphic account of the barbaric acts of torture, which included the removal of fingernails and simulated drowning.
"Our legs were shackled, we were so hungry we ate any insects we could grab and were beaten by the guards," said Nath, who was one of only seven people to survive the prison.
"I heard prisoners scream, I heard sounds and voices of the mothers who cried when security guards tried to take their babies away. The suffering was so bad."
Nath, who was the first Khmer Rouge survivor to appear before the tribunal, said he wanted to tell the world about the horrors of the regime and sought justice for the people who died of execution, disease, starvation and exhaustion.
"Now I have the ability to testify before this chamber. This is my privilege, this is my honor," he told the court. "I do not want anything more than justice."
(Editing by Martin Petty and Sanjeev Miglani)
Original article

Bangladesh textile workers go on rampage

(TEXTILE, WORKERS, BANGLADESH, EXPORT, EXPORTERS, GARMENT, POLICE)


Bangladesh textile workers go on rampageBy Ruma Paul
DHAKA (Reuters) - Textile workers set fire to a factory in Bangladesh on Monday in a third day of demonstrations for payment of wages, witnesses said, as the global economic crisis hits the South Asian country`s main export industry.
The workers were also protesting two colleagues` deaths blamed on police firing over the weekend at a similar demonstration on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.
"The situation is now under control," a police official said after police fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the workers. At least 30 people were injured in the clashes.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, the President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the global economic slowdown had hurt textile exporters and some of them could be facing financial difficulties.
A government survey released on Sunday reported 122 out of 825 factories had not paid workers on time between January and May.
Bangladesh earned $11 billion from textile exports last year, more than 75 percent of the impoverished country`s total export income and equivalent to 17 percent of the country`s GDP of around $65 billion.
Labor unrest in the textile industry has grown in recent years over unpaid wages and overtime. The minimum monthly wage of a textile worker is less than $25.
Exporters have ruled out any wage rise because of declining overseas sales.
The government would take strong action to prevent unrest in the garment sector, Labor Minister Mosharraf Hossain said.
"We will probe the incidents and punish those involved in the riots so that such incidents do not happen again," he said.
More than 100 people including several policemen have been injured since the protests began on Saturday.
Bangladesh has some 4,500 garment factories, employing more than 2.5 million workers.
(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Anis Ahmed and Jerry Norton)
Original article

Activists sail to Gaza with aid, defying Israel

(ISRAEL, US, ACTIVISTS, ISRAELI, AUTHORITIES, GROUP, MONDAY)


Activists sail to Gaza with aid, defying IsraelLARNACA, Cyprus (Reuters) - International activists sailed from Cyprus Monday in a bid to deliver aid to the Palestinian population in Gaza, in defiance of a sea blockade by Israel.
A group of 21 activists from the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement left the Cypriot port of Larnaca early Monday morning for a 30-hour journey on a small ferry bedecked with brightly coloured flags including a rainbow flag for peace.
The group planned to deliver three tonnes of medical supplies, some tool kits and copper wiring to Gaza. On two previous occasions, activists were intercepted by Israeli authorities.
"We have informed the Israelis of our intent to enter Gaza, and the last thing they communicated to us through the U.S. embassy in Nicosia and port authorities is that Israel is not going to let us enter," Huwaida Arraf, one of the organisers of the mission, told Reuters.
"We are unarmed civilians. It is up to our respective governments to ensure that Israel doesn`t attack us," said Arraf, a U.S. citizen.
Israel tightened a blockade on Gaza in 2007 after the Islamist group Hamas took control of the enclave, a tiny sliver of territory which is home to some 1.5 million people.
Activists say a humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by the Israeli offensive on Gaza in December and January which had the stated aim of rooting out militants firing rockets into Israel.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday said stringent import restrictions imposed by Israel were crippling reconstruction efforts by donors who have pledged $4.5 billion.
It urged Israel authorities to lift restrictions to allow spare parts, water pipes and building materials into the territory.
(Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Sophie Hares)
Original article

