urgent strong quake strikes off el salvador guatemala
washington jan afp
magnitude quake struck monday near the west coast of el salvador and
guatemala the us geological survey said
urgent ban seeks reinforcements for un mission in haiti
united nations jan afp
un chief ban ki moon asked the security council to boost the strength of the
un battered mission in quake hit haiti by sending extra troops and
police
iraq inquiry sets blair date as aide defends invasion
london jan afp
former prime minister tony blair will give long awaited testimony to britain
iraq war inquiry next week officials said monday as one of his former aides
robustly defended his conduct
blair who backed the us led invasion of iraq in despite strong opposition
at home and in the united nations will face full day of questioning on
january at the chilcot inquiry
the former premier is the star witness at the inquiry which was launched in
november after virtually all of britain forces withdrew in june
last month blair admitted in television interview that he would have backed
the war even if he knew iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction wmd
triggering fresh criticism
blair who quit as premier in and is now the middle east quartet envoy
told the bbc it would still have been right to remove iraqi leader saddam
hussein because of the threat he posed to the region
interest in blair appearance at the inquiry is intense public ballot was
held monday for public seats at the hearings and the lucky few will be allowed
into either the morning or afternoon sessions
blair supported us president george bush over the invasion but faced
major backlash in britain which contributed to his decision to step down in june
despite having led his labour party to three election wins
an internet campaign has been launched for blair to face tough questions about
why he took britain into the unpopular war amid criticisms the inquiry panel
has been too easy on some witnesses
but inquiry chairman john chilcot has insisted the probe was not here to
provide public sport or entertainment but to get to the facts
in his evidence monday blair chief of staff at the time jonathan powell
robustly defended the prime minister conduct
he insisted that despite long standing dislike of saddam hussein and firm
belief that he had weapons of mass destruction wmd blair had been committed
to dealing with him through the united nations
the iraqi leader repeated violation of un resolutions governing his possession
of wmd was the justification for the march invasion even though it was not
explicitly approved by the un security council
at meeting in at bush ranch in crawford powell said blair had promised
support for the united states in pressuring iraq but denied the suggestion
made by previous witnesses to the inquiry that war was inevitable
it was absolutely clear we were not signing up to war on this we were going
down the un route and giving saddam chance to comply powell said
he said there had actually been huge gulf with the americans on the issue of
regime change that they had sought to keep hidden
blair had also urged the us administration to think through the unintended
consequences of military action powell said including that there could be
unexpected violence and lack of support from the iraqi people
we were trying to say to them don rush into anything above all build
coalition he told the inquiry
the wmd were never found but powell disputed suggestions that britain should
have been more sceptical about intelligence related to their existence
the iraqi leader had previously used chemical weapons on his own people and he
said we had the assumption that they had weapons of mass destruction the
intelligence confirmed that and we didn really have any doubts about it
alert
magnitude quake hits near west coast of el salvador us experts
pope failed assassin released but keeps motives secrets
ankara jan afp
the turkish man who attempted to kill pope john paul ii in mehmet ali
agca was freed from prison on monday after almost three decades behind bars
keeping his motive shrouded in mystery
the greying year old raised his fist as he drove away in car from high
security jail near ankara pursued by swarm of reporters
agca made no comment but his lawyers said he was planning to hold press
conference probably on wednesday
wearing dark blue suit and tie agca went to five star hotel in central
ankara after check up at military hospital diagnosed him with psychiatric
disorder one of his attorneys yilmaz abosoglu told afp
agca was year old militant of the notorious far right grey wolves on the
run from turkish justice facing murder charges when he resurfaced in saint
peter square on may and fired on the pope who was riding by in an
open vehicle
john paul ii was seriously wounded in the abdomen and agca spent the next
years in italian prisons
the motive behind the attack remains mystery
in statement released through his lawyers agca who claims to be second
messiah declined to clarify the mystery instead he used the statement to
proclaim the apocalypse
all the world will be destroyed in this century every human being will die in
this century he wrote
the gospel is full of mistakes will write the perfect gospel he added
signing the paper as the christ eternal mehmet ali agca
memorable picture of the gunman shaking hands with john paul ii was attached
to the statement
the late polish pontiff had visited agca in his italian jail in and forgave
him for the assassination attempt
in his book memory and identity john paul ii said he was convinced that the
attack was planned and commissioned and that agca was mere puppet
agca has claimed the attack was part of divine plan frequently changing his
story and forcing investigators to open dozens of inquiries
charges that the soviet union and then communist bulgaria were behind the
assassination attempt were never proved
