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Israel presses on with Gaza attack; France seeks truce

Reuters, Gaza

Israeli forces on Monday pressed on with a deadly ground, sea and air assaults against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip that has cut the territory in two and France spearheaded diplomatic efforts to obtain a truce.

A Hamas official said a delegation of the Islamist group would head for talks in Egypt, which has also launched contacts to achieve a ceasefire to end Israel's 10-day-old offensive.

Blasts rocked Gaza overnight after Israeli soldiers moved into a northern zone. A tank shell killed three children and their mother in their home in Gaza City, medics said. An air strike killed a man as he sat in a relative's mourning tent.

Israeli forces had asked residents to leave their homes to avoid being hurt in the clashes. Some families sought refuge in nearby United Nations run schools.

A military spokeswoman said the air force bombed more than 30 targets, including homes of Hamas members used as weapons depots, tunnels and a suspected anti-aircraft rocket launcher.

Israeli media said troops were hunting Hamas members in house-to-house combat, and that during one clash Palestinians attempted to capture a soldier. The military said six troops were wounded in fighting overnight but gave no further details.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had recalled his special Mideast envoy for briefings, adding he was worried about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Israel launched its offensive with aerial bombardments on Dec. 27 to curtail Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza ahead of an Israeli national election next month, then expanded it into a ground invasion on Saturday. At least 517 Palestinians have been killed at least a quarter of them civilians, a U.N. agency said. Forty-two, mostly civilians were killed on Sunday, a medical source said.

Four Israelis have been killed by rockets and mortars fired at Israel since the offensive began, and an Israeli soldier was killed in fighting on Sunday and 48 have been wounded.

Israel's advances into Gaza have carved the 40-kilometre long coastal territory into two separate zones, and forces have surrounded its largest urban area of Gaza City. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was expected to arrive in the region on Monday in a fresh diplomatic push for a truce, which Israel has thus far resisted.

Hamas was sending representatives to Egypt for talks for the first time since the fighting began, said Hamas' Ayman Taha.

The United States, the region's powerbroker and Israel's closest ally, looked all but sidelined by the pending handover of its presidency, offering Europe a chance to take the lead and press for an end to the Israeli assault.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has been silent on the crisis, his advisers saying only President Bush would speak for Washington until Obama is sworn into office on Jan. 20.

The Bush administration has supported Israel, saying Hamas had to halt rocket fire at Israel for a truce to take shape.

Sarkozy, who meets Israeli leaders on Monday, has not let the end of France's European Union presidency last week prevent him from taking a vanguard role, but will share the work with a separate delegation led by the Czech foreign minister.

Before heading to Egypt for talks ahead of meetings in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Sarkozy said he "condemned this offensive" for distancing chances for peace and making it harder to get aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

Aid groups have warned of a dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where water, food and medical supplies were running short.

A foreign Red Crescent doctor said on Sunday: "Civilians are being killed t shells are severing people's legs, shrapnel is going into people's bodies and into people's homes, a lot of people are being cut down. Everyone is terrified."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert assured Sarkozy in a telephone call on Sunday that aid for the 1.5 million people trapped in the Gaza Strip would continue.

Israel said about 80 trucks with humanitarian supplies would be sent to Gaza, in addition to some fuel, and several busloads of foreigners would be permitted to leave Gaza on Monday.

But Israel's president Shimon Peres made clear there would be no military let-up until Hamas stopped firing.

"We shall not accept the idea that Hamas will continue to fire and we shall declare a ceasefire. It does not make any sense," Peres, the largely titular head of state, said.

Muslim states seek UN session on Gaza conflict

AP, Kuala Lumpur

Muslim countries plan to seek a U.N. General Assembly special session to press for a halt to the escalating violence in Gaza, Malaysia's leader said Monday.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysia's permanent representative to the U.N. will hold discussions with other officials in the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, or OIC, on how best to push for such a session.

"I hope the United States and its allies will not impede efforts to convene the special general assembly," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.

Foreign ministers from OIC countries issued a statement following a meeting in Saudi Arabia over the weekend saying all Muslim nations should cooperate with other U.N. members to call for a special General Assembly session titled "Uniting for Peace."

The U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said it had no immediate response to Abdullah's statement.

The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and expressing serious concern at the escalation of violence, council diplomats said.

Israel sent troops and tanks into Gaza on Saturday after a weeklong aerial bombardment.

At least 512 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,500 injured since the air attacks began. One Israeli soldier was killed in the ground assault. Israel says it launched the offensive to stop rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza that have killed several Israelis.

In a separate statement, Abdullah said Israel's ground offensive "is an act of total war which the international community should not tolerate."

Abdullah added that he has authorized $1 million of immediate humanitarian aid from the Malaysian government to be channeled through relief supplies for the Palestinians.

Guatemala landslide kills at least 22

Reuters, Guatemala City

At least 22 people were killed when part of a mountain collapsed onto a road in northern Guatemala on Sunday, officials said.

Hugo Arvizu, a spokesman for disaster relief commission CONRED, said 22 people were dead but Guatemalan Vice President Rafael Espada later said villagers may have pulled an additional 20 to 30 bodies out of the rubble.

The victims were hit by the massive landslide as they walked along a road in a hilly, sparsely populated area in Alta Verapaz, some 124 miles north of Guatemala City.

The landslide was triggered by a geological fault, Arvizu said.

Rescue efforts were hampered by further rockfalls and rescue workers were expected to resume work early on Monday.