Nigerian militants say attack Shell despite amnesty

(DELTA, NIGER, MEND, SHELL, AMNESTY, MILITANT, ATTACKS)


By Nick Tattersall
LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria`s main militant group said its fighters had attacked an oil facility belonging to Royal Dutch Shell in the Niger Delta on Monday, in the face of an amnesty offer from President Umaru Yar`Adua.
Shell said it had shut in some production as a precautionary measure while it investigated reports of attacks on two well clusters in its Estuary Field in the western Niger Delta, which feeds into its Forcados oil export terminal.
"Hurricane Piper Alpha has struck at the Shell Forcados platform in Delta state today ... at about 0330 hours," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in a statement emailed to media.
It said parts of the facility were on fire.
Forcados is one of Nigeria`s benchmark crude oil grades but production has been interrupted by militant attacks.
On June 17 Shell extended a force majeure on its Forcados oil shipments for the rest of June and all of July. The measure, which frees it from contractual obligations, was first imposed in March after an attack on its trans-Escravos pipeline.
Yar`Adua on Thursday offered a 60-day amnesty to gunmen in the Niger Delta who have been responsible for pipeline bombings, attacks on oil and gas installations and the kidnapping of industry workers over the past three years.
The unrest has prevented the world`s eighth biggest oil exporter from pumping much above two thirds of its installed capacity of 3 million barrels per day, costing it billions of dollars in lost revenue and pushing global energy prices higher.
MEND questioned the sincerity of the government and dismissed the amnesty offer as a program directed at "repentant criminals" rather than genuine "freedom fighters."
MILITANTS DIVIDED
Some militant leaders have said they want talks with Yar`Adua to work out the details of a deal, but MEND has publicly dismissed the amnesty offer, seeing it instead as an opportunity to distinguish itself from criminals.
"It will separate the wheat from the chaff and allow the government to focus on the root issues instead of tying militancy with criminality as an excuse for not addressing the grievances of the Niger Delta people," it said.
"MEND will negotiate as a group when the right time comes ... Only those who are willing to sell their birthright for a bowl of porridge will accept while the rest of us will continue the struggle until justice is achieved."
Representatives of Ateke Tom, Farah Dagogo, Soboma George and Boyloaf -- key leaders of armed gangs behind some of the most spectacular attacks -- issued a statement on Friday saying they wanted to meet with Yar`Adua.
MEND -- a loose coalition of various armed gangs in the delta -- denied Dagogo and Boyloaf would take part.  Continued...
Original article

Support for Pakistan`s anti-Taliban war seen solid

(THE, ON, TALIBAN, INVESTORS, PAKISTANI, OFFENSIVE, AMONG)


Support for Pakistan`s anti-Taliban war seen solidBy Faisal Aziz
KARACHI (Reuters) - Two months into a Pakistani military offensive against Taliban militants, public opinion is firmly behind the civilian government and the military and it shows no sign of wavering.
The offensive was launched after defiant Taliban fighters thrust toward the capital, raising alarm both at home and among Western allies who need nuclear-armed Pakistan`s help to fight al Qaeda and to tackle a raging Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.
Investors in Pakistani stocks have been unnerved by the violence, which has included a string of suicide bombs in cities and attacks on the military across the north.
But investors and the Pakistani people in general wanted to see the offensive prosecuted to the end, and only then would their confidence be restored, said a stock broker.
"It is absolutely necessary for the government to control and counter these terrorist elements and regain its writ to end the state of despondency among the people who had started to feel there was no one to protect them," said Asif Qureshi, director of Invisor Securities.
"Let alone foreign investors, the success of this operation is essential for the restoration of confidence among local investors as well," he said.
The KSE-100 index has gained 23 percent this year after losing 58.3 percent in 2008. But the index is trading about 10 percent lower than its peak of this year, partly because of security worries.
About 10,000 supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami religious party rallied in Karachi on Sunday to protest against U.S. involvement in the region.
"ON THE BACK FOOT"
But their opposition to the offensive and sympathy for the Taliban was well known and their protest did not signal a strengthening of the argument that Pakistan should not be fighting "America`s war," an analyst said.
"They`re finding it difficult to dominate the discourse as they have been doing for some time. They`re on the back foot," said Rashid Rehman, a former newspaper editor and analyst.
"The other voices, the dissident voices, the voices who have been arguing for the last 30, 40 years that we`re heading down a suicide path, I think they`re getting stronger," he said.
Pakistani leaders have for decades flirted with the religious right when they needed support.
In the 1980s, Pakistan began used Islamist guerrillas for foreign policy aims, first in Afghanistan to fight Soviet invaders and later in the disputed Kashmir region where Pakistan- backed Muslim fighters battled Indian rule.
That engendered considerable sympathy for the "jihadis."  Continued...
Original article

