against terrorism
we coordinated with the united states about information relating to
afghanistan where the united states is present jordan and the united states
lured balawai into continuing to provide anti terror information
the official insisted there was no proof that balawi was the suicide bomber who
killed eight people in afghanistan
we will not wait for terrorism to come and knock on our doors our policy is to
go ahead and pursue terrorism even outside our borders he said
balawi palestinian family moved to jordan after iraq invasion of
kuwait
my son was conscientious he was good student at jordanian public school
his mother said
he applied last year for an american visa to study in the united states and
even paid fees she said without being able to confirm if her son had been
granted the visa
he told us he was going to turkey to get his original diploma in late
february but we realised he never went then to turkey she said
balawi turkish wife told the ntv news channel that she did not believe her
husband worked for any intelligence agency
my husband definitely cannot be an agent for the cia or jordan because he was
man who would not even leave the house do not believe my husband could have
done this defne bayrak said
he never told me of such thing and do not think that is the case
bayrak said that balawi whom she married nine years ago did not go to
afghanistan but went to pakistan to pursue medical studies
he wanted to study to become surgeon we knew that he got himself job when
he could not sort out his study plans
we last spoke on the phone about one and half months ago it was normal
conversation he talked about coming to turkey he had told us to go to turkey
and that he would come soon she said
according to balawi mother bayrak and her son met while he was studying
medicine in turkey the couple have two children laila and lina
they also lived in jordan for while where balawi worked in hospital in
palestinian refugee camp and bayrak translated books from arabic into turkish
one publishing house brought out book by bayrak titled osama bin laden the
che guevara of the east
the alleged bomber brother told afp that he had been radicalised by the
devastating offensive which israel launched on gaza in december
the israeli military operation in gaza affected humam and he wanted to join
doctors of the jordan medical association as volunteer and go to gaza said
his brother asking for his given name to be withheld
humam was angry because of the crimes committed by israel in gaza
slovak police red faced over botched air security test
bratislava jan afp
slovak police apologised wednesday for botched security test that sent
explosives to ireland in the luggage of an unsuspecting air traveller and
sparked major security alert there
we are very sorry that good effort to test the security of civilian air
transport turned out so badly border police chief tibor mako told reporters
the test was performed saturday in the northeastern slovak city of poprad as
airports worldwide boosted security checks following an alleged attempt to set
off bomb on plane heading to detroit in the united states on december
but it almost turned into disaster as batch of explosives ended up on
dublin bound danube wings plane
mako said police planted two packages in order to test security at the airport
one dummy package and the other containing explosives
mako said the explosives package was successfully detected but police officer
forgot to remove the explosives after dog found them during security test
the explosives were then attached by accident to the backpack of year old
slovak electrician who unknowingly brought them to his flat in dublin he
added
mako said the police officer failed to inform his superiors and only told poprad
airport which in turn sent dublin airport telex message
in statement dublin airport authority daa insisted it had no contact
whatsoever from the slovak side until tuesday
when telephone call in relation to the issue was received on tuesday morning
the daa immediately alerted the gardai police who then investigated the
matter it said
none of the three addresses on the telex that was produced by slovakian
authorities today is daa address it added
but mako said the poprad airport used memorised addresses it normally uses to
communicate with dublin and added that if message is not delivered they
receive warning but they didn receive anything of that kind
the poprad airport authorities were not available for comment
mako also insisted the slovaks should not bear all the blame saying dublin
airport failed to discover the explosives during the luggage check
sections of inner city dublin were sealed off tuesday morning and homes and
businesses evacuated as anti terrorist police and irish army bomb disposal
experts raided the electrician apartment
they seized about grammes of research development explosive rdx in the
raid
the unwitting smuggler who has worked in ireland for three years and was
returning from christmas holiday in slovakia was arrested under anti
terrorist laws tuesday and released without charge later that day
slovak police said poprad airport immediately informed the pilot about the
