West goes to Iran talks — and readies sanctions

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer

GENEVA – Even as they prepare for new talks Thursday with Iran on its nuclear program, the U.S. and its allies are contemplating new and tighter sanctions on Tehran, in a clear signal of expectations that the negotiations may again end in failure.

The fact that the meeting is taking place at all offers some hope, reflecting both sides' desire to talk, despite a spike in tensions over last week's revelations by Iran that it had been secretly building a new uranium enrichment plant.

Ahead of Thursday's negotiations, the State Department stressed its hope that the session would open the door to more in-depth dialogue about ways Iran could alleviate concerns that its emerging nuclear program may be secretly developing nuclear weapons.

If Iran is willing to address the nuclear issues, then there likely will be subsequent meetings, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington.

"That process will take some time," Crowley said. "We're not going to make a snap judgment on Thursday. We're going to see how that meeting goes, evaluate the willingness of Iran to engage on these issues."

Crowley noted that U.S. President Barack Obama has said he intends to take a few months to assess Iran's position and consult with U.S. negotiating partners before deciding what next steps to take.

In Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the talks will be a "test" of their respect for Iran's rights.

"This meeting is a test to measure the extent of sincerity and commitment of some countries to law and justice," Ahmadinejad said after a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, according to official IRNA news agency.

While the negotiations are formally between chief Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili and the EU's Javier Solana, Solana will follow the lead of the five powers. The U.S., Britain, France, Russia and Germany are sending senior officials; Washington will be represented by William Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, while Russia is dispatching Sergey Ryabkov, a deputy foreign minister.

Only China, which appears most opposed to new U.N. sanctions on Tehran, is sending a relatively low-level representative to the talks, which were to be held at an undisclosed location outside Geneva.

Tehran's acknowledgment that it has kept silent on the plant — which can make both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead cores — has burdened the already heated atmosphere of the crucial negotiations to the point that expectations of what would constitute success are modest.

A U.S. government official confirmed to The Associated Press that commercial satellite images taken of the purported site near the holy city of Qom are generally accurate.

He confirmed that at least one of the buildings shown in the commercial images matches up to secret U.S. government imagery of the Iranian uranium enrichment facility that was publicly revealed Friday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

At least three private sector imagery analysts in the United States have focused on the site because it fits the description given by the U.S. government: it is 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) from Qom, it is built into a mountainside and it has features consistent with a secret nuclear facility, parts of which the U.S. government says are underground.

Neither the U.S. government nor Iran has officially confirmed the location or the accuracy of the commercial imagery analysis.

At best, Thursday's talks could start lowering passions over the hidden plant, Iran's three-year defiance of the U.N. Security Council's enrichment ban and Western assertions that Tehran is a supporter of terror — and lead to another meeting later this year.

That, in turn, could be the start of a process that could not only end the threat of an Israeli or U.S. strike against Iran's nuclear facilities as a last resort. It could ultimately lead to an agreement on a limited Iranian uranium enrichment program — but under tight international control meant to banish concerns that it could be turned toward making warhead material.

Such hopes are tenuous. Since the five nations first proposed a set of political and economic concessions to Tehran for a full stop to its enrichment activities three years ago, Iran has expanded the program. It now has more than 8,000 centrifuges set up in its cavernous underground facility at Natanz, with most of them working to churn out fuel-grade enriched uranium.

With Iran spurning any discussion of cutting back, let alone freezing enrichment, the five powers also are ready to talk about other issues that Tehran holds dear in hopes of also engaging it on nuclear matters.

U.S. officials and a senior official from another participating country told The Associated Press ahead of the talks that Iran is expected to raise a broad range of global political concerns while the other participants focus on Iran's nuclear program, including last week's disclosure of the previously hidden enrichment plant.

But years of abortive attempts to coax Iran into at least talking about freezing enrichment have the U.S and its Western Security Council partners looking past Thursday's talks — and the possibility that they, too, will fail.

If so, say officials from two of the delegations represented at the Geneva talks, the U.S. and its Western allies will renew their push for a fourth set of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

The initial set of sanctions in 2006 focused on banning trade with Iran in materials, equipment, goods and technology that could contribute to Iran's uranium enrichment program. Iran says its program is intended to provide fuel for civilian power reactors, but the U.S. suspects it could be used to make nuclear weapons.

U.N. sanctions against Iran were expanded in March 2007 by banning arms exports from Iran and imposing a freeze on the financial assets of 28 individuals and entities. Sanctions were again extended in March 2008, restricting the import by Iran of dual-use technologies — those that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

Washington, London, Paris and Berlin are keen to maintain at least outward unity with Moscow and Beijing on dealing with Iran. But the officials — who discuss confidential Iran strategy only on condition of anonymity — say the four Western countries are ready to do without Russia and China if they again block new U.N. sanctions out of economic or political considerations. They said discussions have already begun on tightening existing U.N. and European Union sanctions and enacting new ones.

"Our approach will be that if we cannot get something in the Security Council, we will not wait but will be certainly actively looking for other measures," a senior official from one of the five powers said.

Persian music, Nowruz make it into UN heritage list

Persian music and New Year traditions have been registered on UNESCO's List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Tradition of Persian New Year, Nowruz, and the Radif of Iranian music were inscribed on the list during the 4th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held from Sep. 28 to Oct. 2, 2009 in Abu Dhabi.

Nowruz, which coincides with the first day of spring on the solar calendar, is mostly celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

For Iranians, Nowruz is a celebration of renewal and change, a time to visit relatives and friends, and pay respect to senior family members.

Iranians welcome the New Year by wearing new clothes and setting the Haft Seen, a table containing seven items starting with the letter 'S' -- Sabzeh (freshly grown greens), Samanoo (A type of traditional pudding), Senjed (Jujube), Seeb (Apple), Seer (Garlic), Sumac and Serkeh (vinegar).

The Radif of Iranian music is the traditional repertoire of the classical music of Iran and reflects the cultural and national identity of the Iranian people.

UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) was established in the 1990s and deals with oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, traditional craftsmanship and knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe.

Algeria bus collision kills 11, injures 65

A collision between two buses in Algeria today has killed 11 people and wounded another 65, the APS news reports.

The crash happened today in a remote area of the Medea region about 200km south of the capital, Algiers, the agency said.

Road accidents kill around 4000 people each year in Algeria.

Tango on UNESCO world heritage list

By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Tango was declared part of the world's cultural heritage by the United Nations on Wednesday and granted the international seal of approval Argentina and Uruguay have long sought for the dramatic dance and its sensual moves.

The 24 members of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee of Intangible Heritage granted the tango dance and its music protected cultural status at its meeting in Abu Dhabi.

The designation may make Argentina and Uruguay, which both claim to be tango's birthplace, eligible to receive financial assistance from a specialized fund for safeguarding cultural traditions. It will also help both governments justify using public funds to preserve their most famous export after to beef.

"We are very proud," Hernan Lombardi, the minister of culture of the autonomous city of Buenos Aires told the Associated Press on the phone from the Emirates' capital. "We hope this decision will help spread the tradition of tango all over the world."

Tango emerged as a dance style in the late 1800s in the suburbs of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Uruguay. It is popular in Europe, Japan and the United States. The recent spike in tango's popularity throughout the world is in part attributed to the Broadway hit "Forever Tango" and TV's "Dancing With the Stars."

"Tango is a feeling that can be danced, and that feeling of course is passion," Lombardi told the AP on Wednesday.

The popular image — willowy, spike-heeled women spinning, kicking and lunging across the floor in the arms of tuxedo-clad men — is known as show tango. The kind danced in milongas, or tango dance halls, is more waltzlike, but equally sensual.

Argentina and Uruguay have long been embroiled in a clash over the birthplace of the great tango crooner Carlos Gardel. They kicked aside their differences last year in a joint effort to persuade UNESCO to list tango among UNESCO's traditions worth safeguarding for humanity.

India's Vedic chanting and Japan's Kabuki theater are among the dozens of U.N. protected traditions.

Iran not after nuclear weapons, says IAEA chief

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei says he does not believe that Iran has a military nuclear program, adding that the lack of evidence to the contrary supports his belief.

"I do not think... Iran has an on-going nuclear weapons program. Whether they have done some weaponization studies, as was claimed by the US and others, this is one of the issues that are still outstanding," ElBaradei told the Indian TV news channel CNN-IBN.

"But I have not seen any credible evidence to suggest that Iran has an on-going nuclear program today. I hope that they are not having one," he added during the Wednesday interview.

The outgoing director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also touched on Iran's construction of the Fordu nuclear facility. Elbaradei said that he talked to the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi, who informed him that the facility was far from complete.

"There are no centrifuges in the facility, there is no nuclear material, it is simply still just ready in term of cables and construction," the IAEA chief quoted Salehi as saying.

Elbaradei also pointed out that the IAEA should conduct an inspection of the facility "as soon as possible."

"Through that [inspection], again, [we can] provide assurance to the international community, that this facility is meant to be a facility devoted for peaceful purposes."

ElBaradei also commented on the impending talks between Iran and the P5+1 (Permanent member of the Security Council plus Germany) in Geneva, and expressed hope that the meeting would "usher in a comprehensive, meaningful dialogue."

"Recently, [Iran has] asked the Agency for assistance in getting fuel for its existing research reactor and asked the Agency to see whether we can be of help," he said, expressing optimism about a possible deal between Iran and the West.

"I was quite pleased to see that there is a very large amount of goodwill on the part of the suppliers to provide fuel for Iran for its research reactor in Teheran. The world is keen, is ready to help Iran to make full use of nuclear energy for nuclear purposes."

