Assad 'will take part' in 2014 Syria poll

BASHAR al-Assad will take part in Syria's next presidential election in 2014, Iran's foreign minister says.

"In the next election, President Assad, like others, will take part, and the Syrian people will elect whomever they want," Ali Akbar Salehi said at a news conference with his visiting Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Muallem.

Salehi also said that "the official position of Iran is that... Assad will remain the legitimate president until the next... election" in 2014.

Muallem arrived on Saturday in Tehran - a close ally of Damascus - for talks aimed at ending the nearly two-year conflict in Syria that the United Nations says has killed at least 70,000 people and is tearing the country apart.

His visit comes after a week of intense international diplomacy aimed at ending the bloodshed.

Salehi threw Iran's weight behind Damascus's call this week for dialogue with the armed opposition, calling the initiative a "positive step," but reiterated that Assad's regime has "no choice" but to keep fighting rebels.

"We believe that the crisis has no military solution and only a Syrian political one," said the Iranian minister.

"Iran firstly wants a stop to the bloodshed but the Syrian government has no choice but to fight against the terrorists and we cannot ask the Syrian government not to do so and leave them alone," he added.

Muallem, meanwhile, condemned the announcement by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday that Washington would provide $US60 million ($A59 million) in "non-lethal" assistance to support the Syrian political opposition.

"When the US (says it has) allocated $US60 million to the opposition and this opposition is killing people, I don't understand this initiative... are there any weapons that do not kill people? Who are you kidding?" Muallem asked.

He repeated calls for pressure to be exerted on Turkey and Qatar, among the main supporters of the rebels alongside Western countries.

While in Tehran, Muallem is also due to meet the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, Mehr news agency reported.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kenya prepares to go to the polls

KENYA'S top two presidential candidates have held their final rallies before large and raucous crowds.

However, it was an interview with a British newspaper that upended the campaign's final days, with the prime minister quoted as saying violence could be worse than 2007-08 if he loses because of rigging.

Monday's vote is the first nationwide election since Kenya's December 2007 vote devolved into tribe-on-tribe violence that killed more than 1000 people. Kenyan leaders and community groups have been working to ensure that massive violence isn't repeated, but fears linger that bloodshed will reappear.

The Financial Times in a story on Saturday quoted Prime Minister Raila Odinga - one of the two top presidential candidates - as saying he knows his opponents are planning to rig the vote and "I have warned them the consequences may be worse than last time round. The people will not stomach another rigging."

The paper also quotes him as saying that if he loses it will because of "blackmail and intimidation."

Odinga, in a statement on Saturday, denied talking about violence in the interview and said he felt "absolutely slandered."

The Financial Times did not release an audio recording of the interview.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta - Odinga's top challenger - called Odinga's words "dangerous and inflammatory" and he called on Odinga to retract them.

"We have in public, and our words and deeds throughout this election - all of us presidential candidates - committed to campaign in this election in peace, and just as importantly, to accept the result in peace," Kenyatta said.

"So then why is it that at the most delicate time in the election campaign Raila sought to use such dangerous, inflammatory words? In the interests of the people of Kenya he must publicly reject what he has said to this newspaper."

Kenyatta and his running mate - William Ruto - both face charges at the International Criminal Court over allegations they instigated the 2007-08 violence. If Kenyatta wins, he may be forced to spend much of presidency before The Hague-based court.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria army captures key Aleppo road

THE Syrian army says it has seized control of a key road linking the central province of Hama to Aleppo international airport, scene of weeks of fierce battles with rebel fighters.

The capture of the road will allow the army to deploy fresh reinforcements and send supplies to the area near the airport, where fighting has raged since mid-February.

"In collaboration with honourable citizens, troops carried out a special operation and restored security and stability to villages on the airport road," the military said in a statement published on Saturday by state news agency SANA.

"This achievement shows the commitment of our forces to continue to fulfil their sacred national duty, repelling killings and aggression targeting our people and our country," said the statement.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the report and said the army will now be able to deploy fresh troops and supplies in the area and the nearby Nayrab military airport.

Rebels launched last month an all-out assault on several airports in Aleppo province, including the international airport and Nayrab, which are located southeast of Syria's second-largest city.

They have since captured Al-Jarrah military airport as well as several other air defence complexes and nearby checkpoints.

But Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that if the army succeeds in keeping control over the road "it will change the course of battles" around Aleppo and Nayrab airports "and even Aleppo", Syria's second city.

While rebels have taken over large swathes of territory and a number of key military garrisons in Aleppo province, fighting in the city has been at stalemate for months.

Abdel Rahman said that clashes around the airport road continued despite the army's capture.

Aleppo international airport has been closed since the start of the year.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bangladesh clashes over death sentence

DEMONSTRATORS protesting the death penalty given to an Islamic political party leader have clashed with Bangladeshi security forces for a third straight day, killing two people and injuring about a dozen.

Delwar Hossain Sayedee, one of the top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamic party, was sentenced to death on Thursday by a war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed during Bangladesh's 1971 war of separation from Pakistan.

