Putin lashes out at Nato 'demonisation' of Russia

BUCHAREST  ( 2008-04-04 18:30:31 ) : 

President Vladimir Putin lashed out Friday at some Nato countries for demonising Moscow and failing to reward Russia for helping end the Cold War, a source in the Russian delegation said.
"Some went as far as total demonisation of Russia and can't get away from this even now. Some began to talk about imperial ambitions," Putin told Nato leaders at a summit here, said the source, who asked not to be named.
Putin said that Russia had peacefully withdrawn from eastern Europe after the Soviet collapse and "of course expected something in return. But this didn't come."

Strong quake jolts Indonesia's Sumatra island

JAKARTA  ( 2008-04-02 14:38:20 ) : 

A strong earthquake hit Indonesia's Sumatra island on Wednesday, the meteorology office said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The 6.1-magnitude quake struck at 3:48 pm (0848 GMT) and was centered 31 kilometres (19 miles) below the sea floor, 67 kilometres southeast of the city of Bengkulu, the meteorology office said in a short statement.
A resident of Bengkulu contacted by telephone from Jakarta said the quake was strongly felt there, but caused no panic among the population.
Quakes occur frequently in Bengkulu and the woman said the latest did not appear to have done any damage nor did it trigger a tsunami warning.
The sprawling Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates collide, causing frequent and volcanic activity and earthquakes.
Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh alone.

US wants to work with Gilani-led govt

WASHINGTON: Top US envoys are in Pakistan to show Washington intends to work with the new government in fighting extremism, while still working closely with President Pervez Musharraf, a US official said.

Deputy US Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher flew into Islamabad for talks Tuesday focusing on Pakistan's cooperation in efforts against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

"It's really to reinforce with the new government that we look forward to working with them, certainly talk about our interests and certainly we're going to hear back from them on their interests," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "Our primary interest there is helping the Pakistani people broaden and deepen the political and economic reform process that has begun in that country and also to work with them to combat the threat that exists to Pakistan and the Pakistani people as well as to us and others in the region from terrorists and violent extremists," McCormack said.

"These two things are linked in our view," he added.

Asked whether Washington could ever support negotiations with rather than military action against extremists, he replied it was important to listen to the new government's views.

"Let's hear what they have to say first rather than try to play this game in public, that's the reason why the deputy secretary went there to talk to this new Pakistani government and political leadership how they see the way forward," he said.

But he did not say whether Washington considered him indispensable when asked to repeat an adjective used here in the past.

"He's clearly an important person in Pakistani political life and he's done a lot of very positive things for his country and put them on an important course for its greater political and economic openness," McCormack said.

U.S. Hails `Bold' Iraqi Offensive Against Militia in Basra City

 

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration hailed an Iraqi offensive against Shiite militiamen in the southern city of Basra as a ``bold decision'' that shows the country's security forces are capable of combating terrorists.

At least 18 people were killed in clashes yesterday between fighters loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi troops, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pledged to restore security in the southern oil hub.

``This is what we have been wanting to see the Iraqis do,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters in Washington yesterday. ``This is one of the first times that they've had such an entrenched battle and we'll be there to support them if they need it.''

The fighting is a test for Iraqi forces, who took over responsibility for security in Basra from the U.K. military in December. Iraq's ability to tackle extremists will influence the pace at which the U.S. withdraws its forces from the country, as the conflict enters its sixth year.

Al-Sadr had repeatedly called on fighters from the militia, the Mahdi Army, to obey a cease-fire declared in August. Some elements of the group continue to target other militias and U.S.-led coalition forces.

Shiite Groups

Shiite groups including al-Sadr's followers, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and the Fadhila party have clashed in a struggle for dominance in Basra, the site of Iraq's second- biggest oil refinery.

Al-Sadr threatened to instigate protests nationwide if the raids by Iraqi forces weren't stopped. ``If the government does not respect these demands, the next step will be civil protests in Baghdad and the provinces,'' his spokesman Hazam al-Aaraji said yesterday, reading a statement from the cleric at a news conference in Najaf aired on state television.

Fighting spread late yesterday to Sadr City in eastern Baghdad and Kut and Hilla, south of the capital, Agence France- Presse reported, citing unidentified security officials.

Footage on state television showed plumes of smoke rising above Basra city as police and ambulances raced down otherwise empty streets.

Basra has been plagued by the smuggling of ``oil and its derivatives, weapons, drugs and other prohibited materials,'' al-Maliki said yesterday in a statement carried by state television. The government ``is firmly resolved to restore security and stability and to impose law.''

The U.S. military has said it is open to negotiations with al-Sadr's followers. Before the cease-fire, the U.S. viewed the Mahdi Army as ``the most dangerous accelerant of potentially self-sustaining sectarian violence in Iraq,'' the Defense Department said in a 2006 report.