Earlier in the month, Iran wrote a letter to the UN nuclear watchdog, saying that it was constructing a second plant for uranium enrichment.

The Agency received Iran's letter 18 months prior to the date set for the plant to enter operational phase. That is one year before Iran was officially obliged to do so, based on the IAEA document INFCIRC/153.

Indonesian quake kills dozens, traps thousands

By NINIEK KARMINI, Associated Press Writer

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian officials say at least 75 people have been killed and thousands more trapped under flattened buildings in a powerful earthquake off Sumatra island.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla announced the death toll at a news conference, hours after the 7.6-magnitude quake hit off the coast of the town of Padang on Wednesday.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis center, said thousands of people were trapped under collapsed buildings. He said a field hospital was being prepared to assist the injured.

Officials said the quake triggered a landslide that cut off land transport to the area closest to the epicenter. Power and telecommunications were also cut.

The quake was along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A disaster management official says 13 people have been killed and thousands trapped under flattened buildings in a powerful earthquake in western Indonesia.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis center, said a field hospital was being prepared to assist the injured and medical teams were on the way from neighboring provinces.

A 7.6-magnitude quake hit just off the coast of the town of Padang, Western Sumatra province on Wednesday.

Officials said the quake triggered a landslide that cut off land transport to the area closest to the epicenter. Power and telecommunications were also cut.

The quake was along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Israel, Lebanon's worst enemy: Poll

Results of a recent survey show that the Lebanese people deem Qatar as their country's closest ally while Israel is considered as their foremost enemy.

An opinion poll conducted on August 11-15 among people from different religious communities in Lebanon shows more than 86 percent of Lebanese favor Qatar.

Syria and Iran rank as Lebanon's second and third friend nations with 72 and 68 percent respectively, with Tehran enjoying the most votes among the country's Shia community.

This is while a sweeping 92 percent majority considers Israel as their leading enemy with Washington following with 64 percent as Tel Aviv's closest ally.

The results from the survey mark an 11 percent fall in the US popularity with the Lebanese from 37 percent in a June 2008 poll.

Egypt, one of the few Arab states that have normalized ties with Israel, has climbed down as much as 17 percent from 63 percent last year while Saudi Arabia ended up seven percent higher than its 53 percent in 2008.

The survey also found a low popularity for the United Nations in Lebanon as almost half of the 995 people who participated in the poll said they did not consider the international body as their friend.

On the most serious threats, 48 percent of the Lebanese expressed their deepest concerns over the prospects of another Israeli attack, while 12 percent said they remained concerned with the issue of Palestinian refugees. Economic recession and sectarian violence were to follow with almost 10 percent each.

While Israel and its Western allies are increasingly uncomfortable with Hezbollah's armed resistance, the Islamic group does not seem to provoke much fear at home as a meager 5 percent said they disliked an armed Hezbollah.

The vote sought views about Lebanon's 'friends and foes' among a mix of Shia and Sunni Muslims, Druze and Maronite communities as well as other religious minorities.

The poll was conducted with an error margin of 3.1 percent.

Ahmadinejad slams Ban's 'biased' stance

The Iranian president has voiced concern about the UN chief's 'biased' remarks on Tehran's nuclear work and urged him to take the IAEA's opinion into account.

"We expect the UN secretary-general to maintain his independence by paying attention to the judgments of the [International Atomic Energy] Agency… instead of echoing comments made by three Western states," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a Tuesday statement.

"It is astonishing how Iran has come under unfair attacks instead of being praised for going even further than its commitments and demonstrating a great deal of clarity," he added, in the statement that was released by Iran's UN mission.

Ahmadinejad pointed out that the construction of Iran's Fordu nuclear facility was 'fully in line with the safeguards agreement and the IAEA regulations'.

The president said Tehran notified the Agency that it was constructing the plant a year earlier than it was obliged to do so, based on document 153 of IAEA regulations.

Last week, Iran sent a letter to the UN nuclear watchdog informing the body of construction work at the Fordu site, situated to the southwest of Tehran. The clarification, however, was not welcomed by some Western officials.

Following a Friday meeting with Ahmadinejad, UN secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also chose to echo the negative comments about Iran's announcement and said that he had 'grave concerns' about the under construction plant.

He also asked Tehran to implement the UN Security Council resolutions, which ban Iran the legitimate right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. Ban also said that he was concerned about 'the human rights situation in Iran'.

In his rebuttal, Ahmadinejad urged the UN chief to pressure Washington and its allies into abandoning their military strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, stressing that it is the UN's responsibility to protect the lives of civilians in the two war-torn countries.

The Iranian president also touched upon the UN's 'biased' attitude toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue and said that the international body must not allow Tel Aviv to trample the rights of Palestinians by 'using the Holocaust as an excuse'.

Ahmadinejad also said that he had received no answer from the secretary-general in response to his questions about the United Nation's 'failure to stop repeated human rights violations' and Ban's 'discriminatory attitude'.

In a Tuesday press conference that was held after the release of the Iranian president's statement, Ban pretty much repeated his previous comments about the meeting and did not address the points raised by Ahmadinejad in his statement.

Netanyahu agrees to new Gaza hospital

JERUSALEM, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu agreed to French President Nikolas Sarkozy's request to rebuild a Gaza hospital damaged in Operation Cast Lead.

For the first time since the Israeli military offensive in Gaza ended early in 2009, Israel will allow the necessary building materials to be transferred to the Gaza Strip in order to build the hospital, the Yedioth Aharonoth newspaper said Wednesday.

Last week, Sarkozy asked Netanyahu to permit the rebuilding of the hospital in Gaza when the two met at the United Nations General Assembly, the newspaper said.

Sarkozy told Netanyahu, the nation of Qatar would fund the building costs, the report said.

Since the end of the offensive in Gaza, Israel has prevented the transfer of cement and building materials to the Gaza Strip fearing they will fall into the hands of Hamas, who will use it to rebuild positions damaged in the military operation.

In the coming days Amos Gilad, head of the Israeli Defense Ministry's security and diplomatic bureau will travel to France to coordinate the steps to rebuild the hospital, the newspaper said.

US speeding up military withdrawal from Iraq

By LARA JAKES, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The United States is speeding up its military withdrawal from Iraq, sending 4,000 more troops home next month, the top American commander there says.

The reduced number of troops in Iraq — from 124,000 to 120,000 by the end of October — marks the latest U.S. step in winding down the six-year war. The reduction was to be announced Wednesday by Army Gen. Ray Odierno.

"We have already begun deliberately drawing down our forces — without sacrificing security," Odierno said in a statement he was to deliver to the House Armed Services Committee.

"As we go forward, we will thin our lines across Iraq in order to reduce the risk and sustain stability through a deliberate transition of responsibilities to the Iraqi security forces," Odierno said.

A copy of the testimony was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. A Defense Department official confirmed Odierno planned to announce he is reducing the number of brigades in Iraq, as has been widely expected.

In his eight-page statement, Odierno voiced cautious optimism about Iraq's future. But his outlook for the nation he called an enduring U.S. interest was far from rosy.

He predicted several looming problems as U.S. troops prepare to end combat missions by September 2010 and leave Iraq at the end of 2011.

Those problems include:

_"A clear security lapse," Odierno said, was evidenced by a pair of truck bombings Aug. 19 at Iraq's finance and foreign ministries, which killed about 100 people in Baghdad.

_A system of government that is accepted across what Odierno described as ethnic, sectarian and regional lines has yet to be agreed on. He described a power struggle between provincial officials and Baghdad and said long-standing tensions continue to stall progress between Arabs and Kurds.

As the January elections approach, military officials have identified Arab-Kurd tensions as one of the top concerns for potential violence, especially in contested territories in the oil-rich north that each side claims as its own. Still, Odierno said the darkest days of the Iraq war seem to be long gone, citing failed efforts by extremists still seeking to destabilize the nation.

"The overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people have rejected extremism," Odierno said. "We see no indications of a return to the sectarian violence that plagued Iraq in 2006-2007."

_Although Iraqi leaders had planned to find government jobs for all members of a group known as Sons of Iraq, who helped curb the insurgency, "we do not believe they will meet this timeline," Odierno said. "We continue to monitor the progress of this program very closely."

Iraq's government promised to open thousands of police and military jobs, dominated by Shiites, to the Sons of Iraq, who are mostly Sunni. But the government has been accused by Sunnis of dragging its feet on integrating the jobs. Odierno, however, said 23,000 former Sons of Iraq have begun working in government jobs since 2008, and 5,000 more will start next month.

On the bright side, Odierno cited data showing that the monthly number of attacks in Iraq has dramatically dropped over the last two years — from more than 4,000 in August 2007 to about 600 last month.

He also said that far fewer al-Qaida and foreign fighters remain in Iraq, and most of those who are left are criminals and disenfranchised Iraqis who have been recruited by what Odierno described as a "small ideological core" of insurgents.

