The New Nation - Internet Edition

Heavy fighting kills 43 in Sri Lanka

AFP, Colombo

Government troops Wednesday captured a strip of land from Tamil Tigers after heavy fighting across the island's north left 42 rebels and a soldier dead, the defence ministry said.

Security forces killed the guerrillas from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in separate clashes in the Mannar, Weli Oya and Jaffna district since Tuesday evening, the ministry said.

It said the air force carried out attacks against suspected Tamil Tiger targets on Tuesday, but did not give details of casualties or damage.

However, it said troops wrested control over an area known as Kallaiadanchan in the coastal Mannar district early Wednesday.

There was no immediate word from the Tigers.

In another development, two civilians were shot dead by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in the Wilpattu wildlife park on Wednesday, the ministry said. The motive for the killing was not clear.

The latest casualty claims brings to at least 2,562 the number of rebels said to have been killed by security forces since January, according to defence ministry data.

The ministry has reported losing 152 of its soldiers in the same period.

Casualty figures given by both sides in the decades-old ethnic conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives cannot be independently confirmed as journalists and rights groups are barred from front-line areas.

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers said Thursday they were resisting a major military thrust into rebel-held territory and claimed to have killed at least 25 government troops in two days of fighting.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they pushed back security forces from the Catholic pilgrim area of Madhu in the coastal district of Mannar where heavy fighting has raged in recent weeks.

"The Sri Lanka army adamantly initiated several clashes within 1,500 meters of the church premises," a statement said. "The LTTE defenders successfully repelled the Sri Lanka army offenders."

The separatists added that more than 90 soldiers had been wounded and placed their own losses at one killed and three hurt over the two days.

The LTTE statement came as the military said they killed 42 Tiger rebels for the loss of one soldier in the same area on Wednesday.

The latest defence ministry casualty claims bring to at least 2,562 the number of rebels said to have been killed by security forces since January. The ministry has reported losing 152 soldiers in the same period.

The figures given by both sides in the decades-old ethnic conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives cannot be independently confirmed as journalists and rights groups are barred from front-line areas.

NKorea cuts contacts with South as tensions escalate

AFP, Seoul

North Korea announced Thursday it was suspending all dialogue with South Korea after failing to win an apology for remarks by a Seoul general, its toughest action in a week of growing cross-border tensions.

The communist state's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) blamed Seoul for the North's decision to suspend dialogue and contacts and to block border crossings by Seoul military and civilian officials.

"Our military does not engage in empty talk," it said, disregarding an appeal from South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak for "straightforward" talking to calm the atmosphere.

KCNA was disclosing the contents of a message delivered earlier to Seoul by the North's chief delegate to inter-Korean military talks, Lieutenant General Kim Yong-Chol.

Kim had demanded an apology for remarks last week by South Korea's new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), General Kim Tae-Young. It interpreted these as authorising a preemptive military strike.

Seoul's defence ministry on Wednesday rejected the demand. It said the North was twisting the JCS chief's remarks and urged it to stop raising tensions.

The North Thursday dismissed that message as "excuses" and said its military would take immediate countermeasures. "The South's military authoritiest will never avoid responsibility for suspending all North-South dialogue and blocking the (border) passage," KCNA said.

Seoul's defence ministry said it would make no further response. Lee Myung-Bak, a conservative who took office February 25, has angered the North by adopting a tougher line on relations after a decade-long "sunshine" engagement policy under liberal presidents.

He says he will link economic aid to the North's progress in nuclear disarmament and raise its widely-criticised human rights policy.

"Since my inauguration, North Korea has intensified tension. But I think relations will not worsen," Lee said earlier Thursday, in his first comments since Pyongyang this week labelled him a traitor and US sycophant.

"What the new government wants is a more straightforward dialogue between South and North Korea t we want North Korea to open its mind for sincere dialogue."

The flare-up began March 27, when the North expelled South Korean officials from a joint industrial complex. The next day, it test-fired missiles and accused Seoul of breaching the sea border.

Arab home razed in Jerusalem

AFP, Jerusalem

An Israeli wrecking crew knocked down Shadi Hamdan's home in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem in just a couple of hours, reducing the upholsterer's savings to a pile of gray rubble.

The demolition, and others like it, vividly illustrate the toughest issue facing negotiators in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks: conflicting claims over Jerusalem.

Agreeing on how to divide the ancient city, home to 476,000 Jews and 250,000 Arabs, is on the table but has yet to be resolved in talks launched at a U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference last November. The Palestinians want to establish a capital in east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War. Israel claims the whole city but has signaled willingness to cede some Arab neighborhoods.

Since 2004, Israel has leveled more than 300 homes in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods, citing a lack of building permits. However, critics say the permits are virtually impossible to obtain and consider the demolitions part of a decades-old policy to limit Palestinian population growth in the disputed city.

NATO to endorse US missile-defence plan

AP, Bucharest

NATO leaders have agreed to fully endorse U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe and to urge Russia to drop its objections to the shield, senior American officials said Thursday.

The endorsement is contained in a communique that the leaders of the 26-nation military alliance will adopt Thursday during their summit being held here, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the statement's release.

