Zardari urges calm after Pakistan bombings

The leader of one of Pakistan's main opposition parties, Asif Ali Zardari, has appealed for calm after a suicide bombing at an election meeting killed thirty-seven people.

It happened in Parachinar near the Afghan border.

Mr Zardari, the widower of the assassinated party leader Benazir Bhutto, said the bombers wanted Pakistan to give up the path of democracy.

Pakistan's general election on Monday is intended to complete a transition to civilian rule. More than eighty-thousand security personnel have been deployed ahead of the vote.

Monday, 17.February.2008

KNU official implicated Burmese government for the killing of its leader

A top official from the Karen National Union, who did not want to be named, told the BBC that they have found concrete evidence of Burmese government's involvement in the assassination of Padoh Mahn Sha, Secretary-General of the group.

The official also said Padoh Mahn Sha may have been seen by the Burmese government as an obstacle in ceasefire negotiations which apparently have been stalled for several months.

The outspoken Karen leader was shot dead by two gun men at his home in Mae Sot on Thursday.

So far, there is no mentioning about the incident from the Burmese government side, nor any media report inside the country about the death of Padoh Mahn Sha.

Monday,16.February.2008

Bush urges Kenya power-sharing

At the start of his tour of Africa, President Bush has urged an end to violence in Kenya.

He said his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, would underline that message in her upcoming visit there.

But speaking in Benin, the first stop on his tour, Mr Bush said Africa's many conflicts were not the main focus of his visit. He said he wanted to highlight success stories.

Correspondents say the tour is being seen as an attempt by Mr Bush to emphasise the positive aspects of his foreign policy legacy.

Monday, 16.February.2008

Attack on residence of East Timorese President

Reports from the East Timor capital, Dili, say that the President, Jose Ramos Horta, has been shot and wounded in an attack on his home.
There is no word yet on his condition.A military spokesman said the rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed in the attack, and one report also spoke of another soldier being killed.The attack took place in the early hours of the morning.Jose Ramos Horta was inaugurated as the second president of East Timor last May.

He was awarded the Nobel peace Prize in 1996.

Monday, 11.February.2008

Gates in Baghdad to assess 'surge'

The American defence secretary, Robert Gates, is holding talks with US commanders and Iraqi leaders in Baghdad.

Shortly before his arrival, Mr Gates said he would discuss prospects for a possible reduction in American troop levels in Iraq following recent improvements in the security situation.

His visit comes a year after thousands more soldiers were sent to Iraq as part of President Bush's "surge" strategy.

Monday, 11.February.2008

Gates warns Europe: Back Afghan mission

The American defence secretary, Robert Gates, has urged European governments to make the case to their people that the war in Afghanistan is necessary to defeat violent Islamic extremism.

Mr Gates, speaking at a security conference in Munich, warned that the threat was not going to go away.

Some NATO allies, he said, could not enjoy the luxury of opting for civilian operations, while others bore a disproportionate share of the fighting and dying.

That would turn NATO into a two-tier alliance - and destroy it.

Monday, 11.February.2008

Burma's announcement of new elections meets with scepticism

The Burmese opposition has described as vague, incomplete and strange the military government's decision to hold a referendum on a new constitution in May.

The generals said a multi-party election would follow in 2010, two decades after they annulled the last election. The surprise announcement comes just months after the brutal suppression of last September's pro-democracy protests.

Britain said Burmese political leaders had not been consulted, and called for a genuine process of reconciliation. But Singapore's Foreign Ministry hailed the move by Burmese military government to set a timeframe for a referendum on a new constitution and elections as a "positive" one.

The pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest, and hundreds of political prisoners are in jail.

Monday,11.February.2008

Annan says Kenyan politicians agree plan

An agenda for negotiations to end Kenya's political violence has been agreed by the government and the opposition.

The former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan who's been mediating between the two sides -- said the the first step of the four-point plan was to end the violence, which has killed over nine hundred people since the disputed presidential election in December.

Mr Annan's announcement came after Kenya's president, Mwai Kibaki said he was the rightful elected leader of Kenya, and repeated that the opposition party should take their grievances to the courts.

Saturday, 9.February.2008

President Putin warned new arms race

President Putin has warned that a new arms race is being unleashed on the world, but Russia must not allow itself to be drawn into it.

In a speech designed to highlight his eight-year legacy, Mr Putin said while Russia dismantled Soviet-era military bases, NATO was setting up bases close to Russia's border -- and the United States was planning missile defence systems in Central Europe.

He said there'd been no tangible steps on NATO's part to accommodate Moscow's concerns and find a compromise.

But Mr Putin said Russia will always respond to the challenges of a new arms race by developing more hi-tech weaponry.

Saturday, 9.February.2008

NLD proposes talks with Burma minorities

The opposition National League for Democracy in Burma has invited ethnic minority groups that support the military government to hold talks on resolving their differences.

The highly unusual offer came less than a week after senior members of the party were allowed to meet their detained leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Many of Burma's minority groups have fought for autonomy during the decades of military rule, but some have signed ceasefires with the Burmese government.

These groups have criticised Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, over a statement she issued in November, saying she had no right to speak on their behalf.

6,February.2008