The New Nation - Internet Edition

NATO unlikely to fill all Afghan military requirements: Gates

AFP, Copenhagen

NATO leaders holding a summit in Bucharest this week are unlikely to fully meet the military requirements of a NATO-led force in Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Monday.

Gates said there was a "good possibility" that some allies would step forward to offer more troops for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). But he suggested it would fall short of the three manoeuvre brigades requested by commanders.

Gates said the requirements, which also include 3,500 trainers, helicopters, and unmanned aircraft, were "pretty ambitious."

"So I would be surprised if we saw commitments in Bucharest that would fully meet our requirements of the CJSOR (combined joint statement of requirements), but we'll just keep working at it," he said.

Gates spoke to reporters en route here from Belgium where he received briefings from NATO's top military leaders on Afghanistan and other issues on the agenda of the April 2-4 alliance summit in Bucharest.

His visit to Denmark, the first by a US defence secretary in 10 years, came on the same day that a Danish soldier was killed and two others wounded in fighting in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.

Gates said he wanted to visit Denmark for "a signals check" before the summit and because it has been one of the most steadfast US allies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo.

"This is an ally that, in my opinion, is really punching above its weight. And I wanted to visit and thank them for that," he said.

Denmark has 635 troops in the NATO-led ISAF force, most of them operating in Helmand, which has been a focal point of a Taliban resurgence over the past two years.

Gates said he thought there would be some announcements at the summit of additional troop contributions to ISAF.

"They are still up in the air but there has been enough kind of in the wind that that's a good possibility," he said.

"I think the prospects are good for a good, strong, unanimous statement by the alliance on Afghanistan and why we are there," he said.

Gates has pushed for the vision statement as a way of shoring up eroding European public support for what has turned out to be a more difficult and deadly assignment than many expected when the NATO-led force moved into southern Afghanistan nearly two years ago.

US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters aboard Air Force One he was confident that allies would step forward with offers of help.

"We've been saying for some time that all of us need to do more in Afghanistan, and I think you're going to see countries coming up and doing more," Hadley said.

A senior US defence official earlier told reporters travelling with Gates that he was confident that allies will provide a 1,000-strong battle group that Canada has set as a condition for keeping its forces in Afghanistan.

"I think things are lining up with what the allies are preparing to announce that will meet Canada's requirements. I think we are there," the official said.

US likely to sign missile deal with Russia

AP, Kiev

The White House raised hopes Monday of achieving a breakthrough agreement to resolve bitter differences with Moscow over missile defenses in Europe when President Bush meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin this weekend.

Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said no deal was in hand yet but the two leaders could nail it down when they meet Sunday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. "We may. We're hopeful," he said. It will be the last meeting between the two men before Putin steps away from the Russian presidency.

Hadley briefed reporters on Air Force One as Bush flew to Ukraine to begin a weeklong trip in Eastern Europe, anchored by a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania. Arriving in Kiev late at night, Bush was presented with a traditional greeting of bread and salt. His wife, Laura, was given a bouquet of flowers.

Turkish court to hear case for banning ruling party

AFP, Ankara

Turkey's top court agreed Monday to rule on whether the governing AKP party should be banned for anti-secular activity, in a case that could threaten national stability and Ankara's bid to join the EU.

The 11 judges of the Constitutional Court unanimously decided that they could hear the case against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) filed by the country's top prosecutor on March 14.

A final verdict is expected to take up to six months.

The judges ruled by a majority vote that President Abdullah Gul, who belonged to the AKP until he was elected head of state in August, should be included in the legal proceedings.

In his petition to the court, the chief prosecutor of the Court of Appeals, Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, accused the AKP of undermining Turkey's secular order as part of a plan to replace it with an Islamist system.

As well as a ban on the party, he also asked the Constitutional Court to bar 71 party officials, including Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from politics for five years.

The AKP now has one month to present its initial defence to the court, which has banned more than 20 parties since the 1960s.

Israel to build more homes in occupied lands

AFP, Jerusalem

The Jerusalem authorities on Monday announced plans to build 600 new homes at an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank which they consider to be part of the Holy City.

The municipality made the announcement as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up a tour of the region aimed at bolstering the slow-moving peace process and amid Palestinian anger at continued settlement activity.

