The New Nation - Internet Edition

Obama committed to security of Israel

AP, Sderot

From the solemnity of a Holocaust museum to a dusty village battered by Hamas rockets, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Wednesday professed "an unshakable commitment to the security" of Israel, whether the threat comes from terrorists, Iran or elsewhere.

"The way you know where somebody's going is where have they been. And I've been with Israel for many, many years now," he said on a day that bore striking similarities to campaigning in the United States.

In his public remarks, Obama sidestepped a question of whether he would condone an Israeli attack to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But he said he was confident that in several private meetings he had not left Israeli politicians with the impression that, if elected president, he would be "pressuring them to accept any kinds of concessions that would put their security at stake."

Obama packed more than a half-dozen meetings, a stop at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, a helicopter tour of the country and a visit to a house hit by Hamas rockets into his only full day in Israel during his trip to the Middle East and Europe.

He also rode past an Israeli checkpoint into Ramallah on the West Bank, where he assured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of his support for a two-state resolution of the region's long animosities. Later, entering a session with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Obama said his talks with Abbas indicated "there's a strong sense of progress being made" toward peace. Olmert nodded and said, "Indeed."

Before dawn Thursday in Jerusalem, paid a predawn visit to the holiest place in Judaism, bowing his head in prayer at the Western Wall and pushing a small note into a crevice in the ancient wall, a custom that is observed by many.

Obama's major focus was clearly reassuring Israelis - and by extension millions of Jewish voters in the United States - of his commitment to the survival of the Jewish state. He leads his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, among Jewish voters, but his support falls short of what Democrat John Kerry drew four years ago.

Obama said Israelis could be certain of his commitment to Israel's security by looking at "my deeds."

"Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, which is my committee, a bill to call for divestment from Iran, as a way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't obtain a nuclear weapon," he said.

However, Obama does not serve on the banking committee, and McCain's campaign seized on the mistake.

"Not only is it not his committee, but he's not even on the committee, he didn't vote on the bill, and he had nothing to do with its passage," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Obama's trip is financed by his presidential campaign, and he flew to Israel from Jordan on Tuesday night about his chartered Boeing 757 emblazoned with his trademark slogan, "Change We Can Believe In."

If his campaign aides were looking for memorable images during the day, they got them, from Obama donning a skullcap at the Holocaust memorial, to President Shimon Peres saying, "God Bless You" outside his official residence, to a stop at a house under reconstruction in Sderot where he saw firsthand the destruction caused by Hamas rockets.

"People are committed," he said, making a fist and thumping his chest three times.

Shielded by intense U.S. and Israeli security, he then traveled a short distance to the local police station. There, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and local officials showed him racks filled with debris from Hamas rockets that have landed in Sderot in the past seven years. In 2005 Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip a mile away.

The same racks formed a made-for-television backdrop for a news conference attended not only by U.S. reporters, but also Israelis whose satellite trucks jammed the parking lot across the street.

India in diplomatic overdrive to seal US nuclear pact

AFP, New Delhi

India said Thursday it was sending out envoys to lobby for the final international clearances needed to finalise a controversial nuclear energy deal with the United States.

The diplomatic offensive comes after the ruling coalition survived a hard-fought confidence vote in parliament sparked by left-wing and communist opposition to the pact.

Government officials told AFP that senior cabinet ministers and foreign ministry officials had left New Delhi to solicit the support of members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Science Minister Kapil Sibal is travelling to IAEA headquarters in Vienna while foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon is in Germany to persuade Berlin, a member of the influential NSG that regulates nuclear commerce, to back the pact.

Another senior government envoy, Shyam Saran, was in Ireland, another NSG member, while National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan will head abroad this weekend, with his schedule not yet fixed, officials said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who risked his government to push through the deal, "is now putting in all efforts to get the processes through to get the pact operational," said a senior government official.

"The parliament has given Singh and the government the boost to carry on with implementing the pact," he added.

The agreement, unveiled in 2005, will allow the United States to sell nuclear plants and related technology to India once it has separated its civil and military programmes and accepted a certain level of UN inspections.

