his car
bomb attacks are rare in iran although several security officials and members of
the elite revolutionary guards have been killed in bombings by rebels in restive
sistan baluchestan province in the east of the country
witness told afp that tuesday explosion was strong blast breaking windows
in neighbouring houses and cars
iran state run arabic language television al alam identified mohammadi as
hezbollahi teacher term used for staunch supporters of the iranian
regime
this assassination may have been carried out by the hypocrites iran exiled
people mujahideen opposition or planned by the zionist regime al alam said
the opposition group denied any involvement in the attack
the ncri has no connection with this murder spokesman for the national
council of resistance of iran which includes the banned people mujahideen
told afp in paris
iranian authorities have consistently accused archfoes the united states and
israel of seeking to foment unrest in iran and the two countries have never
ruled out military strike to thwart iran controversial nuclear drive
none of the reports said whether mohammadi was connected to iran nuclear
enrichment programme and colleague described him as non political
he was prominent full professor but he was not political figure he had no
political activity ali maghari who heads the faculty of sciences at tehran
university told mehr news agency
however mohammadi name appeared on list of academics backing iranian
opposition leader mir hossein mousavi for the disputed june presidential
election which gave president mahmoud ahmadinejad second term
the opposition claims the vote was massively rigged in ahmadinejad favour and
has for the past six months been staging anti government protests at every
opportunity many of which have been broken up by police who have arrested
hundreds of demonstrators
hardliners have accused the people mujahideen of infiltrating the anti
government protests and carrying out attacks on regime targets
iran has been under international pressure to halt its sensitive uranium
enrichment programme which is at the centre of fears about iran ambitions as
the process which makes nuclear fuel can also be used to make atom bombs
despite three rounds of un security council sanctions iran has continued to
expand its nuclear programme which it insists is for peaceful purposes only
world powers seeking to curb iran atomic drive are still awaiting response
from tehran to un brokered offer to ship most of iran low enriched uranium
abroad to be further refined into reactor fuel
iran has rejected the offer and has offered its own counter proposal of staged
swap
some western powers have dismissed the iranian proposal and insist the islamic
republic accept the un backed deal or face further sanctions
the united states russia china britain france and germany will meet late this
week to discuss sanctions against iran us secretary of state hillary clinton
said last week
syria warns us over flight watch list
damascus jan afp
syria on tuesday protested at washington decision to place the country on
list of terror linked states following the attempted christmas day bombing
of us airliner
us charge affaires charles hunter was summoned to the foreign ministry to hear
strong protest after the discriminatory measures against citizens of certain
countries wishing to travel to the united states the ministry said
syria would be obliged to take reciprocal measures if the us party pursues
implementation of the decision and unless washington revises its measures
which are damaging to syrian citizens it said
the ministry said the decision was unfriendly and revealed the double
standards of us policy
washington has decided that all travellers to the united states from or via
terror linked countries including syria will have to undergo compulsory
enhanced screening
syria does not have direct air links with the united states
mozambican airline resumes flights to portugal
maputo jan afp
mozambique national air carrier announced tuesday that it will resume flights
to portugal the first time in decade that it has offered the service
linhas aereas de mocambique lam said in press release that it would resume
the flights within the first semester of this year
lam spokesman told afp the flights would travel from the mozambican capital
maputo to portugal capital lisbon
lam was established in when mozambique was still portuguese colony and
had regular flights to portugal until the route was cancelled about decade
ago according to state information agency aim
lam which is held jointly by the government and company employees is
mozambique only domestic airline
it has been expanding its international service recently with new route to
luanda angola launched last november
the company also flies to kenya south africa and tanzania
yemen renews qaeda talks offer
sanaa jan afp
yemen foreign minister on tuesday renewed an offer to talk to al qaeda
loyalists in osama bin laden ancestral homeland as well as shiite rebels in
the north provided that they lay down their arms
dialogue is the best way to resolve differences even with the shiite rebel
huthis and the al qaeda organisation if they lay down their arms and abandon
violence and terrorism abu bakr al kurbi told reporters
but he warned that the government would hunt down al qaeda militants if they do
not give up violence
if they continue committing acts of violence and terrorism we will do our best
to pursue them because they pose threat not only to yemen but also to
international peace and security especially al qaeda he said
president ali abdullah saleh already said on sunday that he was open to dialogue
with al qaeda militants if they abandon violence
if al qaeda militants lay down their arms renounce violence and terrorism
and return to wisdom we are prepared to deal with them saleh said
the al qaeda branch in the impoverished country claimed responsibility for the
botched christmas day attack on us airliner while the united states accused
the group of training the assailant umar farouk abdulmutallab
