IncidentStyle

Life in North Korea: lies, potatoes and cable TV

2009-07-01T16:50:00.000+04:00

(NORTH, THEIR, PEOPLE, STATE, REFUGEES, GENERAL)

By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Koreans who recently arrived in the South live in a world of contradictions where their upbringing instills them with reverence for Kim Jong-il but their daily struggle leads them to believe he is a brutal despot.
By all accounts, they say North Korea is gradually spiralling out of control, its economy dysfunctional while people are suspicious of one another because of a network of informants.
They also speak of a sense of normalcy in the North. Most left for the chance of a better life in the South but they are uncertain if they can find their way in the competitive capitalist state.
The following is a snapshot of life in North Korea, compiled from accounts given by refugees who recently arrived in the South. Their identities are not disclosed because they fear persecution for family and relatives back home.
"SAD TO SEE THE DEAR GENERAL SO FEEBLE"
It is a political crime to talk about the family of leader Kim Jong-il but many recently arrived refugees said the average North Korean is probably aware of foreign media reports that Kim`s youngest son Jong-un may likely take over. Most North Koreans have no idea that Kim, 67 and thought to have suffered a stroke a year ago, has three sons.
"In Pyongyang, you take it for granted that leadership will be inherited," one refugee Park said, adding she knew Kim Jong-il had two daughters and a son and his name was Jong-nam. That is the portly and oldest of Kim`s three known sons, believed to have fallen from his father`s favor years ago after being arrested for trying to enter Japan on a forged passport.
"I don`t want to say Kim Jong-il is bad," another refugee Choi said. "It`s the people who report to him who are not doing their job right. They make false reports." Choi said she knew from experience that crop production is something that gets most often falsified "so as not to make the General worry."
Most refugees still call Kim Jong-il the "General" as has been taught to them by state propaganda and have bought into, at least partially, his carefully crafted cult of personality.
Park said she knows Kim often stays up at night worried about the lives of the people. "It is true that he has sacrificed so much for the people," she said. "The general has aged a lot," she said of her impression of seeing recent pictures of Kim looking frail and perhaps debilitated by the stroke.
"SOLDIERS FOR FIGHTING? NOT HERE"
North Korea is the world`s most militarized state compared to its population with a standing army of more than 1.1 million. Service is mandatory and can be as long as 10 years. The might of the army is "invincible," according to state media but the refugees are rather cynical about the ill equipped force.
"When I look at them, the army that I`ve seen will be busy running away from a war," another refugee Kim said. "Maybe they have the real army for war kept away at some other place."
Low morale and corruption in the military are so widespread that it is the norm rather than the exception for soldiers to be extorting bribes from merchants crossing the Chinese border.
"We say something is wrong with you if you did not save enough in 10 years of service at the border to go home, get married and start a family," Kim said. Continued...
Original article

Barak says regional peace, not settlements, paramount

2009-07-01T16:39:00.000+04:00

(ISRAEL, BARAK, SETTLEMENTS, MITCHELL, MEETING, WOULD)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was quoted as saying on Wednesday that Israel was close to an understanding with Washington on Jewish settlements, but ruled out a total freeze.
In an Israel Radio interview to be aired later in the day, Barak said Israel was insisting on completing construction projects already under way in settlements in the West Bank, the state-owned broadcaster reported on its website.
Barak held talks in New York on Tuesday with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell in a bid to end a rare rift between Israel and its main ally on the settlement issue.
The radio quoted him as saying that Israel was now nearing an understanding with the United States, which has called for a complete halt to settlement activity.
Barak told reporters in New York that the meeting with Mitchell, which lasted more than four hours, was "positive" but there were still "differences."
In a joint statement issued after their talks, Barak and Mitchell said they had discussed the full range of issues related to Middle East peace and security. The statement said the discussions were constructive and would soon continue.
Asked by reporters whether Israel would declare a temporary settlement building freeze, Barak said: "I think that it`s a little bit too early to predict.
"We are considering every positive contribution Israel can make toward the taking off of a significant important peace effort," he said.
Mitchell, who posed for photographers at the start of the meeting in a New York hotel, did not take questions.
Israel`s biggest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday that Barak would propose a three-month halt to construction starts in settlements but allow current building work to continue.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel could not resume until it froze settlement.
Barak told reporters that a meeting between Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being arranged in the next one to three weeks.
The two had planned a meeting in Paris last Thursday but it was put off by Israel, which said it needed more time to prepare. Netanyahu has said he would allow some construction to continue to match population growth within existing settlements.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Bases in New York, Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Dominic Evans)
Original article

Related articles:
Barak: Too early to declare Israel settlement freeze
Barak: Too early to declare Israel settlement freeze
Barak: Too early to declare Israel settlement freeze
Netanyahu says hopes for U.S. settlement understanding
U.S., Israel seek clarity on settlement freeze
Netanyahu to outline Israel's policies in speech
U.S. skeptical Netanyahu will back down: diplomats

Party celebrates China web filter delay

2009-07-01T16:28:00.000+04:00

(BEIJING, GOVERNMENT, SOFTWARE, ABOUT, PARTY, COMPUTERS)

By Emma Graham-Harrison
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese web users flooded to a trendy art zone cafe on Wednesday to celebrate a last-minute halt to a rollout of government-sponsored filtering software, and make a stand for freedom of expression in the Communist-run state.
Dressed in t-shirts mocking the Green Dam program, about 200 Beijing residents had arrived by mid-morning to eat a traditional Chinese breakfast, denounce censorship and prepare for a day-long party.
Originally conceived as part of an Internet boycott to mark the July 1 launch of the filter -- and to give a web-addicted generation something to do during the 24 hours of offline -- the atmosphere was festive as guests celebrated what many said was an unexpected victory against state censorship.
"This is a very rare example for the government to suddenly push back an important decision the night before it is due to be rolled out," said outspoken artist Ai Weiwei, who organised the boycott and the party.
Beijing made a surprising about-face late on Tuesday, hours before an edict that all personal computers sold in China must be preloaded with the program was due to come into force.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said the launch would be postponed and did not give a new deadline.
Officials had said the software was intended to stamp out Internet pornography. But it was assailed by activists, industry groups and foreign officials as politically intrusive, technically flawed and commercially unfair.
"We are very happy because we got what we wanted," said Liu Yaohua, a 27-year-old artist. "We wanted to express our attitude to Green Dam."
There was trepidation among some party-goers about attending an event that was a direct, if light-hearted, rebuke to a government wary of public challenges to its control.
"I am a little bit nervous, but I felt it was very important that I find the strength to come," said painter Zang Yi.
The plan might now drift into oblivion if Beijing decides it does not want to face a second round of pressure from overseas and at home.
At a Beijing mall which specializes in computers and software, vendors shrugged at the news of the climbdown.
"It`s a piece of software like any other. You can take it out if you don`t want it. It`s no big deal," said Zhang Bo, standing in front of a row of Chinese-made laptops.
But a lawyer who campaigned against the software warned it was premature to declare victory.
"It has not been canceled, just put back, so it`s possible that after a certain amount of time it will be pushed back out," said Liu Xiaoyuan, who wants the government to explain why a software ostensibly designed to protect a minority of users -- children and teen-agers -- must be installed on all computers. Continued...
Original article

Ahmadinejad scraps African summit trip

2009-07-01T16:18:00.000+04:00

(AHMADINEJAD, ELECTION, KAROUBI, RESULT, UNREST, SINCE)

By Fredrik Dahl and Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran`s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called off a trip to Libya for an African Union summit on Wednesday that would have given the hardline president another chance to appear at an international forum after his disputed re-election.
Mehdi Karoubi, a reformist cleric who came last in the June 12 poll, said he still rejected the result, which set off Iran`s gravest internal unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"I don`t consider this government legitimate," he said in a statement on his website. "I will continue my fight."
A spokesman at Ahmadinejad`s office said the Libya visit had been canceled. He gave no reason. It would have been the president`s second foray abroad since the election.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi later told state television Ahmadinejad was too busy to go.
In a show of confidence, Ahmadinejad attended a regional summit in Russia four days after the vote, ignoring huge street protests by supporters of losing candidates Mirhossein Mousavi and Karoubi, who both say the election was rigged.
The Guardian Council, a supervisory body, on Monday endorsed the election result and dismissed complaints of irregularities, saying a partial recount had shown these were baseless.
Karoubi and Mousavi, a moderate former prime minister, have stuck by their demands for the vote to be annulled, in defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has upheld the result and denounced dissenters. Khamenei`s word is final.
"Some visible and invisible forces blocked any change in the executive power," Karoubi complained.
Security forces have crushed street protests, and hardliners have regained the upper hand in the world`s fifth biggest oil exporter, whose nuclear programme has alarmed the West.
Karoubi, a white-bearded cleric who was close to Iran`s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, demanded the release of "thousands" of people arrested during the unrest.
Iran`s police chief, Ismail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, put the number of detainees at 1,032 and said most had since been released.
"Those who are still in detention were referred to the public and revolutionary courts in Tehran," the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted him as telling a news conference.
Ahmadi-Moghaddam said 20 "rioters" had been killed during the unrest and more than 500 police had been injured.
"PLANNED SCENARIO" Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Partial recount in Iran, reformers want annulment
Iran's opposition vows to go on challenging poll
Iran state TV says clerics cancel rally
Iran's Khamenei says end protests, issues warning
Wearing black, Mousavi supporters hold mourning rally
Iranian authority offers talks with election losers

Khmer Rouge torture survivor saw "hell on earth"

2009-07-01T16:07:00.000+04:00

(ROUGE, PRISON, TORTURER, CRIMES, TRIBUNAL, ANOTHER)

By Ek Madra
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - One of the few survivors of the Khmer Rouge`s notorious Tuol Sleng prison gave chilling testimony of "hell on earth" when he faced his former torturer at a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal on Wednesday.
Like another survivor who testified at the joint United Nations-Cambodian tribunal, Bou Meng said he was alive only because he was an artist and Duch, the torturer, liked his drawings of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.
Meng was accused of spying for the United States in 1977 and was taken along with his wife to the S-21 interrogation center, once a school and now a museum to the horror of the Khmer Rouge regime.
He was one of only seven people to survive the prison, where more than 14,000 men, women and children died during Pol Pot`s 1975-1979 "killing fields" reign of terror.
"I saw about 20 men with long hair, looking very sick and emaciated. The cell was like hell on earth," Meng told the court.
The prisoners were kept in chains with empty bullet boxes and plastic bottles to use as toilets.
"I saw a lizard and hoped it would drop on me so I could catch it and eat it," Meng said. "They kept whipping me and asked me when I joined the CIA."
For the first time in three decades, Meng had the chance to question Duch, the first of five Pol Pot cadres indicted by the tribunal.
He never saw his wife again after they entered S-21 and he asked his torturer what had happened to her.
"I expect she was killed by my subordinates," Duch replied.
With no death penalty in Cambodia, Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and homicide.
He has admitted his part in the deaths but maintains he was only following orders.
On Monday another artiste Vann Nath said his life was spared only because Duch liked his paintings of Pol Pot.
WAITING TO DIE
Another S-21 survivor, Chum Mey, 79, told the judges on Tuesday his toenails were torn off and that he, too, was held in a dark cell, his legs shackled. He received hardly any food and expected to die at any moment. Continued...
Original article

African Union lifts sanctions on Mauritania

2009-07-01T15:57:00.000+04:00

(AFRICAN, UNION, SANCTIONS, MAURITANIA, JUNTA, ELECTION)

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The African Union has dropped sanctions on Mauritania and lifted a suspension from the body because of steps it is taking to restore democracy this month, the Union said in a statement on Wednesday.
The African Union suspended Mauritania after the army overthrew the elected president in August last year and froze assets and imposed visa and travel bans on members of the junta and its supporters.
But an election is due on July 18 under a transition administration agreed on by the junta and the civilian opposition in the iron ore-producing northwest African country of 3 million.
The African Union`s Peace and Security Council said the decision to lift the measures against Mauritania was taken at a meeting on Monday.
"(The Council) looks forward to the presidential election ... and requests that all efforts be deployed for the election to take place in the required conditions of transparency, fairness and freedom," it said.
It said it would keep watching the situation in Mauritania to make sure it stayed on track and in case other measures needed to be taken, potentially including the re-imposition of sanctions.
Under an agreement that took effect last month, a transition government was set up to allow a presidential election on July 18 in which junta leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and the opposition will take part.
Mauritania`s neighbors were concerned the military takeover could set a precedent in a region that had begun to shed its reputation for coups.
AU sanctions imposed in February this year included travel restrictions and the freezing of assets belonging to individuals whose activities maintained what it called the "unconstitutional status quo".
The European Union has suspended non-humanitarian aid.
The African Union also imposed sanctions on Guinea after the military took over following the death of the veteran president last December. African countries are concerned Guinea`s junta may not keep plans to hold free elections this year.
Original article

Italy asks who to blame for deadly train inferno

2009-07-01T15:46:00.000+04:00

(VIAREGGIO, ITALIAN, EXPLOSION, TRAIN, WHILE, CORRIERE)

By Antonella Cinelli
VIAREGGIO, Italy (Reuters) - Pressure was building on Italian authorities Wednesday to determine who was to blame for an explosion of a passing freight train that set fire to nearby homes and burned families alive while they slept.
The death toll from Monday night`s explosion in the seaside town of Viareggio rose to 16 after a girl aged three and a boy of two died from their burns at hospitals in Rome and Florence. Twenty seven people were injured, many of them seriously.
Italian newspapers demanded to know who was to blame, with La Repubblica asking "Who`s Guilty?" and Corriere della Sera warning "No Alibis." Some papers dedicated the first dozen pages or more to the disaster, one of Italy`s worst in living memory.
"The Inferno of the Innocent," was the headline of the Rome daily Il Messaggero.
"All of us were afraid. We just didn`t understand what was happening, we thought it was a terrorist attack," said Mirko Angelini, a resident of Viareggio, north of Rome.
Infrastructure Minister Altero Matteoli told parliament "checks are underway" into reports the axle on a rail car carrying liquefied petroleum gas appeared to have buckled, causing the derailment and subsequent explosion.
La Repubblica warned in an editorial there were "no small fry" among those possibly responsible.
The train was driven by an employee of Italian state railways, which says it is the country`s largest company, while the railcar whose axle may have given way was owned by a subsidiary of U.S.-based GATX Corp.
The conductor of the train, Roberto Fochesato, told Corriere della Sera "we didn`t make any mistakes. We found ourselves in an inferno, but it wasn`t my fault."
The GATX unit said the railcars were new and issued a statement saying "so far we do not see any connection between the cause of the accident and our wagons."
Rescuers Wednesday suspended the search for missing victims in the rubble of collapsed homes. One person was still unaccounted for but was presumed to be among the unidentified dead, a rescuer said.
Heart-wrenching stories about the victims dominated the airwaves and newsprint. Corriere told of a mother who rushed out of her home with her five-year-old son Luca, putting him in her car for safety while she ran back inside for her other two children.
The car caught fire while she was gone, and Luca died.
Cable news stations read aloud stories of families killed or in intensive care for severe burns at local hospitals.
"Ilaria and Michela, sisters and friends. The fireball burned them together," was a headline in La Repubblica. Continued...
Original article

N.Korean ship tracked by U.S. Navy reverses course

2009-07-01T07:41:00.000+04:00

(NORTH, KOREAN, KOREA, WEAPONS, OFFICIAL, NUCLEAR)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A North Korean ship suspected of carrying weapons has reversed course after being tracked by the U.S. Navy under a new U.N. monitoring program, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the Kang Nam was heading back in the direction of North Korea after turning around within the last few days.
"We`ve no idea where it`s going," the official said. "The U.S. didn`t do anything to make it turn around."
"It`s pretty much on a reciprocal track," the official added.
South Korean media reports have said the ship, a known North Korean weapons trader, was probably heading for Myanmar, while other media outlets have named Singapore as a possible destination. Singapore`s government has said it will take action if the ship tries to dock with a cargo of weapons.
North Korea has defied the international community with a series of nuclear and missile tests, raising fears of a spread of nuclear weapons to countries such as Iran.
U.S. officials have not said why the Navy is monitoring the Kang Nam but the New York Times reported on Tuesday some senior members of the Obama administration are wondering whether they are being manipulated by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
"The whole thing just doesn`t add up," the newspaper quoted one senior administration official as saying.
"My worry is that we make a big demand about seeing the cargo, and then there`s a tense standoff, and when it`s all over we discover that old man Kim set us up to look like George Bush searching for nonexistent (weapons of mass destruction)."
The Kang Nam is the first North Korean ship monitored under a U.N. security resolution that bars Pyongyang from exporting weapons including missile parts and nuclear materials.
The ship, which left North Korea in mid-June, has been tracked by several U.S. Navy vessels over the course of its journey and now was being monitored by a U.S. Navy destroyer, the official said.
Speaking before news of the ship`s reversal, the chief of U.S. Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughead, said he thought the U.N. resolution had increased pressure on Pyongyang and was proving to be an effective tool against proliferation.
"It gets pretty lonely out there when you have only so much water and only so much gas," Roughead said, referring to a ship with no safe harbor.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray and Andrea Shalal-Esa; Writing by Joanne Allen; Editing by John O`Callaghan)
Original article

Related articles:
North Korea trying to enrich uranium, South says
Son of North Korea's Kim visits China as heir-media
North Korea responds to U.N. with nuclear threats
North Korea threatens military action, to enrich uranium
N.Korea threatens military action, to enrich uranium
Isolated North Korea could avoid U.N. pinch: analysts
North Korea's Kim feverish on succession: Seoul

Yemeni plane crashes off Comoros, girl found alive

2009-07-01T07:05:00.000+04:00

(AIRBUS, YEMEN, FRENCH, CRASHED, COMOROS, PLANE)

By Ahmed Ali Amir
MORONI (Reuters) - An Airbus A310-300 from Yemen with 153 people on board, including 66 French nationals, crashed into the sea off the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros as it approached in bad weather early on Tuesday, officials said.
A 14-year-old girl was found alive in the sea, Comoros Communications Minister Abdourahim Said Bakar said. Earlier reports had said the rescued child was five.
The Paris airports authority said 66 French nationals were aboard the plane, which was flying the final leg of a trip from Paris and Marseille to Comoros via Yemen.
A Yemeni aviation official said there were also nationals from Canada, Comoros, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, the Philippines and Yemen on the plane.
It is the second Airbus to plunge into the sea this month. An Air France Airbus A330-200 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing 228 people on board on June 1. A preliminary report on that crash is due on Thursday.
The Paris-Marseille-Yemen leg of the Yemenia flight was flown by an Airbus A330. In Sanaa, those passengers who were flying on to the Comoros changed onto a second Yemenia plane, the A310 that crashed.
FAULTS DETECTED
French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said faults had been detected during inspections in France in 2007 on the Yemenia A310, and that it had not flown to France since.
"The A310 in question was inspected in 2007 by the DGAC (French transport authorities) and they noticed a certain number of faults," he told the I-tele television channel.
"The company was not on the black list but was subject to stricter checks on our part, and was due to be interviewed shortly by the European Union`s safety committee."
"The question we are asking ... is whether you can collect people in a normal way on French territory and then put them in a plane that does not ensure their security. We do not want this to happen again," he said.
Yemen`s transport minister said the plane was thoroughly checked in May under Airbus supervision.
"It was a comprehensive inspection carried out in Yemen ... with experts from Airbus," Khaled Ibrahim al-Wazeer told Reuters from Sanaa. "It was in line with international standards."
The EU suspended permission for Yemenia to maintain EU-registered planes in February after it failed a set of audit inspections, the EU`s aviation safety agency told Reuters in Brussels.
The move would not have affected the doomed Airbus A310 plane since it was registered in Yemen. But it provides further evidence of European concerns over the airline`s operations after the EU Commission said the plane which crashed had sparked an EU inquiry two years ago. Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Yemeni plane crashes off Comoros with over 150 on board

Bomb kills 32 in Iraq as U.S. troops leave

2009-07-01T06:52:00.000+04:00

(BAGHDAD, SECURITY, KIRKUK, PEOPLE, IRAQIS, MILITARY)

