The New Nation - Internet Edition

Maoists lead as Nepal heads for hung assembly

Reuters, Kathmandu

Nepal's former Maoist rebels have won half the directly elected seats in a crucial election meant to cement a shaky peace deal, but are only likely to head a minority government at the end of a complex election.

The Maoists bagged 120 of 240 seats contested in a first-past-the-post constituency system, official results showed on Tuesday.

Unofficial tallies published by newspapers showed the former guerrillas winning around 30 percent of the vote in a contest for a further 335 seats allotted by proportional representation. The results from the proportional representation contest are expected by Wednesday evening.

"The real picture will be known once the counting of votes from the proportional representation election is done," Election Commission spokesman Laxman Bhattarai said.

"It is unlikely the Maoists will get a simple majority. They are likely to be the single-largest party."

The new cabinet will nominate the remaining 26 members of the 601-member assembly, meant to write a new constitution, abolish Nepal's 240-year-old monarchy and serve as a parliament for at least two years. The election is seen as key to cementing a 2006 peace accord which brought an end to a 10-year-long civil war that killed some 13,000 people.

The Maoists, who campaigned promising change in one of the world's poorest countries, have already begun courting other political parties in an effort to form a coalition government.

But analysts say Nepal's history of squabble-laden politics and the reluctance of some top parties to join a Maoist-led government could delay the formation of a new government.

The count in Nepal's landmark elections was set to be completed Wednesday with the former rebel Maoists emerging as the biggest party by far in the 601-member assembly, an official said.

Pakistan signs peace accord with Taliban

AP, Peshawar

Pakistan freed a pro-Taliban cleric and quickly signed an accord with his hard-line group Monday, the first major step by the new government to talk peace with Islamic militants and break with President Pervez Musharraf's policy of using force.

The day's developments began with the release of Sufi Muhammad, who is believed in his 70s, after more than five years in custody following his dispatch of thousands of followers to fight in Afghanistan.

A few hours later, the government of North West Frontier Province said Muhammad's group signed a pact renouncing violence in return for being allowed to peacefully campaign for Islamic law. Security forces have the right to "act against" any extremists who attack the government. Analysts cautioned it would take time to judge the new approach, noting Musharraf also struck truces with some groups that U.S. officials have complained gave Pakistani militants as well as Taliban and al-Qaida fighters a chance to build up their strength.

The anti-government sentiments in the region affected by Monday's deal are seen as less intractable than those held by Taliban sympathizers in the tribal regions of Waziristan, where U.S. officials believe Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders are hiding.

Provincial government spokesman Faridullah Khan said the pact covers the Swat Valley and neighboring districts in this area along the Afghan frontier.

Muslim Khan, a spokesman for Muhammad's son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, whose supporters battled security forces for control of the Swat Valley last year, said the fighters allied with the wanted militant would not cease their battle.

"We welcome the release of Sufi Muhammad, but we will only lay down arms when the government would enforce Shariah," or Islamic law, Khan said.

Rice fails to clinch firm Arab commitments on Iraq

AFP, Kuwait City

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held closed-door talks in Kuwait late Monday as she intensified efforts to persuade Sunni-led Arab allies to back Iraq's Shiite leadership.

Rice failed to clinch any firm Arab pledges on debt relief or diplomatic presence at talks in Bahrain earlier on Monday but took her campaign to Kuwait for a meeting Tuesday with Iraq, Arab states, Turkey, Iran and world powers.

Speaking after a meeting in Bahrain with counterparts from six Gulf monarchies, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, Rice said the talks covered relieving Iraq debt and sending ambassadors to the war-torn nation.

But she did not report any decision on either score.

"I do believe it's a process which will move forward," Rice told reporters after the meeting, which came one day after she made a surprise visit to Baghdad. "A number of countries around the table talked about their desire to have permanent representatives" in Baghdad, she said. "The terms of debt relief have long been known. It's just a matter of getting the negotiations done," Rice added.