British Court Refuses to Indict Visiting Israeli Defense Minister

An attempt by an attorney representing Palestinian interests to have Israel’s defense minister arrested while on a visit to the U.K. was thwarted when the court rejected the petition, citing diplomatic immunity. Earlier, Defense Minister Ehud Barak had reportedly been counseled to leave Britain lest a warrant be issued, but the minister refused to do so, insisting that he would show up for his scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The attorneys behind the action vowed to be “relentless” and promised similar actions against any Israeli officials visiting the U.K. who can be tied in any way to Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip last January. The attempt to bring legal action against Barak follows the issuance of a report by the United Nations Human Rights Council that accuses Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes in the course of that operation. Israel rejects the entire investigation as being biased against the Jewish state. The lawyers who brought the petition against Barak were encouraged by the fact the court’s rejection was based on diplomatic immunity, and believe they will be successful in future actions against visiting Israelis without diplomatic cover. The specter of such lawsuits hanging over the heads of Israelis is setting the stage for a major diplomatic confrontation between Israel and Britain. The Palestinians, meanwhile, are pressing for the Goldstone Report to become the subject of the entire U.N. General Assembly, resulting in resolutions against Israel, which unlike those in the Security Council, are veto-proof. In Geneva, where the Human Rights Council held a one-day debate on the report, the American representative called on Israel “to utilize appropriate domestic review and meaningful accountability mechanisms to investigate and follow up on credible allegations.”

Ketsana leaves more than 300 dead across SE Asia

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer

MANILA, Philippines – One of the most destructive storms in years extended its deadly path across Southeast Asia, blowing down wooden villages in Cambodia and crushing Vietnamese houses under mudslides after submerging much of the Philippine capital.

The death toll Wednesday climbed past 300 and was rising.

"We're used to storms that sweep away one or two houses. But I've never seen a storm this strong," said Nam Tum, governor of Cambodia's Kampong Thom province.

The immediate threat was easing as Typhoon Ketsana was downgraded to a tropical depression as it crossed Wednesday into a fourth nation, Laos. But its powerful winds and pummeling rain left a snaking trail of destruction.

Landslides triggered by the storm slammed into houses in central Vietnam on Tuesday, burying at least seven people including five members of the same family, the government said. They were among 52 people killed in the country, some by falling trees, officials said.

The storm destroyed or damaged nearly 170,000 homes and flattened crops across six central Vietnamese provinces, officials said. More than 350,000 people were evacuated from the typhoon's path, posing a logistical headache to shelter and feed them.

"The scale of the devastation is stretching all of us," said Minnie Portales, a World Vision aid agency official in the Philippines. The agency said it was scrambling to assess the needs of victims in four countries, including the possibility that Laos would have damage.

Parts of hard-hit Quang Nam province were cut off by floodwaters and fallen trees on roads, said local official Nguyen Hoai Phuong. World Vision said Quang Tri province was also unreachable.

In neighboring Cambodia, at least 11 people were killed and 29 injured Tuesday as the storm toppled dozens of rickety houses in Kampong Thom province, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of the capital, Phnom Penh.

Five members of the same family died when the storm toppled their home as they ate dinner, said Neth Sophana of the Red Cross. Others were swept away by floodwaters.

Neth Sophana said about 90 homes were destroyed.

Authorities were searching for more victims and rushing food, medical supplies and plastic sheeting for temporary tents to storm-hit areas.

Light rain was falling over some parts of the disaster zone Wednesday, and most rivers had peaked in the morning and were starting to slowly recede, Vietnam's National Weather Forecast Center said.

But the cleanup task was enormous.

In the Philippines, Ketsana on Saturday triggered the worst flooding in 40 years across a swath of the island nation's north and submerged riverside districts of the sprawling capital of 12 million people.

Officials said 2.3 million people had their homes swamped, and 400,000 were seeking help in relief centers hastily set up in schools and other public buildings — even the presidential palace. The Philippines death toll stood at 246, with 42 people missing.

Frustration boiled over at some sites.

Flood victims rushed at an army helicopter delivering boxes of clothes to a relief center in Rodriguez town in hard-hit Rizal province just east of the capital, an Associated Press photographer at the scene said. No one was apparently injured.

Elsewhere in Rizal, police said they were investigating reports that flood victims mobbed two convoys carrying relief supplies and pelted the trucks with stones.

"Apparently victims who were hoping to receive the relief goods blocked the convoy," police official Leopoldo Bataoil told The AP, adding that the report was unconfirmed.

At relief centers, women and children clutching bags of belongings lined up for bottled water, boiled eggs and packets of instant noodles for a fourth day. Men waded through thick, gooey sludge back to their homes to clean up the mud — sometimes two feet (half a meter) deep — using shovels and brooms.

Manila's main downtown business and tourist district was largely unscathed.

Another tropical storm was headed toward the southern Philippines on Wednesday but was still 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) off the coast. If it stays on its current path, it could bring winds more powerful than Ketsana's and driving rain back to the Manila area Saturday, said Nathaniel Cruz of the government's weather agency.

The government has declared a "state of calamity" in Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces and estimated the damage at $100 million. It concedes its ability to cope with the disaster is stretched to the limit and has appealed for foreign aid, and accepted pledges from the United States, Australia, Japan and other nations.

Israel moves closer to freeing captive soldier

By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – Israel and Hamas militants announced a deal Wednesday that will see Israel release 20 Palestinian women from prison this week in exchange for a videotape proving that a captive Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip is still alive.

The decision was the first tangible sign of movement in more than three years of talks over the release of the soldier, Sgt. Gilad Schalit, who has not been seen since he was captured by Hamas-linked militants in a cross-border raid in June, 2006.

Schalit's release, which does not appear imminent, would defuse a central point of contention and could help ease a crippling Israeli blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Wednesday that it expects Schalit's Hamas captors to release a recent videotape of the soldier. The deal is to be carried out on Friday.

The statement said Israel's Security Cabinet accepted the deal, put forward by Egyptian and German mediators, as a "confidence-building measure." It quoted a senior official in Netanyahu's office as saying the negotiations are still "expected to be long and difficult."

The deal was carried out, the statement said, "ahead of the critical stages in the negotiations for the release of Gilad Schalit and based on Israel's commitment to work with determination to bring him home quickly."

Hamas is demanding that Israel release hundreds of prisoners, many of whom are serving lengthy sentences for violent attacks on Israelis, in exchange for the soldier. Israel has balked at many of Hamas' demands.

In Gaza, a Hamas spokesman using the pseudonym Abu Obeida confirmed that 20 female prisoners were expected to be released in the coming days. He made no mention of a videotape of Schalit, saying only that Hamas would respond by "clarifying" the soldier's condition.

"This simple deal is a precursor, God willing, to a comprehensive deal," he said.

He said the prisoners would come from various Palestinian factions, including Hamas, the rival Fatah movement and Islamic Jihad, and that one was from Gaza while the rest were from the Fatah-controlled West Bank.

Israel says that while the women were jailed for security-related offenses they were not directly involved in killing Israelis and are all within two years of the end of their prison sentences. Their names were to be published Wednesday, allowing a legally mandated 48-hour period for court appeals against their release before the deal is carried out.

A senior Egyptian official involved in the mediation said the move was designed to create "an atmosphere of trust."

"There is no doubt that this step will support the efforts of all sides to solve the problem," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity under security guidelines.

Egypt has been trying to mediate a prisoner swap since Hamas-linked militants tunneled into Israel in June 2006 and attacked an Israeli tank, killing two crewmen and capturing Schalit.

The Israeli soldier has not been seen since his capture and the Red Cross has not been allowed to visit him. But several letters and an audio recording have been released by his captors.

Netanyahu believes it is important that the world know Schalit is alive and well and that his safety is Hamas' responsibility, according to the statement from his office.

Both Hamas and Israel appear eager to wrap up a deal.

For Israel, the return of Schalit would end a painful chapter. In a country where military service is mandatory, Israelis have rallied behind the soldier and his family, holding protests calling for his release and decorating their cars with bumper stickers bearing his name. One news anchor even ends his broadcast each night by mentioning how long Schalit has been in captivity.

Hamas, meanwhile, wants to end a painful Israeli-led economic blockade of Gaza that has caused widespread shortages of many basic items. These shortages have prevented Hamas from repairing the massive damage caused in Gaza by an Israeli military offensive last winter.

Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas, a violent group backed by Iran and Syria, seized power in Gaza two years ago. Officials have said the embargo will not be lifted until Schalit comes home.

The closure has led to a bustling smuggling business along Gaza's border with Egypt. On Wednesday, two smugglers were killed and four were injured when a tunnel under the border collapsed. A paramedic said the men were working in a tunnel in an area struck by the Israeli military the night before.

The Israeli army confirmed it targeted three tunnels in response to rocket and mortar fire from Gaza in the previous two days. Israel says the tunnels are used to smuggle weapons into Gaza.

More than 120 people have died in tunnel collapses since 2007.

Chancellor introduces ground breaking guide to Islamic Finance

(MENAFN Press) For most of the Western institutions interested in Islamic finance authentic information on structuring of Shari'a compliant financial products remains scarce. The Chancellor Guide to the Legal and Shari’a Aspects of Islamic Finance, to be published this month, is the first publication of its kind to explain many of the most important legal dimensions of Islamic Finance.

Bringing together 19 legal practitioners and advisers the 355 page Guide offers practical insights on Islamic Finance and will be of value to experts and laypersons alike.

The Guide covers a wide range of asset classes including insurance, hedge funds, syndication, trade finance, real estate, wealth management, project finance, derivatives, and private equity.

Contributors to The Guide, co-edited by leading Shari’a technician Dr. Humayon Dar and Islamic lawyer Umar F. Moghul, draw on several years of experience in Islamic Finance product development and leading financial institutions counseling.

Law schools and other academic institutions worldwide will find the Guide to be a reliable reference source in this fast expanding field of study. More importantly, it will serve as a reference book for those involved in structuring of Islamic financial products. "There was an important gap in literature on Islamic finance. On one hand, we had purely academic works and on the other hand books written as no more than training notes. This Guide is the first of its kind to offer a complete toolkit to those involved in structuring of Islamic financial products," said Dr Humayon Dar, CEO of BMB Islamic.