The U.S. has about 158,000 soldiers in Iraq. That force is scheduled to drop to about 140,000 by July.

German minister asks Beijing to end Tibet blackout (Roundup)

Berlin - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier telephoned Beijing Tuesday and asked China to bring the violence in Tibet out into the open for the sake of 'maximum transparency,' aides in Berlin said.

A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said meanwhile she was 'open' to a fresh meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Beijing has protested angrily at western contacts with the Dalai Lama, whom it accuses of orchestrating protests by monks.

The Foreign Ministry announced Steinmeier's phone conversation about Tibet with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in advance.

It said Steinmeier appealed for 'maximum transparency regarding the events in Tibet.'

Yang had replied that China had invited Western journalists on a trip to Tibet to see for themselves. Following protests at the expulsion of journalists from Tibet, Beijing announced Tuesday it would set up an escorted trip for about a dozen to Lhasa.

Steinmeier said he hoped the violence would cease permanently and called for a dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama.

He had also told the Beijing official he did not regard a boycott of this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing in protest at Tibet policies as an appropriate response, a ministry spokesman said.

Thomas Steg, deputy government spokesman, earlier said calls for an Olympic boycott tended to 'distract from the need to move towards a political solution to the conflict.'

'We regard it as indispensable that both sides, the Dalai Lama and the government in Beijing, close their gap,' he said, adding that there was no alternative in Germany's view to negotiations.

Merkel had made plain 'that she was absolutely willing to meet again with the Dalai Lama on an appropriate occasion, speak to him and discuss current topics,' said Steg.

However Merkel would not be in Germany at the time of the spiritual leader's scheduled spring visit to the country.

Merkel received the Dalai Lama, who lives in India, last year in her Berlin office, prompting an angry protest from Beijing.

The German Federation of Olympics Sports, or DOSB, said Monday that there would definitely be no boycott of the Games. Athletes on the official German team voiced relief, saying the event would be height of their careers for many.

DOSB general director Michael Vesper said on ZDF television it was 'naive' to suppose people in China or Tibet would be better off if athletes stayed away from the Games.

But a senior member of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party criticized the DOSB Tuesday for pledging attendance at the games and thus taking a boycott over Tibet out of play.

Ruprecht Polenz, who chairs the federal parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, said on SWR television that given the situation in Tibet, it would have been smarter to leave attendance at the Games this summer open, 'thus not ruling a boycott out.'

Polenz is not a member of the Merkel government, a coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, but is a respected voice on foreign policy issues.

SUICIDAL ATTACK IN LAHORE

Follow the Leader

The New York Times and USA Today lead with new national polls that show voters think Sen. Barack Obama has a better shot at beating Sen. John McCain. In both polls Obama beat out Sen. Hillary Clinton by a significant margin for the first time (extra credit goes to the NYT for mentioning USAT's survey). In the NYT/CBS poll, 54 percent of Democratic voters said they would want to see Obama nominated compared to 38 percent who preferred Clinton, while the USAT/Gallup poll shows a 51-39 percent lead for Obama. USAT's poll shows Republicans agree with Democrats that McCain would have an easier time if he were to face off against Clinton.

The Los Angeles Times leads with a plan by Senate Democrats to change the bankruptcy law in order to give judges the authority to change the terms of a mortgage. Under the terms being discussed, a judge would be able to reduce a mortgage or its related interest rates, during bankruptcy proceedings. The country's lenders, largely backed by Republicans, are deeply against this proposal and contend that it would force them to increase mortgage rates in order to cover the added risk. "If this proposal becomes law, it will amount to a new tax on homeowners," the chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association said. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with the suicide bomber that assassinated a top Pakistani Army general in a day that saw the first major outburst of violence since the elections. He was the most senior military officer to be assassinated in recent times. The Washington Post leads locally but off-leads a look at how Obama's rise is due in large part to his speeches and general oratory skills, which is opening up a new line of attack from his opponents. Not since Franklin D. Roosevelt "has a presidential candidate been propelled so much by the force of words," says the Post.

Pindi, Karachi blasts suspects arrested: Hamid Nawaz

 

ISLAMABAD: The interior minister has announced progress in investigations with arrest of suspects involved in bombings in Rawalpindi, Karachi and other attacks across the country.
Caretaker Interior Minister, Hamid Nawaz Khan talking to media while inauguration of a police station here, said eight suicide bombers have been detained along with key suspect of recent suicide attacks.
He said total 8 suspects have been picked up by the police from Sargodha and Mianwali with explosives. Five would be suicide attackers have been detained from Sargodha with 37-kilogram explosives, while three others arrested from Mianwali with 30 KG explosive material, the minister further said.
Commenting on the Scotland Yard probe, the interior minister said that the team has been given 30 days to complete their investigation into Benazir Bhutto's assassination. Four British detectives would remain in Pakistan till the probe is completed, while others would arrive and return back home according to the need of the investigations.