Iran spars with U.S. and Britain over election

(ELECTION, TEHRAN, WHICH, UNITED, FOREIGN, MINISTER, SINCE)


Iran spars with U.S. and Britain over electionBy Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran accused the United States of trying to destabilize it and sparked a new row with Britain on Sunday, underscoring the hardline leadership`s efforts to blame post-election unrest on foreign powers rather than popular anger.
(Editors` note: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.)
Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei rejected allegations of vote-rigging in this month`s presidential election, which unleashed the biggest street protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
"I am announcing that no organized rigging which could affect the result of the election took place," he said.
"Americans and the Zionists (Israel) wanted to destabilize Iran ... Even months before the election they started to talk about the possibility of vote-rigging in Iran, and they continue this path after the election," the minister said.
Mohseni-Ejei said the United States and Britain wanted to carry out a "velvet revolution" in Iran but declared that this was impossible. "People are wise and they are very close to their system," he said.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband demanded the release of several local British embassy staff detained by Iran, and said his European Union colleagues had agreed to a "strong, collective response" to any such "harassment and intimidation" against EU missions.
He said Iranian accusations that embassy staff had helped foment unrest were "wholly without foundation."
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei again denounced "interfering statements" by Western officials since the June 12 election.
"If the (Iranian) nation and officials are unanimous and united, then the temptations of international ill-wishers and interfering and cruel politicians will no longer have an impact," state radio quoted him as saying.
The United States and Britain reject accusations by Tehran of interference in this month`s vote, which official results showed was won by hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
His main challenger, moderate former prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi, says the vote was rigged and that the election should be annulled.
The West is at odds with Iran over its nuclear program, as well as its handling of the unrest.
"EVERYBODY DEPRESSED"
The streets of Tehran have sunk back into a sullen calm since riot police and religious Basij militia crushed huge demonstrations in which at least 20 people were killed.  Continued...
Original article

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In China, parents mourn children abducted by traffickers

(CHILDREN, CHINA, CHILD, POLICE, TRAFFICKING, PARENTS, LOCAL)