The publication of The Guide was made possible by the support of leading players in the Islamic Finance sector, including Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), The BMB Group, Hong Leong Islamic Bank, Path Solutions and Trident Trust.

Jordan's Marka airport to be developed on commercial basis

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The Amman Civil Airport in Marka will be developed on a commercial basis, Transport Ministry Secretary General Mohannad Qudah said on Tuesday.

The ministry, in cooperation with the Jordan Airports Company (JAC), will prepare a plan to upgrade the terminal and cargo facilities, he added, noting that the renovation work will be conducted in cooperation with foreign experts.

Qudah, who is also chairman of JAC's board of directors, said a tender will be floated to invite bidders to undertake the renovation project.

Study: Jordan has potential to attract long-term investors

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The real estate sector in Jordan is among few markets in the Middle East and North Africa region positioned to attract long-term investments over the next few years, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, a Dubai-based financial and investment management company.

The report identified three main factors in determining the attractiveness of real estate markets to long-term investors: investment environment competitiveness, real estate market conditions and availability of investable products.

Long-term investors will assess the broader macroeconomic and investment environment within which real estate markets operate, which means that governments and regulators should build a transparent investment and business environment to encourage employment and population growth to attract such investors, the report said.

The study, issued in September, pointed out the Kingdom's ranking in the 2009-2010 Global Competitiveness Report, released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), in which Jordan was among the 50 most competitive countries in the world.

Jordan ranked 8th among Arab countries in the WEF report, which is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness, including institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.

Meanwhile, Jordan Investment Board CEO Maen Nsour said that strategic projects are currently in the pipeline, falling under several sectors, particularly the infrastructure.

"The Kingdom is continuously evolving towards upgrading the elements of a conducive investment and business environment, which is reflecting positively on Jordan's ability to attract long-term investors and quality investments," he told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

Among the most problematic factors for doing business in Jordan are tax rates, inefficient government bureaucracy, restrictive labor regulations and access to financing, the report said.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Cairo and Casablanca are the best-positioned cities in the region to create the competitive conditions required to attract more long-term capital into their real estate markets.

The study indicated that recovery of real estate markets in the region after being hit by the global financial crisis is critical in attracting long-term investors.

Zuhair Omari, an expert in the property sector and president of the Housing Investors Society, said the market in the Kingdom is recovering, particularly during the summer season, which witnessed an increase in property sales that he said exceeded developers' expectations.

"Property prices in Jordan went down by 15 per cent this year compared to prices recorded before the middle of 2008," he noted, attributing the decline to the drop in prices of construction materials due to the global downturn.

The third factor considered in the Jones Lang LaSalle report was the availability of investable real estate, which is related to property prices in the region that are still not in line with market expectations.

"Even where pricing is competitive, assets are not being packaged in a way that provides the secure long-term leases required to underpin the stable cash flow sought by investors," the study said.

However, Omari told The Jordan Times on Tuesday that if the banking sector adopts easier lending measures associated with a longer repayment period of around 30 years, long-term investors will be tempted to enter the Jordanian market.

"Around 45,000 residential apartments are required to be built every year due to the annual 2.7 per cent population growth registered in the Kingdom," the expert said, saying that even during the boom the sector witnessed three years ago, this need was not met.

Meanwhile, Omari said that according to government regulations, lands in certain areas may not have buildings over four storeys, indicating that the cost of land represents 50 per cent of the apartment price.

"If the government allows the construction of more than four-storey buildings, property prices will go down further and the cost of land will not exceed 30 per cent of the property price," he explained.

Omari said that current investment laws are attractive to developers, noting that the government has recently taken decisions to boost the sector such as the exemption of more residential apartments from registration fees. The step, he said, helped the sector recover and increased apartment sales.

Late May, the Cabinet decided to widen the exemption on the first 120 square metres from apartments sized 150 sq.m. or less to apartments sized 300 sq.m. or less. The new exemption decision will only be valid until the end of this year.

By By Omar Obeidat

Canadian circus billionaire heads to space station

By PETER LEONARD, Associated Press Writer

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan – A Canadian circus tycoon, an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut blasted off in a spacecraft from the Kazakh steppe Wednesday on a journey to the International Space Station.

Minutes after lifting off from the Baikonur launch facility, the Soyuz capsule shed its rocket stages and entered orbit. On board were Cirque du Soleil founder and space tourist Guy Laliberte along with crew members Jeffrey Williams and Maxim Surayev.

Friends and family on the ground cheered and hugged one another when an announcement that the ship was in orbit came over the loudspeaker. They chanted "Guy! Guy!" and broke out singing Elton John's "Rocket Man."

Laliberte, dubbed the first clown in space, had donned a bulbous red nose and blew kisses to supporters before the launch. He has paid $35 million for the trip he plans to use to publicize the world's growing shortage of clean water.

"I'm very happy for him. It's amazing," said Laliberte's partner, former model Claudia Barilla, tears streaming down her face as she cradled her young son in her arms. "Now we know he's up there."

She wore a yellow clown nose as she watched the launch. Laliberte brought several clown noses for crew mates aboard the station and has impishly warned he would tickle them while they slept.

Footage of the capsule showed crew members Williams and Surayev strapped in, operating the controls and occasionally waving for the camera.

A mission control official communicating with the astronauts said they were in excellent spirits, and a NASA TV announcer said they were "safely in orbit."

"We were worried, because this has been a tough road — 12 years of hard training," first-time space traveler Surayev's wife, Anya, said at Baikonur. "But we are pleased, happy and proud that the liftoff went off without a hitch."

The Soyuz TMA-16 craft is scheduled to arrive Friday at the International Space Station, orbiting 220 miles (355 kilometers) above Earth.

Laliberte — who rose from being a street performer to founding the circus arts and theater company Cirque Du Soleil 25 years ago — is to return to Earth after 12 days. The 50-year-old is worth an estimated $2.5 billion and holds a 95 percent stake in the circus company.

Laliberte's enthusiasm seemed to infect others ahead of the launch preparations. As the crew members climbed up the ladder into the capsule, Surayev began singing the pop song "Mammy Blue," and Laliberte and Williams joined him.

Among the spectators was Quebec singer Garou, a friend of Laliberte.

"I feel a lot more mesmerized than I ever thought I would be," Garou said after the launch. "Having your friend rising up that fast and that impressively is beyond what I expected."

Surayev, 37, and Williams, 51, plan to stay in orbit for 169 days. Williams is on his third space mission and recently became a grandfather.

"I'm glad he's up there — that's what he wanted to do," said the astronaut's wife, Anna-Marie. "Now all the training is behind us and he will just go up and do the mission."

Surayev hung a plush toy lion in front of him at the control panel to signal the beginning of weightlessness. He said his preteen daughters had kept the toy under their pillows to "make sure that the lion smells of home for the next six months."

The Soyuz team is scheduled to help continue construction of the space station, where in-orbit work began in 1998. Recent missions have expanded the station's capacity to allow six inhabitants, though Surayev and Williams will be alone for about three weeks at year's end after the station's current occupants leave.

Six shuttle flights remain to wrap up construction on the station — now Earth's largest artificial satellite, weighing more than 710,000 pounds (322,000 kilograms).

The station has cost more than $100 billion, paid by the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and the 18-nation European Space Agency.

Laliberte is the seventh paying space tourist to travel to the station and may be one of its last private visitors for several years as NASA retires its shuttle program and turns to the Russian space agency to ferry U.S. astronauts to the lab.

Space Adventures, which organized the private visits, will nevertheless aim to make sure more tourists get to visit the space station in the coming years, company CEO Eric Anderson said, suggesting the number of Russian Soyuz missions could be increased.

"I keep hearing that space tourism is ending and it never seems to be true," Anderson told The Associated Press.

Over 100 Pro-Democracy Protesters Killed In Guinea

2009-09-29

Security forces fired on pro-democracy demonstrators on Monday in Guinea, killing scores, according to witnesses and news reports. The Guinean Human Rights Organization said reports from hospitals indicated that the death toll had risen to 157, news reports said Tuesday.

Troops opened fire as thousands of opponents of the military junta led by Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara gathered in a stadium in Conakry, the capital, to protest his plans to run in presidential elections next January.

At first the troops fired tear gas at the crowd, estimated to have as many as 50,000 people, and then they started shooting, according to witnesses, who described scenes of panic and terror.

Witnesses spoke of seeing numerous wounded and dead demonstrators. The violence came after months of tension in the impoverished West African nation, brought on by what has been widely described as the erratic behavior of Captain Camara, the military man who led a coup last December, soon after the death of the longtime leader Lansana Conte.

The shooting drew widespread international condemnation, with Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, urging the authorities in Conakry on Tuesday to “exercise maximum restraint and ensure a peaceful and democratic transition,” said news reports.

“At our request, the European Union will meet tomorrow in Brussels to examine additional measures, particularly against individuals, that could be taken swiftly,” he said. Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, said Tuesday that Paris was suspending military ties with Guinea, a former colony, and “also reviewing its entire bilateral aid,” Reuters reported.

At first welcomed by citizens weary from decades of authoritarian rule, Captain Camara has since lost support because of the actions of his troops - which human rights groups say include robberies, beatings and rapes - and his own inconsistencies.

He appears to make all government decisions alone, frequently with television cameras rolling. Tirades about drug dealers and incompetent officials; interrogations of Conte’s henchmen; and homilies about his own humble background have all been beamed into people’s homes.

