france ambassador to lebanon denis pietton the french embassy told afp
thousands of ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in lebanon and
ethiopian airlines operates regular flight between addis ababa and beirut
many lebanese especially from the south of the country work in africa and
addis ababa is transit point
hariri declared monday national day of mourning as parliament cancelled
scheduled legislative session
the boeing which entered into commercial service in is one of the
latest versions of the world most widely used short to medium haul airliners
and is capable of carrying up to passengers
ethiopian airlines which was established in and operates an all boeing
fleet is considered one of africa best carriers and was excluded from
european union ban on about carriers most of them african
but in november ethiopian airlines flight was hijacked between addis
ababa and nairobi by three ethiopians seeking political asylum the aircraft
crashed into the indian ocean off the comoros when it ran out of fuel killing
of the people on board
and in september one of the airline boeing made crash landing at
bahar dar in ethiopia after birds entered both engines during takeoff thirty
one of the people on board were killed
myanmar junta could free suu kyi in november party hears
yangon jan afp
the political party of myanmar detained democracy icon aung san suu kyi has
heard that the military regime could set her free in november spokesman said
monday
the nobel peace laureate has been kept in detention for of the past years
and in august she was ordered to spend another months in detention after
being convicted over an incident in which us man swam to her house
according to media reports and local residents home affairs minister maung oo
told meeting of local officials in central myanmar four days ago that her
release would come in november
we also heard about it but it difficult to confirm nyan win her lawyer
and spokesman for her national league for democracy nld party told afp but
he added that the news was not strange thing at all
if we calculate the period daw suu house arrest will be completed in
november he said
local resident in the town of kyaukpadaung where the meeting was held said
he had heard the same date from witnesses of the speech
we were told by some local officials who attended the meeting last thursday
that daw aung san suu kyi would be released in november he said asking not
to be named daw is term of respect in myanmar
suu kyi house arrest remains sensitive issue in myanmar and officials
contacted by afp refused to comment on the minister remarks
the extension of her detention sparked international outrage as it is expected
to keep her off the stage for elections promised by the regime some time this
year although date for the polls has not yet been announced
an initial appeal by her lawyers to overturn the sentence was rejected and
decision from myanmar top court on another appeal is expected in the next
three weeks
her nld won landslide victory in the last democratic elections in but
the junta which has ruled myanmar since never allowed the party to take
office
in recent months the united states followed by the european union has shifted
towards policy of greater engagement with myanmar as sanctions have failed to
bear fruit
kurt campbell us assistant secretary of state for east asian and pacific
affairs noted last week there had been mixed bag from myanmar on calls for
political reform
centr african opposition leader alleges kidnap bids
bangui jan afp
former government minister in the central african republic eloi anguimate
who is presidential election candidate told afp on monday that his life was
threatened after two kidnap bids
there are elements that indicate that my life is threatened said anguimate
who is chairman of the national convention small party in the opposition
union of active forces of the nation ufvn coalition
the opposition leader said he escaped two kidnap bids one on the night of
january at his home and the second the following afternoon by armed men in
uniform
when people come at around two clock or three clock in the morning and stop
outside your front door making threatening proposals and then going again
there is reason to be worried anguimate said
have spoken to high authorities in the country notably the presidency of the
republic ve met the speaker of the national assembly and raised this problem
with the minister of public security he added stating that he was obliged to
take care of his own safety
contacted by afp the centrafrican authorities declined to make any comment on
anguimate statements
anguimate was several times minister under former president ange felix
patasse who held power from until he was ousted by current president
francois bozize in
anguimate left to live in france in and returned to bangui in to mount
his campaign for presidential election due later this year the date of the
poll has yet to be fixed
norwegian soldier killed in afghanistan blast
oslo jan afp
norwegian soldier serving with nato international security assistance force
isaf was killed monday in bomb blast in northwestern afghanistan the
norwegian military said
the soldier was driving an armoured vehicle when it hit an improvised explosive
device some four kilometres miles southeast of ghowrmach the military
said in statement
two other soldiers in the same vehicle were lightly injured it added
the blast occurred as some norwegian troops were preparing for joint patrol
with afghan forces the military said
the death brings to five the number of norwegian soldiers killed in active duty
in afghanistan
norway has deployed some troops in the country mainly in kabul and the
northern part of afghanistan
japan pm says he will press ahead with us base review
tokyo jan afp
japan said monday it would press ahead with review of controversial plan for
new us military base on the southern island of okinawa after local election
underscored opposition among voters
prime minister yukio hatoyama battling slump in his approval ratings said
