about men and women some nursing infants lined up under the hot sun in
front of school building in the sprawling complex of makeshift huts and tin
roofed buildings that housed nearly at its height last year
very thirsty and tired and we ve had little to eat but here to vote
voting for new government vijaya letchchami told afp after waiting
for four hours to have her say at the ballot box
she like the vast majority of tamils that afp spoke to in the highly
militarised tamil dominated north said she was voting for fonseka who she saw
as better for ethnic minorities
an estimated people remain in camps which are strictly restricted for the
media
about were freed at the end of last year under pressure from the united
nations which described conditions in them as appalling
rajapakse cast his ballot in his southern home constituency of mulkirigala and
told reporters he was confident of securing second term
we must be ready to face the challenges of reaching new heights after this
vote said the year old who called the election only four years into his
six year term to seize on the victory over the liberation tigers of tamil eelam
ltte
opposition leader ranil wickremesinghe said after polling closed that it had
been by and large peaceful despite some incidents in the north
there was high poll turnout and that will ensure that sarath fonseka will
be president he told reporters
last may rajapakse and fonseka both from the majority sinhalese community
wiped out the ltte who had fought for tamil homeland since in
military campaign since dogged by allegations of war crimes
but from close allies on the battlefield they became irreconcilable enemies
after fonseka year old political novice decided to challenge his former
boss at the ballot box on an anti corruption platform
nigerian opposition politician shot dead police
lagos jan afp
gunmen shot dead prominent opposition politician in nigeria southwestern
ogun state amid rising tensions ahead of general elections next year police
said tuesday
chief dipo dina was killed monday night in ota by unknown gunmen who ambushed
his vehicle senior police officer told afp
we are still investigating the circumstances of his death he said
police said the motive behind the killing is unknown dina who like many
politicians held the traditional title of chief was the opposition action
congress gubernatorial candidate in disputed april poll
tensions have been rising as the country prepares for general elections in
several prominent politicians including justice minister and two
gubernatorial candidates have been shot by unidentified gunmen in recent years
gubernatorial poll in southern anambra state on february is being seen as
test case next year election
spanish police arrest five in anti eta sweep
madrid jan afp
five people were arrested overnight in spain northern basque region in
connection with number of attacks blamed on the eta separatist group police
and regional authorities said tuesday
the arrests part of sweep against eta blamed for over deaths in
year campaign for independence in the basque region of northern spain and
southwestern france followed an order by an anti terrorist judge police
statement said
police said the suspects are thought to be linked to september car
bombing that slightly injured people outside police station in the basque
country
the interior minister of the basque region rodolfo ares later said they are
also suspected of responsibility for bomb attacks against high speed rail line
under construction in the basque country and on power station
prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero welcomed the arrest of this very
dangerous group
eta figures on several terrorist blacklists including those of the european
union and the united states
yemen court jails seven qaeda militants
sanaa jan afp
yemeni court sentenced on tuesday seven suspected al qaeda members to between
five and years in jail after convicting them of plotting to attack foreign
interests and tourists
the seven went on trial in october after having been arrested while preparing
explosives and monitoring tourist buses to attack them according to police
they were convicted of plotting to form an armed gang to execute criminal acts
targeting foreign tourists and interests and government installments according
to the verdict
three of them hussein al marwalah mohammed al ghawly and hani al aleeni were
sentenced to years in prison while three others yossuf al hajjaji abdullah
al matari and amin al najjar were jailed seven years
the seventh muteab al qadi was sentenced to five years in prison
the men all bearded seemed relaxed during the hearing chanting religious
slogans and words of praise for al qaeda chief osama bin laden an afp
journalist said
when the verdict was pronounced they chanted in unison god is greater and
shouted that they rejected the court legitimacy
we want bin laden to rule by allah law shame on you people that our hands
are chained we betray bin laden as we have betrayed palestine in the past
they chanted
speaking from the dock marwalah said we tell the worshippers of the cross
and the americans that we will not rest until we liberate jerusalem
matari one of three defendants sentenced to seven years in jail said this
verdict is unfair because it is not based on divine law the only one which we
recognise
yemen has been the target of number of attacks claimed by al qaeda against
foreign missions tourist sites and oil installations four south korean
tourists died in march in terrorist bombing in the historic city of sham
in march schoolgirl and policeman were killed when bomb struck
girls school near the us embassy the state department said the target was its
mission in sanaa
yemen government has intensified its military campaign against al qaeda as
international pressure mounted on sanaa to clamp down on the militants who are
believed to be regrouping in the impoverished country