By Tim Cocks and Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hours after U.S. troops handed over control of Iraq`s cities to its domestic security forces, a car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 32 people and wounded more than 100 on Tuesday, police said.
The blast tore through a busy market in a largely Kurdish part of the city, which is regarded as a potential flashpoint between ethnic Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen.
The U.S. pullback to rural bases from towns and cities is the first step toward a full U.S. withdrawal by 2012 agreed under a bilateral security pact.
Some Iraqis fear it leaves them open to attack by insurgent groups but many Iraqis celebrated what the government named "National Sovereignty Day," more than six years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
Citizens and Iraqi soldiers drove around the streets of the capital in vehicles draped in flowers and Iraqi flags. Signs were draped on Baghdad`s many concrete blast walls reading "Iraq: my nation, my glory, my honor."
"This day, which we consider a national celebration, is an achievement made by all Iraqis," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a televised address.
"Our incomplete sovereignty and the presence of foreign troops is the most serious legacy we have inherited (from Saddam). Those who think that Iraqis are unable to defend their country are committing a fatal mistake."
The day`s festivities included a parade in Baghdad`s heavily fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic district, viewed by Iraqis as the ultimate symbol of the foreign military presence until local forces took control of it in January.
In a display of the military muscle Iraq will use to combat a stubborn insurgency, thousands of soldiers and police paraded on foot or in U.S.-donated Humvees, armored cars and tanks in a compound where Saddam`s forces once staged elaborate displays.
U.S. and local officials said the pullback of U.S. troops showed how far the country had come since it was almost torn apart by tit-for-tat sectarian killing in 2006/2007.
But the Kirkuk bomb underscored the fragility of the security gains. Iraq is less violent that it has been for years, but militants still stage frequent attacks.
In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama lauded the U.S. troop withdrawal as an important milestone but warned of "difficult days" ahead.
Frantic relatives of those who had been in the area dug through the rubble in Kirkuk, searching for missing loved ones.
"I went to the market to get some bread and there was a huge explosion," said Taseen Azad, 21, who was lightly wounded. "I saw people falling on the ground, shops burning and dead people. Then someone took me to the hospital."
The U.S. military said four U.S. soldiers based in Baghdad had died of combat-related injuries on Monday. Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Bomb kills 25 in Iraq as U.S. troops leave
Blast in Baghdad marketplace kills 72, injures over 100
Life after U.S. pullout brings worries for Iraqis
Iraq PM says forces can handle security without U.S.
Roadside bomb kills five policemen in Iraq
Bomb kills at least 72 in Baghdad's Sadr City
Suicide truck bomber kills 67 in northern Iraq

Zelaya vows return to Honduras despite arrest threat

2009-07-01T06:41:00.000+04:00

(PRESIDENT, ZELAYA, HONDURAS, WOULD, GOVERNMENT, AFTER)

By Patrick Markey and Mica Rosenberg
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Ousted President Manuel Zelaya vowed on Tuesday to return to Honduras flanked by foreign leaders to serve the rest of his term, defying a warning from a hostile interim leadership that he will be immediately arrested.
Zelaya gathered further international support as he addressed the United Nations and Organization of American States. He said the Argentine and Ecuadorean presidents and the U.N. General Assembly and OAS chiefs would accompany him on a trip back to Honduras on Thursday.
Upping the ante in what is already Central America`s biggest political crisis in decades, the interim government set up after Sunday`s military coup said Zelaya would be captured if he returned.
The coup against Zelaya -- a timber magnate toppled in a dispute over his push to allow presidential re-election beyond a single four-year term -- has been greeted by a tide of condemnation from President Barack Obama to Zelaya`s leftist allies in Latin America. But he remains a divisive figure in Honduras, an impoverished coffee, textile and banana-exporter of some 7 million people.
Several thousand demonstrators rallied in favor of his ouster in the capital Tegucigalpa on Tuesday, after two days of rowdy anti-Zelaya protests near the presidential palace.
But in a development that could offer an opening for talks on ending the stand-off, the interim government said it would send a delegation of politicians, business leaders and lawyers to Washington on Wednesday for talks on the crisis.
Roberto Micheletti, sworn in as caretaker president by Congress soon after Sunday`s coup, announced the mission after Zelaya traveled to New York and Washington to address the United Nations and Organization of American States on Tuesday.
U.S. officials said Zelaya would likely meet State Department officials while in Washington.
Zelaya insisted he will return to complete his mandate, which ends in early 2010, and said he did not intend to run for president again.
"I am going back to Honduras on Thursday, I`m going to return as president," Zelaya said after the U.N. General Assembly urged member states to recognize only his government.
CHAVEZ ALLY
In office since 2006, Zelaya had upset conservative elites with his growing alliance with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a left-wing firebrand who is championing an old-style revolutionary brand of socialism across Latin America.
Central America`s first military coup since the Cold War came after Zelaya angered Congress, courts and the army with a push for constitutional changes to allow presidential
re-election.
Enrique Ortez, the interim government`s foreign minister, told CNN`s Spanish-language channel that Zelaya had charges pending against him for violating the constitution, drug trafficking and organized crime. Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Army overthrows Honduras president

Barak: Too early to declare Israel settlement freeze

2009-07-01T06:30:00.000+04:00

(ISRAEL, BARAK, TALKS, MITCHELL, MEETING, PEACE)

By Daniel Bases
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday after talks with the U.S. Middle East envoy that it was too soon to say whether Israel would freeze West Bank settlements as demanded by President Barack Obama.
Barak said the talks with envoy George Mitchell, which lasted over four hours, were "positive" but that there are still "differences."
In a joint statement issued after their meeting, Barak and Mitchell said they had discussed the full range of issues related to Middle East peace and security. The statement said the discussions were constructive and would soon continue.
In a rare rift between Israel and the United States, Obama is pushing for a building freeze in a bid to spur the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Asked whether Israel would declare a temporary settlement building freeze, Barak said: "I think that it`s a little bit too early to predict.
"We are considering every positive contribution Israel can make toward the taking off of a significant important peace effort," he said.
Barak said a meeting between Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being arranged in the next one to three weeks. The two had planned a meeting in Paris last Thursday but it was put off by Israel, which said it needed more time to prepare.
Israel`s biggest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday that Barak would propose a three-month halt to construction starts in settlements but allow current building work to continue.
Barak said the talks were not mired down by the settlements issue. "I don`t think we are stuck, I don`t think we are stuck now. We are continuing talks on a wide variety of subjects, to clarify things and reach understandings," he said.
"The talks were positive and in a good atmosphere, even though there are still differences," he added.
Barak said the talks with Mitchell covered a wide range of issues, including a U.S.-led regional peace initiative which "we will support full-heartedly."
PROTRACTED PROCESS
One Israeli official with knowledge of Monday`s meeting told Reuters Israel was not giving details of the talks, but added: "I can say that this meeting was definitely positive and that an agreement (over differences) could be within reach."
"This is a protracted process and each side is learning to appreciate the other`s point of view," the official said.
In their joint statement, Mitchell and Barak said their discussions covered "a wide range of measures needed to create a climate conducive to peace," including measures on security and incitement by the Palestinians; steps by Arab states toward normalization with Israel; and actions from Israel on access and movement in the West Bank and on settlement activity. Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Barak: Too early to declare Israel settlement freeze
Barak: Too early to declare Israel settlement freeze
Netanyahu says hopes for U.S. settlement understanding
Netanyahu to outline Israel's policies in speech
U.S. skeptical Netanyahu will back down: diplomats
Obama envoy says Palestinian statehood only option
U.S. envoy assures Israel of strong alliance

Barak: Too early to declare Israel settlement freeze

2009-07-01T06:18:00.000+04:00

(ISRAEL, BARAK, TALKS, MITCHELL, MEETING, PEACE)

By Daniel Bases
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday after talks with the U.S. Middle East envoy that it was too soon to say whether Israel would freeze West Bank settlements as demanded by President Barack Obama.
Barak said the talks with envoy George Mitchell, which lasted over four hours, were "positive" but that there are still "differences."
In a joint statement issued after their meeting, Barak and Mitchell said they had discussed the full range of issues related to Middle East peace and security. The statement said the discussions were constructive and would soon continue.
In a rare rift between Israel and the United States, Obama is pushing for a building freeze in a bid to spur the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Asked whether Israel would declare a temporary settlement building freeze, Barak said: "I think that it`s a little bit too early to predict.
"We are considering every positive contribution Israel can make toward the taking off of a significant important peace effort," he said.
Barak said a meeting between Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being arranged in the next one to three weeks. The two had planned a meeting in Paris last Thursday but it was put off by Israel, which said it needed more time to prepare.
Israel`s biggest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday that Barak would propose a three-month halt to construction starts in settlements but allow current building work to continue.
Barak said the talks were not mired down by the settlements issue. "I don`t think we are stuck, I don`t think we are stuck now. We are continuing talks on a wide variety of subjects, to clarify things and reach understandings," he said.
"The talks were positive and in a good atmosphere, even though there are still differences," he added.
Barak said the talks with Mitchell covered a wide range of issues, including a U.S.-led regional peace initiative which "we will support full-heartedly."
PROTRACTED PROCESS
One Israeli official with knowledge of Monday`s meeting told Reuters Israel was not giving details of the talks, but added: "I can say that this meeting was definitely positive and that an agreement (over differences) could be within reach."
"This is a protracted process and each side is learning to appreciate the other`s point of view," the official said.
In their joint statement, Mitchell and Barak said their discussions covered "a wide range of measures needed to create a climate conducive to peace," including measures on security and incitement by the Palestinians; steps by Arab states toward normalization with Israel; and actions from Israel on access and movement in the West Bank and on settlement activity. Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Barak: Too early to declare Israel settlement freeze
Netanyahu says hopes for U.S. settlement understanding
Netanyahu to outline Israel's policies in speech
U.S. skeptical Netanyahu will back down: diplomats
Obama envoy says Palestinian statehood only option
U.S. envoy assures Israel of strong alliance
U.S. envoy begins new Middle East peace push

Indonesia`s regional leaders attract investors

2009-07-01T06:07:00.000+04:00

(INDONESIA, OTHER, LEADERS, THEIR, WIDODO, ELECTION)

By Sunanda Creagh
SOLO, Indonesia (Reuters) - A quiet revolution is under way in Solo, Central Java, and in other parts of Indonesia where local leaders are learning that one way to get re-elected is to take voters and their needs seriously.
Joko Widodo, a former furniture salesman, was elected mayor of this royal city four years ago. Like a handful of other local leaders, he has made a name for himself by taking on bureaucracy, graft and infrastructure in Solo, a microcosm of the problems that afflict Southeast Asia`s biggest economy.
He and some of his peers, typically men in their forties or fifties with a background in business, are already regarded as potential candidates for much bigger jobs on the national stage, the governors and ministers of the future, because their "can-do" approach helps to attract investment.
"I am not a genius. I just ask the people what they want. You want, I give," said Widodo, 48, in an interview with Reuters.
"In other cities, they have the top-down approach. I don`t want this. I want bottom up. It`s better for me if there is participatory planning."
Across Indonesia, which embraced democracy after autocratic president Suharto was forced to quit in 1998 and holds its second direct election for president next week, voters are punishing leaders who don`t listen, regardless of party affiliation or campaign budgets, says election observer Kevin Evans.
"This is definitely a pattern," Evans said.
"In the legislative elections (in April), we saw incumbent candidates with lots of money being chucked out and some minor parties get a massive burst of votes in areas where they have a good candidate."
INVESTOR-FRIENDLY
Following decentralization, provinces and districts are now being ranked on the basis of their investor-friendliness. Widodo, who sold locally-produced furniture overseas before he became mayor, has already attracted "rave reviews" said Kevin O`Rourke, Jakarta-based political risk analyst.
"He`s up and coming and could be governor of Central Java one day," said O`Rourke. In Solo, he has been tipped as a future tourism minister after establishing cultural fairs, building a new airport and launching plans for an inter-city highway.
Indonesia`s Tempo Magazine late last year named him one of 10 leaders to watch.
"They created innovations and breakthroughs," said Tempo, adding that among these "few good men" were "a number of promising future leaders."
Some built parks and clean open spaces to improve the quality of life, or encouraged breakthrough agricultural practices. Others cut the stifling bureaucracy and corruption that accompanies some of the most basic public services in Indonesia.
Untung Wiyono, regent of Sragen near Solo, connected all his villages to the internet, while Andi Hatta Marakarma, regent of Luwu Timur, South Sulawesi, built new villages and roads, helping to cut the cost of transporting rice by over two-thirds. Continued...
Original article

Barak: Too early to declare Israel settlement freeze

2009-07-01T01:18:00.000+04:00

(ISRAEL, BARAK, TALKS, MITCHELL, SETTLEMENTS, BUILDING)

By Daniel Bases
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday after talks with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell it was too early to say whether Israel might declare a temporary freeze on settlements in the West Bank.
Barak said the talks with Mitchell, which lasted over four hours, were "positive" but that there are still "differences."
Asked whether Israel would declare a temporary settlement building freeze, he said: "I think that it`s a little bit too early to predict. We are considering every positive contribution Israel can make toward the taking off of a significant important peace effort."
U.S. President Barack Obama, in a rare rift between Israel and the United States, is pushing for a building freeze in a bid to spur the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Earlier this week Israel`s biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, reported that Barak would propose a three-month halt to construction starts in settlements but allow current building work to continue.
Barak said the talks were not mired down by the settlements issue. "I don`t think we are stuck, I don`t think we are stuck now. We are continuing talks on a wide variety of subjects, to clarify things and reach understandings," Barak said.
"The talks were positive and in a good atmosphere, even though there are still differences," he added.
Barak said the talks with Mitchell covered a wide range of issues, including a U.S.-led regional peace initiative which "we will support full-heartedly."
A joint statement from the two nations was expected later Tuesday.
Mitchell, who posed for photographers at the start of the meeting in a New York hotel, did not take questions.
Barak said a meeting between Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being arranged in the next one to three weeks, Barak said.
Monday Israel approved construction of 50 new homes at a West Bank settlement as part of a larger development, an expansion that would defy the U.S. call for a building freeze.
Netanyahu has said he would allow some construction to continue to match population growth within existing settlements.
(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem; Reporting by David Storey)
Original article

Related articles:
Israel to build 50 new homes at W.Bank settlement
Barak open on Israel settlement freeze before U.S. trip
Barak open on Israel settlement freeze before U.S. trip
Israel army to curtail operations in four West Bank cities
Israel sees deal soon with Obama over settlements
Netanyahu to outline Israel's policies in speech
U.S. skeptical Netanyahu will back down: diplomats

Bomb kills 25 in Iraq as U.S. troops leave

2009-06-30T22:03:00.000+04:00

(BAGHDAD, IRAQI, TUESDAY, TROOPS, SECURITY, GOVERNMENT)

By Tim Cocks and Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk killed at least 25 people on Tuesday, just after U.S. troops handed over full control of Iraq`s cities to the domestic security forces six years after the invasion.
The bomb, which wounded at least 40 people, struck a busy market in a largely Kurdish part of Kirkuk, a city viewed as a potential flashpoint between the Shi`ite Arab-led central government and Kurds. Police said the death toll could rise.
Many Iraqis fear the U.S. pullback from towns and cities and into rural bases, the first step toward a full U.S. withdrawal by the end of 2011, leaves them open to attack.
But the government declared Tuesday a holiday, "National Sovereignty Day," and held a parade to show off the military muscle it will use against a stubborn insurgency.
"This day, which we consider a national celebration, is an achievement made by all Iraqis," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a televised address.
"Our incomplete sovereignty and the presence of foreign troops is the most serious legacy we have inherited (from Saddam Hussein). Those who think that Iraqis are unable to defend their country are committing a fatal mistake."
Citizens and Iraqi soldiers drove around the streets of Baghdad in vehicles draped in flowers and Iraqi flags to celebrate.
In another bloody reminder of the war unleashed by the 2003 U.S. invasion, the U.S. military said four U.S. soldiers based in Baghdad had died of combat-related injuries on Monday. It gave no further details.
By midnight on Tuesday, all U.S. combat units must have left Iraq`s urban centers and redeployed to rural bases, according to a bilateral security pact that requires all U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
(Additional reporting by Sherko Raouf; editing by Robert Woodward)
Original article

Related articles:
Iraqis rejoice as U.S. troops leave Baghdad
Life after U.S. pullout brings worries for Iraqis

U.N. monitors leave Georgia, OSCE mission shuts

2009-06-30T20:28:00.000+04:00

(MONITORS, MISSION, RUSSIA, AFTER, ABKHAZIA, SOUTH)

By Matt Robinson
TBILISI (Reuters) - United Nations monitors began pulling out of Georgia on Tuesday and the OSCE officially closed its observer mission, testing security almost a year since the former Soviet republic`s war with Russia.
A deadline for the OSCE to withdraw passed on Tuesday after negotiations with Russia broke down in May. The mission conducted its last patrol on Friday, and has already left its hillside headquarters in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
Russia rejected extending the mandates of some 130 U.N. monitors in breakaway Abkhazia and 20 monitors of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who operated in rebel South Ossetia until last August`s war.
Moscow recognized the territories as independent states after crushing a Georgian assault on South Ossetia in a five-day war. Russia demanded separate monitoring missions for the regions, which Georgia said would violate its sovereignty.
Greek Foreign Minister and OSCE chair Dora Bakoyanni lamented the lack of consensus.
"As a result, one of the largest on-the-ground missions of the OSCE in the region was led to an end -- despite the clear need, recognized by many states taking part in it, for the organization to be present in order to contribute toward security and stability in the region."
In Abkhazia on Monday, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet said U.N. military and police monitors would start leaving on Tuesday and complete the withdrawal by July 15, a month after Russia vetoed a new mandate, Abkhaz media reported.
OIL AND GAS TRANSIT
A U.N. official who declined to be named confirmed around 20 monitors were leaving on Tuesday. "We`re moving them out in batches," he said. Full closure and the departure of several hundred civilian staff will take several more months.
The U.N. and OSCE missions deployed after Abkhazia and South Ossetia threw off Georgia`s rule in wars in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Their departure leaves the European Union alone with some 225 unarmed monitors deployed after last year`s war to monitor a fragile ceasefire.
The EU mission, however, has been denied access to either South Ossetia or Abkhazia and currently conducts patrols only as far as the de facto borders.
Analysts warn the mission has neither the access nor the means to prevent frequent incidents -- gunfire and bomb blasts -- escalating into full-blown clashes in an important transit region for oil and gas to the West.
Russia has kept thousands of soldiers in South Ossetia and Abkhazia since the war. Departing OSCE mission head Terhi Hakala warned last week of the risk of fresh conflict.
Tensions are again running high, with Russia this week conducting annual large-scale military exercises across parts of its southern regions bordering Georgia, condemned by Tbilisi as "pure provocation."
(Additional reporting by Harry Papachristou in Athens, editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Original article

Related articles:
OSCE makes last Georgia patrol, issues warning
Georgia conflict "could erupt again": thinktank
Georgia angry after Russia vetoes U.N. monitors
Georgia sees red after Russia vetoes U.N. monitors
Georgia's Abkhazia less secure without monitors: U.N.