The document will state that "ballistic missile proliferation poses an increasing threat to allied forces, territory and populations." It also will recognize "the substantial contribution to the protection of allies t to be provided by the U.S.-led system," the officials said.

The statement calls on all NATO members to explore ways in which the planned U.S. project, to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, can be linked with future missile shields elsewhere. It says leaders should come up with recommendations to be considered at their next meeting in 2009, the officials said.

The document calls on Russia to accept U.S. and NATO offers to cooperate on the system, the officials said.

Russia vehemently opposes the plan, believing it will threaten its own deterrent force and upset the balance of power in Europe. The backing from NATO provides President Bush with a leg up in his negotiations with Moscow over the issue.

Senior American officials are saying that NATO leaders have agreed to fully endorse U.S. missile defense plans for Europe and urge Russia to drop its objections to the system.

The officials say the endorsement is contained in a communique the leaders will adopt Thursday at the NATO summit being held in Bucharest, Romania.

Argentine president lays 'inalienable' claim to Falklands

AFP, Buenos Aires

Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands, which remain in British hands after the 1982 war between the two countries, is "inalienable," President Cristina Kirchner said Wednesday. "The sovereign claim to the Malvinas Islands is inalienable," she said in a speech marking the 26th anniversary of Argentina's ill-fated invasion of the islands, located 480 kilometers (300 miles) off shore. The April 2, 1982 invasion prompted then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to deploy naval forces to retake the Falklands, known as the Malvinas in Spanish. The short, bloody conflict led to Argentina's surrender on June 14, 1982 after the death of 649 Argentines and 255 Britons. Historians saw the invasion as an attempt by Argentina's ruling military junta, which was then in power, to divert attention away from domestic problems. In her speech Kirchner called for Argentina to strengthen its representation in international bodies to denounce "this shameful colonial enclave in the 21st century."

Israel plays down risk of conflict with Syria

AFP, Jerusalem

Israel on Thursday played down media reports of heightened tension along the Syrian border, insisting that there was little likelihood of military confrontation between the two neighbors. "Israel has no intention of attacking Syria, and the latter says only it is ready to respond to any attack, so the risk of a military confrontation is very low," Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon Ramon told public radio. His comments came as Israeli newspapers splashed front-page stories claiming the Israeli military was on high alert along the border amid reports that Syria has been boosting its armed forces. The Jerusalem Post said the increased tension along the border, as well as in the Gaza Strip, led Defence Minister Ehud Barak to cancel a planned trip to Germany. Defence spokesman Shlomo Dror told AFP Syria has staged military manoeuvres and made other preparations for possible confrontation in the event Hezbollah seeks to avenge the February 12 killing of its military leader Imad Mugnieh, which the Shiite militia blames on Israel.

Mugabe concedes election defeat

Reuters, Johannesburg

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has admitted to his family and advisers that he has lost the most important election of his 28-year rule, South African financial daily Business Day reported on Thursday. Mugabe lost control of parliament for the first time since independence in 1980 and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said he had also been defeated in a presidential election last Saturday and should concede defeat. Business Day said Mugabe had privately conceded defeat and was deciding if he should contest a run-off vote needed because MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai failed to secure a clear majority. "Mugabe has conceded to his closest advisers, the army, police and intelligence chiefs. He has also told his family and personal advisers that he has lost the election," Business Day quoted an unidentified source as saying. The newspaper said hardliners in Mugabe's government wanted him to see the contest through to the bitter end, but that personal advisers and his family want Mugabe to quit.

Osama bin Laden in good health: Zawahri

Reuters, Dubai

Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said on Wednesday Osama bin Laden was well and reports he was sick were false.

"Sheikh Osama bin Laden is in good health," the militant leader said in response to questions compiled by Islamist Web sites. "The ill-intentioned always try to circulate false reports about him being sick." Zawahri, who, like Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan, also denounced the United Nations and vowed to attack Jews both within and outside Israel. "The United Nations is an enemy of Islam and Muslims," he said. He defended attacks on U.N. offices in an apparent reference to twin bomb attacks on U.N. buildings in Algiers which killed 41 people in December and the 2003 bombing of a U.N. building in Baghdad which killed 22. Zawahri also called for attacks on Jews. "We promise our Muslim brothers that we will do our utmost to strike Jews in Israel and abroad with help and guidance from God."

Dalai Lama appeals for end to Tibet 'crackdown'

AFP, New Delhi

Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday appealed for international pressure on Beijing to halt what he charged was a mounting Chinese military crackdown in his homeland. "Chinese authorities have deployed large contingents of troops in these traditional Tibetan regions and have not only started to crack down heavily on the Tibetans allegedly involved in the unrest, but also sealed off the areas where protests have taken place," the Dalai Lama said in a statement. He asked "world leaders, parliamentarians, NGOs and (the) public" to call "for an immediate end to the current crackdown, release of all those who have been arrested and detained, and the provision of proper medical treatment." Quoting "reliable sources" in his homeland, the exiled spiritual leader said there were also reports of "many injured Tibetans being afraid to go to Chinese-run hospitals and clinics." "I would also request you to encourage the sending of an independent international body to investigate the unrest and its underlying causes as well as allow the media and international medical teams to visit affected areas," he said.