agca check up at psychiatric clinic monday was required by the military
authorities on the grounds that he was draft dodger
doctors declared him unfit for military service obligatory for turkish men over
confirming an earlier diagnosis of advanced anti social personality
disorder dating back to when he was briefly freed his lawyers said
agca was granted an early release on january but re arrested after
eight days when court ruled that reductions to his jail term under amnesty
laws and penal code amendments had been miscalculated
extradited to turkey in after italy pardoned him agca was convicted of the
murder of prominent journalist abdi ipekci two armed robberies and escaping
from prison crimes all dating back to the
in rambling letters from prison he has fed suggestions he is mentally
disturbed he once offered to team up with best selling da vinci code author
dan brown for novel called the vatican code and also volunteered to go to
afghanistan to kill al qaeda leader osama bin laden
others however believe he is sly operator playing the fool
more than foreign publishers and movie makers have offered to buy agca
story in the hope he may finally shed light on his attempt on the pope lawyers
said
agca also wants to go to the vatican to visit the tomb of john paul ii who died
in and meet his successor pope benedict xvi they said
alert
un chief seeks reinforcements for un mission in haiti
jordanian to hang for killing iraqi woman court
amman jan afp
jordanian court sentenced man to death on monday for setting fire to the
house of an iraqi woman he sought to marry killing her as well as her mother
and stepfather
the criminal court sentenced the year old man to death by hanging after he
was charged with arson that led to the death of individuals court official
told afp
three brothers and maid were seriously injured in the attack which occurred
in jordan capital amman in
the man had hoped to marry the woman who was in her but he heard another
man wanted to officially propose to the woman and decided to set the house
ablaze to stop the marriage plans the official said
he also destroyed two cars that belonged to the girl stepfather
the man whose identity was not revealed claimed he was involved in romantic
relationship with the woman and that she helped him carry out the crime the
official said without elaborating
around iraqis live in the kingdom according to un and jordanian
figures
timeline of deadly militant attack on afghan capital
kabul jan afp
taliban militants armed with guns and suicide vests attacked the centre of kabul
on monday triggering fierce battles with security forces that left five people
dead and more than injured
afghan security chiefs defence minister abdul rahim wardak interior minister
mohammad hanif atmar and intelligence chief amrullah saleh explained how the
attack unfolded over the course of more than three deadly hours
am gmt suicide bomber wearing an explosives packed vest blows
himself up in front of the central bank on the northern side of pashtunistan
square adjacent to the presidential palace
am two or three suicide bombers enter nearby multi storey shopping mall
overlooking the presidential palace several other government buildings and the
five star serena hotel
an eyewitness tells afp the militants threaten to kill any civilians who try to
stop them
shopkeeper ismail said saw four people wrapped up in patus blankets coming
and the guard went forward and asked them what are you doing
one of them opened his patu and showed the guard suicide vest packed with
explosives and said to him get out of my way or you ll die
an afp reporter later saw the body of civilian being brought out of the
building
am suicide bomber driving van painted as an ambulance detonates the
vehicle in front of the newly opened gulbahar shopping mall injuring several
security personnel
intelligence chief saleh said the driver of the van was challenged by one of his
agents
when our officer stopped the car he saw the driver right hand was on his
thigh covered by blanket the officer identified him as suicide bomber
he backed off and shouted to his comrades lay down he suicide bomber
as everyone lay down the terrorist set off his bomb saleh said
pm an explosion from an unknown device rocks the centre of the city
there are no casualties
pm three suicide bombers enter building on the southern side of the
pashtunistan roundabout and start firing at security forces
saleh said the militants took two children hostage in the bamiyan hotel
adjacent to the ariana cinema after negotiations with security forces the
militants free the children
pm president hamid karzai assures the residents of kabul that security is
restored
pm after fierce gun fights and explosions some caused by militants in
suicide vests blowing themselves up seven militants and five people including
child and members of the security forces are dead
they were killed taking the shame of defeat with them to the grave interior
minister atmar said of the militants
rugbyu six nations will be tough lievremont warns players
paris jan afp
the six nations tournament will be tough test of character for france team
shorn of host of top line players coach marc lievremont warned on monday
les bleus kick off their campaign with tricky away trip to murrayfield on
february to face scotland side revitalised under new coach andy robinson
lievremont who names man squad on wednesday will be without some of his
best players
scrum half julien dupuy is serving ban for gouging while maxime mermoz
fabien barcella damien traille and dimitri yachvili are all out injured with
question marks also over toulouse duo romain millo chluski and william servat
we play demanding sport with demanding calendar sad for those players
who ll miss out on part or all of the six nations but you have to move on and
not let it unsettle you lievremont told afp