the weekend poll victory of mayoral candidate in okinawa who opposes the
construction of new us air base there reflected the will of the people
the issue has soured ties between washington and tokyo since hatoyama four
month old government took power promising less subservient stance towards the
united states and review of key military accord
the long ruling conservatives who were ousted by hatoyama democrats in
landmark elections last august agreed in to move the futenma base from
crowded urban area on okinawa to coastal area on the same island
but many local residents oppose the proposed relocation and hatoyama said monday
he would stick to his plan to review the agreement from scratch and make
decision by the end of may on the future of the base
hatoyama has said the base may be moved off okinawa or even out of japan
altogether angering washington
the united states wants japan to honour the earlier deal part of wider plan
to realign its strong troop presence in the country
okinawa which saw some of the bloodiest battles of world war ii hosts more
than half of the us troops in japan
while some local businesses benefit from the heavy american military presence
many residents have long opposed it citing crimes committed by servicemen as
well as noise pollution and the threat of accidents
challenger susumu inamine beat incumbent yoshikazu shimabukuro who was in
favour of keeping the us base on okinawa by to votes in sunday
vote in nago and was backed by hatoyama ruling party
inamine said that once he takes up his post next month he would push for
city assembly resolution opposing the hosting of the new base
his election win had given tailwind to hatoyama review of the base deal
said toshio kamo politics professor at ritsumeikan university
on the other hand the united states is intensifying pressure on japan to
accept the existing deal and some in japan are getting concerned about strained
ties with washington he told afp
so mr hatoyama is being sandwiched by pressure from residents and washington
japan top government spokesman hirofumi hirano congratulated inamine on his
poll victory but stressed that the local election would not prevent the
possibility of tokyo sticking with the original relocation plan
under the pact the futenma base would be closed and its air operations
moved to new facility at the camp schwab site at henoko in nago while
marines would be shifted to the us territory of guam
opponents say the two new runways the us military wants to build at henoko by
would harm marine ecosystem that is home to coral reefs tropical fish
and the dugong rare sea mammal similar to the manatee
the base row and at times hatoyama apparent indecision on the issue appear
to have hurt his government popularity
support for the hatoyama cabinet has slipped by points in two weeks to
percent while the disapproval rating rose points to percent according
to survey of voters by private broadcaster tbs
sudan ousted pm to challenge beshir in april election
khartoum jan afp
sudan former prime minister sadiq al mahdi who president omar al beshir
ousted in military coup years ago will run against him in the april
elections his party said on monday
mahdi heads the influential umma opposition party and is spiritual leader
of ansar sufi brotherhood that venerates the famous mahdi who defeated
british colonial forces under general gordon in
he has been nominated presidential candidate an umma party official told afp
descended from sudan legendary islamist ruler sadiq al mahdi has held the
premiership twice before in when he was just years old and again
after his party won sudan last multi party elections in
umma is the main opposition party in the north alongside the democratic
unionist party while beshir heads the ruling national congress party
rumours have circulated in khartoum for weeks of mahdi plan to run as
presidential candidate but his party political bureau only took the decision
to nominate him on sunday evening
the presidential legislative and regional elections due to take place in april
are key element of peace deal between beshir government in the mostly
muslim north and the splm in the largely christian south that brought an end to
year civil war
the former southern rebel movement has chosen as its presidential candidate
yasser arman secular muslim from north sudan who made common cause with the
splm during the devastating civil war
analysts say that while he has strong support in the south he may be less
popular in the north
but arman said on thursday he expected to build on the splm southern support
base by campaigning on behalf of all the marginalised groups of sudan far
flung regions
according to analysts the opposition would like to split the presidential vote
to prevent beshir from achieving the simple majority he needs to win which
would lead to second round and enable the opposition to field just one
candidate against him
korea president offers to help india build nuclear plants
new delhi jan afp
south korea president offered monday to help energy hungry india build more
nuclear reactors as he forecast new trade pact between the asian powerhouses
would push ties to new heights
president lee myung bak touted what he said was his nation expertise in
building nuclear reactors as he expressed hope that south korean companies could
help india construct new atomic power plants
lee said south korea which recently won billion dollar deal to design
build and operate four nuclear power plants in the united arab emirates has
displayed its global competitiveness in the nuclear field
south korea was key supporter of new delhi in its successful bid to have
year old embargo on the export and sale of nuclear technology to india lifted
in speech to business leaders lee added that far reaching trade pact which
came into effect at the start of the year would put relations on to new
trajectory
the comprehensive economic partnership agreement between south korea and india
which scraps or reduces most trade tariffs heralds great new era for the two
