The New Nation - Internet Edition

US to send more troops to Afghanistan: Five civilians, 14 rebels killed in violence

AFP, Khost

A bomb blast in an Afghan market Saturday killed two people, authorities said, also reporting other unrest-linked violence that left three more civilians and 14 militants dead.

The bomb, attached to a vehicle, exploded in a vegetable market in the eastern city of Khost, provincial intelligence chief Colonel Mohammed Yaqob told AFP.

A 15-year-old boy and a man were killed and 15 other people wounded, Yaqob said. There was no claim of responsibility.

Khost, which borders Pakistan, sees regular attacks most often linked to an insurgency led by the hardline Taliban, who were driven from government in a US-led invasion in 2001.

Taliban insurgents meanwhile said they had killed a district governor in another border province, Kunar, whose bullet-riddled body was found on Saturday.

The governor of Marawara district, Ghais Haqmal, had been abducted by Taliban three months ago and the militants had demanded the release of 50 of their jailed comrades in exchange for his life, authorities said.

The demand could not be met, "so they killed the district governor and today is his funeral," Kunar government spokesman Adris Gharwal told AFP.

A man who identified himself as a local Taliban commander, Zia-u-Rahman, confirmed the official was killed because the prisoners were not freed.

AP report adds: Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he would like to add significant U.S. forces to the war in Afghanistan before national elections scheduled for next year, and that grim depictions of backsliding in the seven-year-old war are "far too pessimistic."

Gates said the additional forces would give greater security for fall elections in Afghanistan, and predicted that security conditions will "be under enough control to allow the elections to take place." Secure successful elections are probably the most important goal for Afghanistan next year, Gates said.

"Everyone knows we face significant challenges in Afghanistan, as does the Afghan government," Gates said. "By the same token, the Taliban do not hold any land," and lose every real engagement with NATO or U.S. forces. "So the notion that things are out of control in Afghanistan or that we're sliding toward a disaster, I think, is far too pessimistic."

President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's U.S.-backed leader, has said he intends to run again. Registration has begun but is spotty, and the Taliban is expected try to disrupt registration and voting.

Suspected US missile strike kills 5 in Pakistan

AP, Miran Shah

A suspected U.S. missile strike at the home of a Taliban commander in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday killed at least five militants, officials said.

The attack occurred before dawn in the North Waziristan region, part of the Pakistani tribal belt that is considered a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said four foreign militants and a Pakistani were believed dead in the attack in the town of Ali Khel. It was unclear if any of the victims were senior members of al-Qaida or the Taliban.

The officials said the targeted house belonged to a Pakistani Taliban commander named Khaliq Noor who is known to shelter foreign militants.

Both officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said they received their information from agents in the area.

U.S. forces have launched about 20 missile attacks since August into northwestern Pakistan, a sign of frustration at Islamabad's failure to crack down on strongholds from which militants attack American troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

American authorities rarely confirm or deny the attacks, which are apparently launched from unmanned aircraft.

Pakistan has urged Washington to halt the strikes, saying they undermine its own efforts to combat Islamic extremism and threaten to trigger a wider uprising against the government.

After a missile strike near the town of Bannu on Wednesday, militants in North Waziristan threatened to launch revenge attacks on foreigners and Pakistani targets.

At about the same time as Saturday's missile strike, police said militants attacked a checkpoint in Bannu with rockets and gunfire, killing three officers.

Police official Mohammed Jan said police returned fire but that the militants managed to flee.

Iraq's prime minister, president in public quarrel

AP, Baghdad

Iraq's presidential council has taken the unusual step of publicly criticizing the Shiite prime minister after he berated them for their opposition to councils of loyal tribesmen in several Iraqi provinces.

The quarrel is the latest in a series of political setbacks that underline enduring rivalries between Iraq's political factions as the country struggles to find its footing after years of brutal violence.

The dispute between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and Talabani's two deputies comes with Iraqis already polarized by a proposed security agreement with the United States that would allow American troops to stay in Iraq for three more years.

