that killed an estimated kurds in the
he had already been sentenced to hang for genocide over the kurdish offensives
when in december he received second death sentence for war crimes
committed during the ill fated shiite uprising in southern iraq
last march the iraqi high tribunal handed down third death sentence over the
murders of dozens of shiites in the sadr city district of baghdad and in
the central shrine city of najaf
majid was the king of spades in the pack of cards of most wanted iraqis issued
by the us military in and was arrested in august of that year
however he is probably best known for the halabja attack when in march
iraqi jets swooped over the small town and for five hours sprayed it with
deadly cocktail of mustard gas and the nerve agents tabun sarin and vx
considered saddam right hand man and bearing strong resemblance to the
former dictator he was member of the decision making revolutionary command
council and regularly called upon to wipe out rebellion
in march the ruling baath party put him in charge of state agencies in the
kurdish area including the police army and militias
as iraq eight year war with iran drew to close the following year fighters
from the rebel patriotic union of kurdistan with backing from tehran took over
the farming community of halabja near the border
as saddam enforcer he ordered the gas attack to crush the uprising majid
said he took action against the kurds who had sided with iraq enemy in the
war for the sake of iraqi security and has refused to express remorse
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor denis barnett
tel
top stories
frantic search for last haiti quake survivors
karzai to unveil new peace plan for afghanistan
disillusioned ukraine votes for new president
haiti quake thlead wrap
port au prince
rescue workers claw through the rubble for the last earthquake survivors in
haiti shattered capital and police open fire on looters as tensions mount over
delays in distributing aid and the united nations estimate dead
words gmt by beatriz lecumberri picture graphic video
afghanistan unrest reconciliation taliban lead
kabul
afghan president hamid karzai is set to announce new scheme for forging peace
with the islamist taliban and other militants fighting to topple his government
his spokesman says
words gmt
ukraine vote thlead wrap
kiev
disappointed with the failures of the orange revolution ukraine is poised to
hand the pro russia viktor yanukovich comeback in presidential polls at the
expense of his west leaning rivals
words gmt by stuart williams picture video
haiti
haiti quake un ban lead
port au prince
un secretary general ban ki moon says the haiti quake is the worst humanitarian
crisis to face the world body in decades as he embarks on day long trip to
survey the disaster zone
words by gerard aziakou picture
haiti quake world
rome
foreign victims who survived the haiti quake begin to trickle back to their home
countries with tales of horror and narrow escape
words gmt
europe
ukraine vote georgia fraud lead
donetsk ukraine
the arrival of hundreds of georgians in ukraine purportedly to monitor elections
spirals into major row after party accuses them of being special forces sent
to disrupt the polls
words gmt by anna khripunkova
we will also move ukraine vote scene ndlead
vatican pope jews rome ndlead
rome
pope benedict xvi pays much anticipated visit to rome main synagogue his
third to jewish place of worship after angering many jews by moving his
wartime predecessor pius xii further on the road to sainthood
words gmt picture video
mideast turkey israel diplomacy rdlead
ankara
israel defence minister ehud barak holds talks in turkey in the wake of
serious diplomatic row between the two countries eager to mend fences with
muslim ally that is slipping away
words gmt by gavin rabinowitz picture
germany politics economy merkel ndlead
berlin
under fire after shaky start to her second term at the helm of europe
largest economy german chancellor angela merkel convenes what has been dubbed
crisis meeting of key allies in bid to quell internal bickering
words by richard carter
middle east
iraq trial chemicalali kurds thlead
baghdad
saddam hussein notorious henchman chemical ali is sentenced to death for
ordering the gassing of kurds in the iraqi town of halabja brutal attack that
killed an estimated people
words gmt by arthur macmillan picture video
we have also moved iraq justice chemicalali profile
americas
us politics senate vote focus
new york
president barack obama flies to boston to try to avert defeat for the democrats
in senate by election that threatens to end up killing his biggest domestic
initiative
words gmt by sebastian smith file picture
chile vote newseries
santiago
voting gets under way in chilean presidential election that promises to be an
extremely tight contest between conservative billionaire sebastian pinera and
former leftist president eduardo frei
words gmt by jose luis varela picture
asia