explosives on board but he decided against an emergency landing
the plane and its passengers were actually in no danger as the explosives
didn have detonator mako insisted
but juraj zabojnik former top slovak security official said that amount of
explosives was serious danger even without detonator
the problem is that the explosives were allowed to leave slovakia in the first
place he added
slovak interior minister robert kalinak on tuesday apologised to irish justice
minister dermot ahern for the failed test his spokesman erik tomas told afp
tomas added the policeman would face disciplinary proceedings but it would be
unjust and inadequate to sanction his superiors
the blunder sparked outrage not only in ireland but also among slovak human
rights campaigners
our privacy is being compromised in the name of the war on terrorism but it
unacceptable to drag unsuspecting people into the police security tests
sarlota pufflerova head of the citizen and democracy association told afp
afp gmt news advisory
washington jan afp
duty editor jim mannion
tel
under fire us security chiefs vow action
british pm faces calls for leadership ballot
us senator and obama ally to step down
snow chaos in europe
attacks us nigeria ndlead
washington
us security officials vow to revamp the intelligence services to confront an
evolving threat from terror groups after stinging very public rebuke from
president barack obama
words gmt
we have also moved attacks us yemen
britain politics rdlead
london
two ex ministers call for ballot of labour lawmakers on whether british prime
minister gordon brown should remain leader highlighting his vulnerability
months before general election
words gmt by katherine haddon picture
us politics senate ndlead
washington
democratic senator christopher dodd says he will not seek re election in
november depriving president barack obama of steadfast powerful ally and
underlining the party political woes
words gmt by olivier knox
europe weather thlead wrap
london
thick blanket of snow covers the south of england as britain most brutal
winter in decades causes chaos for travellers and businesses and bitterly cold
temperatures descend on much of europe
words gmt by alice ritchie picture video
attacks yemen thlead wrap
sanaa
yemeni security forces have captured key al qaeda leader and two other
militants believed behind threats against western interests in sanaa which
prompted embassies to bolt their doors police say
words moved by hammoud mounassar
afghanistan unrest us jordan qaeda ndlead
amman
the mother and wife of man named as an al qaeda double agent who blew himself
up at cia base in afghanistan says he was not an extremist while officials
insist he was useful intelligence agent
words gmt by randa habib picture
attacks aviation security police ireland slovakia ndlead
bratislava
red faced slovak police scramble to apologise for botched security test that
sent batch of explosives in the luggage of an unsuspecting air traveller to
ireland sparking vast security operation there
words gmt by tatiana bednarikova
pakistan unrest rdlead wrap
miranshah pakistan
us drone strikes left militants dead near pakistan afghan border while
suicide bomber kills four soldiers in pakistani controlled kashmir
words moved by hasbanullah khan graphic
australia japan whaling rdlead wrap
sydney
space age powerboat sent to harass japanese whalers is rammed and sliced in
two in its very first clash activists say dramatically escalating hostilities
in icy antarctic seas
words moved by amy coopes picture graphic video
japan politics economy ndlead wrap
tokyo
japan prime minister names his deputy naoto kan as finance minister replacing
year old hirohisa fujii who is stepping down for health reasons in blow to
the three month old government
words moved by hiroshi hiyama
afghanistan unrest wrap
herat afghanistan
suspected roadside bomb kills four children and injures dozens including nine
foreign troops officials say as police officer who defected to the taliban
is captured
words moved by sardar ahmad picture
canada lends mexico five million swine flu vaccine doses
ottawa jan afp
canada will provide mexico with five million doses of the flu vaccine to
meet its immediate pandemic vaccine needs health minister leona aglukkaq
announced on wednesday
mexico placed orders for the swine flu vaccine with several manufacturers but
most orders will be ready only at month end the canadian minister said in
statement
in the meantime ottawa is allowing mexico to have five million doses of the
medication which had been reserved by pharmaceutical giant glaxosmithkline for
canada
mexico is expected to replenish the borrowed canadian stock by the end of march
aglukkaq said
as of mid december nearly half of canada million people had been
vaccinated against the swine flu in the largest immunization program in the
country history
more than canadians died from the swine flu
football asian cup qualifying standings
singapore jan afp
asian cup qualifying standings after wednesday matches played won
drawn lost goals for goals against points
group
japan qualified
bahrain qualified
yemen
hong kong
group
kuwait
australia
oman
indonesia
group
uzbekistan qualified
uae
malaysia
group
syria