Groups opposed to the pact say it enshrines what they see as Iraq's occupation. Proponents, like al-Maliki, say it is the only viable way for Iraq to regain its full sovereignty by 2012.

At the center of the new dispute between al-Maliki and Talabani are the "support councils" made up of pro-government tribesmen that began to spring up earlier this year when the prime minister took charge of military operations against Shiite militias in southern Iraq.

China, Taiwan hold historic meeting

AFP, Lima

Chinese President Hu Jintao met here with a senior Taiwan envoy in the highest-level meeting to take place overseas between the rivals since their split in 1949.

Taiwan's former premier Lien Chan, who is honorary chairman of the island's ruling Kuomintang party, met with Hu for about 40 minutes at a hotel in Lima, Peru, where leaders are meeting for an Asia-Pacific summit.

Officials in Taiwan's summit delegation called it the highest-level meeting in an international setting since 1949, when the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan after losing China's civil war to the communists.

"It is very significant for old friends to meet far away from Asia," Lien, who has met Hu twice in China this year, told reporters after the meeting.

China has historically opposed any hint of international recognition of democratic Taiwan, which Beijing considers a part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Friday's chat at the mainland Chinese delegation's hotel was the latest step forward for the two Cold War rivals, whose relations have improved dramatically this year.

Taiwan in March elected Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou, ending two decades of rule in Taipei by leaders who rattled China with their support for a separate identity for the democratic island.

Ma earlier this month became Taiwan's first president to meet with a senior Chinese official, who signed four deals that will see the two sides cooperating in air travel, post and cargo shipping.

But the official's visit to Taipei also triggered mass demonstrations by tens of thousands of anti-Beijing protesters.

Lien said that in the near future, the two sides would try to build on this year's agreements by taking up more complicated issues, including financial and legal concerns.

"These sort of issues take a longer time to deal with," he said.

Grenade wounds 8 outside Thai PM office

AP, Bangkok

A grenade attack on anti-government protesters occupying the Thai prime minister's office wounded eight people early Saturday, officials said.

Police Lt. Col. Samreng Songsiang said he inspected the scene and the explosion was from an M-79 grenade, which are normally fired from launchers. The protesters have occupied the Government House compound since August.

They say they will not leave until Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat resigns or is overthrown. The protest movement has been the focus of several small bomb and grenade attacks, including one last Thursday that killed one person and wounded more than 20.

Saturday's explosion occurred shortly after 2 a.m. outside the government house compound where guards appointed by the protesters man checkpoints.

No one took responsibility for the blast. Samreng said the grenade was fired from somewhere nearby but could not pinpoint the location or suggest who would have fired it.

One of the key protest leaders, Chamlong Srimuang, said the grenade was launched from the headquarters of the Bangkok Metropolitan police about 500 feet (150 meters) away.

"The grenade was fired from the (police) headquarters. This proves the attackers were government security forces or bad guys who are supported by the government," Chamlong said from the stage at the protest site where about 2,000 people had gathered.

The latest attack came one day before the protest group that calls itself the People's Alliance for Democracy plans a mass demonstration at government house.

Bush rallies China’s help on North Korea

AP, Lima

In a last dash of diplomacy, President George W. Bush on Friday sought China's help in pinning down North Korea to keep its shaky promises of nuclear disarmament. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao privately tried to push along a way to verify North Korea's nuclear declarations - the latest hang-up in a showdown that has vexed six nations. The meeting came as Bush began his last scheduled foreign journey, at a yearly Asia-Pacific forum, where the world's economic collapse and the North Korea standoff dominated. Bush even allowed that he "felt a little nostalgic" over his final meeting as a head of state with Hu, White House press secretary Dana Perino said. It was some rare reflection from Bush, a nod to his ties with the leader of a communist nation that is both friend and foe.