countries said lee
the president who was accompanied by high powered political and business
delegation was slated to be chief guest at india republic day national
celebrations tuesday
lee who is on four day visit met top indian leaders monday to discuss
furthering trade between the two countries which has increased more than five
fold to billion dollars from three billion in
leading indian industry group ficci forecast bilateral trade could hit by
billion dollars by
indian trade minister anand sharma said new delhi was hoping for greater asian
economic integration to make the st century asia century and the trade
deal with south korea would help achieve that goal
he said south korea could also play big role in improving india dilapidated
infrastructure noting the country aims to spend trillion dollars on
improving its ports highways and other facilities in the coming years
ethiopia says no terrorist threat prior to crash
addis ababa jan afp
ethiopia had received no threat from terrorist groups prior to the crash monday
of an ethiopian airlines flight carrying people government spokesman said
we had not received any threat before from terrorist groups whatsoever
shimeles kemal state minister for communication told afp
the boeing reportedly caught fire five minutes after takeoff from beirut
airport he said witnesses reported seeing flames as the plane plunged into the
sea
the cause of the accident is being investigated and the government will
disclose the information as soon as the investigation is over he said
lebanese president michel sleiman also said earlier that foul play was not
suspected
ethiopian airlines dispatched team of experts to lebanon to probe the
incident
ethiopia is grappling with rebellions in remote southern and eastern regions led
by groups it describes as terrorist and has been routinely threatened by the
al qaeda linked shebab group in neighbouring somalia country it invaded three
years ago to remove the islamists from power
communications minister bereket simon said national day of mourning had been
declared to honour the victims
day of mourning has been declared today by the government following the crash
of the ethiopian airlines flight in lebanon the day is today and for one
day he said
lebanese defence ministry official said the boeing exploded into four
pieces before crashing shortly after takeoff at am gmt
investigators were trying to determine whether lightning had hit the jet
eta prisoners launch hunger strike
madrid jan afp
jailed members of the armed basque separatist group eta announced monday they
have launched hunger strikes to demand they be granted political status
with this hunger strike we want to give some strength to our demand for
political status that is our right an association representing eta prisoners
eppk said in statement released to the pro independence basque newspaper gara
gara said that the eppk gave no further details on the protest but said that one
inmate lorentxa gimon has already been refusing food in prison in roanne in
central france since january
spokeswoman for the spanish prison service said she had no information on
the matter
spanish interior minister alfredo perez rubalcaba acknowledged that basque
prisoners were staging protest
this protest has more to do with internal cohesion of the prisoners than with
prison policies which have been largely the same for the last years he told
spain punto radio
eppk which represents some eta members detained in spain and france
announced on january it planned series of protests throughout in
response to what it called the two countries cruel prison policy
that statement also called for an end to solitary confinement and reiterated
demand for eta prisoners to be held together in jails in the basque region
which straddles southwestern france and northern spain
jailed eta members are dispersed in prisons throughout spain and france which
makes it more difficult for them to receive visits from family members
spain supreme court early this month upheld ruling that blocked financial
support for eta prisoners families provided by the former regional government
which was led by the non violent basque nationalist pnv party
eta considered terrorist organisation by both the european union and the
united states is held responsible for deaths in its campaign for basque
independence
sri lanka president urges fair vote on election eve
colombo jan afp
sri lankan president mahinda rajapakse vowed monday to ensure the first post war
nationwide election goes off peacefully as he prepared to face his former army
chief after an acrimonious campaign
rajapakse urged the authorities to ensure free and fair vote in tuesday
presidential contest amid claims from the opposition that he plans to rig the
result and is preparing coup in the event that he is defeated
the sri lanka government calls for peaceful election and stands committed to
taking whatever steps deemed necessary his office said in statement
rajapakse who ordered the military offensive that ended year conflict
against tamil rebels in may last year faces strong challenge from sarath
fonseka the army chief who led the troops in battle
total of police and public officials will be on duty to monitor
the election which is seen as too close to call there are no reliable opinion
polls in the indian ocean island nation
in the run up to the vote the opposition and government have made claim and
counter claim about each other intentions raising the prospect of instability
and contested result
warning of street protests and resistance to any attempt by rajapakse to steal
the election fonseka declared monday if there is war we will face it
at least five people have been killed and hundreds wounded during campaigning
according to the private centre for monitoring election violence cmev
the two candidates both sinhalese nationalists fell out after the war with
fonseka retiring from the military after he was sidelined by rajapakse and
launching his surprise bid for the presidency
