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Showing posts with label Reuters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reuters. Show all posts
Friday, February 11, 2011
Teen suicide bomber kills 20 at Pakistan army centre - Reuters
By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD | Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:27am EST
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A boy in a school uniform blew himself up at a Pakistani army recruitment center on Thursday, killing 20 cadets, officials said, in an attack that challenges government assertions that crackdowns have weakened militants.
Pakistan's army has carried out a series of offensives against al Qaeda-linked Taliban insurgents. But the operations in lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border have failed to break the resolve of Taliban fighters determined to destabilize the U.S.-backed government.
The brazen bombing on Thursday in the northwestern town of Mardan suggested militants are regrouping after a lull in major attacks.
Militant operations in recent months have been mostly sectarian and have not focused on military targets.
"The bomber struck recruits when cadets were busy in their morning training," a military official told Reuters. At least 20 people were wounded.
The boy apparently walked into the compound, officials said.
"It seems the Taliban are still a very potent force because they continue to attack installations, even if they have been quiet for a time," said former general Talat Masood.
"They reassert themselves after a while, and it will be a while before we consider them to be less of a threat."
The Taliban have previously launched bold attacks on the military, Pakistan's most powerful institution.
Last March, two suicide bombers targeting the Pakistani military killed at least 45 people in the city of Lahore, including nine soldiers.
In 2009, Pakistani Taliban militants disguised as soldiers attacked the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi and later took 42 people hostage in a nearby office building.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned Thursday's attack at the Punjab Regiment Center.
"Such cowardly attacks cannot affect the morale of the security agencies and the resolve of the nation to eradicate terrorism," he said in a statement.
Gilani's government faces pressure on several fronts.
It is trying to revive a stagnant economy propped up by an $11 billion Internet Monetary Fund loan which requires politically sensitive reforms.
Pirates board, take control of Italian oil tanker - Reuters
ROME | Tue Feb 8, 2011 4:10am EST
A spokesman so no one was injured in the attack on the Savina Caylyn, which took place some 500 miles off the coast of India and some 800 miles off the coast of Somalia.
He said it was believed that at least five pirates took part in the attack, which took place at about 0625 GMT. The crew was made up of 17 Indians and five Italians. A navy frigate was heading to the scene. (Reporting by Antonella Cinelli)
U.S. shooter in Pakistan held for 14 more days: court - Reuters
U.S. consulate employee Raymond Davis is escorted by police and officials out of court after facing a judge in Lahore, January 28, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Tariq SaeedBy Mubashir BokhariLAHORE | Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:36am EST
LAHORE (Reuters) - A Pakistani court sent a U.S. national, accused of killing two Pakistani men during what he said was an attempted robbery, to jail for 14 more days on Friday, further dragging out a diplomatic row between the troubled allies.
Raymond Davis, a U.S. embassy employee who Washington says has diplomatic immunity, shot and killed two Pakistani men on January 27 in Lahore in what he says was an act of self-defense.
Pakistan has questioned his diplomatic status and has detained Davis since the incident, infuriating the United States. Washington says his continued detention is a violation of international treaties.
"He has been sent to Kot Lakhpat jail on a 14-day judicial remand," Abdul Samad, deputy prosecutor general, told reporters outside the court, referring to the city's main prison. Police will continue their investigation, he said.
No one from the U.S. embassy was available for comment.
Samad said Davis' lawyer, Hassam Qadir, argued that Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be released, and that all proceedings should be closed to the public.
Qadir declined to comment. The next hearing is scheduled for February 25.
After the court hearing, Davis was sent to the jail amid tight security. Punjab's Law Minister, Rana Sanaullah, told Reuters earlier that the "best possible arrangements" would be made for Davis's security.
"All efforts would be made to facilitate him in a better way," he said.
In addition to the two men shot and killed by Davis, a third man was killed when a vehicle from the U.S. consulate, apparently en route to rescue Davis, struck and killed a passer-by.
The case has driven already high-levels of anti-Americanism to new heights in Pakistan, a country the United States considers a crucial ally in the war against militants and vital to ending the war in Afghanistan successfully.
Supporters of the slain men have held protests and burned U.S. flags, reflecting the widespread and virulent anti-American sentiment.
The widow of one of men Davis shot killed herself Sunday night because she said she wanted "blood for blood" and feared Davis would be released.
If it intervenes to seek Davis's release, Pakistan's civilian government will bear the brunt of popular fury at what Pakistanis see as yet another violation of their sovereignty.
