Talks to decide Lebanon PM start

Former prime minister Najib Mikati receives Hezbollah's backing as caretaker leader, Saad Hariri also seeks his old job. Last Modified: 24 Jan 2011 11:30 GMT

Michel Suleiman, Lebanon's president, has begun two days of consultations with parliamentary groups on appointing a new prime minister, after Hezbollah brought down the unity government earlier this month. Najib Mikati, who served briefly as prime minister in 2005, was tapped on Monday as the favourite candidate to be appointed the next prime minister of Lebanon, after securing the backing of the powerful Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies. "His name is prevailing among all other options," MP Ibrahim Kanaan, a member of the Christian Free Patriotic Movement allied with Hezbollah, told AFP news agency. The Lebanese press was unanimous on Monday in presenting Mikati as the candidate set to be nominated by Hezbollah, which on January 12 forced the collapse of Saudi and Western-backed Saad Hariri's unity government. Mikati, a telecoms tycoon, said in a statement on Sunday that he was coming forward as a consensual candidate and would co-operate with all parties with a view to bringing the country out of its deep political crisis. "I don't view my candidacy as a challenge to anyone but rather as an opportunity to restore contacts among [rival] leaders," his statement said. Asked whether he was the opposition's candidate, Mikati said: “I consider myself to be a candidate of accord and moderation.” Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Lebanon, said Mikati has a very good chance of becoming the next prime minister. Amin said when Mikati was prime minister few years ago, he was moderate and took a very middle line. “He managed to put together the parliamentary elections in Lebanon that paved the way for a unity government,” Amin said. Compromise candidate The Al Jazeera's correspondent added: "For many, [Mikati] is seen as someone who can bring consensus. For the opposition to be able to get this man to run for prime minister is an achievement because it defuses the tension that has overwhelmed the country.” Amin said Mikati is very respected among Lebanese Sunnis, Christians and Shias, and he will be able to diffuse the tension. On Sunday, Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, pledged to include its political rivals in Lebanon's next government if its candidate for prime minister wins a parliamentary majority in an upcoming vote. Nasrallah said on Sunday that the Shia group and its allies want to form a national unity government, rather than seeking to govern alone. "If our candidate is successful, we will ask him to form a government of national partnership in which all parties will participate. We respect everyone's right to representation," Nasrallah said. Hezbollah and its allies ruled out nominating Hariri, Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, for reappointment. However, Hariri has said he will nonetheless run for a second term. Tight vote The vote is expected to be tight, and experts estimated the country's 128 parliamentarians were equally divided between Hariri and Hezbollah's candidate. The support of at least 65 lawmakers is required to form a government. Hezbollah and its allies already claim 57 seats. Saad Hariri has 60. Walid Jumblatt, Lebanon's Druze leader, who announced on Friday that he was siding with Hezbollah in the political feud, now stands to play kingmaker with his 11-member strong bloc. Hariri's government collapsed when Hezbollah and its allies pulled out 11 ministers from the cabinet in a dispute over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the 2005 murder of Saad's father and the country’s former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri. Nasrallah, who has accused the Netherlands-based tribunal of being under US-Israeli control, has said he expects it will implicate Hezbollah members and warned of grave repercussions. Many fear Hezbollah will react violently if its members are indicted, as is widely expected.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

PA negotiators reject leaked report

Top Palestinian Authority officials dismiss leaked documents showing huge concessions on Jerusalem to Israel as "lies". Last Modified: 24 Jan 2011 11:36 GMT

Mahmoud Abbas says he keeps the Arab League updated on all details of the negotiations with Israel [EPA] Palestinian Authority officials have come down hard on secret documents obtained by Al Jazeera showing that top negotiators offered major concessions to Israel in the division of holy sites and Jerusalem, the would-be capital city of a future Palestinian state. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying that the leaked documents deliberately confuse Israeli and Palestinian positions. "What is intended is a mix-up. I have seen them yesterday present things as Palestinian but they were Israeli... This is therefore intentional," he said. Equally critical of the documents is the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, who dismissed the accounts of negotiations with Israel released by Al Jazeera as "a bunch of lies". The Palestine Papers revealed unprecedented private concessions from Erekat and other Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiators on the issue of the division of Jerusalem and the Haram al Sharif (Noble Sanctuary). In an appearance on Al Jazeera shortly after the documents were released on Sunday, Erakat said the Palestinian leadership had "nothing to hide" and dismissed most of the report as lies. He said that the information shown contained mistakes and inaccuracies and that his words were taken out of context and he was misquoted. "I have always said that east Jerusalem is part of Palestine. "No body has given up anything, I have shown [that] Jerusalem Map on Al Jazeera a year ago. The land exchange principle was discussed before," Erekat said. He said that all documents were shared in advance with the Arab league and several Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan and Qatar. "We have not gone back on our position. If we had given ground on the refugees and made such concessions, why hasn't Israel agreed to sign a peace accord?" he asked. The chief Palestinian negotiator in the 2008 talks, Ahmed Qurei, told The Associated Press that "many parts of the documents were fabricated, as part of the incitement against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian leadership". 'Media bias' Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee, questioned Al Jazeera's professionalism during a press conference in Ramallah on Monday. "We want to discuss with al Jazeera the transparency behind their allegations. We cannot say if the documents are correct or not. We will study them and see if they are correct," Rabbo said. Rabbo termed the release of the Palestine papers a biased media campaign that distorts the truth and also accused Al Jazeera of "having political motives". "Al Jazeera tries to copy WikiLeaks," Rabbo added. Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas official in Gaza told Al Jazeera that the Palestinian authority officials should be ashamed of themselves. The Palestinian Authority is controlled by the secular Fatah movement, the sworn rival of Hamas. The US State Department said it would continue pressing for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite the release of the documents. "The US government is reviewing the alleged Palestinian documents released by Al Jazeera. We cannot vouch for their veracity," Philip Crowley, a spokesman, wrote on Twitter. "The US remains focused on a two-state solution and will continue to work with the parties to narrow differences on core issues," he added. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks last broke down in September after Israel refused to extend a limited moratorium on illegal settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. The Al Jazeera program on Sunday, concentrating on Jerusalem, was the first of four this week. Others are set to cover refugees and other issues.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Anti-govt clashes erupt in Tunis