The sentence triggered rioting across the country, killing at least 46 people, including the two in the latest fighting, authorities said on Saturday.

Sayedee, 73, is the third defendant to be convicted by the tribunal, which was set up in 2010 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.

Another seven top leaders of Jamaat, including its chief, Matiur Rahman Nizami, are on trial on war crimes charges.

Jamaat campaigned against Bangladesh's nine-month independence war and formed some auxiliary forces to help the Pakistani troops, but denies committing atrocities.

Bangladesh says the war left three million people dead, 200,000 women raped and forced millions to flee to neighbouring India.

On Saturday, security forces used tear gas to stop Jamaat supporters from smashing vehicles and blocking roads in Chittagong district, police said. The area is 216km southeast of Dhaka, the capital.

Two men were killed and about a dozen injured in the fighting, said a local police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Dhaka's private television stations Ekattor TV and Somoy TV reported that Jamaat supporters erected road blocks and attacked homes of government supporters in parts of the country.

Jamaat is an ally of Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and was a partner in Zia's government from 2001 to 2006.

Zia says the war crimes trials are politically motivated to target the opposition, an allegation denied by the government.

Jamaat and Zia's party have called for a three-day nationwide general strike starting Sunday.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aust troops 'kill two Afghan children'

AUSTRALIAN soldiers in southern Afghanistan have shot dead two children tending cattle, officials say, in an incident likely to escalate tensions over the conduct of international troops.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO-led forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the campaign against Taliban insurgents, often triggering widespread public anger and harsh criticism from President Hamid Karzai.

The two children, aged seven and eight, were killed on Thursday morning as Australian soldiers fought back after a Taliban attack in Oruzgan province, provincial governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada told AFP on Saturday.

"The children were killed by Australian troops, it was a mistaken incident, not a deliberate one," Akhundzada said, adding that insurgents had first shot at a helicopter carrying Australian soldiers.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) expressed its "deep regret" over the children's deaths and said it remained committed to minimising civilian casualties.

"I offer my personal apology and condolences to the family of the boys who were killed," General Joseph Dunford, commander of ISAF, said in a statement.

"I am committed to ensuring we do the right thing for the families of those we harmed, as well as for the community in which they lived. We take full responsibility for this tragedy."

ISAF said the troops had opened fire at what they believed were insurgent forces. It added that a joint Afghan-ISAF team visited the district of Shahidi Hassas in Oruzgan on Saturday to investigate and meet with local leaders.

Last month, 10 Afghan civilians, including five children, were killed by a NATO airstrike in Kunar province.

Following the attack, Karzai barred Afghan forces from seeking air support from foreign troops in a bid to curb civilian casualties.

Karzai has regularly lashed out at senior ISAF leaders, demanding that civilian deaths must be avoided and saying the killings have worsened relations between his government and the international coalition.

Previous civilian deaths caused by ISAF forces, especially those involving children, have brought protesters onto the streets of Kabul chanting slogans against the presence of international troops in Afghanistan.

Security responsibility for Oruzgan, a restive province where Taliban insurgents have been holding sway, is being handed over to Afghan forces.

The bulk of Australia's 1550 troops are based in the province, and are focused on training and mentoring Afghan soldiers ahead of the withdrawal of NATO combat troops by the end of next year.

Comment was being sought from Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Eight S.Africa cops arrested over killing

SOUTH Africa's police watchdog has arrested eight policemen on murder charges linked to the death of a Mozambican taxi driver who died in custody after being dragged by a police van.

"Eight policemen have been arrested by IPID at Benoni police station," Moses Dlamini, spokesman for the Independent Police Investigation Directorate, told AFP on Friday.

Twenty-seven-year-old Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia was filmed being manhandled, handcuffed and dragged by a police van through the streets to a police station east of Johannesburg.

Just over two hours later he was found dead in custody.

A post mortem examination found the cause of death was head injuries with internal bleeding.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) then opened its murder investigation.

South African President Jacob Zuma earlier condemned the killing as "horrific, disturbing and unacceptable".

Footage of the incident spread quickly online and sent shockwaves through the country, shining a spotlight yet again on the conduct of South Africa's much maligned police force.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

US stocks drop as budget cuts loom

US stocks have opened lower as Washington appeared headed for sharp mandatory spending cuts that could slow the economy in the wake of failed budget talks in Washington.

Five minutes into trade on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.42 points (0.53 per cent) to 13,980.07.

The broad-based S&P 500 declined by 9.32 points (0.62 per cent) to 1505.36, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite declined 20.07 (0.64 per cent) to 3140.12.

US markets are bracing for $US85 billion ($A83 billion) in spending cuts after President Obama and congressional Republicans failed to compromise on a less austere deficit reduction program.

Also, the Eurostat data agency said unemployment in the 17-nation eurozone rose to 11.9 per cent in January. An EU official called the results "unacceptable" and "a tragedy for Europe."

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More