yemen insists it can win the war against the militants without us military
intervention but analysts fear it cannot tackle the jihadists on its own
yemen is also fighting fierce war with zaidi shiite rebels in the northern
mountains in bid to end their five year uprising
allegation of us role in iran bombing absurd state dept
washington jan afp
the united states rejected as absurd an allegation by tehran tuesday that
washington had hand in bomb attack that killed an iranian nuclear scientist
state department spokesman said
charges of us involvement are absurd state department spokesman mark toner
said after iran foreign ministry accused us and israeli mercenaries of
being behind the bomb plot
football real higuain sidelined with leg muscle injury
madrid jan afp
real madrid argentine international striker gonzalo higuain has suffered
tear in his left calf muscle and will be sidelined for three weeks the club
said on tuesday
the injury was detected after the year old underwent medical tests at
madrid hospital on tuesday it said in statement
higuain has been regular for real this season scoring times in the league
and two in the champions league despite the arrival of portugal cristiano
ronaldo brazil kaka and france karim benzema
benzema the top scorer in the french league the season who has
struggled to impress since he joined real from french side lyon in july is
likely to take higuain place
real are currently in second place in la liga two points behind barcelona
incoming eu trade chief lashes out at china
brussels jan afp
europe incoming trade commissioner on tuesday lashed out at what he said was
deliberate policy in china of maintaining depressed yuan currency in remarks
likely to spark furore
warning that china currency policy posed major problem for global economic
recovery belgium karel de gucht highlighted growing european union unease
with beijing before even being confirmed in the post
his criticism of unofficial chinese moves to peg its renminbi currency to weak
dollar thereby threatening competitiveness for european exporters came
after confirmation hearing before lawmakers in brussels
already during the three hour session in the european parliament the current
commissioner for development and humanitarian aid vowed to battle hidden
obstacles thrown up by united states regulators during his term
de gucht has sparked controversy before with comments last month in which he
questioned the capacity of authorities in the democratic republic of congo
former belgian colony to make effective use of eu aid money
his comments about china on tuesday are likely to rile beijing
it is obvious that the undervaluation of the chinese currency is major
problem he said
it is clear to me that this is deliberate policy and we should address this
at all possible occasions bilaterally and also multilaterally
economic ties between brussels and beijing have soured in recent months over
stepping up of trade disputes on range of products from shoes to screws
de gucht had already warned during his opening remarks to the eu deputies that
china must show its responsibility and address thorny questions such as
currency misalignment
displaying the sort of self assuredness that was lacking from monday opening
showing by the bloc nominee as its new foreign policy supremo english
baroness catherine ashton de gucht generally offered clear sense of his
position on multitude of trade related questions
he also dismissed calls to impose carbon tax at eu borders and expressed
confidence that an oft stalled deal to free up international commerce could be
agreed by next year
on the us he said his primary focus would lie in breaking down barriers
behind the border predominantly owing to differences in regulation
rejecting french led calls for tax on polluters targeting countries that held
back december united nations talks on fighting global warming he said the risk
of such tax was that it would lead to an escalating trade war on global
level
such free trade credentials were left slightly more open to question when it
came to his view of long running world trade organisation negotiations under the
so called doha round
he said he was personally confident that deal on trade with poor nations
overcoming divisive issues including agricultural subsidies and tariffs would
be agreed in or
de gucht also maintained that those talks should stay focused on trade terms
but said he was open to re drawing the wto remit thereafter to pay greater
heed to climate change and other non trade specific concerns
he said he would seek to manage his new brief if or when confirmed without
compromising human rights climate or labour issues while seeking the eu core
economic growth objective in sustainable way
to that end he wanted to protect eu companies roles in an emerging global
green economy so that the experience of micro electronic innovation where
production has mostly migrated beyond the bloc borders would not be repeated
china hu calls graft battle pressing task state media
beijing jan afp
chinese president hu jintao called on tuesday for greater efforts to stem
widespread corruption calling it pressing task facing the country state
media reported tuesday
in speech to the party anti graft body hu pledged to push forward the
construction of anti corruption procedures with confidence determination and
forceful measures xinhua news agency said
hu and other top leaders regularly denounce the graft that infects the nation
political and business circles and is viewed by the ruling communist party it as
threat to its legitimacy but the problem persists
hu said efforts should be made to investigate cases of power abuse corruption
and embezzlement as well as dereliction of duty the report said
bond issuer defaults hits year high amp
frankfurt jan afp
the number of bond issuer defaults climbed worldwide to last year the most
since ratings agency standard amp poor began keeping records in
amp said tuesday
the number even exceeds the defaults recorded in the most recent
