The New Nation - Internet Edition

Thousands flee China quake area on flood worries

AP, Beichuan

Thousands of Chinese earthquake victims fled areas near the epicenter Saturday, fearful of potential floods from a river blocked by landslides.

Soldiers carried older people out of Beichuan town - one of the areas hit hardest by the magnitude 7.9 quake Monday - while survivors cradled babies on a road jammed with vehicles and people. The death toll jumped to near 29,000.

A policeman told The Associated Press that rescue officials were worried that water from the choked river would inundate the town. "The river was jammed up by a landslide, now that may burst. That is what we are worried about," the policeman said as he hurried by, not giving his name.

"I'm very scared. I heard that the water will be crashing down here," said Liang Xiao, one of the people fleeing. "If that happens, there will be over 10 yards of water over our heads."

The official Xinhua News Agency said earlier that a lake in Beichuan county "may burst its bank at any time," without giving details on why the water was rising. Residents left homes for higher ground, but 46 seriously injured were still at risk, the agency said.

The confirmed death toll rose Saturday to 28,881, Cabinet spokesman Guo Weimin said. The government has previously said at least 50,000 people were believed killed in the disaster.

Survivors were still being found under destroyed buildings five days after the quake. A 52-year-old man buried in the ruins for 117 hours was pulled to safety in Beichuan, just after a German tourist was found in Wenchuan county, Xinhua reported. The vast majority of survivors are rescued in the first 24 hours after a disaster, with the chances of survival dropping each day, said Dr. Irving "Jake" Jacoby of the University of California, San Diego, who heads a medical assistance team that responded to a 1989 earthquake in California, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and other disasters.

A person trapped but uninjured could survive a week or even 10 days and in extreme circumstances two weeks or more, he said. Continuing aftershocks made digging through unstable buildings dangerous. On Friday afternoon, an aftershock rattled parts of Sichuan, burying vehicles on a road leading to the epicenter, Xinhua said.

Rescue teams from South Korea, Singapore and Russia got to work Saturday. They joined a Japanese specialist group, which was the first international rescue crew to arrive in the disaster area after China dropped its initial reluctance to accept foreign personnel. A U.S. Air Force cargo plane loaded with tents, lanterns and 15,000 meals left Hawaii on Saturday, the first aid flight from the United States to help in Sichuan province. Another Air Force delivery was to fly in from Alaska. The United Nations announced a grant of up to $7 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund, to be used by U.N. agencies and programs.

The government has not given a figure for the number of people left homeless, but Housing Minister Jiang Weixin said more than 4 million apartments and homes were damaged or destroyed in Sichuan province. He said the water supply situation was "extremely serious" in Sichuan, and not flowing at all in 20 cities and counties.

Caring for the untold tens of thousands or more survivors across the earthquake zone was stretching government resources. Just north of the provincial capital of Chengdu, the town square in Shifang had become a tent camp for 2,000 people, and coordinator Li Yuanshao reported a lack of tents. Many people walked in from surrounding towns with few belongings.

"We brought almost nothing, only the clothes we are wearing," said Zhang Xinyong, a high school junior who walked several hours to the camp.

The Ministry of Health said there had been no major outbreaks of epidemics or other public health hazards in the earthquake area, according to Xinhua. By late Friday, hospitals in Sichuan had received 116,460 patients, including nearly 16,000 severely injured.

Almost 78,000 dead in Myanmar cyclone

AP, Yangon

The official death toll from Cyclone Nargis has nearly doubled to almost 78,000 and another 56,000 people remain missing two weeks after the storm, Myanmar state television reported Friday.

A woman on Friday walks past a house destroyed by a cyclone almost two weeks ago near Yangon, Myanmar.

The United Nations, meanwhile, said that severe restrictions by Myanmar's military junta have left aid agencies largely in the dark about the extent of survivors' suffering.

John Holmes, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, will go to Myanmar on Sunday in an attempt to convince junta leaders to grant more access to U.N. relief workers and massively scale up aid efforts, said Amanda Pitt, a U.N. spokeswoman in Bangkok, Thailand.

