The New Nation - Internet Edition

Musharraf vows free elections during visit to Britain

AFP, London

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Friday challenged anyone to prove how February 18 parliamentary elections could be rigged and vowed they would be held on time.

Arriving in Britain towards the end of a European tour, Musharraf renewed a pledge that the elections would be free and fair but warned there had to be limits on civil liberties to prevent "violence and anarchy."

Protestors in London, some waving placards of the slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, demonstrated against him and further rallies are planned over the coming days. "The election will be free, fair, transparent and peaceful. The system inherently is fair," the former army general insisted at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in central London.

"Whatever bugs remained in the systemt have been removed by me and my government. I challenge any man to find outt how they can be rigged. And if any one gives me any suggestion, I will be (only) too glad to pass it on to the chief election commissioner." He said details of the polling stations and the electoral rolls were publicly available on the Internet for scrutiny. "I would like to ask any organisation, please, instead of just saying that 'they will be manipulated, they will be rigged', give me what you exactly mean.

"What more do you think I can do? What more do you think the election commission can do? Please tell us." Asked to guarantee the polls would be held on February 18, he replied: "You give me a certificate, I'll sign it."

Musharraf, who arrived in London after attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is due to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday. Unconfirmed reports say he will travel to Paris over the weekend. Protestors have targeted his visit. Demonstrators outside RUSI could be heard during his speech and human rights group Amnesty International has planned a lawyers-led protest outside Brown's Downing Street office on Saturday. Amnesty warned that Pakistan was facing a "human rights crisis" which "represents a serious threat to the political process".

Musharraf said that while he had no problem facing criticism, Pakistan should not be judged on human rights as if it were a Western country, comparing mild demonstrations in London to violent ones in Pakistan.

"The only thing we would like is that this freedom should be within boundst and not lead to violence and destruction and anarchy. We cannot allow violence and anarchy in the name of human rights. "I strongly am a believer in human rights, civil liberties and freedom of speech."

He said Islamabad was not a proxy player in the "war on terror", insisting Pakistan was at the forefront of fighting extremism. Success was critical and instability would be felt in Europe too, he warned. "We are doing this for ourselvest We are not doing anyone a favour," he said. He urged those involved to stick together "instead of criticising and insinuating." Musharraf dismissed the idea of accepting foreign forces into Pakistan to combat extremists, saying it would not be accepted by ordinary Pakistanis.

"Whatever assistance we need, we will ask for it," he said.

"I don't know why there are people who think US forces have some kind of magic wand.

"They have their hands full in Afghanistan."

Musharraf also said it would be "foolish" to have international security for Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Meanwhile he said Pakistan's relationship with India had "never been as good as it is now", adding that he was against any military operations in Iran as the region was "already destabilised enough."

Egyptian troops pull back, Gazans pour over border

Reuters, Rafah

Egyptian troops pulled back overnight from the breached Gaza border after a security guard was shot in the foot, allowing thousands of Palestinians to stream across unhindered.

Witnesses said Palestinian taxis drove passengers across the border three days after Palestinian militants blasted it open in defiance of an Israeli blockade, and Gaza-plated cars and trucks entered Egypt to bring back supplies of food and fuel.

No Egyptian soldiers were visible at the border. An Egyptian security source said forces had received orders from Cairo to pull back and avoid confronting Palestinians.

"I am entering with my car to get diesel. I went to the petrol stations in Rafah but didn't find any, so I bought on the black market," said taxi driver Abu Jihad, 48, of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.

He said he had filled the tank of his taxi and had also packed his car with jerrycans of diesel to bring back to Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Mohamed Ali al-Shahed, 32, drove his car into Egypt to retrieve a shipment of drugs ordered from Cairo for his pharmacy in Rafah on the Palestinian side of the divided border town.

"I haven't had new drugs in my pharmacy for seven months t Thank God the pharmacy now has medicine, and at more moderate prices," he said as he drove back into Gaza, guiding an Egyptian truck filled with medicines into the Palestinian territory.

Israel said it had imposed its blockade to try to counter cross-border rocket fire.

The fall of the Rafah wall punched a new hole in a U.S.-backed campaign to curb Hamas's clout and boost Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas nearly eight months after the Islamist group routed Abbas's Fatah forces in Gaza.

