even as we leave the door open to engagement world powers agree that iran
will pay the consequences if it does not meet its international nuclear
obligations darby told afp
the five permanent members of the un security council the united states
russia china france and britain plus germany are in the process of
considering next steps consistent with our dual track policy he said
iran president mahmoud ahmadinejad who rejected the year end deadline told
afp in mid december that iran was ready to strike uranium enrichment deal if
the united states and the west respect the islamic republic and stop making
threats
ugandan rebel leader killed in centr africa army
kampala jan afp
ugandan troops killed top commander of the rebel lord resistance army in the
central african republic military spokesman said saturday
bok abudema was killed north of ndjema in the central african republic on
friday defence and army spokesman lieutenant colonel felix kulayigye told afp
in kampala by telephone
this was new year gift to uganda kulayigye said he was notorious
commander but his life has come to an end
kulayige said abudema was the only casualty of the raid but two women who had
been with him were recovered by the troops
in november kulayige said ugandan special forces had killed another senior
commander of the lra okello kutti in the central african republic near its
eastern border with sudan
and in september he said the army had captured top bodyguard of lra chief
joseph kony during similar operation in the same country
the ugandan army said at the time it was pursuing the rebels in the central
african republic which has no border with uganda with bangui permission
through the the lra activities were concentrated largely in northern
uganda but when the army launched successive operations against them the group
moved east into democratic republic of congo and sudan as well as the central
african republic
last month un human rights chief navi pillay demanded the capture of lra leaders
for crimes against humanity in new reports detailing an orgy of killings
torture and rape of hundreds of civilians by the group
the reports adding to the evidence of atrocities and lra abductions of hundreds
of women and children for use as sex slaves or porters said the rebel leaders
must be brought before the international criminal court
these attacks and systematic and widespread human rights violations carried out
by the lra may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity the report
on dr congo said
the international community including governments in the region should
cooperate with the international criminal court to search for arrest and
surrender the lra leaders accused of crimes against humanity it said
the lra first appeared in northern uganda in
kony and two other leaders are wanted by the icc on counts of war crimes and
crimes against humanity
the rebels and government concluded peace negotiations in april but kony
has repeatedly failed to sign deal already inked by the ugandan government
british flagged ship hijacked off somalia
sofia jan afp
british flagged cargo ship with crew including eight bulgarians has been
hijacked miles kilometres east of somalia the bulgarian foreign
ministry announced saturday
the asian glory which was hijacked on friday evening was transporting cars
from singapore to jeddah in saudi arabia
as well as the bulgarians including the ship captain the crew includes
ukrainians romanians and indians according to zodiac shipping which hired the
bulgarians
british foreign office spokesman confirmed the hijacking on saturday telling
afp in london that there are no british nationals on board the asian glory
he added that the foreign office would keep in regular contact with the ship
management and offer support wherever possible
commander john harbour of the european union naval force eu navfor said the
asian glory was hijacked well outside the eu navfor area of operation
the ship built in can carry more than cars according to the
website of london based zodiac maritime agencies which manages the vessel
zodiac also manages the british flagged chemical tanker st james park which was
hijacked on monday in the gulf of aden en route from spain to thailand
it was anchored off the coast of somalia on new year eve the bulgarian
foreign ministry said
five bulgarians from the man crew of st james park who come from nine
different countries have been able to telephone their families foreign
ministry spokesman dragovest goranov said
they are in good health and they have food and water he said without
indicating whether ransom had been demanded
danish cartoonist assailant charged with attempted murders
copenhagen jan afp
year old somali was charged saturday with the attempted murder of danish
cartoonist notorious for his drawing of the prophet mohammed and of
policeman court spokesman said
he denied the charges before the judge of the court at aarhus northwest
denmark put the hearing behind closed doors at the request of the prosecution
he was charged with double attempted murder the spokesman said and remanded
in custody for four weeks the first two of them in solitary confinement
the man who was shot and wounded by police as he was breaking into kurt
westergaard home late friday was brought into court at aarhus on stretcher
wearing hospital gown and covered with blankets ritzau news agency reported
he had one arm bandaged leg in splint and towel over his face to avoid
identification media reports said while describing him as bearded with
shaved head
the accused alleged by denmark pet intelligence agency to be linked to
somalia radical shebab islamic movement and leaders of al qaeda in east
africa lives on the danish island of seeland where the capital copenhagen is
located
he is alleged to have forced his way into westergaard house at viby south of
aarhus with an axe and knife with the intention of killing him
westergaard who was with five year old granddaughter fled to bathroom that