china
vietnam
lebanon
group
iran
thailand
singapore
jordan
note top two in each group qualify for the finals in qatar
hosts qatar as well as iraq saudi arabia and south korea the top three in the
tournament qualify automatically as do india the afc challenge cup
winners the afc challenge cup winners will also make it through
fed members see high unemployment as long term worry
washington jan afp
federal reserve members expressed concern at policy meeting last month that
unemployment would remain elevated for quite some time and limit economic
growth minutes released wednesday showed
the minutes from the december federal open market committee showed range
of economic views from central bank policymakers and staff but persistent
worries on joblessness and how it may impact the recovery from recession
the weakness in labor markets continued to be an important concern to meeting
participants who generally expected unemployment to remain elevated for quite
some time the minutes showed
although the november employment report was considerably better than
anticipated several participants observed that more than one good report would
be needed to provide convincing evidence of recovery in the labor market
the report on november unemployment showed job losses narrowed to
offering hope of return to growth in the ailing labor market
but fed members noted that the slowing pace of employment declines mainly
reflected diminished pace of layoffs few firms were hiring the minutes
stated
moreover the unusually large fraction of those individuals with jobs who were
working part time for economic reasons as well as the uncommonly low level of
the average workweek pointed to only gradual decline in unemployment as the
economic recovery proceeded
alpine skiing men world cup results
zagreb jan afp
men slalom world cup results on wednesday
giuliano razzoli ita
manfred moelgg ita
julien lizeroux fra
mitja valencic slo
reinfried herbst aut
michael janyk can
mattias hargin swe
mario matt aut
felix neureuther ger
steve missillier fra
benjamin raich aut
silvan zurbriggen swi
anton lahdenperae swe
axel baeck swe
akira sasaki jpn
marc berthod swi
patrick biggs can
julien cousineau can
cristian deville ita
urs imboden mda
filip trejbal cze
brad spence can
matic skube slo
bjoergvin bjoergvinsson isl
jimmy cochran usa
thomas mermillod blondin fra
andre myhrer swe
bernard vajdic slo
jens byggmark swe
disqualified
st leg alexandre anselmet fra wolfgang hoerl aut jukka leino fin
alexis pinturault fra manfred pranger aut ryan semple can patrick
thaler ita
did not finish
st leg kai alaerts bel ondrej bank cze david chodounsky usa dimitri
cuche swi vassilis dimitriadis gre christoph dreier aut marc gini
swi stefano gross ita marcel hirscher aut jakub ilewicz pol tim
jitloff usa thomas koenig aut stefan kogler ger ted ligety usa danko
marinelli cro ryuunosuke ohkoshi jpn andreas romar fin christophe roux
mda marko rudic bih david ryding gbr dalibor samsal cro rainer
schoenfelder aut simon stancel svk maxime tissot fra markus vogel
swi naoki yuasa jpn
leg giorgio rocca ita
rallying lopez and miller triumph as french duo suffer bad day
antofagasta chile jan afp
chilean motorcyclist francesco lopez won the arduous kilometres fifth stage
from copiapo of the dakar rally here on wednesday
american pilot mark miller won the car stage beating his volkswagen team mate
former world rally champion carlos sainz by minutes seconds
however sainz moved to top of the standings after frenchman stephane
peterhansel encountered huge problems during the stage and was completely
immobilised for minutes
volkswagen swept the podium on the stage as qatar nasser al attiyah finished
third and they also fill the top three positions in the overall standings with
the qatari in second and miller third
lopez beat overall leader cyril despres of france by minute seconds which
also saw one of the favourites for the title david casteu forced to retire after
breaking his leg in crash
lopez barely made dent in the gap between him and despres who had lead of
minutes over him going into the stage
despres also saw one of his other major rivals for the title have dreadful day
as spaniard marc coma suffered mechanical problems and finished minutes off
lopez and is over an hour behind the overall leader
urgent fed members see high unemployment as key concern
washington jan afp
federal reserve members expressed concern at policy meeting last month that
unemployment would remain elevated for quite some time and limit economic
growth minutes released wednesday showed
alert
fed sees high unemployment as important concern for some time minutes
eu regulators clear hostile kraft cadbury plans
brussels jan afp
european competition regulators on wednesday gave clearance for kraft foods
hostile and struggling bid to take over british confectioners cadbury
the approval hours after news that only percent of cadbury shareholders had
accepted the us group approach is conditional on kraft disposing of cadbury
polish and romanian chocolate confectionery businesses
in view of the remedies offered by kraft am satisfied that the proposed
takeover would not adversely affect competition anywhere in europe and that