rajapakse called the vote after only four years of his six year mandate to try
to harness public acclaim for victory over the tamil tiger rebels who
controlled one third of sri lanka just years ago
the conflict with the tigers who began fighting for homeland for the minority
tamil group in cost between and lives according to un
estimates
both rajapakse and fonseka face pressure from the united nations and western
countries to submit to war crimes probe over the conduct of the conflict
which the un says might have left civilians dead in the latter stages
foreign minister rohitha bogollagama played down the prospects of street
protests after the election predicting the government would win new mandate
fairly and the opposition would soon forget its campaign rhetoric
don think the people of sri lanka have time for street protests he said
it has never happened
in reference to the possibility of violence he said the government was
concerned about army deserters who were allegedly working with fonseka
campaign
there are that have got into some kind of lead role in the opposition
campaign he told reporters saying the renegades were under the command of
former major general the opposition denied the allegations
bogollagama also claimed foreign interests were interfering but declined to
identify them until after the election ruling party lawmaker has already
pointed the finger at the united states and former peacebroker norway
the cmev private group that is accredited as an election monitoring body
said in report it had found serious flaws in the electoral process in the run
up to the race which has candidates standing in total
with deep regret we have to say that we have picture of dysfunctional
electoral process and the breakdown of the authority of the independent
elections commission cmev director paikiasothy saravanamuttu said
he said the level of violence was worse than during the previous presidential
election in and that the state authorities had disregarded the orders of
the elections chief to conduct fair poll
however he said high turnout among the electorate of million could still
ensure that the final result reflects the will of the people
first results are likely to trickle out late tuesday with the final outcome
expected to be known on wednesday
israel pm opens auschwitz blueprint exhibit
jerusalem jan afp
israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on monday opened an exhibition of the
auschwitz death camp blueprints saying jews are again facing calls for their
extermination an apparent reference to iran
there is evil in the world if it is unstopped it expands and it is expanding
and it is threatening the same people the jewish people but we know it only
starts with the jewish people said netanyahu who has called iran an
existential threat to israel
there is new call for the extermination of the jewish people he said at the
yad vashem holocaust memorial
iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad has repeatedly said the jewish state was
doomed to be wiped off the map and has questioned the scale of the holocaust
israel has routinely called for tough measures against iran which the west
suspects of seeking to develop weapons capability under the guise of civil
nuclear programme an accusation tehran denies
israel is widely believed to be the middle east sole if undeclared nuclear
power
this is test for humanity and we shall see in the coming weeks and coming
months how the international community lives up to its responsibility to stop
evil before it spreads the premier said
netanyahu was given the rare original blueprints of the nazi death camp
some bearing the initials of heinrich himmler chief architect of the nazi plan
to exterminate the jews by german publisher bild in berlin in august
the documents which date from and include plans drawn with technical
precision for gas chamber and crematorium were discovered in berlin
apartment in and later bought by bild newspaper
more than one million jews roma and others deemed sub human by adolf hitler
regime were killed at auschwitz near the polish city of krakow out of total
six million jews slaughtered by the end of world war ii in
what you see in this exhibition in these testimonies is great evil
unadulterated evil netanyahu said pointing to the yellowed sketches and
plans
yad vashem chairman avner shalev said that at first glance the documents looked
like any regular construction plans but mute scream emerges from them with
terrifying clarity
netanyahu was set to travel to poland later on monday to attend the anniversary
of the january liberation of auschwitz by soviet troops
eu to send police to haiti despite british objections
brussels jan afp
european nations agreed monday to send mission of some police officers to
help ease aid distribution in quake hit haiti despite british opposition to the
idea
six european union countries all members of the so called european gendarmerie
force have said they are prepared to contribute to the mission
britain was against the plan which was endorsed by eu foreign ministers in
brussels monday insisting that the united states with some troops in
the area had more than enough personnel to provide for security needs
there is an agreement on collective contribution of gendarmes an eu
diplomat told afp adding that the contingent whose biggest contributors will
be france and italy would number little over people
all the countries which form part of the european police force are willing to
participate france italy spain the netherlands portugal and romania are
ready to offer personnel each according to its capabilities said spanish
foreign minister miguel angel moratinos whose country holds the eu presidency
together we will represent the eu in this role of guaranteeing the security and
above all the arrival of the emergency aid which the haitians need he said
his french counterpart pierre lellouche confirmed that paris was ready to
contribute more than hundred police officers for the operation based on
