they are the first of almost former maoist fighters confined to un
supervised camps to be formally discharged and their departure is seen as an
important step forward in nepal faltering peace process
but they face an uncertain future and many broke down in tears as they said
farewell to their former comrades in arms in the camp
it will be really hard to break my ties with the pla and going to miss all
my friends in the camp so much said year old ambika shrestha who was
when she joined the rebel army
most of those leaving are now adults but some were as young as when they
joined the maoists in their decade long battle against the state and have had
little formal education
my hands have only been trained to use guns said year old bhawana
chaudhary who also joined up at
ve been doing that since joined the war it will be hard to adjust to
normal life after living in the camp
in december the united nations mission in nepal unmin completed
verification process and found that former fighters were minors when the
war ended and another were not genuine combatants
they had been scheduled for release soon afterwards but the process was
repeatedly delayed by disagreements between the maoist party now in opposition
and its political rivals
after lot of delays we are finally ready to discharge the disqualified maoist
combatants from the un monitored camps spokesman for the peace ministry told
afp calling it milestone for the country peace process
all will leave the camps over the next month after being issued with set
of civilian clothes and identity papers and given rupees dollars to
travel back to their villages and begin setting up home
pla spokesman chandra prasad khanal said it would be sad to see former members
of the rebel army leave but the move would send message to the world that we
are committed to peace
we are taking this step in order to bring the peace process to logical
conclusion he told afp
that includes the integration of the remaining pla members into the
nepalese army key tenet of the peace agreement
but no one is sure how many former fighters remain in the camps they are not
being kept there by force and several thousand are believed to have walked out
in the three years since the war ended
rights groups say the rebels forcibly recruited child soldiers during the
conflict sometimes demanding one person from every home in areas under their
control although some signed up voluntarily
many became cooks or porters or did medical work but also received military
training
tulasa poudel joined the pla aged and said she was proud to have fought
for the maoists
did not like the way women were treated in my community the men always
looked down on us she told afp
joined the pla to try to change that because felt the maoists were
committed to equality
those leaving the camps will be offered education and training for jobs such as
hairdressing bicycle repair and house painting
un observers will monitor their progress amid concerns they could be lured into
nepal growing number of criminal gangs many of which have political links
gillian mellsop nepal representative of the united nations children fund
unicef said their departure sends out symbolic message for the new year
not only can these young people now finally get on with their lives but this
also marks new beginning at the start of new decade for nepal so that it
can move forward to more stable peaceful future she said
suicide bomb in eastern afghanistan kills eight official
kabul jan afp
suicide bomber wearing an explosives filled vest thursday killed eight people
and wounded others in eastern afghanistan an official said
this was suicide attack so far we know that eight people are dead but that
figure could change said rohullah samon spokesman for the governor of
paktia province
the attack happened in gardez the provincial capital at pm gmt he
said
british house prices rise percent in survey
london jan afp
british house prices gained ground in survey from home loans provider
halifax showed thursday in the latest sign of an improving economic climate in
recession hit britain
prices increased by percent in december compared with the same month
of the previous year halifax said in statement
the average home price rose percent in december from november climbing for
the sixth month in row added the lender which is part of the state rescued
lloyds banking group
prices in december were percent higher on an annual basis marking the
first annual rise since march halifax housing economist martin ellis
said in the statement
house prices have risen by percent since reaching low in april he
added
meanwhile with britain stuck in record recession the bank of england on
thursday held its key interest rate at percent the lowest level in
history helping keep down interest repayments on mortgages
ellis cited low interest rates which were slashed to the current level last
march and modest improvement in the labour market
the significant cut in interest rates following the worldwide financial
upheaval in the autumn of has markedly reduced the burden of servicing
mortgage for many households this has helped to stimulate housing demand
he added the recent improvement in the labour market highlighted by
increasing numbers of people in employment in both september and october has
also supported housing demand
however halifax also warned that the property market would struggle in
the prospects for the market this year will depend on how the uk economy
evolves and whether there is significant increase in the supply of properties
for sale ellis said
overall our current view is that house prices will be flat during he
added
the home loans provider also revealed that the average cost of british home
stood at pounds dollars euros in december
last week another major home loans provider nationwide said in separate
survey that british house prices had increased by much larger percent in
urgent suicide bomb in eastern afghanistan kills eight official