In China, parents mourn children abducted by traffickersBy James Pomfret and Venus Wu
DONGGUAN (Reuters) - In the quiet village of Shang Di, wedged among factory towns in southern China, Deng Huidong wheels out a dusty two-seater tricycle that her 9-month-old son rode the day he was abducted outside her family house in 2007.
Little Ruicong, who was snatched by men in a white van as he played in an alleyway, hasn`t been seen since.
He is one of hundreds, perhaps thousands of children who go missing in China each year, victims of roving criminal gangs preying on vulnerable areas.
"My heart is bleeding," said Deng as she cried beside a framed photograph of her son splashing in a bath tub.
"I just want to find my son. Every time I see a child, it reminds me of my son and I wonder whether I will see him again."
While China has made giant economic and social strides over the past few decades, the number of abducted children remains alarmingly high in a nation whose wrenching one-child policy and yawning income disparities have fueled demand for children particularly male heirs, trafficked by underground syndicates.
Human trafficking is widespread across China with kidnapping cases reported in numerous provinces across the country, according to witnesses and postings on missing child websites. Some children are abducted to serve as props for beggars and women are also kidnapped and sold into prostitution or as forced labor in factories.
While many parents are aware of the problem and have bolstered supervision of their kids in known blackspots, elsewhere, particularly in rural areas, a lack of publicity and media exposure means parents are unaware of the problem and often let their children play outdoors unsupervised.
Estimates are difficult to come by, though the China Ministry of Public Security reported investigating 2,566 potential trafficking cases in 2008.
"Due to lack of information and the difficulty of tracing children in a vast country such as China, very few children have actually been found," Kirsten Di Martino, UNICEF`s Chief of Child Protection in China told Reuters in a written response to questions.
FIGHTING BACK
The plight of such torn families is often made worse by indifferent, sometimes callous treatment by local police, lax child trafficking laws and poor enforcement.
"In one case, the traffickers even dared to abduct a child right inside a police station ... this shows how rampant they are," Zheng Chunzhong, a bakery owner in Dongguan whose son was kidnapped in 2003, told Reuters.
Since then, the slim, softly-spoken Zheng has pressured Dongguan authorities to do more to fight the problem, forming a local alliance of some 200 parents who held a recent protest march outside local government offices.
"There are too many cases of missing children. They (the police) are too embarrassed to let higher-level officials know," he said during a lunch that was interrupted by a public security officer, a reminder of the police surveillance he says he`s long endured due to his outspokenness on the issue.  Continued...
Original article

Protests erupt, gunshots heard after Honduras coup

Protests erupt, gunshots heard after Honduras coupBy Mica Rosenberg
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The Honduran army ousted and exiled leftist President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday in Central America`s first military coup since the Cold War. Angry Zelaya supporters took to the streets and set up barricades.
The dawn coup was strongly condemned by Zelaya`s regional ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- who has long championed the left in Latin America. Chavez put his military on alert in case Honduran troops moved against his embassy or envoy there.
U.S. President Barack Obama`s administration, the European Union and a string of other foreign governments also voiced backing for Zelaya, who was snatched by troops from his residence and whisked away by plane to Costa Rica.
Zelaya, in office since 2006, had upset the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.
Pro-Zelaya protesters, some of them masked and wielding sticks, set up barricades in the center of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and sealed off road access to the presidential palace.
Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, who announced a curfew for Sunday and Monday nights.
Honduras, an impoverished coffee, textile and banana exporter with a population of 7 million, had been politically stable since the end of military rule in the early 1980s.
But Zelaya has moved the country further left since taking power and struck up a close alliance with Chavez, upsetting the army and the traditionally conservative rich elite.
Zelaya tried to fire the armed forces chief, Gen. Romeo Vasquez, last week in a dispute over the president`s attempt to hold an unofficial referendum on Sunday about changing the constitution to allow presidential terms beyond a single, four-year term. Under the constitution as it stands, Zelaya would have been due to leave office in early 2010.
The country`s top court said on Sunday it had asked the army to remove Zelaya.
A former businessman who sports a cowboy hat and thick mustache, Zelaya, 56, told Venezuela-based Telesur television station that he was "kidnapped" by soldiers and barely given time to change out of his pajamas. He was later bundled onto a military plane to Costa Rica.
Zelaya was to fly on Sunday evening to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, to meet Chavez and other regional leftist leaders.
The global economic crisis has curbed growth in Honduras, which is heavily dependent on remittances from Honduran workers abroad. Recent opinion polls indicate public support for Zelaya has fallen as low as 30 percent.
The army stood guard outside as Honduran deputies unanimously elected Congress head Micheletti, a member of Zelaya`s own Liberal Party, as interim president until after the elections in November.
Micheletti defied world pressure to reverse the coup, saying: "I don`t think anyone here, not Barack Obama and much less Hugo Chavez, has the right to come and threaten (Honduras)."  Continued...
Original article

