terror watchlist and served four years in british jail for inciting racial
hatred minister said thursday
kenya police had tried to deport abdullah al faisal to neighbouring
tanzania but dar es salaam rejected the move and the controversial imam was sent
back to nairobi international airport on wednesday
we had problems deporting him because many countries including the us
declined to have him even on transit but he finally chose country where he
wanted to go immigration minister otieno kajwang told reporters
he chose gambia and we have deported him there this morning in fact the
information we have is that he has already landed there and gambia has received
him otieno added
faisal was arrested last week shortly after attending prayers at mosque in the
coastal city of mombasa
police and immigration officials said at the time they arrested the imam for
violating immigration regulations by preaching
faisal was arrested in britain in after spending years urging his audiences
to kill jews hindus and westerners
cambodia ruling party warns krouge court
phnom penh jan afp
cambodia ruling party thursday warned the country un backed court not to
disrupt national progress in its pursuit of khmer rouge leaders as it marked
the st anniversary of the regime ouster
the court is preparing to give verdict in its first trial of former torture
centre chief duch while four other senior leaders of the hardline communist
regime are awaiting trial on war crimes and other charges
but cambodian and international prosecutors have openly clashed over whether the
court should pursue more suspects while the cambodian investigating judge has
refused to summon high ranking government officials as witnesses
we oppose any attempts to use the chamber for ill intentions that would have an
impact on peace national reconciliation and development which are our hard won
achievements said chea sim president of the cambodian people party cpp
addressing thousands of supporters during rally to mark the anniversary of the
toppling of the brutal khmer rouge regime by vietnamese backed forces in
chea sim pledged the party continued backing
cpp offers its support to the current process of the tribunal in trying
crimes committed by senior leaders of the democratic kampuchea khmer rouge
regime he said
cambodian prime minister hun sen who is also the deputy leader of the cpp has
repeatedly warned that pursuing more suspects from the hardline communist regime
could spark civil war
the process has often been hit by allegations that hun sen administration has
attempted to interfere in the tribunal to protect former regime members who are
now in government
after several years of haggling between cambodia and the un the tribunal was
created in to try former khmer rouge leaders
up to two million people were executed or died of starvation or overwork as the
khmer rouge regime tried to create an agrarian utopia after being
toppled they continued to fight civil war until
troops storm hotel end siege in indian kashmir
srinagar india jan afp
commandos stormed hotel in indian kashmir on thursday where two militants had
been holed up for nearly hours killing the gunmen and bringing an end to the
siege
the four storey hotel in srinagar the summer capital of the volatile himalayan
region was on fire before police announced both the pro pakistan extremists had
been killed in morning assault by security forces
the gunmen one pakistani and the other an indian kashmiri according to
police had taken refuge in the hotel on wednesday after throwing grenades and
opening fire in srinagar main market area
one police officer was killed in the attack and one bystander succumbed to his
injuries thursday
the operation as far as we are concerned is over kuldeep khuda the state
police chief told reporters at the scene
the indian administered section of muslim majority kashmir has been wracked by
separatist and anti india insurgency for two decades though violence has fallen
in recent years
divided into indian and pakistani controlled zones kashmir has been the trigger
for two wars between the south asian rivals since their independence from
britain in
pro pakistan militant group jamiat ul mujahedin claimed it was behind the
assault which left five police and four civilians injured police pointed the
finger at the pakistan based group lashkar toiba let
india blames let for the deadly attacks on mumbai in that claimed the lives
of people after highly organised rampage by islamist gunmen who
attacked two luxury hotels among other targets
overnight in srinagar police fired teargas to disperse scores of anti india and
pro militant youths who threw stones at security forces chanting kashmiri
mujahedeen we are with you and we want freedom
khuda said the police had cleared the building from the top floor before
encountering and killing the first militant early thursday
the other terrorist tried to set the building on fire and he tried to make
his escape but he was shot down he said
wednesday assault came as indian kashmir chief minister marked his first
year in office by pledging to slash the security force presence in the region if
violence continued to decline
incidents of unrest in kashmir were down by about percent last year
according to police figures and india responded by pulling out some
troops from the region
in the mid part of lal chowk the main city square that was under siege
was destroyed in fire that erupted during gunbattle between rebels and
security forces
the last such attack in the city was staged by two militants on paramilitary
camp in october the two gunmen were eventually killed while three soldiers
were wounded
joginder singh owner of another hotel in lal chowk said the latest attack was
nightmarish experience
for the whole night heavy fighting was on and and my staff were not able to
come out we thought we will die any moment said singh adding that one of his
employees was injured thursday morning by stray bullet
unrest in indian kashmir has left more than people dead since the
