the official said lioret had claimed twice that there was bomb in his bag
adding that another passenger was questioned as witness while two hostesses
testified against him
his brother michel said on saturday that the pensioner was flying to bangkok
from paris on the abu dhabi based etihad airways and was arrested after cabin
crew overheard him using the word bomb in an exchange with co passenger
his brother said the neighbour had asked him to keep packet on the other seat
next to him as it was empty prompting lioret to joke hope it not bomb
his jocular comment was overheard and set off alarm bells
he was taken off the plane grilled by police and then jailed he was also
informed that the packet contained cigarettes and not bomb
the french foreign ministry said it was informed of the arrest on friday and was
following the case closely
people may be detained without charge in the uae for seven days
iraq chemical ali sentenced to death for halabja attack
baghdad jan afp
saddam hussein notorious enforcer chemical ali was sentenced to death on
sunday for ordering the gassing of kurds in the iraqi town of halabja brutal
attack that killed an estimated people
ali hassan al majid will die by hanging the state run al iraqiya television
channel said having been found guilty of the attack in the northeast of the
country as the iran iraq war drew to close in
the ruling is the fourth time that majid better known by his macabre nickname
has received death sentence
three quarters of the victims at halabja were women and children in what is now
thought to have been the deadliest gas attack ever carried out against
civilians
this judgment is victory for all iraqis humanity and the kurds because
halabja is the biggest crime of modern times said majid hamad amin minister
of the martyrs and displaced in the kurdish regional government
halabja is not only kurdish case but it is an issue for all iraqis and the
rest of the world he added
close cousin of saddam majid earned his ghastly moniker for ordering
poisonous gas attacks in brutal scorched earth campaign of bombings and mass
deportations that left an estimated kurds dead 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
and in march last year the iraqi high tribunal handed down third death
sentence over the the murders of dozens of shiites in the sadr city
district of baghdad and in the central shrine city of najaf
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
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
like saddam majid hails from the northern town of tikrit where he was born in
according to court documents although he told tribunal last year that
he was born in
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
he was most infamous for his role in northern iraq 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 fighters from the rebel
patriotic union of kurdistan with backing from tehran took over the farming
community of halabja near the border
as saddam henchman majid then ordered the gas attack to crush the uprising
new york based human rights watch has said majid was responsible for the deaths
or disappearances of around non combatant kurds when he put down the
revolt across the kurdish region
but majid said he ordered the attacks against the kurds who had sided with iran
in the war for the sake of iraqi security he has refused to express remorse
for the killings
israel barak in bid to mend fences with turkey
ankara jan afp
israel defence minister ehud barak began one day visit to turkey sunday in
the wake of severe diplomatic row between the two countries eager to mend
fences with muslim ally sliding away
barak trip was the highest level bilateral visit since israel war on the
gaza strip last year prompted an unprecedented barrage of criticism from the
islamist rooted government in ankara
he visited the tomb of turkey secularist founder mustafa kemal ataturk before
scheduled meetings with foreign minister ahmet davutoglu and defence minister
vecdi gonul
the talks were to focus on arms deals israeli public radio reported
turkish officials are currently in israel to test unmanned aircraft that israeli
companies have manufactured for turkey army under joint million dollar
project long delayed amid technical snags and political tensions
prime minister recep tayyip erdogan seen by some as the man at the centre of
bilateral tensions and president abdullah gul were not available to meet the
israeli minister citing programmes outside ankara
barak whose likud party is in favour of maintaining close ties with turkey
insisted on making the visit despite row that brought ankara to the verge of
recalling its ambassador from tel aviv
the storm broke monday when danny ayalon the deputy of israel ultra
nationalist foreign minister avigdor lieberman gave turkey ambassador
public dressing down as he protested turkish television series for depicting
israel and jews as baby snatchers and war criminals
as the unexpecting ambassador smiled ayalon turned to reporters and told them
in hebrew to pay attention that the envoy was made to sit on low couch and
that the turkish flag was removed from their table
bowing to pressure from furious ankara ayalon sent letter of apology to
ambassador oguz celikkol on wednesday cooling row that had threatened to
plunge the two already estranged allies into serious crisis
once flourishing bilateral ties took sharp downturn last year amid israel
war on gaza and its persisting blockade of the impoverished palestinian enclave
in memorable outburst erdogan stormed out of debate at the world economic
forum accusing the jewish state of barbarian acts and telling israeli
president shimon peres sitting next to him that you know well how to kill
people
ankara has said relations will continue to suffer unless israel ends the
humanitarian tragedy in gaza and revives peace talks with the palestinians
turkey booming ties with one time foe syria and close contacts with iran have