kabul jan afp
suicide bomber wearing an explosives filled vest has killed eight people and
injured others in eastern afghanistan an official said on thursday revising
down an earlier toll
pakistan offers incentives to bomb hit province
peshawar pakistan jan afp
pakistan on thursday offered millions of dollars in tax breaks financial aid
and relief measures for its war torn northwest that business leaders rubbished
as insufficient
the impact of incentives that the government is announcing for north west
frontier province nwfp will be billions of rupees prime minister yousuf raza
gilani told businessmen in the provincial capital peshawar
the army launched major offensive in nwfp in april and says more than
militants were killed in the districts of swat buner and lower dir in july
the military said most of the insurgent bastions had been wiped out
more than people have been killed in series of suicide attacks and bomb
explosions across pakistan but concentrated mostly in the northwest since
government troops laid siege to radical mosque in the capital in july
pakistan is now pressing an offensive in the northwest tribal belt along the
afghan border which washington has called the chief al qaeda sanctuary and the
most dangerous place on earth
gilani said the tribal regions swat and dir were among the worst hit areas
where the government will exempt factories from sales tax
we will also give concessions to people and industry of these areas under other
heads of taxes he said
the government has also exempted northwest malakand which includes swat and six
other districts from paying gas bills from may to september the warmer
months in the chilly mountains
swat former tourist resort slipped out of government control in july
after fazlullah mounted violent campaign to enforce islamic sharia law
gilani said the state bank of pakistan would announce incentives to restore
industry and that the government would waive loans worth billion rupees
million dollars obtained by small farmers
but the package fell on deaf ears among leading members of the local business
community who immediately rounded on the weak civilian government
our basic demand was that the government declare this province war affected but
his speech has disappointed the business community said zia ul haq sarhadi
leading member of nwfp chamber of commerce
factories are almost closed with no import and export business he should have
announced the province an affected zone relief in various taxes and special
relief package for the business community he told afp
pakistan offers incentives to bomb hit province
peshawar pakistan jan afp
pakistan on thursday offered millions of dollars in tax breaks financial aid
and relief measures for its war torn northwest that business leaders rubbished
as insufficient
the impact of incentives that the government is announcing for north west
frontier province nwfp will be billions of rupees prime minister yousuf raza
gilani told businessmen in the provincial capital peshawar
the army launched major offensive in nwfp in april and says more than
militants were killed in the districts of swat buner and lower dir in july
the military said most of the insurgent bastions had been wiped out
more than people have been killed in series of suicide attacks and bomb
explosions across pakistan but concentrated mostly in the northwest since
government troops laid siege to radical mosque in the capital in july
pakistan is now pressing an offensive in the northwest tribal belt along the
afghan border which washington has called the chief al qaeda sanctuary and the
most dangerous place on earth
gilani said the tribal regions swat and dir were among the worst hit areas
where the government will exempt factories from sales tax
we will also give concessions to people and industry of these areas under other
heads of taxes he said
the government has also exempted northwest malakand which includes swat and six
other districts from paying gas bills from may to september the warmer
months in the chilly mountains
swat former tourist resort slipped out of government control in july
after fazlullah mounted violent campaign to enforce islamic sharia law
gilani said the state bank of pakistan would announce incentives to restore
industry and that the government would waive loans worth billion rupees
million dollars obtained by small farmers
but the package fell on deaf ears among leading members of the local business
community who immediately rounded on the weak civilian government
our basic demand was that the government declare this province war affected but
his speech has disappointed the business community said zia ul haq sarhadi
leading member of nwfp chamber of commerce
factories are almost closed with no import and export business he should have
announced the province an affected zone relief in various taxes and special
relief package for the business community he told afp
france reduces spending deficit estimate
paris jan afp
france public deficit for will be lower than the percent originally
forecast and should be less than eight percent budget ministry official said
thursday
the public deficit should not be higher than eight percent of gross domestic
product for said an aide to french budget minister eric woerth
the government had forecast public spending deficit of percent of gdp in
rising to percent in
woerth quoted by express magazine in its online edition said the new forecast
was due to corporate tax revenues hitting billion euros up from the
billion euros expected
golf royal trophy foursomes pairings
bangkok jan afp
result of the draw on thursday for the opening foursomes matches friday in the
royal trophy team competition between asia and europe at amata spring country
club asian names first
ryo ishikawa koumei oda jpn jpn colin montgomerie pablo martin sco esp
jeev milkha singh gaganjeet bhullar ind ind peter hanson soren kjeldsen
swe den
