• diary political and General News Events from Feb 2

Nigerian authorities express hope of quickly establishing "contact and dialogue" with the kidnappers of five Chinese telecommunications workers to obtain their release as senior Chinese diplomats join the rescue effort.
650 words 1700 GMT by Ade Obisesan
India-crime-murder-children,2ndlead
NEW DELHI
The wife and son of a businessman suspected of the rape and mass murder of children in a case that has sparked outrage in India say he was not a monster and claim he had been framed.
550 words moved by Parul Gupta. Picture
India-northeast-unrest,7thlead
GUWAHATI, India
Seven people including five policemen are killed in a landmine explosion in India's restive northeastern state of Assam, bringing the death toll from two days of violence by suspected separatist rebels to 55, officials say.
660 words 1730 GMT by Zarir Hussain. Picture
Indonesia-accident-air,lead
MAKASSAR, Indonesia
A team of US aviation experts arrives in Indonesia to help investigate the mysterious disappearance of a passenger jet carrying 102 people which vanished at the start of the week.
650 words moved by Adek Berry
-- MIDDLE EAST --
Mideast,4thlead
GAZA CITY
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas demands that a Hamas-led force be integrated into existing security structures, but the ruling Islamists warn against any such moves, prompting fears of further factional clashes in Gaza.
800 words 1645 GMT by Sakher Abu El Oun. Pictures.
Iraq,lead
BAGHDAD
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki threatens to review relations with countries which criticise the bungled execution of Saddam Hussein, saying the hanging was an internal matter.
800 words moved by Salam Faraj. Pictures
-- AMERICAS --
US-Cuba-Castro,lead
WASHINGTON
The US intelligence community still believes Cuban leader Fidel Castro is terminally ill and has "months, not years" to live, a spokesman says.
550 words at 1630 GMT
US-Iraq-Bush,2ndlead
WASHINGTON
President George W. Bush is embarking on a sweeping overhaul of the US diplomatic and military leadership in Iraq as he puts the finishing touches on a retooled war-fighting strategy.
800 words moved by Olivier Knox
-- EUROPE --
Spain-attacks-Basque,3rdlead
MADRID
In his strongest comments since a deadly ETA bombing a week ago, Spain's prime minister says the blast marked a "full stop" in efforts to negotiate a lasting peace in the Basque region.
650 words 1700 GMT by Olivier Thibault
Poland-religion-Vatican-history-communist
WARSAW
The church in overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Poland plunges into crisis as Stanislaw Wielgus, a self-admitted collaborator with the detested communist-era secret police, takes up the post of archbishop of Warsaw.
700 words moved by Michal Mrozinski. Picture.
-- AFRICA --
Somalia-unrest-Ethiopia,lead
MOGADISHU
A 13-year-old boy is killed in anti-Ethiopian protests in the restive Somali capital after government troops and their Addis Ababa allies forced an Islamist movement to give up control of the port city some 10 days ago.
700 words 1700 GMT by Mustafa Haji Abdinur. Picture
afp
Document AFPR000020070106e3160076p

Nigerian_authorities_express_hope_for_abducted_Chinese_telecoms_workers'>Nigerian authorities express hope for abducted Chinese telecoms workers
ADE