recession amp said in statement added economies emerge from the
recession
businesses and governments are set to raise tens of billions of dollars from
bond markets this year amid concern that interest rates will begin to rise
making it more expensive to raise funds
in the eurozone companies have also turned to bond markets as commercial banks
have tightened their credit conditions
on monday the german state owned deutsche pfandbriefbank raised one billion
euros billion dollars with placement that followed two others in
september and october it said in statement
other bond issuers this week include virgin media bmw and the manchester united
football club which collectively are placing bonds worth more than billion
dollars the financial times reported
last year the most defaults took place in the united states which recorded
followed by in emerging markets in europe and in australia
canada japan and new zealand the amp statement said
these tallies are all roughly twice their respective regional default totals
recorded in it added
france pledges support for croatia eu bid
zagreb jan afp
french president nicolas sarkozy pledged his country support for croatia bid
to join the european union in letter tuesday congratulating ivo josipovic on
his election as president
josipovic law professor from the opposition social democrats won sunday
vote on pledge to fight corruption key criteria for joining the european
bloc
croatia entry in the eu will be historic moment for your country and the
whole europe and it will be also factor of stability and sign of hope for
the whole region sarkozy said in letter released by the french embassy
he pledged france full support for croatia bid for eu membership zagreb
is hoping to become eu th member by january
josipovic won the run off election with more than percent of the votes
and vowed to transform the former yugoslav republic into star of europe
urgent allegation of us role in iran bombing absurd state dept
washington jan afp
the united states rejected as absurd an allegation by tehran monday that
washington had hand in bomb attack that killed an iranian nuclear scientist
state department spokesman said tuesday
rbs bank boss vows to minimise staff bonuses
london jan afp
the boss of britain state controlled royal bank of scotland vowed tuesday to
minimise bankers bonuses amid public anger over potential payouts that could be
deemed reward for failure
the british bank which is percent owned by the government after series of
enormous bailouts was not going to pay penny more than we need to chief
executive stephen hester told panel of lawmakers
it is my duty as chief executive to protect shareholder interests and pay the
minimum bonuses that our group can get away with consistent with motivating
and keeping good staff hester told the treasury select committee
he added that the bonus levels would be minimal when they are announced in late
february
rbs was undone by the global credit crunch and its takeover of dutch banking
giant abn amro at the top of the market in just before the financial crisis
ravaged markets and economies across the world
some observers blame the banking sector bonus culture for encouraging
excessive risk taking and helping to tip the world economy into recession
britain spent billions of pounds bailing out some of the country biggest
institutions including rbs and lloyds banking group which is percent owned
by the state while lender northern rock was nationalised
last month the government slapped percent tax rate on bank employee
bonuses above pounds euros dollars to recoup some of the
cash spent rescuing the financial sector
britain hopes to recoup more than half billion pounds but recent media
reports have suggested that some large financial institutions may be considering
moving staff to avoid the so called super tax
finance minister alistair darling has said that the one off levy would be spent
on helping the unemployed
there is mounting public anger about the controversial issue of bonuses at banks
that were bailed out by governments around the world
in separate move on tuesday france said it expected to raise million
euros million dollars from its one off tax on bank bonuses that will apply
to some traders
major us banks are meanwhile gearing up to announce annual bonuses for top
executives while bracing for political firestorm over the issue
number of multimillion dollar bonus payments are likely even though most of
the payouts are expected to be in the form of shares with restrictions aimed at
discouraging excessive risk taking at many banks
president barack obama administration has warned that hefty payouts could lead
to political backlash
angola knew cabinda matches risky world cup chief
johannesburg jan afp
angola knew the dangers of staging games in the restive cabinda enclave and must
take responsibility for the deadly gun attack at africa premier football
event the world cup boss said tuesday
how long is it known that there is separatist group in angola for many many
years what are the possibilities of terror attack it was known danny
jordaan told afp
it is responsibility of the host nation to deal with those issues said
jordaan who led technical team to angola in to assess its readiness for
the tournament on behalf of the confederation of african football caf
all the concerns about the tournament were included in report that was handed
over to caf he said
jordaan again brushed off worries that the attack killing the squad assistant
coach and media spokesman could affect the world cup which kicks off in south
africa in june
what happened in angola has nothing to with south africa please judge us
fairly jordaan the world cup chief organiser told news conference
earlier
we must be judged on reality not on perception we hosted major
international events since and we didn have any incidents he said
separatist guerrillas opened fire on togo convoy friday as they crossed into
cabinda from neighbouring congo brazzaville leaving players cowering under
their seats during minute gunbattle with security escorts