With pressure mounting, the military regime has invited foreign diplomats to tour the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta on Saturday, providing their first opportunity to personally view the devastation.

U.S. Embassy charge d'affaires Shari Villarosa told The Associated Press Friday that the Foreign Ministry was arranging the trip, but no further details were available and it was unclear how much access the diplomats will have outside the controlled tour.The handful of foreign experts who have been allowed into the country have been restricted to Yangon, the former capital. The government has set up police and military checkpoints on roads leading out of Yangon to Irrawaddy, where foreigners are being turned back. Video Watch a comparison of disaster response in Myanmar, China "

The Red Cross fears the cyclone toll may be as high as 128,000; the U.N. estimates more than 100,000 died. The U.N. estimates 1.5 million to 2.5 million survivors are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care. Aid groups have reached only 270,000 so far.

"The risk increases with each passing day," Pitt said, referring to the vulnerability of survivors to outbreaks of disease and other problems.

Lack of clean water will be "the biggest killer" in Irrawaddy in the coming days, Thomas Gurtner, the head of operations for the international Red Cross, told The Associated Press in Geneva.

"To be able to provide clean water to hundreds of thousands of people stranded in the (Irrawaddy) delta requires a major operation, which we have neither the material, the logistical nor the staff capacity to do," he said.

The U.N. health agency said Friday it was concerned about diarrhea, malaria and dengue fever spreading among the cyclone victims.

Bush to meet Abbas at Egypt's 'Davos'

Washington

US President George W Bush flies to Egypt where he will meet Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and address the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. Arriving in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh via oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia at the end of a regional tour, Bush will also meet Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II at the capitalist networking jamboree.The WEF meeting, dubbed the Davos of the Middle East, will bring together 1,500 people, including heads of state, business leaders and ministers from 55 countries, under the theme "learning from the future."But the region's future is as uncertain as ever, with the Israel-Palestinian conflict increasingly intractable, Lebanon rocked by eight days of sectarian bloodshed and Egypt seeing a wave of social unrest over skyrocketing prices.

Bush's regional tour, his second since January, comes in the wake of last year's Annapolis conference aimed at restarting the stalled Middle East peace process, but hopes of a deal by the end of his term in January are dwindling.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had been mooted to attend, but with little Middle East peace progress to justify a three-way summit, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and President Shimon Peres will be leading the Israeli delegation.

After meeting Israeli leaders during celebrations of Israel's 60th anniversary, Bush picks up negotiations with the Palestinians on Saturday with talks and a dinner with Abbas. On Sunday, Bush is due to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad.

The Middle East peace process will also likely come up in Bush's talks with Mubarak on Saturday as Egypt acts as the interlocutor between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which took over the Gaza Strip last June.

Obama, McCain duel in foreign policy row

AP, Washington

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain traded furious foreign policy barbs Friday, in a three-way row over how to deal with US foe Iran originally sparked by President George W. Bush.

Obama, the Democratic presidential frontrunner, said he was ready to do battle at anytime and at any place on the foreign policy records of Bush and McCain, the Republican presumptive nominee.

"They are trying to fool you, and trying to scare you. They are not telling the truth," Obama said in South Dakota, a day after Bush ignited the row by implying in a speech in Israel that Democrats want to appease terrorists.

"The American people have had enough of the division and the bluster," Obama said, and argued that Bush's policy of declining to talk to Tehran had been a "complete failure" which McCain wanted to prolong.

The quarrel was an early preview of the foreign policy spats likely to mark a potential general election campaign between Obama, the Illinois senator who has an overwhelming lead over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race, and McCain.

"George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for," Obama said, portraying US Iraq policy as disastrous, and noting that Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden was still at large.

He also accused McCain of misrepresenting his stance towards Hamas, and said the Arizona senator had gone back on his own earlier comments that the United States would eventually have to talk to the militant Palestinian group.

