Germany 'could back Italy's Draghi for ECB chief'

Italy's central bank governor Mario Draghi. Germany is ready to back Draghi to take over as European Central Bank president, Chancellor Angela Merkel has been quoted by a newspaper as saying.

AFP - Germany is ready to back Italy's central bank chief Mario Draghi to take over as European Central Bank president, Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted by a newspaper as saying on Wednesday.

"Germany could back his candidacy for the position of ECB president," she told the Die Zeit weekly in an interview.

Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has previously also suggested he would like to see Draghi as the next head of the ECB when Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet's term ends in October.

Merkel told Die Zeit that Draghi was "a very interesting and experienced figure" whose positions on monetary stability and the 17-nation eurozone economy in general were close to her own.

She had previously remained silent on backing Draghi, even after French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his support for the Italian, with some observers speculating Merkel was holding out for some unspecified concessions.

It is widely understood that any successful candidate would have to have the backing of the two biggest eurozone economies.

Berlin was left without a viable candidate of its own after former Bundesbank president Axel Weber announced his resignation in February.

Draghi, head of the Italian central bank, then emerged as the most likely candidate though it would mean the ECB has both a president and vice president from southern European countries.

A former Goldman Sachs banker, Draghi already sits on the ECB governing council and has further experience in international finance as head of the Financial Stability Board, a post he has held since 2009.

His stated support for ensuring that eurozone inflation remains in check and that governments respect strict fiscal guidelines has been crucial in garnering support from Germany.

British official trade deficit widens in March

Britain's trade deficit grew by more than expected in March, official data showed on Wednesday.

AFP - Britain's trade deficit grew by more than expected in March, official data showed on Wednesday.

The deficit -- the difference between goods exported and imported -- expanded to £7.7 billion (8.8 billion euros, $12.6 billion) in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

That compared with a deficit of £7.0 billion in February, which was upgreaded from the previous estimate of £6.8 billion.

The March figure overshot market expectations for a smaller deficit of £7.5 billion, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

Exports fell 0.5 percent to hit £24.9 billion in March, while imports rose 1.7 percent to £32.6 billion.

"The widening in the UK trade deficit in March was all but inevitable after such a sharp narrowing in the previous two months," said Capital Economics senior UK economist Vicky Redwood.

"The big picture is that the trade position is still looking a lot better than a few months ago.

"The trade in goods deficit rose from £7.0 billion to £7.7 billion -- but that compares to almost £10 billion at the end of last year."

EU to look at new Syria sanctions this week

A photo released by the Syrian Arab News Agency on Tuesday shows Syrian pro-government demonstrators holding portraits of President Bashar al-Assad. The EU is to look at fresh sanctions this week against Assad's regime after already honing in on his inner circle, EU diplomacy chief Catherine Ashton says.

AFP - The EU is to look at fresh sanctions this week against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime after already honing in on his inner circle, EU diplomacy chief Catherine Ashton said Wednesday.

Asked by members of the European Parliament to explain why Assad's name was not on a list of 13 Syrian officials hit by European Union sanctions, Ashton said "we started with 13 people who were directly involved" in cracking down on protests.

"We'll look at it again this week," she added.

"I assure you that my intention is to put the maximum political pressure that we can on Syria."

The 27-state EU on Tuesday issued a range of sanctions including an arms embargo along with a travel ban and assets freeze targeting Assad's brother, four of his cousins and others in his inner circle.

Ashton had warned the Syrian leader that he could be next.

She faced a barrage of hard questions from Euro-MPs in the parliament over why the European Union had spared Assad.

"Who in Europe is against putting Assad on the list? Which are the countries opposed to the EU taking the only decision possible? Tell us!" said Greens leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit.

"There will be a solution in Syria only once Assad has quit office in Syria, so it's clear that Assad and his entire family must be put on the list not tomorrow, but today," he added.

Ashton said there had been "lots of debate" among the 27 states and that there were "lots of different views" but that she could not give the MEPs a list of countries for or against including Assad on the sanctions.

Former Belgian premier Guy Verhofstadt, of the liberal-democrat group, said "Let's be honest, Syria is an Arab Tiananmen," with Assad "the world's most brutal dictator."

In a statement issued this week as the EU sanctions took effect, Ashton had said the measures aimed to achieve an immediate change of policy, ending the cycle of violence and swiftly introducing "genuine and comprehensive political reform."

"Failing that, the EU will consider extending the restrictive measures in light of the developments, including at the highest level of leadership," she said.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had warned Syria it would face stronger EU action if the brutality does not end.