Human Rights Watch accuses Israel over Gaza drones

2009-06-30T17:41:00.000+04:00

(MISSILE, DRONES, HUMAN, RIGHTS, WATCH, WHICH)

By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Missile-firing Israeli drones unlawfully killed at least 29 Palestinian civilians during the Gaza Strip war, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
Despite having advanced surveillance equipment, drone operators failed to exercise proper caution "as required by the laws of war" in verifying their targets were combatants, the New York-based monitoring group said, issuing a 39-page report that described six alleged strikes by remote-controlled aircraft.
Israel has a fleet of spy drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), but refuses to confirm or deny widespread beliefs that some of the aircraft also carry weapons.
The military cast doubt on Human Rights Watch`s research methods -- a criticism echoed by some independent experts -- and, in a statement, asserted that all Israeli actions "conform to international law, as do the weapons and munitions used."
Israel launched its December-January offensive to counter rocket fire from Hamas-ruled Gaza, and has since weathered foreign censure over the killing of some 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians, during the fighting.
Human Rights Watch based its findings primarily on debris from Israeli-made Spike missiles, which it said are fired from drones. The report also called on Israel to publish drone surveillance footage, to show how targets were identified.
Spike`s state-owned manufacturer, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., says the missile, which has been sold widely abroad, can be fired by helicopters, infantry and naval craft.
Asked how it was possible to know that the Spikes in question had been fired by drones rather than these other means, Marc Garlasco, Human Rights Watch`s senior military analyst, cited the corroboration of Palestinians who said they had seen or heard the pilotless planes.
DISPUTED FORSENSICS
The value of such forensics was disputed by Robert Hewson, editor of Jane`s Air-Launched Weapons.
He said that while low-flying drones are often visible, the aircraft can reach operational heights of 12,000 feet, at which sightings would be much harder. The launch of a missile at that altitude would likely elude the naked eye.
Garlasco said he did not know at what height the drones described in the Human Rights Watch report were flying. He also said that two of the incidents cited in the report took place in the evening or night -- a further obstacle to witness sightings.
"Human Rights Watch makes a lot of claims and assumptions about weapons and drones, all of which is still fairly speculative, because we have so little evidence," Hewson said.
According to Garlasco, locals heard the buzz of drone propellers during the alleged air strikes rather than rotors that might have suggested the missiles were helicopter-fired.
Retired British army colonel Richard Kemp, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, questioned whether such distinctions could be made, not least as the Spike`s range is 8 km (5 miles) -- enough to put helicopters or naval boats out of earshot. Continued...
Original article

U.N.`s Ban says to urge Myanmar to release Suu Kyi

2009-06-30T17:30:00.000+04:00

(MYANMAR, POLITICAL, REPORTERS, HOUSE, ARREST, GOVERNMENT)

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will strongly urge Myanmar`s ruling generals to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, when he visits the country this week, he told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Speaking after talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone, he said he was aware of concerns about his July 3-4 visit coinciding with the trial of Suu Kyi, the main opposition leader, who has been under house arrest for years.
"It may be the case that the trial happens during my visit to Myanmar. I am very much conscious of that," Ban told reporters.
"I try to use this visit as an opportunity to raise in the strongest possible terms and convey the concerns of the international community of the United Nations to the highest authorities of the Myanmar government," he added.
Ban said he would press the Myanmar government to carry out a range of political reforms.
"I consider that three of the most important issues for Myanmar cannot be left unaddressed at this juncture," Ban told reporters. "The first, release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."
The other two items were the resumption of dialogue between the government and opposition and the creation of conditions conducive to a credible election, he added.
Suu Kyi, 64, has been in prison or under house arrest on and off since 1989. The military junta that has ruled Myanmar since 1962 put her on trial again recently, accusing her of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an unauthorised guest to stay at her lakeside home.
(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Original article

Related articles:
U.N.`s Ban to visit Myanmar to urge democratic reform
U.N.`s Ban to visit Myanmar to urge democratic reform
Britain wants more Myanmar sanctions over Suu Kyi

Afghan-Pakistan border blast wounds several: police

2009-06-30T14:35:00.000+04:00

(BORDER, CROSSING, AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN, SENIOR, TALIBAN)

KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber attacked a border checkpoint at a crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Tuesday, a senior border policeman said, wounding at least four people.
The bomber attacked the crossing for women in the east Afghan town of Torkham, senior policeman Mohammad Zaman Mamozai told Reuters by telephone from the Afghan-Pakistan border. The checkpoint was ablaze, he said.
Private Afghan television station Tolo reported that at least four people were wounded in the blast.
Ambulances were rushing to the scene from the nearby city of Jalalabad, a former Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold in eastern Afghanistan, a Reuters reporter in the city said.
The suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a room used by female security guards to check women crossing the border, Mamozai said.
Senior U.S. military commanders say violence in Afghanistan`s Taliban-led insurgency has reached its highest level since the Islamist militants were ousted after a U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
U.S. President Barack Obama has identified Afghanistan and Pakistan as his main foreign policy priority and Washington is pouring thousands of extra U.S. troops into Afghanistan in a bid to stabilize the war-racked nation.
The reinforcements are meant to help secure August 20 presidential elections in Afghanistan and to combat the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies.
(Reporting by Rafiq Sherzad and Hamid Shalizi; editing by Paul Tait)
Original article

Pakistan militant faction scraps pact, vows attacks

2009-06-30T14:23:00.000+04:00

(PAKISTAN, GOVERNMENT, ATTACKS, OFFENSIVE, MEHSUD, WAZIRISTAN)

By Alamgir Bitani
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani militants in a northwestern region have scrapped a peace deal with the government and vowed to launch attacks, threatening to open a new front against the army already fighting in two areas.
The military says it is nearing the end of an offensive in the Swat region, northwest of Islamabad, and is set to launch an assault on Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan on the Afghan border.
The offensive in Swat was launched two months ago after Taliban fighters thrust toward the capital, raising alarm both at home and among allies who need nuclear-armed Pakistan`s help to fight al Qaeda and to tackle Afghanistan`s insurgency.
A militant faction allied with Mehsud in North Waziristan, another militant hotspot also on the Afghan border, said it was ending a pact with the government because of U.S. drone aircraft attacks and the presence of government forces in their area.
"Our leadership has decided that as long as U.S. drone attacks continue and security forces stay here, there will be no peace agreement," faction spokesman Ahmedullah Ahmedi said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
The United States has launched more than 40 attacks by pilotless drones in northwest Pakistan since the beginning of last year, many in North Waziristan.
Pakistan officially objects to the attacks, saying they drive the population into the arms of the militants. U.S. officials say the strikes ae carried out under an agreement that allows Pakistani leaders to decry them in public.
Meanwhile, the government has said Mehsud and his followers in South Waziristan will be attacked next and defeated.
Mehsud carries a U.S. reward of $5 million and a Pakistani reward of 50 million rupees ($615,000). Analysts say Mehsud has become increasingly close to al Qaeda and the military says he is behind 90 percent of "terrorist activity" in the country.
Mehsud was accused of the December 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
HEAVY SHELLING
Security forces have been closing in on his headquarters, using aircraft and artillery to attack his positions while soldiers secure main roads.
The military shelled Mehsud`s positions again on Monday evening and a stray shell hit the wall of the home of a Reuters reporter on the outskirts of the region`s main town of Wana. No one was hurt.
"There was heavy shelling for several hours and one shell hit my house. Thank God, everybody is safe," the reporter said.
North Waziristan has been relatively peaceful but Ahmedi, spokesman for the faction led by commander Gul Bahadur, said his men would go on the offensive. Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Pakistani jets hit militant compounds in Waziristan
Pakistan bombs Taliban in Waziristan, 5 shot in Karachi
Pakistani violence spreads to Kashmir
U.S. adviser hails Pakistani attack on militants
U.S. drone strike kills 45 in Pakistan
Guard kills rival to Pakistan Taliban leader Mehsud
Rival to Taliban commander Mehsud killed

North Korea trying to enrich uranium, South says

2009-06-30T12:45:00.000+04:00

(NORTH, KOREA, URANIUM, NUCLEAR, SOUTH, PROGRAM)

By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea appears to be enriching uranium, potentially giving the state that tested a plutonium-based nuclear device in May another path for making atomic weapons, South Korea`s defense minister said on Tuesday.
"It is clear that they are moving forward with it," Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told a parliamentary hearing, adding such a program is far easier to hide than the North`s current plutonium-based program.
North Korea earlier this month responded to U.N. punishment for its nuclear test by saying it would start enriching uranium for a light-water reactor.
Experts said destitute North Korea lacks the technology and resources to build such a costly civilian reactor but may use the program as a cover to enrich uranium for weapons.
North Korea, which has ample supplies of natural uranium, would be able to conduct an enrichment program in underground or undisclosed facilities and away from the prying eyes of U.S. spy satellites.
The North`s plutonium program uses an aging reactor and is centered at its Soviet-era Yongbyon nuclear plant, which has been watched by U.S. aerial reconnaissance for years.
Proliferation experts said the North has purchased equipment needed for uranium enrichment including centrifuges and high-strength aluminum tubes but they doubt that Pyongyang has seriously pursued the project.
"It seems unlikely that North Korea will succeed in establishing a substantial enrichment capability ... in the near term," nuclear expert Hui Zhang wrote in an article this month in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, adding outside help from the likes of Pyongyang`s ally Iran could speed up the process.
South Korean officials said the North`s recent military moves that also included missile tests and threats to attack the South were likely aimed at building internal support for leader Kim Jong-il, 67, as he prepares for succession in Asia`s only communist dynasty.
Investors used to the North`s military rumblings said the developments have not had any major impact on trading but have raised concern among market players.
North Korea is also preparing to test a long-range missile that could hit U.S. territory and mid-range missiles that could hit all of South Korea, which could further rattle regional security, a South Korean presidential Blue House official said last week.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz and Christine Kim; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Original article

Related articles:
Obama, Lee warn North Korea brinkmanship won't work

Iraq steps into precarious but sovereign unknown

2009-06-30T11:33:00.000+04:00

(TROOPS, FORCES, MILITANT, SECURITY, THEIR, IRAQI)

By Michael Christie
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq takes a major step toward reasserting its sovereignty on Tuesday when U.S. combat troops hand urban areas over to its relatively untested police and soldiers.
Will the end of one aspect of the "surge" strategy -- the ramped-up deployment of U.S. forces in militant strongholds that helped drive al Qaeda and other fighters underground -- lead to a collapse in security?
WILL VIOLENCE SOAR?
It is highly likely that insurgents will increase their attacks following the departure of U.S. combat troops from city centers, both U.S. and Iraqi officials say.
Some militant groups may want to create the impression that they deserve the credit for driving out the occupation forces.
The fact that the partial withdrawal has been dictated by a bilateral security pact agreed last year between the United States and Iraq is immaterial to them.
Some of the insurgents may also think Iraq and its population will be more vulnerable once the Americans pull back to their bases, and that they have a better chance of reigniting widespread sectarian bloodshed through massive bombings.
There have been indications, however, that insurgent and militant groups have lost the capacity to keep up the momentum.
While the past month saw two of the deadliest bombings in more than a year, the overall number of incidents has plunged, and major attacks are followed by weeks of relative calm.
WHAT IS AT STAKE POLITICALLY?
If Iraqi security forces fail to protect the Iraqi people from escalating attacks, Shi`ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is likely to suffer politically.
He is staking his hopes for a second term after a parliamentary poll next January on his ability to claim credit for a sharp fall in violence over the past 18 months.
Maliki has called the withdrawal a great victory as Iraq tries to shake off stigma of occupation, and he has declared June 30, "National Sovereignty Day," a public holiday.
Analysts say he has essentially backed himself into a corner by exalting the occasion -- if violence soars it will be politically unpalatable to call on the U.S. military for help.
The prime minister`s stance may also dictate commanders` behavior on the ground. They may be loathe to call on U.S. troops or air cover, no matter how much it is needed, out of fear of being punished by their superiors for apparent weakness. Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Iraqis rejoice as U.S. troops leave Baghdad
Life after U.S. pullout brings worries for Iraqis
Iraq PM says forces can handle security without U.S.
Bomb kills at least 72 in Baghdad's Sadr City
Brown urges Iraq hostage takers to release Britons

Iran upholds Ahmadinejad victory, says matter closed

2009-06-30T11:20:00.000+04:00

(ELECTION, COUNCIL, RECOUNT, PROTESTS, STATE, OPPOSITION)

By Fredrik Dahl and Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran confirmed hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president and said a row over his June 12 re-election was over, leaving opponents who cried foul with few options.
Iran`s top legislative body, the Guardian Council, said a partial recount on Monday had disproved complaints of irregularities by pro-reform opponents, who said the count was inadequate and that only annulling the election would do.
Riot police beefed up their presence in the capital Tehran but there were no signs of major unrest late on Monday, in contrast to protests by tens of thousands that erupted when Ahmadinejad was first declared victor of the June 12 vote.
State media say 20 people died in that violence which the government and opposition blamed on one another. Pro-government Basij militia and riot police broke up the protests.
"The secretary of the Guardian Council, in a letter to the interior minister, announced the final decision of the Council ... and declares the approval of the accuracy of the results of ... the presidential election," state broadcaster IRIB said.
The poll and its turbulent aftermath have exposed splits in Iran`s political establishment and plunged the country into its deepest crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
But options for the opposition look limited now the election result has been officially upheld, after the recount of what the council said was a random 10 percent of the vote.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei signaled on June 19 that mass protests would no longer be tolerated. There is little scope for more legal fights, and hundreds of opposition supporters have been detained, leaving protesters leaderless.
After dark, some people are still chanting "Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)" from their rooftops, mimicking tactics used during the 1979 revolution, but the nightly cries are weakening.
There has been talk of other forms of civil disobedience, including strike action, but these have yet to materialize.
DOSSIER CLOSED
"The Guardian Council statement was issued when it became convinced about the accuracy of the election," a council spokesman said, adding that no irregularities were found.
"The dossier of the ... election has been closed today."
The recount system was not immediately clear, but state media said it had been spread over at least several provinces.
Opposition supporters say the vote was rigged to favor the hardline president over reformist rivals including Mirhossein Mousavi, who came second. Mousavi had rejected the idea of a recount and sent no representatives to watch it. Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Mousavi rejects partial Iran vote recount
Tens of thousands mourn Iranians killed in protests
Wearing black, Mousavi supporters hold mourning rally
Iranian authority offers talks with election losers
Backers of Iran's Mousavi plan more protests
Backers of Iran's Mousavi aim to keep up protests

Malaysia PM sets big reforms to boost investment

2009-06-30T11:08:00.000+04:00

(MALAYS, MALAYSIA, INVESTMENT, ECONOMY, NAJIB, PERCENT)

By David Chance and Soo Ai Peng
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia`s prime minister unveiled a raft of measures on Tuesday to boost investment in the slumping economy, coming close to ending an affirmative action program for ethnic Malays that critics say has stymied growth.
Najib Razak told a conference in Kuala Lumpur that his government would end rules on foreign investment in most sectors of the economy and would open up the investment management and brokerage industry, as well as property, ending requirements for 30 percent ownership by ethnic Malays.
He also promised reforms of Malaysia`s huge government companies such as plantations and property giant Sime Darby, and said they would be forced to sell non-core assets to boost domestic competition in the Southeast Asian nation.
"We have become a successful middle income economy, but we cannot and will not be caught in the middle income country trap," Najib told the conference.
"We need to make the shift to a high income economy or we risk losing growth momentum in our economies and vibrancy in our markets."
The reforms gave the ringgit a small boost and it traded at 3.521 to the dollar at 0500 GMT (1 a.m. EDT), up from 3.54 at the open, although data released later showed foreign investors had continued to pull money out of Malaysia this year.
Malaysia is Asia`s third most export-dependent nation, seeing shipment slump 26 percent from a year ago as demand for electronics and commodities has been hit by the global downturn. The economy has shrunk 5 percent this year.
Investment flows have dried up and the country has been overtaken by neighbouring Thailand in terms of direct investment since 2001 and portfolio flows turned negative to the tune of 92.3 billion Malaysian ringgit ($26.10 billion) in 2008.
In the first quarter of 2009 they remained negative to the tune of 12.2 billion ringgit, even as investment in other emerging Asian economies has recovered. Malaysia`s stock market has risen 20 percent this year, underperforming a 30 percent rise in Asian markets excluding Japan.
"This move will definitely encourage investors to rethink or reconsider Malaysia amid the many choices (in the region) such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia," said Wan Suhaimie Wan Saidie, economist at Malaysia`s Kenanga investment bank.
BALANCING INVESTMENT AND POLITICS
Najib who heads an unpopular government and himself has an approval rating of just 45 percent, according to a June poll, had to balance the need for reform to attract diminishing global investment flows against the risk of a political backlash.
That means that he could not formally end New Economic Policy (NEP), the system of economic and social privileges for ethnic Malays who are 55 percent of the population and which has been cornerstone of the country`s policies since 1971.
Instead Najib chose to emphasize that he would keep an overall aim of boosting Malays` ownership of the economy to 30 percent from 19.4 percent at present but he placed a new stress on helping competitive Malays, rather than a blanket guarantee.
"Pragmatism requires a focus on substance, not form. The government of Malaysia remains committed to pursue the spirit and substance of growth with equity," Najib said. Continued...
Original article

Blast in Baghdad marketplace kills 72, injures over 100

2009-06-30T10:07:00.000+04:00

(EXPLOSION, BAGHDAD, WEDNESDAY, LOCAL, CITIES, NUMBER)

Powerful explosion kills more than 70 in Baghdad
MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) - Police have confirmed at least 72 people have died and more than 100 injured in a blast in a Baghdad marketplace, al Jazeera reported on Thursday.
The bomb was hidden in a motorcycle rickshaw loaded with fruit and vegetables which detonated on Wednesday evening at the Mraidi outdoor market in north Baghdad`s Sadr City. The bomber abandoned his vehicle and ran off prior to the detonation.
Many women and children are among the victims.
"I heard a boom and saw a ball of fire," Najim Ali, a 30-year-old local, who was shopping in the market, told al Jazeera. "I saw cars flying in the air because of the force of the explosion."
This latest attack comes as U.S. troops prepare to hand over control of several Iraqi cities to local authorities by June 30.
The number of explosions has dropped in recent months in Iraq with May having one of the lowest casualty figures since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the country. However recent violence, including a blast in Kirkuk on Saturday which killed 73, has pushed the death toll this month to over 150.
Earlier on Wednesday, a U.S. military spokesman said only a small number of U.S. troops would remain in Iraqi cities after the June 30 deadline, but that the exact number was still being worked on.
Some U.S. soldiers will stay behind in urban centers at so-called Joint Security Stations to train and advise local security forces.

Original article

Yemeni plane crashes off Comoros with over 150 on board

2009-06-30T09:55:00.000+04:00

(REUTERS, CRASHED, OCEAN, COMOROS, FRENCH, AIRPORT)

By Ahmed Ali Amir
MORONI (Reuters) - An Airbus A310-300 from Yemen with 153 people on board crashed into choppy seas as it tried to land in bad weather on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros Tuesday, officials said.
Two French military planes and a French ship left the Indian Ocean islands of Mayotte and Reunion to search for the Yemenia aircraft that was carrying nationals from France and Comoros.
An official from the Yemeni state carrier said the plane had 142 passengers, including three infants, and 11 crew on board. It was flying from Sanaa to Moroni, the capital of the main island of the Comoros archipelago.
"We still do not have information about the reason behind the crash or survivors," Mohammad al-Sumairi, deputy general manager for Yemenia operations told Reuters.
"The weather conditions were rough; strong wind and high seas. The wind speed recorded on land at the airport was 61 km (38 miles) an hour. There could be other factors," he said.
It is the second Airbus to plunge into the sea this month. An Air France Airbus A330-200 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing 228 people on board on June 1.
In 1996, a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 also crashed into the sea off the Comoros islands in 1996, killing 125 of 175 passengers and crew.
"Two French military aircraft have left from the islands of Mayotte and Reunion to search the identified zone, and a French vessel has left Mayotte," said Hadji Madi Ali, director General of Moroni International Airport.
COMING INTO LAND
"The plane has crashed and we still don`t know exactly where. We think it`s in the area of Mitsamiouli," Comoros Vice-President Idi Nadhoim told Reuters from the airport.
Ibrahim Kassim, a representative from regional air security body ASECNA, said the plane had probably come down 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 miles) from the coast, and civilian and military boats had set off to search the rough waters.
"We think the crash is somewhere along its landing approach," Kassim told Reuters. "The weather is really not very favourable. The sea is very rough."
ASECNA -- the Agency for Aviation Security and Navigation in Africa and Madagascar -- covers Francophone Africa.
The town of Mitsamiouli is on the main island Grande Comore.
Interior Minister Hamid Bourhane told Reuters the army had sent small speedboats to an area between the village of Ntsaoueni and the airport. Continued...
Original article

Honduras isolated over coup, protests turn violent

2009-06-30T09:43:00.000+04:00

(HONDURAS, PRESIDENT, ZELAYA, AMERICAN, LEADERS, CHAVEZ)

By Mica Rosenberg
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras came under pressure on Monday to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya as many Latin American leaders agreed to withdraw envoys, Washington called his overthrow illegal and street protests turned violent.
Police in the Honduran capital fired tear gas at stone-throwing supporters of Zelaya, a leftist who was toppled in an army coup on Sunday and flown to exile in Costa Rica while a caretaker president was sworn in.
Some 1,500 protesters, some of them masked and carrying sticks, taunted solders and burned tires just outside the gates of the presidential palace in a face-off with security forces.
Zelaya was ousted over his push to extend presidential terms in Central America`s biggest political crisis since the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. Honduras had been stable since the end of military rule in the early 1980s.
Congress named Roberto Micheletti, a conservative-leaning veteran of Zelaya`s Liberal Party as interim president.
Honduras is a major coffee producer, expected to export some 3.22 million 60-kg bags in the 2008/09 season, but there were no immediate signs that output or exports were affected as ports and roads remained open.
Left-wing Latin American presidents led by Venezuela`s President Hugo Chavez said at a meeting in Managua, capital of neighboring Nicaragua, that they would withdraw their ambassadors from Honduras in protest at the coup.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon followed suit, as did leaders from Central America, also meeting in Managua, according to a diplomatic source. The Central American leaders also announced a two-day halt in trade.
Chavez said he would stop sales of cheap oil to Honduras, an impoverished coffee, textiles and banana exporter of 7 million people which joined his ALBA trade bloc of allies last year under Zelaya.
MICHELETTI SLIPS PAST PROTEST
Visibly bolstered by the sea of support for him, Zelaya said he would travel to Honduras on Thursday with Organization of American States (OAS) chief Jose Miguel Insulza.
"I am going to Tegucigalpa on Thursday. The president elected by the people is coming," Zelaya said. He said he had accepted an offer by Insulza to accompany him but gave no details of how he expected to pull the trip off.
Zelaya is due to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday and travel to Washington on Wednesday.
Micheletti, who set himself up in the presidential palace despite the protests raging outside, told Reuters most Hondurans supported the coup, which had saved the country from swinging to a radical Chavez-style socialism.
"President Zelaya was moving the country toward `Chavismo`, he was following this model which is not accepted by Hondurans," he said in an interview, using a Spanish term for the style of socialism championed by Chavez. Continued...
Original article

Israel intercepts Gaza aid boat: activists

2009-06-30T09:31:00.000+04:00

(ISRAELI, ACTIVISTS, CYPRUS, WOULD, WHICH, GROUP)

NICOSIA (Reuters) - The Israeli navy intercepted activists sailing to Gaza with aid on Tuesday, surrounding their boat and telling them to turn back, activists said.
The vessel with 21 people on board was in international waters when it was told to turn back, members of the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement on the boat and in Cyprus told Reuters.
The Israeli military declined to comment.
"There is a patrol boat around us and we were told that if we did not turn back they would open fire," said Derek Graham, an Irish activist.
"We are continuing our course to Gaza," he said.
He was speaking via satellite telephone from a small ferry boat which had departed from Cyprus on Monday. Among the activists were an Irish Nobel peace laureate and a former U.S. Congresswoman.
In Cyprus, the group also said it had communication from the boat that unless it turned back it would be fired upon.
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.
The Israeli navy patrols Gaza coastal waters. It had intercepted activists of the same group sailing into Gaza on two previous occasions.
(Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Original article

