Aljazeera
News
Briefs
8-10-2005
Iraqis
struggle
to
meet
charter
deadline
Confrontations
across
Iraq
have
left
at
least
30
people
dead,
including
10
police
officers,
as Iraqis
are
racing
against
time
to
hammer
out
the
long-awaited
constitution
by
15
August.
Although
an
intense
sandstorm
forced
meetings
to
be
cancelled
on
Monday
and
brought
delays
on
Tuesday,
substantive
talks
were
held,
said
Kamaran
Garadaji,
a
spokesman
for
Prime
Minister
Ibrahim
al-Jaafari.Garadaji
said
the
leaders
at
the
meeting
were
determined
to
reach
an
agreement
ahead
of
the
15
August
deadline.
Full
Story
|
AU
members
in
Mauritania
for
talks
A
delegation
from
the
African
Union
has
arrived
in
Mauritania
to
urge
leaders
of
last
week's
coup
to
restore
constitutional
order
to
this
oil-rich
nation.
The
53-nation
body
condemned
the
3
August
coup
and
suspended
Mauritania's
membership
in
the
organisation,
but
has
stopped
short
of
calling
for
exiled
President
Maaouiya
Sid'Ahmed
Ould
Taya
to
be
restored
to
office.Taya,
who
had
ruled
since
a
1984
coup,
was
widely
unpopular
and
most
Mauritanians
welcomed
his
ousting.The
AU
delegation
includes
Nigerian
Foreign
Minister
Oluyemi
Adeniji,
South
African
Safety
and
Security
Minister
Charles
Nqakula
and
an
official
of
the
African
Union
Commission.They
are
expected
to
meet
the
newly
declared
president,
Colonel
Ely
Ould
Mohamed
Vall
and
other
leaders
of
last
week's
coup.Nigeria
holds
the
chairmanship
of
the
African
Union,
and
South
Africa
is
this
month's
head
of
the
organisation's
Peace
and
Security
Council.Speaking
in
an
interview
on
Monday
broadcast
on
the
Arabic
news
channel
Al-Arabiya,
Taya
vowed
he
would
return
to
power
and
called
on
his
country's
armed
forces
to
reverse
the
coup.Taya,
in
exile
in
nearby
Niger,
issued
orders
"in
my
capacity
as
president
of
the
republic
to
the
armed
forces
to
restore
the
natural
order
and
put
an
end
to
this
crime"."I
am
determined
to
return
to
Nouakchott
to
continue
the
job
of
building
our
nation,"
he
added.A
17-man
military
government
made
up
of
top
army
brass
toppled
Taya
while
he
was
abroad
on
Wednesday.Welcomed
coupThe
bloodless
military
coup
was
welcomed
by
many
who
had
grown
weary
of
Taya's
harsh
21-year
rule.Taya
urged
the
African
Union
to
keep
up
pressure
on
the
new
rulers.
Full
Story
|
US-Afghan
patrol
attacked
At
least
16
suspected
fighters
and
one
US soldier
have
been
killed
in
fighting
in
southern
Afghanistan,
according
to
the
US
military.
The
American
was
killed
when
Afghan
and
US
forces
came
under
attack
during
a
patrol
on
Monday
in
southern
Zabul
province's
Day
Chopan
district,
triggering
a
firefight,
the
US
military
said
on
Tuesday.US
and
coalition
aircraft
provided
air
support
during
the
clash,
the
military
added.According
to
initial
estimates,
at
least
16
men,
suspected
fighters,
were
killed."We
are
greatly
saddened
by
the
loss
of
one
of
our
own
but
are
able
to
take
solace
in
the
fact
that
we
are
ridding
this
area
of
an
oppressive
and
violent
enemy,"
said
US
Brigadier-General
James
Champion."Afghan
and
US
forces
will
continue
this
search
and
attack
mission
to
ensure
there
are
no
enemy
safe
havens
in
this
region,"
he
said.US
forces
to
stay
Full
Story
|
US,
Russia
offer
help
on
Garang
probe
Several
countries besides
the
United
Nations
have
offered
to
assist
a
Sudanese
enquiry
into
a
helicopter
crash
that
killed
former
rebel
leader
John
Garang,
Foreign
Minister
Mustafa
Osman
Ismail
said.
"The
United
States,
UN,
Russia,
Uganda
and
other
countries
have
offered
assistance
to
the
national
committee
that
will
investigate
the
crash
in
which
the
first
vice
president
died,"
Ismail
told
reporters
in
Khartoum
on
Tuesday.