togo withdrew from the tournament on sunday just as the opening ceremonies
kicked off in luanda and coach hubert velud told afp that he believed
authorities hadn provided adequate security to the team
security was very light and the way it was organised we felt that
transparency and communication were not of the best quality he said
at first they tried to minimise the thing resented that it added to the
psychological trauma he said
two people have been arrested but angolan authorities have revealed few details
about the men
security forces have since clamped down on cabinda tiny but economically
crucial province that produces more than half of the oil in africa top
exporter
soldiers have cordoned off the footballers village in cabinda along with tight
security at the seat chiazi stadium which hosted its first match in the
tournament without incident on monday
two different separatist groups have claimed responsibility for last week
attack highlighting the difficulties angola faces in reining in deeply
fractured guerrilla movement
the attack was initially claimed by rodrigues mingas head of the forces for the
liberation of the state of cabinda military position flec pm who lives in
exile in france
but larger group known as the front for the liberation of the enclave of
cabinda armed forces of cabinda flec fac on tuesday said they had opened fire
on togo convoy on friday killing two of the squad
while mingas on sunday threatened more attacks during africa premier football
tournament flec fac said their intended target was togo military escort and
vowed not to stage any more attacks during the competition
we are not terrorists the attack did not target our togolese brothers said
jean claude zita top adviser to flec fac who lives in exile in switzerland
every time the armed forces of cabinda sees an angolan convoy they open fire
he said
we have nothing against our african brothers and we like football he said by
telephone dismissing mingas faction as opportunists
alex vines an analyst with the british think tank chatham house said the rival
claims were part of the exile politics of separatist leaders who live mainly
in europe and who all claim to represent various flec splinter groups
somebody did the attack linked to flec but who exactly is the problem he
said
some say there indiscipline within small flec units and they re not
controlled at all from the outside from their leadership he said
it very difficult for the angolans to deal with this he added
football wales set swedish friendly date
cardiff jan afp
world cup absentees wales and sweden will begin the build up to their euro
qualifying campaigns with friendly in swansea on march the football
association of wales announced on tuesday
it will be the first match for wales since win over scotland in november
while it will be the second in charge for new sweden coach erik hamren following
friendly defeat in italy also in november
the draw for the euro qualifiers is due to take place in warsaw on february
with matches due to begin in september
arcelormittal workers go on strike in algeria
algiers jan afp
some workers at the arcelormittal steel factory near annaba in eastern
algeria launched an indefinite strike on tuesday shutting the plant down the
main union and the management said
the complex is completely paralysed union leader smain kouadria told afp
the workers are gathered outside the management offices
the factory has stopped there will be discussions today at pm with the
union arcelormittal annaba communications director mohamed guedha stated on
french language radio
kouadria said the strike was agreed because the management had refused to
renovate the coking plant at the factory at el hadjar which the union saw as
reneging on decision made last october
the management said then it would shut down the coking plant which is more than
years old for year while renovating it then they abandoned the project
according to kouadria
the top management has informed us that the renovation of the coking plant is
not priority kouadria said
in statement given to the press the management said it would treat the
workers of the coking plant with particular attention redeploying them to
other parts of the factory if necessary
the company has announced an investment plan of million dollars million
euros for the period but this proposal is contested by the union
we officially reject this investment plan the public authorities should
financially support arcelormittal in algeria kouadria told afp
the el hadjar plant subsidiary of the world steel giant arcelormittal
employs about people and produced tonnes of steel in
according to its managing director vincent le gouic
formerly the property of the algerian state the steel plant was privatised more
than eight years ago in october percent of the shares in the firm were
bought by the indian company ispat member of the mittal group
pakistan economy expected to grow despite militancy bank
karachi jan afp
pakistan battered economy is showing some signs of improvement with gdp growth
expected to rise state bank report said tuesday but it warned that the
battle against militants remained costly
inflation the global recession crippling power shortage and wave of
islamist violence have all taken their toll on pakistan with economic growth
last fiscal year which ended june the lowest since
the prospects of returning to macroeconomic stability have improved this fiscal
year as most of the key indicators continue positive trends that began in the
closing months of the last fiscal year the quarterly report said
real gdp growth will likely to be around the annual target of between
percent and percent higher than last fiscal year percent it said
the state bank report said that inflation will likely average between and
percent this year down from when average inflation was percent
inflation hit year high in september
the current account deficit is targeted to be between percent and
percent of gdp the report said compared with percent last year