nzealand australia britain royals william lead
auckland
britain prince william arrives in auckland on his first official overseas trip
on behalf of his grandmother queen elizabeth ii saying he is eager to maintain
her high standards
words moved
we have also moved australia britain royals native william focus
pakistan unrest northwest us missile thlead wrap
miranshah pakistan
us drone attack kills militants in an area of pakistan northwest tribal
belt where local taliban chief hakimullah mehsud reportedly escaped death days
ago officials say
words moved by hasbanullah khan
eu prepares reconstruction aid for haiti
brussels jan afp
european union nations are set to announce monday funds to rebuild quake struck
haiti on top of emergency aid and call for an international conference to back
the effort according to eu officials
we re going to show our willingness to work on the immediate needs of the
country but also on future reconstruction the spokeswoman for the eu spanish
presidency said sunday ahead of emergency talks in brussels
ministers responsible for development issues will meet with eu foreign policy
chief catherine ashton from gmt monday for around two hours of talks on the
quake which is thought to have killed more than people
spanish foreign minister miguel angel moratinos will also take part as will
deputy prime minister maria teresa fernandez de la vega who was in haiti sunday
for her talks with haitian president rene preval
on the eve of the meeting ashton announced that an eu staffer had died in the
quake in which some people were hurt while million people have been
left without shelter
the ministers will examine the efforts by the nations to help provide aid
some million euros in initial funds have been sent from europe and
discuss the reconstruction process that will follow
according to an initial eu damage assessment more than physical
structures were destroyed or damaged in the haitian capital port au prince by
the magnitude earthquake that struck on tuesday
the emergency talks in brussels are expected to finalise first reconstruction
aid package for the longer term with funds from both the eu budget and the
member nations
the european commission is working to redirect some of the development funds
for haiti to fill the first tranche an eu official said
an eu diplomat said we hope that the european states will also provide their
first indication of how much they will be willing to give
the diplomat said the eu is likely to call for an international reconstruction
conference on haiti under the auspices of the united nations and the world bank
after the meeting eu humanitarian aid commissioner karel de gucht will travel
to the haitian capital port au prince to assess first hand the needs of the
authorities and the people
his visit will be an opportunity to assess the immediate life saving
humanitarian aid needs as well as the medium and long term requirements for
reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country statement said
de gucht will also meet haitian officials and un aid representatives to discuss
how relief work is being coordinated and what the eu can do to consolidate and
strengthen the efforts
ashton will travel to new york on wednesday for meetings with us and un
officials on the destruction from tuesday earthquake
the eu new top diplomat expressed the european commission condolences sunday
to the family of pilar juarez who worked in the eu delegation in haiti and was
killed in the quake
this is tragic loss for ms juarez family and friends but also for all her
colleagues we are still looking for two local agents of our delegation who
remain unaccounted for ashton said in statement
our thoughts are with all those in haiti and beyond who have lost loved ones in
this terrible tragedy
alpine skiing women world cup results collated
maribor slovenia jan afp
women world cup slalom results on sunday
kathrin zettel aut
tina maze slo
maria riesch ger
susanne riesch ger
sandrine aubert fra
maria pietilae holmner swe
sanni leinonen fin
fanny chmelar ger
sarka zahrobska cze
christina geiger ger
tanja poutiainen fin
manuela moelgg ita
denise karbon ita
kathrin hoelzl ger
veronika zuzulova svk
disqualified
leg eva maria brem aut
did not finish
st leg ana drev slo matea ferk cro jana gantnerova svk rabea grand
swi ula hafner slo moe hanaoka jpn michaela kirchgasser aut lene
loeseth nor nina loeseth nor julia mancuso usa megan mcjames usa
zana novakovic bih nina perner ger tii maria romar fin sarah schleper
usa johanna schnarf ita lotte smiseth sejersted nor maria belen simari
birkner arg anastasiya skryabina ukr barbara wirth ger tessa worley
fra
leg marlies schild aut
world cup standings
overall after races
maria riesch ger pts
lindsey vonn usa
kathrin zettel aut
anja paerson swe
tina maze slo
kathrin holzl ger
sandrine aubert fra
slalom after seven of eight races
maria riesch ger pts
kathrin zettel aut
sandrine aubert fra
marlies schild aut
sarka zahrobska cze