was reinforced against attack and called the police
the suspect is alleged to have thrown the axe at one of the policemen who
arrived on the scene just missing him then attacked with knife before being
shot and wounded in the arm and thigh
europe must not isolate iran over human rights italy
rome jan afp
the european union must press iran to respect human rights but without burning
all bridges with the country italy foreign minister said saturday stressing
tehran role in negotiating world conflicts
when regime shoots at its own people it sinks to the lowest possible level
franco frattini told the newspaper corriere della sera in an interview
on sunday security forces used teargas batons and eventually live rounds to
push back thousands of demonstrators authorities confirmed eight people died
but rejected opposition charges that they were killed by security forces
italy asks europe to be actively involved on the question of human rights he
said and the european union under spanish presidency since january should
send message to iran because basic liberties are at stake
however the foreign minister stressed that iran could play an important role in
the stabilisation of afghanistan and negotiations between israelis and
palestinians
we must not burn every bridge with iran because iran is key figure for the
afghan crisis for the crisis in the middle east and over the very sensitive
nuclear question frattini said
frattini cited iran connections with hamas in gaza hezbollah in lebanon and
syria making the country decisive in the region
he also said tehran was threat to israel and many other arab countries with
the possibility of having nuclear weapons
we must act so that iran has positive influence on all these issues so
that it is strength it is respected and not concern the minister said
iran has the right to be civil nuclear power not military one
frattini said sanctions should avoid those that are connected with iranian
national pride and added that italy the top european trade partner with iran
has frozen all new economic initiatives
the foreign minister ruled out military action against iran should sanctions not
work
just thinking about it would be enough to set off world disaster he said
adding military response was not an option even in the event of civil war
afp middle east news summary
nicosia jan afp
top middle east stories on saturday
iran nuclear politics exchange
tehran iran gave the west one month ultimatum to accept uranium swap
warning if there is no deal it will produce its own nuclear fuel for tehran
reactor state television reported
us attacks nigeria obama
honolulu hawaii us president barack obama for the first time accused al qaeda
in the arabian peninsula of arming and training young nigerian man for
thwarted suicide mission to blow up us airliner
yemen somalia unrest rebels islam
sanaa yemen said it will not allow foreign fighters to infiltrate the country
after somalia shebab insurgents said they will send militants to help an al
qaeda affiliate behind the failed us airliner bombing
yemen unrest rebels
dubai shiite rebels battling government forces in north yemen said they are
ready for talks with sanaa once the government declares definitive end to
hostilities against them
britain iraq politics inquiry military
london former british prime minister john major said the iraq war inquiry
appeared to be showing the invasion was more about regime change than finding
weapons of mass destruction
jordan afghanistan unrest
amman the remains of jordanian distantly related to the royal family who was
killed in an attack in afghanistan were repatriated and received by king
abdullah ii queen rania and other royals
afghan parliament rejects karzai cabinet nominees
kabul jan afp
afghanistan parliament rejected five of president hamid karzai nominees for
cabinet posts as vote count continued on saturday to finally form
government
state television showed the laborious vote count live following secret ballot
of the more than parliamentarians to approve the nominees to the afghan
cabinet
after counting votes for ten nominees only five had been approved
the five nominees rejected during early counting included ismail khan warlord
who had been nominated as water and energy minister powerful post seen by
many observers as reward for supporting karzai re election
the others rejected were the nominees for justice minister sawar danish higher
education aubidullah aubaid religious affairs inayatullah baligh and public
works mirza hussain abdulalahi
parliamentary spokesman hasib noori said the vote counting would continue until
it was completed
approved were the portfolios for education interior defence finance and
culture television footage showed
the five ministers to win approval less than half way through the counting
process had already received the nod from karzai international backers
including the united states and nato allies
together the united states and nato deploy more than troops to
afghanistan helping keep karzai in power as they battle virulent taliban
insurgency
around extra troops will arrive over the course of this year backed by
thousands of civilians as part of new strategy to turn the tide away from the
battlefield and towards development and aid
football toni hails dream move
trigoria italy jan afp
italian world cup wining striker luca toni hailed his six month loan move from
german giants bayern munich to serie side as roma on saturday saying that they
were the only club he wanted to move to
the year old added that it wasn because he wanted to get enough first team
action he moved after falling out with bayern autocratic coach louis van
gaal to get into contention for the national squad for the world cup finals
am not just here so can get into the world cup squad toni said
my ambition is to score as many goals as possible and to play well for the red
and yellow then we will see what happens in june the national side is simply
an afterthought