Gulf states, especially OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, agreed several years ago to forgive a substantial part of Iraqi debt, estimated to total tens of billions of dollars.

Hamas leader offers truce if Israel withdraws from 1967 lands

AP, Damascus

The leader of Hamas says his Palestinian militant group is offering Israel a 10-year truce if it withdraws from all lands it seized in the 1967 war.

Khaled Mashaal says he made the offer to former President Carter in talks on Saturday.

Mashaal says Hamas would accept a Palestinian state limited to the lands Israel seized in 1967 - an implicit acceptance that Israel would exist alongside that state. But Mashaal says the group would never outright formally recognize Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel says efforts by former President Jimmy Carter to work out a cease-fire with Gaza's Hamas rulers failed.

Senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad says that Hamas presented nothing new in its demands for a truce during Carter's recent meetings with officials of the militant group.

Pennsylvania to vote in must-win for Hillary

AFP, Philadelphia

Hillary Clinton must win Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary, but she needs to do more than simply scrape past rival Barack Obama to rescue her trailing White House bid.

The New York senator is tipped for victory in late opinion polls, but many observers think it will take a double-digit triumph to stave off more calls for her to quit the epic Democratic nomination race.

She also needs a fresh burst of momentum ahead of the next round of contests in Indiana and North Carolina on May 6, which are followed quickly by the last six voting showdowns of the epic nominating battle into early June.

China, France tension lingers, despite Sarkozy letter

AFP, Beijing

China and France sought to patch up their differences Tuesday amid anger over protests surrounding the Olympic torch relay but a Paris city honour for the Dalai Lama threatened to scupper efforts.

The tension was underlined with the wheelchair-bound fencer Jin Jing saying that French President Nicolas Sarkozy owed her an apology.

Jin has become a figure of national unity since she resisted pro-Tibet protesters who tried to grab the Olympic flame from her during its troubled journey through Paris two weeks ago.

On a visit to Shanghai on Monday, French Senate President Christian Poncelet passed on a letter from Sarkozy to the disabled athlete in which he condemned the raucous demonstrations. But Jin Tuesday expressed regret that Sarkozy did not formally apologise. "(Sarkozy) expressed regret, shock and condemnation but no apology," Jin was quoted by the Beijing News as saying.

UAE signs nuclear cooperation deal with US

AFP, Manama

The United Arab Emirates promised to set "a good example" for the Middle East on developing civilian nuclear energy as it signed a cooperation agreement on Monday with the United States.

"We really want to be a good example for the region," Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a signing ceremony ahead of a broader Arab-US meeting in Bahrain.

"I know that you will be," Rice replied. "The UAE is a very responsible partner."

The United States and Bahrain signed a similar atomic energy cooperation memorandum of understanding in Washington last month in what the US holds up as a model for the Middle East that contrasts with Iran's contested nuclear programme. Amid concerns over Iran's nuclear aims and regional clout, the six oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states decided in December 2006 to develop a joint nuclear technology programme for peaceful uses.

Paris makes Dalai Lama a 'citizen of honour’

Reuters, Paris

Paris city hall made Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen on Monday, exacerbating tensions between France and China in the build up to the Beijing Olympics.

The motion to honour the Dalai Lama was backed by the city's Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoe and his environmentalist allies but was not supported by President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right party or Communist councillors. Relations between France and China have suffered badly in the wake of big pro-Tibetan protests that disrupted the passage of the Olympic flame through Paris earlier this month.

Angered by the Chinese reaction to the demonstrations, mayor Delanoe pushed to make the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen.

"The Dalai Lama is a man of dialogue and peace," Delanoe told reporters on Monday. "It is the duty of Paris, in the name of universal values, to support him." Although pro-Tibetan supporters have targeted the Olympic relay around the world, the Paris demonstration caused particular anger in China after images showed a Chinese athlete in a wheelchair having to shield the flame from protesters.