The New Nation - Internet Edition

Tibet's govt-in-exile demands UN intervention as violence spreads

AFP, Dharamshala

Tibet's government-in-exile on Saturday demanded the United Nations intervene to end what it called "urgent human rights violations" by China in the region following deadly protests.

The exiled government in Dharamshala in northern India, home to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, also said it had received "unconfirmed reports about 100 people had been killed and martial law imposed in Lhasa."

"The Tibetan parliament urges the UN to send representatives immediately and intervene and investigate the current urgent human rights violations in Tibet," the administration said in a statement.

Tanks and armoured vehicles were out in force in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Saturday, a day after the worst protests against China's rule in the vast, Himalayan region in nearly 20 years, witnesses said.

China has said 10 people were burnt to death in the protests.

The exiled Tibetan government said it was "deeply concerned" by reports "emanating from all three regions of Tibet of random killings, injuries and arrest of thousands of Tibetans peacefully protesting against Chinese policy."

The protests reflect "the true sentiments of Tibetans inside Tibet and the yearning to be free from the repressive Chinese regime," it said.

Samdhong Rinpochehe, the government-in-exile's prime minister, urged China to "deal with this situation compassionately and with wisdom."

"The use of force by China has caused great disturbance to the Tibetans and we fear the Tibetans will lose the direction" of what has been a mainly non-violent freedom struggle, he told AFP.

Late Friday, the Dalai Lama had expressed "deep concern" over China's crackdown and urged Beijing to "stop using force" there and address the "resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue."

"I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence," said the Dalai Lama, who has stuck by his call for "cultural autonomy" rather than independence for Tibet despite ramping up his criticism of China in recent days.

A spokesman for the 72-year-old Dalai Lama denied Chinese charges that groups allied to the spiritual leader had "organised, premeditated and masterminded" the unrest.

"We can categorically say these kind of accusations are absolutely baseless and without any truth whatsoever," said the aide, Chhime R. Chhoekyapa.

"As far as we can see, these protests are spontaneous," he said.

Meanwhile, some 300 Buddhist monks, nuns and other Tibetan protesters took to the streets on Saturday in Dharamshala for more protests, police said.

"We're keeping a close watch on events," police superintendent Atul Phuljile told AFP in the town, where the Nobel peace laureate set up his government after fleeing Tibet in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

A group of 44 Tibetan exiles in India also set off on a fresh attempt to march on Saturday to their homeland from Dehra, 55 kilometres (34 miles) from Dharamsala.

The trek by mainly Buddhist monks and nuns began after Indian police on Thursday arrested 100 Tibetan marchers marking the 49th anniversary on March 10 of the Dalai Lama's escape to India following the abortive Tibetan uprising.

New Delhi has said it "does not permit Tibetans to engage in anti-China political activities in India" and has warned "any activity which causes disruption would be dealt with in accordance" with Indian law.

Indonesia calls for jihad of peace to spark an 'Islamic Renaissance’

AFP, Dakar

The leader of the world's most populous Muslim nation called Friday for a jihad of peace to spark an "Islamic Renaissance", at a summit where leaders struggled to agree reforms to the main international Islamic group.

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for greater democracy and efforts to improve the plight of Muslims and spread Islamic values, in a speech to the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit.

"The possibility of an Islamic Renaissance lies before us," Yudhoyono told the summit, but first, he added: "We need to get our act together as an organisation of Muslim nations.

"When the Islamic Renaissance comes it will be the natural fruit of a peaceful and constructive 'jihad'."

Yudhoyono said the OIC was "unique" because it covers three continents and "Muslim countries supply 70 percent of the world's energy requirements and 40 percent of its raw material exports."

But he said the Muslim world must improve its image. "Protracted conflicts in Muslim societies bring shame to the Ummah (Muslim community) and tarnish the good name of Islam."

Sri Lanka bombs rebels’ position, 29 killed in fighting

AFP, Colombo

Sri Lankan government jets bombed a Tamil Tiger training base as fighting across the northern region claimed at least another 29 lives, the defence ministry said Saturday.

Air force planes conducted bombing raids against a Tiger rebel base in Mullaittivu in the northeast early Saturday, leaving the training facility in ruins, the ministry said.

"The enemy target had been under constant surveillance and latest air reconnaissance information has revealed intensified terrorist activity in the area," the statement said.

Security forces also destroyed five rebel bunkers and killed at least 29 Tigers during confrontations in Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna and Weli Oya on Friday, the ministry said, putting government losses at seven soldiers injured.

There was no immediate comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils since 1972.

Afghan child killed in blast

AFP, Khost

A suicide bomber blew up an explosives-filled car near international troops in eastern Afghanistan Saturday, killing an Afghan child, a provincial governor said.

The bombing just outside the city of Khost was the second suicide attack in Afghanistan since Thursday when a blast in Kabul killed six civilians and wounded four international soldiers. First reports said the blast damaged a vehicle of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Khost governor Arsalla Jamal told AFP.