but it has really reduced our options what with the suspension of julien dupuy
and the absence of damien traille who can play in number of positions in the
backline
lievremont said the tournament will be tough
the english are in the same situation as us the welsh finished fourth last
year and will be out for revenge scotland enjoyed good run of november tests
and the irish want to restate their case as grand slam winners last season
cliches aside we really have to start the tournament well in scotland
at the start of every six nations the deck of cards is reshuffled and it
creates dynamic
at time when much rugby is derided for having become boring kicking
dominated game in which defence is king and teams spurn running style of play
in preference for trying to enforce errors from opponents lievremont stressed
that he wanted his side to buck the trend
added to the duty of having to win the tournament really want our team and
it has the means to do so to play an interesting attacking type of rugby
the former france flanker said
we have to motivate the players for that counter attacking and the never
ending need to get into position
france endured promising start to their november campaign notching up
stirring win over world champions south africa and facile victory
over samoa before being disappointingly overrun by rampant all blacks
side
we have the feeling that this france team is capable of beating no matter who
but there exists difficulty in notching up three wins on the trot lievremont
said
but feel that many things are beginning to fall into place even if injuries
mean that there are periods in certain matches when we re not progressing
turning to scotland and the six nations opener next month lievremont said
english coach robinson had transformed the scots into hard nosed team
like to say that they were little like the all blacks of the north he
said
of course they have fewer individual qualities and are not as powerful but they
play the game with focus on defence
their new coach has put an emphasis on the battle up front in november
against argentina and australia it wasn exceptional in terms of spectacle
but saw defence that did not leak lot of power behind and good kicking
game that is one of their traditional weapons
haiti facts and figures after the quake
port au prince jan afp
aid is pouring into haiti nearly week after the devastating quake with
officials still trying to estimate the scale of the death and destruction amid
warnings of looting by desperate survivors
figures are constantly being modified and updated but here are some of the
latest provided by various organizations and officials
death and destruction
haitian government minister has said that bodies had been collected and
buried in mass graves while officials have expressed fears the death toll from
last tuesday earthquake may top
rescue teams were still pulling people from the rubble six days after the
disaster
quarter of million people were injured and million left homeless
according to the haitian government dozens of tent cities have sprung up
the international organization of migration has estimated that families
comprising up to one million people need immediate shelter and non food
assistance
some to percent of buildings in the town of leogane just outside the
capital port au prince near the epicenter of tuesday quake were destroyed
and to percent of buildings in jacmel to the west were leveled
an initial eu assessment found that more than physical structures were
destroyed or damaged in port au prince
nearly two dozen countries said they had nationals dead or missing with un
workers among those who had not made contact
rescues
some international search and rescue teams with rescue workers and
dogs were at work digging out people from the rubble of collapsed buildings
by sunday officials said
us teams pulled record people alive from the rubble of port au prince on
sunday the us government aid agency usaid said
on the ground some us troops were at work with another stationed
on vessels offshore while around were due to arrive later monday the us
military said
aid
the united nations has appealed for million dollars from the world community
to help victims of the earthquake with host of other relief groups also
launching appeals
european union nations earmarked monday million euros million dollars
in emergency aid and reconstruction funds this was on top of millions of
dollars pledged by other countries including million dollars from the
united states
usaid and partners have some metric tons of emergency food aid already in
haiti estimated at million dollars the state department has said
the airport has received more than tons of supplies usaid said sunday with
military helicopters providing relief
us military aircraft had by noon sunday airlifted humanitarian daily
rations and more than bottles of water to port au prince while
water containers had arrived from miami it said
three water purification units were operational and could supply liters
nearly gallons per day it said
the un world food program wfp said one week food rations had been
distributed since the emergency relief operation began last week with
more due to be handed out on monday by aid workers and un peacekeeping troops
three more emergency field hospitals set up and four more in the pipeline
backing up the five local hospitals that withstood the tremor the united
nations said
two planeloads of medicine medical equipment and supplies from the united
states had arrived in haiti with third expected monday usaid said
the us hospital ship comfort was on the way and expected to arrive on
wednesday with medical personnel on board
concern worldwide save the children world vision and oxfam were among the ngos
distributing water clothing food hygiene supplies while the british red
cross was on sunday setting up bed field hospital
