the zionist enemy said fatah al intifada chief said mussa who is also known
as abu mussa
the presence of these arms does not affect lebanese security abu mussa said
offering to talk to the lebanese government about the positioning of our arms
the statement came less than month after prime minister saad hariri landmark
visit to syria after which hariri said he had discussed palestinian arms held
outside of camps with president bashar al assad
fatah al intifada was founded with syrian backing during the lebanese
civil war and has bases in lebanon eastern bekaa valley near the syrian
border
the syria based popular front for the liberation of palestine general command
pflp gc led by ahmad jibril also holds positions in lebanon
un security council resolution adopted in calls on lebanon to assert
sovereignty on the whole of its territory and disarm all militias including
armed palestinian factions
by longstanding convention however the lebanese army does not enter lebanon
palestinian refugee camps leaving security inside in the hands of
palestinians
along with armed lebanese factions palestinian guerrilla groups played major
part in lebanon civil war
palestinian factions and lebanon shiite militant group hezbollah were the only
parties not to surrender their weapons after the war saying they were needed as
defence against israel
but unlike most palestinian factions in lebanon which are located inside the
camps and remain loyal to gaza or the west bank fatah al intifada and the pflp
gc continue to be backed by syria
woman pulled from haiti rubble after seven days
port au prince jan afp
rescuers combing the rubble filled streets of haiti capital scored an
increasingly rare victory pulling year old woman out alive after being
buried alive for seven days
week after the massive quake smashed port au prince rescue workers found
hoteline losana alive in the ruins of shopping center
it is miracle of god she said sobbing with relief as she was pulled free
it was also relief for the team of rescue workers who had labored for hours to
win her survival
she is conscious and in good form said rescue worker thiery cerdan told afp
marking the end of hour effort
fellow rescuer bruno besson said the woman was even more remarkable because she
had no access to food or water for full week
being able to pull someone out alive after seven days that is something
incredible he said
it was flash of hope in city where between and people are
thought to have died
the drama began with members of the group rescuers without borders rushing to
another ruin one among scores but one were the faintest signs of life were
detected
they quickly replaced haitian civilians who had been picking away at the pile
with little success
after three hours of digging probing and praying they found their target alive
and apparently healthy although still trapped
it crazy she is conscious not too hurt we spoke to her she told us that
she was talking to another victim just yesterday said christian mascaro one
of the rescuers
the team tried to reach losana through the building collapsed roof and then
by its side
as they worked away some vowed not to leave until she was rescued as team
leader besson tried to calm his excited colleagues
we should not get too excited because if we don succeed everybody will be
disappointed he said
but as tiny hole was drilled in the wreckage allowing camera and light to
be introduced there was renewed hope
hoteline do you see the light an american firefighter asked in english
the deathly silence was broken by loud and clear voice yes can see the
light she said to the delight of rescuers
that delight soon became fully blown elation as losana emerged
after leaving the ruins she asked simply for phone dialing her brother
number from memory
they saved me brother they saved me love you
as rescuers carried her to an ambulance she sang song of gratitude to the
rapturous applause of the rescuers who made the scene possible
laos drug smuggling briton loses appeal against detention
london jan afp
british woman jailed in laos for drug trafficking and transferred home to
finish her sentence here lost an appeal against her continued detention
wednesday
samantha orobator lawyers had argued that her trial in laos was flagrant
denial of justice and she should never have been jailed
two judges at the high court in london said they were in no doubt that the
year old was treated unjustly in laos but rejected her claim that she was
being detained in britain unlawfully
they said she should serve at least months in jail
orobator was arrested in august at the lao capital vientiane wattay
airport trying to board plane to thailand and was in june last year
convicted of of trafficking grammes pounds of heroin
she would normally have faced the death penalty but became pregnant while in
jail and was instead given life sentence she was transferred to british
prison in august and gave birth to baby girl in september
in his submissions to the court last year orobator lawyer edward fitzgerald
said two nigerian men had coerced his client into carrying the drugs by
threatening her life and raping her
it is our submission that the conviction and sentence involved flagrant
denial of justice and therefore detention based on that conviction and
sentence will be unlawful fitzgerald had said
dismissing the application on wednesday judge john dyson said we are in no
doubt that by the standards of our justice system the claimant was treated
unjustly in laos
however he said she could not satisfy the test that she had suffered
