The New Nation - Internet Edition

Iran's pursuit of nukes 'unacceptable’: Obama

AFP, Chicago

US President-elect Barack Obama said on Friday that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons was "unacceptable" and he would "respond appropriately" to a congratulatory letter from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Obama, speaking at his first press conference since winning Tuesday's presidential election, also said the Islamic Republic must stop supporting "terrorist organizations."

The Democratic president-elect confirmed that he had been sent a letter from Ahmadinejad following his historic victory over Republican John McCain.

"I am aware that the letter was sent," Obama said in response to the only question of the press conference about foreign policy. "I will be reviewing the letter from President Ahmadinejad and we will respond appropriately."

"It has only been three days since the election," he added. "Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a knee-jerk fashion.

"I think we've got to think it through."

Asked whether he would send low-level envoys to US foes such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and Cuba to see if presidential-level talks could be "productive," Obama responded by condemning Iran's nuclear program.

"Let me repeat and state what I stated during the course of the campaign," he said. "Iran's development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. We have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening."

AP report from Baghdad: Two Iraqi insurgent groups called on President-elect Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and abandon the war on terror, an Internet monitoring service reported Friday.

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, self-styled head of the al-Qaida front group the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a speech posted on an extremist Web site that it would be better "for you and us" to "withdraw your forces," according to the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors militant Web sites.

"You do not interfere in the affairs of our countries," he continued in an apparent reference to Muslim dominated nations. "We, in turn, will not prevent commerce with you, whether it is in oil or otherwise."

Al-Baghdadi blamed the global financial crisis on the wars "launched in Muslim countries" and said he was issuing the call on behalf of "my brothers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Chechnya," SITE said.

The U.S. military says al-Baghdadi is an actor who provides a voice for al-Qaida in Iraq propaganda.

In a separate statement, the Mujahedeen Army, a Sunni insurgent group, urged Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq or face "days that will be more difficult than the nightmare experienced by his predecessor."

50 killed, scores hurt as Haitian school collapses

Reuters, Port-Au-Prince

A ramshackle church school collapsed in a shanty town on the outskirts of Haiti's capital on Friday, burying dozens in rubble and killing at least 50, many of them children, rescue workers said.

The three-story La Promesse school caved in while class was in session, and some of the walls and debris crushed neighboring residences in the Nerettes community near Port-au-Prince, injuring still more, civil protection service official Nadia Blachard told Haitian radio.

"There are 50 killed and 124 wounded, including 20 in serious condition," Blachard said.

Crowds of screaming and crying parents swarmed the ruins in the aftermath searching for their children. The work continued after nightfall with the help of U.N. peacekeepers, relatives and rescue services.

President Rene Preval said the poorly constructed building did not meet building standards, but the priority of authorities was to continue to hunt for those trapped under debris but still alive.

At the scene, crying and screaming parents searched desperately for their children while bodies of students lay crushed under blocks of concrete.

"It's like an earthquake," said Brazilian Maj. Gen. Carlos dos Santos Cruz, the commander for U.N. troops in Haiti.

One boy was trapped by debris that pinned his legs. He begged the rescuers to "please cut my feet off," a firefighter told Reuters.

The roads around the school were so jammed with people looking for loved ones that some of the rescuers had to be brought in by helicopter.

"My son who is 15 years old, he's dead. He's my only son," sobbed 40-year-old Josiane Dandin. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

Opposition ahead in New Zealand election count

AFP, Wellington

Counting after New Zealand's national election Saturday indicated a big swing towards John Key's centre-right National Party, official figures showed, with more than half the votes tallied.

Electoral office figures showed National had 47 percent of the national vote compared to 33 percent for Prime Minister Helen Clark's Labour Party, after 52.8 percent of the total vote had been counted.

Among the minor parties, the Green Party had 6.2 percent and former foreign affairs minister Winston Peters' New Zealand First had 4.7 percent.

Political analysts warned Labour's tally was likely to be boosted later, as major city polling booths were counted. The swing was roughly in line with polls before the election showing Clark's Labour Party facing likely defeat after nine years in power.

The pre-election polls predicted multi-millionaire former investment banker Key could take power with the help of the tiny conservative parties ACT and United Future. Since the complex mixed member proportional (MMP) electoral system was introduced in 1996, no single party has won over 50 percent of the vote and been able to control the parliament without the help of minor parties.

Under the MMP system, every party winning at least five percent of the total vote is allocated seats on a proportional basis in the parliament of about 120 seats.

Some parties are also represented by winning some of the 63 general electorates and seven seats set aside for the indigenous Maori population.

Congo rebel leader Nkunda vows to keep fighting

AP, Tebero

High in the mist-shrouded Mushaki mountains, amid a drenching tropical storm, the rebel leader swept into the crumbling brick farmhouse, his sinewy frame swathed in a red-and-black shawl - dutifully followed by a pet lamb called Betty.

