beginning of last year and we are close to an agreement meshaal told reporters
after meeting prince saud al faisal saudi arabia top diplomat
but he said hamas still had reservations about the document presented by egypt
for the reconciliation of the two main palestinian factions
according to extracts seen by afp cairo proposals include holding legislative
and presidential elections in mid
they also stipulate the reinforcement under egyptian supervision of fatah
security forces controlled by palestinian president and fatah leader mahmud
abbas and the release of prisoners from both sides in the west bank and gaza
egypt has already twice postponed the planned signing of reconciliation
agreement in cairo because of deep divisions between hamas and fatah
we want this document to conform to what we have agreed with our brothers in
fatah and the other palestinian organisations meshaal said we will then be
ready to sign it in cairo with the others
hamas took control of the gaza strip from fatah in coup in june after
winning palestinian legislative elections the previous year
biathlon poiree surgery successful hospital
bergen norway jan afp
former biathlon world champion raphael poiree underwent successful neck surgery
overnight after he sustained serious back injuries in an all terrain quad
vehicle crash the hospital treating him here said in statement released on
sunday
the year old frenchman who retired in and is based in norway sustained
the injuries last monday when the vehicle he was driving in the southwestern
norwegian town of eikelandsosen flipped over
he was to have gone under the knife on wednesday but the operation was postponed
owing to heavy bruising
however it finally went ahead late on saturday
raphael poiree was operated on yesterday for his neck injury the
operation is regarded as having been technical success the hospital said in
statement adding surgeons were keeping close eye on the frenchman
he is serious but stable the statement added
sources close to the athlete said poiree had had metal plates inserted
close associate and current french team member simon fourcade said poiree had
been travelling slowly with one of his three daughters when the two front
wheels got caught in snowdrift near the family home and the vehicle toppled
onto him
poiree is currently coaching the norwegian junior womens team
pakistan bomb kills ex provincial minister police
peshawar pakistan jan afp
suspected taliban bomb attack targeted former pakistan provincial cabinet
minister on sunday killing him and three other people in the country restive
northwest police said
the bomb exploded in bagto village about kilometres six miles from the
town of hangu in an area with history of sectarian clashes between pakistan
majority sunni muslims and minority shiite muslims and near the tribal belt
four people including ghani ur rehman have died in the attack hangu city
police chief abdul rashid khan told afp
the other three are bodyguard his driver and friend he added
controversial figure rehman was once irrigation minister in north west
frontier province nwfp and former mayor of hangu
he spent time in jail under the previous military regime and was one of the
beneficiaries of an amnesty scrapped by the supreme court last month that
protected politicians businessmen and officials from corruption charges
his son member of parliament in nwfp blamed the taliban and other extremists
for his father assassination
my father was targeted twice before taliban and militant groups are involved
in this attack ateeq ur rehman told afp
it was remote controlled roadside bomb blast high intensity explosives were
used the vehicle was completely destroyed police spokesman fazal naeem told
afp by telephone
taliban and al qaeda linked militants attack daily across northwest pakistan and
the lawless tribal belt on the afghan border that washington has branded the
most dangerous part of the world
bagto village is close to orakzai home of hakimullah mehsud head of the
country main taliban faction and one of the seven districts that make up
the semi autonomous tribal belt
hundreds rally against israeli settlement moratorium
jerusalem jan afp
several hundred civil servants working in israeli settlements in the occupied
west bank on sunday rallied in jerusalem against temporary and limited
construction moratorium
we will continue to fulfill our zionist mission to build in the land of
israel with or without government help said danny dayan the president of the
yesha council the umbrella settler organisation
the israeli government announced in november that it was imposing month
moratorium on new building starts in the west bank in move aimed at restarting
stalled middle east peace talks after months of us pressure
the moratorium however excludes occupied and annexed east jerusalem public
buildings and works already under way
the palestinians have demanded complete freeze on all settlement activity
including in east jerusalem in order to restart the peace talks that were
suspended to protest israel war on hamas run gaza year ago
the international community considers all israeli settlements on occupied
palestinian land illegal
trains collide in turkey killing one report
istanbul jan afp
two trains collided on sunday in northwestern turkey killing one person and
injuring seven others anatolia news agency reported
the crash occurred in rural area of bilecik province as both trains travelled
between istanbul and the northwestern city of eskisehir
one of the trains did not stop for red light anatolia said citing sources in
the transport ministry
work was ongoing in the area of the accident because of this work the
electricity was cut off which prevented these trains from being alerted about
the presence of another train on the track anatolia quoted bilecik governor
musa colak as saying
one rail employee was killed in the crash and another was hurt the report said