India needs IAEA and NSG approval before the US Congress has a final vote. US officials have told India to hurry up before Washington goes into presidential election mode.

On Wednesday, US ambassador to India David C. Mulford said Washington was "actively on its way" to getting the deal through before time runs out.

Former Indian diplomat Arundhati Ghosh said an endorsement from the Group of Eight rich nations, which met in Japan earlier this month, has helped but does not guarantee success.

New Delhi, she said, has "a very short time to deal with the questions raised at the IAEA and NSG."

"The question is how strongly the countries supporting the deal will push for it. There will be spoilers," she said, referring to reports that India's arch-rival Pakistan may be putting up hurdles.

North Korea signs non-aggression pact with ASEAN

AFP, Singapore

North Korea signed a non-aggression pact with Southeast Asia on Thursday in what officials and analysts said was a sign it wants to be seen as a more responsible international player.

The signing came a day after unprecedented talks between foreign ministers of North Korea and five other nations involved in long-running negotiations aimed at ending the reclusive communist state's nuclear programmes.

A ceremony to mark its accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) took place after the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's main security dialogue which includes North Korea among its 27 members.

Ri Tong Il, North Korea's foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters that joining the treaty "is a symbol of its willingness to have friendly relations" with ASEAN and of the North's willingness to contribute to regional peace and security. "The treaty comes as North Korea is seeking to reach out to the outside world," said Kim Sung-Han, a professor at Korea University.

"Through this treaty, it wants to send a signal abroad that it is prepared to act as a responsible member of the international community."

Originally signed by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1976, the treaty has now been acceded to by 15 nations outside the region. South Korea signed previously.

Regional officials welcomed the North's accession to the TAC, the main principles of which include settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful means, and renunciation of the threat or use of force.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he was "excited" by the prospect of North Korea joining the pact, which could help ease tensions.

"There is no reason why it should not, but we have to get the trust and confidence among the parties to enable that to happen."

Andrew Tan, spokesman for the series of ASEAN meetings in Singapore, called the signing was a small step, "but every little step that we take towards encouraging North Korea to abide by international norms is a step in a positive direction."

Pakistan warns of new nuclear arms race with India

AP, Vienna

Pakistan has warned a deal leading to increased Indian access to nuclear fuel could accelerate the atomic arms race between the rivals, according to a letter obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The letter was given to the AP a day after India's government won a confidence vote that paved the way for a landmark deal on nuclear energy cooperation with the United States. To finalize the U.S. deal, India must strike separate agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency as well as the Nuclear Suppliers Group of countries that export nuclear material. Then Congress will need to approve the accord.

The agreements would end more than three decades of nuclear isolation for India, opening its civilian reactors to international inspections in exchange for the nuclear fuel and technology it has been denied because of its refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and its testing of atomic weapons.

India imports about 75 percent of its oil, and the prime minister has argued the country needs the nuclear deal to power its financial growth and lift hundreds of millions out of poverty.

The 35-nation IAEA board is expected to approve on Aug. 1 a safeguards agreement setting up rules for inspecting some of India's civilian nuclear facilities. Approval of the safeguards deal is key in India's efforts to gain access to legal imports of nuclear fuel and technology from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Pakistan's letter dated July 18 addressed more than 60 nations including members of the IAEA board and Nuclear Suppliers Group. It warned the safeguards agreement would hurt nonproliferation efforts and "threatens to increase the chances of a nuclear arms race in the subcontinent."

Predominantly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan have fought three wars since they were created in the bloody partition of the Indian subcontinent at independence from Britain in 1947.

Relations have improved considerably since the start of a peace process in 2004. But progress at the talks has been slow and deep distrust remains between the two rivals, which developed their nuclear arms in secret.

Israel to build new settlement in occupied West Bank

AP, Jerusalem

A key committee has approved construction of the first new Jewish settlement in the West Bank in a decade, an Israeli official said Thursday. The news infuriated Palestinians, who said the decision could cripple peace efforts.

The only hurdle that remains is Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who plans to approve the Maskiot settlement within weeks, the official said. Barak had signaled to the national planning committee that it should authorize the plan, the official said.