made its criticism even harder for israel to swallow and raised questions on
whether erdogan government is taking key muslim majority nato member away
from the west
turkey has been israel main regional ally since when the two signed
military cooperation accord
but in october ankara excluded israel from joint air exercises in central
turkey that have been held for years angering tel aviv and prompting rebuke
from washington
the following month israel trade minister benjamin ben eliezer visited ankara
in an effort to mend fences and gul and peres met at the sidelines of un
climate summit in denmark last month
football gold coast back on top of league
melbourne jan afp
gold coast united reclaimed top spot on the australian league standings with
slick win over previous frontrunners sydney fc at the sydney football
stadium on sunday
united backing up from their midweek win over newcastle became the first
team to breach sydney defence in six games
in match of few clear cut chances gold coast striker joel porter goal in
the th minute proved the difference
the win edged gold coast one point ahead of sydney with four regular season
games remaining and two points ahead of melbourne who still have game in hand
on the pair
melbourne victory thumped perth glory at home on saturday with robbie kruse
snaring first half hat trick
socceroo striker archie thompson opened the scoring inside the opening five
minutes and the victory added two more second half goals through penalty from
skipper kevin muscat and costa rican carlos hernandez
melbourne goal fest was only their second six goal haul in league history
newcastle jets scored twice in five minute spell in the second half to boost
their title credentials while denting brisbane roar finals aspirations in
win in brisbane on saturday
jets captain matt thompson broke the deadlock in the th minute and former
leeds united striker michael bridges converted penalty as newcastle held on to
fourth spot
ivory coast striker eugene dadi scored his third goal for fifth placed
wellington phoenix since switching from perth glory in home win over north
queensland fury
adelaide united and central coast mariners played out draw to keep
adelaide rooted at the bottom of the table
desperation in haiti amid chaos and pleas for more aid
port au prince jan afp
relief workers in haiti struggled for the fifth day sunday to assist desperate
earthquake survivors amid anger over the chaotic aid effort as two former us
presidents admitted the country recovery will be long
aid continued to trickle in but failed to reach many of those most in need after
tuesday magnitude earthquake brought death and misery on an unprecedented
scale to the impoverished and dysfunctional caribbean nation
former us presidents bill clinton and george bush named by the white house
as special coordinators of aid to haiti vowed late saturday they would not
abandon the stricken country
it long road to full recovery but we will not leave the haitian people to
walk it alone they wrote in an op ed piece in the new york times
they said that in the future haiti will need better schools sturdier more
secure buildings and diverse industries that create jobs and foster
opportunities for greater trade
us helicopters crews flew in and unloaded boxes of vital supplies as massive
queues formed at distribution points where the un world food programme handed
out high energy food
an afp journalist witnessed one us helicopter dropping half dozen small
cartons into stadium of starving haitians some brandishing machetes as they
fought over the items
as the fate of whole towns and villages around the capital in western haiti
remained unclear the united nations said it had never before faced such
humanitarian catastrophe
we have never been confronted with such disaster in the un memory it is like
no other elisabeth byrs spokeswoman of the un office for the coordination of
humanitarian affairs told afp in geneva
the destruction found saturday in the town of leogane just kilometers
miles west of port au prince was staggering street after street of homes
and businesses torn apart
it the very epicenter of the earthquake and many many thousands are dead
said wfp spokesman david orr nearly every house was destroyed here the
military are talking about to dead
emergency teams of french doctors working for medicins sans frontieres doctors
without borders said they had never seen so many seriously injured
since their arrival the surgical units of msf in port au prince have been
working non stop to help the injured the organisation said
priority is being given to the most urgent cases the teams have carried out
caesarians and amputations it said
but the organisation said its work was being seriously hampered by disruptions
at port au prince airport
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 is becoming increasingly clear that large number of our haitian staff did
not survive the catastrophe msf said adding that it was still trying to
locate others and was concerned about their welfare
the latest overall toll from the haitian government is at least people
dead and million homeless but those figures could soar once the full extent
of the tragedy is known early estimates had spoken of dead
the un said increasing numbers of haitians were trying to cross the border into
the dominican republic to the east and reported surge of quake survivors
fleeing to northern cities
secretary of state hillary clinton became the highest ranking us official to
visit haiti since the quake and highlighted the urgent need to clear logistical
hurdles
as president barack obama has said we will be here today tomorrow and for
the time ahead she told haitians
you have been severely tested but believe that haiti can come back even
stronger and better in the future
the two former us presidents urged the international community to help the