But if it allows the Lahore High Court to move ahead with double murder charges, it will infuriate the United States and could even effect a $7.5-billion, five-year civilian aid package.
Earlier this week, Republican Representatives Howard "Buck" McKeon of California and John Kline of Minnesota said they told Pakistani officials on a recent visit that aid could be affected. McKeon is the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
(Writing by Chris Allbritton; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Scepticism abounds as rival Koreas meet for talks - Reuters Africa
(Writes through)
By Jeremy Laurence
SEOUL Feb 8 (Reuters) - Military officers from the rival Koreas met at their heavily armed border on Tuesday for their first talks since North Korea attacked a southern island in November, with analysts sceptical about the North's motives.
The talks clear one of the roadblocks to a possible resumption of six-way talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear-weapons programme, last held more than two years ago when the North walked out, announcing the process dead.
North Korean Colonel Ri Son-kwon patted his counterpart from the South, Col. Moon Sang-gyun, on the shoulder and they shook hands before they started negotiations at the Panmunjom truce village, video footage showed. They have met several times over the years.
"When they (North Korea) need something, which usually means money, they first drive tensions high, then switch to the charm offensive and start talks in order to get something," said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul.
"If they do not get what they need, they turn the switch back to the confrontational mood."
The meeting is the first between the rivals since November, when the North bombarded the island of Yeonpyeong in disputed waters off the west coast killing four people. Continued...
Monday, February 7, 2011
Tunisia takes steps to halt "security breakdown" - Reuters
By Tarek Amara
TUNIS | Sun Feb 6, 2011 3:20pm EST
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia suspended activities of the former ruling party on Sunday, saying it acted to prevent a breakdown in security after some of the worst unrest since the president was ousted in a revolt last month.
Security officials in the coalition government put in place after President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia have said there is a conspiracy by officials close to the old administration to spread chaos and take back power.
The latest in several days of clashes that have raised questions about whether Tunisia is returning to stability after Ben Ali's departure. One man was killed during a protest and there were clashes with security forces in two other towns.
"The minister of the interior has decided to suspend all activities and all meetings of the RCD (former ruling party) and to close down all its offices pending a judicial decision on its dissolution," said an Interior Ministry source.
"(This is being done) because there is an extreme need and in order to prevent a breakdown of general security and to protect the higher interests of the country," said the source, who declined to be named.
Security officials had earlier suggested that functionaries from the party -- which was Ben Ali's power base but is now shunned by those in power -- were involved in attempts to destabilize the country.
HALTING PROGRESS
Tunisia's uprising against Ben Ali's authoritarian rule inspired protest movements elsewhere in the Arab world, including in Egypt, and its halting progress toward a more democratic system is being watched closely in the region.
Stability has gradually been returning to the country of 10 million after weeks of unrest before Ben Ali fled and several days of lawlessness afterwards.
However, there has been a fresh flare-up of violence and protests in the past few days.
The Interior Ministry source said a man died after being hit by a tear gas grenade during clashes in Kebili, about 400 km (250 miles) south of Tunis, between police and protesters angry at the appointment of a new regional governor.
There were renewed clashes in the northern town of El Kef, where on Saturday two people died when police opened fire to quell a protest.
Young men there on Sunday set fire to a police station and tried to march to the town prison before the military intervened to stop them, the official TAP news agency reported.
The news agency also reported that in the town of Gafsa, in central Tunisia, soldiers had to evacuate a newly-appointed regional governor in one of their vehicles after his office came under siege by protesters.
The protests over new regional governors are likely to worry the government because they were appointed in response to popular pressure for a purge of Ben Ali loyalists.
In the other violent incident of the past few days, townspeople in Sidi Bouzid protested after two men locked up inside a police station there were killed on Friday when the building caught fire.
(Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Two dead as Tunisian police fires on protesters - Reuters
By Tarek Amara
TUNIS | Sat Feb 5, 2011 5:53pm EST
TUNIS (Reuters) - At least two people were killed and 17 others wounded in northern Tunisia on Saturday when police opened fire to quell a protest after a senior police officer slapped a woman in the face, official and media sources said.
The head of police in the city of El Kef was arrested after the shooting, an Interior Ministry source said.
Four policemen had been arrested earlier on Saturday on suspicion of links to the death on Friday of two civilians while in police custody in Sidi Bouzid, the epicenter of a popular revolt that ousted last month President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and reverberated across the Arab world.