Israel under fire at talks with Palestinians, US

AFP, Jerusalem

Israel came under fire for its continued Jewish settlement construction in the occupied West Bank at high-level talks on Friday with the Palestinians, hosted by a senior US envoy. A construction freeze means "not one more brick", Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said, voicing anger at Israel's failure to abide by its obligation to halt settlement activity in the West Bank.

The US delegation also complained about the Jewish settlement activity as well as Israel's failure to sufficiently reduce the number of roadblocks in the West Bank, according to an Israeli official who asked not to be named. The meeting, to discuss implementation of the stalled 2003 peace roadmap, was the first at senior level since March 2 when Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas suspended talks to protest an Israeli blitz on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. "Israel is eroding the very possibility of the two-state solution," Fayyad said after the three-hour meeting hosted by US US Lieutenant General William Fraser, who was appointed in January to oversee compliance with the roadmap. "Numerous construction projects in many settlements are continuing every day. This is not a freeze by any standard," said Fayyad. The Israeli side responded that construction was only conducted in existing settlement blocs Israel plans to keep as part of a permanent agreement, an official said. Israel's delegation, led by an aide to Defence Minister Ehud Barak, charged that the Palestinian Authority was "not doing enough to fight against terrorism", the official said. "It does not make any arrests and does not give information" on militants, he said. The US embassy described the talks held at a Jerusalem hotel as "cordial but frank".

Assassination attempt on Putin foiled

AFP, Moscow

Russia's secret service foiled an assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin in Red Square on March 2, the day of the presidential election, the Tvoi Den daily reported on Saturday. The newspaper did not cite any sources but gave a detailed account about the arrest of a Tajik national with a sniper rifle in a raid on a rented apartment near Red Square just hours before Putin was due to give a speech there. Contacted by AFP, the Federal Security Service (FSB) could not immediately comment on the report. Tvoi Den, a popular daily, often prints exclusive reports on Russian politics citing unnamed officials. An informant told FSB officials a few days before the election that Putin's assassination was being planned and that an apartment had been rented on the other side of the river from the Kremlin for the purpose, Tvoi Den said. Security officers raided the apartment at 8:00pm (1700 GMT) on March 2 and detained a 24-year-old Tajik national with a "whole arsenal of firearms," including a sniper rifle and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, the daily continued. About three hours later, Putin and his ally Dmitry Medvedev, who won the March 2 election by a landslide, walked out of the Kremlin onto Red Square and gave victory speeches at a concert there to thousands of screaming fans. FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev gave a briefing earlier this week where he said that Russian security services had foiled "terrorist attacks" during the election campaign and on election day but did not provide further details.

US tones down praise for Musharraf

AP, Washington

Just months ago, the United States publicly championed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as an "indispensable" ally. Now, officials barely mention the man the Bush administration once promoted as essential to holding together a nuclear-armed country deemed crucial to the U.S.-led fight against extremists in South Asia. The new tone comes as the United States works to gain the favor of Pakistani opposition forces that won big in last month's parliamentary elections and as Musharraf's grip on power weakens. The newly empowered politicians are promising to reinstate fired judges who had questioned the legality of Musharraf's continuing in office. The United States says it still intends to work with the former army chief, whom Pakistani lawmakers elected to a five-year presidential term in October. But the Bush administration appears to be shifting from making support for Musharraf the core of its Pakistan policy, which many U.S. lawmakers and Pakistani opposition leaders have long wanted. Robert Hathaway, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Asia program, said Bush officials will not abandon Musharraf, "but clearly they have to, in rather dramatic fashion, alter what had been their previous practice of putting all of the American eggs in a Musharraf basket." Pakistan's "new realities," Hathaway said, "dictate that they deal with Islamabad on a much broader basis if they wish to have any sort of influence in Pakistan." In Feb. 18 parliamentary elections, the parties of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, finished first and second. The Pakistan Muslim League-Q, a party loyal to Musharraf, lost heavily.

Tornado rips through downtown Atlanta

AP Atlanta

A possible tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta on Friday night, smashing skyscraper windows, sucking furniture and luggage out of hotel rooms, crumbling part of an apartment building and rattling the rafters of two major sports arenas filled with basketball fans. At least 20 people were hurt. Streets around the Georgia Dome, the Phillips Arena, the CNN Center and Centennial Olympic Park were littered with broken glass, downed power lines, crumbled bricks, insulation and even the occasional office chair. Billboards collapsed onto parked cars. Stunned fans from the arenas and hotel guests wandered through the debris in disbelief. "It was crazy. There was a lot of windows breaking and stuff falling," said Terrence Evans, a valet who was about to park a car at the Omni Hotel when the apparent twister hit. At an early morning news conference, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin called the storm "what we now know was a tornado." But National Weather Service officials continued to say only that a "possible tornado" hit around 9:40 p.m., accompanied by a storm packing 60 mph winds. A tornado warning had been issued for downtown a few minutes before. There was no announcement of the approaching storm for the 18,000 fans inside the Georgia Dome for the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament. The first sign something was wrong was a rumbling from above and the rippling of the Fiberglas fabric roof.