Albania rivals neck-to-neck in parliamentary vote

2009-06-30T04:26:00.000+04:00

(ELECTION, COALITION, IMPROVEMENTS, SOCIALIST, ALBANIA, ALBANIA`S, INTERNATIONAL)

By Benet Koleka
TIRANA (Reuters) - Albania`s ruling center-right coalition had just one more seat than the opposition Socialist coalition after more than half of the parliamentary election ballots were counted on Monday.
International monitors said Sunday`s election showed improvements over past polls but still saw marked violations and told Albania to stage future elections better.
The European Union and the United States view the ballot as a test of Albania`s readiness for integration with Europe. The EU`s Swedish presidency will review Albania`s application for candidate status in light of the monitors final poll report.
Results from 2,745 out of 4,753 voting centers showed the ruling Democratic Party coalition had 69 seats while the Socialist-led coalition had 68 seats. The Socialist Integration Movement coalition had three seats.
Under the regional proportional election system being implemented for the first time, the Socialist Integration Movement coalition might become a kingmaker should the current trend be confirmed when all votes are counted.
Final official results are expected late on Tuesday.
The main opposition Socialist Party of Edi Rama, 44, and the ruling Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, 64, traded accusations of intimidation at vote counting centers.
Releasing the findings of some 500 monitors, the International Election Observation Mission said the elections showed improvements over previous votes, but new NATO member Albania needed to do more to meet standards.
IMPROVEMENTS
Albania signed an association deal with the European Union in June 2006 and applied for EU candidate status in April this year. Unlike the U.S., which threw its weight behind Albania`s NATO entry, the EU feels Albania faces a series of reforms.
"The International Election Observation Mission concluded that Albania`s election process demonstrated improvements, but also noted that violations persist," the mission said.
"The country has matured, it has made progress, and many of the fears we had only some months ago have not materialized," said Wolfgang Grossruck, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly`s vice president who coordinated the OSCE short-term observer mission.
"These improvements were overshadowed by the politicization of technical aspects of the process and violations observed during the campaign which undermined public confidence in the electoral process," Grossruck said. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, the EU official in charge of accession talks with Albania, said on Monday the country must do better in staging future elections, citing campaign violence and procedural violations.
He noted that there had been progress in arrangements for the vote but added: "These improvements were overshadowed by the politicisation of technical aspects of the election process as well (as) by violence during the election campaign."
"These elections clearly underline the need for the Albanian political leadership ... to work hard in order to conduct elections in the future which fully meet international standards and have high public confidence of the Albanian voters."
Original article

Argentine leader defends policy after vote defeat

2009-06-30T02:49:00.000+04:00

(KIRCHNER, ELECTION, POLITICAL, BUENOS, PRESIDENT, AIRES, FERNANDEZ)

By Helen Popper
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez faced a new political landscape on Monday after losing control of Congress in a mid-term election as voters rejected her combative style and economic policies.
Former President Nestor Kirchner, who is Fernandez`s powerful husband and predecessor, was defeated by a millionaire businessman from a rival faction within the ruling Peronist party in a high-profile congressional race.
Kirchner resigned as the head of the party on Monday and was replaced by Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli in fallout from the election.
The government`s electoral losses may lead to political gridlock and a power struggle in the Peronist party as rivals jostle for positions ahead of a 2011 presidential election.
Argentine stocks, bonds and the peso currency all rallied on the election result as investors bet the Kirchners would be forced to relax interventionist economic policies that are unpopular with markets. [nN29383705]
"We think that this change in political landscape will translate into a much more pragmatic approach for the conduct of economic policy," Bulltick Capital Markets said in a report on Monday.
A government source, who asked not to be named, said Fernandez could replace several ministers following the humiliating defeat.
The election was widely seen as a referendum on the Kirchners. The former president had hoped to shore up flagging support for his wife, whose popularity rankings have languished at about 30 percent for most of her 18 months in office.
Kirchner had been believed to be planning to run again for president in 2011, but he now cannot use a victory in Buenos Aires province as a springboard.
"The presidential race for 2011 will now dominate the local political scene and there is a risk of seeing earlier presidential elections next year," said Alberto Ramos, senior economist at Goldman Sachs, in a report.
Several political leaders, all of them Fernandez critics, were seen as being strengthened by Sunday`s vote as either they or congressional candidates allied with them fared well.
They include Vice President Julio Cobos, who has broken ranks with the Kirchners, Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri and Senator Carlos Reutemann, a Peronist.
A SHARP BLOW
In the most closely watched race on Sunday, a slate of candidates headed by businessman Francisco de Narvaez took 2.5 percentage points more votes than the slate headed by Kirchner in Argentina`s most populous province, Buenos Aires.
According to near-complete official results, De Narvaez`s slate won 34.6 percent of the vote compared to Kirchner`s list`s 32.1 percent. Continued...
Original article

Related articles:
Argentine president losing Congress: exit polls

Iraqis rejoice as U.S. troops leave Baghdad

2009-06-29T22:44:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

Related articles:
Life after U.S. pullout brings worries for Iraqis
Iraq PM says forces can handle security without U.S.
Bomb kills 13 in latest Baghdad bombing
Roadside bomb kills five policemen in Iraq
Bomb kills at least 72 in Baghdad's Sadr City
Bombings kill at least 27 in Iraq
Suicide truck bomber kills 67 in northern Iraq

Doctors to say soon whether Nazi guard fit for trial

2009-06-29T22:19:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

2009-06-29T22:07:00.000+04:00

(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

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

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

2009-06-29T21:55:00.000+04:00

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

Partial recount in Iran, reformers want annulment

2009-06-29T18:04:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

Related articles:
Iran state TV says clerics cancel rally

Israel to build 50 new homes at W.Bank settlement

2009-06-29T17:52:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

Related articles:
Barak open on Israel settlement freeze before U.S. trip
Barak open on Israel settlement freeze before U.S. trip
Israel sees deal soon with Obama over settlements
Israel pushes Obama to allow some settlement growth
Palestinian dismay, U.S. and EU cautious on Netanyahu
Abbas aide urges world shun Netanyahu over speech
Netanyahu bends on statehood but not settlements

Lebanon`s Hariri begins tough job to form government

2009-06-29T17:40:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

2009-06-29T17:27:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

2009-06-29T17:15:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

2009-06-29T14:12:00.000+04:00

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

LARNACA, 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

2009-06-29T13:59:00.000+04:00

(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

2009-06-29T12:22:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

2009-06-29T10:45:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

Related articles:
Khamenei vows no retreat on Iran election result
Mousavi rally draws massive crowds in Tehran
Iran bans protest rally, Mousavi to urge calm
Iranians vote in droves, rival victory claims
Voting starts in Iran's presidential election
Ahmadinejad faces election challenge from moderate
Ahmadinejad's economic record may sway Iran vote

In China, parents mourn children abducted by traffickers

2009-06-29T09:07:00.000+04:00

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

By 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

2009-06-29T07:54:00.000+04:00

By 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

2009-06-29T07:41:00.000+04:00

By 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

2009-06-29T07:29:00.000+04:00

By 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

2009-06-29T01:23:00.000+04:00

By 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

Iraq lessons learned, U.S. Marines turn to Afghanistan

2009-06-28T21:57:00.000+04:00

By Peter Graff
DESERT OF DEATH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - After five years coping with the most dangerous province in Iraq, the U.S. Marines have been given their next assignment: the most dangerous province in Afghanistan.
But this time around, they say they will talk a little more and shoot a little less.
"We spent so much time in Iraq learning from our mistakes," said Corporal Mahmoud Awada, a 21-year-old Lebanese-American Marine from Utah, who spent the second half of 2007 and early 2008 in Anbar west of Baghdad.
"We learned that we can`t just go around kicking down doors because that won`t work. In Iraq, what really helped us win over there, make the situation better, was gaining the trust of the people, becoming friends with them."
The Marines that have arrived in recent weeks in Afghanistan`s wild southern Helmand province are a different force from the Marines who blasted their way into Anbar.
Back then, the Marines were still learning the art of counter-insurgency warfare.
An Arabic speaker, Awada worked closely with the Iraqi army. It was frustrating at times, but it opened his eyes.
"You have to sit down and talk with them, talk for a while, enjoy a nice cup of tea, get to know them a little better, ask them how their family is doing," Awada said.
The Marines fought two massive battles for the Anbar city of Fallujah in 2004, the biggest engagements of the Iraq war.
Anbar was almost completely in the hands of insurgents for the next 2 or 3 years and the Marines gained an early reputation for heavy-handed use of firepower.
They had turned it around by late 2007, forming an alliance with local tribal leaders against al Qaeda militants that helped transform Iraq`s most violent province into one of its safest.
Today, they are being asked to repeat the trick in Helmand, the heartland of Afghanistan`s Taliban. U.S. President Barack Obama, overseeing a troop drawdown in Iraq, has made Afghanistan the military`s top priority.
BIGGEST WAVE
The 8,500 Marines sent to Helmand are the biggest wave of a reinforcement strategy that will see U.S. forces in Afghanistan rise from 32,000 at the end of 2008 to 68,000 by the end of 2009.
Southern Helmand, like Anbar, is virtually entirely made up of a vast, empty desert, cut through by a single river, surrounded by a band of densely populated agricultural land. Insurgents infiltrate across a long and poorly guarded border. Continued...
Original article

Life after U.S. pullout brings worries for Iraqis

2009-06-28T20:07:00.000+04:00

By Daniel Wallis
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sitting in his small room in northern Baghdad, a pistol nearby and assault rifles stacked under the bed, Khalil Ibrahim is worried over Iraq`s future.
Six years after the U.S. invasion, Iraqis are contemplating the reality of life after a major milestone -- Tuesday`s withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban centres.
Glancing at his seven-year-old son playing a war game on a computer in the corner, Ibrahim, a chain-smoking former military intelligence officer, said he has two main worries.
"Iran has good relations with our political parties. They run militias. If the U.S. troops complete their withdrawal, Iran will do whatever it wants in Iraq," he said, scowling.
Shi`ite-ruled Iran is often accused of arming and funding Shi`ite militias who have killed Sunnis, a charge Tehran denies.
"Also, if the Americans pull out, al Qaeda will return," Ibrahim said. He knows the Islamist militants better than most.
As leader of a U.S.-backed Sunni Arab guard unit made up of many former insurgents, some of his men fought with the rebels against the U.S. military, before switching sides and helping drive al Qaeda fighters out of much of Iraq.
But as U.S. forces increasingly hand control to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki`s Shi`ite Muslim-led government under a security pact that requires them to withdraw completely by 2012, tensions are rising.
Violence has dropped sharply across Iraq, but militants still launch devastating bombings. They are usually blamed on Sunni Arab insurgents like al Qaeda, and seem aimed at undermining Maliki`s administration and tipping the nation back into the sectarian slaughter of 2006/07.
WAVE OF BOMBINGS
The last few days have seen two of the worst attacks in more than a year. A suicide truck bomb killed at least 73 worshippers leaving a Shi`ite mosque near northern Kirkuk city on June 20. Four days later another blast tore through a market in Baghdad`s Sadr City, a Shi`ite slum, killing 72 people.
The government has warned that bloodshed is likely to intensify ahead of an even more important milestone for Iraq than this week`s -- a parliamentary election due in January.
With the U.S. withdrawal from cities, many Iraqis from Shi`ite and Sunni sects say they feel exposed to what they say is corruption and incompetence afflicting Iraqi security forces.
"We`re afraid of what will happen in the next few days," 40-year-old Shi`ite civil servant Salah Abd told Reuters by the wreckage of the Sadr City blast. "We could lose a lot of lives."
Others are more optimistic about the U.S. withdrawal, which will see almost all U.S. troops pull back to rural bases. Continued...
Original article

Barak open on Israel settlement freeze before U.S. trip

2009-06-28T19:55:00.000+04:00

By Jeffrey Heller
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak left open the possibility on Sunday of a limited freeze on building in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In comments to reporters, Barak stopped short of denying a report in Israel`s biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, that he would propose a three-month halt to construction starts in settlements but allow current building work to continue.
"The matter mentioned in the headlines has not been finalised," Barak told reporters ahead of talks this week with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell in the United States.
"The issue of the settlements, as part of a broad range of issues, is part of our dialogue with the Americans," Barak said.
An Israeli official called the report "speculative." Other officials said in any case, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s government had not issued any tenders for new construction in West Bank settlements since taking office in March.
U.S. President Barack Obama, in a rare rift between Israel and the United States, is pushing for a building freeze in a bid to spur the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
But U.S. officials said Washington was considering making allowances for some structures nearing completion.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Barak would propose that a three-month moratorium would not cover some 2,000 buildings under construction in West Bank enclaves. Work on homes for Jews in Arab East Jerusalem also would continue.
PEACE TALKS
"I spoke with the minister of defense and he said very clearly that there was no idea to freeze all building in the settlements," cabinet minister Gilad Erdan told reporters.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said U.S.-backed negotiations with Israel could not resume until all settlement construction ceased.
Netanyahu has publicly rejected any restrictions on building Jewish homes within the Israeli-designated municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, which include Arab East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank, territory Israel captured in a 1967 war.
Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians say Jewish settlement on occupied land, deemed illegal by the World Court, could prevent them from establishing a viable state.
Israel has sought to ease tensions over settlements by committing to remove more West Bank roadblocks and settler outposts built without Israeli government permission.
(Additional reporting by Adam Entous; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Original article

Barak open on Israel settlement freeze before U.S. trip

2009-06-28T19:43:00.000+04:00

Mid-term elections seen weakening Argentine leader

2009-06-28T19:31:00.000+04:00

By Fiona Ortiz
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentines voted in congressional elections on Sunday and are expected to throw out allies of President Cristina Fernandez in a rejection of her interventionist economic policies and combative style.
Fernandez, a center-leftist who in 2007 succeeded her husband ex-President Nestor Kirchner, has stagnated with a 30 percent approval rating as Latin America`s No. 3 economy hits turbulence after a six-year expansion.
Polls show Fernandez`s wing of the ruling Peronist party will lose its majority in the 257-seat lower house and barely maintain control of the 72-seat Senate in the mid-term vote.
The key race is in Buenos Aires province, home to 38 percent of Argentines, where dueling Peronist factions are scrambling for the largest share of the 35 lower house seats up for grabs in that district alone.
Kirchner, widely seen as co-governing the country with his wife, is running for Congress in the populous province to shore up her administration and possibly position himself for a presidential run to extend their hold on power through 2015.
The mid-terms are viewed as a springboard for the 2011 presidential race, and Kirchner`s chances will fade if he comes in second in a tight race with millionaire Peronist dissident Francisco de Narvaez.
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.
"I voted for someone else because this government is a disaster. You know what the biggest problem is? Crime. I`ve got to be off the street behind locked doors by 6 p.m.," said Ernesto, a 67-year-old retiree who did not want to give his last name and who voted in an upper-middle-class neighborhood of the province.
COMBATIVE STYLE
The Kirchners` confrontational style -- including frequent clashes with business leaders -- over their six years in power has also worn thin on Argentines.
On the campaign trail, Kirchner warned the country will return to the chaos of the 2001-2002 economic and political meltdown if people do not back him and his wife.
Argentina`s powerful agricultural sector rebelled last year against Fernandez`s plans for higher taxes on soy, the country`s top crop. If she is weakened, farmers will push for less government intervention in farm exports and grain markets.
The presidents of neighboring Brazil and Chile have seen their popularity soar even as their economies go into recession because people in those countries approve of how they are handling the crisis.
But Fernandez`s measures to combat a dramatic economic slowdown and rising unemployment have not generated confidence even though she moved up the mid-term by four months to get them out of the way in case the crisis worsened.
The newly elected members of Congress will not take office until December, so uncertainty looms over how she will govern during the next five months. Continued...
Original article

Skeptical West debates Russia security plan

2009-06-28T19:19:00.000+04:00

By David Brunnstrom and Ingrid Melander
CORFU, Greece (Reuters) - The West looked at Russia`s call for a new pan-Europe security pact on Sunday but the EU`s top diplomat said it must not undermine NATO.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana spoke outside a 56-nation meeting of foreign ministers where Western delegates voiced reservations over Russia`s proposal for a new security "architecture."
Ministers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) met a day after NATO and Russia restored formal cooperation on security threats frozen after Russia`s military intervention in Georgia last year.
But there was no progress on keeping OSCE peace monitors in Georgia. Their mission expires on Tuesday and Moscow is blocking a decision to extend their presence by insisting on recognition of independence for Georgia`s pro-Moscow, breakaway South Ossetia region and a separate OSCE mandate there.
Russia is worried over NATO`s expansion and Kremlin leader Dmitry Medvedev has said Cold War-era institutions like the U.S.-led alliance are ill-equipped to defuse tensions in a multipolar world.
His proposed Treaty on European Security would grant equal status to participating countries, rule out military alliances adopting policies detrimental to the security of the other parties, and deny any country or alliance the right to maintain peace and stability on the continent.
"(This is) maybe the beginning of a serious process in which we will take a look at the architecture of security in Europe," Solana said before joining the closed-door meeting on the Greek island of Corfu.
But any pan-European pact must encompass not just "hard" -- or military security -- but also "soft" issues of economy and human rights and democratic governance, Solana, a former NATO secretary-general, told reporters.
DON`T JEOPARDIZE "FANTASTIC STABILITY," SOLANA SAYS
"There are many (aspects of security) we can develop further (but) without putting at risk the basic structures that have provided fantastic stability for many, many years," Solana said, alluding to NATO and the OSCE.
Russia`s proposal stresses only "hard" security. Western officials say Russia must ditch its old adversarial "sphere of influence" approach to security.
The West also criticizes Moscow for what it sees as a trend back to authoritarian rule at home and muscle-flexing in former Soviet republics such as Georgia.
The Kremlin accuses the United States trying to extend its geopolitical sway. The Russian military is concerned by U.S. plans for a missile shield in central Europe and possible future entry of ex-Soviet states like Georgia into NATO.
Russia and its Western counterparts in the OSCE stuck to opposing positions, participants said, but were looking for points in common ahead of a December OSCE summit in Athens.
"We heard a long complaint from Russia, (asking) to consider improvements in European security because in their view everything is falling apart," one European diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Continued...
Original article

Guinea-Bissau votes to replace slain president

2009-06-28T19:06:00.000+04:00

By Alberto Dabo
BISSAU (Reuters) - People in Guinea-Bissau voted on Sunday in an election to replace the slain president of the West African state, hoping for a chance to end years of turmoil worsened by military infighting and cocaine smuggling cartels.
President Joao Bernardo Vieira was shot dead by soldiers in March in apparent revenge for the killing of the head of the army. Eleven candidates are standing on Sunday. One top contender was killed during the election campaign.
There were no reports of trouble on Sunday and voters queued in Bissau, the run-down coastal capital of the former Portuguese colony.
"This is a great day. I`m voting for peace, calm and stability," said trader Binta Diallo. "I want a president able to bring peace and quiet and to end the criminality."
The vote is a test not only for the country of around 1.6 million people, but for a region worried at the retreat of democracy after coups in Guinea and Mauritania and a deepening political crisis in Niger.
Whoever wins, however, faces the challenge of pulling the state back from failure and reforming security forces that are little more than rival militias.
"The military has been far too dominant in Bissau-Guinean politics to date, so there is a real need for the international community to offer support for capacity building," said Kissy Agyeman-Togobo of IHS Global Insight.
PROMISES
The three front-runners all pledge peace and justice.
The biggest party in parliament, the PAIGC, is represented by Malam Bacai Sanha, interim president from 1999-2000 after a coup and brief civil war.
"The ballot is hugely important for bringing the return of peace stability and security," Bacai Sanha said as he voted, expressing confidence that he would win.
Former President Koumba Yala, overthrown in a 2003 coup, is also expected to do well. The former philosophy professor has the backing of the biggest tribe, the Balante.
Henrique Pereira Rosa, standing as an independent, served as interim president between the overthrow of Yala and the 2005 election won by Vieira.
It is possible there will be no outright winner in the ballot of around 600,000 voters on Sunday, meaning a second round would be held.
Polling stations opened officially at 7 a.m. (0700 GMT), although there were delays at some. They close at 5 p.m. About 150 foreign observers monitored the poll. Continued...
Original article