charlie wi liang wen chong kor chn robert karlsson alexander noren swe swe
prayad marksaeng thongchai jaidee tha tha simon dyson henrik stenson
eng swe
eu galileo satnav system to begin operations in
brussels jan afp
the eu much delayed satellite navigation network galileo will begin operations
in the european commission said thursday as it awarded key contracts to
germany ohb system and france arianespace
ohb system beat out larger rival eads astrium for the contract to build the
first satellites for the satellite system eu transport commissioner
antonio tajani announced in brussels with arianespace providing the launch
services
the first launch is planned for october
at the same time thales alenia space was handed the contract to provide system
support services
this will allow the initial deployment and service provision of europe
satellite navigation system as of early tajani said
with this and the upcoming awards for the remaining procurement packages we
are concluding critical phase of the galileo programme we can now focus on
the actual roll out and demonstrate to european citizens that europe own
satellite navigation system is firmly underway he added
the satellite network is meant to challenge the dominance of the us built global
positioning system gps which is widely used in navigation devices like those
in cars and boats
the eu has struggled to secure financing for the project originally put at
billion euros billion dollars and has had to tap unused funds from the
bloc massive agricultural budget
last year the european court of auditors criticised the galileo project as ill
prepared and badly managed
the galileo joint undertaking tasked with supervising the project
technological development activities was set up in but scrapped in
while test satellites have been launched none of galileo operational
satellites have been put in space yet
the project is the first close collaboration between the european space agency
esa and the commission on such large space programme
it is also the first industrial project to be managed at european level and the
first time the commission participates in public private partnership scheme
the ohb contract for providing the first satellites is worth million
euros
the european commission offered hope to eads astrium by stressing that
subsequent satellites will be procured each time from ohb or eads astrium
depending on which company provides the most advantageous offer
the commission said in statement that it intends to follow strategy of
double sourcing to lower risks particularly in terms of delivery timings and
increase flexibility
since the launch of the bidding process eads has taken over surrey satellite
technology partner with ohb so was not left completely out in the cold
the contract with arianespace covers the launch of five soyuz launchers each
carrying two satellites the first launch is scheduled for october the
value of the contract amounts to million euros
the contract awarded to thales alenia space worth million euros for the
system support services covers the industrial services needed to support the
european space agency for the integration of the galileo system
remaining procurement contracts for the ground mission infrastructure the
ground control infrastructure and the operations should be awarded by mid
with the scheme making this important move forward the commission was able to
announce that some services would be available by early including the
open service which will be freely available to the public in europe just as
the us gps system is
also among the first services available will be the search and rescue service
alert
suicide bomb in eastern afghanistan kills injures official
cricket kayes iqbal bolster bangladesh
dhaka jan afp
imrul kayes and tamim iqbal cracked contrasting half centuries to help
bangladesh post challenging against india in triangular one day series
match on thursday
iqbal hit rapidfire ball and kayes ball for maiden half
century after being let off early in his innings in the day night match as
bangladesh made their highest total against india in one day cricket
mohammad mahmudullah smashed ball not out with eight fours late in the
innings as the hosts plundered runs in the closing overs
bangladesh were indebted to left handed iqbal for making an explosive start as
they raced to in the opening overs with kayes contributing only
iqbal went for big shots early in his innings pulling left arm seamer ashish
nehra for the match first six and hammering two successive fours in the
bowler next over
he dominated the opening wicket stand with bold stroke play reaching his th
half century in one day internationals off just balls with one six and eight
fours
india had chance to break the partnership when left handed kayes mistimed
pull off nehra but harbhajan singh dropped an easy catch at mid wicket the
batsman was then on three
iqbal fell playing strokes pulling fast bowler shanthakumaran sreesanth to
gautam gambhir at mid wicket after hitting one six and fours
kayes playing only his fifth one dayer and mohammad ashraful then put on
for the second wicket before india grabbed three wickets in the space of
runs
ashraful was bowled by spinner ravindra jadeja skipper shakib al hasan was run
out for nought and kayes pulled nehra straight to virat kohli at deep square leg
after hitting one six and five fours
but mahmudullah and raqibul hasan defied the indian attack to help their
side set stiff target
iraq and iran to meet to draw border mottaki
baghdad jan afp
iraq and iran will hold talks from next week to formally mark their borders
iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki said on thursday weeks after
dispute between the two countries over an oil well
mottaki made the remarks at media conference with his iraqi counterpart
hoshyar zebari on one day visit to baghdad he was due later to meet with
president jalal talabani and other senior leaders