haitian people realize their dream for stronger more secure nation
but we need more than just support from governments they argued we need the
innovation and resources of businesses the skills and the knowledge of
nongovernmental organizations including faith based groups and the generosity
and support of individuals to fill in the gaps
they called for donations through their website www clintonbushhaitifund org
red cross coordinator mauricio bustamante said the group had sent planeloads
of personnel and humanitarian aid while fleet of choppers made regular air
drops
the top stars in tennis meanwhile raised at least dollars for the quake
victims sunday in hastily arranged charity doubles match led by roger federer
and serena williams
un chief ban ki moon confirmed saturday the death of his haiti mission chief
hedi annabi as the world body faced its biggest loss of life yet with dead
and close to unaccounted for ban was to visit haiti sunday
the un security council will meet monday to discuss coordination of the
international aid operation
french medics say worst injuries ever in haiti
paris jan afp
emergency teams of french doctors working for medicins sans frontieres doctors
without borders in haiti said sunday they had never seen so many seriously
injured as in the quake devastated country
since their arrival the surgical units of msf in port au prince have been
working non stop to help the large number of people injured in tuesday quake
the organisation said in statement issued in paris
priority is being given to the most urgent cases the teams have carried out
caesarians and amputations msf experienced medical staff say they have never
seen so many people with such serious injuries it said
according to one of the emergency coordinators in the haitian capital the
reaction of local people was immediate when they heard that we were starting
medical emergency procedures at carrefour poor commune to the west of the
capital
the crowd gathered at the entrance 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
for the time being msf is working at the choscal and trinity hospitals and in
the carrefour district which suffered very bad damage
the organisation said its work was being seriously hampered by disruptions at
port au prince airport
the logjam is major difficulty forcing number of important freight flights
to turn back the lack of authorisations to land at the airport has already
prevented the arrival of an msf field hospital with inflatable tents which is
however essential msf 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 is becoming increasingly clear that large number of our haitian staff did
not survive the catastrophe msf said adding that it was still trying to
locate others and was concerned about their welfare
internet facilitating illegal wildlife trade activist
singapore jan afp
illegal wildlife traders are turning to the internet to reach wider customer
base circumvent laws and evade authorities an animal rights activist told
conference on sunday
items such as rhinoceros horns leopard pelts and even live tiger cubs are being
hawked openly in online advertisements on public websites said grace ge asian
regional director of the international fund for animal welfare ifaw
the internet offers anonymity for the seller as well as fast and untraceable
sales while inadequate legislation governing online companies ensures relative
impunity she said at regional animal rights conference held in singapore
the internet has facilitated the trading of wildlife which is having
devastating effect on animals and ecosystems worldwide she said
through the internet traders are able to circumvent rules regulations and
evade enforcement ge told delegates at the asia for animals conference
citing an ifaw study on the illegal online wildlife trade in ge said there
was huge volume of wildlife and their products traded online on daily
basis
the research was conducted over three month period in in countries
including the united states china australia and several european nations it
found online advertisements selling endangered species or products derived
from their slaughter
the united states was major culprit as the source of percent of
advertisements followed by britain and china with percent and percent
respectively the study showed
estimates of the value of final sales on these websites totalled more than
dollars but the actual amount was likely to be higher as most sites did
not advertise their prices according to the study
meanwhile animal rights activists said at the conference that cooperation
rather than conflict with traditional chinese medicine tcm practitioners was
more effective in protecting wildlife from poachers
executive director of the animal concerns research and education society acres
louis ng said the previous approach of confrontation had not been as effective
we realised we had to work with them the tcm industry he told the
delegates
he cited joint initiative between acres and singapore tcm practitioners in
which they created labelling scheme to discourage local tcm shops from selling
products made from endangered animal species
to date more than percent of all tcm shops in singapore were adhering to the
voluntary initiative ng said
executive director of animal welfare group animals asia foundation jill robinson
said tcm practitioners were more than willing to cooperate with activists
think they are recognising that the use of animals is causing such slight
and such bad reputation they actually don want to see this happening any
more she said
tcm shops sell medicinal products made from animals such as bears and tigers
french spiderman eyes dubai burj khalifa tower report
kuala lumpur jan afp
french climber alain robert known as spiderman for his death defying antics
has set his sights on scaling the world tallest skyscraper dubai burj
khalifa tower report said
the gulf emirate of dubai opened the glistening metre foot concrete