iraq accuses un of election interference
baghdad jan afp
an iraqi committee which barred politicians and parties from running in
march elections accused the united nations on sunday of interferring in its
decisions
the committee of integrity and accountability disapproves the request made by
un special envoy ad melkert to the independent electoral commission not to
exclude names of individuals it said in statement
the committee called on the un representative to stop interferring in the
affairs of the institutions of iraq sovereign country governed by laws which
have been voted by the people
un spokesman in baghdad declined to confirm or deny whether melkert had made
any such request to the electoral commission
diplomatic source told afp meanwhile that melkert had met with members of the
commission on saturday but did not reveal the nature of their talks
the committee of integrity and accountability is tasked with vetting applicants
and purging unsuitable contenders vying to contest the march polls
among the most prominent to be banned was saleh al mutlak secular sunni
lawmaker who heads the national dialogue front as well as defence minister
abdel qader jassem al obeidi
according to the independent high electoral commission potential candidates
have been barred from running in the polls including those accused of links
with the baath party of executed dictator saddam hussein
commission figures show about candidates from parties comprising
coalitions as well as independents have registered for the election the second
national parliamentary vote since saddam ouster
the decision has been condemned by sunni politicians who accuse the shiite led
government of seeking to undermine efforts of national reconciliation
tighter eu air passenger checks probable presidency
madrid jan afp
tightening of security at european airports including the possible use of
body scanners is probable the spanish presidency of the european union said
sunday ahead of talks with us officials
prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero whose country holds the rotating eu
presidency told the el pais daily that botched christmas day jetliner bombing
has forced us to consider reinforcing air transport security
he said that following the attempt involving nigerian man who managed to
board us bound flight in amsterdam with explosives attached to his body the
us had taken the initiative on security
as result the use of airport body scanners will be at the centre of talks
between eu interior ministers and us secretary of state for homeland security
janet napolitano at an informal meeting in toledo spain on thursday
what we will do as the spanish presidency is seek common position among the
eu members and it probable that this position is heading towards
reinforcing passenger checks in airports zapatero said adding that he was
open to the use of body scanners
so far two european nations the netherlands and britain have said they will
install body scanners which can see through clothing at their airports
france and italy have said they will try out the devices and the czech republic
has said it is in favour of the technology but other countries are more
cautious
the outgoing european commission dropped plans to introduce the scanners europe
wide in following complaints from the assembly that they violate privacy
rights and could impact on human health
spanish transport minister jose blanco said last week that their use was in the
end inevitable while eu transport commissioner nominee siim kallas has said
he has reservations on their use because of health and privacy concerns
incoming justice commissioner viviane reding has said she is opposed to the use
of the scanners without strict guarantees on privacy
football french cup draw
paris jan afp
revised draw for the french cup round of after sunday match
compiegne or lens marseille
auxerre saint ouen aumone or sedan
thiers or nancy plabennec
villefranche saone st etienne or lorient
beauvais agen
toulouse pontivy or brest
raon etape vesoul
quevilly angers
mulhouse guingamp
saint louis neuweg or sochaux le mans
vannes grenoble or montpellier
paris sg evian thonon gaillard
monaco lyon
saumur rennes
boulogne or colmar lille
bordeaux ajaccio
matches to be played january and
football french cup results
paris jan afp
french cup round of result on sunday
marquette mulhouse
played saturday
la grande motte villefranche sur saone
quevilly saint quentin
avranches saumur after extra time
row over georgian observers inflames ukraine vote
donetsk ukraine jan afp
the arrival of hundreds of georgians in ukraine purportedly to monitor elections
spiralled into major row sunday after party accused them of being special
forces sent to disrupt the polls
the regions party of presidential frontrunner viktor yanukovich has protested
vehemently over the sudden arrival of hundreds of male georgians built like
sportsmen in the eastern city of donetsk over the last days
