China takes foreign diplomats to Lhasa

BEIJING  ( 2008-03-28 09:58:01 ) : 

A group of Beijing-based foreign diplomats were scheduled to leave for Tibet's riot-hit capital Lhasa on Friday for a two-day trip organised by the Chinese government, embassy officials said.
Diplomats from a number of countries including the United States, Britain, France, Australia and Italy were to participate in the trip, which came on the heels of another government-arranged tour for foreign journalists.
"I suppose the objective of the Chinese foreign ministry is to basically answer the international calls including from the Australian government to have diplomatic access to Tibet," said Janaline Oh, an Australian embassy official.
She said embassies in Beijing were only informed about the planned trip on Thursday, while an Italian embassy spokeswoman said the representatives were expected back on Saturday night.
One diplomat said that the embassies had been allowed to send one official each, although there was no official comment on the trip from Beijing and it was not clear how many countries were going or had been invited.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack welcomed the move, but said it was not enough.
"We see this as a step in the right direction, but it's not a substitute for the ability of our diplomats, as well as others, to travel not only to Lhasa, but into the surrounding area specifically," he told reporters.
China took a foreign media delegation to Lhasa on Wednesday for a three-day trip following international pressure to allow independent reporting from the Tibetan capital after it was sealed off due to the unrest.
AFP and some other major news organisations were not invited.
Two weeks of deadly demonstrations against China's rule of Tibet have put China under international pressure as it prepares to host the Olympics in August.
China has insisted its response to the protests, the biggest challenge to its rule of Tibet in decades, has been restrained and that it has brought the situation under control.

Plane with Comoran rebel leader lands in Reunion

 

SAINT DENIS  ( 2008-03-28 11:15:53 ) : 

The rebel leader of the Comoros island of Anjouan, Mohamed Bacar, arrived in Reunion on Friday to an uncertain future, two days after his ouster by Comoran and African Union forces.
He was flown in on a French military C-160 Transall plane from Mayotte, another French possession in the Indian Ocean, where Bacar asked for asylum after being driven off Anjouan on Wednesday.
Twenty-three Anjouan soldiers accompanied him on the flight to Reunion.
French officials had declared on Thursday that, upon his arrival in Reunion, Bacar would be placed under investigation for landing illegally on Mayotte in possession of weapons.
At the same time, they were weighing whether to grant his asylum request.
In the Comoros capital of Moroni, security forces on Thursday used tear gas to disperse 1,000 people trying to march on the French embassy demanding that Bacar be sent back to face trial on charges of torturing opponents.
Groups of youths made renewed attempts to reach the embassy and were again fought back by police, while Comoran Defence Minister Mohamed Bacar Dossar demanded that France to hand the French-trained officer over.
"We understand the disappointment of our Comoran brothers, we will do everything we can to ensure that Bacar and his accomplices are brought back and sent to court in the Comoros," Dossar said.
A Frenchman who heads a primary school in Moroni was attacked by a mob as he headed to work, a French diplomat told AFP. He was not seriously wounded.
Anjouan exiles also staged angry protests in Mayotte on Thursday in which cars were burned and houses damaged, witnesses said.
Bacar defied months of warnings to end his self-proclaimed presidency of Anjouan -- the third largest island in the Comoros archipelago -- before he was finally ousted on Tuesday by the invasion force.
The Comoran Human Rights Foundation called on France to extradite the ousted rebel leader immediately.
The group urged France "to prove its solidarity with Comoros and the Comoran people by extraditing him without delay and avoiding bothersome administrative and diplomatic procedures."
Yves Jego, the French secretary of state for overseas territories, said France was studying Bacar's request for political asylum and an answer would be given "as fast as possible, I hope".
In parallel to the asylum request, "Mr Bacar will be the subject of appropriate judicial procedures," foreign ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani told journalists in Paris.
French security forces guarded the main Pamandzi airport on Mayotte where Bacar was taken Thursday and closed off the road linking it to the main police station where several angry Anjouan exiles had gathered.
Demonstrators hurled stones at cars belonging to French nationals and two were injured, witnesses said. Exiles said they were outraged at the protection given to Bacar, who faces accusations of torturing his opponents.
Mayotte is in the same chain of islands as the Comoros, but opted to remain French when the Comoros became independent in 1975. Bacar, and 23 of soldiers and associates, arrived there on Wednesday and sought refuge with a brother.
Bacar "entered Mayotte illegally where he was immediately apprehended and disarmed by the French authorities," Andreani said in Paris.
France backed the invasion by 1,400 Comoran and African Union troops and loaned the AU force the ships used to take them to Anjouan at dawn, but it has no extradition agreement with the Comoros.
The Comoran and African Union forces battled die-hard supporters of Bacar on Wednesday as the central government vowed to set up an interim administration on Anjouan this week.
At least 11 civilians were wounded in the operation, hospital sources said.
Comoran Vice President Ikililou Dhoinine is running an interim administration on Anjouan ahead of a new transitional government expected by the weekend. New elections have been slated for May.