glass and steel skyscraper on jan
ll have to do it maybe between january and april he was quoted as
saying by malaysia official bernama news agency late saturday
know the people of dubai they are interested in seeing me climb the
skyscraper he added
the tower has been renamed burj khalifa in honour of the abu dhabi leader whose
billions of dollars bailed out dubai from its financial crisis last year
robert was in malaysia to receive an award for his extraordinary feats in
scaling tall buildings
skyscrapers he has climbed include the empire state building the sears tower
and taipei according to his website
he admitted that climbing the dubai tower will be tough mission because of the
middle eastern heat
the problem in dubai is the hot weather of up to degrees celsius
degrees fahrenheit he said
my biggest fear is to waste my time on earth for me climbing is as important
as eating and breathing climbing skyscrapers is my lifetime love and passion
he added
last september robert was fined by malaysian court after he scrambled up the
storey petronas twin towers with his bare hands in less than two hours
rescuers battle to reach haitians still alive in rubble
port au prince jan afp
hearing jules strained voice pushes on adrenaline fueled israeli rescue
workers racing against time to pry him from the ruins as hopes fade of finding
more survivors after haiti devastating earthquake
the quake may have came and gone days ago but the urgency here remains palpable
this team has pulled out all the stops to save someone whose life is hanging in
the balance
and the clock is ticking
with hearts set racing by the slim chance they could help pull off miracle
this long after tuesday devastating quake the team of men toils on to save
just one person sweating through the back breaking work hour after hour inch
by inch amid the stench of rotting corpses
today is the last day that think we will be able to find survivors mainly
because of dehydration said rami peltz one of the rescue workers on the
israeli team
facing the real possibility that what remains of this collapsed tax office could
come crashing down on them the rescuers grimace as they chip dig saw and
drill their way slowly painstakingly inching closer to the person trapped
beyond their sight
it is grueling exhausting work we work centimeter by centimeter said one
team member soaked with sweat after minutes in an cavity where the team is
hacking and drilling toward their target
the survivor has made it this far four days after the magnitude quake
felled thousands of buildings across the capital of the poorest country in the
americas
but he is trapped with steel reinforcement cable around his neck and huge
piece of ceramic flooring pinning his legs said one team member moshe sadir
all around them there are dead bodies and more dead bodies some of the people
survived the building collapse but then expired in the days that followed no
rescue team made it their way in time
that is what happened to nadine the wife of adras belly haitian man who
brought the israelis to this spot to search but it was bad news for him
rescuers called and called she did not answer and dogs found no trace of her
foreign rescue teams are spread out across the sprawling caribbean capital of
two million even as the clock ticked down on chances for miracle
they take their cues from various sources un staff sent some to locations where
survivors were believed to remain and desperate relatives dispatched others to
spots where loved ones were still missing and voices and moaning could be heard
inside
very few of the stories have happy ending
most end in sorrow and the discovery of tangle of dead bodies
the first hours are so important after that the chances just drop off
dramatically that is why it is so important to hurry early on said jose
ignacio bugella yudice here from the civil protection service in the spanish
city of getafe
the spanish team worked with colleagues from iceland in half collapsed
building where rescue dogs can detect any lucky if unlikely survivors
only the dogs can tell us if there is life in there then we pinpoint the spot
and we secure it the rescue operation can take minutes or several hours
said magnus hakonarson with the icelandic rescue team icesar
at the port au prince telecoms building rescue team from costa rica had no
luck as it called and called but got no answer from inside the flattened
building
when the dogs do not confirm somebody is alive in there we have to move on to
another spot swiftly so now we are going to school but would say there is
less than three percent chance of finding survivors in this city said
william hernandez leader of the costa rican rescuers
the best hope really is for small person who needs little oxygen which is
why child may be found alive even at this point he said
that has happened before hernandez said but it all depends on the space
they have and what shape they are in after the collapse
but surviving building collapse and then degree celsius daytime
temperatures without drop of water for days on end is unlikely and less
likely by the minute
some people end up dying of their injuries or from dehydration or brain
trauma said andres madrigal with the costa rican team
but for jules his will to live help him beat the longest odds
he just kept saying when we finally saw him at the bottom of the hole
want to live don leave me member of the israeli team said
meanwhile off the haitian coast haitian woman gave birth to boy on board
of us coast guard cutter as she prepared to take us navy helicopter bound
for the aircraft carrier carl vinson the baby and mother are in good condition
the carrier is currently off the coast of haiti providing humanitarian aid to
victims of the quake
clinton vows us will stand by haiti
port au prince jan afp
secretary of state hillary clinton on saturday pledged us support for haiti
recovery from devastating earthquake in lightning visit to the hub of