flagrant denial of justice which was set high so not to jeopardise the
numerous treaties that allow british prisoners to serve their sentences here
dyson said that if people were easily able to obtain their liberty by
challenging their convictions there would be grave danger that these
important treaties would be set at nought that would be highly regrettable
urgent vietnam dissidents jailed up to years for subversion
hanoi jan afp
vietnamese court on wednesday sentenced group of dissidents to up to
years in prison for trying to overthrow the communist regime in case which has
sparked global concern
strong quake hits haiti us geologists
washington jan afp
strong earthquake measuring on the moment magnitude scale hit haiti early
on wednesday the us geological survey said
the quake struck kilometers miles west of the capital port au prince
which was razed eight days ago by the quake that is thought to have killed
to people
wednesday quake was initially measured at
it struck at depth of kilometers miles at am gmt
air france klm eyes polish carrier lot report
warsaw jan afp
franco dutch giant air france klm is interested in investing in poland
troubled flag carrying airline lot news report published wednesday said
in addition to air france klm two other investors are also eying state run lot
the polish daily dziennik gazeta prawna said without revealing its sources
polish treasury spokesman maciej wewior told afp that three would be investors
had come forward but declined to give details
the polish state holds percent of lot while the rest belongs to the
airline staff
the government has been aiming to privatise the carrier which in lost
million zlotys million euros million dollars and last year launched
restructuring programme involving the axing of out of its staff
wewior said the government currently favours bringing new investors on board via
capital increase
we do not foresee sale of our stake he explained
the money offered by an investor would not be the only criteria for choosing
bid he added saying commitment to the company will also count
lot was founded in placing it among the world oldest airlines
it is member of the star alliance which is steered by germany lufthansa
there was been regular speculation that lufthansa could take over lot
lot was partially privatised in with the sale of percent stake to
switzerland swissair which went bust in
poland spent the ensuing years trying to unpick the deal and in may
finally bought back the stake from sairlines swissair liquidator
strong quake hits haiti us geologists
washington jan afp
strong earthquake measuring on the moment magnitude scale hit haiti early
on wednesday the us geological survey said
the quake struck kilometers miles west of the capital port au prince
which was razed eight days ago by the quake that is thought to have killed
to people
wednesday quake was initially measured at
it struck at depth of kilometers miles at am gmt
tennis henin back with bang as nadal strides on
melbourne jan afp
tenacious justine henin returned to big time tennis with bang wednesday by
downing fifth seed elena dementieva at the australian open while rafael nadal
kept his title defence on track
playing only her second tournament since making comeback from an month
retirement the seven time grand slam champion showed she still has what it
takes in epic that lasted almost three hours
the belgian who won the australian open in and made this year tournament
as wildcard said she didn think she would ever experience emotions like
that again
at the end the nerves got to me relieved henin after making the third
round it was really difficult to close the match out
couldn believe could live the emotions like that
she next plays th seed alisa kleybanova with potential quarter final looming
against fellow belgian kim clijsters who was given thorough examination by
thai veteran tamarine tanasugarn
clijsters also on the comeback trail after break to start family triumphed
but it was harder than the score suggested for the th seed
her serve was broken in each set before she dug deep to win
physically feel good she said
feel like good enough on the day to beat my opponents it not with my
best tennis yet but hopefully can save that when it really necessary
spanish second seed nadal was in rip roaring form as he smashed hapless slovak
lukas lacko to stay on track for potential last eight meeting
with andy murray
the scotsman also looked ominous form with flawless mauling of
frenchman marc gicquel
second round always is easier to play you are more adapted to the conditions
and everything think improved little bit said nadal who relinquished
his number one ranking to roger federer last year
my real goal right now is just try to be competitive in every tournament that
play and feel when go on court can win against everybody
fourth seed juan martin del potro of argentina was given huge scare by
american james blake
the us open champion battled for over four hours before winning titanic five
setter to reach the third round
other top names also showing their credentials included dinara safina andy
roddick and svetlana kuznetsova
safina the second seed who was beaten in the final last year by serena
williams posted win over the czech republic barbora zahlavova
strycova but struggled
she made nine more unforced errors to than her th ranked opponent and
had problems with her serve facing multiple break points each time
overall there were too many unforced errors she admitted