Public confidence in the police has been at a low since the revolt, with many Tunisians blaming police officers for killing protesters and associating them with the ousted president.
A rally by hundreds of protesters in front of the police station in El Kef, north of the capital Tunis, degenerated when they tried to occupy its premises, the ministry source said.
"About 1,000 people gathered in a protest in front of El Kef's police station to demand the dismissal of the head of the police in the city for power abuse while exercising his duties," the source told Reuters.
Witnesses told state-run television that the protest started after the police chief slapped a woman in the face.
Protesters later pelted the police station with stones and threw fire bombs at the force guarding the building. Footage on state-run television showed a police van on fire.
"The police fired to prevent the protesters from breaking into the station," the ministry source said.
Four policemen were earlier arrested in Sidi Bouzid on suspicion they were linked to the death on Friday of two civilians after a police station they were locked in caught fire, a ministry spokesman said.
A young unemployed man from Sidi Bouzid, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in December to protest at his mistreatment by a police force member. He later died. His act started the anti-government protests which toppled Ben Ali.
(Writing by Souhail Karam; Editing by Diana Abdallah)
Clinton puts U.S. focus on Egypt transition - Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (3L) speaks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (3R) during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines at the 47th Conference on Security Policy in the hotel 'Bayerischer Hof' in Munich, February 5, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Bundesregierung/Guido Bergmann/PoolBy Andrew QuinnMUNICH | Sat Feb 5, 2011 7:09pm EST
MUNICH (Reuters) - The United States said on Saturday it backs Egypt's drive for orderly reforms to allow democratic elections in a sign of a new U.S. emphasis on gradual transition to resolve the crisis over President Hosni Mubarak's rule.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton threw her weight behind the reform effort launched by Mubarak's handpicked Vice President, Omar Suleiman, saying the government's fragile dialogue with the opposition must be given time to unfold or risk being derailed by radical forces.
"There are forces at work in any society, and particularly one that is facing these kinds of challenges, that will try to derail or overtake the process to pursue their own specific agenda," Clinton told a security conference in Munich.
"Which is why I think it's important to support the transition process announced by the Egyptian Government, actually headed by now Vice President Omar Suleiman."
Suleiman began meeting independent opposition figures on Saturday to go through various options, including a proposal for him to assume the president's powers for an interim period.
Vice President Joe Biden telephoned Suleiman on Saturday to ask about progress on the transition as well as to express concern over continued attacks on civil groups and detention of journalists, activists and human rights advocates, the White House said in a statement.
"He stressed the need for a concrete reform agenda, a clear timeline, and immediate steps that demonstrate to the public and the opposition that the Egyptian government is committed to reform," the statement said.
In one reform gesture, the leadership of Mubarak's ruling party quit on Saturday following 12 days of protests that have shaken Egypt to its core. But protesters dismissed the move as a ruse that would not deter them from their goal of ousting the president immediately.
U.S. officials said Clinton was not explicitly endorsing a future political role for Suleiman, Mubarak's long-time intelligence chief who is viewed skeptically by many in Egypt's opposition movement.
President Barack Obama himself has urged Mubarak to "make the right decision" and U.S. officials have over the past week indicated they believe his days in power may be numbered.
But Clinton, seeking to place renewed emphasis on the process of political transition, underscored the U.S. view that it will take both time and patience to lay the groundwork for truly democratic new elections to take place.
"Our view is the early discussions are the right thing for the government to have initiated and now the opposition should get involved in them to test the proposition that the government is serious," said one senior U.S. official.
Obama has repeatedly urged Mubarak to begin the transition immediately, and Clinton said she believed that this process was already under way and should be allowed time to mature.
"The principles are very clear, the operational details are very challenging," Clinton said on organizing future elections.
"President Mubarak has announced he will not stand for re-election, nor will his son," she said, noting that the government had also pledged constitutional reforms and allowing greater political participation.
Pans and condoms star in anti-Berlusconi protests - Reuters
File phtoo of Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as he looks on during a news conference at Chigi palace in Rome January 26, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Tony Gentile/FilesBy Deepa BabingtonROME | Fri Feb 4, 2011 7:37am EST
ROME (Reuters) - From plans to shower Silvio Berlusconi's villa with condoms to parodies set to the soundtrack from the musical Grease, Italians are protesting the prime minister's sex scandals with a mix of outrage and humour.
Polls show Berlusconi's conservative voter base has mostly shrugged off the "Rubygate" affair in which he is accused of paying for sex with a teenage nightclub dancer.