The offficial spoke on condition of anonymity because the Defense Ministry did not officially announce the settlement would be built in the Jordan Valley Rift, an arid north-south strip that forms Israel's eastern flank with Jordan.

Asked why Israel was moving ahead with the politically charged plan, the official said that it has been in the pipeline for years.

Israel originally announced in 2006 that it would build Maskiot, then froze the plan after international outcry. But earlier this year, nine Israeli families settled in mobile homes at the site, which Palestinians claim as part of a future state.

Settlers say around two dozen more families are waiting to join them.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of undermining U.S.-backed peace talks.

"This is destroying the process of a two-state solution," Erekat said. "I hope the Americans will make the Israelis revoke the decision. I think they can make the Israelis do this."

Iraq presidency council vetoes election bill

AFP, Baghdad

Iraq's three-member Presidency Council said on Thursday it had rejected a provincial election bill, a move widely expected to delay October polls which are strongly backed by Washington.

"President (Jalal) Talabani, and his deputy Adel Abdel Mahdi, have agreed that the law of the provincial elections contains constitutional and procedural violations," a statement from Talabani's office said.

"Due to this, the two sides have agreed to officially reject the law," it said.

Mahdi's decision to back Talabani's call, involving returning the bill to parliament for redrafting, gives the Presidency Council a majority in rejecting it, even as they await the view of Council member Tariq al-Hashimi.

Talabani's announcement came after deputy parliament speaker Sheikh Khalid al-Attiya told AFP on Wednesday that the Presidency Council had decided to turn down the bill.

The rebuff means that elections in Iraq's 18 provinces, scheduled for October 1, will almost certainly be delayed while the law is reworked.

The veto is a setback for Washington and the administration of President George W. Bush which has been pushing Baghdad to hold provincial elections as a crucial step to national reconciliation.

"The Iraqis have said that they'd like to try to do it by the end of the year," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Wednesday.

"We think that that's important. We think that local elections would help in Iraq to further reconcile all the groups."

Parliamentarians have said elections would now likely be held early next year.

The original bill met with heavy political opposition when several MPs said a vote which passed a law in parliament on Tuesday had breached procedures laid down in the constitution because it was held in secret.

Kurds in particular were opposed to the bill because of disputes over how to constitute the provincial council of Kirkuk, the northern oil province claimed by both the Arabs and Kurds.

Cambodia, Thailand trade more barbs over temple

Reuters, Phnom Penh

Cambodia accused Thailand on Thursday of sending more troops to their joint border as a smoldering dispute over a 900-year-old temple showed no signs of easing.

"Thailand has continued to increase its military build-up," government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told a news conference in Phnom Penh, labeling Bangkok the aggressor in a spat that has sparked fears of a military clash.

"The situation is not easing," Kanharith said, adding that Cambodia had 800 soldiers along the border compared with around 3,000 Thai troops.

The Thai Foreign Ministry said Bangkok had only 400 men facing as many as 1,700 Cambodian soldiers. Both sides have moved artillery into the area, occupied by remnants of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge guerrilla army in the 1980s and 1990s.

At the heart of the dispute is a 1.8 square mile stretch of scrubland around the Preah Vihear temple on a jungle-clad escarpment that forms a natural boundary between the southeast Asian countries.

The temple itself is claimed by both countries but was awarded to Cambodia in 1962 by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since.

France and Vietnam said on Wednesday the United Nations Security Council would hold a special meeting in response to a Cambodian request for it to take up the issue, although it was not clear if it would lead to formal Council involvement.

Thailand said it wanted the issue to be resolved on a bilateral basis, and it played down Phnom Penh's claims of rising tensions ahead of a general election on Sunday in Cambodia, where nationalism is a frequently played political card.

"It is a peaceful military stand-off. It is like a picnic. They chat together and lunch together," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat told Reuters in Bangkok.

Thailand says it has the support of China, Russia, the United States, Vietnam and Indonesia against the need for Security Council intervention.

Even if it did step into the imbroglio, it is not clear what the U.N. could do other than issue a statement telling Bangkok and Phnom Penh to sort out the kafuffle.