two passengers at the front of the trains were also injured
rescuers were working to free passengers it said
train accidents have been frequent on turkey ageing railway network
nine people died when passenger train derailed in western turkey in january
in july people were killed when newly inaugurated high speed train
derailed in the northwest while another collision some three weeks later led to
eight deaths
football beckham lauds capello passionate as ever about england
london jan afp
england veteran david beckham keen to use his loan spell with ac milan to boost
his chances of holding down place at the world cup on sunday saluted coach
fabio capello whose scary personality he credited with revitalising the
national team
he brought an arrogance but in good way players go onto the field
confident they believe they re going to win and he gives us that confidence
beckham said in an interview with bbc radio
he brought real seriousness professional side which was needed he
scares you in respect way said beckham drawing parallel with former
manchester united mentor sir alex ferguson who was father figure to me
beckham is hoping to make enough of an impression at the san siro as he did in
first loan period last season to persuade capello to keep him on board with
england at the world cup finals
he gave up the captaincy after the last world cup and then found himself dropped
altogether under former coach steve mcclaren before winning recall
now he hopes to play his way on to capello teamsheet
ve always said that always want to be available for england whether in
the team or whether not passionate about playing for my country ve
enjoyed every moment whether it been good or bad times he told the bbc
sportsweek programme
there has been speculation as to whether beckham may feature in more withdrawn
role at milan this season under coach leonardo but the veteran star is
unconcerned as long as he features somewhere
sure he ll put me somethere in midfield when do start he not
manager and person who going to put me out of position unless it really
desperate
throughout my career there not one team ve played for where expected to
start
ve just been lucky enough ve been picked for most games
everyone knows prepared to work hard to be part of the england squad and
going to do that said beckham frontline ambassador for england
world cup bid
regarding his fitness beckham said ve always looked after myself ate the
right things ve always tried to look after my body want to play for as
long as possible
there nothing special do ve got three sons who are full of energy so
chasing them around for most of the day that the thing that probably
keeps my fitness up more than anything
top of beckham club agenda is an impending champions league last tussle
against former club united
manchester united is so special to me and ve never been back as player
it an experience want to cherish it going to be such special and
emotional night said beckham who admitted that he would have liked to spend
his whole career at old trafford
but it just wasn meant to be
looking forward to facing united having not faced the club during his four
years with real madrid beckham said his loyalties were clear
like us to win us is ac milan but as manchester united fan always
want them to win in every game but maybe not this one
tennis clijsters opens new year in style
brisbane australia jan afp
belgium kim clijsters opened the new year in the best possible style when she
overpowered italian tathiana garbin in the first round of the brisbane
international on sunday
despite nervous start to the match when she lost her serve in the opening
game the reigning us open champion quickly found her form to overcome garbin in
just minutes
garbin had no answer to the year old clijsters once the belgian found her
range with an array of powerful and accurate groundstrokes proving lethal
clijsters forehand was particularly damaging pinning garbin back in the
corners and forcing host of errors from her opponent
the strength of clijsters groundstrokes put garbin serve under immense
pressure and the italian was unable to cope making just percent of her first
serves
clijsters took full advantage and broke twice in the first set and twice more in
the second as she booked her place in the second round where she will face
australia own comeback queen alicia molik
molik granted wildcard to play the tournament beat russia ekaterina
makarova
the match was clijsters first on her full return to the wta tour after retiring
in may
she made partial comeback last year playing just four tournaments and
culminating in her sensational us open victory in new york
it was nice feeling to be out there again clijsters said
felt like my groundstrokes were going really good felt like was standing
up on the baseline and really changing the direction of the rallies
the win delighted the large crowd packed into the pat rafter arena who gave
clijsters rousing reception when she stepped onto the centre court
it also kept alive the possibility of dream final against fierce rival and
fellow countrywoman justine henin who will play second seeded russian nadia
petrova in the first round on monday in her first match since making comeback
clijsters said the brisbane tournament would help her prepare for the australian
open later this month
really happy that here because it really makes the transition to
melbourne bit easier she said
at least now we have roof over us and you get feel for the humidity and you
don all of sudden come from snow to extreme heat
andrea petkovic of germany caused the only upset on rain affected first day
when she beat eighth seeded czech iveta benesova in shade
over two hours
seventh seeded hungarian melinda czink narrowly avoided similar fate beating
lucie hradecka of the czech republic
other first round winners were barbora zahlavova strycova of the czech republic
who beat belarusian olga govortsova and american vania king who downed