On Friday, Egyptian forces began placing barbed wire and chain-link fences to stop more people crossing. But Hamas militants, cheered on by crowds of Gazans, used a bulldozer to flatten sections of the chain and concrete fence.

Tensions flared at one point when Palestinians threw stones at Egyptian police, who responded with batons and water cannon.

31 killed in recent Lanka fighting

AFP, Colombo

Fighting across Sri Lanka's north has left at least 31 people dead, nearly all of them Tamil Tiger rebels, the island's military said Saturday.

The defence ministry said at least 30 Tamil Tiger rebels and one soldier were killed in the fresh wave of fighting on Friday, although the pro-rebel website Tamilnet.com said three government soldiers and two guerrillas died.

The fighting took place in Mannar in the northwest, the website said.

Since the start of this month, the Sri Lankan government has said it has killed 666 rebels for the loss of 27 of its soldiers. At least 63 civilians had also been killed, according defence ministry figures.

Colombia, US plotting invasion: Chavez

Reuters, Caracas

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday said the government of Colombia was plotting with the United States to attack Venezuela, the same day Colombia hosted U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"I accuse the government of Colombia of plotting a conspiracy, acting as a pawn of the North American empire, of plotting a military provocation against Venezuela," Chavez told reporters at a news conference. The leftist Chavez has frequently accused the United States of plotting his ouster, and is currently mired in a diplomatic dispute with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that has pushed bilateral relations to their lowest level in years.

"So I see it as very difficult for us to normalize (relations) under these circumstances. Unfortunately, everything suggests things will continue getting worse," he said.

UN Council to review Iran sanctions

AFP, United Nations

The Security Council on Monday begins to review a package of marginally tougher UN sanctions to pressure Iran into ending its nuclear defiance and its growing isolation.

The package, unveiled Friday, was agreed by foreign ministers of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany in Berlin Tuesday. It includes an outright ban on travel by officials involved in the Islamic Republic's nuclear and missile programs and mandates all states "to prevent the entry or transit through their territories" of individuals linked with Iran's nuclear and missile programs. An earlier resolution approved by the Security Council last March had made the ban voluntary.

The package agreed in Berlin also include a call on all states to "inspect cargoes to and from Iran t provided there are reasonable grounds to believe that the aircraft/vessel is transporting goods prohibited under this resolution." It is to form the basis of a third set of economic and trade sanctions against Iran for defying Security Council demands to stop uranium enrichment activities that the West fears could be used to make a nuclear bomb.

"It is a strong text which shows the continuity of the approach of the international community," France's UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said in a statement. "We are sending a very clear message to Iran and we are stepping up the pressure."

Middle East peace deal possible this year: Blair

Reuters, Davos

Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said he believes both Israelis and Palestinians want peace and a deal can be brokered by the end of this year. "I think it's doable this year if people want to do it," Blair, the former British prime minister, told Reuters. Blair is peace envoy to the Quartet of Middle East mediators, which includes the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. "You could get a peace deal. It's not impossible to work out what the basic principles of the agreement are, and both sides want to reach an agreement," Blair said at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. "But what is necessary in order to get the politicians to the point where they can do the deal is to have sufficient confidence on the ground from people that the security situation for the Israelis can be improved and the occupation can be lifted for the Palestinians," he said. He said it was essential to address the security concerns of the Israelis and that occupation of the Palestinian territories can be gradually lifted.

US invasion surprised Saddam : FBI interrogator

AP, New York

Saddam Hussein allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction to deter rival Iran and did not think the United States would stage a major invasion, according to an FBI interrogator who questioned the Iraqi leader after his capture. Saddam expected only a limited aerial attack by the United States and thought he could remain in control, the FBI special agent, George Piro, told CBS's "60 Minutes" program in an interview to be broadcast Sunday. "He told me he initially miscalculated t President Bush's intentions," said Piro. "He thought the United States would retaliate with the same type of attack as we did in 1998 t a four-day aerial attack." "He survived that one and he was willing to accept that type of attack," Piro said. The Associated Press spoke to a close aide of Saddam's in August 2003, who said that Saddam did not expect a U.S. invasion and deliberately kept the world guessing about his weapons program, although he already had gotten rid of it. Saddam publicly denied having unconventional weapons before the U.S. invasion, but prevented UN inspectors from working in the country from 1998 until 2002 and when they finally returned in November 2002, they often complained that Iraq wasn't fully cooperating.