Gen. Laurent Nkunda, extolled by supporters as a gift from God, beamed a toothy smile as he shook hands and exuded charm during an interview with The Associated Press. The lamb was meant as a symbol of peace - meshing with the image Nkunda has tried to show the world: that he is a responsible, compassionate leader whose only ambition is to bring freedom to his people in the mineral-rich Congo. The rebels are battling Congolese soldiers in a conflict that many fear will spread. Even as he was giving the interview this week, his fighters an hour's drive away were killing unarmed civilians, looting and burning, according to witnesses and a human rights body. Among those shot in the head: a 25-year-old radio reporter who angered the rebels with his broadcasts.

But there was no way to know that as Nkunda spoke at the mountaintop retreat.

Helicopters hit Tiger islet as Lanka steps up offensive

AFP, Colombo

Helicopter gunships launched a rare night assault against a suspected Tamil Tiger base located on a small islet off Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

The air force Mi-24 gunships attacked a "gathering point" of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Palaitivu, just on the southwestern side of the Jaffna peninsula on Friday night, the ministry said.

There was no immediate details of casualties. There was also no comment from the Tigers. The attack came as ground troops stepped up an offensive against the rebels in the northern mainland in a bid to capture the Tiger political capital of Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres (just over 200 miles) north of Colombo.

"Troops are forcing the LTTE to flee in total disarray as the military surge continues with strong determination," the ministry said.

The defence ministry has stopped releasing casualty figures saying it does not want to affect ongoing operations.

Tens of thousands of people have died on both sides since 1972, when the LTTE launched its campaign to carve out an independent state in the Sinhalese-majority island of 20 million people.

Palin denounces her critics as cowardly

AP, Anchorage

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called her critics cowards and jerks Friday for deriding her anonymously and insisted she never asked for the expensive wardrobe purchased for her use on the presidential campaign.

"I never asked for anything more than a Diet Dr. Pepper once in a while," Palin said as she returned to the governor's office from her two-month odyssey as the GOP vice presidential nominee. She said the Republican National Committee paid for the tens of thousands of dollars in designer clothes and accessories.

"Those are the RNC's clothes. They're not my clothes. I never forced anybody to buy anything," she said.

Republican Party lawyers are still trying to determine exactly what clothing was purchased for Palin at such high-end stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, what was returned and what has become of the rest.

She particularly lashed out at the anonymous Republican campaign sources cited in a Fox News report who said she did not know Africa was a continent, not a country, and could not name the three countries in the North American Free Trade Agreement - Canada, the United States and Mexico.

"I consider it cowardly" that they did not allow their names to be used, she said.

Palestinian state coming soon, says Rice

AFP, Aqaba

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday Palestinians should soon have their own state, though she has made it clear she does not expect a breakthrough before Barack Obama moves into the White House.

"They are dignified people and I am certain the day is coming soon when they have a state that will be in accordance with that great national dignity," she said after meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah, the West Bank's political capital, before heading later to Jordan. Rice has nevertheless tacitly admitted that Israel and the Palestinians were unlikely to reach a peace deal by the time US President George W. Bush's mandate ends on January 20, despite earlier pledges to seek agreement by the end of this year.

"The distance to peace has been narrowed although peace has not been achieved," she said at Friday's news conference in Ramallah.

Britain revokes visa of ousted Thai PM Thaksin

AFP, Bangkok

British authorities have revoked the visas of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife, an airline official told AFP Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the British embassy had informed all airlines in an email on Friday not to allow the couple to board flights to Britain. "The British embassy sent an email message to all airlinest It's general practice for all airlines, so no airline can take them on board to England from any port," he said. Embassy officials refused to confirm or deny the report, but in the email seen by AFP, Bangkok-based immigration liaison manager Andy Gray, from the UK Border Agency wrote:

"The United Kingdom Border Agency has revoked the UK visas held by the following Thai nationals: Thaksin Shinawatrat Potjaman Shinawatra," listing the pair's passport numbers.

Human Rights Watch urges regional pressure on Mugabe

Reuters, Johannesburg

Human Rights Watch on Saturday called on regional leaders to pressure Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to stop what it called abuses against opposition members despite a power-sharing deal.

Heads of state of regional group SADC (Southern African Development Community) hold an emergency summit in Johannesburg on Sunday aimed at breaking deadlock over cabinet posts under the September 15 agreement between the ruling ZANU-PF and two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

"SADC must now make sure that ZANU-PF respects both the letter and spirit of sharing power. Only then will we see the fundamental reforms necessary for restoring normality and human rights protection in Zimbabwe," U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a report.