Obama was referring to an article in the Washington Post by James Rubin, a former official in president Bill Clinton's administration, which quoted McCain as saying Washington would have to talk to Hamas "sooner or later."

But the McCain campaign later accused Rubin of lying, saying he had selectively quoted their candidate by omitting his warnings that any dialogue would have to be subject to strict conditions.

McCain hit back personally during a speech to the powerful gun lobby in Kentucky, saying Obama's offer to speak to Iran raised questions about his qualifications.

"Talking, not even with soaring rhetoric t in unconditional meetings with a man who called Israel a stinking corpse, and arms terrorists who kill Americans, will not convince Iran to give up its nuclear program," he said, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"It is reckless, it is reckless to suggest that unconditional meetings will advance our interests."

"It would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world where we don't have enemies. But that's not the world we live in," McCain said.

"And until Senator Obama understands that reality, the American people have every reason to doubt whether he has the strength, judgment, and determination to keep us safe."

Bush on Thursday implicitly compared Democratic policies to appeasement of the Nazis during a speech in Israel's parliament.

"Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along."

"We have heard this foolish delusion before.

Mugabe acknowledges election disaster as run-off date set

AFP, Harare

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe acknowledged Friday he had suffered an electoral disaster in losing a first-round poll to arch-rival Morgan Tsvangirai, as the date for a run-off was set for June 27.

In his first detailed comments since losing a joint presidential and parliamentary election on March 29, Africa's oldest leader lambasted his party and also accused the opposition of embarking on a campaign of terror.

Tsvangirai meanwhile said he was confident of winning the run-off and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said he would return home on Saturday to begin a final push for power after more than a month out of the country.

The 84-year-old Mugabe, who has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980, won 43.2 percent of votes against 47.9 percent for Tsvangirai in the first round and in theory is now the underdog. With his Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party having also lost control of parliament, Mugabe made no attempt to disguise his fury at the outcome as he addressed its central committee.

"Although the presidential result did not yield an outright winner it was indeed disastrous," he said.

"Fundamentally we went to the election completely unprepared, unorganised t As leaders we all share the blame, from the national level to that of branch chairman."

The period since election day has been marked by increased violence and the opposition says more than 30 of its supporters have died at the hands of Mugabe followers.

In a report this week, the senior UN representative in Zimbabwe said while both parties had been guilty of attacks, ZANU-PF were the main perpetrators.

However Mugabe blamed the opposition, accusing its supporters of "visiting terror on villages and (ZANU-PF) party supporters".

"The MDC and its supporters are playing a very dangerous game. They should know they cannot win that kind of war which they have carried to rural constituencies in the hope of destabilising our supporters, "

Tsvangirai, who face the threat of a treason charge in his homeland, said he wanted to return home as a show of solidarity with supporters who have been targeted by Mugabe's followers.

"It is because of these people that I must return to Zimbabwe, to be with our people, to lift them out of this darkness that pervades their lives," he said in a speech on a visit to Northern Ireland.

Tsvangirai said the violence would not prevent him from winning the run-off.

"Mugabe lost that first round, 57 percent of the people who cast their vote did not vote for him.

"I am so confident that in spite of the violence, come the second round they will reconfirm that rejection."

MDC spokesmen said Tsvangirai would return Saturday and immediately kick off his run-off campaign by addressing MDC lawmakers in Harare before heading to the main southern city of Bulawayo to speak at a rally.

Dalai Lama says not seeking independence from China

AFP, Bochum

The Dalai Lama insisted Friday he is not seeking independence for Tibet, as he pressed ahead with a five-country Western tour two months after deadly violence erupted in his homeland.

"We want to live in peace with our Chinese brothers and sisters," the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader told a news conference in the western city of Bochum on the second day of a visit to Germany. "We are not seeking independence," but merely greater autonomy and more respect for Tibet culture, religion and language, he said. The Nobel peace prize winner said that although he was opposed to all forms of violence he admitted that there were some in Tibet who favoured a different course. After Germany the 72 year-old will go to Britain, Australia, the United States and France in a three-month tour that will keep the issue of Tibet in the headlines in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.