644 words

6 January 2007

11:27 AM

Agence France Presse

AFPR

English

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
LAGOS, Jan 6, 2007 (AFP) -
Nigerian authorities Saturday expressed the hope of establishing "contact and dialogue" soon with the kidnappers of five Chinese telecommunications workers to obtain their release, as senior Chinese diplomats joined the rescue efforts.
The Chinese nationals were abducted by unidentified armed men early Friday in Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers State in the Niger Delta and the Chinese government has formally protested to the authorities in Abuja over the kidnapping.
"We are hoping that soon the government will be able to establish contact and dialogue with the abductors with a view to effecting the release of the five Chinese," the spokesman for the Rivers State government, Emmanuel Okah, told AFP by telephone.
"The police is principally handling the matter and the government is working in conjunction with the police to achieve the same goal (of releasing) the hostages," Okah added.
He ruled out any payment of a ransom, explaining that this was the government's position and "that is where we stand."
Rivers State police spokeswoman Ireju Barasua told AFP that the "police are still investigating the matter and we are hopeful."
"A team of senior officials from the Chinese embassy is in Rivers State as part of efforts to rescue the hostages," an embassy spokesman said.
"It will work with the police. We depend on the police and the Nigerian government to achieve this," said the spokesman, who identified himself as Wu.
China on Saturday ordered its foreign ministry and its embassy in Nigeria to "give all their efforts" to freeing the five telecoms workers.
"China's leaders attach the highest importance to this," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement released in Beijing.
"President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have ordered the foreign ministry and China's embassy in Nigeria to find a way to ensure the lives and safety of the abductees and give all their efforts to save them."
The permanent secretary of the Nigerian foreign ministry, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, was quoted Friday as saying in Abuja: "All will be done to free the hostages as soon as possible."
"I also want to assure you that President Olusegun Obasanjo is deeply concerned about the security of Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike, and shall do everything to end this menace," he said after receiving a formal protest from the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Xu Jianguo.
No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the Chinese, the first such incident known this year.
Last year, armed separatist groups in the Niger Delta demanded a larger share of revenue derived from the oil-rich region for the Ijaw, at 14 million the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria.
At least 37 Nigerian troops and dozens of Nigerian oil workers were killed by the militants last year while more than 60 foreigners, mostly oil workers, were kidnapped and, except for three Italian employees of the Agip oil company and a Lebanese worker, later released.
An armed group, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), says it is holding the four, who were seized on December 7 in southern Bayelsa state.
The Italian foreign ministry said Friday in Rome that they were in good health.
The MEND is demanding that Nigerian authorities release former Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, jailed on corruption charges, as well as separatist leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari and other detainees from the region.
The group also wants a larger share for southern Nigerians in oil revenues, and compensation for communities affected by oil pollution.
Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, which derives more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from oil, lost more than half a million barrels a day last year due to unrest in the volatile region, Obasanjo said late last month.
ade/mb
Document AFPR000020070106e3160076i