unlike the high profile clijsters and henin russian third seed kuznetsova is
flying under the radar and looked impressive in her defeat of
countrywoman anastasia pavlyuchenkova
the french open champion said she had prepared well in the off season and was
ready to make an impact
think ve done good pre season ve worked hard and ve enjoyed it she
said
danish fourth seed caroline wozniacki downed canada aleksandra wozniak
while belarussian seventh seed victoria azarenka blasted her way past
france stephanie cohen aloro
in the men draw roddick ranted at the umpire after completing straight sets
win over brazilian thomaz bellucci
the american seventh seed had just served out victory when he
continued to argue over hawk eye video review decision which narrowly went
against him on the first of his two match points
he later apologised
iran to unveil three new home built satellites report
tehran jan afp
iran will unveil three new satellites in february report said wednesday amid
western concerns that tehran is using its nuclear and space industries to
develop atomic and ballistic weapons
isna news agency quoted communications minister reza taghipour as saying that
one of the three home built communications satellites is still under
construction
taghipour named the three satellites as toloo dawn ya mahdi and mesbah but
did not elaborate on exactly when they would be launched
ya mahdi taghipour said as quoted by isna was an experimental satellite and
the launch would be for testing camera and telecommunications equipment
mesbah which is under construction is low orbit telecommunication
satellite for storing and sending messages he said
it can do different tasks not as hour link but it can be used for
limited communication applications
iran defence minister ahmad vahidi said wednesday that toloo is
reconnaissance satellite isna reported
vahidi had previously said toloo would be unveiled during celebrations in early
february marking the st anniversary of the islamic revolution
he said last month that toloo was designed by sa iran also known as iran
electronics industries an affiliate company of the defence ministry
needs of armed forces in operations are met with local and reliable equipment
of the defence industries of this ministry vahidi was quoted as saying
iran first home built satellite the omid hope was launched last february
to coincide with the th anniversary of the islamic revolution
the launch sent alarm bells ringing in the international community which voiced
concern over iran development of technology that could be used for military
purposes
the west suspects iran of secretly trying to build an atomic bomb and fears the
technology used to launch space rockets could be diverted into developing long
range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads
tehran denies having military goals for its space programme or its nuclear
drive
iran had earlier announced it was building seven new satellites including three
for high orbit positions
tennis australian open results day three th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day three of the australian open at melbourne park here wednesday
denotes seeding
men singles
nd round
fernando gonzalez chi bt marsel ilhan tur
andy roddick usa bt thomaz bellucci bra
evgeny korolev kaz bt tomas berdych cze
rafael nadal esp bt lukas lacko svk
feliciano lopez esp bt rainer schuettler ger
stanislas wawrinka sui bt igor kunitysn rus
john isner usa bt louk sorenson irl
philipp kohlschreiber ger bt wayne odesnik usa
ivan ljubicic cro bt andrey golubev kaz
florian mayer ger bt viktor troicki srb
gael monfils fra bt antonio veic cro
andy murray gbr bt marc gicquel fra
ivo karlovic cro bt julian benneteau fra
juan martin del potro esp bt james blake usa
florent serra fra bt jarkko niemenen fin
women singles
st round
li na chn bt marina erakovic nzl
vera zvonareva rus bt kristina kucova svk
victoria azarenka blr bt stephanie cohen aloro fra
agnes szavay hun bt stephanie dubois can
iveta benesova cze bt chang kai chen tpe
yaroslava shvedova kaz bt kimiko date krumm jpn
caroline wozniacki den bt aleksandra wozniak can
tsvetana pironkova bul bt galina voskoboeva kaz
julia goerges ger bt tamira paszek aut
tathiana garbin ita bt elena vesnina rus
shahar peer isr bt lucie hradecka cze
sofia arvidsson swe bt jarmila groth aus
daniela hantuchova svk bt viktoriya kutuzova ukr
stefanie voegele sui bt melinda czink hun
nd round
svetlana kuznetsova rus bt anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus
elena baltacha gbr bt kateryna bondarenko ukr
kim clijsters bel bt tamarine tanasugarn tha
marion bartoli fra bt sandra zahlavova cze
zheng jie chn bt maria jose martinez sanchez esp
nadia petrova rus bt kaia kanepi est
yanina wickmayer bel bt flavia pennetta ita
maria kirilenko rus bt yvonne meusburger aut
angelique kerber ger bt aravane rezai fra
sara errani ita bt ekaterina makarova rus
alona bondarenko ukr bt polona hercog slo
dinara safina rus bt barbora zahlavova strycova cze
alisa kleybanova rus bt sorana cirstea rom
jelena jankovic srb bt katie brien gbr
roberta vinci ita bt vania king usa
justine henin bel bt elena dementieva rus
amy winehouse admits british pantomime assault
milton keynes england jan afp
troubled british singer amy winehouse pleaded guilty wednesday to assaulting
theatre manager at christmas pantomime last month
the year old admitted attacking theatre front of house manager richard pound
disrupting performance of cinderella starring mickey rooney at the milton
keynes theatre north of london on december