Top News 10 dead in Karachi blast

KARACHI: At least 10 people were killed and 50 wounded Monday when a bomb fixed to a motorcycle exploded in Karachi as President Pervez Musharraf visited the city, police said. The blast ripped through a crowd in a busy commercial area of the city of 12 million people, causing further chaos in the run-up to crucial elections delayed by the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto. Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, flew in to the city minutes before the bomb went off, although officials said both he and Musharraf were far away from the scene of the blast. "The bomb was planted on a motorbike and exploded outside a textile factory in the Landhi district

Suicide bomber kills at least 28 at Iraq funeral---Blast comes amid overall decrease in violence

BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber detonated a vest loaded with explosives at a Shiite funeral in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 28 people and wounding 33 others, police and ambulance officials said.

The explosion took place in Baghdad's eastern Zayouna neighborhood, a mixed Shiite and Sunni district, the officials said on customary condition of anonymity.

The funeral was being held for Nabil Hussein Jassim, a retired army officer who had been killed in a car bombing in downtown Baghdad's Tayaran Square on Friday. That blast left at least 14 people dead.
In another development, the government sent to the parliament speaker a draft bill on Tuesday for an amnesty for some detainees being held in Iraqi prisons, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

The bill excludes those held in U.S. custody and those imprisoned for a variety of crimes ranging from terrorism, kidnapping and rape to antiquities smuggling, adultery and homosexuality. It also excludes senior figures of the former Baath regime.

If passed in its current form, the bill could see some 5,000 prisoners released, al-Dabbagh said. The Iraqi government has about 20,000 people in custody, while the U.S. military holds about 25,000.

Sunni parliamentarians have criticized the draft for its limited scope. They have argued that most prisoners are charged with terrorist crimes, rendering the bill ineffective. Some also fear referring the bill to Iraq's gridlocked parliament will actually delay prisoner releases.

Family found slain
In a village north of Baghdad, the bodies of a Sunni policeman and four of his family members were found just hours after they were abducted from their home by unknown gunmen, authorities said.

The assault occurred in Diyala province, where al-Qaida in Iraq retains a presence and violence has stubbornly remained, despite drops elsewhere. Extremists have long targeted Iraqi policeman and al-Qaida in Iraq has repeatedly said it will aggressively target any Iraqis who join the security forces.

Tuesday's attack happened on the northern outskirts of Jalula, a city mixed between Shiites and Sunnis 80 miles northeast of Baghdad.

An unknown number of gunmen attacked the policeman's home at dawn. Authorities found his body and that of his father, two brothers and a cousin about two hours later, a local policeman said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Hours later in the same province, a Shiite man and his 16-year-old son where killed in a drive-by shooting, police said. The two were standing outside their home in Tahwelah, about 19 miles east of Baqouba.

Violent count
Late Monday, Iraq's government released statistics on the number of civilians and security force members it said were killed in 2007.

According to the health, defense and interior ministries, 16,232 civilians, 432 soldiers and about 1,300 Iraqi policeman died in 2007. The year before, the ministries said that 12,371 civilians, 603 soldiers and 1,224 policeman were killed by violence.

The Iraq government's figures were roughly in line with a count kept by The Associated Press.

For 2007, the count found that 18,610 Iraqis were killed. In 2006, the only other full year an AP count has been tallied, 13,813 died.

The AP count -- which includes civilians, government officials, and police and security forces -- is compiled from hospital, police and military officials, as well as accounts from reporters and photographers. Insurgent deaths were not included. Other counts differ and some have given higher civilian death tolls.

Growing anti al-Qaida movement
In addition to policeman and Iraqi soldiers, the more than 70,000 Sunni fighters who have joined an anti-al-Qaida in Iraq movement are being targeted by extremists.

On Monday, a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint manned by such fighters, killing 12 people in one of a series of strikes against the movement singled out by Osama bin Laden as a "disgrace and shame."

Leaders of the rapidly expanding U.S.-backed movement, credited with helping slash violence across the country by 60 percent since June, condemned bin Laden's latest message to his followers.

"We consider our fighting against al-Qaida to be a popular revolution against the devil," said Sheik Mohammed Saleh al-Dohan, head of one of the groups in southern Ramadi, a city in Anbar province where the movement was born.

Al-Dohan blamed al-Qaida, which espouses a radical version of Sunni Islam, for bringing destruction to Iraq: "They made enemies between Sunnis, Shiites and Christians who lived in peace for centuries."

Bin Laden and his fighters "are the traitors who betrayed the Muslim nation and brought shame to Islam in all the world," he said.

In an audiotape that emerged on Saturday, bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against joining the groups, known as "awakening councils," or participating in any unity government. He said Sunni Arabs who join the groups "have betrayed the nation and brought disgrace and shame to their people. They will suffer in life and in the afterlife."