But leftist activists and youth have been galvanised by a scandal featuring a surreal mix of showgirls, envelopes of cash and sex games.
Some of the bigger demonstrations planned include a Milan protest featuring writers Umberto Eco and Roberto Saviano and a nationwide women's rally on Feb. 13. But countless smaller, more colourful initiatives have also sprung up on the Internet.
In one rally publicised via Facebook, protesters plan to march to Berlusconi's sumptuous villa outside Milan this weekend and throw condoms at the gates -- a twist on the hail of coins that a crowd pelted on former prime minister Bettino Craxi in 1993 when he was accused of corruption.
Another protest for Feb. 12 calls on Italians to follow a Neapolitan tradition of banging on saucepans and pots to create an "infernal" racket loud enough, they hope, to send Berlusconi packing.
"Italy is not a republic founded on prostitution," longtime anti-Berlusconi agitators, the "Purple People", said, a play on the opening line of the country's constitution, which says: "Italy is a democratic republic founded on work".
"The idea is to march into squares in every part of Italy in a peaceful but noisy manner with pots, ladles, saucepans and lids," the group said.
Another group plans to throw underwear outside the media tycoon's villa, while a Facebook initiative urges Italians to hang banners from their balconies saying "Berlusconi go away".
Women wearing white scarves already traipsed through Milan last month, protesting Berlusconi and a culture demeaning women.
NO UPRISING
The fast-multiplying protests promise to become a headache for Berlusconi as he tries to regain political momentum and deflect attention towards plans to kick start the economy.
But the tycoon has ridden out such protests before, and analysts do not expect the latest ones to erupt into mass uprisings that force him out -- not least because for most Italians a strong family network has softened the pinch from a stagnant economy, 29 percent youth unemployment and corruption.
"We haven't really had the general population rising up against Berlusconi because people aren't going hungry like in some other countries," said pollster Luigi Crespi.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Egyptians rally for Mubarak to go now - Reuters
Opposition supporters take part in Friday prayers in Tahrir Square in Cairo February 4, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Goran TomasevicBy Dina Zayed and Shaimaa FayedCAIRO | Fri Feb 4, 2011 10:34am EST
CAIRO (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians marched peacefully in Cairo on Friday to demand an immediate end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, but there was no word of his generals, or his U.S. allies, squeezing him out just yet.
Hoping for a million-strong turnout nationwide to mark what they called "Departure Day", men and women from across Egyptian society streamed past patient soldiers to join a crowd estimated at about 200,000 in the capital's Tahrir, or Liberation, Square.
Similar pro-democracy rallies were held in other cities.
"Leave! Leave! Leave!" they chanted after weekly Friday prayers in Cairo. A cleric praised the "revolution of the young" and declared: "We want the head of the regime removed."
There was a festive, weekend atmosphere as secular, middle-class professionals and pious, generally poorer, members of the mass Islamist movement the Muslim Brotherhood, mingled, sang and chanted under banners and ubiquitous Egyptian flags.
Members of the Christian minority were also taking part.
"Game over" said one banner, in English for the benefit of international television channels beaming out live coverage.
The defence minister visited the square, inspecting troops who have promised to protect demonstrators. There was no sign of Mubarak loyalists who attacked protesters on previous days.
"The army and people are united!" the crowds chanted.
"Allahu akbar!" (God is greatest), some protesters cried after the prayers on Tahrir Square.
Iran's supreme leader hailed an "Islamic liberation movement" in Egypt.
Iran's anti-Western, Islamic revolution of 1979 against the repressive, U.S.-funded shah has been cited by some in Israel and the West as creating a possible precedent for Egypt to turn into a major hostile force to Western power in the region if its 60-year-old military-backed secular system falls.
Reuters TV live Tahrir Square, click link.reuters.com/kuf87r
Mubarak interview with ABC, click link.reuters.com/red87r
Pans and condoms star in anti-Berlusconi protests - Reuters
File phtoo of Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as he looks on during a news conference at Chigi palace in Rome January 26, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Tony Gentile/FilesBy Deepa BabingtonROME | Fri Feb 4, 2011 7:37am EST
ROME (Reuters) - From plans to shower Silvio Berlusconi's villa with condoms to parodies set to the soundtrack from the musical Grease, Italians are protesting the prime minister's sex scandals with a mix of outrage and humour.
