The New Nation - Internet Edition

Israeli occupation makes Palestinians terror: UN report

AP, Geneva

A report commissioned by the United Nations says Palestinian terrorism is the "inevitable consequence" of Israeli occupation - a claim Israel rejected Tuesday as inflammatory.

The report - posted on the U.N. Human Rights Council's Web site - says that while Palestinian terrorist acts are deplorable, "they must be understood as being a painful but inevitable consequence of colonialism, apartheid or occupation."

The report accuses the Jewish state of acts and policies consistent with all three.

As long as there is occupation, there will be terrorism, says the author, John Dugard, an independent investigator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a South African lawyer who campaigned against apartheid in the 1980s.

Dugard says in the report that "common sense t dictates that a distinction must be drawn between acts of mindless terror, such as acts committed by al-Qaida, and acts committed in the course of a war of national liberation against colonialism, apartheid or military occupation."

The report calls for an end to the Israeli occupation, citing the country's checkpoints and roadblocks restricting Palestinian movement, house demolitions and the "Judaization" of Jerusalem.

Until the occupation is ended, "peace cannot be expected, and violence will continue," the report says.

Israel's U.N. ambassador in Geneva rejected Dugard's analysis and questioned his objectivity.

"Dugard will better serve the cause of peace by ceasing to enflame the hatred between Israelis and Palestinians, who have embarked on serious talks to solve this contentious situation," Itzhak Levanon said.

"The common link between al-Qaida and the Palestinian terrorists is that both intentionally target civilians with the mere purpose to kill," he said.

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were relaunched in November after a seven-year lapse, but have been marred by ongoing Israeli construction in disputed areas and by Palestinian rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The 25-page report will be presented next month to the 47-nation rights council, which has been criticized - even by its founder, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan - for spending most of its time reproaching one government, Israel's, over alleged abuses.

Dugard was appointed in 2001 as an unpaid expert to investigate only violations by the Israeli side, prompting Israel and the U.S. to dismiss his reports as one-sided.

Israel refused to allow Dugard to conduct a U.N.-mandated fact-finding mission on its Gaza offensive in 2006.

Iraq condemns Turkish incursion and wants troops out

Reuters, Baghdad

Iraq on Tuesday condemned Turkey's incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish guerrillas in the strongest terms so far and demanded an immediate end to what it called a violation of its sovereignty.

Thousands of Turkish troops crossed the border last Thursday to root out PKK fighters who have used mountainous northern Iraq as a base for their fight for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey since the 1990s.

"The cabinet expressed its rejection and condemnation for the Turkish military interference, which is considered a violation of Iraq's sovereignty," the Iraqi government said in a statement released by spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

"The cabinet stresses that unilateral military action is not acceptable and threatens good relations between the two neighbors."

Asked about Iraq's criticism of the Turkish incursion and whether the United States wants Turkey to wrap up the operation in days or weeks, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said:

"I'm not going to put a time frame on it. Obviously we support Turkey and we support Iraq. One of the things we have supported is that the two countries have regular contact and coordination during this incursion. We do want it to be short term, and we want it to be very narrowly targeted," she said.

15 killed in Sri Lankan clashes

AFP, Colombo

Sporadic clashes left at least 13 Tamil Tiger guerrillas and two Sri Lankan government soldiers dead around rebel-held territory in the north, the defence ministry said Wednesday.

Security forces killed nine members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the Vavuniya region, just outside the rebel-held Wanni, while the other four rebels were killed elsewhere in the region on Tuesday, the ministry said. Two government soldiers died while another four were wounded in the fighting, the ministry added.

Israeli air strikes kill 6 Palestinians in Gaza

Reuters, Gaza

Israeli air strikes killed at least six Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian medical staff and militant groups said.

Hamas said five of its militants were killed in an air strike that targeted a van traveling near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was checking the report. The Islamic Jihad militant group said one of its gunmen was killed in an early morning air strike east of the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army said it was not familiar with the attack.

Israel carries out raids and air strikes in the Gaza Strip to try and stop rocket attacks on the Jewish state by Palestinian militants. Last June the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of the coastal territory, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, by routing forces loyal to more secular Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Britain hit by largest quake in over 20 years

AFP, London

The biggest earthquake since 1984 rattled much of England early on Wednesday, causing minor damage, although no injuries were immediately reported.

The British Geological Survey said on its website that the tremors measured 5.3 on the Richter scale.

According to the BGS, the earthquake struck at 12:56 am (0056 GMT) some 125 miles north of London, close to the northeastern English shore near the town of Lincoln.

Lincolnshire Police, which covers the area near the epicentre of the quake, said they had received reports of some damage to homes, but there were no details as to the extent of the damage.

Indonesia wants Suu Kyi in Myanmar democracy process

AFP, Jakarta

Indonesia wants to see democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi included in the political process in military-ruled Myanmar, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said Wednesday.

Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win last week confirmed to his Southeast Asian counterparts that the military's new constitution would bar widow Aung San Suu Kyi from running in elections that have been slated for 2010 as she had been married to a foreigner.

Wirayuda said that Indonesia, the largest member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- to which Myanmar also belongs -- should along with ASEAN still engage with the regime to push for an inclusive political process.

Rice expresses deep regret over Japan rape case

AFP, Tokyo

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed deep regret Wednesday over a Marine's alleged rape of a Japanese girl and hoped the incident would not hurt ties between the close allies.

Visiting Tokyo on the last leg of a three-nation regional tour, Rice also voiced guarded optimism about North Korea, leaving her chief negotiator in China to help end an impasse over the communist state's nuclear disarmament.

Rice pledged to see that justice is served in the rape case on the southern island of Okinawa, which is home to half of the more than 40,000 US troops in Japan.

"We just regret deeply that this happened," Rice said over the alleged sexual assault and a series of other incidents linked to US troops stationed in Japan.

US-India to study possibility of a joint missile defence system

Reuters, New Delhi

The United States and India will study the possibility of a joint missile defence system, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday, stressing talks were only in their early stages. "We're just beginning to talk about perhaps conducting a joint analysis about what India's needs would be in the realm of missile defence and where cooperation between us might help advance that," Gates told reporters. Indian missile-defense cooperation with the United States could complicate relations with China, Russia and Pakistan. Until now, India's policy has been to develop its missile shield domestically, closing a potential multibillion-dollar market to American manufacturers Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, Raytheon Co and Northrop Grumman Corp -- the biggest players in the emerging ground, air, sea and space based U.S. missile defense system.

Kosovo warns Serbia as riots continue

Reuters, Pristina

Kosovo told Serbia on Tuesday it would not yield one inch of its territory, and a violent protest by ethnic Serbs in Bosnia against Kosovo's secession highlighted continued volatility in the Balkan region. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was responding to a Serbian government pledge to rule Serb-dominated parts of Kosovo following its secession from Serbia 10 days ago. Hundreds of protesters tried to attack the United States consulate in the Bosnian Serb Republic capital, Banja Luka, after a largely peaceful march by some 10,000 people. They stoned the building before being pushed back by riot police.