insurgency started two decades ago according to official figures
mass mercury poisoning at china factory report
beijing jan afp
over workers at an electrical factory in southern china have tested positive
for suspected mercury poisoning state press said thursday in the latest work
safety scandal to hit the nation
urine samples from workers at the foshan electrical and lighting co in
guangdong province were tested late last month after smaller group was
diagnosed with mercury poisoning xinhua news agency said
initially workers were diagnosed with mercury poisoning after taking tests
that they paid for themselves the report said
during the subsequent tests workers were identified as suspected cases and
were preparing for further tests
all six production lines of the workshop used liquid mercury but some workers
seldom took the trouble to wear mask at work xinhua cited the company
human resources manager lu ruijin as saying
workers had shown symptoms such as headaches hair loss aching joints and
shivers the report said
serious mercury poisoning affects the body immune system and can lead to
range of problems including psychological disorders loss of teeth and problems
with the digestive cardiovascular and respiratory tracts
the suspected poisoning sufferers were given paid leave and will be eligible for
compensation if the diagnosis is confirmed the report said citing officials in
guangdong the heartland of china light manufacturing sector
china work safety record is notorious and thousands of people die every year
in mines factories and on construction sites according to official sources
pollution related health scares are also common in china where an emphasis on
economic growth over the past three decades has led to widespread disregard for
environmental protection
spate of lead poisoning among children living too close to heavily polluting
factories came to light last year and state press routinely report on
increasingly angry protests over the issue
taiwan exports growth highest in near almost years
taipei jan afp
taiwan the world largest contract microchip exporter on thursday said
exports saw their biggest growth for nearly years due to recovering global
demand for electronic products
shipments last month totalled billion us dollars rise of percent
from year ago the finance ministry said in statement
the figures marked the biggest growth rate since it said
december export data marked month high and percent rise from the
billion dollars seen last month
jal shares drop on renewed bankruptcy fears
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines jal shares plunged again thursday as fears mounted that the
debt ridden carrier will file for bankruptcy despite reports it is set to get
an injection of public funds
asia biggest carrier sank percent to end at yen continuing their
recent rollercoaster ride on the tokyo stock market
investors are selling on renewed fears that jal could file for bankruptcy
said makoto murayama an analyst at nomura securities
jal may slash more than jobs and book massive restructuring charge of
trillion yen billion dollars in the financial year ending march
the nikkei business daily said without naming its sources
meanwhile the turnaround body overseeing jal restructuring is preparing
billion yen investment if the airline files for bankruptcy the nikkei and other
media reported
the enterprise turnaround initiative corp intends to ask jal creditors
including the state owned development bank to waive further billion yen
in loans to the airline according to draft rescue plan the reports said
japan government has pledged to avoid collapse of the former state owned
carrier but has refused to rule out bankruptcy proceedings
court protection from creditors can enable company to restructure its debts
and implement other restructuring measures but would be likely to leave
investors out of pocket
jal private lenders favour out of court restructuring fearing legal
bankruptcy would damage the airline reputation and make it harder for them to
recoup their investment
the carrier is seeking its fourth government bailout since to enable it to
keep flying in the face of mounting debts
the airline which lost about billion dollars in the six months to
september has said it plans thousands of job cuts and drastic reduction in
routes as part of its efforts to return to profitability
the japanese government at the weekend announced it was doubling state backed
loan extended to jal to billion yen
jal has been offered financial assistance by both american airlines and delta
air lines which are competing to take stake in the japanese company and
increase their share of the lucrative asian market
media reports suggest jal is leaning towards forging capital tie up with delta
and join the skyteam global alliance leaving the oneworld group which includes
american airlines
the worldwide recession and swine flu pandemic have dealt heavy blow to jal
efforts to recover from long period of financial turbulence stretching back to
its privatisation more than two decades ago
anti terror chief among seven killed in iraq blasts
ramadi iraq jan afp
co ordinated bombings early thursday shattered the homes of four police officers
in the western iraqi town of heet killing seven people including the town
anti terror chief an official said
six people were wounded in the blasts
attackers planted explosives around the bedrooms of the policemen in the town
kilometres miles west of the anbar provincial capital of ramadi said
lieutenant colonel fadhil nimrawi the head of the town emergency response
unit
at am men planted bombs around the bedrooms of four houses belonging to
members of the police force including major walid al heeti the head of heet
anti terror department he said
the bombs killed seven people including the anti terror chief and wounded six
others including women and children from the four families
the dead also included heeti wife and mother child and three other police