North Korea has agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for coveted aid and diplomatic recognition, a deal arranged with the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. But it has not fully allowed outside inspectors, and talks have repeatedly gone off course.

Bush wants to emerge from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, also known as APEC, with firm plans for the six countries to meet in Beijing, perhaps in early December. The goal would be to formally agree on the way to verify North Korea's nuclear capabilities.

Perino said Bush and Hu discussed that meeting, but no date has been set.

The president's other main goal in Peru is to steady the shuddering economy by rallying more Pacific Rim nations to shore up global financial markets. But even that step would soon be handed to his successor, Democrat Barack Obama, who replaces Bush in just two months.

Solana hopes Obama tackles Mideast peace from day one

AFP, Washington

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Friday that he hoped that US president-elect Barack Obama tackles the Arab-Israeli peace process as soon as he assumes office on January 20.

"I think that that process will require much more of a dynamic," Solana told reporters on a visit to Washington following a meeting the previous evening with Obama's representative Madeleine Albright.

"It will be very difficult to do it before the election in Israel but I think that this new administration should get much more engaged from the very first day and try to create a dynamic in this process," Solana said.

After assuming office in 2000, President George W. Bush's administration put the Middle East peace process on the back burner.

And since the administration in November 2007 relaunched the first serious Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in seven years, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have refused to pressure the two sides into an agreement.

"I think this is one of the key issues that the president elect has to take on and I hope very much that he moves very fast on that," said Solana. The European Union works with the United States, Russia and the United Nations on the Middle East diplomatic quartet.

"The (Palestinian-Israeli) negotiation has to be bilateral-there has to be an agreement between the parties-but that does not mean that you have to be withdrawn," Solana said.

"So I do think they have to let them talk between themselves but be ready to play the catalytic effect that would be necessary. If not, it may drag," he warned.’

Russian parliament approves longer presidential terms

AFP, Moscow

Russian lawmakers gave final approval Friday to a bill extending presidential terms, after a speech on the economy by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin revived speculation over his political ambitions.

The bill, which sailed through the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, would extend presidential terms from four to six years and would be the first change to Russia's post-Soviet constitution adopted in 1993. The reform was proposed little more than two weeks ago by President Dmitry Medvedev, who said it would strengthen political stability, and has since been rushed through parliament amid a spiralling economic crisis. Friday's vote was the third and final reading of the bill in the Duma, where 392 deputies voted in favour and only 57 voted against. The body is dominated by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. Only members of the opposition Communist Party, which has a minority in the parliament, voted against the changes on Friday. Communists have previously complained that the changes are part of an "authoritarian" trend in Russia.

"The immovability of the powers-that-be is building up the problems," Nikolai Kolomeitsev, a member of parliament from the Communist Party, told AFP, referring to Russia's mounting financial and economic difficulties.

The legislation now needs to be approved by the upper house, where it is expected to pass easily, and by two-thirds of regional legislatures in a process that one of the bill's proponents estimated would take around a month.

Myanmar junta urges all citizens to back 'road map' to democracy

AFP, Yangon

The head of Myanmar's military junta made a rare call Saturday for all citizens to back a controversial "road map" to democracy.

Writing in an article on the front page of the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper Senior General Than Shwe said it was every citizen's national duty to support the political process.

"The state's seven-step road map is being implemented to build a peaceful, modern and developed new democratic nation with flourishing discipline," he wrote on the eve of the country's national day.

"The entire population are duty-bound to actively participate with united spirit and national fervour in the drive to see the seven-step road map," the paper quoted him as saying.

Under the government's "road map" to democracy, Myanmar has adopted a new constitution after a widely-criticized referendum held days after a cyclone ravaged large swathes of the country in early May and left 138,000 people dead or missing. Authorities said the referendum, carried out without independent monitoring, had received support from 92.48 percent of voters.

The road map paves the way for elections in 2010 in a country that has been ruled by the military since 1962.

But the US, the EU and the United Nations have dismissed the lengthy proceedings as a sham due to the absence of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.