"The sanctions decided are a first step," he said. "If Damascus continues its crackdown, we will step up the pressure."

For almost two months, near-daily protests have railed against Assad's regime, while troops and security forces have repressed the uprising brutally.

Between 600 and 700 people have been killed and at least 8,000 arrested since the start of the protest movement in mid-March, rights groups say. But six prominent opposition figures were freed Monday and Tuesday.

Diplomats told AFP that as the human rights picture blackened by the day in Syria, Britain, France and Germany had wanted a swift and strong response from their partners.

But southern states -- notably Cyprus, Portugal, Greece and even Italy, with traditionally stronger ties with Damascus -- have been reticent to target Assad.

Estonia for its part has been concerned for seven of its nationals kidnapped in Syria's neighbour Lebanon, and possibly now on the Syrian side of the border.

Uganda 'blocks return of opposition leader'

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye arrives at Nairobi hospital for treatment on April 29. The Ugandan government has blocked opposition leader Kizza Besigye from flying back into the country from neighbouring Kenya on Wednesday, according to his party.

AFP - The Ugandan government blocked opposition leader Kizza Besigye from flying back into the country from neighbouring Kenya on Wednesday, his party said.

"(Ugandan) state security told Kenya Airways that if Besigye was on board they would not be given landing rights," Anne Mugisha, a leading official in Besigye's party told AFP.

Besigye had been receiving medical treatment in Nairobi after being assaulted by police during a demonstration against rising food and fuel prices in Kampala. A series of such protests last month left at least five people dead.

There was no immediate comment from Kenya Airways.

"We are made to understand that Ugandan authorities threatened not to allow the aircraft to land at Entebbe Airport if he (Besigye) was on board the flight," said a source at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport, who asked not to be named.

Another official from Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) told journalists in Kampala that the party's leader might after all be allowed to fly later in the day.

"Right now I am being advised that he might be coming on the next flight," FDC vice president Salaamu Musumba said.

The incident comes on the eve of the swearing-in ceremony for President Yoweri Museveni, who won re-election after February polls in which Besigye mounted the strongest challenge yet to his 25-year rule.

Besigye, 50, won 37 percent of the vote, while Museveni, 62, took 59 percent according to official election results challenged by the FDC, which claimed widespread fraud.

At Entebbe airport outside Kampala, Besigye's destination, journalists including an AFP reporter were forcibly ejected by airport security and police and driven into Entebbe town.

The Ugandan government said it would hold a press conference about Besigye later Wednesday.

Speaking from his Nairobi hospital on Sunday, Besigye vowed to press on with protests in his country despite the injuries he sustained last month.

He said he would continue to organise "peaceful demonstrations" to press for government action.

Besigye was first taken to hospital in Kampala at the end of April after Ugandan police smashed the windows of his car and sprayed him with tear gas in an incident caught on camera. He was then transferred to a Nairobi hospital.

Strike against austerity plan halts traffic, state services

A general strike called by Greece's main unions in protest at government austerity measures went into effect on Wednesday, disrupting transport and state services even as international creditors debated whether to give the country a new aid package.

By News Wires (text)

AFP - Greece came to a standstill on Wednesday as a general strike took effect against new austerity measures by a government seeking to get a new package of help and avoid a damaging debt overhaul.

The strike, the second this year called by the country's main unions, paralysed maritime and intercity train traffic, shut down state services and temporarily halted flights through the country, respective operators said.

A four-hour stoppage by air traffic controllers from 0900 to 1300 GMT also caused the two main Greek operators, Olympic and Aegean, to scrap or reschedule some four dozen flights at the start of the busy tourist season.

"We strongly protest against the unfair and harsh policies that have pushed up unemployment, widen false employment and trample on worker rights," the leading Greek union GSEE said.

Separate street protests by unions are scheduled later in the day against a new wave of cutbacks expected from the Socialist government which is struggling to limit slippage on tough austerity targets during a deep recession.

The mobilisation is held while experts from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank (ECB) are conducting in Athens a scheduled audit of finances and reforms in Greece to determine if it merits a critical new slice of funding from a bailout package agreed last year.

Greece last year pledged to put its economy in order after taking a 110-billion-euro ($158-billion) loan from the EU and the IMF to avert insolvency.

But despite a huge effort in 2010, it eventually overshot its deficit reduction goals because the economy shrank faster than expected.

The government has now rolled out a new programme to economise some 26 billion euros over three years to help bring down the country's enormous debt.

It also plans to sell a first batch of state assets worth 15 billion euros including stakes in several public corporations.