The “Dadis Show,” as Guineans call it, has palled after initially beguiling people, and more and more of them have demonstrated to hold Captain Camara to his pledge not to run for office. Recent suggestions that he would run mobilized the crowd on Monday, which included a number of opposition figures, who were subsequently wounded and arrested.

Demonstrators held signs reading, “Down with the army in power,” according to news reports.

“We saw trucks coming into the stadium and the soldiers getting out from them,” a teacher, Youssouf Koumbassa, said. “They were firing everywhere.”

In the background, gunshots could still be heard hours after the demonstration had been crushed.

“People started falling, wounded,” said Koumbassa. “They were running.”

Koumbassa said female demonstrators were stripped by some of the troops. A correspondent for Radio France Internationale, Mouctar Bah, said soldiers seized his equipment and smashed it on the ground. He said he saw numerous wounded and dead people. “It was a macabre scene,” said Bah.

Experts, noting the increasing lawlessness of the Guinean security forces and a previous propensity for violence, suggested that Monday’s killings were not altogether surprising.

“Whether they had a green light, or these security forces were beyond the control of the president, either of those bodes badly for the future,” said Michael McGovern, an assistant professor of anthropology at Yale University and an expert on Guinea.

Source: Free Internet Press.
Link: http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=23051.

Germany's New Government Faces Tough Work Abroad

For four years, Angela Merkel's government was unable to find common ground when it came to many foreign policy issues. Now, armed with a new coalition partner, the chancellor must develop a clear German position on a host of issues. The clock is ticking, argue foreign policy experts.

Nuclear issues have a special allure in foreign policy. The business of diplomacy is tough, discreet and often a bit complicated, and sometimes talking about a subject as spectacular as nuclear weapons can be helpful. Taking a stance against nuclear bombs is always popular, and it allows foreign affairs politicians to promote themselves and their views.

Former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer used this trick often. When Fischer, a member of the Green Party, became foreign minister in 1998, he challenged the NATO doctrine on the preemptive use of nuclear weapons. He was reined in by the United States and by his own chancellor, but he made a name for himself in the process. In 2005, Social Democratic Defense Minister Peter Struck - not surprisingly, with Fischer's support - called for the withdrawal of an estimated 20 nuclear bombs the Americans were storing at a German air base near the town of Buchel in the Eifel Mountains.

The bombs are still there, as is their convenient symbolism. "In the coming legislative period, Germany will finally become free of nuclear weapons," Guido Westerwelle, the chairman of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) recently promised. Outgoing Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a similar statement this year, but both politicians were rebuffed when Chancellor Angela Merkel declared her support for the storage of the U.S. nuclear bombs, noting that it bolsters Germany's "influence in the alliance, particularly in this highly sensitive area."

Despite the popularity of opposition to nuclear weapons, there are more important issues, and the chancellor and foreign minister will face more urgent tasks in the next legislative period. The world of diplomacy will turn more quickly in the coming years, as a long waiting period draws to a close. The world yearned for the end of the hapless former U.S. President George W. Bush's term in office. The European Union, for its part, spent almost 10 years wrapped up in a dispute over its internal constitution.

This wider diplomatic state of affairs was ideal for the grand coalition, in which the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) differed on many issues. Both parties were relieved not to have to make any decisions on Turkey's accession to the European Union (E.U.), a trade war with Iran or sending combat troops to southern Afghanistan. Instead, they argued over the conditions under which German politicians should interact with dictators, warlords and the Dalai Lama.

Obama to Demand More Engagement

In retrospect, these debates seem rather academic. U.S. President Barack Obama has since made it clear that there are more important issues to be addressed, and that he wants to achieve results in the management of the world's most dangerous hot spots: Afghanistan, Iran and the Middle East.

The United States expects Berlin to react to Obama's initiatives, and not without reason, given that Germany is Washington's most important European ally. The next administration will likely be called upon to make some tough decisions in international crisis management.

A waiting period is also coming to an end for Europeans. When they direct their attention outward again following ratification of their Lisbon reform treaty, they will discover that there is much to be done in their immediate neighborhood. And when this happens, Germany - the E.U.'s most populous member state - will have to do what it has largely avoided in the recent past: lead.

Foreign affairs experts in Berlin see a staggering agenda on the horizon in the coming years. The new administration faces the challenge of clearing up a backlog of postponed strategic decisions that has developed in German foreign policy.

Berlin will likely face some of its toughest decisions when it comes to crisis management. For years, Germany's policies on diplomacy on Iran, the Afghanistan mission and the Middle East conflict have hardly deviated from previously established approaches - at a high diplomatic, military and economic cost, but without any fundamental reorientation.

New Momentum Expected on Iran

This could quickly change after the election. Berlin could already modify its approach toward Iran in the next few weeks. Although the new U.S. administration has attempted to win over Tehran with offers to negotiate, the deadlines set by Washington will soon expire, and the last serious attempt to initiate talks could happen as early as next week.

At the same time, the United States is preparing a new set of punitive measures against Tehran, which will likely destroy all hopes for dialogue. Washington and Israel are pushing for increasingly sharp sanctions should negotiations fail, and a trade war can no longer be ruled out. If that happened, Germany would have to decide whether to go along with massive economic sanctions, such as a fuel embargo and restrictions on shipping and aviation - which would be extremely unpopular among German businesses.

'The Clock Is Ticking'

Meanwhile, Israel has launched into a new debate over a possible air strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. It is hard to imagine that this discussion will last another four years without anything happening. Although Germany would not be asked to take part in a military attack on nuclear facilities, it would be expected to take a position. And in the event of a trade war, Germany, as Iran's biggest trading partner, would play an indispensable part.

"The clock is ticking," says Volker Perthes, 51, director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). By the "end of the year," he says, it will have to be clear "whether or not we are in a serious negotiating process." Perthes, an expert on the Orient, believes that Obama will urge his allies to make decisions, not just on the Iran question but in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, as well.

The U.S. president apparently wants to see the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of his term in office. This would require Israel's substantial withdrawal from the occupied territories - and a security guarantee that the new Palestine would not pose a danger to Israel.

Perthes is not given to exaggerated expectations. He does not feel that a rapid resolution of the Palestinian conflict is a foregone conclusion, but that it is possible - and he knows what the establishment of a Palestinian state means. "It will raise the question of a military presence, not of the United Nations, but of NATO," he says. In other words, NATO partner Germany would also be called upon to ensure that Palestine does not pose a threat to Israeli cities like Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

But the most pressing problem will likely be the development of a new course in Afghanistan, says Perthes. Although the Afghanistan mission, he says, is not a "vital question for NATO" - the alliance is too stable for that - Germany's behavior could clearly become a "vital question for our position within NATO."

The United States, as the leading power in the Western military alliance, expects its allies to make new efforts. For Germany, this would probably mean increasing its contribution in all areas, including police, military and reconstruction personnel, as well as boosting its financial contribution.

Perthes warns that the Germans must prepare themselves for his new role. "We must know exactly what we want."

Other European countries are also waiting for Germany to take a clearer stance on international issues. At this point Berlin is "no longer an inspiring force in European politics," says SWP Director Perthes. "The time will come when the biggest member state will have to answer the question: Where do we want to go?"

Chaos on the Horizon?

Ralf Fucks has thought about the decisions Europe will face in its foreign policy. The former Green Party politician, now co-chairman of the Heinrich Boll Foundation, paints a scenario with potentially horrific consequences for German policy.

Fucks pauses often when he speaks, almost as if he himself were a little taken aback by the enormity of the problems he describes. According to Fucks, the countries that make up the former Yugoslavia could descend into the chaos if their attempts to integrate themselves into the E.U. and NATO are delayed. Former Soviet republics like Belarus and Ukraine, he says, will need help to avoid coming under Moscow's control, while Turkey deserves a genuine offer of acceptance into the EU. "We need fundamental decisions within a politically relevant time frame - that is, in the next few years," says Fucks.

This is particularly true of Turkey. "We will not be able to form a strategic alliance with Turkey unless we truly open the door for it to join the E.U.," says Fucks. Until that happens, he says, the Turks will continue to pursue a "see-saw policy," maintaining their own relations with countries like Russia and Iran.

In Fücks' view, the EU needs Ankara to strengthen its position toward Russia on such issues as the energy supply. The E.U. plans to bring natural gas from Central Asia and the Middle East to Europe through the planned Nabucco pipeline in Turkey. The Russians are attempting to thwart this effort by making Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan counter-offers in the energy sector.

But the E.U. has little interest in taking on new members, and its expansion policies have been put on ice. The negotiations over Turkey's accession, which began in 2005, have turned into a farce, in which 13 of the 35 negotiating chapters are currently not even on the table. Berlin, which has not taken a stance on the Turkey issue for years, is partly to blame. The SPD and the CDU, together with its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have simply ignored the issue, because they disagreed on it. The next administration will have to decide whether it can continue the same approach without jeopardizing projects like the Nabucco pipeline.

Similar considerations apply in the Balkans. The E.U. is keeping its distance from the successor states of the former Yugoslavia. Croatia is being denied acceptance into the E.U. because Slovenia, citing a border dispute with Zagreb, is using its veto to block membership. Meanwhile, Greece is blocking Macedonian membership in NATO because of a dispute over the country's name. The protectorates of Kosovo and Bosnia, where about 15,000 E.U. and NATO troops are stationed, are making little headway. U.S. diplomats are already concerned that the western Balkans could "drift away" unless Europe wakes up soon.