Argentine president losing Congress: exit polls

Argentine president losing Congress: exit pollsBy Kevin Gray
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez appeared to lose control of Congress in a mid-term election on Sunday, according to exit polls, and early official results showed her husband trailing in a key congressional race.
Exit polls commissioned by television stations and political parties showed Fernandez allies would lose enough seats in the lower house and the Senate to wipe out her majorities in both houses.
Nestor Kirchner, who was president before his wife took power, ran for Congress in populous Buenos Aires province to bolster her government in an election seen as a referendum on the couple`s economic policies and combative governing style.
With 27.19 percent of voting stations reporting in Buenos Aires province, millionaire businessman Francisco de Narvaez received 35.01 percent of the votes, compared with 31.88 percent for Kirchner.
But the trend could reverse as votes pour in from the province`s slums and working-class neighborhoods, where support for the Kirchners is high.
Buenos Aires province is home to more than a third of the population, making it the country`s biggest electoral prize. Kirchner, a Peronist, ran a tight race with de Narvaez, a dissident from the same political party.
Fernandez, a center-leftist who in 2007 succeeded Kirchner, has stagnated with a 30 percent approval rating as Latin America`s No. 3 economy hits turbulence after a six-year expansion.
The mid-terms are viewed as a springboard for the 2011 presidential race, but Kirchner`s chances of returning to power will fade if he doesn`t have a strong win in Sunday`s congressional contest.
"The close vote shows how worn out Kirchner`s leadership is," political analyst Sergio Berensztein said on Todo Noticias, a TV channel.
CRIME AND INFLATION
Argentines` biggest concerns are crime and inflation, according to opinion polls, and Fernandez`s failure to tame high prices is one reason her popularity has flagged.
Also, the Kirchners` confrontational style -- including frequent clashes with business leaders -- over their six years in power has worn thin with many Argentines.
"I don`t like their arrogance and I like the idea of changing things a bit, so I voted for De Narvaez," said Monica Vidal, 34, who runs a cab stand and voted in the Avellaneda suburb.
On the campaign trail, Kirchner warned the country would return to the chaos of the 2001-2002 economic and political meltdown if people did not back him and his wife.
Kirchner`s popularity rose during his 2003-2007 term in office as he presided over an economic rebound and surge in jobs. His wife was easily elected in late 2007 on promises to continue the economic good times.
Martin Diaz, 36, a postman, said he supported Kirchner. "This government got us out of a crisis and I think there`s a lot more left for them to do. The other side is an orthodox right-wing that ... doesn`t care if people lose their jobs," he said. (Additional reporting by Helen Popper and Lucas Bergman)
Original article