officers nimrawi said
the four houses were in different neighbourhoods across the centre of heet and
no vehicles are being allowed in or out of the town as part of ramped up
security
nimrawi added that several people had been arrested in connection with the
attack but declined to specify how many citing security reasons he added that
security forces were still looking for other people they suspected of being
involved in the bombings
heeti was one of the leaders of campaign against al qaeda in mostly sunni
anbar which helped dramatically reduce the terror network presence in the
province iraq biggest
several cities in anbar were used as insurgent bases in the aftermath of the us
led invasion of
but since local sunni tribes have sided with the us military and iraqi
authorities daily violence has dropped dramatically as al qaeda fighters have
been ejected from the region
thursday attacks were the latest in string of bombings against targets
symbolising the government or the state in recent months indicating shift in
tactics by insurgents as the overall level of violence drops nationwide
on december co ordinated bombings near government offices in ramadi which
were blamed on al qaeda killed people and wounded the anbar provincial
governor
earlier that month the head of salaheddin province anti terror squad and at
least three of his bodyguards were among five people killed by suicide bomber
in tikrit the predominantly sunni hometown of executed iraqi dictator saddam
hussein
co ordinated vehicle bombings in baghdad in august october and december
meanwhile killed nearly people in all
iraq and iran to meet to draw border mottaki
baghdad jan afp
iraq and iran will hold talks from next week to formally mark their borders
iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki said thursday weeks after dispute
between the two countries over an oil well
mottaki made the remarks at joint media conference with his iraqi counterpart
hoshyar zebari on one day visit to baghdad he was due later to meet with
iraqi president jalal talabani and other senior leaders
there will be meeting within week between the two countries about the
borders mottaki told news conference in the foreign ministry in central
baghdad
he added that in the following weeks meetings would be held between technical
committees from the two countries to determine the land and maritime borders
separating the two countries
iranian television said earlier that mottaki on his first visit to iraq since
september was leading large delegation on the visit which was to focus on
bilateral security co operation and border issues
tehran has often been accused by us military leaders whose forces still have
large presence in iraq of funding and training shiite militant groups and
undermining security in the conflict torn country
mottaki latest visit comes just weeks after iranian forces took over an oil
well along the two countries disputed border prompting stand off that drove
up international crude prices
on december iraq state owned south oil co said about dozen iranian
troops and technicians had arrived at the field taken control of the well and
raised the iranian flag they eventually withdrew days later
well is in the fauqa field part of cluster of oilfields which iraq
unsuccessfully put up for auction to oil majors in june the field has estimated
reserves of million barrels
though iraqi officials had said last month that iranian forces remained on iraqi
territory after withdrawing from the field mottaki told reporters some orders
have been issued to the iranian forces to return to their original places
he said the oil field offered an opportunity for joint investment
the border forces of the two countries returned to their places and after the
meetings of the technical committees everything will revert back to normal
the takeover was one of the most serious incidents between the two neighbours
since the us led invasion of toppled now executed dictator saddam hussein
regime which fought devastating war against iran
zebari told lawmakers last month that iran has been violating iraq borders
since the two countries share kilometre mile frontier
many leaders of shiite parties who were exiled to iran during the saddam era are
now in power in baghdad
former french minister philippe seguin dies at
paris jan afp
the french former government minister philippe seguin died overnight at the age
of officials said on thursday
seguin served as employment minister in former president jacques chirac
government and later speaker of parliament since he had been president of
france public audit office
president nicolas sarkozy hailed seguin as one of the great figures and great
voices of our national life in statement released on thursday morning
expressing his very great sadness at the news
gaullist politician in the patriotic tradition of wartime leader charles de
gaulle seguin was fierce critic of european integration
police and relatives said seguin died of heart attack at his home in paris
his death was also confirmed by his political party the ump
his friend former interior minister charles pasqua said on rtl radio that
seguin was passionate man who loved his country and his death was great
loss for france
former prime minister jean pierre raffarin told radio classique that seguin was
an exceptional character he was afraid of nobody
six egyptian copts killed in christmas eve attack
cairo jan afp
attackers in car raked crowd of shoppers in south egypt town with gunfire
killing policemen and six coptic christians on the eve of their christmas
celebrations security official said on thursday
the drive by shooting took place late wednesday in the southern egyptian town of
nagaa hammadi as copts were preparing for christmas which they celebrate january
along with other orthodox communities the official said
witnesses however gave conflicting account of the attack saying the gunmen
struck as worshippers emerged from midnight mass at the main church in nagaa