Polls show Berlusconi's conservative voter base has mostly shrugged off the "Rubygate" affair in which he is accused of paying for sex with a teenage nightclub dancer.
But leftist activists and youth have been galvanised by a scandal featuring a surreal mix of showgirls, envelopes of cash and sex games.
Some of the bigger demonstrations planned include a Milan protest featuring writers Umberto Eco and Roberto Saviano and a nationwide women's rally on Feb. 13. But countless smaller, more colourful initiatives have also sprung up on the Internet.
In one rally publicised via Facebook, protesters plan to march to Berlusconi's sumptuous villa outside Milan this weekend and throw condoms at the gates -- a twist on the hail of coins that a crowd pelted on former prime minister Bettino Craxi in 1993 when he was accused of corruption.
Another protest for Feb. 12 calls on Italians to follow a Neapolitan tradition of banging on saucepans and pots to create an "infernal" racket loud enough, they hope, to send Berlusconi packing.
"Italy is not a republic founded on prostitution," longtime anti-Berlusconi agitators, the "Purple People", said, a play on the opening line of the country's constitution, which says: "Italy is a democratic republic founded on work".
"The idea is to march into squares in every part of Italy in a peaceful but noisy manner with pots, ladles, saucepans and lids," the group said.
Another group plans to throw underwear outside the media tycoon's villa, while a Facebook initiative urges Italians to hang banners from their balconies saying "Berlusconi go away".
Women wearing white scarves already traipsed through Milan last month, protesting Berlusconi and a culture demeaning women.
NO UPRISING
The fast-multiplying protests promise to become a headache for Berlusconi as he tries to regain political momentum and deflect attention towards plans to kick start the economy.
But the tycoon has ridden out such protests before, and analysts do not expect the latest ones to erupt into mass uprisings that force him out -- not least because for most Italians a strong family network has softened the pinch from a stagnant economy, 29 percent youth unemployment and corruption.
"We haven't really had the general population rising up against Berlusconi because people aren't going hungry like in some other countries," said pollster Luigi Crespi.
Berlusconi passes tax changes, ignoring parliament - Reuters
By Giuseppe Fonte
ROME | Thu Feb 3, 2011 5:33pm EST
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's cabinet on Thursday approved tax reforms that had been rejected by a special parliamentary panel, sparking outrage from the opposition who accused Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of riding roughshod over parliament.
The decision to approve the package to raise the taxation powers of town councils underscored the growing strength of the Northern League, Berlusconi's main coalition partner which had threatened to withdraw its support if the measures were blocked.
Pierluigi Bersani, leader of the largest opposition Democratic party, said it was "an unbearable slap in the face to parliament," while the centrist UDC called it "a vulgar and arrogant step which is totally illegal under the constitution."
The eagerly awaited vote of the 30-member parliamentary panel resulted in a 15-15 tie, dealing a setback to Berlusconi.
The vote of the committee on federalism, made up of lawmakers from both houses of parliament, was not formally binding, but it was widely considered that the centre-right government would have to take its verdict into account.
But after a hastily convened evening cabinet meeting, Northern League leader Umberto Bossi announced in a brief statement that the tax measures had been "definitively passed."
"The League keeps its promises and brings home a concrete result in the interests of the people," he said.
Bossi, who has the power to bring down the government, has promised his supporters a deal on the package aimed at increasing local autonomy and cutting subsidies from the prosperous north to the poorer south.
Ahead of the panel ruling, he said new elections would be needed if the measures were not approved, but the party's leadership has been divided over what approach to take and he appeared to backtrack later.
Following a second vote on Thursday, when deputies rejected a search request by magistrates investigating allegations against Berlusconi of having sex with an underage prostitute, Bossi put off any suggestion of early elections. "The numbers are good, for now we'll carry on," he told reporters.
SCANDAL
Ever since Berlusconi's former ally Gianfranco Fini split from the ruling PDL party in July, the League has held the fate of the government in its hands and its importance has only risen after the sex scandal that has engulfed the 74-year-old premier.
Berlusconi has resisted calls to resign over the scandal that has made a household name of "Ruby," the teenage nightclub dancer he is alleged to have paid for sex while she was under 18, the earliest legal age for prostitution in Italy.
He denies the accusations and received some backing on Thursday, when the lower house voted against letting magistrates search his accountant's offices, a result which helped swing Bossi against a move for early elections.
Berlusconi already faces two trials over tax fraud allegations in coming weeks in addition to the prostitution scandal, which prosecutors are also seeking to bring to court.
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