Full
Story
|
Egypt
frees
chemist
tied
to
UK
blasts
The
Egyptian authorities
have released
an
Egyptian
chemist
detained
for
questioning
following
the
7
July
bombings
in
London,
saying
he
has
been
cleared
of
suspicion.
Magdy
el-Nashar
had
been
sought
by
Britain
in
connection
with
the
7
July
attacks
in
London,
which
killed
56
people
including
the
four
bombers
in
explosions
on
London's
Underground
and
on
a
bus.
Full
Story
|
US
mulls
sanctions
against
Venezuela
The
United
States
is
considering
punishing
Venezuela
with
sanctions
for
breaking
off
work
with
US
anti-drug
agents
in
the
world's
top
cocaine-exporting
region,
the
State
Department
has
said .
Full
Story
|
UN
official
pleads
guilty
to
fraud
A
veteran
UN
procurement
official
has
pleaded
guilty to
conspiracy,
wire
fraud
and
money
laundering
charges
after
investigators
found
evidence
he
took
nearly
$1
million
in
illegal
payments
from
the
winners
of
UN
contracts
worth
$79
million.
UN
purchasing
officer
Alexander
Yakovlev
was
charged
on
Monday
in
a
federal
court
filing
with
receiving
"at
least
several
hundred
thousand
dollars"
in
illicit
payments
from
firms
seeking
to
secure
UN
contracts,
David
Kelley,
the
US
Attorney
for
the
Southern
District
of
New
York,
said
in
a
statement.
Full
Story
|
Israel
to
keep
control
over
Gaza
access
Israel has
said
it
will
probably retain
control
of
Gaza
skies
and
territorial
waters
after
the
implementation
of
its withdrawal
plan
from
the
area.
"I
think
it
is
very
likely
that
we
will
continue
to
control
the
skies
and
territorial
waters
of
Gaza," Israeli
Defence
Minister
Shaul
Mofaz
said
on
Tuesday. Mofaz
was
also
quoted
by
the
Israeli
state-run
radio
as
saying
Tel
Aviv
and
Egypt
were
finalising
an
agreement
whereby
Egypt
would
deploy
as
many
as
750
border
policemen
along
the
so-called
"Philadelphi
passage"
bordering
Rafah
on
the
Palestinian
side
and
the
Sinai
Peninsula
at
the
southern
tip
of
the
Gaza
Strip. Mofaz
did
not
say
if
Israeli
troops
would
completely
leave
the
Rafah
border
crossing
as
the
Egyptians
had
been
demanding. The
defence
minister
told
the
Israeli
cabinet
on
Monday
that
Tel
Aviv
could
not allow
a
free
flow
of
goods
and
services
between
Gaza
and
the
rest
of
the
world,
suggesting
that
"alternative
border
crossings"
be
created
where
Israel
can
control
cross-border
movements
between
Gaza
and
Egypt. No
sovereignty The
expected
withdrawal
from
the
Gaza
Strip,
due
in
two
weeks, will
apparently
give
the
Palestinian
Authority
(PA)
full
sovereignty
over
the
region.
Full
Story
|
Palestinian
justice
retracts
resignation
Palestinian
Chief
Justice
Zuhair
Sourani
has
said
he
was
withdrawing
his
resignation
after
President
Mahmoud
Abbas
promised
to
take
measures
to
end
assaults
against
judges
and
courts
in
Gaza
and
the
West
Bank.
Sourani
announced
his
resignation
on
Saturday
to
protest
against
growing
security
chaos
that
included
bomb
attacks
against
his
house
and
the
home
of
Attorney
General
Hussein
Abu
'Aassi
last
week.
The
blasts
caused
damage
but
no
casualties.
Full
Story
|
Nagasaki
survivors
urge
nuclear
ban
The
Japanese
city
of
Nagasaki
is
marking
the
60th
anniversary
of
becoming
the
second
city
to
suffer
an
atomic
attack,
by
calling
on
the
US
to
give
up
its
nuclear
arsenal.
Three
days
after
the
world's
first
atomic
bombing
reduced
Hiroshima
to
ruins,
a
second
bomb,
code-named
Fat
Man
after
Winston
Churchill,
hit
the
hilly
southern
port
of
Nagasaki,
killing
more
than
70,000
people.
Full
Story
|
Federalism
delay
to
be
proposed
in
Iraq
A
leading
Sunni
Arab
helping
to write
Iraq's
constitution
has
said
accepting
Kurdish
demands
for
federalism
will
have
grave
consequences
for
the
nation.
Salih
al-Mutlaq
spoke
as
Iraqi
political
leaders
prepared
to
resume
talks
at
7pm
(1300
GMT)
on
Tuesday
in
a
bid
to
finalise
the
charter,
which
parliament
must
approve
by
next
week's
deadline.