al qaeda branch in yemen al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap has
claimed responsibility for the botched christmas day attack on us airliner
washington accused the group of training the nigerian assailant described by
bin laden as hero
football wigan set to sign argentinian forward ruben
wigan england jan afp
wigan appeared close to signing argentinian striker marco ruben from spanish
club villarreal on tuesday after the year old confirmed he had agreed terms
for move to england
found out eight or nine days ago and since then the club have continued
negotiations with my agent and he told me it was done and all that was needed
was my signature ruben was quoted as saying on villarreal website
am happy to take this opportunity because it is good coach roberto
martinez and great team
ruben joined villarreal from argentinian club river plate in january but he
has spent all his time in spain either on loan at recreativo huelva or playing
for villarreal
martinez meanwhile will hand another transfer window signing the serbia
goalkeeper vladimir stojkovic his premier league debut in wednesday meeting
with blackburn
first choice goalkeeper chris kirkland has been ruled out for fortnight with
an injured collarbone so stojkovic who made his debut for the club in
saturday fa cup draw at league two side notts county retains the gloves
stojkovic is with wigan until the end of the season on loan from sporting
lisbon
midfielder hendry thomas who was suspended for the cup tie and utility man
paul scharner who has been sidelined by ankle and knee injuries are both set
to return to action but captain mario melchiot is likely to miss out again with
broken nose
cricket icc look to lloyd in review system probe
london jan afp
former west indies captain clive lloyd and scottish lawyer brent lockie are to
conduct an international cricket council icc inquiry into the use of the
umpire review system during this month fourth test between england and south
africa it was announced tuesday
england lodged formal complaint with the global governing body over the
application of the system as australian television umpire daryl harper came
under fire for his role during the match at johannesburg wanderers ground
harper was involved in particularly controversial incident when he upheld an
on field decision to give graeme smith not out following an appeal for caught
behind when the south africa captain was on even though replays seen by
television viewers suggested he had edged the ball
smith went on to make and south africa won the match by an innings to level
the four test series at
lloyd is currently the chairman of the icc cricket committee while lockie has
worked with the organisation code of conduct commission
icc chief executive haroon lorgat said the icc has appointed two eminent
individuals to investigate the exact circumstances relating to the application
of the udrs umpire decision review system in johannesburg
the udrs is ground breaking system which was introduced to eliminate the
obvious umpiring errors the majority of players and officials who experienced
the system in the southern hemisphere summer have expressed qualified support
for using the system the south african added
while this feedback is positive and reassuring we understand the need to
continue enhancing the system in these early days and sure this independent
investigation will assist in that regard
after the smith incident row then ensued over whether harper or the host
broadcaster the south african broadcasting corporation sabc had failed to
set the official volume control at the correct level
england coach andy flower said match referee roshan mahanama had told him harper
had made mistake only for mahanama to reply the volume on the umpire feed
was set by head engineer of the sabc and an icc technical adviser
imf says global economy to grow percent in
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund said tuesday the global economy was poised to
grow more strongly than previously anticipated this year by percent
the imf said the growth forecast was percent higher than the percent
estimated four months ago with sluggish recovery in advanced economies offset
by relatively vigorous growth in emerging and developing economies
the global recovery is off to stronger start than anticipated earlier but is
proceeding at different speeds in the various regions the imf said in an
update of its october world economic outlook report
the united states the world largest economy was expected to post growth of
percent in sharp percent increase from the prior forecast
afp middle east news summary
nicosia jan afp
top middle east stories on tuesday
iraq unrest baghdad
baghdad suicide attacker blew up his car while racing it at iraq forensics
headquarters in central baghdad killing people injuring and destroying
the building officials said
iraq politics military kurds us
baghdad american troops have started joint operations with iraqi and kurdish
forces in iraq disputed northern zones in an effort to dampen tensions between
kurds and sunni arabs the us army said
iraq justice health aziz jordan
amman lawyer for iraq jailed ex deputy prime minister tareq aziz said his
client has been discharged from us military hospital after his health improved
following stroke
britain iraq military politics inquiry
london the iraq war was illegal the former chief legal advisor to
britain foreign office told public inquiry into the war three days before
ex prime minister tony blair appears
lebanon plane crash
beirut rescuers combed the waters off the coast of lebanon for victims and the
black boxes of an ethiopian airliner that crashed into the mediterranean with
all passengers and crew presumed dead
iran nuclear politics china reax
beijing china said there was still time to reach diplomatic resolution to the
standoff over iran nuclear programme after france urged its european partners
to ready new sanctions against tehran