relief operations for the caribbean nation
amid the clatter of aid laden helicopters flying in and out of the international
airport at port au prince clinton declared the united states would work closely
with haiti to restore electricity and communications
as president barack obama has said we will be here today tomorrow and for
the time ahead clinton said as she stood next to president rene preval whose
palace was destroyed in tuesday magnitude temblor
the two countries were to unveil statement on sunday on how they planned to
cooperate together
the breakdown in basic utilities along with the destruction of the palace and
key ministries has left preval government barely functioning and reliant on
foreign donors for massive quantities of emergency aid
we are here at the invitation of your government to help you clinton told
press conference after an hour long meeting with preval and talks with us
officials organizing the relief operation
know the resilience and strength of the haitian people you have been
severely tested said clinton the highest ranking us official to visit the
caribbean nation since the quake
but believe that haiti can come back stronger and better in the future the
chief us diplomat said
preval who said he had just visited man pulled out of the rubble alive after
four days by american rescuers said clinton visit warmed our hearts
but it also chance for us to restate priorities and to ensure coordination
with the american government and with the international community
clinton said the pair discussed the priorities of restoring communications and
electricity
anger was building at haiti us controlled main airport where aid flights were
still being turned away and poor coordination continued to hamper the relief
effort
but tons and tons of badly needed aid was finally getting to some of those left
destitute in port au prince and even to at least one devastated town beyond the
capital
clinton said criticism that aid was piling up at the airport was unfair saying
us forces in charge of the airport were getting it out as quickly as possible
she and rajiv shah director for the usaid us agency for international
development usaid said the un world food programme had begun setting up food
and water distribution centers at points across the capital
clinton said the international relief operaton faced many logistics hurdles
the us military had tried to establish helicopter landing zones for some aid
deliveries but had to drop the plan when it realized haitians would mob the site
each time and make it dangerous to land she said
clinton said state department officials had asked the us military whether
supplies could be parachuted to haitians but were told that such drops could
provoke riots in crowded urban areas or could hit people on the ground
the chief us diplomat said officials were still looking for innovative
solutions
the other thing we re trying to do is get our helicopters outside the
immediately affected area outside of port au prince because people are leaving
the city clinton said
they are seeking medical help they are trying to get to relatives she added
the countryside is relatively unaffected we re trying to get ahead of the
curve here
the us operation has been officially dubbed operation unified response
general douglas fraser head of the us southern command said on the command
official page on micro blogging website twitter
philip crowley clinton spokesman said there were hopes to make the northern
city of cap haitien operational as second container port but he gave no
details
clinton who never ventured beyond the airport in order not to burden relief
efforts with security concerns later left haiti taking with her us citizens
who had been living in or visiting haiti
one group was dropped off in jamaica to take commercial flights to the united
states in the coming days while the other group traveled back to washington dc
with clinton
marie lindor who sat with her newborn baby aboard the spartan transport
plane told reporters she hoped to find flight from kingston to miami where
she lives with her husband
she had gone to stay with relatives in haiti only to experience the earthquake
and learn that her cousin had died in it along with other family members her
brother and sister had lost their homes there
saddam ban threatens sunni stake in iraq elections
baghdad jan afp
the decision to ban iraqi election candidates accused of links with the baath
party of executed dictator saddam hussein could exclude sunnis from the
political arena and usher in new sectarian tensions
the move also threatens to damage the march ballot by creating campaign
battleground focused on past quarrels rather than much needed search for
solutions to myriad problems facing the war torn country analysts told afp
leading sunni politicians also voiced anger at an official blacklist that bars
candidates including defence minister abdel qader jassem al obeidi from the
vote purportedly under law that bans baathists from all elections
however members of the committee of integrity and accountability whose job is
to vet applicants and purge unsuitable contenders are themselves facing charges
of illegitimacy as they have not been approved by parliament
those banned from the election the second since the us led invasion that
toppled saddam but provoked an insurgency that saw tens of thousands die in
sectarian bloodshed in and include prominent sunni lawmaker saleh al
mutlak persistent critic of the government
the decision to exclude mutlak and others means iraq is getting dangerously
close to repeat of the heated sectarian political atmosphere seen in the
december elections said reidar visser noted iraq analyst
it means iraqis will be looking to the past focusing on settling scores
instead of facing the future and the many specific issues that need to be
solved added visser who runs the iraq focused website www historiae org