sybille bammer of austria by the same scoreline
the men matches were washed out and have been rescheduled to monday
us closes its yemen embassy after al qaeda threats
sanaa jan afp
the american embassy in yemen closed on sunday after al qaeda threats to attack
us interests as britain and the united states vowed to support the impoverished
country in its fight against al qaeda
the move came after us president barack obama blamed yemen based al qaeda
affiliate for the foiled christmas day attack on us airliner and day after
visit by the american regional military commander general david petraeus
al qaeda franchise in yemen had called on monday for embassies to be targeted
as it claimed responsibility for the thwarted attack on the detroit bound
northwest airliner
the us embassy in sanaa is closed today january in response to
ongoing threats by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap to attack american
interests in yemen said statement posted on the embassy website
on thursday the us mission sent warden message to american citizens in the
country reminding them of the continuing threat of terrorist actions and
violence against american citizens and interests throughout the world
aqap on monday urged further attacks on westerners in the arabian peninsula
we call upon every muslim who cares about his religion and doctrine to assist
in expelling the apostasies from the arabian peninsula by killing every
crusader who works at their embassies or other places declare it an all out war
against every crusader on mohammad peninsula on land air and sea an aqap
statement said
both london and washington have agreed to fund yemen special counter terrorism
unit after obama on saturday for the first time singled out the al qaeda
franchise in yemen for the thwarted attack
the special force had in the past received us training and assistance
on september the us embassy was the target of an attack claimed by al
qaeda in which people were killed seven attackers and others including
yemeni guards and civilians one of them an american woman
last month the defence ministry newspaper said that raid north of the capital
on december killed four suspects and foiled plot to bomb the british
embassy in sanaa
yemen on sunday welcomed the british and us decision to fund the special force
any assistance provided to yemen counter terrorism force will be most
welcome government official who requested anonymity told afp
the official also said that sanaa would need help to modernise its coastguard
in light of the danger coming from somalia
somalia shebab insurgents pledged on friday to send militants across the gulf
of aden to yemen to help the al qaeda affiliate behind the failed us airliner
bombing
obama on saturday blamed al qaeda yemen branch for the attack on the us jet by
year old nigerian suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab
we know that he travelled to yemen country grappling with crushing poverty
and deadly insurgencies obama said in an address posted on the white house
website
it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group al
qaeda in the arabian peninsula trained him equipped him with those explosives
and directed him to attack that plane headed for america
general petraeus on saturday personally delivered message from obama to yemeni
president ali abdullah saleh on bilateral cooperation against terror groups
britain meanwhile has called an international meeting on combating extremism
in yemen for london on january in parallel with conference on afghanistan
drawing senior ministers or leaders from more than nations
yemen is the ancestral homeland of al qaeda chief osama bin laden
tajikistan quake leaves without shelter officials
dushanbe jan afp
an earthquake in the pamir mountains of tajikistan has destroyed hundreds of
homes leaving some people without shelter in the dead of winter
officials said sunday
according to preliminary information houses have been destroyed
regional spokesman for the country civil defense committee responsible for the
affected area told afp
some people have been left without shelter as scores of other homes have
been damaged the spokesman said citing preliminary information
two schools clinic and power line have also been destroyed he added
the spokesman reported no deaths but said dozens of sheep and goats were killed
in the earthquake that struck around ten high altitude villages in the pamir
mountains in eastern tajikistan on saturday
the us geological survey reported that magnitude earthquake struck km
miles east of the tajik capital dushanbe at gmt on
saturday it had depth of km miles the survey said
authorities said they were assessing damages but their work was complicated by
the location of the destroyed villages more than people live in the
affected area the vanj district
the deputy head of the district azimjon shamsiddinov told afp preliminary
damage estimates were between one million and million dollars hefty
amount for the impoverished ex soviet nation
some residents in the vanj district said they were afraid there could be another
quake in the coming days
we live as if we were on volcano local resident nazarbek shodiyenov
told afp by phone we feel constantly scared that an earthquake will strike
again we are scared to sleep at night
there is feeling that the earth is constantly moving under feet
government commission including seismologists and geologists was expected to
arrive in the vanj district monday morning said senior official with the
civil defense committee
earthquakes are relatively frequent in tajikistan which is located in central
asia and borders war torn afghanistan
freed british hostage delighted to be back from iraq
london jan afp
freed british hostage peter moore said sunday he was delighted to be back with
his family after his release from captivity in iraq
peter moore computer expert was released unharmed wednesday by the league of
