The New Nation - Internet Edition

Palestinians blow up border wall, flood into Egypt

Reuters, Rafah

Palestinian militants blew up part of the wall between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday, and tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt to stock up on food and fuel in short supply due to an Israeli blockade.

Residents of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah said a group of militants, including members of Hamas, set off a series of explosions overnight, demolishing about 200 meters (yards) of the border wall. Hamas denied involvement.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians thronged into Egyptian territory, some on donkey carts and carrying luggage to bring consumer goods and fuel back into the Hamas-run territory.

"I have bought everything I need for the house for months. I have bought food, cigarettes and even two gallons of diesel for my car," said Mohammed Saeed, who was pushing a trolley.

Egyptian riot police sent to reinforce the border mainly stood aside and let the Palestinians through, witnesses said.

"Palestinian gunmen created at least 15 openings in the wall between Egypt and Gaza, and a Palestinian bulldozer was demolishing large parts of it and is still working to destroy the rest of the wall," an Egyptian security source said. Israel closed its borders with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip last week, cutting fuel supplies to the territory's main power plant and petrol stations and stopping aid shipments that include food and other humanitarian supplies.

Pak soldiers kill 37 Islamic militants

AP, Islamabad

Islamic militants in Pakistan attacked a fort near the Afghan border Tuesday, sparking fighting with government forces that left five troops and 37 fighters dead, the army said.

The attack, the second this month, occurred in South Waziristan, a lawless tribal region where al-Qaida- and Taliban-linked militants operate.

The militants targeted the Lahda Fort, which houses paramilitary troops, and a nearby observation post in a pre-dawn raid in South Waziristan, located along the border with Afghanistan, the military said in a statement.

Thirty-seven militants and five troops were killed in the intense fighting, the statement said. Two other soldiers were killed and seven wounded in a clash in the neighboring North Waziristan, it said. The violence in the border region, as well as a series of suicide attacks that have killed hundreds in recent months, is triggering uncertainty in the country ahead of Feb. 18 elections that many predict will weaken President Pervez Musharraf's grip on power.

More than 150 rebels and soldiers are reported to have been killed in the region this month alone. On Jan. 10, insurgents also attacked Lahda Fort. The military said then that between 40 and 50 of the attackers were killed. Last week, the militants overran a second fort in the region, leaving up to 22 soldiers dead or missing in a major embarrassment for the military.

The latest attack on Lahda Fort came hours before Adm. William Fallon - the head of the U.S. Central Command and top commander of American forces in the Middle East - arrived in Pakistan for talks with army chief Ashfaq Kayani, the Pakistan army and the U.S. embassy said.

World powers agree on draft Iran sanctions

AFP, Berlin

World powers reached agreement Tuesday on a new UN Security Council resolution against Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

"We agreed on the content of the next Security Council resolution," Steinmeier said after the meeting in Berlin of foreign ministers from the five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany. Steinmeier said the resolution would be presented to the Security Council "in the coming weeks." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian journalists after the meeting that the new draft resolution envisages direct talks with Tehran that would include the United States.

"It's clearly confirmed by the resolution that direct negotiations on resolving all questions related to the Iranian nuclear programme -- with the participation of all six powers, including the United States -- would be initiated if Iran accepts the proposals of the six," Lavrov said.

In his remarks reported by the Ria-Novosti news agency, the foreign minister added that the proposed text does not foresee fresh sanctions against Iran.

NKorea tells US to learn from 1968 Pueblo spy ship incident

AFP, Seoul

North Korean state media Wednesday marked the 40th anniversary of the seizure of the US spy ship Pueblo by demanding Washington learn lessons from the incident.

"If the US imperialists persistently pursue their hostile policy towards the DPRK (North Korea) and their design to invade it, they will suffer a more shameful defeat (than in 1968)," said a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

It attributed the statement to an organisation called the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front, following a tour by its members of the ship on Tuesday.

The USS Pueblo was attacked and seized by North Korea's navy on January 23, 1968. One American sailor was killed in the assault and 82 others were captured and held prisoner for 11 months before they were freed.

Italy's embattled Prodi faces vote of confidence

AFP, Rome

Embattled Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi prepared on Wednesday to face the first of two votes of confidence as his centre-left government teetered on the brink of collapse.

One vote in the Chamber of Deputies, set to begin at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT), is expected to go Prodi's way since he has a comfortable majority in the lower house.

The make-or-break test will be on Thursday in the Senate, where the defection of a key ally has left the 20-month-old government with a two-seat deficit.

Facing growing calls for early elections, Prodi, 68, defended his government's performance in a defiant speech to parliament on Tuesday. The crisis for the Prodi government, which ranges from far-left communists to centrist Catholics, was sparked by centrist Clemente Mastella's resignation as justice minister last week. On Monday his small UDEUR party said it would oppose Prodi in a vote of confidence.

100 retired generals urge Musharraf to quit

AP, Islamabad

About 100 retired senior military officers issued a blunt open letter Tuesday exhorting President Pervez Musharraf to resign. The demand from the retired officers is the latest sign that Musharraf, who's traveling in Europe to try to shore up his battered image, faces increasingly strong challenges to his rule. Musharraf shed his army uniform last month but relies on the military as a pillar of support. The retired officers - including some two dozen army generals, three air force air marshals and eight naval admirals - signed the letter after a meeting at a hotel adjacent to the general headquarters of the Pakistan armed forces in nearby Rawalpindi. The letter said the officers voiced "great concern and anguish" during discussions about the "prevailing conditions" in the country. Some of the officers had signed statements against Musharraf before, but never in such numbers. The group, calling itself the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen's Society, said in its statement that it had determined that Musharraf must act quickly. "He should resign his office of the president. This is in the supreme national interest and makes it incumbent on him to step down," it said. The group's leader, retired army Lt. Gen. Faiz Ali Chishti, said in a telephone interview that the retired officers believe they represent most Pakistanis.

Annan faces tough challenge reconciling Kenya foes

Reuters, Nairobi

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will hold talks with Kenya's feuding parties on Wednesday to find a rapid solution to a standoff over a disputed election that erupted into a bloody political crisis. The 69-year old African statesman faces a tough challenge resolving the bitter impasse between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition challenger Raila Odinga that shattered the east African nation's reputation for stability and democracy. "We expect all parties to enter into dialogue in good faith and to seize this opportunity to end the suffering and uncertainty," Annan told reporters after landing in Nairobi late on Tuesday. At Annan's request, the opposition will call off street protests planned for Thursday, two senior sources from the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said on Wednesday. "Annan has told us he will request no more street protests while he is here, and I can tell you we will not be objecting to that. We will accede," said a senior aide to opposition leader Raila Odinga. A second senior aide confirmed the decision. Earlier protests erupted in bouts of looting and police shootings decried by rights advocates as excessive.