toni who moved from fiorentina to bayern in and was the bundesliga top
scorer in his first season with goals in league games on the way to
bayern winning the german title was not afraid to be compared to former roma
hero gabriel batistuta
they often made the comparison between the two of us when was at fiorentina
but went on to beat gabriel goalscoring record there said toni
at roma he won the title we will see what happens with the red and yellow
toni went to great lengths to insist that it had only been roma he wanted to
move to
in the past month there have been plenty of teams who wanted to sign me but
only wanted to move to roma he said
we worked hard to reach an agreement and am happy to be here
body of jordan soldier killed in afghanistan repatriated
amman jan afp
the remains of jordanian distantly related to the royal family who was killed
in an attack in afghanistan were repatriated on saturday and received by king
abdullah ii queen rania and other royals
captain ali bin zeid was killed on wednesday evening as martyr while
performing the sacred duty of the jordanian forces in afghanistan the official
news agency petra said
the agency provided no further details about his death
the soldier family said that zeid was killed in an attack on wednesday but the
precise circumstances in which he died remain unclear
the authorities in amman have never confirmed the presence of jordanian troops
in afghanistan
the officer family said that zeid who carried the title sherif that is
bestowed on members of the royal family had been in afghanistan for days and
had been due to return home on the day he was killed
suicide attack at base in eastern afghanistan on wednesday killed seven
members of the us central intelligence agency and wounded six others the cia
said
the attack which was claimed by the taliban took place at forward operating
base chapman in khost province near the pakistani border
rugby union white out of six nations after breaking leg
clermont ferrand france jan afp
veteran scottish backrow forward jason white is out of this year six nations
after suffering double fracture of his left leg
the year old times capped former scotland captain fractured his tibia in
training with his club clermont on friday and underwent an operation on
saturday
white was due to be in the starting line up for sunday top clash with
toulon
danish cartoonist assailant charged with attempted murders report
copenhagen jan afp
year old somali was charged saturday with the attempted murder of danish
cartoonist notorious for his drawing of the prophet mohammed and of
policeman denmark ritzau news agency reported
the man who was shot and wounded by police as he tried to break into kurt
westergaard home late friday was brought into court at aarhus on stretcher
wearing hospital gown the report said
he refused to speak to the judge who charged him and ordered him held in custody
for four weeks the first two of them in solitary confinement ritzau said
west has month to accept iran nuclear proposal fm
tehran jan afp
iran on saturday gave the west one month ultimatum to accept uranium swap
warning that if there is no deal it will produce its own nuclear fuel for
tehran reactor state television reported
the international community has just one month left to decide whether or not
it will accept iran conditions otherwise tehran will enrich uranium to
higher level foreign minister manouchehr mottaki was quoted as saying
this is an ultimatum he said
iran which rejected december deadline to accept un brokered deal said
on tuesday it is ready to swap abroad its low enriched uranium for nuclear fuel
insisting however that the exchange should happen in stages
tehran has rejected proposal by un nuclear watchdog the international atomic
energy agency iaea to ship out most of its stockpile of low enriched uranium
for further processing by russia and france into fuel for research reactor
iran said it was ready for fuel swap in several stages and in late december
mottaki said iran is open to exchanging uranium on turkish soil the iaea has
ruled out swap taking place on iranian territory
world powers have been pushing for iran to accept the un brokered deal and are
also mulling plans to impose fresh un sanctions against tehran after the islamic
republic dismissed the year end deadline
iran is already under three sets of un sanctions for refusing to abandon its
sensitive programme of uranium enrichment the process which produces nuclear
fuel or in highly extended form the fissile core of an atomic bomb
the united states israel and other world powers suspect tehran is making an
atomic bomb under the guise of civilian nuclear programme iran denies the
charge
former british pm criticises iraq invasion motives
london jan afp
former british prime minister john major said saturday that the iraq war inquiry
appeared to be showing that the invasion was more about regime change than
finding weapons of mass destruction
criticising his successor tony blair over his presentation of the case for
invading major told bbc radio that iraqi dictator saddam hussain may have been
bad man but that was not good enough reason to go to war
he asked whether blair cabinet were aware of doubts about whether iraq had
weapons of mass destruction before deciding to take military action britain
joined in the march us led invasion
the suspicion arises that this was more about regime change than it was about
weapons of mass destruction major said
however the argument that saddam hussain was bad man and therefore must be
removed simply won do he added
there are many bad men around the world who run countries and we don topple
them and indeed in earlier years we had actually supported saddam hussein when
he was fighting against iran
the argument that someone is bad man is an inadequate argument for war and
certainly an inadequate and unacceptable argument for regime change
major britain premier from to said he had trusted blair claims
about the danger posed by iraq