the righteous group after two and half years captivity during which all four
of his bodyguards also britons are thought to have been killed
the year old from lincoln in eastern england flew back into britain on
friday
am obviously delighted to have returned to the uk and to have been reunited
with my family moore said in statement through the foreign office
am looking forward to spending the coming days and weeks catching up on all
the things ve missed over the past two and half years
would therefore be grateful if we could be given the space and time we need
to start to get to know one another again
the bodies of three bodyguards alec maclachlan jason swindlehurst
and jason creswell were handed over to british officials last year the
fourth alan mcmenemy is also believed to be dead
meanwhile british prime minister gordon brown said there was no direct
evidence that moore was held inside iran
the guardian newspaper has reported that iran revolutionary guard led the
kidnap operation and took the five to iran within day of their abduction
ve talked to peter and we didn talk about that we don have direct
evidence from the foreign office of that if evidence becomes available
obviously we ll share it with the people he told bbc television
what happened to peter and the trouble that he had over two years and more
are something that are great problem for us because of the others who didn
survive and the other one who we still don have information about
tennis brisbane international results roundup
brisbane australia jan afp
results from the first day of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
sunday denotes seed
first round
women
kim clijsters bel bt tathiana garbin ita
alicia molik aus bt ekaterina makarova rus
barbora zahlavova strycova cze bt olga govortsova blr
vania king usa bt sybille bammer aut
andrea petkovic ger bt iveta benesova cze
melinda czink hun bt lucie hradecka cze
pakistan bomb kills ex provincial minister police
peshawar pakistan jan afp
roadside bomb attack targeted former pakistan provincial cabinet minister on
sunday killing him and three other people in the country restive northwest
police said
the bomb exploded in bagto village about kilometres six miles from the
northwestern town of hangu in an area with history of sectarian clashes
between pakistan majority sunni muslims and minority shiite muslims
four people including ghanni ur rehman former cabinet minister in north
west frontier province have died in the attack hangu city police chief abdul
rashid khan told afp
the other three are bodyguard his driver and friend he added
doctor at the main hospital in hangu confirmed rehman and three other people
were killed in the attack
it was remote controlled roadside bomb blast police spokesman fazal naeem
told afp by telephone
taliban and al qaeda linked militants attack daily across northwest pakistan and
the lawless tribal belt on the afghan border that washington has branded the
most dangerous part of the world
bagto village is close to orakzai home of hakimullah mehsud head of the
country main taliban faction and one of the seven districts that make up
the semi autonomous tribal belt
france resells surplus swine flu vaccines
paris jan afp
france is selling off millions of swine flu vaccines to other countries after
discovering it had bought more than it needed to fight the outbreak the health
ministry said on sunday
we started with plan for two dose vaccinations but since one dose is
sufficient we can start to re sell part of the stock health ministry
official told afp
the netherlands and germany have also said they are selling surplus vaccines
france bought million doses of the vaccine more than one for every member
of the population for million euros billion dollars and started
vaccinating in october against the flu virus
only about five million people are recorded as having been vaccinated in france
so far
report by the newspaper le parisien said the government had taken the decision
to sell some of its stock after european medical authorities said that one off
vaccination was enough to protect against the virus
the ministry said qatar had already bought doses and egypt was
negotiating to buy two million france is also in discussions with mexico and
ukraine it said
corrected pakistan bomb kills ex provincial minister police
peshawar pakistan jan afp
bomb attack targeted former pakistan provincial cabinet minister on sunday
killing him and three other people police said
organised crime blamed for italian court bomb reports
rome jan afp
powerful bomb exploded sunday at court in southern italian city in an
attack the authorities blamed on organised crime according to media reports
the device consisting of gas cylinder with explosives attached to it
detonated at am gmt in an entrance to the court in reggio calabria
damaging the building according to police quoted in the media
no one was injured in the explosion which happened in the entry to building
housing the prosecutor office
the reggio calabria prosecutor salvatore di landro told journalists that
surveillance camera footage showed two men in motorcycle helmets placing the
bomb
we are sure this serious attack was carried out by organised crime di landro
said in comments reported by the ansa news agency
the cameras showed two individuals wearing helmets arriving on vespa
scooter and placing the bomb he said
agazio loiero the head of government in the calabria region said the attack
was an attempt to frighten judges at the court
the true calabria stands with the judges in reggio who will certainly not let
themselves be intimidated by these incidents he said quoted by ansa
meeting of the regional public security committee was immediately organised in
reggio calabria with politicians police and judiciary
we will ask the police chief for proper measures to ensure safety di landro
said
urgent pakistan bomb kills ex provincial minister police
peshawar pakistan jan afp