Fucks has a simple solution to avert this danger: promoting E.U. membership. Even the prospect of membership, says Fucks, is an engine for reform in candidate countries. But because this prospect is becoming blurred, the Balkans threaten to deteriorate into chaos once again. "The E.U. must clarify whether it intends to postpone expansion policy indefinitely in favor of internal stability," he says. "This has bitter consequences."

Fucks and Perthes describe decisions that are neither symbolic nor popular. They call for a clear analysis of interests and the willingness to use political capital.

Does German Foreign Policy Whitewash the World?

Eberhard Sandschneider, 54, head of the research institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations, goes even a step further. "German foreign policy will have to slaughter several sacred cows after the election," he says.

The world Sandschneider describes is not a pleasant place. He believes that reforming the United Nations is an illusion, and that the establishment of a new world government headed by the G-20 group is nothing but a pleasant dream. "All that we will see in the future is the creation of temporary alliances in varying configurations," says Sandschneider. Germans and Europeans, he says, should get used to the idea, so they won't run out of steam when confronted with the maneuverings of the powerful - the Americans, Russians, Chinese and Indians.

In Sandschneider's view of the world, the protection of human rights has "served its time as a maxim of foreign policy." Interests will dominate over values, he says, or else the West will be unable to find a common basis for interacting with rising major powers like China.

Sandschneider believes that German foreign policy whitewashes the world, and he cites the conflict over Iran's nuclear program as an example. For years, says Sandschneider, the West has been fighting this program, and yet most experts know that "Iran will become a nuclear state, and the West will not be able to prevent it from happening."

No German government will embark with enthusiasm on the path Sandschneider describes, which will entail radically questioning its own fundamental assumptions.

But perhaps it would be more tempting for a new government to modify the way it communicates the coming changes in foreign policy. Almost two dozen nuclear bombs are stored near the Eifel Mountains town of Buchel. Wouldn't it be an exciting disarmament initiative for the new administration, after taking office, to demand their removal from Germany?

Israeli Army Rates Low Against Hezbollah

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL

A document drawn up by a senior Israeli military officer warns the Israeli Army is not adequately prepared to counter Hezbollah in a future war.

The paper, written by Lt. Col. Robi Sandman titled "How the Arabs are preparing for the next war," claimed the Israeli Army failed to compile accurate intelligence on Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War, Maariv reported Tuesday.

Sandman assessed in the next war Hezbollah will dispatch hundreds of armed squads comprised of up to five fighters each into the Galilee, the newspaper said.

He advised the army set up small reconnaissance squads to counter the threat, noting that the Hezbollah fighters will rely on assistance from the local Israeli Arab population in the Galilee in the next war.

"Currently the army has no response to such a scenario," the newspaper quoted Sandman saying.

The document received an award from Israeli army chief Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.

Sandman asked 24 Israeli army officers to grade between one and 10 the Israeli army's performance and that of Hezbollah during the 33-day war in 2006, the newspaper said.

In military doctrine and strategy the officers graded Hezbollah with nine out of 10 as opposed to the Israeli army which received five, the paper said.

In intelligence gathering, Hezbollah received a seven for its performance and the Israeli army six, the document said.

Hezbollah received an eight in training and organization and the Israeli army was rated seven. While the Israeli army scored a high nine in technology compared with Hezbollah's five, the Iranian-backed group rated an eight in tactical command compared to the army's six, Maariv said.

Annahar lays off 55 employees

Lebanese newspaper Annahar yesterday said it has made 55 employees redundant in the past few days.

The lay offs included senior management, reporters and staff employees at one of the oldest newspapers in Lebanon.

Ghassan Hajjar, Managing Editor, said the lay offs were meant for reform.

He said the economic downturn has affected all the players in the market, including the newspaper. However, he said: "We are not suffering a major financial crisis."

He said the actions taken by the management of the newspaper were recommended by Booz Allen Hamilton consultancy, which conducted a study on the newspaper's finance, management and productivity situation a year ago.

Hajjar said the consultancy firm recommended that the newspaper shed more than 80 employees, but that it did not see that feasible.

He told Emirates Business that there was no plan to lay off any more employees for the time being, noting that management would decide on such measures based on the evaluation of the impacts of the current lay offs on the development of the newspaper's productivity.

According to inside information, Edmond Saab Executive Editor-in-Chief was asked to leave in addition to the head of the training centre, the editor of the last page, the sports editor, the legal editor and the editor of Nahar Al Shabab supplement.

Annahar shareholders include Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz and Saad Al Hariri.

Analysis: Iran plant could defer Israel strike

By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – It may seem counterintuitive, but the news that Iran has a second, clandestine uranium enrichment plant, and has just test-fired long-range missiles, could actually put off any plans for a quick Israeli strike.

To be sure, Israel still sees an Iran with nuclear weapons as its greatest threat and has not taken a military assault off the table. Its defense minister, Ehud Barak, said as much in London on Tuesday.

Neutralizing the threat remains Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top priority. And the spectacle of upgraded missiles flying across Israel's TV screens only feeds its resolve to keep Iran at bay.

Yet the latest developments are likely to push world powers to impose the tough sanctions that Israel has been seeking. Giving Israel's position a higher profile on the world stage may also make it less inclined to act unilaterally.

For years, Israel has warned that Iran was not being honest about the size and nature of its nuclear program, which Tehran claims is designed to produce energy. Israel has portrayed last week's disclosure of the second facility, hidden in the arid mountains near the holy city of Qom, as confirmation of its suspicions.

"If there ever was a thought of (Israel) going with a military option, it's been put off," said Ephraim Kam, the deputy director of Tel Aviv University's Institute of National Security Studies. "Iran was caught lying again, it's clearly moving toward becoming a nuclear power.

"Now the Americans are better able to try to persuade the Europeans, and even the Russians, to go for tougher sanctions," he said.

Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born analyst working in Israel, agreed.

"It's likely that Israel will now be included more in the decision-making process," he said. "The more Israel sees itself as part of the process of dealing with the Iranian nuclear question, the less likely it is that it will take part in a unilateral action."

In a meeting with British Defense Minister Bob Ainsworth, Israel's Barak said the existence of the second plant should trigger harsh sanctions, according to a statement from his office which added that Israel "is not removing any option from the table."

The reference to "options" is seen as a signal that an Israeli military strike remains a possibility.

Iran's nuclear chief, Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, said Tuesday that his country built the newly revealed facility inside a mountain and next to a military site to protect it from attack. He didn't identify the potential attackers.

Iran said the Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles it tested had a range of 1,200 miles and can "target any place that threatens Iran." Israel, parts of Europe and U.S. military bases in the Mideast are within that range.

Iran's nuclear program, its missiles and its patronage of Palestinian and Lebanese militants on Israel's northern and southern flanks combined to make it Israel's most formidable foe. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated references to Israel's eventual destruction have only intensified concerns.

"The most urgent challenge facing this body is to prevent the tyrants of Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons," Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly last week.

Netanyahu has said sanctions are the best option, especially considering Iran's weakened economy and its domestic turmoil following contested elections. The revelation of the Qom facility did not significantly alter the preference for diplomacy because world intelligence agencies, including Israel's, have reportedly known about its existence for years.

Israel's 1981 air attack on an unfinished nuclear reactor in Iraq has long spurred speculation that such a strike might be replicated against Iran. But Iran's nuclear facilities are scattered across the country and highly fortified. Military experts are divided over whether Israel could cripple them or just set the program back a few years.

Washington has sent out multiple signals that it opposes a military strike and wants to see if sanctions can do the job. If Israeli warplanes flew to Iran, they would probably need permission to cross air space controlled by the U.S. and other countries.

But the threat of attack can serve diplomacy well, said Hazhir Teimourian, a British-based historian of the Middle East.

"I think Israel's threats to resort to military action have been taken seriously by the Americans and the Europeans, and that concentrates their minds," Teimourian said.

"They will resort to sanctions more readily and more deeply than they might otherwise do," he said. "It suits the West for Israel to shout about it."

UN chief: Iran should negotiate with key powers

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he told the Iranians that the U.N. nuclear chief said a package of incentives from six key Western powers that is now on the table if Tehran suspends uranium enrichment is a good one and they should negotiate on it.

Ban held talks last Friday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and said he had "much more candid discussions" Tuesday with Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

With Iran scheduled to meet Thursday in Geneva with the six key Western nations — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — the secretary-general said he told Mottaki "to make progress" in negotiations on his country's nuclear program.

The Geneva meeting comes days after the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, confirmed that Iran sent a letter on Sept. 21 disclosing that it was building a new uranium enrichment facility.

Ahmadinejad said Friday his country has complied with requirements to inform the IAEA six months before a new enrichment facility becomes operational, and was giving 18 months notice. But the IAEA says Iran is obligated to give notice that it plans to build such facilities as soon as that decision is made.

Following the IAEA's disclosure of the new facility, Ban expressed "grave concern" about Iran's continued uranium enrichment, as did the leaders of the United States, Britain and France.

According to Iran's U.N. Mission, Ahmadinejad in turn expressed "grave concern" during his meeting with Ban that "instead of waiting for the IAEA, as the competent body, to reflect on ... the new enrichment facility, the U.N. chief had "chosen to repeat the same allegations that (a) few Western powers are making."

The secretary-general told a news conference Tuesday that he responded to Ahmadinejad's criticism by telling the president that the newly disclosed facility violated U.N. Security Council resolutions. Ban said he urged him to be transparent and open all nuclear facilities to IAEA inspection.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed solely at producing nuclear energy, but the U.S. and its allies believe Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons.