A
second
round
of
talks
was
postponed
by
a
severe
sandstorm
on
Monday.
Full
Story
|
Abbas
urges
restraint
from
Palestinians
President
Mahmoud
Abbas
has
urged
Palestinians
to
ensure
Israel's
Gaza
withdrawal
takes
place
in
an
orderly
and
civilised
manner.
Addressing
a
special
session
of
the
Palestinian
parliament
in
Gaza
City
on
Tuesday,
Abbas
said
Palestinians
should
conduct
themselves
during
Israel's
pullout
in
a
way
that
shows
the
world
they
deserve
a
state.
Full
Story
|
US
may
block
Ahmadinejad
visit
to
UN
Despite
an
agreement
to
let
officials
of
member
states
visit
the
UN
headquarters
in
New
York,
the
United
States
may
deny
Iran's
president
a
visa
to
attend
a
UN
meeting
because
of
his
possible
role
in
the
1979
storming
of
the
US
embassy
in
Tehran,
the
State
Department
has
said.
Concern
that
Iran's
new
president,
Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad,
might
have
been
linked
to
the
hostage-taking
at
the
embassy
was
central
to
judging
his
application
for
a
visa
to
attend
a
September
gathering
of
heads
of
state
in
New
York,
State
Department
spokesman
Adam
Ereli
said
on
Monday.
Full
Story
|
Turkey
police:
Blast
kills
bomb-makers
A
blast
in
an
Istanbul
apartment
block
has
killed
two
men
police
say
were
preparing
explosives.
It
was
not
clear
who
the
men
were,
but
the
explosion
wounded
five
people
on
Monday,
Istanbul
police
said.
Full
Story
|
Saudi
king
pardons
Libyans,
reformers
Saudi
Arabia's
new
king,
Abdullah
bin
Abdel
Aziz,
has
pardoned
a
number
of
Libyans
accused
of
plotting
to
assassinate
him,
according
to
an
official
statement.
"King
Abdullah
has
informed
government
ministers
that
he
has
pardoned
the
detained
Libyans,"
said
a
statement
by
Information
Minister
Ayad
Madani,
without
specifying
the
number
of
detainees.
Full
Story
|
UN
nuclear
agency
meets
on
Iran
The
UN
nuclear
watchdog
has
opened
an
emergency
meeting
in
Vienna
to
decide
on the
body's response
to
the
resumption
by
Iran
of
sensitive
nuclear
fuel
cycle
work.
As
the
board
of
governors
of
the
International
Atomic
Energy
Agency
(IAEA)
convened
on
Tuesday,
Director
General
Mohamed
ElBaradei
said
he
hoped
the
conflict
was
merely
a
blip
rather
than
a
permanent
rupture
in
talks
with
Tehran.
Full
Story
|
Iranian
nuclear
restart
alarms
EU3
Britain
says
it
is
deeply
concerned
by
Iran's
decision
to
restart
its
nuclear
programme,
while
France
described
the
tone
of
Tehran's
rejection
of
EU
proposals
as
alarming.
The
two
European
Union
allies
were
responding
to
Iran's
decisions
to
resume
work
at
a
uranium
conversion
plant
near
the
central
city
of
Isfahan
and
to
reject
a
package
of
EU
proposals
aimed
at
solving
the
stand-off
over
Iran's
nuclear
plans.
Full
Story
|
Ethiopia
confirms
ruling
party
poll
win
Ethiopia's
election
board
has
announced
that
the
ruling
party
won
disputed
May
elections
and
will
form
a
new
government.
The
announcement
on
Tuesday
ends
nearly
three
months
of
uncertainty
punctuated
by
deadly
violence
Full
Story
|
Ex-oil-food
chief
accused
of
corruption
The
former
head
of
the
United
Nations
oil-for-food
programme,
Benon
Sevan,
has
been
accused
of
getting
nearly
$150,000
in
kickbacks.
Full
Story
|
Algeria
names
new
military
chiefs
Algeria's
president
has
named
new
chiefs
for
the
elite
Republican
Guard
and
the
navy
in
a
drive
to
make
the
influential
military
more
professional,
state
media
reported.
Abdelaziz
Bouteflika,
who
is
also
defence
minister
and
supreme
chief
of
the
armed
forces,
appointed
General
Lyachi
Grid
as
chief
of
the
Republican
Guard
and
General
Malek
Necib
as
commander
of
the
navy
forces.