hammadi
three unidentified individuals in car opened fire on christians in shopping
district as they were making purchases for christmas the security official
said as cited by state run mena news agency
nine other copts were wounded in the shooting he added
the gunmen also opened fire in front of convent located in an rural area
near the town in the province of qana kilometres miles south of
cairo the official said
witnesses cited by local officials said the main gunman muslim is wanted
by police and linked the incident to the abduction of year old muslim girl
in november who was allegedly raped by coptic youth
the first elements of the investigation based on testimony of people on the
ground indicate that the main shooter is town resident identified as mohammed
ahmed hussein who is wanted by the police one official said
in november hundreds of muslim protesters torched christian owned shops in the
town of farshut near nagaa hammadi and attacked police station where they
believed the suspected rapist was being held
that incident was the latest in string of sectarian tensions in between
muslims and egypt copts the middle east largest christian community who
represent roughly percent of egypt million population
copts have complained over the years of frequent discrimination harassment and
that they are the targets of sectarian attacks they also allege they are
overlooked in top jobs in the army police and judiciary
on wednesday the head of the coptic minority pope shenuda iii led christmas
midnight mass at the abbassiya church in cairo which was attended by thousands
of worshippers
gamal mubarak the son of egyptian president hosni mubarak who has been widely
tipped as being the next head of state was among several prominent figures who
attended the mass an afp photographer said
merkel coalition heads set for crisis meeting
berlin jan afp
the heads of the three parties in german chancellor angela merkel new
coalition will hold what the press terms crisis meeting after shaky start
due to infighting it emerged on thursday
horst seehofer head of the christian social union csu the bavarian sister
party to merkel christian democrats cdu confirmed report in the
sueddeutsche zeitung daily that meeting would take place this month
merkel ditched the cdu and csu previous grand coalition partners the
centre left social democrats spd in elections on september for tie up
with the business friendly free democrats fdp led by guido westerwelle
but it has been anything but plain sailing with the coalition riven by
divisions over plans to boost the ailing economy with billions of euros
dollars in tax cuts that many experts say the country can ill afford
the conservative merkel only narrowly succeeded in december to push through the
upper house of parliament first wave of tax cuts worth billion euros and
this was only foretaste of the much larger cuts to come
further friction most notably between the csu and the fdp the two smaller
coalition parties has come from germany afghanistan mission and over museum
on the post war expulsion of ethnic germans from eastern europe
it has nothing to do with any crisis seehofer insisted in bavaria on the
sidelines of csu meeting late on thursday calling the planned get together
routine
vw says chinese sales hit record million cars
frankfurt jan afp
the biggest european carmaker volkswagen said on thursday that chinese sales
hit record million vehicles in in what is now its most important
market
the figure represented leap of percent from the figure of
million statement said adding that has been an extraordinary year
the automotive market went beyond everybody expectations it said
the group sold million vw brand cars in china along with nearly
high end audi models and less expensive skodas
we are full of confidence for and expecting growth rate of to
percent for the total automotive market in china said winfried vahland
president and chief executive of volkswagen group china
last year the group also sold so called supercars in china including
bentleys and lamborghinis
vw owns brands in all including its most recently acquired one porsche
korea celebrates birthday of leader son reports
seoul jan afp
north korea ruling communist party will pledge loyalty thursday to the
youngest son of leader kim jong il report said ahead of the birthday of
man widely tipped to succeed his father
the show of support for kim jong un who turns on friday will take place in
the capital pyongyang said opennews for north korea seoul based media
organisation run by north korea watchers
party members have held series of rallies in other cities this week to pledge
loyalty to jong un nk intellectuals solidarity group of defectors said in
report
the south unification ministry which deals with cross border relations said
it could not confirm the reports
the regime has used kim jong il birthday major national holiday to stress
loyalty to him
succession speculation has intensified since kim senior suffered stroke
in august widespread reports say he has chosen jong un to inherit power
there have been unconfirmed reports that jong un was already given post in the
communist party in preparation for his eventual takeover
but some analysts say pyongyang is waiting for the right opportunity to announce
jung un nomination as eventual successor
kim jong il who took over after his father died in in long planned move
has three sons from two marriages according to outside analysts
information is scant about jong un the second son of kim jong il third wife
ko yong hee no adult photo of him is publicly available
some reports say jong un born in attended an international school in the
swiss city of berne under pseudonym
kenji fujimoto former personal chef to kim jong il has described the third
son as chip off the old block who closely resembles his father physically
and in terms of personality
garbage heap bomb wounds afghan acting governor police
kabul jan afp
bomb planted in pile of rubbish wounded the acting governor of an afghan