there will be meeting within week between the two countries about the
borders mottaki said at the foreign ministry in central baghdad
he added that in the following weeks meetings would be held between technical
committees from the two countries to determine the land and maritime borders
separating the two countries
mottaki led delegation of around officials an afp journalist said on his
first visit to iraq since september and his talks were to focus on bilateral
security co operation and border issues
there are common interests between the two countries to fight terrorism and
provide security mottaki told reporters
this border it is border of friendship and love and peace and border of
collaboration where there is economic trade totalling five billion dollars
every year
tehran has often been accused by us military leaders whose forces still have
large presence in iraq of funding and training shiite militant groups and
undermining security in the conflict torn country
mottaki latest visit comes just weeks after iranian forces took over an oil
well along the two countries disputed border prompting stand off that drove
up international crude prices
on december iraq state owned south oil co said about dozen iranian
troops and technicians had arrived at the field taken control of well and
raised the iranian flag they withdrew days later
well is in the fauqa field part of cluster of oilfields iraq unsuccessfully
put up for auction to oil majors in june the field has estimated reserves of
million barrels
though iraqi officials said last month that iranian forces remained on iraqi
territory after withdrawing from the field mottaki told reporters some orders
have been issued to the iranian forces to return to their original places
he said the oil field offered an opportunity for joint investment
the border forces of the two countries returned to their places and after the
meetings of the technical committees everything will revert back to normal
neither he nor jabari actually stated what country the well is located in
the takeover was one of the most serious incidents between the two neighbours
since the us led invasion of iraq fought devastating war with
iran
zebari told lawmakers last month iran has been violating iraq borders since
the two countries share kilometre mile frontier
many leaders of shiite parties who were exiled to iran during the saddam era are
now in power in baghdad
us airliner assailant possibly recruited in london yemen
sanaa jan afp
the nigerian failed bomber of us airliner was recruited outside yemen
possibly while studying at university in london yemeni official said
thursday
when he went to britain it seems that he was recruited by islamist militant
groups deputy prime minister for defence and security affairs rashad al aleemi
told told press conference
he said that umar farouk abdulmutallab arrived in yemen after he had been
recruited by al qaeda he added
abdulmutallab who attempted to blow up northwest airline flight on
christmas day had attended arabic language school in the yemen capital in the
summer before he disappeared late september
he studied mechanical engineering at university in london between
he is believed to have also spent some time in yemen in
french foreign minister postpones coast trip
paris jan afp
french foreign minister bernard kouchner has pulled out of weekend visit to
ivory coast in protest at president laurent gbagbo decision to delay
elections the foreign ministry announced thursday
in light of gbagbo announcement bernard kouchner has decided to postpone
the visit he had intended to make to abidjan next sunday ministry spokesman
bernard valero told reporters
bernard kouchner will go to abidjan as soon as the definitive electoral
registers are published valero added
elections have six times been postponed in the former french colony in west
africa since gbagbo mandate expired in the country is inching towards
presidential poll but with constant delays
gbagbo on wednesday called for delay in the treatment of contentious cases on
the provisional electoral register which had been due for completion on
december
as we have said several times we wish like other members of the international
community for the preparation of elections to take place in the shortest
possible time and that the date of the election can rapidly be confirmed
valero said
more eurostar misery as winter chill brings mayhem
london jan afp
eurostar passengers faced new winter misery when another high speed train broke
down in the channel tunnel on thursday as heavy snow brought down powerlines
leaving thousands without electricity in britain
as the rest of europe braced for more snow one of the most brutal winters in
decades caused more travel mayhem with scores of flights cancelled and many
roads proving impassable
temperatures overnight dropped to minus degrees celsius in woodford outside
manchester northwest england and in benson southern england glasgow saw
minus nine degrees celsius while london fell to minus three
no major british airports reported closures thursday with runways open
following day of disruption wednesday
but budget airline easyjet scrapped around flights as result of severe
weather conditions largely due in and out of london gatwick airport south of
the british capital
flights to and from budapest paris orly milan linate and geneva were also
affected
there are delays but also cancelled flights due to the snow spokesman for
aeroports de paris told afp about the situation at orly return flights are
also being diverted towards charles de gaulle or other airports
british airways said it had cancelled number of flights and was experiencing
delays due to icy conditions at both gatwick and london heathrow
dublin airport which closed for several hours on wednesday was operating
normally but there were number of flight cancellations and delays as some
airlines continued to experience knock on delays
arctic temperatures were blamed for the breakdown last month of several eurostar