"The plan is part of a global initiative by the mayor of Jerusalem to build 40,000 housing units in the city to ease access to housing for young couples," a municipality statement said.

It said 600 homes will be built in Pisgat Zeev, a Jewish settlement in occupied and annexed Arab east Jerusalem.

US-China ties key for Pacific region success: Australian PM

AFP, Washington

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called Monday for careful management of US-China relations, saying it was critical for the success of the "Pacific Century". "For Australia, the single core question of whether ours will be a Pacific century rests on the long-term management of this most critical relationship," he told a forum of the Washington-based Brookings Institution. The term Pacific Century had been used previously to describe the 21st century that some believed will be dominated, especially economically, by the Pacific Rim states, particularly China, Japan and the United States. More recently, the term Asia Century was coined to place greater emphasis on Asian nations, including India. Rudd, who arrived last Thursday in Washington on his first major overseas trip since becoming prime minister, said there should be "continued good management" of relations between Washington and Beijing.

Obama wants to stop votes says Hillary

AP, Harrisburg

Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton accused rival Sen. Barack Obama and his allies of trying to stop people from voting as some of his backers have called on her to drop out of the presidential race.

The Obama campaign rejected the charge, dismissing Clinton's criticism as "completely laughable." In a series of television interviews in states holding upcoming contests, Clinton vowed to press on with her campaign and suggested Obama and his supporters wanted to keep those states from playing a role in selecting the party's presidential nominee. "My take on it is a lot of Senator Obama's supporters want to end this race because they don't want people to keep voting," she told CBS affiliate KTVQ in Billings, Mont. "That's just the opposite of what I believe. We want people to vote. I want the people of Montana to vote, don't you?" Montana holds its primary June 3. The New York senator made similar comments in interviews with stations in Indiana and North Carolina, which hold primaries May 6.

ME peace talks progressing: Rice

AP, Amman

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Mideast peace talks are "moving in the right direction" although she warned Israel that it should stop new settlement activities that could upset progress. Rice's comments came after she held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the end of a three-day Mideast mission with the goal of achieving an agreement before President Bush leaves office next January. Earlier Monday, Rice met separately with both the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Israel and said that she was impressed by the seriousness of their work. "I think it's all moving in the right direction," Rice said at a news conference with Abbas, saying that things are proceeding toward the goal of reaching some sort of peace agreement by 2009 that would lead toward the creation of a Palestinian state. "I fully believe it is a goal we can reach," Rice said. Asked, however, about Israel continuing to approve construction of new housing in contested territory, Rice criticized the close U.S. ally. "Settlement activity should stop - expansion should stop," Rice said.

Tibetans planning suicide attacks: China

AP, Beijing

China on Tuesday accused "Tibet independence forces" of planning to use suicide squads to trigger bloody attacks - the lastest in a string of accusations that have taken aim at supporters of the Dalai Lama. The prime minister of Tibet's government-in-exile denied the claims, saying Tibetans are committed to a "nonviolent path." "To our knowledge, the next plan of the Tibetan independence forces is to organize suicide squads to launch violent attacks," Public Security Bureau spokesman Wu Heping said Tuesday. "They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice," Wu told a news conference. Wu offered no firm evidence to support his claims. Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama and his supporters of orchestrating anti-government riots in Lhasa last month as part of a campaign to sabotage the August Beijing Olympics and promote Tibetan independence.

Japan opposition threatens to censure minister

Reuters, Tokyo

Japan's main opposition party stepped up its attack on Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's government on Tuesday, threatening a rare censure motion against the health minister in parliament's upper house. Fukuda is struggling with a policy deadlock in a divided parliament, prompting speculation his ruling party might replace him ahead of an election that could come this year. The Democratic Party, which with small allies controls the upper house and can delay laws, has already blocked the extension of an unpopular gasoline tax that expired on Monday, prompting petrol stations to start cutting prices by 25 yen (25 cents) per liter, or around 17 percent. It has also vetoed two government nominees for central bank governor. Now the Democrats are turning the focus back to pension problems, a topic that helped the opposition win control of the upper house in an election last year and eventually oust Fukuda's predecessor. Charging the government with failure to keep its pledge to clean up botched public pension payments by the end of March, Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa told a news conference that Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe should apologize and "take responsibility" --- political code in Japan for resigning.