mideast conflict gaza un
jerusalem israel told the un chief it will not conduct an independent probe of
the gaza war as demanded by un report minister said two days before the
jewish state submits its official response to charges of war crimes
auschwitz poland holocaust jews israel
warsaw israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu honoured holocaust victims at
war memorial in the polish capital on the eve of the th anniversary of the
auschwitz death camp liberation
suicide bomb at us base in kabul injures nine
kabul jan afp
suicide bomber in car laden with explosives struck near us military base
in kabul on tuesday injuring at least nine afghan civilians police and the
nato led force said
the attacker detonated car near the main gate of camp phoenix military base
on the outskirts of kabul on the main road to the eastern provinces other nato
member nations also have presence in the camp
there was suicide car bomb attack near camp phoenix the suicide attacker
detonated his car close to an international forces convoy said kabul police
chief abdul rahman rahman
he said nine afghan civilians were wounded three of them were interpreters
working with foreign forces
the situation is under control now he added
interior ministry spokesman zemarai bashary also confirmed the bombing while
nato international security assistance force isaf said the explosion was
likely an improvised explosive device ied hidden in vehicle
the force is aware of an explosion outside the main gate of camp phoenix that
occurred this afternoon at approximately pm statement said
initial reports indicate the cause of the explosion was vehicle borne ied
more details will be released as they become available
afghan security forces cordoned off the area to investigate bashary added
the bombing comes just over week after seven taliban gunmen armed with suicide
vests launched massive attack on civilian and government buildings near the
presidential palace in the capital killing five people
there was no claim of responsibility for the tuesday bombing but the taliban
militant group has been blamed for similar incidents in the past
the taliban were in power between and and are waging an insurgency to
topple the us backed government of president hamid karzai and regain power
the taliban have been widely using suicide attacks and other explosions in their
campaign against kabul and its western military backers
there are about international mainly us and nato troops deployed in the
country the force is to expand to up to during under washington
new war plan
british invasion of iraq was illegal former govt lawyer
london jan afp
britain invasion of iraq in was illegal the former chief legal advisor
to the foreign ministry told public inquiry into the war tuesday three days
before ex prime minister tony blair appears
considered that the use of force against iraq in march was contrary to
international law michael wood legal advisor to the foreign office between
and wrote in submission to the chilcot inquiry in london
in my opinion that use of force had not been authorised by the security
council and had no other legal basis in international law
the focus of the inquiry has sharpened ahead of the appearance of blair who
took britain into the war alongside then us president george bush despite
strong opposition at home and abroad
blair justified the invasion on iraqi leader saddam hussein continued defiance
of united nations security council resolutions governing his possession of
weapons of mass destruction wmd
his chief legal advisor attorney general peter goldsmith gave the green light
on the eve of the march invasion saying that un resolution passed in
november provided base for military action
however many commentators believe goldsmith was pressured into this view the
war was in fact illegal and blair should be prosecuted accordingly
two weeks before the invasion goldsmith said it would be preferable to get
second un resolution explicitly authorising military action but when attempts
to achieve this collapsed he gave the go ahead
ministers argued that was an ultimatum stating that saddam would face
serious consequences if he did not cooperate with weapons inspectors when he
became obstructive the united states and britain took military action
however wood told the inquiry that made clear that it was up to the un
security council to decide whether saddam had complied with their demands not
individual states like britain and no such decision had been made
wood said he challenged the government view in january after then
foreign secretary jack straw told the us vice president dick cheney that it
would be ok if no second un resolution was obtained
he wrote to straw hope there is no doubt in anyone mind that without
further decision of the council and absent extraordinary circumstances of which
at present there is no sign the uk cannot lawfully use force against iraq to
ensure compliance with its security council wmd resolution
however wood said the minister brushed his concerns aside
he straw took the view that was being very dogmatic and that international
law was pretty vague and that he wasn used to people taking such firm
position wood told the inquiry
the lawyer testimony is the first time he has expressed his opinion on the
war although his deputy at the time elizabeth wilmshurst resigned just before
the invasion because of her opposition
in written submission ahead of her appearance before the inquiry tuesday she
explained regarded the invasion of iraq as illegal and therefore did not
feel able to continue in my post
critics of the invasion have argued that blair should now face prosecution for
breach of international law although experts say this is unlikely
philippe sands professor of law at university college london told afp that
blair may be vulnerable to the international crime of aggression although this
crime is not enforceable in english courts or the international criminal court
