The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bush reassures Abbas on 'dream’ of Palestinian state

AFP, Sharm El-Sheikh

US President George W. Bush on Saturday pledged to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas his determination to help achieve the "dream" of a Palestinian state, despite stagnant peace talks.

"I commit to you once again that my government will help achieve a dream, a dream that you have, and the truth of matter is, a dream that the Israelis have, which is two states living side by side in peace," Bush told Abbas. President Abbas, who met Bush in Egypt to brief him on the state of talks with Israel, said he was working "seriously and very aggressively with the hope that we will be able to achieve this objective before the end of the year."

However, Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina later laid the blame for the slow pace of negotiations squarely on Israel, saying that "what Bush dreams should be implemented on the ground.

"Seeing is believing. We have to see tangible Israeli steps on the ground so that we can convince our people that things are going in the right direction," Abu Rudeina told AFP. He pointed to the fact that despite US pledges to help broker a deal by the end of Bush's term in January, all final status issues remain unresolved, saying "time is running out."

"What we are looking for is not just a definition of a state, we need to start implementing an agreement leading to a state," Abu Rudeina said after Bush declared that "we can get a state defined by the end of my presidency." "We need an agreement so we can start implementing, otherwise talking about the definition of a state is good, but not enough." Israel and the Palestinians resumed peace talks at a US-hosted meeting in November, committing themselves to a target of reaching a deal by the time Bush leaves office. So far, they have made virtually no visible progress. In particular, Abu Rudeina criticised the ongoing construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"There should be quick agreement on all core issues before the end of the year otherwise t the whole region will be facing chaos and troubles."

Bush, who is in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks with world leaders before addressing the Middle East World Economic Forum, said "it breaks my heart to see the vast potential of the Palestinian people really wasted."

More worries in China following big aftershock

Reuters, Beichuan

Police tried to stop anguished relatives from streaming into one of the worst affected areas of China's massive earthquake on Sunday, as another strong aftershock hit the area and the death toll rose to nearly 32,500.

Hundreds of aftershocks have rattled Sichuan province following last Monday's devastating 7.9 magnitude quake, and officials are concerned the tremors could bring down more unstable buildings and rupture already leaky dams.

Six days after the main quake hit, the overall death toll stands at nearly 32,500, state news agency Xinhua reported, with a further 220,000 injured.

Early on Sunday, a 6.1 magnitude tremor caused thousands to flee swaying buildings in the provincial capital, Chengdu, some 200 km south of the new tremor's epicentre.

The official Xinhua news agency said there had been no reports of casualties, but more roads been seriously damaged.

But concerns over the safety of nuclear facilities, including China's chief nuclear weapons research lab, close to the affected zone were allayed. Xinhua reported that they were "all in a safe and controllable state".

In Beichuan, hard hit by the quake and which many people fled on Saturday following warnings a dam may collapse, worried relatives quarrelled with police who tried to prevent them entering the area, citing safety reasons.

"I've travelled all this way, and I don't know where my father is," said Chen Shiquan, who had come back from the neighbouring province of Qinghai where he works to look for this father, Chen Xiaoqu.

"To let me get this far and then not let me in is too cruel," he added.

Starvation possible for Myanmar kids: Aid group

AFP, Bangkok

A leading aid group warned Sunday that thousands of young children in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar could starve to death within weeks unless emergency food supplies reach them soon.

Save the Children said on its website that the youngsters could succumb to hunger "within two to three weeks".

"We are extremely worried that many children in the affected areas are now suffering from severe acute malnourishment, the most serious level of hunger," said Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children UK.

"When people reach this stage, they can die in a matter of days. Children may already be dying as a result of a lack of food." Cyclone Nargis tore a path of destruction through southwest Myanmar earlier this month, leaving nearly 134,000 people dead or missing and affecting up to 2.5 million survivors, the UN has said.

Bush and Gilani pledge to fight terror

Reuters, Sharm El-Sheikh

President George W. Bush and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday pledged to fight terrorism with strong relations between the two nations in the aftermath of elections that seated new leaders in Islamabad.

Bush met Gilani for the first time at this Red Sea resort in a series of bilateral meetings he is holding at the end of a trip to the Middle East focused on advancing the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

Bush said they spoke about a "common desire to protect ourselves and others from those who would do harm" and he thanked Gilani for his steadfast support. The United States considers Pakistan a key ally in fighting terrorism as U.S. forces hunt for al Qaeda leaders and Taliban militants along the rugged Pakistani-Afghanistan border.

India to resume talks with Pakistan, meet new leaders

Reuters, Islamabad

India's foreign minister travels to Pakistan this week for his first meeting with leaders of a new civilian government and to review a peace process that has been in the doldrums for more than a year.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, on Wednesday, a day after their top civil servants hold talks.

The nuclear-armed rivals launched peace efforts in 2004 after nearly going to war a fourth time after Islamist militant attacks in India linked to a nearly 20-year revolt, which Pakistan sympathises with, against Indian rule in the Kashmir region. While ties have warmed, the two sides have made no significant progress on their main dispute over the divided, Muslim-majority Himalayan region they both claim.

A heavy clash on their Kashmir border this month underscored just how tenuous the improvement in relations is.

Analysts in both Pakistan and India said Mukherjee will be sounding out Pakistan's new leaders and trying to determine who is devising policy. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has been the architect of Indian policy since he seized power in a 1999 military coup but February elections brought in a civilian government led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Olmert says Israel 'very close’ to decision on Gaza

AFP, Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that Israel was "very close" to deciding on what action to take to stop continued rocket attacks by militants from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

"Under no circumstances can we allow the situation in the south (of Israel) to continue the way it has in recent months, and the crossroads on a decision on how things will be handled is very close," Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting.

He declined to go into details, amid calls from some ministers for Israel to launch a widescale assault on Gaza following a rocket attack on a shopping mall in the southern city of Ashkelon on Wednesday just as US President George W Bush was visiting Israel.

Bush, who is on a five-day trip to the region, on Sunday again accused the Islamist movement Hamas which has ruled the Gaza Strip since June of continuing a policy of terror.

Obama seeks focus on end of primary campaign

AP, Eugene

Attempting to lay a symbolic claim to his party's presidential nomination, Democrat Barack Obama will mark the latest round of primary voting with a rally in Iowa, where his solid win in January caucuses propelled him to his status as the front-runner.

Obama was campaigning Saturday for primaries Tuesday in Oregon and Kentucky as his aides announced the rally on primary night in Iowa, which they described as "a critical general election state that Democrats must win in November."

Rival Hillary Rodham Clinton has a strong lead in polls in Kentucky, but Obama has the advantage in Oregon. Obama has built a solid lead in Democratic National Convention delegates over Clinton, and is working overtime to cast an image of inevitability to his campaign for the nomination. In recent days, he has spent more time focused on his differences with certain Republican nominee John McCain than sparring with Clinton.

SKorea mobilises troops for bird flu fight

AFP, Seoul

South Korea on Sunday mobilised army soldiers for the second time to help battle an outbreak of bird flu, which has already led to the culling of more than seven million poultry, officials said.

About 200 soldiers helped kill more than 310,000 chickens and other poultry in the southeastern city of Yangsan hit by the H5N1 virus, the agriculture ministry said.

Hundreds of soldiers had already been deployed to help destroy infected birds, but were called back to their barracks last month after one soldier showed possible bird flu symptoms. He was later found to be healthy.

South Korea has been battling its latest outbreak of avian flu since April 1. The agriculture ministry has since reported 42 cases of bird flu at 33 places around the country.