Zimbabwe security forces on full alert ahead of polls

HARARE  ( 2008-03-28 15:31:03 ) : 

Zimbabwe's army and police were placed on full alert on Friday on the eve of the country's general election as security chiefs vowed to thwart any Kenya-style violence in the poll's aftermath.
"The defence and security forces of Zimbabwe are on full alert from now onwards covering the election period and beyond," said Augustine Chihuri, commissioner general of the police, in a statement read on behalf of the country's security chiefs on Friday.
Chihuri said anyone who harboured "evil" intentions should be aware that "the defence and security forces are up to task in thwarting all threats to national security."
His comments came at a news conference attended by all security chiefs, including the head of the army, prison service and intelligence services.
"We discourage acts that could lead to anarchy," they said.
"Also those who have been breathing fire about the Kenyan-style violence should be warned that violence is a poor substitute for intelligence and that it is a monster that can devour its creator, as it is blind and not selective in nature," he said.
The warning came as the opposition and witnesses said security forces had started deploying water cannons and tanks in some parts of the capital.
President Robert Mugabe, facing his fiercest battles since sweeping to power 28 years ago, this week issued a stark warning to his challengers that he would not tolerate post-election violence.
In power since independence in 1980, Mugabe has been taken on in the race in the joint parliamentary and presidential polls by long-time opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his finance minister Simba Makoni.

Dalai Lama appeals for talks with Beijing

NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama appealed to China Friday to enter into "meaningful dialogue" over the crisis in Tibet, asserting he did not want to undermine the Beijing Olympics and was not seeking independence.
In an open letter to his "Chinese brothers and sisters," the exiled spiritual leader said he was a "simple monk" trying to preserve "the Tibetan people's distinctive culture, language and identity."
He warned, however, that Chinese "state media's portrayal of the recent events in Tibet, using deceit and distorted images, could sow the seeds of racial tension with unpredictable long-term consequences."
"Even at this juncture I have expressed my willingness to the Chinese authorities to work together to bring about peace and stability," he said in the statement, carried by his exiled administration's website Tibet.net.
"I have appealed to the leadership of the PRC (People's Republic of China) to clearly understand my position and work to resolve these problems. I urge the Chinese leadership to exercise wisdom and to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan people," the message said.

Arab leaders gather for low-turnout summit in Damascus

DAMASCUS: Almost half of Arab leaders are boycotting a weekend summit hosted by Syria, an Arab League official said on Friday, as US allies snub Damascus over the political crisis in Lebanon.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will host the leaders of Algeria, Comoros, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Sudan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, the official said.
With US allies Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan sending only low-level delegations, only 12 leaders from the 22-member body will attend the two-day summit which opens on Saturday.
The leaders of Iraq, Morocco and Oman will also be absent, while Lebanon is boycotting the event.
As leaders began gathering in Damascus on Friday, Assad greeted the first arrival Comoran President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, followed by Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi.
Damascus airport has been closed to all commercial flights until Sunday for the leaders' arrivals.
On Thursday, Syria's press hailed the summit a success due to the absence of US influence, a reference to the boycott by the heads of state from several regional US-friendly heavyweights.