it is bit of stretch but the possibility cannot be excluded he said
adding at the very least mr blair may wish to exercise some care in making his
international travel arrangements
israel lifts immunity of druze lawmaker after syria visit
jerusalem jan afp
an israeli druze lawmaker said on tuesday that he had been stripped of his
parliamentary immunity to face charges of contact with enemy agents after
visit to syria
said naffaa told afp that parliamentary committee voted to lift his immunity
following the visit to the jewish state arch foe where he met with exiled
palestinian militant leaders
was not surprised by the decision naffaa told afp this is indicative of
the discrimination and political persecution faced by arab knesset members he
said
the charges against naffaa stem from visit to syria at the head of
delegation of several hundred druze from israel and the golan heights on an
annual pilgrimage to religious sites
naffaa had permission for three day trip to syria but extended the visit and
met with leader of the popular front for the liberation of palestine and
visited the offices of hamas chief khaled meshaal meshaal was reportedly not
there at the time
israel regards both groups as terrorist organizations
naffaa vowed to continue to fight the charges this is only the first stage of
what will be long battle he said
more than syrians most of them druze sect of islam live on the
golan heights which was captured by israel from syria during the six day
war
naffaa is vice president of the national democratic assembly of former deputy
azmi bishara now living in syria who is accused by israel of giving
information to the shiite hezbollah militia during the war in lebanon
urgent asian economies seeing growth accelerate imf
washington jan afp
asia developing economies are seeing acceleration in led by china
percent growth rate the imf forecast tuesday
oil demand turns corner in fourth quarter cges
london jan afp
world oil demand grew between october and december after sliding during the
previous five quarters the centre for global energy studies said in monthly
report published on tuesday
global oil demand has finally turned the corner with oil use in the fourth
quarter of up on the fourth quarter of after five consecutive
quarters of year on year decline the london based cges said
the recovery in oil use remains fragile though and concentrated in developing
countries
however the cges predicted that supply and demand conditions would not warrant
higher prices this year
despite rising demand market fundamentals are not expected to support upward
pressure on oil prices in
the cges also warned that temporary factors had boosted the world oil market
in recent months
the recent surge in oil demand has been boosted by temporary seasonal factors
driven by extremely cold weather across much of the northern hemisphere which
is unlikely to last beyond the end of the first quarter
the global financial crisis and subsequent worldwide recession had sent energy
demand plunging with prices diving to dollars in december
but crude prices surged by about percent in as the market was boosted by
signs of global economic recovery
so far this year crude futures have continued to claw back ground trading
close at about dollars barrel on tuesday
but prices remain far beneath the record highs of above dollars struck in
july on fears of supply disruptions
the cges added tuesday that it agreed with the world bank view that there were
risks to fragile global economic recovery
although the world bank said in its global economic prospects that the
worst of the financial crisis may be over it warned that global economic
recovery remains fragile and will slow later in the year as the impact of fiscal
stimuli wanes view that the cges shares it said
urgent imf says global economy to grow percent in
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund on tuesday said the global economy was poised to
grow more strongly than previously anticipated this year by percent
football real accepts ronaldo unfair sending off
madrid jan afp
real madrid blasted the unfair red card handed out to cristiano ronaldo at the
weekend but said it will accept the referee decision
seeing the move he clearly did not want to hurt the opponent emilio
butragueno the club vice president and former player was quoted as saying
tuesday in sports newspaper marca
was striker and when you are challenged you want to free yourself
the world most expensive player spoiled stellar two goal display on sunday
by getting red carded after stray elbow caught defender patrick mtiliga who
tugged the portuguese winger shirt during the win over malaga
the primera liga disciplinary committee is expected to announce later tuesday
whether he will be suspended for one or two matches
real sporting director jorge valdano described the decision as unfair and
very hard as ronaldo was merely trying to continue the move
we regret very much the injury to the malaga player we accept any decision
but we defend the conviction that we are right he told spanish radio cope
tuesday
it was second dismissal of the season for ronaldo who was sent off in
win over almeria on december for kicking out at an opponent
the former manchester united star said monday he also felt his red card was
unjust
ve spoken to mtiliga and he said he doesn believe should apologise
because he doesn think hurt him intentionally he was quoted as saying on
the club website
never try to trick referees never intended to injure the player believe
they should be fair with what really happened
alert
asia developing economies to post percent growth in imf
alert
imf sees risks to economic stability from high public deficits debt
tamils queue to vote in sri lanka war camps
menik farm sri lanka jan afp
inside menik farm notorious internment camp for displaced tamils after sri
lanka civil war people queued for hours tuesday to cast their ballots in the
presidential election