Banking on security in Baghdad

Banking on security in BaghdadBy Mohammed Abbas
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Under the watchful eye of a guard in army fatigues -- with badges depicting a dagger through a skull -- the meeting of the Iraqi private banks association was like any gathering of mostly fat and balding money men.
Observed by the guard clutching a rifle in the corner, men in suits argued about how to encourage growth in Iraq`s long-moribund finance sector, where the "green shoots" of security have drawn bankers out from behind the barricades.
"The security now is better than one or two years ago ... I go out as an Iraqi citizen because I`m proud of my country, regardless of bombs or terrorism," said Abdul-Hussein al-Rabaie of Iraq`s Al-Bilad Islamic Bank for Investment and Finance.
Happily for the men at the heavily guarded meeting -- bankers are prime kidnap targets in Iraq -- their patriotism has coincided with bumper profits.
Bankers at the get-together spoke of a surge in deposits and loans in the past two years as the violence that gripped Iraq after Saddam Hussein`s fall in 2003 began to subside, revenues from record oil prices flowed in and government salaries rose.
Banks are among the top picks on Iraq`s nascent bourse.
Total bank deposits in February -- the latest figures available -- jumped by half to 36.6 trillion Iraqi dinars ($31 billion) from a year before, and loans surged 65 percent to 5.1 trillion dinars over the same period, central bank data show.
The figures are tiny by international standards, but even global banking giant HSBC sees bigger things to come in Iraq, home to the world`s third-largest oil reserves and desperate to rebuild after years of war.
"You have a country with an infrastructure largely in tatters, and tremendous potential in oil and gas," HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd chairman Youssef Nasr told Reuters by telephone from Dubai.
Through its 70 percent stake in Dar es Salaam Bank, which has a capital of 50 billion Iraqi dinars ($43 million), HSBC is one of the few foreign lenders with a presence in the country and is considering expanding along oil export routes.
Like other banks, HSBC shut some of its 14 branches after sectarian violence made parts of Iraq no-go zones.
"Now all branches are open or plan to reopen," Nasr said.
BRAVE BANKERS, COWARDLY CAPITAL
Bombings and shootings are still common in Iraq, and in a booth outside Warka Bank for Investment and Finance in Baghdad`s fortified Green Zone a guard routinely asks customers to hand over their weapons before entering.
Administrative chaos is also still evident at Iraq`s two main state banks, Rafidain and Rasheed, where on pension payment days harassed clerks using ledgers and antiquated equipment struggle to restore order to a clamoring crowd.  Continued...
Original article

Army overthrows Honduras president

Army overthrows Honduras presidentBy Mica Rosenberg
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The Honduran army ousted and exiled leftist President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday in Central America`s first military coup since the Cold War, triggered by his bid to make it legal to seek another term in office.
U.S. President Barack Obama and the European Union expressed deep concern after troops came for Zelaya, an ally of socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, around dawn and took him away from his residence. He was whisked away to Costa Rica.
Zelaya, who took office in 2006 and is limited by the constitution to a four-year term that ends in early 2010, had angered the army, courts and Congress by pushing for an unofficial public vote on Sunday to gauge support for his plan to hold a November referendum on allowing presidential re-election.
Speaking on Venezuelan state television, Chavez -- who has long championed the left in Latin America -- said he had put his troops on alert over the Honduran coup and would do everything necessary to abort the coup against his close ally.
He said that if the Venezuela ambassador was killed, or troops entered the Venezuela embassy, "that military junta would be entering a defacto state of war, we would have to act militarily." He said, "I have put the armed forces of Venezuela on alert."
Chavez, who has in the past threatened military action in the region but never followed through, said that if a new government is sworn in after the coup it would be defeated.
A military plane flew Zelaya to Costa Rica and CNN`s Spanish-language channel said he had asked for asylum there.
Some 2,000 pro-government protesters, some armed with shovels and metal poles, burned tires in front of the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and two fighter jets screamed through the sky over the city.
Democracy has taken root in Central America in recent decades after years of dictatorships and war, but crime, corruption and poverty are still major problems. Zelaya said the coup smacked of an earlier era.
"If holding a poll provokes a coup, the abduction of the president and expulsion from his country, then what kind of democracy are we living in?" Zelaya said in Costa Rica.
Honduras, an impoverished coffee, textile and banana exporter with a population of 7 million, had been politically stable since the end of military rule in the early 1980s. But Zelaya has moved the country further left since taking power. His push to change the constitution drove a rift between his office and the nation`s other institutions.
A former businessman who sports a cowboy hat and thick mustache, Zelaya fired military chief Gen. Romeo Vasquez last week for refusing to help him run Sunday`s unofficial survey on extending the four-year term limit on Honduran presidents.
Zelaya, 56, told Venezuela-based Telesur television station that he was "kidnapped" by soldiers and called on Hondurans to peacefully resist the coup.
OBAMA CALLS FOR CALM
The EU condemned the coup and Obama called for calm.  Continued...
Original article
 

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