Albania votes, rivals trade accusations of cheating

2009-06-28T18:54:00.000+04:00

By Benet Koleka
TIRANA (Reuters) - Albania`s election was mostly orderly, the OSCE said on Sunday, although the main parties accused each other of manipulation in a ballot the West hopes will be the Balkan nation`s first free and fair election.
Polls predict a tight race between the ruling Democratic Party of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, one of the dominant leaders of the post-communist era, and the main opposition Socialist Party led by Edi Rama, the mayor of Tirana.
"So far it has been relatively calm," Robert Bosch, head of the Albanian office of Europe`s main human rights and security watchdog the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), told Reuters.
"There are some little irregularities but this time less than in past elections," he said.
A brief exchange of charges of manipulation between the two parties prompted President Bamir Topi, the U.S. envoy and Bosch to urge Albanians to vote calmly and not succumb to pressure.
The West sees Sunday`s vote as a test of Albania`s democratic maturity and its suitability to join the European bloc. Albania joined the NATO military alliance in April and the same month applied for European Union membership.
"Our partners` have focused their attention on the correctness of our elections. They will be decisive for the future of Albania. Surely, the parties should be more careful," Topi said.
"People should vote freely so that we realize for the very first time in the history of the Albanian transition free, correct, transparent and uncontested elections," he said.
U.S. Ambassador John Withers appealed to all to vote individually and not "succumb to any outside pressure."
"I believe very strongly that the importance of these elections is that they be free, fair, transparent and that the will of the Albanian people not the aspirations of the political parties be the fundamental principle," Withers said.
Earlier, the Central Election Commission said the voting was going well, but cited scattered problems including the lack of marker ink to make sure people do not vote twice, delays in starting the vote and discords over ID checking devices.
At one polling station in the mountainside town on Kruja, famed as the 15th-century stronghold of resistance to Ottoman invasion, a Reuters correspondent saw two separate incidents of men casting ballots for elderly women dressed in black.
A official who was putting ink on voters` thumbs to ensure they could not vote a second time said the practice was allowed, especially when the elderly had poor eyesight.
International observers say family voting for others is not allowed, but there were other instances reported elsewhere.
Outside the simple Kruja schoolhouse where locals lined up to get their ballots, Sajmir Laci, 19, part of a generation born after communism, had voted for the first time. Continued...
Original article

Troops detain Honduras president: government

2009-06-28T18:42:00.000+04:00

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduran soldiers detained leftist President Manuel Zelaya on Sunday in a constitutional crisis over his attempt to win re-election, government officials said.
Troops took Zelaya, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, from his residence to an unknown location, Eduardo Reina, the president`s private secretary, told Reuters.
He said shots were fired during the incident, but that could not be independently confirmed.
"We have received reports that he was taken to a military air base," Rafael Alegria, a senior government official, told pro-Zelaya television station Channel 8.
The president fired the armed forces chief of staff last week for refusing to help him organize an unofficial referendum on Sunday on allowing presidents to serve more than a single four-year term.
The impoverished Central American country had been politically stable since the end of military rule in the early 1980s, but Zelaya`s push to change the constitution to allow him another term has split the country`s institutions.
The Supreme Court last week came out against Zelaya and ordered him to reinstate fired military chief General Romeo Vasquez -- a move the president said amounted to a "coup" against him.
The pro-government TV channel on Sunday called on Zelaya supporters to gather in the capital to support the president, but then went off the air without explanation. Phone calls to the presidential palace went unanswered.
The global economic crisis has curbed growth in Honduras, which lives off coffee and textile exports and remittances from Honduran workers abroad. Recent opinion polls have shown that public support for Zelaya has fallen as low as 30 percent.
Honduras, home to 7 million people, is a major drug trafficking transit point.
(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg and Gustavo Palencia; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Original article

Mousavi rejects partial Iran vote recount

2009-06-28T12:49:00.000+04:00

By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi on Saturday rejected authorities` proposals for a partial recount of votes from this month`s election and repeated his demand the entire ballot be annulled.
EDITORS` NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Iran`s top legislative body, the Guardian Council, had offered to recount 10 percent of ballot boxes from the June 12 vote in the presence of senior officials representing the government and opposition.
"This kind of recount will not remove ambiguities...There is no other way but annulment of the vote...Some members of this committee are not impartial," Mousavi said in a statement posted on his website.
Another beaten candidate, pro-reform cleric Mehdi Karoubi, also rejected the partial recount offer in a statement on his site.
Mass protests by Mousavi supporters have exposed splits in Iran`s political establishment and plunged the country into its deepest crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. State media say 20 people have died in post-election violence.
The Guardian Council has already said it found no major violations in the vote that returned hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.
Ahmadinejad warned on Saturday he would take a tougher approach in his second term of office to make the West regret meddling in Tehran`s affairs.
"With no doubt, Iran`s new government will have a more decisive and firmer approach toward the West," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
"This time the Iranian nation`s reply will be harsh and more decisive" to make the West rue its interference, he said.
OBAMA OVERTURES
He was speaking a day after U.S. President Barack Obama praised the bravery of Iranians who protested against the election in the face of what he called "outrageous" violence.
Before the vote, Obama had made diplomatic overtures to Iran after years of hostility between the two nations. Relations with the West have been overshadowed for years by Iran`s disputed nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at building an atomic bomb.
Iran denies this, insisting it only wants to produce energy for peaceful purposes.
Authorities have placed responsibility for the post-election violence on Mousavi, who says the vote was rigged. Continued...
Original article

Police question Australian opposition leader over email

2009-06-28T12:37:00.000+04:00

SYDNEY, Jun (Reuters) - Australian opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull said on Sunday he had given a statement to police about a fake email at the heart of claims that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd misled parliament.
It follows a week of political controversy over the so-called "Utegate" affair, which relates to a small truck, known in Australia as a "ute," loaned to Rudd by a car dealer friend for electoral purposes.
The email in question allegedly came from Rudd`s office and was cited by the opposition as evidence that Rudd had lied over allegations he helped his friend gain access to a government scheme known as `OzCar`, set up to help dealers in the global economic crisis.
But the opposition tactics largely backfired when an intensive search of government computers failed to locate the email and a copy of it turned up at the house of a treasury official, Godwin Grech, who Turnbull has admitted meeting.
Rudd called in the police a week ago and the government spent most of last week calling for Turnbull to resign. Police have declared the email a fake.
On Sunday, Turnbull told Channel Ten television that he had given a statement on the matter to the Australian Federal Police. "I`ve met with the federal police, I`ve given them a statement," Turnbull said. "Let the police do their work."
However, Turnbull denied that the row, in which the opposition also accused Treasurer Wayne Swan of misleading parliament, had damaged his leadership of the main opposition Liberal Party. Turnbull has denied ever having a copy of the email.
"The party is united. We have survived a difficult week," he said.
Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said on Sunday that Turnbull had "made an idiot of himself," by accusing the government of lying "on the basis of an email that turned out to be fake." Tanner also said the opposition clearly had no intention of opening up its own computers for inspection and should do so.
"Given the nature of the potential crimes we`re dealing with here, that is appalling," Tanner told Channel Nine.
The allegations have had little impact on Rudd`s public standing and he remains far ahead in the polls, although Turnbull has been gradually clawing back ground since taking over as opposition leader last year.
Rudd`s current three-year term ends in late 2010 and there has been speculation he may seek an early election, although the prime minister has said he intends to serve his full term.
(Editing by Bill Tarrant)
Original article

Pakistani jets hit militant compounds in Waziristan

2009-06-28T12:25:00.000+04:00

By Hafiz Wazir
WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani aircraft bombed Taliban on Sunday in their bastion of South Waziristan on the Afghan border after the militants attacked two military camps, killing two soldiers, officials and residents said.
The military, near the end of an offensive in the northwestern Swat Valley after two months of fighting, is preparing to launch a new drive in South Waziristan, where Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is based.
The decision to go on the attack against the militants came after Taliban gains raised fears of the militants gradually taking over more of the country and even posing a risk to Pakistan`s nuclear arsenal.
The campaign has broad public support and has also won the praise of close ally the United States, which needs Pakistan to go after the militants as it tries to defeat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan.
Sunday`s air strikes were on two villages in Laddah district, a Mehsud stronghold, and two militant compounds were destroyed, said a government official and residents.
"It was a heavy bombing. Two militant compounds and several houses have been completely destroyed," said the government official in South Waziristan`s main town of Wana, who declined to be identified.
The air strikes came after militants attacked an army and a paramilitary camp east of Wana on Saturday night, killing two soldiers and wounding four, said the government official.
Intelligence officials later said eight militants had been killed.
CIVILIANS FLEE
The government has said Mehsud, who carries a $5 million U.S. reward on his head, and his force of thousands of followers must be defeated.
The government posted in a newspaper on Sunday a reward of 50 million rupees ($615,000) for Mehsud, and 75 million ($920,000 ) in rewards for 10 of his top men.
Mehsud, who security analysts say has become increasingly close to al Qaeda, has been accused of a string of attacks in Pakistani towns and cities including the December 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Mehsud is allied with Afghan Taliban fighters but they concentrate on attacking U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan and are not the focus of the Pakistani offensive.
With an increase in military attacks on Mehsud in South Waziristan, about 45,000 people have fled from the area, according to military estimates.
Nearly 2 million people have fled from fighting in Swat and other parts of the northwest since late last year but aid workers are not expecting a huge exodus from South Waziristan as the population there is relatively small. Continued...
Original article

Mid-term elections seen weakening Argentine leader

2009-06-28T11:00:00.000+04:00

By Fiona Ortiz
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentines cast ballots in congressional elections on Sunday and are expected to throw out allies of President Cristina Fernandez in a rejection of her interventionist economic policies and combative style.
Fernandez, a center-leftist who in 2007 succeeded her husband ex-President Nestor Kirchner, has stagnated with a 30 percent approval rating as Latin America`s No. 3 economy hits turbulence after a six-year expansion.
Polls show Fernandez`s wing of the ruling Peronist party will lose its majority in the 257-seat lower house and barely maintain control of the 72-seat Senate in the mid-term vote.
The key race is in Buenos Aires province, home to 38 percent of Argentines, where dueling Peronist factions are scrambling for the largest share of the 35 lower house seats up for grabs in that district alone.
Kirchner, widely seen as co-governing the country with his wife, is running for Congress in the populous province to shore up her administration and possibly position himself for a presidential run to extend their hold on power through 2015.
The mid-terms are viewed as a springboard for the 2011 presidential race, and Kirchner`s chances will fade if he comes in second in a tight race with millionaire Peronist dissident Francisco de Narvaez.
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.
COMBATIVE STYLE
But the Kirchners` confrontational style -- including frequent clashes with business leaders -- over their six years in power has also worn thin on Argentines.
On the campaign trail, Kirchner warned the country will return to the chaos of the 2001-2002 economic and political meltdown if people don`t back him and his wife.
Argentina`s powerful agricultural sector rebelled last year against Fernandez`s plans for higher taxes on soy, the nation`s top crop. If she is weakened, farmers will push for less government intervention in farm exports and grain markets.
The presidents of neighboring Brazil and Chile have seen their popularity soar even as their economies go into recession because people in those countries approve of how they are handling the crisis.
But Fernandez`s measures to combat a dramatic economic slowdown and rising unemployment have not generated confidence even though she moved up the mid-term by four months to get them out of the way in case the crisis worsened.
The newly elected members of Congress will not take office until December, so uncertainty looms over how she will govern during the next five months.
Some business leaders and investors are bracing for shock announcements such as state bank takeovers. The Kirchners are known for surprise moves such as last year`s nationalizations of the country`s biggest airline the private pension system. Continued...
Original article

South Korea getting U.S. missiles to boost defences: report

2009-06-28T09:10:00.000+04:00

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea is acquiring 40 U.S.-made missiles for an Aegis destroyer this month to boost its defenses amid reports North Korea may soon test-fire missiles, Yonhap news agency on Sunday quoted a military source as saying.
North Korea, which rattled regional security with a May 25 nuclear test, is preparing to test a long-range missile that could hit U.S. territory and mid-range missiles that could hit all of South Korea, a South Korean presidential Blue House official said last week.
The surface-to-air missiles for the Aegis destroyer, designed to track and shoot down objects including missiles, can hit targets up to 160 km (100 miles) away, Yonhap quoted the source as saying.
North Korea has also warned ships to stay away from waters off its east coast city of Wonsan, Japan`s Coast Guard said last week, in a possible indication of a missile test.
North Korea launched in April a rocket it said was carrying a satellite. The move was widely seen as a disguised test of its long-range Taepodong-2 missile and a violation of U.N. resolutions barring the reclusive state from ballistic missile testing.
The U.N. Security Council punished it for the missile launch by tightening existing sanctions and imposing new ones after the nuclear test to halt its arms trading, one of the few items the cash-short state with a broken down economy can export.
The U.S. Navy has said it is monitoring a North Korean ship under the new U.N. security resolutions imposed after the nuclear test. A South Korean intelligence source said the ship is likely carrying missiles and parts, and it could be heading to Myanmar, broadcaster YTN said.
At the weekend, the prickly North warned in an official media report it would shoot down any Japanese military plane that breached North Korean air space.
South Korean officials have said the North`s recent saber rattling may be a way for leader Kim Jong-il to build internal support as he prepares for succession in Asia`s only communist dynasty.
(Reporting by Cheon Jong-woo; Editing by Jon Herskovitz)
Original article

Northern Ireland`s paramilitaries dump arsenal

2009-06-28T06:08:00.000+04:00

By Anne Cadwallader
BELFAST (Reuters) - Pro-British paramilitary forces Saturday completed a historic step in the Northern Ireland peace process by scrapping their weapons in front of independent witnesses.
The moves, confirmed by the British and Irish governments, underscored commitment across the sectarian divide to ending violence but did not remove a threat from hard-line splinter groups operating on both sides.
"The struggle has ended," said the Ulster Defense Association, which has also begun to fully decommission arms. "Peace and democracy have been secured and the need for armed resistance has gone. Consequently we are putting our arsenal of weaponry permanently beyond use."
An Ulster Volunteer Force statement was read to reporters in Belfast by a man representing the UVF and the Red Hand Commando and wearing an ordinary suit, a change from when paramilitary spokesmen addressed the media in masks, toting guns.
"The leadership of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando today confirms it has completed the process of rendering ordnance totally and irreversibly beyond use," the UVF and the RHC statement said.
The UVF killed more than 540 people during 30 years of conflict with pro-Irish nationalists, making it the most lethal of the province`s loyalist groups.
Northern Ireland has enjoyed relative peace since a 1998 deal ended the predominantly Catholic Irish Republican Army`s military campaign to end British control of the province and unite the island of Ireland.
`AN IMPORTANT LANDMARK`
"In recent years, loyalist organizations have been making effective progress toward conflict transformation, and today is an important landmark in this process," said Ireland`s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin.
Mainly Protestant military organizations that want to keep Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom have been under pressure for years to start getting rid of arms following the IRA`s decision to dispose of its weapons in 2005.
"The leadership of the UVF and RHC have delivered on what they said they would do," said Shaun Woodward, Britain`s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, confirming the UVF and RHC had completed decommissioning in cooperation with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed the actions by the paramilitary forces.
"The announcements underscore the remarkable progress that has taken place in Northern Ireland over the years," Clinton said in a statement. "All parties agree, as the people of Northern Ireland do, that the only way forward is through peace and reconciliation, and not through violence."
More than 3,600 people were killed in violence between the late 1960s and the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement that paved the way for power sharing.
Efforts to consolidate peace were challenged in March when Republican splinter groups the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA killed two British soldiers and a policeman. Continued...
Original article

Sabbath parking fuels Jerusalem religious tensions

2009-06-28T00:03:00.000+04:00

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Ultra-Orthodox Jews, angry at the opening of a parking lot on the Jewish sabbath, clashed with police separating them from secular Jerusalem residents who held a protest on Saturday in support of the move.
Police moved in to separate the demonstrators after ultra-Orthodox Jews started hurling stones and vegetables. A police spokesman said 10 people were arrested.
Tensions have been brewing in the city over plans by Jerusalem`s Israeli mayor, Nir Barkat, to reopen a parking lot on Saturday, a move that could draw more traffic into the city on the Jewish sabbath.
Jewish religious law bans travel on the sabbath, and Jerusalem`s ultra-Orthodox community has negotiated with city authorities arrangements that limit or ban traffic in their neighborhoods on Saturdays.
Tensions reached a new peak on Friday when thousands of Ultra-Orthodox Jews walked through a main street in the city in protest at Barkat`s decision. Some scuffled with journalists and photographers covering the march.
The march occurred a day after Orthodox Jews held street prayers to mourn Thursday`s gay pride parade in the city, at which police deployed some 1,500 policemen.
Many devout Jews, Muslims and Christians view homosexuality as an abomination. In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed and wounded three participants in the gay march. He is serving a 12-year sentence.
Barkat became mayor in November after beating ultra-Orthodox Uri Lupolianski. He ran on a platform of reversing an exodus of secular young Jews who leave to cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa in search of better job opportunities.
He also vowed to fight poverty and unemployment in the city where religious and secular Jews live in a delicate balance.
In Orthodox neighborhoods, families in traditional black garb stroll to synagogues during the Sabbath and Jewish holidays on roads blocked to cars. In downtown Jerusalem, secular Jews frequent non-Kosher bars and eateries.
(Reporting by Eli Berlzon; Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Original article

U.S. reverses Afghan drug policy

2009-06-27T20:24:00.000+04:00

By Phil Stewart and Daniel Flynn
TRIESTE, Italy (Reuters) - Washington is to dramatically overhaul its Afghan anti-drug strategy, phasing out opium poppy eradication, the U.S. envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan told allies on Saturday.
Richard Holbrooke, attending a G8 conference on stabilizing Afghanistan, also discussed efforts to support its August 20 election. Washington has nearly doubled its troops to combat a growing Taliban insurgency and provide security for the vote.
"The Western policies against the opium crop, the poppy crop, have been a failure. They did not result in any damage to the Taliban, but they put farmers out of work," Holbrooke told Reuters after a series of bilateral meetings in Italy.
"We are not going to support crop eradication. We`re going to phase it out," he said. The emphasis would instead be on intercepting drugs and chemicals used to make them, and going after drug lords.
He said some crop eradication may still be allowed, but only in limited areas.
Afghanistan supplies more than 90 percent of the world`s heroin.
Despite the millions of dollars spent on counter-narcotics efforts, drug production kept rising dramatically until last year -- U.N. figures indicate Afghanistan`s opiate output has risen more than 40-fold since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Holbrooke told delegates the United States planned to cut back funding for eradication while allocating several hundred million dollars to support legal crop cultivation.
The head of the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime, told Reuters the old U.S. eradication strategy had been "a sad joke."
"Sad because many, many Afghan policemen and soldiers ... have been killed and only about 5,000 hectares were eradicated, about 3 percent of the volume," Antonio Maria Costa said.
Iran declined to attend the event but Antonio Maria Costa, head of the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime, told Reuters it was strongly committed to a regional effort to tackle trafficking from Afghanistan and had begun joint counter-narcotics operations with Afghan and Pakistani authorities.
"This is very new, it has not happened in the past."
U.S. President Barack Obama has put Afghanistan and Pakistan at the center of his foreign agenda and launched a new strategy aimed at defeating al Qaeda and stabilizing Afghanistan.
The 45 nations and multilateral organizations at the conference issued a statement pledging to look at ways to boost humanitarian aid to Pakistan, where nearly 2 million people have been displaced by fighting.
Holbrooke said allies were not doing enough. Continued...
Original article

Iran bans Mousavi ally from leaving the country

2009-06-27T19:47:00.000+04:00

By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has banned an ally of the country`s opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi from leaving the Islamic state, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.
EDITORS` NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Abolfazl Fateh, head of Mousavi`s media office, said the ban would not change his political stance, adding he was banned from leaving Iran because of his role in post-election developments.
"Such pressures can not push people like me to change our political stances," he told IRNA. "The imposed ban will not change my political views."
Iranian authorities have used a combination of warnings, arrests and the threat of police action over the last week to drive mass rallies off Tehran`s street with smaller gatherings dispersed with tear gas and baton charges.
State media have said 20 people were killed in violence since the June 12 election -- won by hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- and authorities accuse Mousavi of responsibility for the bloodshed. He says the government is to blame.
The state-run Iran newspaper said Fateh, who had been studying for a doctorate in Britain, was banned from leaving the country because of his involvement in post-election developments.
Mousavi has called for an annulment of the vote because of "election rigging."
The semi-official ILNA news agency said Mousavi urged the Interior Ministry to allow a rally by his supporters at Azadi square in southwest Tehran. No date was mentioned in the report.
Iran`s top legislative body has said it found no major violations in the presidential election which it described as the healthiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but said 10 percent of ballot boxes would be recounted.
"STOP INTERFERING"
Tehran streets were calm on Saturday and life was back to normal.
The establishment has made it clear it had no intention of holding a new election and has set up a special court to deal with hundreds of detained protesters. A hardline Iranian cleric has called for the execution of leading "rioters."
Group of Eight powers on Friday deplored violence stemming from the disputed presidential election in the world`s fifth biggest oil exporter but held open the door for Tehran to take part in talks on its nuclear program.
Iran`s foreign Ministry on Saturday rejected the call by the group as "hasty interference" and insisted the election was fair. "The group is expected to deal with serious issues faced by its members and the international community," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi, IRNA reported. Continued...
Original article