the international organization for migration said it was planning with haitian
authorities to resettle people possibly in an area about kilometres
eight miles northeast of port au prince
some emergency centers coordinated by the wfp were to be set up monday to
distribute aid and provide shelter haitian government source said
logistics
the port au prince airfield was open for operations and could accept
aircraft per day usaid said up from aircraft on saturday
the port at port au prince is likely to be out of operation for to days
the pentagon has said and damage to the fuel delivery pier means no fuel
supplies can be unloaded
with fuel supplies becoming critically short some gallons
litres of fuel were to be ferried in by truck daily on congested roads from the
dominican republic
the wfp is setting up shuttle service between port au prince and santo domingo
with flights for passengers three times day
world tourism to rebound from crisis in unwto
madrid jan afp
global tourism is set to rebound in after the economic crisis and the swine
flu pandemic produced one of the most difficult years for the sector the un
world tourism organisation said monday
will be transformational year for world tourism unwto secretary
general taleb rifai told news conference called to present the organisation
annual world tourism barometer
the report said international tourist arrivals fell by an estimated percent
in to million but should recover to grow by to percent in
it said growth in the sector returned in the last quarter of contributing
to better than expected full year results led by the asia pacific and middle
east regions
still is considered to be one of the most difficult years that tourism
has seen for long time and probably one of the toughest in the last two
decades rifai said
he said slump due to the global economic crisis was aggravated by the
uncertainty around the pandemic
but he added the trend is bottoming out
the results of recent months suggest that recovery is underway and even
somewhat earlier and at stronger pace than initially expected said the head
of the madrid based organisation
but he warned that premature withdrawal of stimulus measures by governments
and the temptation to impose extra taxes may jeopardise the pace of rebound in
tourism
the unwto report said tourism receipts were down percent in but noted
that this compares with percent slump in overall exports as result of the
global crisis
rifai noted significant growth in domestic tourism particularly in some large
countries such as china brazil and spain in reaction to the crisis
he said the tourist industry was not quite over the effects of the swine flu
pandemic
the international community was able to deal with the crisis in rather
successful manner but the possibility of re occurrence is always there
on regional basis he said europe and north america are lagging asia and
the middle east are pushing ahead
the asia pacific region where tourism was down percent showed an
extraordinary rebound that is expected to continue in the unwto report
said
while arrivals in that region declined by percent between january and june
the second half of saw percent growth reflecting regional economic
results and prospects
arrivals were down percent in the middle east but the region though still
far from the growth levels of previous years had positive second half
it said africa had bucked the trend with growth of percent and the world
cup in south africa this summer would give further boost to the region
europe ended down percent after very complicated first half with
destinations in central eastern and northern europe particularly badly hit
the report said
in the americas where arrivals were off percent the caribbean returned to
growth in the last four months of
the performance was more sluggish in the other sub regions of the americas
with the influenza outbreak exacerbating the impact of the economic
crisis the report found
greek pm says he will invite turkish leader to athens
athens jan afp
greece will invite the prime minister of long standing rival turkey to visit
athens for talks on efforts to reunify cyprus greek prime minister george
papandreou said on monday
date has not been set yet it will be arranged by our diplomatic offices
papandreou told reporters after meeting with cypriot president demetris
christofias
the greek pm said he wanted to discuss with his counterpart recep tayyip erdogan
the issue of ankara bid to join the european union which has been delayed by
wrangles stemming from the presence of turkish troops on cyprus
the issue of turkey path to the european union is central issue
papandreou said
we link series of issues of responsibilities that turkey has towards the eu
among which is the normalisation of relations with cyprus it is important that
these issues will be discussed at bilateral level he added
cyprus has been split since turkey occupied its northern third in in
response to an athens engineered greek cypriot coup aimed at uniting the island
with greece
christofias and turkish cypriot leader mehmet ali talat last week ended first
round of intensive talks in an accelerated un led drive to try to reunify the
island this year
papandreou on monday called on turkey to release turkish cypriots to
facilitate the inter community talks after christofias complained that the
latest proposals from talat had been prepared in ankara
believe it is time for turkey to have the courage to release the turkish
cypriot community and contribute constructively to find solution the prime
minister said
talat faces tough battle for re election in april against hardline
challenger further complicating reunification efforts
papandreou added that greece will assist cyprus with legal experts in the second
round of intensive talks between christofias and talat starting on january
team of legal specialists will be formed immediately to assist the cypriot