supported the iraq war because believed what the prime minister said
had myself been prime minister in the first gulf war and knew when said
something was utterly certain that it was correct and said less than
know he said
assumed the same thing had happened and on that basis supported reluctantly
the second iraq war
blair is due to give evidence sometime in january or early february alongside
his former defence and foreign ministers his government then most senior
lawyer and his former press chief
prime minister gordon brown britain finance minister at the time of the
invasion is due to appear after the next general election which must be held
by june
the long awaited inquiry led by former senior civil servant john chilcot was set
up following the withdrawal of british troops from iraq in july last year aimed
at learning the lessons from the war it is due to report by the end of
urgent danish cartoonist assailant charged with attempted murders
report
copenhagen jan afp
year old somali was charged saturday with the attempted murder of danish
cartoonist notorious for his drawing of the prophet mohammed and of
policeman denmark ritzau news agency reported
body of jordan soldier killed in afghanistan repatriated
amman jan afp
the remains of jordanian distantly related to the royal family who was killed
in afghanistan were repatriated on saturday and received by king abdullah ii
queen rania and other royals
captain ali bin zeid was killed on wednesday evening while performing the
sacred duty of the jordanian forces in afghanistan the official news agency
petra said without giving further details about his death
the authorities in amman have never confirmed the presence of jordanian troops
in afghanistan
zeid who carried the title sherif that is bestowed on members of the royal
family had been in afghanistan for days and had been due to return home on
the day he was killed
also on wednesday suicide attack at base in eastern afghanistan killed
seven members of the us central intelligence agency and wounded six others the
cia said
the attack which was claimed by the taliban took place at forward operating
base chapman in khost province near the pakistani border
alert
danish cartoonist assailant charged with attempted murders report
police shoot man who tried to kill mohammed cartoonist
copenhagen jan afp
danish police shot and arrested an axe wielding somali who attacked cartoonist
reviled by muslims for controversial drawing of their prophet mohammed
authorities said saturday
kurt westergaard who has faced several death threats since his cartoon nearly
five years ago set off protests across the muslim world hid in safe room as
the year old suspect tried to break into his home late friday
police said they shot and wounded the intruder said by intelligence services to
be linked to the radical somali shebab movement and leaders of al qaeda in east
africa as he threatened them with an axe and knife
he will be charged for two murder attempts on kurt westergaard and on police
officer east jutland police superintendent ole mabsen told afp on saturday
he is in the hospital at the moment he will be taken into court in the
afternoon where we will ask the judge to bring him into custody
the suspect has not been named but the danish internal security service pet
said in statement he was linked to terrorism both in denmark and in east
africa
westergaard was at his home with five year old granddaughter when the
intruder tried to get in
locked myself in our safe room and alerted the police he tried to smash the
entrance door with an axe but he didn manage he told danish news agency
ritzau
he used insults don remember which but it was bad language he spoke poor
danish and he wound up saying he be back said the badly shaken cartoonist
bent preben nielsen chief police inspector for east jutland told afp that
police who went to the scene fired at the aggressor as he threatened them with
an axe and knife hitting him in the hip and the right hand
the suspect injuries were not believed to be life threatening
pet said in its statement the attempted murder of cartoonist kurt westergaard
is linked to terrorism the person arrested has close links with the somali
terrorist organisation al shebab as well as with the heads of al qaeda in east
africa
he is also suspected of being implicated in terrorist activities when he was in
east africa the individual arrested has also been member of terrorist
network implanted in denmark that has been under surveillance by pet for long
time
westergaard is one of cartoonists whose drawings focused on islam were first
published in danish newspaper jyllands posten in september his cartoon
depicted mohammed wearing turban in the shape of bomb
the cartoons were considered offensive by many muslims and their publication
sparked violent protests worldwide in january and february
demonstrators burned danish flags and torched danish diplomatic offices in
damascus and beirut while dozens of people died in rioting in nigeria libya
and pakistan
two tunisians were arrested in denmark in on suspicion of planning to
murder westergaard and later released without trial after they appealed
government order for their expulsion on national security grounds
internet hackers last april attacked website run by denmark free press
society selling prints of westergaard controversial cartoon the group
director lars hedegaard said
despite the hacking hedegaard said close to of the signed prints
had been sold over half of them to foreign buyers for dollars apiece
denmark muslims make up percent of the population and are the
country second largest religious community after the state run lutheran
church
yemen slams shebab pledge to send fighters
sanaa jan afp
yemen said on saturday it will not allow foreign fighters to infiltrate the
country after somalia shebab insurgents said they will send militants to help
an al qaeda affiliate behind the failed us airliner bombing
yemen will not accept on its territory any presence by foreign terrorist