tbilisi insists they are observers who ukraine refused to accredit but the
donetsk authorities have said there is evidence they were sent to carry out
fraud on behalf of yanukovich main rival prime minister yulia tymoshenko
all these people have corresponding training not in line with the duties of
international observers in elections regions party mp vladislav lukyanov said
in statement released by regions party headquarters
these are fighters specialised in carrying out special actions aimed at
destabilizing elections
yanukovich himself meanwhile appealed to georgian president mikheil saakashvili
to withdraw the so called observers
it is unacceptable that foreign state interferes in the affairs of our
country he said
the head of donetsk city council nikolai levchenko said they were all men aged
between and built like sportsmen
but georgia ambassador to ukraine grigol katamadze said the ukrainian
supreme court had ordered that the georgian observers are registered
have consulted our legal advisers they say if the decision is not respected
then criminal case can be initiated
reports said that georgia had been seeking to accredit some observers the
central election commission has accredited total of observers from
around the world
election fraud in ukraine remains major issue after the supreme court ordered
re run of the last presidential elections in after discovering mass vote
rigging in favour of yanukovich
donetsk heavy industry and mining region is political stronghold of
yanukovich but analysts have said it will be crucial for tymoshenko to win votes
here if she is to make serious challenge for the presidency
french medics report mass amputations in haiti
paris jan afp
french doctors treating earthquake victims in haiti said sunday they had never
seen so many people seriously injured and were having to carry out hundreds of
amputations
medecins sans frontieres doctors without borders msf have carried out
caesarians and amputations msf experienced medical staff say they have never
seen so many people with such serious injuries the group said in statement
issued in paris
another french aid group medecins du monde said it would have to amputate
hundreds of people whose limbs had been crushed in the earthquake and its
doctors had no electricity to work by
unfortunately we are carrying out an enormous number of amputations said one
surgeon quoted in statement by the group he expected about amputations
over the coming days
conditions are very precarious we have no electricity or telephone network
he added
msf cited its emergency coordinator hans van dillen as saying that crowds
arrived almost immediately when the group opened an emergency hospital at
carrefour poor district near the town of leogane
patients arrived on handcarts or on men backs there are other hospitals in
the area but they are already unable to cope with the number of injured and
have limited resources of personnel and medicines and equipment he said
msf already had volunteers working in haiti when the quake struck and has
since been able to send in another international workers to the capital
it said its work was being seriously hampered by disruptions at port au prince
airport and made an urgent call to speed up the landing of aeroplanes carrying
medical supplies after one carrying an inflatable field hospital was turned
away on saturday night
the logjam is major difficulty forcing number of important freight flights
to turn back msf said
the world health organisation has estimated that between to people
were killed in the earthquake the united nations said sunday
rugby union two try mccusker leads scarlets stunning comeback
paris jan afp
two tries from flanker rob mccusker in four minutes saw welsh side scarlets
stage stunning comeback on sunday and beat pool six rivals london irish
in the european cup
victory did nothing really for either side hopes of reaching the last eight as
reigning champions leinster who travel to twickenham to play london irish next
weekend lead the table by five points with the one match remaining
london irish had looked to be cruising when they led scarlets in the
second half but mccusker showed electric pace in the rd minute to touch down
in the corner after london irish fly half ryan lamb had made poor clearance
few minutes later mccusker was on hand again taking the ball and despite
desperate tackle by former england scrum half peter richards he turned and
twisted his way over the line for try which was confirmed by the video
referee
the english side had few chances to get back into the lead and the one time they
did saw replacement australian fly half chris malone waste it with pass behind
his team mates backs when they had an overlap
scarlets rubbed it in when impressive young centre jonathan davies went over for
his second try of the match to give the welsh side deserved if surprising
bonus point and left london irish requiring miracle of not only beating
leinster but also with bonus point if they to progress as pool winners