bomb attack targeted former pakistan provincial cabinet minister on sunday
killing him and four other people police said
alert
pakistan bomb attack kills four including former provincial minister police
afghan parliament delivers blow to karzai on cabinet
kabul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai suffered new blow to his authority with the
rejection by parliament of most of his cabinet nominees further prolonging
political crisis in the war ravaged country
of the people karzai put forward for the cabinet only seven won approval on
saturday in secret ballot of more than lawmakers
the rejections leave afghanistan without fully functioning government
dragging out political vacuum that has prevailed since an august presidential
election with ministries being run by junior bureaucrats who have little power
and no coherent plan
it is political setback said the un special representative kai eide
it prolongs the situation without functioning government which has lasted
since summer he told reporters
it particularly worrying in country in conflict where you have so many
challenges and need to focus attention on urgent reform programmes he said
among those rejected were the only female nominee undermining karzai pledge
to bring more women into government and warlord whose naming as water and
energy minister was seen as reward for support at the august election
at time when afghanistan needs strong government think most of the
ministers who did not get through were perceived by parliament as not being
strong enough representatives of the nation said parliament member shukria
barakzai
karzai has been attempting to rise above accusations that his government is
corrupt that he uses the international military to keep him in office and
billions in foreign aid to enrich his cronies
his cabinet list had been seen as an effort to balance obligations to his
western backers including the united states and his domestic supporters
karzai has long relied on warlords to prop up his administration but aides said
he recognised the need to satisfy the west to stay in power and bring some
momentum to much needed development
haroun mir director of afghanistan centre for research and policy studies
said the rejections showed up the lack of cohesion in afghan politics
there is no organisation parliament is fragmented parliamentarians vote on
their own assessment there are no political parties behind them he told al
jazeera television
karzai spokesman waheed omar said that while the president was not happy
he respected the democratic process
the president is thinking about some sort of restructuring within the
government based on whatever views were expressed and will introduce new
members to the cabinet in the proper time he told reporters without giving
timeframe
the humiliating rejections came less than four weeks before an international
conference in london to discuss the political social and military needs of
afghanistan as the war strategy puts more focus on development
karzai faces going to london without coherent plan for reform as he has few
senior ministers to present and even his foreign minister the th cabinet
post is acting only until after the conference when he will be replaced
we are not yet out of political crisis said mir president karzai will go to
the london conference without anything to offer
those voted down included warlord ismail khan while incumbent women affairs
minister husn banu ghazanfar lost out by two votes
also rejected were incumbent holders of the public health counter narcotics and
telecommunications portfolios
five of the highest profile nominees who had the west nod were approved
the interior defence finance education and agriculture ministers
the rejections highlight karzai lack of authority as parliament questions the
nominees legitimacy and their promises to implement promises of clean and
transparent governance
under the constitution rejected nominees cannot be tapped again for the same
post said parliamentary spokesman husib noori
parliament begins day winter recess on tuesday
extremists being forced into yemen somalia british pm
london jan afp
british prime minister gordon brown said sunday that islamist extremists
squeezed out of pakistan and afghanistan would emerge in struggling states like
yemen and somalia as he pledged extra support
after the united states and britain agreed to finance special counter terror
unit in yemen brown said that battling the murderous ideology of extremist
muslims would likely become feature of this decade
the british premier also wants bigger peace keeping force in somalia to tackle
violent radicalism in the region
the weakness of al qaeda in pakistan has forced people out of pakistan and
forced them into yemen and somalia brown told bbc television
taking on the al qaeda terror network in pakistan tribal regions has dispersed
their organisation and limited their abilities in afghanistan he said
of course that means that other centres will appear but they will not have the
strength that al qaeda had in afghanistan and pakistan
we ve got to be vigilant in every part of the world where there is failed
state or failing state which creates space for terrorist group to operate
though london and washington have pleged to help the yemeni authorities improve
their counter terror efforts brown said it was also battle for hearts and
minds
we ve got to be very careful who we re supporting and what we re giving them
support to do he added
us president barack obama on saturday accused yemen based affiliate of osama
bin laden group of targeting us jet on christmas day
the suspected bomber is accused of trying to destroy northwest jet carrying
people as it approached detroit by setting off explosives stitched into his
underwear the bid failed when he was stopped by passengers
britain has called an international meeting on combating extremism in yemen for
london on january in parallel with conference on afghanistan drawing