AFP 1600 GMT News Advisory-working
AFP

626 words

6 January 2007

11:09 AM

Agence France Presse

AFPR

English

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
PARIS, Jan 6, 2007 (AFP) -
Duty Editor: Beth O'Connell
Tel: [phone]
-- WORLD HEADLINES --
---------------------
+ Abbas demands integration of Hamas-led forces
+ Youth killed in anti-Ethiopian protests in Somalia
+ US intelligence still believes Castro near death
+ Eleven die in Sri Lankan suicide bombing
-- TOP STORIES --
-----------------
Mideast,4thlead
GAZA CITY
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas demands that a Hamas-led force be integrated into existing security structures, but the ruling Islamists warn against any such moves, prompting fears of deadly factional clashes reigniting in volatile Gaza.
800 words 1630 GMT by Sakher Abu El Oun. Pictures.
Somalia-unrest-Ethiopia,lead
MOGADISHU
A 13-year-old boy is killed in anti-Ethiopian protests in the restive Somali capital after government troops and their Addis Ababa allies some 10 days ago forced an Islamist movement to give up control of the port city.
700 words 1630 GMT by Mustafa Haji Abdinur. Picture
US-Cuba-Castro,lead
WASHINGTON
The US intelligence community still believes Cuban leader Fidel Castro is terminally ill and has "months, not years" to live, a spokesman says.
550 words at 1630 GMT
SriLanka-unrest-blast-bus,4thlead
COLOMBO
Eleven people are killed and 47 wounded when a suspected female suicide bomber blows up a bus in Sri Lanka, the second deadly bus attack in two days.
640 words moved by Amal Jayasinghe. Pictures
-- MIDDLE EAST --
-----------------
Iraq,lead
BAGHDAD
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki threatens to review relations with countries which criticise the bungled execution of Saddam Hussein, saying the hanging was an internal matter.
800 words moved by Salam Faraj. Pictures
Mideast-Saudi-France-Lebanon-diplomacy,lead
RIYADH
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy holds talks in Saudi Arabia focusing on Lebanon as Paris prepares to host an aid meeting for the country.
600 words 1730 GMT
-- EUROPE --
------------
Spain-attacks-Basque,3rdlead
MADRID
In his strongest comments since a deadly ETA bombing a week ago, Spain's prime minister says the blast marked a "full stop" in efforts to negotiate a lasting peace in the Basque region.
650 words 1700 GMT by Olivier Thibault
Poland-religion-Vatican-history-communist
WARSAW
The church in overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Poland plunges into an unprecedented crisis as Stanislaw Wielgus, a self-admitted collaborator with the detested communist-era secret police, takes up the post of archbishop of Warsaw.
700 words moved by Michal Mrozinski. Picture.
-- AFRICA --
------------
Nigeria-unrest-oil-China-abduction,2ndlead
LAGOS
Nigerian authorities express hope of establishing soon "contact and dialogue" with the kidnappers of five Chinese telecommunications workers to obtain their release as Chinese senior diplomats join the rescue effort.
650 words 1630 GMT by Ade Obisesan
Rwanda-genocide-tribunal,ADVANCER
ARUSHA, Tanzania
The trial for genocide and crimes against humanity against former Kigali prefect Colonel Tharcisse Renzaho, seen as one of the key players in the Rwanda's 1994 genocide, opens Monday at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
550 words moved
-- AMERICAS --
--------------
US-Iraq-Bush,2ndlead
WASHINGTON
President George W. Bush is embarking on a sweeping overhaul of the US diplomatic and military leadership in Iraq as he puts the finishing touches on a retooled war-fighting strategy.
800 words moved by Olivier Knox
-- ASIA --
----------
Bangladesh-accident,4thlead
COMILLA, Bangladesh
At least 41 people are burned to death after fire engulfed a bus packed with migrant workers in Bangladesh, police say.
400 words moved by Gaziul Haq
India-crime-murder-children,2ndlead
NEW DELHI
The wife and son of a businessman suspected of the rape and mass murder of children in a case that has sparked outrage in India say he was not a monster and claim he had been framed.
550 words moved by Parul Gupta. Picture
afp
Document AFPR000020070106e3160076e

AFP World News Summary
AFP

385 words

6 January 2007

08:30 AM

Agence France Presse

AFPR

English

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
PARIS, Jan 6, 2007 (AFP) -
Top world news stories at 1330 GMT on Saturday:
Iraq-justice-execution-Saddam-PM
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki brushed aside international criticism over the execution of Saddam Hussein, saying it was an "internal affair" for his country.
US-Iraq-Bush
WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush embarked on a sweeping overhaul of the US diplomatic and military leadership in Iraq as he put the finishing touches on a retooled war-fighting strategy.
SriLanka-unrest-blast-bus
COLOMBO: A suspected female suicide bomber set off a powerful blast inside a bus in southern Sri Lanka, killing 15 passengers and wounding 40 in the second bus attack in two days, police said.
India-northeast-unrest
GUWAHATI, India: Separatist rebels gunned down 13 people as they slept in India's remote northeast, bringing to 32 the number slain in 12 hours of violence, officials said.
Somalia-unrest-Ethiopia-demo
MOGADISHU: Ethiopian forces backing the weak Somali government fired shots in the air to disperse demonstrators denouncing their presence and a disarmament plan in the capital Mogadishu.
NKorea-nuclear-talks-US
WASHINGTON: The United States intensified efforts to resume nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, while confirming it was working with Japan on an emergency plan for a possible crisis in the Korean peninsula.
Bangladesh-accident
COMILLA, Bangladesh: At least 41 people were burned to death after fire engulfed a bus packed with migrant workers in Bangladesh, police said.
Indonesia-accident-air
MAKASSAR, Indonesia: A team of US aviation experts arrived in Indonesia to help investigate the mysterious disappearance of a passenger jet carrying 102 people which vanished six days ago.
Nigeria-unrest-oil-China-abduction
LAGOS: Nigerian authorities expressed the hope of establishing soon "contact and dialogue" with the kidnappers of five Chinese telecommunications workers to obtain their release.
Mideast-conflict-Gaza-incursion
GAZA CITY: Israeli tanks crossed into an open area in the northern Gaza Strip for the first time since the November 26 truce after militants fired two rockets from the area, Palestinian security sources said.
Spain-attacks-Basque
MADRID: The body of a second Ecuadoran man killed in a Madrid airport blast claimed by Basque separatists was recovered, seven days after the attack shocked Spain and ended a nine-month ceasefire.
afp
Document AFPR000020070106e316006ev