Pakistan bombs Taliban in Waziristan, 5 shot in Karachi

2009-06-27T19:35:00.000+04:00

By Hafiz Wazir
WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani warplanes killed at least a dozen Taliban fighters on Saturday, in a strike on their stronghold near the Afghan border, while police in the southern city of Karachi shot dead five militants.
U.S. officials have issued a steady stream of praise for Pakistan since the government first took the decision to go on the offensive against the militants over two months ago.
Operations in Swat and Buner, two valleys north of the capital of Islamabad, are in their final stages and the focus has switched to the stronghold of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan, a remote tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
The air raid on Saturday on Mehsud`s mountainous redoubt was the latest in a series over recent weeks, and the government has already given orders for the military to mount an all-out assault.
The army is still assembling its forces in South Waziristan, and some diplomats expect some of the troops fighting in Swat to be moved there soon.
Mehsud is accused of a wave of suicide and bomb attacks, and while the body of his force has been focused inwards against Pakistan, his men also cross into Afghanistan to join the insurgency led by Mullah Mohammad Omar.
U.S. President Barack Obama has put Afghanistan and Pakistan at the center of his foreign policy agenda and has launched a strategy aimed at defeating al Qaeda and stabilising Afghanistan, where thousands of extra U.S. soldiers are arriving.
The latest encouragement for Pakistan was delivered by Obama`s National Security Adviser Jim Jones, when he visited Islamabad this week on a trip that coincided with the Senate`s approval for the tripling of aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year for five years.
RISK OF MILITANT ATTACKS ELSEWHERE
A close ally of al Qaeda, Mehsud carries a $5 million U.S. reward on his head.
He is accused of being behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, though there are several conspiracy theories over who was behind the former prime minister`s death.
Diplomats estimate that Mehsud has more than 20,000 men holed up with him, protected by a series of mountain ridges and dried out river beds, and gullies that provide excellent cover for the guerrilla fighters.
In Saturday`s air raid, fighter jets pounded a base run by a militant commander loyal to Mehsud in the Makeen area, around 70 km (44 miles) north of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan.
"The planes heavily bombed bases of Commander Shameem in Makeen and we have reports that 12 to 15 militants were killed," an intelligence official in the region told Reuters by telephone.
The great worry is Mehsud`s ability to mobilize Taliban elsewhere in Pakistan in retaliation against any attack. Continued...
Original article

Lebanon president asks Hariri to form new cabinet

2009-06-27T19:23:00.000+04:00

By Nadim Ladki
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon`s parliamentary majority leader Saad al-Hariri was appointed prime minister-designate on Saturday, pledging to seek a national unity government but warning that his task would be difficult.
President Michel Suleiman issued a presidential decree designating Sunni Muslim Hariri after 86 parliamentarians in the 128-seat assembly nominated him for the post.
Hariri said he would seek to form a unity government capable of facing the country`s many political, economic and social challenges.
"In line with our commitment during the election campaign in favor of a national unity government in which the main parliamentary blocs are represented ... we will begin consultations with all parliamentary blocs ...," Hariri said after receiving his designation decree from Suleiman.
"We know that the path to this target won`t be easy and the hurdles and bumps might be more than what is apparent, which is already a lot," he warned.
The young leader said what was at stake was more serious than forming a government or the allocation of portfolios but rather the very fate of Lebanon during one of the most difficult and critical times in the Middle East`s history.
Hariri, who is backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, led a political coalition to victory against Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies in this month`s election. He is the son of statesman Rafik al-Hariri whose assassination in 2005 plunged Lebanon into the worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Lebanon`s sectarian power-sharing system reserves the premiership for a Sunni.
In a sign of the difficulties the 39-year-old leader faces in forming a cabinet acceptable to all sides, Hezbollah and its Christian allies refrained from nominating him.
Only 15 out of the minority alliance`s 57 deputies backed him in two days of consultations with Suleiman, adding to support from Hariri`s 71 deputies.
VETO POWER
The main stumbling block facing Hariri is likely to be demands by Hezbollah and its allies that they hold veto power in a new unity government. Hariri rejects such a veto.
Hariri 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 June 7 election, he called for the contentious issue of disarming Hezbollah to be shelved. The group, labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, has battled Israeli forces since the early 1980s.
It fought a 34-day war against Israel in 2006, in which 1,200 people died in Lebanon and some 160 in Israel. Continued...
Original article

Northern Ireland`s paramilitaries dump arsenal

2009-06-27T19:11:00.000+04:00

By Anne Cadwallader
BELFAST (Reuters) - Pro-British paramilitary forces said on Saturday they had completed a major milestone in the Northern Ireland peace process by scrapping their weapons in front of independent witnesses.
"The leadership of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando today confirms it has completed the process of rendering ordnance totally and irreversibly beyond use," said a statement read aloud to reporters in Belfast by a man who said he represented the UVF and the Red Hand Commando.
Military organizations that want to keep Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom have been under pressure for years to start getting rid of arms following the Irish Republican Army`s decision to dispose of its weapons in 2005.
"Across every operational area in Northern Ireland and in all regions of Great Britain in conjunction with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning in the presence of independent international witnesses .... the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando have now concluded that process," the statement said.
Northern Ireland has enjoyed relative peace since a 1998 deal ended the IRA`s 30-year military campaign to end British control of the province and unite the island of Ireland.
The Ulster Defense Association, which together with its allies the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) had fought against the IRA since the early 1970s, said it had also embarked on a process toward full decommissioning.
"The struggle has ended," the UDA said in a statement. "Peace and democracy have been secured and the need for armed resistance has gone. Consequently we are putting our arsenal of weaponry permanently beyond use."
Efforts to consolidate peace were challenged in March when Republican splinter groups the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA killed two British soldiers and a policeman.
But strong condemnation of the attacks from all sides of the political spectrum and on both sides of the border ended up uniting much of the province`s population in favor of expediting the peace process.
"In recent years loyalist organizations have been making effective progress toward conflict transformation, and today is an important landmark in this process," said Ireland`s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin.
(Writing by Andras Gergely in Dublin; Editing by Dominic Evans)
Original article

Thailand`s "red shirts" rally again in Bangkok

2009-06-27T18:58:00.000+04:00

By Kittipong Soonprasert
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thousands of "red shirt" supporters of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra rallied in Bangkok on Saturday in their biggest protest since violent street clashes two months ago.
The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), better known as the "red shirts," gathered in the capital to demand that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve parliament and call an election.
Six hundred police were on duty and hundreds more on standby at Sanam Luang, a public square near Bangkok`s Grand Palace.
Police estimated there were 12,000 protesters, who braved pouring rain in anticipation of a telephone address expected at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) by Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and fled Thailand last year to avoid a two-year jail sentence for graft.
"This is the kick-off of our campaign to call for the dissolution of the house," one of the UDD`s leaders, Jaran Ditthapicha, told the cheering crowd.
The "red shirts" are supporters of Thaksin and the Puea Thai Party that he backs from exile. He is widely believed to be staying in the United Arab Emirates.
The party`s power base is mainly drawn from millions of rural and urban poor who loved Thaksin`s populist policies and gave him two landslide election victories.
The UDD staged a peaceful demonstration at Government House for several weeks in April, but the protests intensified when "red shirts" broke police and military lines and forced the cancellation of an Asian leaders` summit in the town of Pattaya.
A state of emergency was declared a day later and troops were sent to disperse crowds that were blocking a key Bangkok intersection.
The crackdown sparked Thailand`s worst street violence in 15 years and severely dented investor confidence.
The UDD says Abhisit is an illegitimate stooge who came to power because of a series of parliamentary defections that they say were engineered by the powerful military.
Abhisit, who was elected in a parliamentary vote in December with the help of former Thaksin allies, has refused to call an election until the battered economy recovers and a process of constitutional reform is complete.
"I joined the rally because I want democracy in Thailand," said one protester.
"I want Thaksin back because of the way he has been treated. The majority of people can see this injustice."
(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Original article

Turkey passes law limiting military courts

2009-06-27T18:46:00.000+04:00

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey`s parliament has passed legislation aimed at meeting European Union membership criteria to ensure military personnel are tried in civilian courts during peacetime rather than in military courts.
The legislation passed on Friday requires civilian courts to try members of the armed forces who are accused of crimes including threats to national security, constitutional violations, organizing armed groups and attempts to topple the government, according to parliament`s website.
The legislation comes amid renewed tensions between the powerful military and the government after a newspaper published a document this month that allegedly outlined an army plot to undermine the ruling AK Party, which traces its roots to an outlawed Islamist movement.
Chief of the Military General Staff Ilker Basbug on Friday said the document was a smear campaign against the armed forces. A military prosecutor ruled this week there was insufficient evidence for an investigation, but Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has vowed that civilian prosecutors will now take over the probe.
Ending the military`s influence in politics is a key step the EU expects Turkey to take to advance its membership bid.
The change to the penal code also says civilians cannot be tried in military courts unless the country is in a state of martial law or at war.
It was not clear if the changes to the penal code will affect the trial of military officers who have been charged in the so-called Ergenekon case investigating an alleged right-wing network that sought to topple the government.
Erdogan and the military have repeatedly faced off during the government`s six-year rule over the AK Party`s efforts to ease restrictions on religion in Turkey. The country`s generals are the self-proclaimed guardians of Turkish secularism and have forced four governments from power since 1960.
(Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley)
Original article

Iraq PM says forces can handle security without U.S.

2009-06-27T17:45:00.000+04:00

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq`s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Saturday that the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraqi cities at the end of June showed Iraq can handle its own security, despite a wave of bombings this week.
The U.S. pullback from Iraq`s urban centers scheduled to be finished at the end of the month has been seen as a milestone on Iraq`s road to sovereignty after years of military occupation.
But a spate of bombings in the capital and in northern Iraq this week, including two of the bloodiest attacks in more than a year, have shaken the confidence of Iraqis in their own forces.
"We are on the threshold of a new phase that will bolster Iraq`s sovereignty," Maliki said. "It is a message to the world that we are now able to safeguard our security and administer our internal affairs."
Two big bombings in Baghdad and the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk this week killed more than 150 people between them. On Friday, a bomb killed at least 13 people at a market in Baghdad. A spattering of other bombs has also fueled apprehension.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned they expect the number of attacks to rise as the U.S. troops pull back, and also in the run-up to parliamentary elections next January.
"We have high trust in our security forces to administer security and pursue al-Qaeda remnants and criminal gangs," Maliki said.
He added that Iraq had achieved comparatively good levels of security, not just through better policing but efforts at political reconciliation between Iraq`s divided factions -- something his critics often accuse him of dragging his feet on.
"If they (militants) want to bring down the political process, we say, it won`t collapse, unless national unity is shaken," Maliki said.
(Reporting by Khalid al-Ansary; Writing by Tim Cocks)
Original article

Karzai tells Taliban to vote in Afghan elections

2009-06-27T17:33:00.000+04:00

By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban and their allies on Saturday to vote in August`s elections rather than attempt to disrupt the nation`s second presidential poll.
The August 20 vote is seen as a crucial moment for Karzai`s government and for Washington, which is sending thousands of extra troops this year as part of President Barack Obama`s new regional strategy to defeat al Qaeda and stabilize Afghanistan.
"I appeal to them (the Taliban) again and again to avoid any conflicts, not only during polling days but forever," Karzai told a news conference at his heavily guarded palace.
"Through elections we can bring peace and security, and through elections we can bring development," he said.
The Taliban, whose strict Islamist government was ousted after a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, have repeatedly rejected the election as a Western-inspired sham.
The Taliban have also rejected Karzai`s calls for them to join the peace process, saying no talks can take place until all foreign troops have left the country.
Washington has already almost doubled the number of its troops from the 32,000 in the country in late 2008 in order to secure the elections and to combat a growing Taliban insurgency.
Karzai has ruled since the Taliban`s ouster and won the nation`s first direct vote for president in 2004.
A clear favorite to win again, he welcomed meetings held by foreign officials and diplomats with some of the 40 candidates opposing him, particularly his main rivals, former senior ministers Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani.
But he also called on the international community not to interfere and to play an impartial role. Most of the more than $230 million the Afghan election will cost is being provided by Washington and its allies.
An unflattering report by leading think tank the International Crisis Group this week said poor security and failure to capitalize on gains since the 2004 poll meant widespread fraud was possible in the voting.
The Taliban-led insurgency has reached its most violent level since 2001, U.S. military commanders have said. It has grown out of traditional Taliban strongholds in the south and east into the once relatively peaceful north and to the fringes of Kabul.
(Editing by Paul Tait)
Original article

NATO-Russia talks aim to rebuild post-Georgia ties

2009-06-27T17:21:00.000+04:00

By David Brunnstrom CORFU, Greece (Reuters) - NATO foreign ministers meet their Russia counterpart Saturday in their highest level contact since the Georgia war, hoping to launch a new program of cooperation on issues like Afghanistan and counter-terrorism.
Gathering on the Greek island of Corfu, many ministers will stay on for an informal European Union review of ties with Iran over its post-election crackdown on opposition protesters, and a session of Europe`s biggest security and human rights group to tackle Western-Russian tensions stoked by the Georgia conflict.
The meetings come a week before a summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow, and a summit of Group of Eight powers in Rome.
The spate of diplomacy is aimed at mending ties torn by Russia`s crushing of a Georgian bid to retake a rebel region and U.S. plans for a missile shield on Russia`s doorstep, stirring a poisonous atmosphere reminiscent of the old Cold War.
"In the next 10 days we will have a level of interaction with Russia designed, one, to rebuild trust so that, two, we can deal with the challenges we all confront in a coordinated and cooperative manner," a senior U.S. official said.
"We are now willing to express our differences at the table, as opposed to shouting at each other from outside the room."
MILITARY COOPERATION
Dialogue between the 28 NATO states and Russia was suspended after the August, 2008 Georgia conflict, but has gradually resumed at lower level. An attempt to restore ministerial ties in May stumbled over NATO-led military exercises in Georgia, denounced by the Kremlin, and a tit-for-tat spy spat.
A climate for reconciliation slowly took shape since Obama took office, reversing his predecessor`s unilateralism. "All NRC (NATO-Russia Council) countries want to take forward military-to-military cooperation which has been on the backburner since last August, also cooperation with regard to counternarcotics in Afghanistan, joint training," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.
The U.S. official said NATO also hoped for cooperation with Russia in counterpiracy operations off Somalia and to extend, to a NATO level, bilateral talks on transit of military supplies to Afghanistan through Russian territory.
"I believe they are ready to resume a serious engagement between NATO and Russia and they will be ready if not to agree today at least shortly thereafter, at ambassadorial level, on a program of work on the way ahead for the NRC," he said.
After Saturday`s NATO-Russia Council session, the 56-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will assess ways to overcome Russian-Western differences regarding Georgia and a new "European security architecture" proposed by Medvedev.
Russia repelled Georgia`s attempt to wrest back separatist South Ossetia, and Russian troops remain in the area.
Moscow then blocked an OSCE consensus needed to extend its peace monitoring mission in Georgia past June 30, by demanding recognition of South Ossetian "independence," with a separate OSCE mission deployed there. Diplomats fear the OSCE`s imminent exit might lead to new fighting in Georgia.
(Additional reporting by Dina Kyriakidou and Ingrid Melander in Corfu; Writing by Mark Heinrich and Dominic Evans)
Original article

Ousted Mauritania president resigns to allow vote

2009-06-27T17:08:00.000+04:00

By Vincent Fertey
NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Mauritania`s ousted president has formally resigned and put in place a new unity government under a deal with the soldiers who toppled him to allow a presidential election next month.
The election is meant to restore democracy after a coup in the iron ore-producing Sahara desert state last August that was condemned by donors and unnerved West African countries fearful of army takeovers in the unstable region.
President Sidi Mohamed Ould Sheikh Abdallahi announced his resignation late on Friday after a new round of talks with the military rulers brokered by Senegal`s President Abdoulaye Wade.
"I declare that I voluntarily renounce my position as president," said Abdallahi, Mauritania`s first freely elected head of state. He was overthrown after serving for less than two years.
The crisis has further destabilised Mauritania, where al Qaeda gunmen shot dead an American in the center of the capital this week. The largely Muslim country is a Western ally in fighting al Qaeda.
Ministerial positions in the interim government will be shared between Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz`s military junta and the opposition coalition, the National Front for the Defense of Democracy.
Each faction will get 13 ministers while Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf keeps his post.
Abdel Aziz, a former presidential guardsman, is standing in the election, which was postponed from June 6 under the agreement that meant the opposition would not boycott the vote in the country of 3 million. Abdallahi is not standing.
"We are heading toward free and transparent elections on July 18," Abdel Aziz said.
Former colonial power France welcomed the latest step to end Mauritania`s crisis and offered full support for the process.
(Additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon in Paris)
Original article

Iran election violence "outrageous," says Obama

2009-06-27T14:06:00.000+04:00

By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday praised the bravery of Iranians who protested against a disputed election in the face of "outrageous" violence, while a hardline Iranian cleric called for the execution of leading "rioters."
Iran`s top legislative body, which had said it found no major violations in the presidential election which set off the worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said 10 percent of ballot boxes would be recounted.
Authorities have rejected a call for annulment of the vote by reformist former prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi who led mass protests after he was declared a distant second behind
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the poll two weeks ago.
Obama, whose administration along with major powers is locked in a row with Iran over its nuclear program, said hopes for U.S. dialogue with Iran would be affected by the post-election crackdown.
"There is no doubt that any direct dialogue or diplomacy with Iran is going to be affected by the events of the last several weeks," Obama told a White House news conference, adding: "We don`t yet know how any potential dialogue will have been affected until we see what has happened inside of Iran."
Iranian authorities have used a combination of warnings, arrests and the threat of police action to drive mass rallies
off Tehran`s street since Saturday with smaller gatherings dispersed with tear gas and baton charges.
Authorities have accused Mousavi of responsibility for the bloodshed, while he says the government is to blame. State media have said 20 people were killed in the violence.
ISLAMIC LAW
Ahmad Khatami, a member of the powerful Assembly of Experts, said the judiciary should charge leading "rioters" as "mohareb" or one who wages war against God.
"I want the judiciary to ... punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson," Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University on Friday.
"They should be punished ruthlessly and savagely," he said. Under Iran`s Islamic law, punishment for people convicted as "mohareb" is execution.
Obama, who said Mousavi had "captured the imagination" of people who want to open up to the West, hailed Mousavi supporters at the news conference.
"Their bravery in the face of brutality is a testament to their enduring pursuit of justice. The violence perpetrated against them is outrageous," Obama said. Continued...
Original article

Bomb kills 13 in latest Baghdad bombing

2009-06-27T13:54:00.000+04:00

By Abdul Rahman Dhaher
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb killed at least 13 people at a Baghdad market selling motorbikes and furniture on Friday, the latest in a series of attacks that have intensified ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities.
One police source said as many as 19 people were killed after the bomb, planted on a motorcycle, exploded in the market in the industrial area of Bab al-Sheikh, a mixed but majority Shi`ite Muslim part of central Baghdad.
Forty-five people were wounded, police said.
Shredded shoes and bits of bloody clothing were scattered around the twisted frames of motorbikes. The blast site was swiftly sealed off by Iraqi soldiers and police.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned they expect the number of attacks to rise as U.S. combat troops leave Iraq`s urban centers by June 30, a milestone in a bilateral pact that sets a deadline for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops by 2012.
A spate of bombings in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq has raised doubts about whether the Iraqi security forces can take over the fight against a stubborn insurgency.
Despite Friday`s bombing and two others this week that killed 151 people, U.S. President Barack Obama said Iraq`s security had continued to "dramatically improve," but that he had concerns about the political climate.
"I haven`t seen as much political progress in Iraq -- negotiations between the Sunni, the Shia and the Kurds -- as I would like to see," Obama said in Washington. "So there ... will continue to be incidents of violence inside of Iraq for some time. They are at a much, much lower level than they were in the past."
He said if the government could settle differences on issues like boundaries and oil revenues, Iraq`s security situation would improve further.
IRAQIS QUESTION THEIR FORCES
Iraqi police and army have had to be completely rebuilt since U.S. administrators disbanded the Iraqi forces after the U.S. invasion in 2003, a decision that left thousands of trained fighters unemployed and angry and fueled an insurgency.
Despite assertions from the government the U.S. pullback represents a victory for Iraq as it regains its sovereignty, many Iraqis lack faith in their own forces.
On Wednesday, 78 people were killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad`s Sadr City slum, just days after a truck bomb killed 73 people near the northern city of Kirkuk.
The attacks have prompted angry responses from Iraqis who blame local security forces for failing to protect them.
"I ask, what is the Iraqi government doing about these explosions?" said firebrand anti-American Shi`ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, many of whose supporters live in Sadr City. "The government is powerless to protect its people." Continued...
Original article

U.S. gives Somalia about 40 tons of weapons

2009-06-27T05:59:00.000+04:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has provided about 40 tons of weapons and ammunition to Somalia`s embattled government in the past six weeks to help it fight Islamist insurgents, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States spent less than $10 million on what he described as small arms and ammunition as well as on payments to other nations to train Somali government forces.
While the State Department confirmed on Thursday that it was providing weaponry to the government, it had not previously provided details on the type, cost or amount.
The senior State Department official told reporters the United States began providing the arms soon after Somalia`s al Shabaab insurgents began a major offensive against the fragile transitional federal government (TFG) in early May.
Al Shabaab, which is seen as a proxy for al Qaeda, controls most of south Somalia and all but a few blocks of the capital Mogadishu. The official said Washington feared that it could destabilize the region and turn Somalia into a safe haven for foreign Islamists and "global terrorists."
"We`ve shipped probably in the neighborhood of 40 tonnes worth of arms and munitions into Somalia," the official said. "We remain concerned about the prospects of an al Shabaab victory, and we want to do as much as we can to help the TFG."
The United States funded the purchase of arms for the Somali government and also asked the Ugandan and Burundian troops in the country to give the government weapons and then reimbursed them, the official said.
He said the United States also set aside money to pay the Ugandan and Burundian units to train government forces rather than having U.S. troops conduct the training.
When a moderate Islamist was elected president in January, there was hope he could end nearly two decades of bloodshed in Somalia by reconciling with hardliners who want to impose a strict version of Islamic law across the country.
But al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden declared Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed an enemy in an audiotape released in March, calling on the insurgents to topple the government and for Muslims around the world to join their fight.
The U.S. official said he had heard estimates of between 200 and 400 foreign fighters in Somalia but that his personal view was that the figure probably was less than 200.
(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Will Dunham)
Original article