government and its negotiating team in whatever is necessary he said
five dead as taliban militants strike across kabul
kabul jan afp
taliban gunmen and suicide bombers attacked buildings across the heart of kabul
on monday triggering fierce gun battles with security forces and killing at
least five people including child
fires raged after two shopping centres cinema and the only five star hotel in
the afghan capital were targeted by heavily armed militants who set off wave
of explosions apparently targeting nearby government buildings
five people were killed and wounded interior minister mohammad hanif atmar
said in the most dramatic strike on kabul since taliban militants laid siege to
government buildings in february killing at least people
atmar said child and security forces personnel were among the dead while
seven militants were also killed
they were killed either by detonating themselves or they were shot by security
forces he told reporters of the militants
president hamid karzai said the situation was under control after more than
three hours of fighting and explosions which came as he was swearing in new
cabinet ministers inside the presidential palace
the enemies of the afghan people conducted series of attacks today causing
fear and terror among the population karzai said in statement the
president condemns these terrorist attacks
the attacks began at the peak of morning rush hour when suicide bombers stormed
buildings around pashtunistan square setting off explosions that sent clouds of
black smoke into the sky and people fleeing in terror
atmar said suicide bomber was challenged by security agent in front of the
central bank at am gmt and immediately blew himself up
by am security forces had moved into key positions defence minister abdul
rahim wardak told the same press conference
at am suicide bomber driving an ambulance was stopped by afghan
security forces and detonated himself he said
the taliban waging an increasingly deadly insurgency against the western backed
kabul government and foreign troops in afghanistan claimed responsibility
twenty of our suicide bombers have entered the area and fighting is ongoing
man calling himself zabihullah mujahid who said he was taliban spokesman
told afp
he said the presidential palace and ministries around pashtunistan square were
the targets but it appeared that government buildings had not been breached and
civilian gathering places bore the brunt
smoke billowed from the qari sami shopping mall on the square five storey
building that used to be the bamiyan hotel and one of the buildings in the
serena hotel the city only five star hotel
saw four people wrapped up in patus blankets coming and the guard went
forward and asked them what are you doing said local grocer ismail who was
in his shop in one of the malls when militants stormed in
one of them opened his patu and showed the guard suicide vest packed with
explosives and said to him get out of my way or you ll die
militants blockaded themselves inside the nearby ariana cinema and shot at
security forces who struggled to secure the building
the head of afghanistan national directorate for security nds amrullah
saleh said militants took two children hostage but later freed them after
negotiations
commander of the foreign troops in afghanistan fighting the taliban
under us and nato command us general stanley mcchrystal condemned the attack
while praising the actions of the afghan security forces
today attack by the taliban in kabul is yet another example of their
brutality and contempt for the afghan people mcchrystal said in statement
the united states condemned the attacks as ruthless act by the taliban
whose rebellion to topple the government and oust foreign troops has been
gaining strength since us led invasion in removed them from power
the attacks came day after the government said karzai was to announce new
plan aimed at forging peace with the islamist taliban although the militants
have repeatedly rebuffed any efforts at negotiation
the last major attack on the capital was on december when suicide car
bomber blew up his vehicle outside the homes of former senior government
officials killing eight people and wounding more than
chile sends team to haiti to look for un general wife
santiago jan afp
chile said it was sending team to haiti on monday to look for the missing wife
of one of its generals who is senior commander in the un peacekeeping mission
there
at pm gmt plane will leave with rescue team of firemen
whose only objective is to bring back to chile hopefully alive otherwise the
remains of maria teresa dowling defense minister francisco vidal said
dowling is the wife of general ricardo toro who has senior post in the un
stabilization mission in haiti
toro who survived the quake has reportedly temporarily left his functions to
concentrate on finding his wife
she was in the upscale hotel montana in haiti capital port au prince when the
devastating quake struck last week
much of the hotel was flattened although international rescuers have pulled out
dozens alive out of its rubble dowling was not among them
dowling is the only chilean citizen still missing in the disaster
the plane carrying the rescue team is to return with the body of chilean
lawyer working for the un mission andrea loi who died in the christopher
hotel
chile also planned to send another plane full of humanitarian aid and police
special forces unit to help in security operations in port au prince officials
said
turkish police round up for al qaeda links report
ankara jan afp
turkish police arrested people and seized weapons in operations in two cities
targeting the al qaeda network on monday anatolia news agency reported
about anti terrorism officers took part in simultaneous dawn raids on
locations in the southern city of adana and detained suspects unidentified