consumers would not be worse off competition commissioner neelie kroes said in
statement
the cadbury board has repeatedly rejected kraft cash and shares offer worth
about billion pounds billion euros billion dollars
kraft foods said in statement on wednesday that it had received valid
acceptances representing approximately percent of the existing issued
share capital of cadbury
late last year kraft offered to buy cadbury shares for pence in cash and
new kraft foods shares an offer that was deemed derisory by the
british company board
in bid to win over cadbury kraft sweetened its hostile offer on tuesday by
proposing bigger cash component but faced fresh rejection from the
british firm and objections from kraft largest shareholder
kraft made its latest move after the sale of its north american pizza division
to swiss rival nestle for billion dollars enabling the us firm to put more
cash behind its bid for cadbury
in twist to events billionaire investor warren buffett holding company
berkshire hathaway which has percent stake in kraft said that it opposed
plan by kraft to raise cash to buy cadbury via new share issue
kraft is the world second biggest snacks group after nestle which has said it
is not in the running to buy cadbury the world second largest confectionery
company behind mars
tie up between kraft and cadbury would merge leading kraft brands oreo
biscuits and maxwell house coffee with cadbury dairy milk chocolate and
trident chewing gum
kraft has said the deadline for cadbury shareholders to accept its offer is
february
lockheed martin to cut us jobs
washington jan afp
us global security giant lockheed martin said wednesday it will cut
approximately us jobs as part of restructuring within its electronics
systems business
lockheed martin announced the job reductions as it unveiled the name and senior
level organizational structure for new business created in realignment of
two prior stand alone businesses
mission systems amp sensors abbreviated by the company as ms was launched
on january and combines the former maritime systems amp sensors supporting
maritime forces with systems integration owego
as result of the anticipated synergies and efficiencies the combination will
bring the company expects to eliminate approximately us positions from
the ms business the company said
lockheed martin said it would notify the affected employees by early april
the defense industry giant headquartered in bethesda maryland said the new
business retains unique breadth and depth of support for maritime forces
paired with significantly expanded portfolio of capabilities in products
processors and integration expertise
the new ms reflects our goal to drive performance excellence with keen focus
on affordability in everything we do said orlando carvalho president of ms
we recognize the challenges our customers face and are making every effort to
improve efficiencies that enable unparalleled service at the right price
ms has five lines of business ship and aviation systems undersea systems new
ventures surface sea based missile defense systems and radar systems
lockheed martin employs about people worldwide the corporation reported
sales of billion dollars
in blow to obama top senate ally announces retirement
washington jan afp
democratic senator christopher dodd said wednesday he will not seek re election
in november depriving president barack obama of steadfast powerful ally and
underlining the party political woes
this is my moment to step aside dodd who chairs the senate banking
committee told reporters outside his connecticut home acknowledging series
of troubles had left him in the toughest political shape of my career
democrats who want their majorities in the senate and house of representatives
to weather tide of anti incumbent voter anger hoped his departure in state
obama easily won in would help them keep his seat
the announcement came day after democratic senator byron dorgan of north
dakota announced he would not seek another term boosting republican chances of
seizing his spot which would strengthen their ability to block obama agenda
the senate democrats when joined by two independents who are often their
allies have the bare minimum vote majority needed in the seat senate to
overrun any republican delaying tactics
dodd hurt by controversial home loan and failed white house bid has
been key author of legislation to enact obama top domestic priority
remaking us health care and key player in efforts to revamp rules for wall
street battle climate change and pressure iran over its nuclear program
dorgan and dodd departures leave democrats defending four open senate seats
and three highly vulnerable ones including the spot held by democratic senate
majority leader harry reid of nevada
republicans will defend six open senate seats
republican national committee chairman michael steele has already said his party
will not retake the house
democrats praised dodd starting with obama who said the senator worked
tirelessly to improve the lives of our children and families support good jobs
for hard working americans and keep our nation strong and prosperous
while his work in the senate is not yet finished his leadership in that