Police fire tear gas at protesters who rallied at state buildings, demanding the ouster of interim 'unity government'. Last Modified: 24 Jan 2011 08:57 GMT

Police have fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, after hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the prime minister's office to pressure the interim 'national unity' government to step down. Protesters had begun gathering at government buildings since last night, in contravention of a curfew. When they surged through a police picket, tensions spiked and the police fired tear gas to clear the crowd. Angry protesters threw stones and smashed a police vehicle during the clash. The Reuters news agency also reported that several windows of the finance ministry building had been broken. Before the skirmish, protesters said the situation outside the buildings was "very, very tense as they spent the night outside... They were told by security forces to leave the area, and tension mounted for some time", Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reported from the site of the protest on Monday morning. The protesters said they would "continue [their] sit-in for as long as it takes, until [they] topple the government", Ahelbarra said. Tensions to rise More tension is expected in the capital, as members of the national unity government cabinet, which includes members from both the RCD (ousted President Zine El Abedine Ben Ali's party) and the opposition, are expected to hold a meeting at the government buildings being surrounded by the protesters. "Thousands, we've been told, will gather ... in this area to prevent the government of national unity, particularly the ministers... [from] starting their business," our correspondent said before the clashes. Security forces have sealed off the entrances into the area immediately surrounding the prime minister's and interim president's offices, on concerns over the build-up of protesters. In so doing, they divided the protesters into a group of several hundred who were within the PM's office compound, and a larger number of demonstrators who were outside. Follow Al Jazeera's coverage of the turmoil in Tunisia Monday also marks the end of a period of national mourning that was called by the unity government to remember those who have died in the protests so far. The country is not likely to return to business as the General Union of Tunisian Workers (generally known by its French acronym, UGTT) has called an indefinite strike. The UGTT has refused to recognise the current government, and has demanded the ouster of all former ruling party officials from the governance structure. "We support the demands of the people. The UGTT will never abandon the people in their struggle to demolish the old regime," Nabil Haouachi, a representative of the teachers' union within the UGTT, told the AFP news agency. The teachers are demanding that RCD head-teachers and senior management leave their posts. 'Liberation caravan' Earlier, Tunisian protesters travelled hundreds of kilometres in what they call a "Liberation caravan" to join demonstrators in the country's capital. The protesters entered Tunis on Sunday, tearing through the barbed wire surrounding the office of Mohamed Ghannouchi, the interim prime minister, and demanding an end to his government. The march began on Saturday night from Menzel Bouzaiane, a small town in the same province as Sidi Bouzid - the site of the self-immolation suicide attempt that set off a month of protests and ultimately ousted former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The crowd walked on foot for about 50km before boarding buses to Tunis, where they arrived on Sunday and began assembling in front of the interior ministry - the site of many previous anti-government demonstrations. 'Security overwhelmed' Al Jazeera's Ahelbarra, reporting from Tunis, said that the security services outside Ghannouchi's office were "completely overwhelmed". "They're chanting the same slogan that has echoed across the country - 'Down with the regime, down with the former party, down with the interim president and with the prime minister,'" our correspondent said. "They're saying that the fight will continue for as long as it takes, until they see a radical change in Tunisia." Meanwhile, the country's state news agency reported on Sunday that allies of Ben Ali - Abdelaziz bin Dhia, Ben Ali's spokesman and chief adviser, and Abdallah Qallal, a former interior minister and head of Tunisia's appointed upper parliamentary house - had been placed under house arrest. The agency said police were searching for Abdelwahhab Abdalla, Ben Ali's political adviser, who has disappeared and that Larbi Nasra, the owner of Hannibal TV and his son have been arrested on suspicion of "treason" for working on Ben Ali's return from Saudi Arabia (where the deposed president is currently in exile). Nasra, the agency reports, is related to Ben Ali's wife, Leila, and while the channel was taken off the air for about two hours, no official reason was given for why its transmission was interrupted other than to say that it was an error. PM under pressure Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin said that the fact that protesters - who in previous days have been joined by police officers and members of the national guard - have now defied a curfew and poured into the capital from the countryside is quite significant. "It shows you that it's not an isolated, handful of people that are leading these protests," he said, reporting from Tunis. "It's people from all different walks of life, from all different parts of the country." Ahelbarra said that the protests were "spontaneous" and "unorganised", adding that those who were demonstrating on Monday morning were "saying they were the backbone of the revolution and that they do not belong to any political party". The interim authorities have not specified when elections would be held, though the constitution requires a presidential vote within 60 days.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Iran's President Says More Nuclear Talks Possible