Nigerian authorities express hope for abducted Chinese telecoms workers
ADE

626 words

6 January 2007

06:47 AM

Agence France Presse

AFPR

English

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
LAGOS, Jan 6, 2007 (AFP) -
Nigerian authorities Saturday expressed the hope of establishing soon "contact and dialogue" with the kidnappers of five Chinese telecommunications workers to obtain their release.
The Chinese nationals were abducted by unidentified armed men early Friday in Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers State in the Niger Delta and the Chinese government has formally protested to the authorities in Abuja over the kidnapping.
"We are hoping that soon the government will be able to establish contact and dialogue with the abductors with a view to effecting the release of the five Chinese," the spokesman for the Rivers State government, Emmanuel Okah, told AFP by telephone.
"The police is principally handling the matter and the government is working in conjunction with the police to achieve the same goal (of releasing) the hostages," Okah added.
He ruled out any payment of a ransom to secure their freedom, explaining that this was the government's position and "that is where we stand."
Rivers State police spokeswoman Ireju Barasua told AFP that the "police are still investigating the matter and we are hopeful."
China on Saturday ordered its foreign ministry and its embassy in Nigeria to "give all their efforts" to free the five telecoms workers.
"China's leaders attach the highest importance to this," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement released Saturday in Beijing.
"President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have ordered the Foreign Ministry and China's embassy in Nigeria to find a way to ensure the lives and safety of the abductees and give all their efforts to save them."
The permanent secretary of the Nigerian foreign ministry, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, was quoted Friday as saying in Abuja: "All will be done to free the hostages as soon as possible."
"I also want to assure you that President Olusegun Obasanjo is deeply concerned about the security of Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike, and shall do everything to end this menace," he said after receiving a formal protest from the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Xu Jianguo.
No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the Chinese, the first such incident known this year.
Last year, armed separatist groups in the Niger Delta demanded a larger share of revenue derived from the oil-rich region for the Ijaw, at 14 million the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria.
At least 37 Nigerian troops and dozens of Nigerian oil workers were killed by the militants last year while more than 60 foreigners, mostly oil workers, were kidnapped and, except for three Italian employees of the Agip oil company and a Lebanese worker, later released.
An armed group, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), has claimed responsibility for the abduction nearly a month ago of three Italians and one Lebanese working for Agip.
The Italian foreign ministry said Friday in Rome that the three Italians kidnapped with the Lebanese were in good health.
The four foreign oil workers, abducted on December 7 from southern Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region, are still being held by MEND activists.
The MEND is demanding that Nigerian authorities release former Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, jailed on corruption charges, as well as separatist leader Mujahid Dokubo-Asari and other detainees from the Niger Delta.
The group also wants a larger share for southern Nigerians in oil revenues, and compensation for communities affected by oil pollution.
Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, which derives more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from oil, lost more than half a million barrels a day last year due to unrest in the volatile region, Obasanjo said late last month.
ade/boc
Document AFPR000020070106e316005pm