"I made it quite clear that when they argue that their nuclear facilities are genuinely for peaceful purposes the burden of proof is on their side," Ban said.

Iran has agreed to allow the IAEA to inspect the new facility. At the news conference Tuesday, Ban was asked why he didn't wait for the U.N. nuclear agency to issue its report, as Ahmadinejad said.

"To be transparent and credible, when you have such an intent to build facilities, they should have informed — notified the IAEA long time before, not just before everything would be completed," Ban replied.

"That's what I'm raising. So there is a question of transparency. That is why the world leaders have expressed their deep concern and that is why I have also expressed my concern," he said.

Later, at a round-table luncheon hosted by the United Nations Foundation, Ban called the Iranian nuclear issue "very serious, even dangerous."

He said he told Mottaki he was "troubled that Iran is criticized," in the same manner as North Korea, and offered U.N. help for the country "to find some proper place in the international community."

But to achieve this, he said, Iran has to prove it is completely transparent and gives the IAEA full access to its nuclear facilities.

"I said, have you informed the IAEA when you had the blueprint (for the new facility)?" Ban said. "You have done it after you have finished ... construction, in a very remote mountainside underground. Then, it's not true, complete transparency. That's what I'm asking."

The six powers have offered Iran two packages for suspending enrichment as a prelude to wide-ranging talks on its nuclear program, the first in 2006 and the second in 2008.

Ban said he asked IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei what he thought about the two packages.

"Dr. ElBaradei told me that the first package was not enough, he believed. The second package is something which is good and ... can be negotiated," Ban said. "So I told the Iranians, I checked with the (IAEA) director-general. The first one you might not have been satisfied. I agree. The second package is a good one. You can negotiate it."

The 2008 package of economic, technological and political incentives to Tehran offers to help Iran develop a peaceful nuclear energy program and improve economic and diplomatic relations with the six countries and the European Union, on condition in suspends uranium enrichment.

Asked how Mottaki responded, Ban said, "he didn't have much to say."

"I don't know how this negotiation will go," the U.N. chief added.

Ahmadinejad stresses Muslims' 'unity'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on regional states to strengthen unity, saying 'the enemy' fears Muslim countries' unanimity.

"Countries in the region have lived with each other peacefully and without any difference. The enemy, however, seeks to cause discord and even waged wars," Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Ayad al-Samarai in Tehran on Tuesday.

"The enemy has even established the fake Zionist regime [Israel] with the aim of hatching plots against regional governments and nations," he added.

"All regional countries shoulder heavy responsibility to cut the hands of the enemy.”

Ahmadinejad asserted the importance of Iraq's unity and said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran regards Iraq's security and integrity as its own."

"Security and progress of Iran and Iraq are integrated," he added.

Al-Samarai also met with Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani on Tuesday during his visit to Iran.

Larijani said the West seeks to impose its views on all countries and called on Muslim states to define the concept of 'Islamic human rights'.

"Muslim countries should try to determine the meaning of Islamic human rights based on preconceptions accepted by Islam," Larijani said on Tuesday.

He further voiced Iran's readiness to share its valuable experience on codification of judicial laws with Muslim states.

Hamas PM says Palestinian unity agreement is near

The elected prime minister of Palestine, Ismail Haniyeh, says his party Hamas has approved the framework of the Egyptian peace agreement and that signing it “is near.”

In an interview aired on September 29, Haniyeh said that the “Hamas position on the Egyptian proposal is positive, because it constitutes the regulatory framework of national reconciliation.”

He also stated that he believes once some parts of the agreement are discussed during talks in October, the proposal will be ready for signing, which ultimately will end the divisions among different Palestinian factions, the Maan news agency reported.

Haniyeh said if everything moves according to the agreement, then the elections will be held at the agreed time. He added that he feels an accord will be reached over the Fatah hesitation over postponing the elections, as per the Egyptian plan, in the “first half of 2010.”

He went on to say that the Palestinians are at a critical juncture and the abnormal situation can be ended soon.

"The normal situation is that we are one people with one government and we are serious in reaching that," he said.

Palestinians demand end to Israeli attacks

The Palestinian Authority prime minister says Israeli infringements against the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (al-Quds) are violations of international law and must stop.

Talking to reporters in Ramallah on September 29, Salam Fayyad called on Arab and other countries to take "clear positions" to compel the Israeli regime to stop its arbitrary practices, an action condemned by many countries.

Jewish extremists, supported by armed Israeli police, entered the al-Aqsa Mosque on September 27 and attacked protesting Palestinians, resulting in the injury of 16 Palestinians.

Such Israeli actions, including putting more restrictions on Palestinians in the holy city, are changing its features, Fayyad said. “This will significantly harm the already faltering peace process, and will only lead to more frustration and tension,” he said.

Israel does not include occupied Jerusalem in the ongoing peace negotiations, which is unacceptable, Fayyad said, and added that international law should be applicable to Jerusalem as well as the rest of the Israeli-occupied territories.

Fayyad also condemned the recent reports of Israeli settlers distributing leaflets to Palestinian olive farmers, demanding they stay away from their olive groves this October during the harvest. “This threat must be taken seriously,” he said.

Iran has full right to use nuclear energy: Amr Moussa

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has declared that diplomacy should be “the only way” to deal with Iran and that Iran has the “full right” to use nuclear energy.

"We are going to follow closely the negotiations to start on the first of October," DPA quoted Moussa as saying in Cairo on Tuesday.

Moussa was referring to the upcoming meeting between Iran and the P5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China -- plus Germany), which is scheduled to take place in Geneva on October 1.

"It will be a long road, but dealing with Iran through diplomacy is important, essential, and should be the only way," he insisted.

"Arab countries have formulated a consensual position," Moussa said.

"The Middle East does not need any nuclear weapons program," he added.

"This also applies to Israel, in view of the fact that Israel is outside the realm of the Non-Proliferation Treaty," he stressed, saying, "Iran has the full right to benefit from peaceful uses of nuclear energy."

Egypt: Nile River Basin States in Appeal to Countries

29 September 2009

Mathias Ringa

Nairobi — Countries of the River Nile basin have appealed to Egypt and Sudan to co-operate in the formulation of an agreement which would allow equitable utilization of water resources.

Water minister Charity Ngilu said it was unfair for the two countries to maintain a status quo on the usage of the Nile water resources at the expense of other states.

Mrs Ngilu noted that the prolonged and protracted consultations on the Nile basin collaborative framework was causing anxiety and displeasure amongst riparian countries which are not benefiting from the resource.

The minister said the 1929 agreement between Egypt and the United Kingdom has been viewed as protecting the interests of the developed downstream riparian states at the expense of the underdeveloped upstream states.

Mrs Ngilu said: "We want the legal framework swiftly concluded and operationalised to save the Lake Victoria and reassure the livelihood of 15 million people bordering the basin.

"Kenya expects Egypt and Sudan to cooperate since their needs are best served through the conservation of the Lake Victoria basin.We would like the downstream riparian states to assist in conserving the lake."

Mrs Ngilu made the remarks in a speech which was read on her behalf by Water resources director John Nyaoro at Sun N' Sand Beach Resort in Kilifi during a workshop on Climate Change and Transboundary water conflict in Africa.

She called on the two countries to ensure peaceful and sustainable development of transboundary waters to avert conflict with other states.

The workshop which was organized by Institute for Security Studies was attended by participants from Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, South Africa, Niger, Zambia among other countries.

ISS acting director Roba Sharamo said the organization through its conflict prevention program had brought up the riparian countries to find means of tackling the stand-off through dialogue.

Mr Sharomo urged Eypt and Sudan to agree to the sharing of the water resources so as to foster cooperation, conservation and boosting food security of riparian countries.

An Ethiopian senior researcher Dr Debay Tadesse called for the preparation of a general framework for cooperation in the Nile River basin with specific reference to equitable utilization of the water resources.

Dr Tadesse said approaches to conflict resolution and resource management would develop the upstream riparian countries which were unable to meet food security.

The researcher demanded for the revision of the status quo through the generation of options to avoid potential confrontation and enhance stability and conservation of the water resources.

"The first logical step is to discuss the issue of the Nile with a desire to finding a lasting solution. The degree of mistrust characterizing the riparian countries has to be avoided through mutual agreement," Dr Tadesse said.

He noted that both the 1929 and 1959 agreements were only bilateral and did not include the other riparian countries of the Nile despite the fact that partitioning was done for all of the river's waters.

The researcher said unless the water resources were shared equally among the concerned states a conflict might occur.

"The existing model based on the status quo early and mid 20th century is deeply flawed. The agreements which were made many years ago have been rejected by the rest of the riparian countries and this might trigger a conflict," he added.

When reached for comment over the issue on the sidelines of the workshop, Dr Magdy Hefny who is the director of the regional center for research and studies of water ethics said he was not in a position to talk about the matter.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200909291057.html.

Hamas Acquires New ATGMs

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- The Israeli intelligence community has determined that the Hamas regime obtained advanced anti-tank guided missiles in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli military sources said the intelligence community has tracked the arrival of advanced Russian-origin anti-tank missiles in the Gaza Strip. The sources said the ATGMs reached the Gaza Strip through Egypt in mid-2009.

Algeria Links AQIM With Tribes

CAIRO [MENL] -- The Algerian intelligence community has determined that Berber tribes were cooperating with the Al Qaida network.