Lula signs land law aimed at reforming Amazon

2009-06-27T02:46:00.000+04:00

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a law granting more than a million people land titles in huge chunks of the Amazon, aiming to end decades of legal chaos in the world`s largest rain forest.
As a concession to environmentalists, who strongly criticized the law as legalizing land-grabbing and encouraging deforestation, Lula late on Thursday vetoed articles of the bill that would allow companies to take over land.
Over three decades, settlers, farmers and speculators have occupied, stolen and sold state land they did not own, fueling the destruction of about a fifth of the world`s largest rain forest. Land titles are often nonexistent or fake.
The government says granting ownership to residents of these areas will reduce illegal land trade and make it easier to police the rain forest. It says the law will also benefit impoverished peasants who were encouraged to settle the Amazon during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship but were never provided with legal support, public security or financial aid.
The new land owners, who will have to pay taxes and follow environmental regulations, are expected to help environmental regulators crack down on squatting and deforestation, as well as fund better enforcement efforts in remote Amazon areas.
The law will likely hand over ownership for 166 million acres (67.4 million hectares) in the Amazon, an area bigger than France, to individuals who can prove they have been occupying the public land since December 2004.
The distribution of plots will be based on good faith affidavits by claimants that they occupy an area. Authorities will not carry out on-site checks of such claims on plots under 990 acres.
Environmentalists, who often criticize Lula for siding with development rather than conservation in the world`s largest rain forest, say those are among the flaws in the bill that make it ripe for abuse.
"It`s not just regulation that will avoid deforestation but how you regulate," said Paulo Barreto, a senior researcher at the Imazon institute on Amazon conservation.
"If you give land, subsidize and give discounts or long payment periods it makes access very easy and encourages the extensive use of land. It makes it easier to deforest a certain area than to invest to raise productivity."
To receive title for plots between 1,000 and 3,700 acres, occupants will have to pay market price for the land, which will be defined by the National Land Reform Institute. Claimants can pay for the land in installments of up to 20 years and can resell it within three years.
(Reporting by Natuza Nery and Stuart Grudgings; writing by Reese Ewing; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Original article

Lebanon`s Hariri set to become prime minister

2009-06-26T17:00:00.000+04:00

By Nadim Ladki
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A large majority of members of Lebanon`s parliament will nominate U.S.-backed Saad al-Hariri for the post of prime minister, paving the way for his appointment later this week, political sources said on Friday.
President Michel Suleiman will hold consultations with parliamentarians later on Friday and on Saturday to decide on the next prime minister. On Saturday he will designate the candidate with most support.
Lebanon`s sectarian power-sharing system reserves the premiership to a Sunni Muslim.
The sources said Hariri, a Sunni, would be nominated by his coalition`s 71 MPs in the 128-seat assembly as well as the 25 parliamentarians of Hezbollah and its Shi`ite Amal ally.
Hariri, who led a U.S.-backed coalition to victory over Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies in this month`s election, met Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah overnight.
A joint statement by both men said the leaders, who had only met once before in three years, had held talks and discussed the outcome of the election and the possible shape of the new government.
"They also agreed on continuing discussions in the current positive calm atmosphere and stressed the logic of dialogue, cooperation and openness," it said.
Hezbollah had called for the formation of a national unity government with veto power for the minority alliance after the parliamentary election, though the group has not repeated the demand since the vote. Hariri rejects such a veto.
While his majority coalition could nominate him and effectively appoint him to the post, Hariri had been keen on getting the backing of his powerful rivals to ensure a smooth launch of his administration.
He offered to open a new page immediately after the election and called for the shelving of the contentious issue of disarming Hezbollah. The group, labeled as terrorist by the United States, has battled Israeli forces since the early 1980s.
It fought a 34-day battle against Israel in 2006 in which 1,200 people died in Lebanon and some 160 in Israel.
Saudi Arabia and western countries including the United States have been major supporters of Hariri, whose father Rafik was assassinated in 2005, and his allies in their power struggle with rivals backed by Syria and Iran.
The meeting between Hariri and Nasrallah is also set to defuse Sunni-Shi`ite tensions that threatened to boil over into a civil war last year when Hezbollah fighters routed Hariri and his allies` supporters in Beirut and mountains to the east.
A Qatari-sponsored deal in May 2008 ended the crisis but sectarian tensions rose again in the run-up to the election.
Hariri, 39, was thrown into politics in 2005 by the assassination of his father, becoming the strongest Sunni leader in a country where politics is defined by a sectarian political system. Continued...
Original article

Israel plays down reports of imminent Gaza deal

2009-06-26T16:48:00.000+04:00

By Alastair Macdonald and Adam Entous
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli officials played down reports on Friday that a deal was close with Hamas that would include the release of an Israeli soldier held captive in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Israeli and Palestinian political sources and Western diplomats confirmed, however, that Egyptian mediators were still working on a package of measures that could combine exchanges of prisoners, ceasefire agreements, an easing of Israel`s blockade on Gaza and rapprochement between rival Palestinian factions.
A July 7 deadline set by Egypt for Islamist Hamas and the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to ease a schism that has divided Gaza from the West Bank, as well as this week`s third anniversary of Hamas`s capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, has fueled speculation of a deal.
Responding to Israeli press reports citing European diplomats that Shalit was about to be sent to Egypt, Israeli officials and European diplomats in the region said on Friday they knew of no new concrete developments in negotiations.
Hamas officials have also played down earlier reports.
Nonetheless, diplomats said negotiations were in train.
The family of Shalit, who also has French citizenship, has stepped up pressure on new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal. The government has long baulked at Hamas`s price for Shalit`s release, notably the freeing of leading Hamas militants responsible for attacks on Israelis.
Netanyahu is also under pressure from the United States and its European allies to ease a blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza that has prevented billions of dollars in foreign reconstruction aid from reaching the enclave since Israel`s offensive in January.
Israel, which is also under U.S. pressure to renew peace talks with Abbas, has tied the blockade to the fate of Shalit.
An Israeli government official said Netanyahu wanted the international community to pressure Hamas, not Israel: "Hamas has held Gilad Shalit for some three years. He hasn`t even been given one visit by a representative of the Red Cross.
"The international community should be pushing for his release and should be pushing for such a visit."
"PACKAGE DEALS"
Hamas, which seized control of Gaza two years ago in fighting with Fatah-led forces, is keen to bolster its support among the 1.5 million Gazans by improving supplies.
Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament elected in 2006, told Reuters on Thursday, two days after he was released himself from an Israeli prison: "The Egyptians are behind the package deal which is expected to speak about the truce, to speak about opening all the crossings to (the) Gaza Strip and to speak about Shalit."
"We would like (it) to be accomplished in the very few coming days because I left ... almost 11,000 prisoners in Israeli jails," Dweik added, speaking in English. Continued...
Original article

Zimbabwe`s Mugabe attacks West on sanctions, aid

2009-06-26T16:35:00.000+04:00

By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe attacked Western countries Thursday for refusing to lift sanctions because he was still in power, but said his country would get aid from friends who would not impose conditions.
Mugabe and arch-foe Morgan Tsvangirai, now Prime Minister, formed a unity government in February in a bid to end a decade of heightened political hostility and an economic crisis.
For the past three weeks Tsvangirai has been on a tour of the United States and Europe to raise cash from donors. He has little money to show for it but has come under more pressure to persuade his partner to bolster democracy and human rights.
The southern African country says it needs $10 billion to rebuild dilapidated infrastructure and ease unemployment.
"Everywhere they were saying `no`, they will not remove sanctions. Why, why, because ... they wanted ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe to be defeated," Mugabe was quoted by state TV telling a meeting of his ZANU-PF party in Harare late Thursday.
"Sir (Tsvangirai) you have seen them, these that you call your friends. Imperialists can never be friends of those countries and people that desire for freedom."
The 85-year-old leader said Zimbabwe would get aid from friends who would not impose conditions.
He did not name the countries but in the past five years Mugabe has been trying to strengthen ties with Asian countries especially China, and with Muslim nations like Iran, sometimes promising them the country`s vast mineral deposits.
"We will get friends who will assist us, friends who will not demand conditions, we have those friends and we will show the West that we also have friends," Mugabe said.
Tsvangirai has been telling Western leaders that although democratic reforms have been slow, they were irreversible and that he had a good working relationship with Mugabe.
Zimbabwe has started hearings on a new constitution that many hope will strengthen the role of parliament, whittle down the president`s powers and guarantee civil liberties and political and media reforms.
But Mugabe appeared headed for a clash with Tsvangirai`s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) when he said ZANU-PF wanted the hearings to focus on a draft charter, named "Kariba Draft," penned by his party and the MDC in 2007.
The charter, which until Wednesday had not been made public, is a "hybrid" draft between one rejected in a 2000 referendum and another written by civic society groups the same year.
"Which country have you seen where a constitution is written by the grassroots? You don`t do that," Mugabe said.
"Our party has to be very careful and not to be derailed away from the Kariba Draft."
(Editing by Michael Roddy)
Original article

OSCE makes last Georgia patrol, issues warning

2009-06-26T16:23:00.000+04:00

By Matt Robinson
TBILISI (Reuters) - The OSCE`s mission in Georgia has warned of a new conflict over the breakaway region of South Ossetia with its monitors facing a deadline to leave next week.
Its 20 military monitors in Georgia conducted their final patrol up to the de facto border with South Ossetia on Friday before a June 30 deadline to pull out after 17 years.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe must withdraw after Russia opposed extending the current mandate having recognized South Ossetia as independent in the wake of last August`s war with Georgia.
A similar dispute over sovereignty saw Russia this month veto an extension to the mandate of some 130 U.N. observers in Abkhazia, Georgia`s other breakaway region also recognized by the Kremlin as independent.
The European Union, with 225 unarmed monitors deployed after the five-day war, stands to be alone in patrolling up to the de facto borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Authorities in both regions have forbidden them to go further.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) thinktank warned this week of the risk of new "full-blown hostilities" in the absence of an "effective security regime in and around the conflict zones."
Asked about the warning, OSCE mission head Ambassador Terhi Hakala told Reuters this week: "Unfortunately I think it is possible. I share the analysis of the ICG."
"The situation is unstable. The security situation is a bit better but it is not good definitely."
"EYES AND EARS"
Russia crushed a Georgian assault on pro-Moscow South Ossetia, launched in early August after weeks of escalating skirmishes in the rebel territory, which like Abkhazia threw off Tbilisi`s rule in the early 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Eight OSCE monitors entered after the first war.
Moscow says the Georgia assault, which drew a devastating response from Russia, created "new realities" on the ground that the West should recognize.
"They (Russia) wanted to have an independent mission also in South Ossetia due to the fact that they recognized independence, and that`s why we are in this situation," Hakala said.
"Maybe there is this interpretation of course that they wouldn`t like to have extra eyes and ears on the ground," the Finnish diplomat said.
Greek Foreign Minister and OSCE chair Dora Bakoyanni told Reuters this week the OSCE still hoped for a deal to salvage the mission before Tuesday. But negotiations have already been halted. Hakala spoke in an improvised office in a Tbilisi hotel having moved out of the mission headquarters.
In white armored 4x4s, the monitors conducted their last patrol to the Georgian villages on the boundary on Friday, having been denied access to South Ossetia since the war. Continued...
Original article

Turkey`s military says plot report is smear campaign

2009-06-26T16:11:00.000+04:00

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey`s top general said on Friday that allegations of a military plot to undermine the government were part of a campaign to divide the armed forces and offered a guarantee he would never tolerate coup activities.
Liberal Turkish newspaper Taraf published last week what it said was a document drafted by a navy colonel on stopping the ruling AK Party and a religious movement from "destroying Turkey`s secular order and replacing it by an Islamist state."
The controversy has raised tensions between the military and the AK Party, which has roots in political Islam but also embraces center-right and nationalist forces. The army has removed three government in the last 50 years and sees itself as the ultimate guarantor of Turkey`s secular political system.
"We see this piece of paper as part of an organized smear campaign to weaken the military. This is an attempt to stir up and divide the military," General Ilker Basbug told a rare news conference.
"The military does not shelter those that would engage in (coup) activities. I give my guarantee as the chief of the Turkish armed forces."
Markets have so far reacted calmly to the row, seeing little risk of a military coup against the AK Party, but are closely following developments. Bonds, stocks and the lira firmed on Friday as hopes of a fresh loan deal with the IMF supported sentiment.
At the news conference, Basbug urged civilian courts to find out who was behind the document.
Turkey`s military has seen its public influence wane in recent years as the Muslim country has pushed liberal reforms aimed at winning membership of the European Union.
Senior retired officers and serving military are amongst those arrested in connection with a separate coup plot allegation. The military denies any link to what is known as the "Ergenekon" plot involving a campaign of bombings and assassinations to precipitate a military takeover.
The AK Party, which denies any secret Islamist agenda, has been at odds with a conservative secularist establishment including generals, judges and academics over the direction of the country.
Original article

Doctor flees Iran over "Neda" killing: report

2009-06-26T13:21:00.000+04:00

LONDON (Reuters) - One person captured on Internet videos helping "Neda," the young Iranian woman killed last week who has become an icon of the protests, was identified by a British newspaper on Friday as a doctor who has since fled Iran.
"I felt she was trying to ask a question, `Why?`," Dr. Arash Hejazi told the Times in an interview as he recalled her final moments lying in a street with blood pouring from her body.
"She was just a person in the street who was against the injustice going on in her country, and for that she was murdered," said Hejazi, an Iranian who is resident in Britain but says he went to Tehran on a business trip.
Hejazi said Neda Agha Soltan, a 26-year-old music student, was killed by a government militiaman.
Iran has accused the West, particularly Britain and the United States, of inciting violence. State television has blamed violence on "terrorists" and "vandals."
Hejazi, 38, said he fled from Iran when the video footage sped around the world on websites because he feared his own life might be in danger as he could be seen with Soltan.
Before trying to leave, he said he emailed a friend in Britain to say he hoped to join his family in the university city of Oxford where he was studying: "If something happens to me, please take care of (my wife and son)."
He said he had gone outside into Tehran`s streets only when he and some friends heard a commotion.
Hejazi said Soltan`s death would always haunt him but was glad she had become a global symbol.
"This way her blood is not wasted and she did not die in vain," he said.
In Iran, supporters of defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, who says the June 12 presidential poll was rigged, plan to release thousands of balloons on Friday with the message: "Neda you will always remain in our hearts."
About 20 people were killed when the disputed poll sparked the worst unrest in Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
A security crackdown by Iran`s hardline government has largely driven demonstrators off Tehran`s streets this week.
(Editing by Ralph Gowling)
Original article

Pakistani violence spreads to Kashmir

2009-06-26T13:09:00.000+04:00

By Abu Arqam Naqash
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Two soldiers were killed on Friday in the first suicide bombing in Pakistani Kashmir while several people were hurt in a blast near the Afghan border as the army prepares to attack Taliban in that region.
Islamist militants have carried out a series of bomb attacks across Pakistan in recent weeks in retaliation for a military offensive in the northwest but there have been no such attacks in Pakistan`s part of the disputed Kashmir region.
The army launched its offensive after Taliban gains raised fears for U.S. ally Pakistan`s future and worry about the safety of its nuclear arsenal.
The blast in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir, will raise concern that the militants are expanding their campaign to distract the military as it closes in on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan on the Afghan border.
"The bomber blew himself up near a military vehicle. Two of our soldiers embraced martyrdom," a military spokesman told Reuters. Three soldiers were wounded in the attack.
Kashmir is at the core of a decades-old dispute between Pakistan and India and the cause of two of their three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947.
Separatist insurgents backed by Pakistan have been fighting Indian security forces in India`s part of the Himalayan region for the past 20 years. But Pakistani Kashmir had been peaceful.
The United States has hailed Pakistan`s action against the militants and on Wednesday the U.S. Senate approved tripling aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year for five years as part of a U.S. plan to fight extremism with economic development. U.S. President Barack Obama has put Afghanistan and Pakistan at the center of his foreign policy agenda and has launched a strategy aimed at defeating al Qaeda and stabilizing Afghanistan, where thousands of extra U.S. soldiers are arriving.
AL QAEDA ALLY
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani appealed on Thursday to visiting U.S. National Security Adviser Jim Jones for U.S. help to resolve the dispute with India over Muslim-majority Kashmir.
Gilani`s office cited Jones as saying the U.S. government wanted to help the nuclear-armed neighbors resolve "core issues."
Jones is in India on Friday.
India broke off talks with Pakistan after militant attacks on the city of Mumbai in November. India blamed the attacks on Pakistan-based militants and wants Pakistan to act against them.
The United States is pushing for an easing of tension between the rivals so Pakistan can focus on fighting the Taliban.
The military has been launching air strikes on Mehsud`s bases this month while soldiers have been securing main roads and sealing off his stronghold Continued...
Original article

Amnesty urges Thailand to open lese-majeste trial

2009-06-26T12:57:00.000+04:00

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Rights group Amnesty International urged Thailand on Friday to open the trial of a political campaigner charged with insulting the monarchy after it was closed for reasons of "national security."
Amnesty said the court`s decision to bar the media and public from attending the trial of Darunee Charnchoengsilpakul, a "red shirt" supporter of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, could jeopardize her chances of receiving a fair hearing.
Darunee, 46, also known as "Da Torpedo," was arrested and charged with lese-majeste last July after delivering an exceptionally strong speech on the 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin.
"When a judge closes the doors on a trial it significantly raises the risk of injustice taking place," Amnesty`s Asia-Pacific director, Sam Zarifi, said in a statement.
"The Thai government will have a very difficult time explaining why the trial of someone charged with making an insulting remark could compromise Thailand`s national security.
"In this case, a fair trial means that the doors should remain open," Zarifi said.
On Tuesday, Judge Prommas Phoo-sang ordered journalists and Darunee`s supporters to leave the courtroom in Bangkok`s Criminal Court because her case was a "matter of national security.
In an emotional response to the ruling, Darunee she could not be guaranteed justice if the public were barred from attending. Her lawyer has filed an appeal.
The trial, which resumes on July 28, is the latest in a slew of lese-majeste cases critics say are stifling dissent and freedom of speech.
Lese-majeste, or insulting the monarchy, is a very serious offence in Thailand, where many people regard 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej as semi-divine and above politics. It is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Judge Prommas said he had no comment on the Amnesty statement, but stood by his decision to close the trial.
"One thing I can say, I am impartial," he told Reuters.
(Reporting by Martin Petty and Kittipong Soonprasert; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Sanjeev Miglani)
Original article

China intellectuals seek release of dissident

2009-06-26T09:42:00.000+04:00

BEIJING (Reuters) - Dozens of China`s most prominent liberal intellectuals have issued a petition urging the release of Liu Xiaobo, the veteran dissident facing subversion charges after promoting a petition demanding an end to one-party rule.
Liu was formally arrested on Tuesday, charged with "inciting subversion of state power," following his detention late last year for promoting the "Charter 08" petition, which challenged the underpinnings of Communist Party rule.
The move brings one of the most prominent critics of the Party a step closer to trial, and his case has galvanized criticism from human rights groups at a time when China`s Internet controls also face controversy.
Now some of China`s best-known academics and writers have added their voice to the outcry.
"We urge the immediate release of Dr Liu Xiaobo, and the true exercise of freedom of expression as promised by the Constitution," stated the petition, dated June 24 and received by Reuters on Friday.
"Liu Xiaobo`s troubles show the environment each of us must survive in ... He cannot freely express his views, and that means that none of us can freely and openly express our views."
The 53-year-old dissident has a Ph.D. in Chinese literature and was active during the 1989 pro-democracy protests quelled by the bloody June 4 crackdown.
Late last year, he was among 303 dissidents and rights activists who launched "Charter 08," a petition calling for the dismantling of one-party rule and creation of multi-party democracy.
The 52 signatories of the new petition include Xu Youyu, a philosopher; Mao Yushi, a prominent liberal economist; and Qin Hui, an historian whose writings on rural China and on economic reform have been widely influential.
Xu told Reuters that the petition, addressed to the country`s Party-controlled parliament, showed that Liu`s case will remain a lightning rod for opposition to political controls.
"This is intended to send the government a signal that intellectuals and scholars with some influence are very worried about Liu," Xu said by telephone. "His case is a blow to freedom of expression."
(Reporting by Chris Buckley and Benjamin Kang Lim; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Original article