she was given two year conditional discharge under which she will not face
further punishment unless she reoffends or does not comply with court imposed
conditions
she was also ordered to pay pounds dollars euros in compensation
to the year old victim as well as pounds in legal costs
judge peter crabtree told her mr pound is person whose job involves
interaction with the public if he assaulted he deserves the court
protection
in this case it obvious that alcohol played its part he said adding that
the conditional discharge may be harder than fine because you have now got to
stay on the straight and narrow for the next two years
winehouse rocketed to fame after winning five grammy awards off the back of her
second album back to black and the hit single rehab but has since been
engaged in well documented struggle with drugs
european equities dip before latest us earnings
london jan afp
european equities weakened on wednesday with traders awaiting crucial results
from the battered us banking sector and despite bumper overnight gains on wall
street dealers said
european trade was also dampened by downbeat performance across asia as
investors fretted over the outlook for chinese monetary policy
wall street had rallied tuesday as markets were boosted by news of big corporate
deals spearheaded by us food giant kraft billion dollar takeover of
british chocolate group cadbury
however the focus will now switch to upcoming results from bank of america and
morgan stanley analysts said
in late morning european trade london benchmark ftse index of leading
shares fell percent to points
frankfurt dax slid percent to points and in paris the cac
handed back percent to
the dj euro stoxx index of top eurozone shares shed percent to reach
overnight wall street dow jones industrial average surged by points or
percent to close at as the key us indices leapt to their best
levels in more than months
despite another triple digit rally in the states one cannot help but sense
that there is still cautious air to trading at the moment said odl
securities analyst owen ireland in london
attention will now turn to corporate releases from two wall street giants later
on in the day bank of america and morgan stanley
uncertainty over beijing monetary policy weighed on shares in shanghai and
hong kong on wednesday overshadowing strong lead overnight from wall street
asian equities were lower dragged down by financials on fears of further
chinese tightening hence flat open in europe said altium securities analyst
ian williams
shanghai tumbled percent with banks leading the losses on renewed concerns
over tighter controls on lending dealers said
china will rein in credit after explosive growth last year top regulator said
wednesday as the nation vies to cool its red hot economy
this year we will continue to control the pace of the credit supply banking
regulator liu minkang told the asian financial forum in hong kong
however he downplayed report by the official china securities journal that
major banks had been told to stop extending new loans for the rest of january
elsewhere in asia on wednesday hong kong stocks fell percent amid renewed
weakness in banks
and tokyo shares ended down percent giving up early gains as investors
turned cautious ahead of more us earnings
investors continued to dump shares in japan airlines day after the debt
ridden carrier filed for bankruptcy and announced it would delist its shares
next month in move expected to wipe out investors
jal ended at record low of two yen two us cents down three yen or
percent
investors were meanwhile awaiting thursday publication of chinese economic
output data for the fourth quarter of
alert
vietnam dissidents jailed up to years for trying to overthrow regime
tennis flawless murray notches another impressive win
melbourne jan afp
scotland andy murray notched another impressive win at the australian open on
wednesday advancing to the third round with his second straight sets victory in
as many matches
the man charged with ending britain year grand slam drought in men tennis
disposed of th ranked frenchman marc gicquel in ruthless fashion in one hour
and minutes
it followed the fifth seed easy win over south african qualifier kevin
anderson on monday in which he dropped just four games
including his mixed teams hopman cup preparation for the australian open the
year old has only dropped two sets in six singles matches in
all the facets of his game were on display against gicquel with his great
groundstrokes deft touch and superb athleticism too much for the determined
frenchman
murray was particularly happy with his first set form in tricky conditions due
to swirling breeze on the outside court and pleased that he was able to
resist gicquel comeback
first set was good and then it was tough after that he said
came through couple of tough moments early in the second set was down
on my serve and managed to hold there
he started to play better at that stage and came through that well
murray who had also won his only previous encounter with gicquel hit
winners and sent down aces
encouragingly his first serve percentage was also vastly improved on his clash
with anderson
played two matches and got broken twice you know once in each match so
reasonably happy with that he said
served better today than did the first day
sure ll serve better in the next round than did today
gicquel showed plenty of fight in the third set recovering from being break
down early and he was unlucky to be on the wrong end of bad line call when
