In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful Inews Daily Thursday 16th March 2006 - 15th Safar 1427
Deal eludes Hamas and Fatah Hamas and the other parliamentary blocs in the Palestinian Legislative Council have failed at the end of a meeting in Gaza to agree on a common programme for a Palestinian government. A Fatah representative in the dialogue said yesterday - the fourth day of inconclusive coalition talks in Gaza - that the gap with Hamas's position was still big. He said that all the presentations and amendments in the revised Hamas offer did not meet the minimum demands of Fatah for joining a Hamas-led government. The dialogue is set to end by the weekend and then Hamas would announce its government. Palestinian officials said Fatah and Hamas were trying to find common ground and avoid tensions that could result in political paralysis or even violence, but that a confrontation was inevitable. Chief judge closes Saddam testimony to public Saddam Hussein testified on Wednesday for the first time at his trial, calling on Iraqis to stop a bloody wave of sectarian violence and instead fight American troops, prompting the chief judge to close the courtroom, saying he was making political speeches. Even as the judge repeatedly yelled at him to stop, Saddam read from a prepared text, insisting he was still Iraq's president. "Let the (Iraqi) people unite and resist the invaders and their backers. Don't fight among yourselves," he said, praising the insurgency. " Finally chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman ordered the session to continue in secret, telling journalists to leave the chamber. The video and audio broadcast of the trial was cut off. UN creates new rights council The United Nations General Assembly has created a new UN human rights body, despite objections from the United States. Sustained applause greeted the announcement of the 170 to 4 vote with 3 abstentions. Joining the United States in a "no" vote were Israel, Marshall Islands and Palau. Abstaining were: Belarus, Iran and Venezuela. The new 47-seat UN Human Rights Council would replace the 53-country Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commission. Members in the new council will be elected by secret ballot in the General Assembly by a majority vote of all members, not just those present and voting. Four Iraqis killed, suspect detained in US Al Qaeda raid Four Iraqis were killed, including two women and a child, in a US military operation yesterday against 'suspected al Qaeda members' north of Baghdad. US forces raided a house 80 kilometers north of Baghdad, near the town of Balad, searching for a suspected facilitator for al Qaeda in the area. The US military claimed it 'came under fire' and killed the women and child in 'self-defense'. Local officials in the area reported a much higher casualty toll. Libya and France sign nuclear deal Libya and France have signed a co-operation agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the first deal of its kind since Libya abandoned its efforts to build weapons of mass destruction in 2003. "This accord represents a qualitative leap in relations between the two countries and proves that Libya has transformed its weapons of mass destruction into constructive weapons," the Libyan public works minister said at Wednesday's signing ceremony in Tripoli. The Libyan government said it hopes to use nuclear energy to power desalination plants that could provide water for arid areas of the country. Saddam's feared half-brother takes stand in trial Saddam Hussein's former intelligence chief Barzan Al Tikriti, once one of Iraq's most feared men, formally took the stand in their trial on Wednesday, saying he faced trumped up charges of crimes against humanity. Barzan, also one of Saddam's half brothers, is accused of ordering mass murder and torture, and of personally taking part in human rights abuses, including the destruction of villages. Number 38 on the US most wanted list in Iraq, Barzan levelled some of his comments at the US President and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying the democracy they speak of in Iraq does not exist. Britain woos Iranians amid tension with government Britain's declaration that it will support efforts by Iranians to win more freedom marks a shift in emphasis in London's relations with Tehran and is based on a recognition that nuclear talks have reached a dead end. Foreign Minister Jack Straw said this week that the Islamic state is heading in the wrong direction and that its people 'deserve better'. In a speech seen as more confrontational than usual, Straw also urged world bodies to boost the information flow to Iran. His speech had echoes of Washington's more hostile approach and came just a month after the United States outlined plans to expand television broadcasts to its old enemy Iran. US 'may want to keep Iraq bases' The US may want to keep a long-term military presence in Iraq to 'bolster moderates against extremists' in the region and protect oil supplies, the army general overseeing US operations in Iraq has said. While the Bush administration has downplayed prospects for permanent US bases in Iraq, General John Abizaid told a House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday he could not rule that out. Many Democrats have pressed President George Bush to firmly state that the United States does not intend to seek permanent military bases in Iraq, a step they said would help stem the violence there. Sudan opposes AU terms on Darfur Sudan will reject the proposed deployment of UN forces to Darfur after the African Union's peacekeeping mandate expires in September, according to the vice-president. The comments on Tuesday conflict with the agreement announced in Addis Ababa on Friday, when Sudan and the African Union agreed to extend the mandate of the AU peacekeepers in Darfur to September, and then allow them to be merged into