in later matches on sunday french side toulouse can reach the last eight if they
beat english outfit harlequins at home and take bonus point in their pool five
clash
and should reigning french champions perpignan who are out of the running beat
english team northampton in england then two time title winners munster will be
assured of topping pool one
biarritz are the only team definitely through to the last eight despite losing
to pool two rivals gloucester on saturday
first chinese aid reaches haiti state media
beijing jan afp
the first batch of china humanitarian aid package for haiti has arrived in the
caribbean nation quake devastated capital state media said sunday citing
chinese airline
china southern airlines said its boeing carrying tonnes of emergency
supplies reached port au prince after hour flight from beijing official
news agency xinhua reported
the million yuan million dollar cargo including tents water
food emergency lights medicine clothes and water purification equipment is
part of million yuan relief package announced by beijing on friday
tuesday magnitude quake in haiti is believed to have killed tens of
thousands
golf red hot schwartzel cruises to second successive win
johannesburg jan afp
south african charl schwartzel clinched back to back european tour triumphs on
sunday when he posted final round to win the joburg open by six strokes
the year old from vereeniging south of johannesburg carded under par
total of over the west and east courses at royal johannesburg and kensington
club seven days after topping the africa open leaderboard
schwartzel became the first golfer to win consecutive tournaments on the
european circuit since german martin kaymer lifted the french open and scottish
open trophies last july
shot behind at the halfway stage of tournament delayed several times since
thursday by rain thunder and lightning schwartzel made his move on saturday by
shooting to enter the final round four shots clear
and he extended that to record handsome win with none of his challengers for
the euro first prize able to match him over the par metre
layout in leafy upmarket suburb of the south african financial capital
former ryder cup star darren clarke of northern ireland had closing to tie
for second place with south african keith horne whose was the lowest final
day score
south african james kamte and danny willett of england fired each to share
third position on nine shots adrift of five time european tour winner
schwartzel
professional since and previously european winner in scotland once and
spain twice schwartzel is now poised to make his us masters debut at augusta
during april
the top golfers on the world rankings qualify automatically and the joburg
open victory could push the south african into the leading depending on what
happens on the us pga tour this week
leading the european order of merit and think winning the joburg open
will get me into the masters that is something am very excited about said
schwartzel
it has been fantastic two weeks for me played good golf last week in east
london and the form definitely carried over do not know what it comes down to
maybe positive frame of mind when hit bad shot
there have not been many of those to worry about lately with schwartzel under
for his last competitive rounds and he goes to abu dhabi next seeking to
match year record
it was back in that famous spaniard seve ballesteros became the last golfer
to win three successive european tour events and with eight of the top world
stars competing it will be major challenge for the south african
alpine skiing men slalom world cup results
wengen switzerland jan afp
men world cup skiing results after the slalom here on sunday
ivica kostelic cro
andre myhrer swe
reinfried herbst aut
benjamin raich aut
julien lizeroux fra
silvan zurbriggen sui
marcel hirscher aut
ted ligety usa
manfred pranger aut
michael janyk can
lars elton myhre nor
jimmy cochran usa
felix neureuther ger
julien cousineau can
urs imboden mda
markus larsson swe
mattias hargin swe
natko zrncic dim cro
brad spence can
kentaro minagawa jpn
christoph dreier aut
wolfgang hoerl aut
giuliano razzoli ita
maxime tissot fra
naoki yuasa jpn
bernard vajdic slo
krystof kryzl cze
anton lahdenperae swe
failed to qualify for nd leg axel baeck swe patrick bechter aut mitja
dragsic slo stefano gross ita tim jitloff usa justin murisier sui
rainer schoenfelder aut ryan semple can matic skube slo mitja valencic
slo
did not start st leg matts olsson swe david ryding gbr
did not finish first leg marc berthod sui patrick biggs can jens byggmark
swe mauro caviezel sui david chodounsky usa marc gini sui alexander
koll aut jukka leino fin mario matt aut bode miller usa manfred
moelgg ita akira sasaki jpn paul stutz can aksel lund svindal nor
patrick thaler ita
disqualified st leg dimitri cuche sui
disqualified nd leg cristian deville ita trevor white can
world cup overall standings after races
carlo janka sui points