Full
Story
|
US
seeks
to
beef
up
troops
in
Iraq
The
United
States
expects
to
raise
its
troop
levels
in
Iraq
this
fall
to
bolster
security
for
the
planned
October
constitutional
referendum
and
December
elections
for
a
new
government,
the
Pentagon
has
said.
Planning
for
a
short-term
bulge
in
troop
levels
comes
as
US
commanders,
according
to
defence
officials,
are
also working
towards
cutting
the
current
force
by
20,000
to
30,000
soldiers
next
spring
and
summer,
contingent
on
progress
in
Iraq's
political
process
and
in
developing
Iraqi
security
forces.
Full
Story
|
China
mine
toll
set
to
rise
over
100
Rescuers say
the number
of
miners
feared
dead
after
an
illegal
colliery
flooded
in
southern
China
could
be
higher
than
the
102
previously
reported.
No
one
knows
exactly
how
many
miners
were
inside
when
the
Daxing
Coal
Mine
in
Xingning
city,
265km
northeast
of
Guangzhou,
flooded
on
Sunday
afternoon.
Full
Story
|
Iraqi
policemen
killed
in
attacks
Ten
Iraqi
policemen
have
been
shot
dead
in
a
spate
of
attacks
in
Baghdad
and
Baquba.
Four
policemen
were
killed
and
one
wounded
when
their
patrol
car
was
attacked
in
the
east
of
the
capital
on
Tuesday,
an
Interior
Ministry
official
said.The
policemen
had
been
asleep
in
their
vehicle
when
two
carloads
of
assailants
fired
on
them
around
8am
in
the
eastern
New
Baghdad
neighbourhood
of
the
capital,
said
Lieutenant-Colonel
Ahmad
Abud.
Full
Story
|
UN
nuclear
agency
meets
on
Iran
The
UN
nuclear
watchdog
has
held
a
crisis
meeting
to
try
to
stop
Iran
pursuing
a
nuclear
programme
after
Tehran
resumed
work
at
a
uranium
plant,
stoking
Western
fears
the
government
was
bent
on
developing
atomic
weapons.
As
the
governors
of
the
International
Atomic
Energy
Agency
(IAEA)
met
in
Vienna
on
Tuesday,
Iran's
new
president,
Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad,
said
he
had
new
ideas
to
resolve
the
nuclear
standoff
with
the
West
and
was
ready
to
continue
talks
with
the
EU.
Full
Story
|
UN
agency:
Iran
restarts
nuclear
work
The
UN
nuclear
watchdog,
the
International
Atomic
Energy
Agency,
has confirmed
that
Iran
has
restarted
nuclear
activities
that
had
been
mothballed
under
a
deal
with
the
European
Union's
three
biggest
powers.
"IAEA
Director
General
Mohamed
ElBaradei
informed
members
of
the
(IAEA)
board
of
governors
that
Iran
today
started
to
feed
uranium
ore
concentrate
into
the
first
part
of
the
process
line
at
the
uranium
conversion
facility,"
it
said
in
a
statement.
Full
Story
|
Hope
fading
for
trapped
Chinese
miners
At
least
123
miners
are
trapped
deep
underground
in
a
flooded
shaft
in
south
China
with
little
chance
of
survival.
"Currently,
they
are
still
trapped
about
480m
underground,"
said
You
Ningfeng,
vice-governor
of
Guangdong
province,
on
Tuesday.
Full
Story
|
Iraqi
governor
fired
over
crackdown
The
governor
of
the
Iraqi
province
of
Muthanna
has
been
sacked
after
ordering
a
deadly
crackdown
against
a
protest
for
better
jobs
and
services,
officials
say.
Two
Iraqis
were
killed
and
45
others
injured
during
the
protest
on
Sunday
in
the
provincial
capital
of
Samawa,
the
Defence
Ministry
said.
Full
Story
|
Musharraf:
UK
too
soft
on
extremists
The
British
government
has
been
too
soft
on
extremist
acitivities
in
the
country,
Pakistani
President
Pervez
Musharraf
told
the
BBC's
Newsnight
programme.
Full
Story
|
Israel
to
start
Gaza
pullout
as
planned
Israel
has pressed
ahead
with
preparations
for
its
pullout
from
Gaza,
signalling
business
as
usual
despite
Finance
Minister
Benjamin
Netanyahu's
resignation
in
protest
at
the
plan.
"We
are
back
to
our
routine...
The
disengagement
will
begin
as
planned,
exactly
a
week
from
today,"
Asaf
Shariv,
a
spokesman
for
Prime
Minister
Ariel
Sharon,
told
Army
Radio
a
day
after
Netanyahu's
walkout
at
a
cabinet
meeting.
Full
Story
|
|