Asia-Pacific eyes coordinated disaster relief work

AP, Singapore

Asia-Pacific powers on Thursday announced an ambitious plan to pool their military and civilian resources for disaster responses in a region beset by cyclones, earthquakes and floods.

The region has been devastated by major natural disasters over the past several years, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and the deadly Myanmar cyclone and the large earthquake in China in May.

Foreign ministers of 26 countries and the European Union discussed a joint relief exercise to be held in 2009 and called for civilian-military coordination in future disaster relief.

"It makes a lot of sense to conduct such exercises," said host Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo. It is important to have "a common vocabulary so that we don't misunderstand each other when we are in a hurry."

The ministers gathered for the annual security conference of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its 17 partners.

They cover virtually half the world - from the U.S. and EU to Russia and Australia.

Yeo said they also talked about North Korea's nuclear program, terrorism, counterterrorism, the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand as well as problems of food and energy.

Disaster relief however dominated discussions at the five-day conference.

A statement at the end of the meeting said the ministers "recognized that military assets and personnel, in full support and not in place of civilian responses, have played an increasingly important role in regional disaster responses."

Gunmen in Iraq kill 3 US-allied fighters

AP, Baghdad

A member of a U.S.-allied Sunni group in Iraq says three of its guards have been killed and another wounded in drive-by shootings in northern Baghdad.

The official says gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on two different awakening council checkpoints in the Azamiyah neighborhood on Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

Azamiyah has seen a sharp decline in violence after a local Sunni decision to join forces with the United States against al-Qaida in Iraq. The area also has been surrounded by concrete walls in a bid to stem attacks.

Members of the so-called awakening councils have frequently been targeted by militants seeking to derail security gains or in reprisal killings.

29 killed in fresh Lankan fighting

AFP, Colombo

At least 25 Tamil Tiger rebels and four soldiers have been killed in fighting across Sri Lanka's northern region, the defence ministry said Thursday.

The ministry said the clashes between troops and members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) happened Wednesday and brought the number of guerrillas killed since January to 5,176.

The four troop deaths brought the toll since January to 454, according to the ministry tally. Casualty claims cannot be independently verified as the ministry bars reporters from visiting the conflict-affected areas.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan warplanes Thursday carried out air strikes against a suspected rebel training centre in the guerrilla-controlled Mullaittivu area, the airforce said.

Airforce spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said pilots confirmed they had hit the camp.

Separatist Tamil Tigers, fighting for a homeland for minority Tamils since 1972, had no comment on casualties.

27 hurt in blast on Philippine bus

AP, Manila

A homemade bomb ripped through a commuter bus in the southern Philippines on Thursday, wounding 27 people, police said.

The military initially reported three people were killed, but police and army officials later corrected themselves and said there were no deaths.

The bus had stopped at a Digos city terminal on the way to the regional center of Davao. Moments after the driver returned and started the engine, the blast shattered the windows and some of the seats, said provincial police chief Cesario Darantinao.

Police recovered broken nails used as shrapnel, he said.

The owner of the bus company, who is also the mayor of a nearby town, had complained of extortion demands purportedly coming from communist rebels, Darantinao said.

The company did not provide police with details of the threat, he said.

Among the 27 injured, four were in serious condition and brought to Davao Medical Center, one-hour drive from Digos, Darantinao said.

Apart from communist rebels, Muslim militants and extortion gangs also operate in the area.

The notorious extortion syndicate Al Khobar, which authorities say has ties to Muslim militants, has been terrorizing bus companies and has been blamed for planting several bus bombs in the region.

Nine killed in fresh Kashmir violence

AFP, Srinagar

At least nine people including women and children were killed in fresh outbreaks of violence in Indian Kashmir on Thursday, officials said.

A grenade attack by suspected Islamic militants in Indian Kashmir's main city, Srinagar, left five dead-among them a woman and a child-and nine other wounded, police said.

In a separate attack, militants executed a former rebel and three of his family members, including his wife and daughter, in an apparent revenge killing, officials said.