Nigerian authorities express hope for abducted Chinese telecoms workers
ADE

440 words

6 January 2007

05:51 AM

Agence France Presse

AFPR

English

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007 All reproduction and presentation rights reserved.
LAGOS, Jan 6, 2007 (AFP) -
Nigerian authorities Saturday expressed the hope of establishing soon "contact and dialogue" with the kidnappers of five Chinese telecommunications workers with the aim of having them released.
The five Chinese were abducted by unidentified armed men early Friday in Nigeria's oil-rich southern Rivers State in Niger Delta and the Chinese government has formally protested to the authorities in Abuja over the kidnap.
"We are hoping that soon the government will be able to establish contact and dialogue with the abductors with a view to effecting the release of the five Chinese," the spokesman of Rivers State government, Emmanuel Okah, told AFP by telephone.
"Police is principally handling the matter and the government is working in conjunction with the police to achieve the same goal (of releasing) the hostages," Okah added.
He ruled out any payment of a ransom to secure their release, explaining that this was the government position and "that is where we stand."
Rivers State police spokeswoman Ireju Barasua told AFP that the "police are still investigating the matter and we are hopeful."
China on Saturday ordered its foreign ministry and its embassy in Nigeria to "give all their efforts" to free five Chinese telecommunications workers.
"China's leaders attach the highest importance to this," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement released Saturday in Beijing.
"President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have ordered the Foreign Ministry and China's embassy in Nigeria to find a way to ensure the lives and safety of the abductees and give all their efforts to save them."
The permanent secretary of the Nigerian foreign ministry, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, was quoted Friday by the official News Agency of Nigeria as saying in Abuja: "All will be done to free the hostages as soon as possible."
"I also want to assure you that President Olusegun Obasanjo is deeply concerned about the security of Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike, and shall do everything to end this menace," he said after receiving a formal protest from the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Xu Jianguo.
Last year, armed separatist groups in the Niger Delta demanded a larger share of revenue derived from the oil-rich region for the Ijaw, at 14 million the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria.
At least 37 Nigerian troops and dozens of Nigerian oil workers were killed by the militants last year while more than 60 foreigners, mostly oil workers, were kidnapped, and, except for three Italian employees of the Agip oil company and a Lebanese worker, later released.
ade/gk
Document AFPR000020070106e316005br

Chinese team search for workers abducted in Nigeria
483 words

6 January 2007

05:47 AM

Reuters News

LBA

English

(c) 2007 Reuters Limited
ABUJA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A Chinese team searched on Saturday for five telecoms workers kidnapped in Nigeria's southern oil-producing Niger Delta but there was no news on where they were and who was holding them, officials said.
Gunmen broke into the apartment where the Chinese workers were staying in a remote village and forced them away at gunpoint early on Friday. A sixth Chinese man, the workers' cook, was overlooked by the kidnappers and managed to get away.
Abductions for ransom are common in the Niger Delta, where residents live without electricity, clean water or paved roads alongside Africa's biggest oil industry.
"We haven't succeeded yet in finding out who kidnapped them or where they are being held. We haven't received any demands," said Wang Lei, political counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Abuja.
Wang said he was on his way to Port Harcourt, the main city in the delta, to join a search team made up of embassy officials and staff from the company that employs the kidnapped men. They were liaising with Nigerian police in the region.
Wang said the men worked for a Chinese telecoms company executing a contract for the Nigerian government in the delta, but he declined to give the name of the firm.
The cook who escaped abduction was still in the delta and was helping the search team with details of what he saw during the attack.
RESIDENTS POOR
The abduction of the five Chinese workers looked like the work of ransom-seekers rather than a politically-motivated kidnapping by one of the delta's rebel groups, police said.
Such abductions have plagued the Niger Delta for many years but they became more frequent in 2006.
Most hostages are held for a few days in remote, mangrove-lined creeks and then released after their employers and local authorities pay ransoms. But one Briton and one Nigerian were killed last year in separate botched attempts by Nigerian troops to free them.
Three Italians and one Lebanese working for Italian oil company Agip have been held captive in the creeks since they were kidnapped on Dec. 7 by fighters from the rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
The MEND, like other armed groups in the delta, says it is fighting for local control of oil wealth and for reparations to make up for five decades of oil extraction that has polluted the delta while bringing few benefits to residents.