about men and women some nursing infants lined up under hot sun in
front of school building in the sprawling complex of makeshift huts and tin
roofed buildings that housed nearly at its height last year
very thirsty and tired and we ve had little to eat but here to vote
voting for new government vijaya letchchami told afp after waiting
for four hours to have her say at the ballot box
she like the vast majority of tamils that afp spoke to in the highly
militarised tamil dominated areas of northern sri lanka said she was voting for
former army chief sarath fonseka as she felt he offered better future for the
island ethnic minorities
both fonseka and president mahinda rajapakse who is seeking re election were
the architects of final assault on tamil separatists last year that the un
says killed civilians in tamil areas
after the end of the conflict which has been mired in allegations of war
crimes displaced tamils were locked in menik farm until december the media and
humanitarian groups were excluded and access is still strictly controlled
an estimated people remain the rest having been freed at the end of last
year under pressure from the united nations which described conditions in the
camps as appalling
many were frustrated at being unable to vote because they lacked the right form
of identification or were not registered correctly on the electoral roll
ratnasigham sitthambipillai labourer said he had lost his id card when
he fled the warzone in may and had been using temporary welfare card since
which electoral officials refused to accept
please help us he said want to vote but don know what to do nobody
is willing to help me
in the tamil dominated town of vavuniya kilometres miles north of the
capital colombo and about an hour drive from menik farm there were also signs
that tamils were determined to cast their votes mainly for fonseka
the tamil tigers enforced boycott of the last presidential election in
which rajapakse narrowly won
kandaswamy wellarayanam walked six kilometres to vote from nearby
internment camp
now able to move freely he said he and his wife daughter and two grandchildren
were eager to take part even though buses that were meant to transport them
never turned up
we walked to vote because we felt it was important after the war he told afp
was keen to have say in who should be our next president we ve not had
free food and rations for two months and depend on odd jobs to survive
voting started slowly in vavuniya but picked up during the day as locals filed
into the makeshift polling booths in schools
among the sinhalese population there was solid support for rajapakse the scion
of political family known for his energetic oratory and popular touch
voted for mahinda rajapakse to thank him for ending the war and allowing my
children to grow up without fear of bombs said sinhalese tradesman jagath
karunatilake in vavuniya
in the majority sinhalese capital colombo turnout appeared to be high
have been voting at this booth for over years but never saw crowd like
this said mohamed sallel businessman casting his ballot in the city
borella commercial area
soon after polls closed the centre for monitoring election violence cmev an
independent monitoring body estimated voter turnout at percent in the
sinhalese majority south and percent in the tamil dominated north
alert
imf raises eurozone economic growth forecast to percent in
football mancini confirms robinho loan talks
manchester england jan afp
manchester city are in negotiations about loaning record signing robinho to one
of two brazilian clubs santos or sao paulo city manager roberto mancini
confirmed on tuesday
mancini also revealed that the brazilian signed from real madrid in for
british transfer record of million pounds is in his squad for wednesday
league cup semi final second leg clash against manchester united at old
trafford
it is possible that something could happen mancini said
this kind of thing does happen know in italy there were instances when clubs
paid lot of money for fantastic player but afterwards he needed to play at
another club
negotiations are happening but for now he is part of my squad
robinho has only sporadically produced anything like his best form for city and
appears to have grown disillusioned with life in the north of england
return to his homeland could offer robinho the opportunity to ensure he
secures place in brazil world cup squad
alert
china economy seen growing percent in imf
cold weather claims more lives in europe
bucharest jan afp
deep freeze gripping europe claimed more lives tuesday as record low
temperatures combined with snow and ice to disrupt travel close schools and
trigger emergency measures
ten people died of cold in poland police spokeswoman said tuesday after
on sunday raising the death toll since november to mainly homeless men
while around homes in the south were without electricity
in romania one of the worst hit nations nine more people succumbed the health
ministry said bringing its toll for the last six days alone to
with temperatures plunging as low as minus celsius minus fahrenheit in
the centre authorities triggered an emergency measure that allows them to cut
gas supplies to companies in favour of households in case of shortage
in neighbouring bulgaria many schools remained closed for second day and
nearly towns registered record low temperatures for the day
rescue services continued to fight their way through snow drifted roads to
villages that have been cut off but two highways east from the capital to the
black sea coast were finally reopened
in russia schools were closed in the orel region south of moscow nearly
people were without power in chechnya and the regnum news agency said people
had died of cold in part of the volga region since january
the director of russia meteorological agency gydromedtsentr was quoted by ria
novosti news agency as saying temperatures this month had not risen above zero