trains in the tunnel between britain and france which sparked three day
suspension of the service
the company faced fresh embarrassment on thursday when train travelling
between brussels and london carrying passengers had to be towed out towards
the english side of the tunnel after being stuck for around two hours
eurostar spokesman bram smets said the cause of the latest breakdown was not
immediately known and warned of severe delays
we are not allowing any train to enter the tunnel at present they are waiting
we don want any more trains to be blocked in the tunnel if we don know
what happened he told afp in brussels
even before the new incident eurostar had already cancelled four of its
services for second straight day due to disruptions caused by speed limits
imposed by the cold weather
meanwhile electricians were working round the clock to electricity to around
homes in southern england which were left in the dark when snow brought
down power lines said edf energy
britain met office weather service said the cold spell was the worst since
and warned of more to come
much of southern france was put on alert for further snowfall and icy
conditions as snow caused traffic problems in paris grenoble bordeaux and the
north
in austria authorities are on standby amid forecasts of some centimetres of
snow at the weekend in low lying parts of the country normally spared much of
the regular snowfalls in its alpine areas
on thursday norway was among the coldest countries with temperatures ranging
from minus degrees celsius about minus fahrenheit to minus degrees
celsius
no buses ran in olso on thursday as temperatures plunged so low that the petrol
froze in the tanks ferry services in the capital also came to standstill
the cold snap also hit train services in the netherlands
meanwhile torrential rain hit parts of italy and officials feared the swollen
river tiber could threaten rome in coming days
children however lapped up the chance to spend another day playing in the snow
as hundreds of schools that had been due to re open in both britain and irealnd
after the christmas break remained closed
israeli anti missile system shoots down major strategic threat
jerusalem jan afp
israel soon to be deployed anti missile system capable of intercepting
barrages of rockets may shoot down one of the biggest strategic threats facing
the country in recent decades
after successfully completing its final tests this week the iron dome system
providing an answer to short range rockets and artillery shells is planned to
be integrated into the army within six months officials said
the unique cutting edge technology will be deployed along the border with the
hamas ruled gaza strip where militants have fired thousands of projectiles
against southern israel over the past decade
in second stage it will be deployed along the border with lebanon where the
militant group hezbollah is said to have an arsenal of more than rockets
the iron dome will join the arrow long range ballistic missile defence system in
an ambitious multi layered programme to protect israeli cities from rockets and
missiles fired from lebanon the gaza strip syria and iran
third system specifically aimed at countering medium range missiles is planned
to be developed in the coming years the ministry said
today five million civilians live within the range of rockets from lebanon and
gaza where militants are believed to have rockets capable of reaching the tel
aviv metropolis israeli officials said
according to officials the iron dome marks major strategic breakthrough for
israel which has struggled in the face of rockets fired from lebanon since the
early
making iron dome operational will transform israel diplomatic and security
situation on the northern and southern fronts said pinhas buchris the defence
ministry director general
the interception system will also protect strategic facilities such as military
bases ports and electricity plants which have been targeted in attacks from
gaza and lebanon
the missiles and rockets have been strategic threat because they led to major
israeli policy shifts by launching offensives in lebanon and gaza ministry
spokesman shlomo dror told afp
the elimination of this threat would prevent repeat of the international
criticism israel has had to face following last year offensive in the gaza
strip said ephraim inbar director of the begin sadat centre for strategic
studies
the system neutralises one of the foundations of the enemy strategy which
says that due to the israeli army total superiority the only way to target
israel is by hitting its population centres he said
the iron dome will not only mark strategic shift in war but also in peace
israeli officials including prime minister benjamin netanyahu have for years
expressed fear that palestinian state in the west bank would place israel
only international airport within range of rockets
with the new system israel can eliminate one of the biggest potential threats
on the ben gurion airport in future peace deal with the palestinians dror
said
but israeli officials do not believe the new system would put an end to the
rocket attacks
there is no percent protection militants will continue firing rockets and
try to launch small attacks against israel dror said
embattled british pm survives new plot
london jan afp
ministers rallied round embattled british prime minister gordon brown on
thursday after he faced down leadership challenge but the failed plot dealt
him new blow months ahead of general elections
in deeply embarrassing challenge to his already weakened authority ex
ministers geoff hoon and patricia hewitt called wednesday for ballot of
governing labour party lawmakers on whether brown should remain their leader
it is something we could have easily done without admitted justice secretary
jack straw but insisted think it will actually have the effect of bringing
people behind the leadership even more