Two weeks after: Iran rallies fade, elite split

2009-06-26T08:04:00.000+04:00

By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran`s leadership has quelled mass protests over a disputed presidential poll two weeks ago, but the battle has moved off the street into a behind-the-scenes struggle splitting the clerical establishment into two camps.
EDITORS` NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Hardline preacher Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami is expected to reinforce the government message when he leads Friday prayers that the June 12 election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared victor was legal and fair.
Supporters of defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, who want the result annulled, plan to release thousands of balloons on Friday with the message: "Neda you will always remain in our hearts," in memory of the young woman killed last week who has become an icon of the protests.
The last mass protests were on Saturday and a combination of warnings, arrests and the threat of police action have driven large demonstrations off Tehran`s street with small gatherings dispersed with tear gas and baton charges.
The worst unrest since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 set off by the poll left about 20 people killed, prompting President Barrack Obama to say he was "appalled and outraged" by the security crackdown in the world`s fifth largest oil exporter.
Group of Eight powers meeting in Trieste plan in a statement to deplore post-election violence, to urge Tehran to settle the crisis through peaceful, democratic means and to respect basic rights including freedom of expression, a diplomat said.
The condemnation by Obama, who had been trying to improve ties with Iran before the election, prompted Ahmadinejad to accuse Obama of behaving like his predecessor and say there was not much point in talking to Washington unless Obama apologized.
"I tell (the United States) that all those people who voted and all the Iranian nation will stand against them," the Iranian president, who was elected for a second four-year term, said in response to Obama`s comments.
Before the poll, Obama, aiming to change the policy of George W. Bush toward Iran, had hoped to persuade Tehran to drop what Washington suspects are plans to develop nuclear bombs, while seeking cooperation in Afghanistan and Iraq.
MOUSAVI UNDER PRESSURE
In what appeared to be further evidence of the government`s determination to crush resistance, 70 professors were detained after meeting Mousavi and his campaign manager was arrested, his website said on Thursday. The semi-official Fars News Agency said that the professors were later released.
Mousavi said he was under pressure to stop challenging the election result and also complained about the closure of his Kalameh-ye Sabz daily newspaper and arrest of its staff.
Iran has jailed around 40 journalists and media workers in the post-election crackdown, New York-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.
The row over the election has exposed an unprecedented public rift within Iran`s ruling elite. Continued...
Original article

NATO to start offensive soon in south Afghanistan

2009-06-26T02:57:00.000+04:00

By Andrew Gray
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, boosted by a big influx of U.S. troops, will step up operations in Helmand province and the city of Kandahar soon, the top regional commander said on Thursday.
"We are entering a new stage in the operation," Dutch Army Major General Mart de Kruif told reporters at the Pentagon in a conference call from NATO`s base at Kandahar Air Field.
The United States has been pouring thousands of troops this year into southern Afghanistan, the heartland of the Taliban movement and scene of the heaviest fighting, to prepare for an effort to regain the initiative from the insurgents.
De Kruif said security incidents had decreased in two provinces in his region -- Uruzgan and Zabul.
"The insurgency is more or less is forced to concentrate its efforts in Helmand and in Kandahar," he said.
"In a very short time ... we will start significant operations ... to secure central and southern Helmand and stabilize Kandahar," de Kruif said.
"We will have the operational initiative on our side and maintain it," he said.
De Kruif said the new offensive by NATO forces would lead to a spike in violence but the prime objective would be to protect the population from insurgents rather than hunt down and kill Taliban fighters.
The Obama administration has declared Afghanistan its top military priority and the United States is more than doubling its military presence in the country to around 68,000 troops, from 32,000 at the end of last year.
The United States now has 57,000 troops in Afghanistan and other nations, mainly NATO allies, have some 32,000 there.
De Kruif estimated there were between 10,000 and 18,000 Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan.
They could be broadly divided into three groups, he said -- religious hardliners linked to the Taliban leadership in the Pakistani city of Quetta, fighters linked to the narcotics trade and so-called "$10-a-day Taliban" motivated by money.
De Kruif said NATO and Afghan forces could succeed in establishing security in southern Afghanistan "in a couple of years" and also significantly improve conditions before the country`s presidential election on August 20 this year.
"At the end of the day, it`s good governance and reconstruction and development that will bring lasting success," he added.
He said the best indicators of success he had found were the number of shops open in the bazaars and the number of schools open in the villages -- signs that commerce could flourish and people could live freely.
(Editing by Jackie Frank)
Original article

Hamas leader rejects "freak" Israel offer of state

2009-06-26T02:08:00.000+04:00

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal denounced on Thursday an Israeli offer of a demilitarized Palestinian state as a "big prison" and said only armed struggle could restore Palestinian rights.
In a speech this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the U.S. goal of a Palestinian state but said it should be demilitarized and the Palestinians must accept Israel as a Jewish nation.
"The state that Netanyahu talked about, with control on it by land, sea and air, is a freak entity and a big prison, not a country fit for a great people," Meshaal said in a speech in the Syrian capital to supporters of Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in 2006.
Meshaal said the notion of an exclusive Jewish nation was anathema to the Palestinians because it means giving up what he described as the right of six million Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland in what is now Israel.
"We warn against any Arab leniency on this issue. The calls by the leaders of the enemy for the Jewishness of Israel are racist, not different to Italian Fascism and Hitler`s Nazism," said Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria.
OBAMA SPEECH
His speech also aimed to reply to the June 4 speech by U.S. President Barack Obama to the Muslim world in which he re-affirmed the U.S. objective of a Palestinian state alongside Israel on land occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War.
Obama also wants a halt to all Israeli settlement building, a point of disagreement between him and Netanyahu.
Meshaal said Hamas appreciated what he termed Obama`s new language, which could be the start of an "unconditional dialogue" between Washington and the Palestinian Islamist group.
"Dealing with Hamas and Palestinian resistance movements must be based on respecting the will of the Palestinian people and its democratic choice, not through putting conditions, such as those of the quartet," he said.
He was referring to the demands of the United States, Russia the United Nations and the European Union for Hamas to renounce armed struggle, as well as accept past peace agreements.
Hamas, which took control of the Gaza strip in 2007 after routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has repeatedly rejected these conditions.
Meshaal also repeated the Hamas line of calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders.
"The minimum we accept is a Palestinian state with (East) Jerusalem as its capital, full sovereignty, removal of settlements and the refugees` right of return," he said.
He said Hamas, which is mainly supported by Syria and Iran, sees no alternative but to continue armed struggle to liberate Palestinian land after decades of Israel flouting international resolutions to withdraw. Continued...
Original article

Zimbabwe`s Mugabe attacks West on sanctions, aid

2009-06-26T01:44:00.000+04:00

Somali rebels amputate limbs, U.S. sends weapons

2009-06-25T23:43:00.000+04:00

By Abdi Guled and Ibrahim Mohamed
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Washington has sent weapons to Somalia`s government to thwart Islamist insurgents, who cut hands and feet off thieves on Thursday and paraded the severed limbs in the streets of Mogadishu.
Somalia`s al Shabaab insurgents are seen as a proxy for al Qaeda and Western nations fear they could destabilize the region and provide safe havens for hardline Islamists from elsewhere.
When a moderate Islamist was elected president in January, there was hope he could end nearly two decades of bloodshed in Somalia by reconciling with hardliners who want to impose a strict version of Islamic law across the country.
But Osama bin Laden declared President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed an enemy in an audiotape released in March. He called on the insurgents to topple the government and for Muslims around the world to join their jihad.
A U.S. official said the United States had sent arms and ammunition to Somalia`s government in a move signaling President Barack Obama`s desire to shore up the "fragile" government and thwart the hardliners.
"The State Department is providing ... weapons and ammunition to try to help them deal with al Shabaab and other extremists," the official, who spoke on condition he not be identified, said, confirming a report in The Washington Post.
"The government is in a very fragile state," he said, adding the United States wants Eritrea to stop supporting the insurgents. The top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Johnnie Carson, hopes to visit Eritrea soon, U.S. officials said.
Eritrea denies arming and training the insurgents.
A U.S. official, and an international security source, said the United States was providing the weaponry in accordance with U.N. Security Council resolutions.
"It`s confirmed. They received approval from the U.N. Security Council," the international security source said.
While the United Nations has had a long-standing arms embargo on Somalia, a May Security Council resolution urged member states to train and equip government security forces as long as a U.N. embargo monitoring committee had no objections.
Another foreign security source said weapons had come into Somalia for the government via Uganda, which provides half the 4,300 African Union troops protecting key sites in Mogadishu.
"The prospect of the government collapsing is sending alarm bells ringing in Western capitals, but whether this latest move will succeed remains to be seen," said Rashid Abdi, analyst at International Crisis Group.
"Going further than providing arms to actually sending in more foreign forces would be a mistake," he said. "The government would then play right into the hands of the militants, who would accuse them of accepting foreign meddling."
LIMBS ON TREES Continued...
Original article

Ten dead in Czech floods, central Europe on alert

2009-06-25T23:19:00.000+04:00

By Petr Josek
NOVY JICIN, Czech Republic (Reuters) - At least 10 people died in flooding in the eastern Czech Republic, and rising river levels prompted flood warnings across central Europe following heavy rains this week.
The 10 Czechs died near the country`s border with Poland and Slovakia, with most of the damage near the town of Novy Jicin, 260 km (160 miles) east of Prague.
Officials said at least six people were drowned late on Wednesday and four more died when medical teams were unable to reach them.
Rescuers evacuated hundreds of people from wrecked houses and buildings threatened by high water, and the government moved to deploy up to 1,000 soldiers to help.
"The situation is bad, although somewhat stabilized," said Tomas Vindis, a council member in Novy Jicin, a town of 27,000.
"The water is not a threat at the moment... but the forecast is not exactly favorable, so everybody is worried a bit that it could come back."
The flooding is the central European country`s worst natural disaster since heavy floods in 2002, when 17 people died and water ravaged the historic center of Prague, costing the state around $3 billion in repair costs.
The governor of the hardest hit region, Jaroslav Palas, said the damages now would run into the tens of millions of dollars.
In Austria, the river Danube has risen this week after some of the heaviest rainfalls in 50 years. The water level was expected to peak in Vienna Thursday as rainfalls ebbed.
Vienna`s Albertina Museum, home to landmark impressionist works by Monet and Renoir, started evacuating 950,000 artworks Thursday from its leaking underground depot.
Around 13,000 police, firefighters and soldiers worked to stem the floods Wednesday. Some villages along rivers flowing toward the Danube were cut off and cellars and roads were underwater, mainly in the region west of the Austrian capital.
Bratislava declared a second-degree alert in western Slovakia, where the Danube was expected to crest later in the day.
Hungary put first or second degree alerts in place for the upper section of the Danube. Budapest has called the highest alert for the lower section of the northwestern Raba river.
The Polish National Security Center said rivers topped warning levels in 43 places and alarm levels in another 20. Flood alarms were introduced in parts of southern Poland.
Czech meteorologists forecast more rain into the weekend.
(Additional reporting by Robert Mueller in Prague and Reuters bureaux in Vienna, Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava, writing by Jason Hovet and Peter Laca; editing by Michael Roddy)
Original article

Risks battle rewards as Iraq opens up its oilfields

2009-06-25T22:55:00.000+04:00

By Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - For the first time since the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, global oil firms will have a run at Iraq`s vast oil resources when Baghdad auctions off contracts in its biggest fields this month.
The June 29-30 tender for service contracts in six already producing oilfields and two undeveloped gas fields is fraught with risk following a revolt in the state-run oil industry, and amid violence and political uncertainty.
Oil companies say they have no choice but to bid -- the allure of the world`s third largest oil reserves, and of greater riches down the road from Iraq`s under-exploited and under-explored oil resources is just too great.
"These fields are the jewels of the Iraqi oil industry," a senior executive at an international oil company planning to bid told Reuters. "Of course we`ll be there. But it`s a big risk to take. We can win the contract, but can we execute it? Who will approve the deals? Will the local partners cooperate?"
In addition to the revolt, semi-autonomous Kurds have warned they could make it difficult for companies to work around the disputed northern city of Kirkuk, while Iraq`s parliament has insisted it must approve every deal.
"A huge controversy has surrounded this first licensing round since before it even began," said former oil minister Esam al-Chalabi. "As expected, the process will not be safe and the foreign companies will face inevitable problems ahead."
When former President George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, critics charged it was because the United States wanted to get its hands on Iraq`s 115 billion barrels or more of reserves.
Eyebrows may be raised if oil companies from nations that took part in the invasion, like Britain, walk away winners.
But on the face of it, it is Iraq that is calling the shots.
The contracts are 20-year service deals, which offer payment based on a fixed fee for additional output. Oil firms prefer production sharing deals that allow them to book some of the reserves and take a share of the profit.
Winning firms must pay the Iraqi Oil Ministry $2.6 billion in signature bonuses and cover Iraq`s 25-percent share of development costs, which it will pay back in oil.
"ECONOMY IN CHAINS"
Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, summoned before parliament, insisted the deals were in Iraq`s interests, and would earn the country $1.7 trillion over the next two decades in additional oil revenues.
The first auction aims to add 1.5 million barrels per day to Iraq`s output of 2.4 million barrels per day -- lower than before the invasion. A second round at year-end for undeveloped fields could add 2.5 million barrels per day, helping boost output above 6 million barrels per day in five years.
Dependent on crude exports for 95 percent of state revenues, Iraq desperately needs cash to rebuild after years of sectarian war between once dominant Sunni Muslims and majority Shi`ites. Continued...
Original article

Jerusalem gay parade ends peacefully

2009-06-25T22:31:00.000+04:00

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A gay pride parade in Jerusalem ended peacefully on Thursday but the planned opening of a municipal parking lot on the Jewish sabbath will test the delicate balance between religious and secular Jews in the city.
The annual parade has touched off anti-gay protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews in the holy city in the past. But this year they limited their protest to holding street prayers wearing brown sacks in line with a biblical mourning tradition.
Police deployed some 1,500 officers -- albeit far fewer than in recent years -- along the route, which avoided neighborhoods where traditionally black-garbed ultra-Orthodox Jews live.
Many devout Jews, Muslims and Christians view homosexuality as an abomination. In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed and wounded three participants in the gay march. He is serving a 12-year sentence.
Amit Lev, a spokesman for the gay rights group behind the parade, said organizers had negotiated with ultra-Orthodox leaders in Jerusalem after "long years of silence" between the two communities.
"We`ve agreed that violence doesn`t serve any of us or any of our goals," he said.
But tensions have been stirred in the city over plans by Jerusalem`s Israeli mayor, Nir Barkat, to reopen a public parking lot on Saturday, a move that could draw more traffic into the city on the Jewish sabbath.
Jewish religious law bans travel on the sabbath, and Jerusalem`s ultra-Orthodox community has negotiated with city authorities arrangements that limit or ban traffic in their neighborhoods on Saturdays.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews held stone-throwing protests three weeks ago when the municipal parking lot was last opened on a Saturday and authorities fear a repeat of the violence this weekend.
(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon, Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Michael Roddy)
Original article

U.S. adviser hails Pakistani attack on militants

2009-06-25T20:06:00.000+04:00

By Augustine Anthony
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. National Security Adviser Jim Jones on Thursday hailed Pakistani military action against militants, while Pakistan asked the United States for help to resolve a long dispute with India over the Kashmir region.
The Pakistani military is nearing the end of an offensive in the Swat valley, northwest of the capital, that was launched in early May after Taliban gains raised fears for Pakistan`s future and for the safety of its nuclear arsenal.
U.S. President Barack Obama has put Afghanistan and Pakistan at the center of his foreign policy agenda and has launched a new strategy aimed at defeating al Qaeda and stabilizing Afghanistan, where thousands of extra U.S. soldiers are arriving.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved tripling aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year for each of the next five years, as part of the U.S. plan to fight extremism with economic development.
Jones held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, a day after arriving from Afghanistan, and reaffirmed Obama`s desire to have long-term, multifaceted and strategic cooperation with Pakistan, Gilani`s office said.
"He lauded the Pakistan army`s successful operation against terrorists," Gilani`s office said in a statement.
Pakistan said it has killed about 1,600 militants in the offensive in the former tourist valley of Swat and is in the final stages of securing the region. Independent casualty figures are not available.
The army is preparing an all-out assault against Pakistani Taliban leader and al Qaeda ally Baitullah Mehsud in his stronghold of South Waziristan, on the Afghan border.
The military has been launching air strikes on Mehsud`s bases for more than a week while soldiers have been securing main roads and sealing off his stronghold.
KASHMIR DISPUTE
On Tuesday, a pilotless U.S. drone aircraft killed about 70 of Mehsud`s militant followers in an air strike after a funeral for a militant killed earlier, Pakistani officials said.
Pakistan officially objects to such U.S. strikes on its territory saying they violate its sovereignty and complicate its efforts to win people over to the government side.
In their talks, Gilani also called upon the world, and especially the United States, to help resolving a decades-old dispute with India over the Kashmir region.
India broke off talks with Pakistan after militant attacks on the city of Mumbai in November. India blamed the attacks on Pakistan-based militants and wants Pakistan to act against them.
"The U.S. government would help in every possible way for the resumption of dialogue between Pakistan and India and for resolution of the core issues," Gilani`s office cited Jones as saying. Continued...
Original article

American intruder "key player" in Suu Kyi case, police say

2009-06-25T19:42:00.000+04:00

By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - The American who swam to the home of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was the "key player" in the case against her and may not have been working alone, the country`s police chief said Friday.
Brigadier General Khin Yi said John Yettaw, whose May 4 visit to Suu Kyi`s home could see her jailed for five years, was a man of "high intelligence" who may have received outside support.
"It is quite clear, without a shadow of a doubt, that Mr. John William Yettaw is the key player in this incident," Khin Yi told a news conference.
"There might have been some people who pulled the strings behind the scenes, gave instructions and even provided him with financial and material assistance," he said.
"Necessary investigations are still going on to expose who and which organizations they are."
Suu Kyi is charged with breaching the terms of her house arrest by allowing Yettaw to stay at her home for two days. She has blamed security guards for the breach.
The trial of the Nobel laureate, which is due to resume on Friday, has sparked outrage around the world and critics say the case is an attempt by Myanmar`s military rulers to keep her out of planned multi-party elections next year.
"SENT BY GOD"
Yettaw, 53, who is charged under the same law as Suu Kyi, has told the court that God sent him to warn her she was going to be assassinated by "terrorists."
Khin Yi said Yettaw had shown no signs of mental illness and the way in which he was able to breach security and swim to Suu Kyi`s home showed he was a highly competent individual.
With the courts known to bend the rules to suit the military, which has ruled the former Burma for nearly 50 years, a guilty verdict for the charismatic National League for Democracy (NLD) Party leader is widely expected.
Suu Kyi is being charged under Section 22 of a security law protecting the state against "subversive elements," but her lawyers say the case should be dropped because the legislation is now obsolete.
Khin Yi said an investigation into Yettaw`s past and his activities in neighboring Thailand showed he was poor and unable to afford accommodation or pay for air tickets from the United States without outside financial help.
"There is a lot of food for thought behind the fact that such an unemployed person who does not have any regular income came to Thailand and Myanmar and spent months there at a high cost," he said.
Suu Kyi`s lawyer, Nyan Win, dismissed the police chief`s comments and said his client had no interest in Yettaw`s background. Continued...
Original article

Israel army to curtail operations in four West Bank cities

2009-06-25T19:17:00.000+04:00

By Adam Entous
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Thursday it would curtail its military activities in four West Bank cities to help a U.S.-backed move to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The announcement, that will give Palestinian security forces a free hand to operate in the cities, coincided with efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ease tensions with U.S. President Barack Obama over stalled peacemaking with the Palestinians.
A senior Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, dismissed the move as a public relations "sham." He said Israel should halt incursions without exception.
Israel has rebuffed U.S. calls for a halt to Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank. On Monday Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will meet Obama`s Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, in Washington to try to narrow differences.
"As of today, Palestinian security forces will be able to operate freely in the cities of Qalqilya, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho," an Israeli military official said.
The official said Israeli troops would still be able to operate within those cities, battlegrounds during a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000, "in cases of urgent security need." Abbas`s Western-backed government is based in Ramallah.
More than 1,600 security men loyal to Abbas have undergone U.S.-funded training since January 2008. They are derided as collaborators by Hamas Islamists who seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after routing Abbas`s forces there.
Israel has slowly come to back the U.S. training program as a test of Abbas`s ability to rein in militants, as demanded in a 2003 peace "road map" for establishing a Palestinian state.
Abbas has ruled out resuming peace talks with Israel until it halts settlement activity, also required under the road map.
SECURITY RESPONSIBILITY
An Israeli security source said the army would "act as little as possible to allow the Palestinians to take more initiative and responsibility over their own security."
Israeli forces would stay out of the four cities except "in circumstances of `ticking bombs`, or a planned attack" against Israelis, the Israeli security source said.
The senior Palestinian security official countered: "If there is to be a change, they (Israeli troops) should stop the incursions, not enter under the pretext of `ticking bombs`."
The changes set out by Israel fell far short of Palestinian demands it pull its forces back to positions they held before the outbreak of the uprising.
Israel has been reducing its presence in parts of the West Bank, where anti-Israeli violence has declined. But the army still carries out routine patrols and occasional arrest raids. Continued...
Original article