A police spokesman said the murdered man, Ghulam Hussain, was an ex-member of the disputed region's main militant group, the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahedin, who surrendered in 2004 -- earning himself a place on a militant hit-list.

He was murdered in Doda district, about 170 kilometres (105 miles) south of Srinagar. Also among the dead was Hussain's four-year-old nephew, police said.

The insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir, which began in 1989, has left more than 43,000 people dead.

Obama leads McCain by 6 points in opinion poll

Reuters, Washington

Democrat Barack Obama has a 6-point lead over Republican John McCain in the presidential race as a growing percentage of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday.

Obama leads McCain by 47 percent to 41 percent for the November 4 election, unchanged from last month. But 55 percent believed Obama, a 46-year-old first-term Illinois senator, would be the riskier choice for president, while 35 percent said that of McCain, 71, a fourth-term Arizona senator, the poll said.

But Obama's message of change may resonate with a disgruntled electorate after eight years of a Republican-run White House. Only 13 percent of those polled believed the country was headed in the right direction. That was the lowest percentage on this question in the NBC/Journal poll's history.

Ahmadinejad vows no Iran concessions in nuclear crisis

AFP, Tehran

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday vowed that Iran would not yield in the crisis over its nuclear drive but the White House warned again that it risks more sanctions if it fails to freeze sensitive nuclear work.

"The Iranian people are steadfast and will not step back an inch against the oppressive powers," Ahmadinejad told a rally in the southwestern province of Kohgelouyeh-Boyerahmad.

His defiant comments come after world powers warned Iran has only a fortnight to respond to their latest offer seeking to end a five-year crisis that has raised fears of regional conflict and sent oil prices spiralling. The White House said it was still hopeful Tehran would suspend its controversial nuclear activities, otherwise more international sanctions would follow.

Medvedev to shake up Russian regions

Reuters, Moscow

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev plans to replace dozens of regional governors over the next few years in an attempt to increase his influence within officialdom, the Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday.

Vedomosti said Medvedev, who took over as president from Vladimir Putin in May, is seeking to get more of his own loyalists appointed to influential posts.

The paper cited unidentified Kremlin officials as saying that Medvedev has been unimpressed by the quality of many governors and wanted a younger generation of officials, preferably with business experience, to take regional postings.

"A mass rotation of regional heads is planned, according to an official in the administration: they want to replace 16 by the end of this year and 10 next year," the paper said.

Brown faces fresh test in Scotland by-election

AFP, London

Voters in one of the most deprived parts of Britain went to the polls in a by-election on Thursday, potentially holding the fate of their fellow Scot, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in their hands.

Brown's governing Labour Party is defending a 13,507 majority from the 2005 general election in the Glasgow East constituency. In ordinary circumstances, a vote there would not cause party leaders to lose much sleep.

But Labour has lost two by-elections in recent months-one a safe seat in northwest England and another where they trailed in fifth behind the far-right British National Party-and is keen to avoid another failure. Brown, who has plumbed record low poll ratings in recent months, is also under pressure because of the rising cost of living and has been criticised for his administration's recent economic record and his own leadership style. One of his party's former spin doctors in Scotland has said that Brown, born and brought up in nearby Govan and barely a year into the job, will be challenged for the leadership if they are defeated in Glasgow East.

Earthquake hits Japan, more than 100 injured

AP, Tokyo

A powerful earthquake rattled parts of northern Japan early Thursday, injuring more than 100 people, triggering landslides and cutting power to thousands of people, officials said.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami from the temblor, which had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8. It struck shortly after midnight about 65 miles underground and centered just off the coast of Iwate, 280 miles northeast of Tokyo. At least 109 people were injured, including 16 seriously, according to the National Police Agency. Japan's Kyodo News agency said 131 people were injured, citing its own tally. The earthquake caused strong shaking of up to 40 seconds in large parts of northern Japan, official said.

"Everything has fallen off the shelves, scattered all over the floor," grocery store owner Tomio Kudo told national broadcaster NHK from the town of Hirono, where the shaking was most violent. "Even a big refrigerator has moved about 30 centimeters (1 foot)."