a larger United Nations force. Separately, Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, criticised the African Union decision to extend its peacekeeping mission in Darfur up to next September. "Invisible hands" have added items to the AU decision that were not part of the original agenda for discussion, he said. Syria welcomes UN report on Hariri assassination A senior Syrian official welcomed a report released by the chief of the UN commission investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. "The report was realistic and has a lot of professionalism," the Syrian deputy foreign minister and a former ambassador to the United Nations was quoted as saying on Wednesday. The report, released Tuesday by the UN investigating commission's new chief Serge Brammertz, said there are encouraging signals from Syria. After two high-level meetings, Syria agreed to a deal that will give the commission access to 'individuals, sites and information', the report said. Explosion hits Turkish city An explosion has blown out the windows of a bank and neighbouring businesses in the south-eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir. The Police said no one was killed or injured in the explosion, which took place in front of an HSBC branch in the city yesterday. Explosives experts are investigating the area around the blast. A witness on the scene saw people crouching following the blast and said two people were injured by broken glass. The cause of the blast was not yet known. HSBC's Istanbul branch was among targets hit by a series of suicide attacks in 2003 which killed more than 60 people. Responsibility for that attack was claimed by a group linked to al-Qaida. Dubai firm plans US divestment The state-owned Arab company whose purchase of US port terminal assets unleashed a political firestorm expects to sell them within four to six months to a US buyer, according to a company statement. The statement on the sale process said it would be supervised by executives from P&O group's head office in London. "All of its (P&O Ports North America's) business will be sold to an unrelated US buyer," the statement said on Wednesday. Until the sale is completed, P&O Ports North America will be operated independently from DP World. The backfire of this ports deal caused an outcry among Arab intellectuals who pointed at the blatant anti-arab racist stance of the US. US body okays law to punish Iran helpers The House International Relations Committee, ignoring executive branch objections, voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to tighten US sanctions against Iran. The vote was 37-3. Among other provisions, the legislation would end US economic aid to any country that helped Iran by investing in its energy sector or permitted a private entity to carry out such investment. A presidential waiver of the aid cut-off is permitted if he considered it to be in US interests. At the UN, the Bush administration was meeting resistance from China and Russia to a US-backed proposal that would demand that Iran halt all uranium enrichment. Pakistan rejects Indian claim on Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan yesterday rejected an Indian claim that Gilgit-Baltistan was part of its territory. The Foreign Office spokeswoman, when asked to comment on a statement made by the spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on March 10, claiming that Gilgit Baltistan "is an integral part of India", rejected it. She drew attention to the several resolutions of the UN Security Council and the UN Commission for India and Pakistan, regarding the State of Jammu and Kashmir being a disputed territory, the final status of which is yet to be determined. 'Blasphemous sketches didn't violate law' Denmark's top prosecutor said yesterday he would not press charges against the newspaper that first published blasphemous sketches as it did not violate Danish law (sic). The foreign ministry warned the decision could cause "negative reactions" against the Danes and warned citizens to be cautious when travelling in Muslim countries. "My decision is that there is no violation of the said rules of the Danish Criminal Code," he said. A group of Danish Muslims said at the time they would appeal the ruling to the top prosecutor. 20 killed in Saudi Arabia after drinking cologne As many as 20 people died after drinking poisoned cologne in the cities of Mecca, Taif, Medina and Riyadh, the Saudi newspaper Okaz reported on Wednesday. The paper said 40 other people were also admitted to hospital, some in critical condition. The authorities carried out inspections to find the poisoned cologne, as large quantities of it have already been sold. The poisoned cologne can inflict a wide range of damage, including migraines, nausea, vomiting, severe stomach and back pains and infection of the pancreas. It also causes malfunctions in the nervous and respiratory systems, the paper said. Saudi Arabia, which applies a strict interpretation of Islamic law, bans alcohol. Some people drink cologne in the kingdom as a substitute for alcohol. Five dead, hundreds injured in Iran fire festival At least five people have been killed and hundreds injured in an annual fire festival before the Iranian New Year, the media reported on Wednesday. Some 841 were injured in different places in Iran from the explosion of homemade fire- bombs and firecrackers despite the police threatening to arrest anyone who threw explosives. The student ISNA agency said the police have arrested 174 people, who will have to stay in jail until the end of the New Year holidays, which begin on March 21 and last for two weeks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inews Daily - No Copyright - http://www.fsphost.com/inewsdaily - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe by sending an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! 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