"We have not been able to evacuate (the bodies) due to the landslides that continue to take place in the area," Espada told a news conference.

Landslides are common in Guatemala, but usually occur during the rainy season between June and November.

In mid-December, two people were killed in a smaller landslide in Alta Verapaz, a mainly indigenous region that is home to coffee and cardamom farms.

Pressure mounts on Japan's PM as parliament meets

AFP, Tokyo

Japan's parliament convened Monday for a session on measures to revive the flagging economy, with Prime Minister Taro Aso under pressure both from within and outside the ruling bloc to call a snap election.

Aso, whose support has dwindled to around 20 percent in recent polls, is introducing a 4.79 trillion yen (52 billion dollar) supplementary budget for the year to March 2009 and a record-high annual budget for fiscal 2009.

The packages include tax cuts, cash rebates and other incentives aimed at stimulating the world's second largest economy , which has slipped into recession.

"We face a mountain of difficult issues sitting before us. But let us be united and go through the parliament session," Aso told his ministers in the new year's first cabinet meeting. Aso later told lawmakers from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP): "We are confident that we submitted the best plan possible and that the legislation is the best remedy to boost the economy."

Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa urged parliament to pass the legislation, warning that the economy was set to get worse as demand for Japanese exports slumps and consumer spending fails to pick up.

"The international financial and capital markets have fallen into a crisis that is said to come only once in 100 years, pushing the economy into recession," Nakagawa said.

However, the Aso government faces tough battles on the legislative floor. The opposition, which controls the less powerful upper house, is gearing up to block bills from the ruling party and is demanding an early snap election.

The LDP has been in power for all but 10 months since 1955, but has switched premier three times in little over two years as it struggles to win public support.

"This year will become a year of historic importance," Ichiro Ozawa, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, told a party meeting.

"With our goal of putting the priority on people's lives, we have to earn public support --- first through snap elections and then through actual policy-making," Ozawa said.

Even some senior members from within the LDP have levelled fresh criticism at Aso over the last few days.

Former LDP secretary general Hidenao Nakagawa lamented Aso's plan to raise consumption tax in three years' time, saying even discussing it now could "further hurt the Japanese economy."

Nakagawa has suggested starting a new faction within the ruling party by grouping lawmakers who oppose Aso's ideas.

Former reform minister Yoshimi Watanabe also reiterated his call for snap elections and changes to the proposed budget.

"If my message isn't taken into consideration, I am prepared to launch a national movement even if I have to leave the LDP," he told supporters on Sunday.

But Aso told a news conference Sunday he would not call elections for a few months at least, pledging to tackle the economic crisis first.

Bootleg liquor kills at least 22 in Kolkata

Reuters, Kolkata

At least 22 people have died in Kolkata after drinking bootleg liquor and the death toll could rise, police said on Monday.

The victims, mostly labourers, started vomiting and convulsing with stomach pains on Sunday after drinking the liquor in slums around the city's Kidderpore port area along the river Ganges.

"The victims continue to pour in to the hospitals. We have arrested five brewers and raids are on to dismantle the shops," said Jawed Shamim, a senior police official.

In May 2008, at least 180 people died in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in India's worst bootleg liquor tragedy.

India gives Pakistan evidence over Mumbai attacks

AP, New Delhi

India gave Pakistan the most detailed evidence yet that it says ties the militants who attacked Mumbai to "elements" in Pakistan - responding Monday to weeks of demands from Islamabad for proof that the siege was launched from across the border. India has blamed the November attacks that killed 164 people on Pakistani-based militants, but Islamabad has denied the accusations and requested proof. The evidence handed to the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi on Monday included material from the interrogation of the lone surviving gunman, details of conversations between the gunmen and their alleged handlers in Pakistan, recovered weapons, and data from satellite phones, according to a statement from India's foreign ministry.

"This material is linked to elements in Pakistan," the statement said. "It is our expectation that the government of Pakistan will promptly undertake further investigations in Pakistan and share the results with us so as to bring the perpetrators to justice."

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said the authorities are reviewing the evidence and declined to comment further.

India has blamed the three-day siege on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group based in Pakistan, where authorities have arrested at least two men accused of planning the attacks and launched a nationwide crackdown on a charity believed to be a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba.

India has called on Pakistan to hand over the suspects and dismantle the terror network they say is based across the border. Pakistani leaders say they will try any suspects in the attacks in their own courts.

Sri Lankan troops advance on last Tamil Tiger bases

AFP, Colombo

Sri Lankan troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships moved against the remaining Tamil Tiger jungle strongholds after taking their political headquarters, the army said on Monday. Soldiers headed towards rebel pockets in the north of the island following their capture of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) capital of Kilinochchi on Friday, the army said. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the Tamils launched their struggle for an autonomous homeland in 1972, but the government pulled out of ceasefire last year and launched a major offensive to crush the Tigers. "Troops in high morale after the capture of Kilinochchi town continued their forward march further and attacked LTTE terrorists in areas east of Kilinochchi and caused heavy damages to the terrorists," a statement from the army said.

Just a few dozen people were still in Kilinochichi when government soldiers secured the town after months of heavy fighting.

One resident told an AFP reporter who was flown to the town by the military on Sunday that the guerrillas had ordered civilians to shift to Mullaittivu, where the rebels are known to have their main military facilities.

Gunfire was heard in Kilinochchi on Sunday and officials said future offensives against the Tigers would be launched from the former Tiger political capital.

Troops also captured the town of Oddusuddan at the weekend, leaving Mullaittivu as the last remaining town in the hands of the LTTE.