exports are estimated to remain stable at about billion dollars and imports
at about billion dollars the same as last fiscal year
but the report warned that increasing bombings by islamist fighters and the
multiple offensives launched last year by the military to try and quash taliban
strongholds in the northwest would continue to take financial toll
given exceptional circumstances arising from the stepped up campaign against
militants these targets may not be achieved due to huge expenditures on defence
and the rehabilitation of internally displaced people it said
the indirect cost of war entails weaker growth in tax collections as
industrial and trade activities which are the main contributors to fiscal
revenue remain dull due to security uncertainties it said
alert
us rejects absurd charges of involvement in iran bombing state department
yemen tribal clashes kill shiite rebels
sanaa jan afp
clashes with yemeni pro government tribesmen killed zaidi shiite rebels north
of the capital sanaa on tuesday tribal chief told afp
the al sagra and al abu hussein tribes clashed with the rebels in al jawf
province east of the insurgent stronghold in saada when the rebels tried to
take control of house that belongs to the tribes abdullah al sagra said
tribes clashed with the rebels killing of them said al sagra adding that
one tribeman was wounded in the confrontation which lasted around five hours
we have the corpses he said adding that the remaining assailants had fled
the area
it is the third reported clash in month between tribesmen and the rebels who
have been fighting fierce battles with the army since august when the sanaa
government vowed to eradicate their five year old uprising
sheikh arfaj bin hadban tribal leader from the region told afp that the
rebels had sent hundreds of their fighters to the jawf to open new front in
the desert east of their mountain stronghold
verdict on reiss after saturday hearing iran prosecutor
tehran jan afp
an iranian court will deliver final verdict on french academic clotilde reiss
charged in iran with taking part in anti regime protests after hearing on
saturday tehran prosecutor said
her trial session is due on saturday and the court will make final decision
tehran prosecutor abbas jafari dolatabadi told the official irna news agency on
tuesday
the hearing will be the third for the year old academic after she was
arrested on july and charged with acting against iran national security
she was bailed out in august and is currently staying at the french embassy
awaiting the outcome of her case
reiss was arrested shortly before she was due to fly home after six month
study and teaching visit to the iranian city of isfahan
she was accused of supporting opposition protests that erupted after the
controversial re election of president mahmoud ahmadinejad in june
she was one of scores of people paraded before cameras at televised trial
before being remanded in custody in tehran notorious evin jail
iran opposition which charges the election was massively rigged to keep
hardline ahmadinejad in power has dismissed the court proceedings as show
trials
france has furiously protested reiss innocence on all charges and accused
tehran of trying to blackmail paris into releasing an iranian agent jailed in
france for the murder of an exiled former prime minister
ahmadinejad suggested in december that iran might pardon reiss if ali valiki
rad who is serving life sentence is freed but his french counterpart
nicolas sarkozy has rejected the idea
iran has arrested thousands of protesters and put about people on trial on
charges of inciting or participating in the protests
iranian leaders have repeatedly accused western powers and most notably the
united states and britain of seeking to overthrow the islamic regime by
fomenting mass protests in the aftermath of the election
several prominent reformist politicians and journalists backing the opposition
have been sentenced to years in prison over their alleged roles in the unrest
china moves to rein in lending amid overheating fears
beijing jan afp
china pulled pair of fiscal levers on tuesday as authorities sought to rein in
surge of aggressive lending by banks that has raised fears of inflation and
looming asset bubble
after issuing series of recent calls for banks to moderate their lending
activity the central bank took action tuesday hiking the minimum amount of
money that banks must keep in reserve for the first time in more than year
earlier in the day it raised the interest rate on its one year treasury bills
and last week raised the rate on its three month bills increasing borrowing
costs
the widely expected fiscal tightening moves came day after state media
reported banks had extended massive billion yuan billion dollars in
loans in the first week of january
the people bank of china did not give reason for its moves but analysts said
they showed the government intended to rein in credit expansion that has led
to concerns over inflation economic overheating and rash of bad loans
this series of moves by the central bank provides clear sign that policy
makers are following through on their pledge to guide credit in order to pre
empt rising inflation and avoid asset price bubbles jing ulrich an economist
with morgan said in research note
the central bank said in one line notice on its website that the deposit
reserve ratio for commercial banks would be hiked by basis points
the ratio is the minimum amount of money that banks must keep in reserves and is
considered way to limit the amount of money available for lending
state run xinhua news agency said it was the first time the ratio had been
adjusted since late and the first increase in the requirement since june
the increase will take effect monday the central bank said
it did not say what the current requirement was but state media reports said it
was minimum percent for large banks which would rise next week to
percent
the increase would not apply to small and medium sized banks whose requirements
were currently at percent according to media reports