un request for eu help
officials said italy would also be ready to provide personnel the
netherlands portugal and spain from
the eu has earmarked more than million euros in emergency and reconstruction
aid for haiti where at least people were thought killed in the january
quake but its efforts on the ground have little visibility
the united states some kilometres from haiti and with troops in the region
has been able to mobilise vast quantities of aid and resources and has led
supply and search and rescue work in tandem with the united nations
the eu police mission is dwarfed by comparison
not sure that that is necessarily the right way to go britain minister
for europe chris bryant told reporters as he arrived for the talks
british foreign secretary david miliband underlined the security presence that
has been established has been vital and think actually the united states has
done well on that
we back up the american and un efforts because this is un enterprise
germany will not take part due to restrictions under its constitution
the eu has been struggling to find gendarmes to fill out its police mission
in afghanistan where experts needed to build national security force capable
of protecting its own people are in desperately short supply
iraq reinstates election candidates
baghdad jan afp
iraq has reinstated previously banned election candidates on technical
grounds senior official from an integrity and accountability committee said
on monday
ali al allami said people had appealed for removal from controversial
blacklist of more than names who could be excluded from the march poll
after we got new information we decided to accept the requests of
candidates allami told afp referring to errors in applicants names date of
birth or other personal details that have since been corrected
we received total of requests he added without specifying the status
of the appeals that remain active
according to allami people are currently barred from contesting the
election the blacklist includes iraqis from the minority sunni arab community
as well as dominant shiites
the excluded candidates are accused of membership or other links to executed
dictator saddam hussein outlawed baath party feared fedayeen men of
sacrifice militia or mukhabarat intelligence agency
the integrity and accountability committee whose probe has inflamed the
political climate less than six weeks from polling day is headed by shiite
politician ahmed chalabi who was deputy prime minister after the us led
invasion that toppled saddam
the election row sparked flurry of diplomatic activity in recent days with us
vice president joe biden seeking to broker compromise in baghdad with iraq
different factions notably through talabani who is kurd
three massive blasts shake baghdad afp
baghdad jan afp
three massive blasts in quick succession shook baghdad on monday with the first
near the palestine hotel followed minutes later by two loud explosions near the
international green zone afp correspondents said
the first explosion occurred around pm gmt sending plumes of smoke
rising hundreds of metres yards into the sky
the second blast came just minutes later in the centre of the capital near the
green zone with the third close by soon after
saudi donates million dollars to haiti foreign ministry
riyadh jan afp
saudi arabia is donating million dollars in aid to earthquake ravaged haiti
foreign ministry spokesman osama nugali said on monday
the kingdom by instruction of king abdullah is donating million dollars
to assist the haitian people nugali told afp
the donation the largest announced by middle eastern country will go through
the un fund for haiti
the organisation of the islamic conference has urged muslim states to donate to
haiti where january earthquake is estimated to have killed more than
people and left hundreds of thousands of others homeless hungry and
injured
bur pmh wd srm
vietnam democracy activist arrested wife says
hanoi jan afp
vietnamese democracy activist has been arrested and his computer seized the
man wife said monday only days after vietnam jailed four other activists
accused of trying overthrow the state
nguyen ba dang was detained last friday in hai duong province east of
hanoi said his wife nguyen thi nu
they searched our house before seizing his computer haven seen my husband
since then she said
police gave no explanation for the arrest of my husband they just said there
were problems in his computer
local police refused to comment to afp over the telephone
dang wife told afp that he had been held for four months in and that the
latest arrest was the fourth since he was held for periods ranging from
several days to six months she said
he has never been brought to court dang wife said
according to the us state department nguyen ba dang was arrested in may
for propaganda against the state charge which rights activists say
criminalises peaceful dissent
dang arrest follows the sentencing in southern ho chi minh city on wednesday
of four democracy activists after their conviction for activities aimed at
subverting the people administration
the four were jailed for between five and years in case which the us based
human rights watch said highlighted climate of increasingly harsh political
repression in the communist nation
the european union delegation to vietnam called the trial and verdicts major
and regrettable step backwards while us ambassador michael michalak expressed
concern about vietnam apparent lack of due process
danish support for afghanistan mission slipping poll
copenhagen jan afp
danes support for their troop presence in afghanistan slipped below percent
as the country suffers heavy human losses there poll published on monday
showed
only percent of danes want the danish troops to stay in afghanistan
percent want them to withdraw and percent are undecided the ramboell
analyse institute survey suggested
in similar poll conducted by the institute in november percent of
danes said they wanted the soldiers to continue their mission percent