institution will be missed the president said in statement
some senate observers said democrats who were on the cusp of passing historic
health care overhaul within weeks would redouble their efforts to pass key
parts of obama agenda while they still have their vote majority
white house spokesman robert gibbs sidestepped questions about the impact of
democratic departures on obama legislative priorities saying it is hard to
look into the crystal ball months from election day
one year from this week our state will have new senator in the meantime we
have important work to do said dodd whose term ends in january my
service is not over
democratic representative barney frank chairman of the house financial services
committee praised dodd and said they would be working closely for the rest of
this year on rewriting tougher rules for wall street
but delighted republicans pounced on the news which they described as evidence
of democratic pessimism about the coming election after squandering the
opportunities wrought by obama ascent
for nearly year congressional democrats have been turning deaf ear to the
concerns of the american people and as the elections of approach many of
these same democrats are deciding to simply leave office instead of risking
certain defeat said michael steele republican national committee chairman
the senate retirements came as democratic governor bill ritter of the once
solidly republican state of colorado and one time rising star in the party
also reportedly was set to announce he would not seek reelection
dodd saw his political stock fall beginning in late with his failed bid for
the democratic presidential nomination which garnered meager public support
and drew heavy fire over receiving discounts from troubled lender countrywide
financial
dodd faced deep disapproval from voters in his home state and the prospects of
tough re election fight against wealthy businesswoman linda mcmahon
mid term us elections typically see the party that holds the white house lose
congressional seats and republicans hope rising anti incumbent tide fed by
double digit unemployment will further boost their fortunes
leading democratic senator announces retirement
new york jan afp
senator chris dodd leading democratic ally of president barack obama
announced wednesday that he is stepping down after almost four decades in
office
after years of representing the people of connecticut in the united states
congress will not be candidate for re election this november he told
reporters at his home in east haddam connecticut
dodd conceded his political vulnerability ahead of the congressional
elections saying am very aware of my present political standing here at
home
although dodd democratic leader in the uphill battle to pass healthcare
reform will go out on top his departure adds to growing uncertainty over the
democrats grip on congress
another leading democrat senator byron dorgan announced tuesday he would quit
at the end of the year
obama party currently holds of the senate seats the exact amount
needed for overriding republican procedural roadblocks on healthcare or other
legislation
the president reacted to dodd announced departure by praising his lifetime of
service in politics
while his work in the senate is not yet finished his leadership in that
institution will be missed obama said
an eloquent speaker who has been elected to congress eight times dodd referred
to challenges during the last year that led to his decision to step down
these included the death of his close friend and political ally in the senate
ted kennedy bout of cancer and the death of his sister
despite low polling numbers he denied that he was pulling out because he
thought he would not have been able to win in november
it is equally clear that any certain prediction about an election victory or
defeat nearly year from now would be absurd he said
dodd will remain in office until his successor takes over in months
football uae malaysia result
dubai jan afp
asian cup qualifier result on wednesday
united arab emirates khalil malaysia
football china iran qualify with japan but aussies must wait
singapore jan afp
china iran japan bahrain and the uae qualified for the asian cup finals
on wednesday but australia must wait after conceding two goal lead to draw
in kuwait
japan pulled off an escape in the ali mohsen al muraisi stadium in sana after
sota hirayama fired hat trick to see off yemen after the hosts had
established two goal lead through basem al aqel and sami karama
hirayama pulled one back just before the break before khaled baleid hit the
bar for yemen and the blue samurai striker close range finish minutes
from the end secured the win that ensured they stay atop group from which
bahrain also qualify after thumping hong kong
the game in sana was under threat of being called off following the attempted
bombing on christmas day of us bound airliner
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula the group yemen based arm claimed
responsibility for the attack
australia hopes are still in the balance after pim verbeek socceroos failed
to see off kuwait despite luke wilkshire and central coast mariners defender