Athens' overall debt has exploded to 340 billion euros, leading to mounting speculation -- even from Greek officials -- that it will need alternative options to keep up with repayments when the EU-IMF loan runs out in 2013.

"The most possible scenario is that additional measures are going to be taken," said Michael Vassiliadis, a researcher at the Greek foundation for economic and industrial research (IOBE).

"We have already heard of additional measures of about 3 billion euros both on the revenue and the expenditure side of the fiscal balance," he told AFP.

Senior EU and Greek officials have denied that any debt restructuring is on the agenda, although eurozone officials have begun to admit that Greece is likely to need more aid in some form.

At the weekend the head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker said that "we think that Greece does need a further adjustment programme".

And an EU source told AFP on Monday that eurozone ministers were considering extra help for next year which would be in exchange of new budget constraints from Greece.

With Greece unlikely to be able to raise money on financial markets next year as initially planned, there has been increasing speculation it will need another 60 billion euros.

European Union Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, who is the top EU official behind bailout negotiations, said a decision on further aid is a few weeks away pending the result of the joint audit.

The EU bloc's economic frontrunner Germany has also called for decisions to be taken after the EU-IMF mission delivers its report.

"We'll have to wait until June and the handing over of the report," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told journalists in Berlin.

EU to open Benghazi office to support rebel council

The European Union will open an office in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi to offer support to the Libyan rebels' political body, the Interim Transitional National Council, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (pictured) said Wednesday.

By News Wires (text)

REUTERS - The European Union plans to open an office in the rebel-held Libyan city of Benghazi to facilitate assistance to the rebel council based there, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Wednesday.

"I intend to open an office in Benghazi so that we can move forward on the support we've discussed to the people... to support civil society, to support the Interim Transitional National Council," Ashton told the European Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg.

Ashton said EU support would include help for security sector reform and institution-building.

"We want to help with education, with health care, with security on the borders," she said.

Ashton reiterated an EU call for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to step down.

"Let us ... be clear, Gaddafi must go from power -- he must end his regime."

Syria drops bid for seat on top UN human rights body

Syria dropped its bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council Tuesday following pressure from UN members. As Syria’s crackdown on anti-government protests continues, France's UN ambassador said it was "really not the time" for Syrian membership.

By News Wires (text)

REUTERS - Under pressure from fellow U.N. member states, Syria dropped plans to run for a seat on the top U.N. human rights body and allowed Kuwait to replace it as a candidate, U.N. diplomats said on Tuesday.

Several U.N. diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Kuwait had confirmed to Western officials that it planned to declare its candidacy for a spot on the 47-nation Human Rights Council in the Asian category.

SYRIA Journalist released from Syrian detention describes harrowing ordeal

They said Syria planned to trade candidacies with Kuwait, which was slated to run for the rights council in 2013, and drop out of the 2011 race for one of the four spots available to Asian countries. Other Asian candidates running this year are India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

There was no immediate confirmation from Syrian officials. Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari, asked by Reuters if Damascus had agreed to trade places with Kuwait and postpone its candidacy until 2013, said there was "so far nothing."

One diplomat told Reuters that an "Asian group meeting will have to be called to confirm these changes." Other envoys said the Asian voting group, which includes Asia and the Middle East, would meet to discuss the issue on Wednesday.

Another Western diplomat said Syria's withdrawal from the 2011 race and Kuwait's candidacy was "great news."

The 192-nation U.N. General Assembly will hold its annual elections for one third of the seats on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on May 20.

France: not the time for Syria

The council is the main U.N. body charged with monitoring member states' compliance with international human rights norms. Critics say it spends too much time bashing Israel while ignoring violations by countries such as Sri Lanka, Bahrain, China, Russia and others.

The original slate of Syria, India, Indonesia and the Philippines had been endorsed by Asia's U.N. voting group and the Arab League.

But Syria's violent crackdown against anti-government protesters prompted some Western, Arab and Asian U.N. member states to suggest that Damascus should not be on the rights body when it was facing accusations of gross violations, Western envoys said.

"It is not really the time for Syria to become a member of the council of human rights," French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters on Monday.

The United States under former President George W. Bush had shunned the rights council, considering it a tool of anti-Israeli forces at the United Nations.

President Barack Obama reversed that policy two years ago, saying the United States could improve the rights council from within. The United States ran for and secured a seat.

Had Syria won a seat on the council, it would have followed other states accused of human rights abuses by rights watchdog groups including China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Muammar Gaddafi's Libya is a member of the rights council, but the General Assembly suspended its membership rights in response to its violent crackdown this year against anti-government demonstrators that sparked a civil war.