Security sources said the Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb has established links with Berber tribes in central Algeria. They said Berbers were cooperating with AQIM in the province of Boumerdes, east of Algiers and a launching pad for Islamic insurgency strikes.

Turkey Plans To Disband CI Force

ANKARA [MENL] -- Turkey plans to disband a controversial counter-insurgency accused of widespread abuse and corruption.

A government report has recommended the disbanding of the paramilitary Village Guard, meant to fight the Kurdish insurgency in southeastern Turkey. The guard, with 82,000 members in 22 provinces, has been mandated to monitor and combat the Kurdish Workers Party, which contains a major presence along the border with Iraq.

Quake triggers tsunami in the Samoas, killing 82

By KENI LESA and FILI SAGAPOLUTELE, Associated Press Writers

APIA, Samoa – A powerful earthquake in the South Pacific hurled massive tsunami waves at the shores of Samoa and American Samoa, flattening villages and sweeping cars and people out to sea, leaving at least 82 dead and dozens missing.

Survivors fled the fast-churning water for higher ground and remained huddled there hours after the quake struck early Tuesday. Signs of devastation were everywhere, with a giant boat washed ashore lying on the edge of a highway and floodwaters swallowing up cars and homes.

The quake, with a magnitude between 8.0 and 8.3, struck around dawn about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Samoa, an island nation of 180,000 people located about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii. It struck about 120 miles (190 kilometers) from neighboring American Samoa, a U.S. territory that is home to 65,000 people.

Four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters) high roared ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to a mile (1.6 kilometers) inland, Mike Reynolds, superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa, was quoted as saying by a parks service spokeswoman. He reported dozens of park workers missing.

Hampered by power and communications outages, officials struggled to determine damage and casualties.

Samoan police commissioner Lilo Maiava told The Associated Press that police there had confirmed 63 deaths but that officials were still searching the devastated areas, so the number of deaths might rise soon.

Hundreds of injured were being treated by health workers and that people are still struggling into centers seeking treatment, Maiava said.

At least 19 people were killed on American Samoa, officials there said.

"I don't think anybody is going to be spared in this disaster," said American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono, who was in Hawaii for a conference.

In Washington, President Barack Obama declared a disaster for American Samoa. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was deploying teams to provide support and assess damage.

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi looked shaken Wednesday on board a flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to the Samoan capital of Apia.

"So much has gone. So many people are gone," he told reporters on board. "I'm so shocked, so saddened by all the loss."

Malielegaoi said his own village of Lepa was destroyed.

"Thankfully, the alarm sounded on the radio and gave people time to climb to higher ground," he said. "But not everyone escaped."

Gov. Tulafono told reporters in Honolulu that more victims could be found when rescuers reach areas that are inaccessible by roads. Tulafono said a member of his extended family was among the dead.

There were unconfirmed reports of at least five additional people dead in the island nation of Tonga, west of the Samoas, New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Bill English said.

"There are a considerable number of people who've been swept out to sea and are unaccounted for," English said. "We don't have information about the full impact and we do have some real concern that over the next 12 hours the picture could look worse rather than better."

He said a New Zealand P3 Orion maritime surveillance plane would reach the region later Wednesday to search for survivors. U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. John Titchen said a C-130 was being dispatched Wednesday to deliver aid to American Somoa, assess damage and take the governor back home.

On Samoa, New Zealander Graeme Ansell said the beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale was leveled.

"It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," Ansell told New Zealand's National Radio from a hill near Samoa's capital, Apia. "There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need 'round here."

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said an Australian woman has been confirmed killed in Samoa, three other Australians have been hospitalized and six other Australians remain unaccounted for after the tsunami.

Mase Akapo, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in American Samoa, reported at least 19 people killed in four different villages on the main island of Tutuila. Officials reported at least 50 injured.

American Samoa is home to a U.S. national park that appeared to be especially hard-hit.

Reynolds, the park superintendent, said he had been able to locate only 20 percent of the park's 40 to 50 employees and volunteers. He spoke to park service officials from Pago Pago Harbor and reported that the visitor center and offices were destroyed, according to Holly Bundock, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service.

Residents in both Samoa and American Samoa reported being shaken awake by the quake early Tuesday, which lasted two to three minutes and was centered about 20 miles (32 kilometers) below the ocean floor. It was followed by at least three large aftershocks of at least 5.6 magnitude.

The quake came Tuesday morning for the Samoas, which lie just east of the international dateline. For Asia-Pacific countries on the other side of the line, it was already Wednesday.

The Samoan capital was virtually deserted with schools and businesses closed. Hours after the waves struck, fresh sirens rang out with another tsunami alert and panicked residents headed for higher ground again, although there was no indication of a new quake.

Eni Faleomavaega, who represents American Samoa as a non-voting delegate in the U.S. House, said he had talked to people by telephone who said that Pago Pago — just a few feet above sea level — was flattened and several hundred people's homes were destroyed.

The dominant industry in American Samoa — tuna canneries — was also affected. Chicken of the Sea's tuna packing plant in American Samoa was forced to close although the facility wasn't damaged, the San Diego-based company said.

The effects of the tsunami could be felt thousands of miles away.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said "very weak" tsunami waves were registered off the island of Hachijojima about 10 hours after the quake. There were no reports of injuries or damage in Japan, which is about 4,700 miles (7,600 kilometers) northwest of Samoa.

U.S. officials said strong currents and dangerous waves were forecast from California to Washington state. No major flooding was expected, however.

In Los Angeles, lifeguards said they will clear beaches at about 8 p.m. in response to an advisory for possible dangerous currents.

While the earthquake and tsunami were big, they were not on the same scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, said Brian Atwater of the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle. That tsunami killed more than 230,000 in a dozen countries across Asia.

The 2004 quake was at least 10 times stronger than the measurements being reported for Tuesday's quake, Atwater said.

Stress disease kills Australia's koalas

By TANALEE SMITH, Associated Press Writer

CUDLEE CREEK, Australia – The koala, Australia's star symbol, is dying of stress.

Koalas live in the rolling hills and flat plains where eucalyptus trees grow, because they need the leaves for both food and water. But as people move in, koalas are finding themselves with fewer trees, researchers say. The stress is bringing out a latent disease that infects 50 to 90 percent of the animals.

"Koalas are in diabolical trouble," says researcher Frank Carrick, who heads the Koala Study Program at the University of Queensland. "Numbers show that even in their stronghold, koala numbers are declining alarmingly."

The problem came to national attention in August, when the well-known Sam the Koala died during surgery to treat the disease, called chlamydia. Sam captured the world's attention during major wildfires in February, when she was photographed drinking from the water bottle of a firefighter in a smoldering forest.

Sam was in such obvious pain from chlamydia that veterinarian John Butler decided to operate. But her organs were too scarred to complete the surgery, and Sam was euthanized.

Chlamydiosis is a virus that breaks out in koalas in times of stress — like cold sores in humans — and leads to infections in the eyes and urinary, reproductive and respiratory tracts. It can cause blindness, infertility and death.

Deborah Tabart, chief executive of the Australian Koala Foundation, urged the government to follow up on Sam's case by classifying koalas as a threatened species and implementing policies to preserve their habitat. Her organization named September "Save the Koala" month, with the theme "No Tree, No Me."

The United States already considers the koala a threatened species. And the Australian Koala Foundation estimates there are fewer than 100,000 koalas left in Australia, down from the millions at the time European settlement started in the late 1700s.

Carrick and other scientists think the numbers are slightly higher, but in any case, regional counts by scientists and state governments show a huge drop. There's clear evidence that some local populations have gone extinct because of chlamydial disease, Carrick said.

The majority of koalas hug a stretch of eastern coastline in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. They are most abundant on the so-called Koala Coast, a 155 square-mile (375 square-kilometer) swath of semi-rural coast in southeastern Queensland.

A 2008 survey of the Koala Coast by the Queensland government shows the population dropped 64 percent, from more than 6,200 in 1999 to about 2,800. While car accidents and dog attacks killed many koalas, the report blamed about 60 percent of the deaths on disease.

"We need to learn to live with our native species but instead we keep encroaching on them," said Tracy Goodman, an Adelaide resident who recently visited Gorge Wildlife Park with her husband and 4-year-old son, Matthew. Ten koalas live at the park. "Protection of koalas absolutely should be legislated."

Wide-eyed children waited in line to hold and pet Violet, a tame koala patiently munching on moist eucalyptus leaves. "They are quite cuddly and soft, aren't they?" 7-year-old Emily Marshall grinned after her grandparents took her photo with Violet.

Wildlife keeper Loren Ellis said all of Gorge's koalas are healthy, though she's not sure about the wild ones who visit occasionally, searching for food.

"There aren't always enough leaves to go around in the wild," Ellis said.

Australia, known for its unique flora and fauna, already counts more than 55 extinct mammals, birds and reptiles.

In 2006, the government's Threatened Species Committee said local population declines did not necessarily mean koalas were declining across the whole country and that they were "resilient" enough to live in small or fragmented habitats. But Environment Minister Peter Garrett has since ordered a review of the government's conservation strategy.

"I have agreed that the situation probably has changed; it looks like the figures for koalas aren't as good as I would like," Garrett said in a television interview last month.

The two states with the densest koala habitat have taken measures to protect the animal. New South Wales has classified them as a vulnerable species under the state conservation act, and endangered in two areas. Queensland lists the animal as vulnerable in some parts of the state.

While applauding the state efforts, Carrick urged the federal government to get involved.

"If koalas are not of national significance, I don't know what on earth would be," he said. "Koalas are right up there as an international wildlife icon with China's pandas."