VOA News 23 January 2011

Photo: AP

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (file)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he believes further talks with world powers regarding Tehran's nuclear program are possible.

Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments came Sunday, following two days of negotiations in Turkey that ended without agreement.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was disappointed with the outcome of the talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, a group known as the P5+1.

She said the negotiations in Turkey stalled over Iran's insistence that the United Nations lift its sanctions, a condition the P5+1 has rejected.

Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said Tehran maintains its rights to nuclear technology, including uranium enrichment.

Iran's state-run media also reported that Jalili said after the meeting that his country was willing to continue dialogue if talks are based on "common logic" and respect of national rights.

Western nations accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear technology in order to make atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

99% of Southern Sudanese Vote for Independence

VOA News 23 January 2011

Photo: Reuters

Southern Sudan Referendum Commission staff members during the official counting of votes on South Sudanese independence, 16 Jan 2011

Results from southern Sudan's landmark referendum show nearly 99 percent of voters supporting regional independence.

The results, posted on the referendum commission's website Sunday, show just 45,000 voters out of 3.8 million voting for continued unity with the north.

The commission said the results are provisional but noted that vote counting is virtually complete. Results are due to be validated in early February.

The referendum was part of the 2005 peace deal that ended Sudan's north-south civil war.

Officials from northern Sudan have indicated they will accept the results, and southern Sudan is expected to declare independence later this year.

However, the two sides still have to work out issues involving borders, waters, oil revenue, and the fate of the oil-producing Abyei region.

Abyei was supposed to hold a separate referendum this month on whether to join the north or south. But the poll was never held because of disputes on who would be eligible to vote.

CAR Holds Presidential, Parliamentary Polls

VOA News 23 January 2011

Photo: AFP

People stand in line to vote at a school serving as a polling station in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, 23 Jan 2011

Voters in the Central African Republic went to the polls Sunday for presidential and parliamentary elections.

Witnesses reported seeing long lines at polling stations in the capital, Bangui. However, many stations opened late because voting equipment had not arrived.

President Francois Bozize is favored to win another term. His challengers include former President Ange Felix Patasse, whom Bozize ousted in a 2003 coup, and former Prime Minister Martin Ziguele, who the president beat in the 2005 election.

The president's rivals have already accused him of planning to rig Sunday's poll.

The election was originally set for last April but was delayed due to a lack of funds and insecurity.

The country has several active rebel groups, including the Lord's Resistance Army, which continues to attack rural villages.

The Central African Republic is among the world's poorest countries, despite rich deposits of diamonds, uranium and other minerals. Chronic instability and the country's landlocked position have largely blocked development.

Along with the presidency, voters Sunday cast ballots for 105 seats in parliament. About 1.8 million people were registered to vote.

Results are due to be announced by January 31. A run-off election will be held March 20 if no candidate for president wins an outright majority.

Suspected US Drone Strikes Kills 6 in NW Pakistan

VOA News 23 January 2011

Photo: AP

A file picture of a U.S. drone (Predator) in the Afghan-Pakistan region

Pakistani officials say two suspected U.S. drone strikes have killed six suspected militants in the northwestern part of the country.

The officials said an unmanned aircraft fired two missiles, killing two suspected militants as they rode a motorbike in a village in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Earlier, Pakistani intelligence officials said an unmanned aircraft fired two missiles in the same village, killing at least four suspected militants.

The French news agency quoted the officials as saying the apparent drone strike hit a car immediately after it parked outside a house in a village. The victims have not been identified, but officials believe them to be local militants.

The United States does not confirm drone attacks, but regional experts credit the attacks with killing al-Qaida and Taliban leaders. Critics say U.S. drone attacks have killed hundreds of civilians over last few years.

Last month, Pakistani tribesmen from a restive northwest region along the Afghan border staged a silent protest in Islamabad against U.S. missile strikes.

About two dozen tribesmen identified themselves as relatives of civilians killed or wounded by U.S. missiles fired from unmanned planes known as drones.

Most of the demonstrators live in the North Waziristan tribal region, which is part of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan.

U.S. officials believe al-Qaida and Taliban groups use the tribal region as a safe haven to conduct strikes on coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military has been reluctant to launch an offensive in the region at the same time it battles domestic Taliban elements elsewhere in the country.