On Thursday, the Dalai Lama accused China of "suppression" through its military crackdown on violent protests in the Himalayan region in March that Tibetan leaders say left more than 200 people dead.

He said that it was in China's best interest to improve relations with the Tibetans but that its policy had created resentment well beyond Tibet's borders.

China's reaction to the Tibet unrest drew international condemnation and heaped pressure on Beijing ahead of the Olympics, with pro-Tibet activists disrupting the global relay of the Olympic torch.

Beijing, which is adamant Tibet is part of China, says Tibetan "rioters" and "insurgents" killed 21 people and accused the Dalai Lama of being behind the violence and fomenting trouble ahead of the Olympics.

Amid international diplomatic pressure, representatives of the Dalai Lama held talks this month with China to try to defuse tensions.

In Germany the Dalai Lama will meet neither Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is in Latin America, nor Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, nor President Horst Koehler.

Critics accused the German government, which has designated Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul to meet the 72 year-old, of appeasing China after a chill in relations caused by Merkel receiving him last year.

The schedule this time has left neither side happy, with the Dalai Lama's representative in Europe branding Steinmeier's decision not to meet him "an unhappy one" and China protesting about Monday's meeting with Wieczorek-Zeul.

Wieczorek-Zeul defended on Friday her decision to meet him, telling Spiegel Online it was her job to meet religious leaders and to promote inter-faith dialogue.

According to Spiegel, Steinmeier-who has been active in pressing for dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama-is worried that the meeting with Wieczorek-Zeul will harm relations between Germany and China.

A foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday that he had not been informed in advance about the meeting.

"It is I that decide whom I meet. I do not need permission to do so," Wieczorek-Zeul protested to the magazine.

A report in the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Friday said that Merkel had personally intervened to ensure that Wieczorek-Zeul met the Dalai Lama, but a government spokesman denied that this was the case.

After arriving in Germany the Dalai Lama expressed his condolences for those killed in this week's earthquake in China. He also held talks with the premiers of two of Germany's 16 states and with the speaker of the German parliament.

In Bochum on Friday afternoon around 3,000 people gathered to hear him give a speech on human rights and globalisation.

"This should be the century of peace and dialogue," he told the cheering crowd, calling for all nuclear weapons to be scrapped and for the world to be demilitarised.

He added that globalisation must be on the wrong path when it leads to rising food prices, and called for harmony between the world's religions.

Israeli PM to be grilled again in corruption probe

AFP, Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to be questioned again soon by police in connection with a corruption investigation, media reports said on Saturday.

The private channel two television station said the premier would be questioned "by Sunday," while the Ynet Internet site of the daily Yediot Aharonot said it would be "within the next 48 hours."

Ynet said police wish to question the prime minister before his lawyers are made aware of testimony by Morris Talansky, a US millionaire businessman suspected of illegally funding Olmert.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP on Saturday he was unable to confirm the reports that Olmert will be questioned soon.

Talansky is to give sworn evidence on May 25 before a judge in a closed-door session and then be allowed to return to the United States, public radio reported on Wednesday.

Olmert's lawyers have appealed the decision to summon Talansky as a witness.

Anti-fraud police are seeking to establish whether Olmert dispensed any favours in exchange for alleged illegal funds he received from Talansky in the 13 years before he became premier in 2006.

Olmert was Jerusalem mayor from 1993 to 2003, and then trade and industry minister until 2006.

Olmert, who has been dogged by scandals since he became prime minister, last week insisted he had never taken a bribe and said he would quit if charges were pressed.

Talansky said on Sunday that he given financial contributions to Olmert but insisted that he believed they were intended for legitimate purposes.

"I never thought in any way that the money I gave was illegal or wrong," the 75-year-old Jewish financier told Israel's private Channel 10 television in his first public comments on the scandal.