elements and will be on guard against anyone who tries to act against its
security and stability the official saba news agency quoted foreign minister
abu bakr al kurbi as saying
saba said kurbi was astounded by the shebab pledge to send militants to fight
yemeni government forces who have been battling al qaeda
sheikh mukhtar robow abu mansour senior official of the militia that pledges
allegiance to al qaeda announced the plan on friday as he presented hundreds of
newly trained fighters in the north of mogadishu
we tell our muslim brothers in yemen that we will cross the water between us
and reach your place to assist you fight the enemy of allah said robow to
chants of allahu akbar god is greater by the young fighters
today you see what is happening in yemen the enemy of allah is destroying your
muslim brothers he added call upon the young men in arab lands to join the
fight there
on saturday kurbi said it would have been wiser for those who promise to
export terrorism to work towards stability in their own war ridden state
yemeni forces last month launched raids on suspected al qaeda targets in the
central and the sanaa regions killing more than islamist militants
several others were also wounded in clashes this week in western province of
the impoverished arabian peninsula state which lies north of somalia across the
gulf of aden
saba reported that yemen was tightening security along the coast and that the
coastguard had stepped up its maritime search operations
yemen is al qaeda leader osama bin laden ancestral homeland and has seen
spate of attacks against western targets over the past decade
an al qaeda affiliate based in yemen claimed it was behind the botched christmas
day plot to bring down us airliner from amsterdam to detroit
on saturday us president barack obama in his weekly broadcast promised to hold
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula to account for the attack declaring the
united states was at war with far reaching network of violence and hatred
turkey georgia uae bankroll caucasus rebels russian television
moscow jan afp
militants in russia volatile north caucasus region of dagestan have received
financing from supporters in turkey georgia azerbaijan and the united arab
emirates television said saturday after special operation yielded notebooks
of expenses kept by rebels
the notebooks seized during special operation in dagestan conducted by the
federal security service fsb on new year eve show the rebels had received
hefty donations from their foreign sponsors national television said airing
footage from the press department of the dagestan branch of fsb
tens of millions of rubles came from the united arab emirates georgia turkey
and azerbajan ntv channel said rossia television channel added that
supporters from saudi arabia were also among the foreign sponsors
the sums are huge rossia channel said there was never any doubt anyway that
militants in the north caucasus have been generously bankrolled but that
generously
the notebooks show that rebels also extorted money from local businessmen and
unscrupulous officials television reports said
the money was distributed among various groups in dagestan and was used to
finance purchases of arms medicine and cars they said
the notebooks belonged to the leader of dagestan rebels umalat magomedov also
known by his nom de guerre as al bara television reports said adding he was
one of four rebels killed during the december operation in the town of
khasavyurt
in spring al qaeda emissary in the caucasus appointed magomedov commander of
the dagestan front rossia channel said
authorities have also seized machine guns grenade launchers and cell phones
containing rebels phone numbers
authorities have long said that islamist rebels receive financing from abroad
russian president dmitry medvedev in august acknowledged foreign elements as
factor fomenting instability in the region but stressed the root cause of the
problem was within russia itself referring to corruption among law enforcement
personnel
clashes between government forces and islamist rebels are common in dagestan
dagestan neighbour chechnya was the site of two bloody separatist wars after
the collapse of the soviet union and low level insurgency persists in
the region despite the end of major hostilities
cricket collingwood set to start newlands test
cape town jan afp
england batsman paul collingwood looks set to start the third test against south
africa at newlands on sunday according to captain andrew strauss
collingwood who did not take the field on the last two days of england
innings win in the second test in durban after injuring his left index finger
batted against his side fast bowlers in the nets on saturday after taking some
sharp chances in slip fielding practice
everything looks fine said strauss he was batting without any real
discomfort we re very hopeful barring any last minute incidents
he contributed huge amount in this series and in previous series and he
an experienced player as well so it would have been shame if he had missed
out
strauss said the challenge for england who are one up in four match series
was to be ruthless and just as desperate to win as when you re up
he said england learnt lesson from their innings defeat against australia at
headingley last year after they had gone into the match with chance of
clinching the series
we started talking about could finish it this week and let realise our
dreams instead of just talking about winning the first half hour
he said the talk in the dressing room had been about starting from square one
and keeping our feet on the ground
in test matches you ve always got to earn the right to get on top of the
opposition and that what we did well in durban he said
we forced them to stay in the field for over two days and maybe that affected
their second innings batting it important to start test match well so the
opposition don get on top of you