the scot made critical second break in tight seventh game
gicquel bravely staved off two match points but at his third attempt pushed
backhand long
murray is seemingly headed towards fourth round clash with french th seed
gael monfils and then quarter final against world number two and defending
australian open champion rafael nadal
his next opponent is another frenchman th ranked florent serra who edged
past jarkko nieminen in marathon second round clash
although murray has never played serra he knows what to expect
he been around the mark for quite long time he said
he solid player he had two very long matches so far and saved couple
of match points today
so you know he going to go for it and have to make sure on my game
football goalkeeping trio to make world cup says loew
berlin jan afp
more than four months before the world cup starts germany coach joachim loew
said wednesday goalkeepers rene adler tim wiese and manuel neuer will all
travel to south africa
leverkusen shot stopper adler is his current first choice but loew insists the
performances of both bremen wiese and schalke neuer for the national team
and their respective bundesliga clubs means all three will travel
loew already has the three goalkeepers he needs for the tournament which runs
from june to july and says he cannot imagine another shot stopper will
come into contention
the situation is crystal clear loew told german magazine sport bild
we have three goalkeepers who have absolute priority and will travel to the
world cup because for one or two years they have put in top class performances
there is no occasion can see where we favour another goalkeeper as anything
other than fourth choice unless one of them gets injured
dortmund roman weidenfeller has been in good form recently with his side up to
fifth in the bundesliga and is the only realistic candidate at this stage who
could force his way into contention
the germany squad will meet in stuttgart on monday for testing and the national
team next game is the friendly with argentina on march in munich
rugbyu france six nations squad
marcoussis france jan afp
the france squad named on wednesday for the six nations opener against scotland
in edinburgh on february
forwards sylvain marconnet stade fran ais thomas domingo clermont
william servat toulouse dimitri szarzewski stade fran ais nicolas mas
perpignan luc ducalcon castres romain millo chluski toulouse lionel
nallet racing metro bastien chabal racing metro pascal pap stade
fran ais louis picamoles toulouse imanol harinordoquy biarritz thierry
dusautoir toulouse capt fulgence ouedraogo montpellier alexandre lapandry
clermont julien bonnaire clermont
backs jean baptiste elissalde toulouse morgan parra clermont benjamin
boyet bourgoin fran ois trinh duc montpellier fabrice estebanez brive
yannick jauzion toulouse mathieu bastareaud stade fran ais david marty
perpignan aurelien rougerie clermont julien malzieu clermont cl ment
poitrenaud toulouse alexis palisson brive vincent clerc toulouse
benjamin fall bayonne
illegal saudi women gym shut media
riyadh jan afp
health authorities in jeddah have shut down an illegal women fitness centre
attached to hospital closing one of the few venues where saudi women are able
to exercise local media said on wednesday
although health officials have repeatedly blamed the high rates of heart disease
and diabetes in the kingdom on poor diets and lack of exercise health
authorities said women fitness centres were not allowed
anyone who violates regulations governing the running of health facilities
would be punished severely because this involves people health jeddah health
official muhammed abdul jawad told the english language arab news
the reports did not identify the jeddah hospital affected but photograph in
the saudi gazette showed an official sealing the club door with an announcement
reading closed on the order of jeddah health affairs
while gyms for men in the gender segregated conservative islamic society are
permitted women health clubs are forbidden despite clear demand shown by
surge in underground facilities in the past two years
but last year number of stand alone women gyms were shut though some
attached to or inside hospital premises continued to function
the reports said the country municipal and rural affairs ministry had recently
closed two other gyms in the red city of jeddah and one in dammam eastern saudi
arabia
strong quake hits haiti us geologists
washington jan afp
strong earthquake measuring on the moment magnitude scale hit haiti early
on wednesday the us geological survey said
the quake struck kilometers miles west of the capital port au prince
which was razed eight days ago by the quake that is thought to have killed
to people
golf westwood gets epga award
abu dhabi jan afp
lee westwood europe no player in and winner of the inaugural race to
dubai and the dubai world championship has been adjudged the european tour
players player of the year
the year old englishman won twice on the european tour the portugal
masters was his other win as he finished the season with record european tour
earnings for single season of euros
westwood who was europe no in also finished tied third in the british
open at turnberry and the us pga championship at hazeltine national
westwood who had top during the season said am delighted to have
been recognised by my fellow european tour professionals
it was fantastic season not just for me but everybody involved with the
european tour and the inaugural race to dubai