province plagued by taliban violence along with two other officials on thursday
police said
the explosives went off outside meeting hall where the acting governor of
khost tahir khan sabari was holding talks
behind that wall which was close to the meeting hall was garbage in which
explosives were detonated said mohammad yaquob acting khost police chief
the acting governor was slightly wounded in his foot due to breaking glass and
the executive director and governor office manager have been slightly hurt by
flying glass but they are fine
there was big bang but the wall is still standing he added
provincial police criminal investigation chief gul dad mandozai said earlier
that sabari and three other people were wounded in an explosion
khost is on afghanistan southeastern border with pakistan and sees high rate
of taliban activity which has escalated in recent months as the militants
expand their footprint across the county
afghan government officials are regular targets of attacks by the taliban who
are trying to overthrow the fragile government of president hamid karzai which
is kept in power with the help of more than us and nato troops
that number is set to climb to over the course of the year as the united
states and nato escalate their efforts to dislodge the militants who are
increasingly in league with drug smugglers experts say
japanese firms slow construction of dubai metro
tokyo jan afp
consortium led by japan mitsubishi heavy industries has put the brakes on
construction work on the dubai metro due to disagreement over payments one of
the firms said thursday
we are slowing the pace of the construction for the purpose of negotiating the
terms of contracts said toshitaka kawahara spokesman for obayashi corp
which is one of the constructors
the consortium also comprises mitsubishi corp kajima corp and turkey yapi
merkezi
source close to one of the companies said that the construction work appeared
to have been temporarily halted
it seems that the work has stopped on site said the source who declined to
be named
spokesman for mitsubishi heavy industries said the work had slowed down
dubai said in september that the cost of building the metro had nearly doubled
to billion dollars adding to the financial troubles of the gulf emirate
which is battling serious debt crisis
the japanese nikkei business daily reported earlier thursday that the consortium
would suspend construction on the metro as early as thursday due to delay in
payment from the dubai government
the consortium members decided to halt the work for the time being to secure
back payments from the dubai government it said
the global financial crisis has hit the construction sector in dubai delaying
many projects due to the credit crunch
the emirate narrowly escaped financial catastrophe last month as neighbouring
deep pocketed abu dhabi threw it last minute lifeline worth billion dollars
to pay imminent debt owed by dubai world
dubai inaugurated its metro network in september in bid to cut dependency on
cars and ease congestion becoming the first city in the oil rich gulf to
introduce rail as commuting option
rwanda and france pledge to bolster ties after diplomatic freeze
kigali jan afp
rwanda and france pledged thursday to bolster relations following long freeze
in diplomatic ties after french judge issued arrest warrants against president
paul kagame aides
we are convinced that our two countries must move forward together said
louise mushikiwabo rwanda foreign minister after talks with her french
counterpart bernard kouchner who is on one day visit to the country
we have common history we have had difficulties we are ready to discuss
them and move on we are beginning new phase in our shared history
kouchner visit is the first by french government official since the two
countries resumed diplomatic ties in november
rwanda broke off ties with france in after french judge jean louis
bruguiere issued warrants for nine officials close to kagame suspected of being
implicated in the shooting down of the plane of former rwandan president
we are going to resume normal relations we need to restore cultural and
development programmes said kouchner who arrived in kigali late wednesday
with regard to the dark moments we need to ask historians sociologists
witnesses and survivors to work together so that our countries know what
happened
the april downing of the plane carrying former rwandan president juvenal
habyarimana is believed to have triggered the genocide in which some
people mainly minority tutsis were killed
probe by rwandan panel said extremists in the country then government were
responsible for habyarimana death and that france was not involved
however it noted that french military officials stationed in rwanda as part of
military agreement with the late president regime had access to the plane
wreckage
kigali has repeatedly accused france of siding with the hutus who carried out
the genocide charge paris has always denied
world cheapest car to cost fortune
new delhi jan afp
it was touted as the world cheapest car at dollars apiece but new
version of the snub nosed tata nano will be available soon at price closer to
that of top end ferrari or porsche
mumbai based firm design says it is refitting the metre feet
five seater hatchback doing away with its plastic seat coverings small wheels
and single dial dashboard
the car basic silhouette will be retained but everything else will go in the
dollar bespoke models first prototype is expected in two months
our hallmark is high technology products dilip chhabaria head of
design specialist car refitting group told afp
we would like to keep the cost low but with the technology and the amount of
work we will be putting into the car the million rupee dollars
price tag will be justified chhabaria added
we will retain the chassis and the floor plan other than that everything will
be different there will be lot of tech wizardry in it plenty of it enabled
equipment he said
