Russia cuts gas to Ukraine

By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Sabina Zawadzki

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) – Russia cut off the gas to its neighbor Ukraine on Thursday after a contract dispute but increased supplies to other European states to try to reassure customers worried about possible disruptions.

The European Union, which receives a fifth of its gas from pipelines crossing Ukraine, urged further negotiations to resolve the dispute and said all supply and transit commitments must be met.

A delegation from Ukrainian state-run gas company Naftogaz plans to travel to Moscow on Thursday evening for talks, a source close to the negotiations told Reuters.

Moscow and Kiev say they will honor their contracts to supply gas to European customers, who analysts say have enough reserves to manage without Russian supplies for days, not weeks.

The EU is keen to avoid a repeat of a January 2006 row when Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine causing a brief fall in gas deliveries to other parts of Europe in mid-winter.

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom halted supplies to Ukraine on Thursday morning after a failure to agree terms for 2009.

"We have fully cut off supplies to Ukraine as of 10:00 a.m. (2:00 a.m. ET) today," an official at Russia's Gazprom told reporters at company headquarters in Moscow.

Ukraine's Naftogaz said it had seen a reduction of pressure in its pipelines, and was pumping gas from its reserves.

Ukraine's pro-Western leaders, who have clashed repeatedly with the Kremlin over their ambition to join NATO, say they have enough gas stocks to last for months.

Gazprom said it had stepped up volumes for European consumers beyond Ukraine.

"Deliveries for export have been increased to 326 million cubic meters per day," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told a news conference.

EU GAS SUPPLY

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko has asked European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to get the EC to mediate, the Ukrainian mission in Brussels said. However, a Commission spokeswoman could not confirm the request.

The EU urged further negotiations. "All existing commitments to supply and transit must be honored," EU president the Czech Republic and the Commission said in a joint statement.

Pipelines that cross Ukraine carry about one-fifth of the EU's gas needs and are a major source of foreign currency revenue for Gazprom, Russia's biggest company.

The cut-off could tarnish Russia's reputation as a reliable energy supplier to Europe just several months after a war with Georgia pushed relations with the United States to the lowest level since the Cold War.

Although the cut-off does not apply to shipments to much of Europe, there could be a knock-on effect if it causes a drop in pressure in the transit pipelines or if Kiev halts flows to Europe to use them as a bargaining chip.

Germany's E.ON and BASF and Italy's ENI are among the biggest customers for Russian gas.

Countries in eastern and central Europe are likely to feel any disruption first because they are closer to the potential bottleneck in Ukraine. However, there were no reports of disruption on Thursday morning.

The reliability of energy supplies from Russia to Europe is likely to top the agenda of a meeting of EU ministers to be held in the Czech Republic next week.

A prolonged row could further undermine Ukraine's crisis-battered economy and politicians may be forced to take unpopular decisions, such as raising gas bills, as they gear up for a presidential election in 12 months.

Talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials failed to settle a dispute over the $2 billion Moscow said Kiev owed it in arrears for gas deliveries, and over the price at which Ukraine will buy Russian gas next year.

Gazprom had offered gas at $250 per 1,000 cubic meters, a steep rise from 2008's $179.50 but still around half the current European market price, albeit one that is set to fall sharply.

Ukraine's leaders have said they were prepared to pay $201 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Kiev is also proposing raising the transit tariffs that Russia pays to transport gas to Europe to no lower than $2 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas for 100 kilometers.

Wounded Gazans arrive in Jordan for treatment

AMMAN, Jan 01, 2009 (AFP) - Eight Gazans wounded in Israel's onslaught arrived in Amman for treatment on Thursday on board a Jordanian military flight from the Egyptian city of El-Arish, state television said.

Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi received the eight Palestinians, who were immediately taken by ambulance to the military-run Queen Alia Hospital in the capital.

"The kingdom is ready to treat our wounded Palestinian brothers whenever the need arises," Minister of State for Information Nasser Judeh told the television.

"The most important issue now is to stop the Israeli aggression."

Judeh said a field hospital ordered by King Abdullah II to be set up in Gaza "is ready to go there once some arrangements have been made."

An official said on Wednesday that Jordan was to evacuate 40 Palestinians. "Additional flights might be scheduled later to transfer more wounded Palestinians," he said.

Since the massive aerial attack was unleashed on Saturday, more than 400 Palestinians, including 42 children, have been killed and nearly 2,000 people wounded, Gaza medics say.

Only a tiny number of the wounded have been evacuated across the border to Egypt.

Iran Gaza protesters and police scuffle at Jordan embassy

Iranian students scuffled with riot police near the Jordanian embassy on Thursday after some hardline groups threatened to seize the building in the latest protest linked to Israel's attacks in Gaza.

Demonstrators demanded the mission's closure and pushed back police who had blocked the street leading to the embassy in Tehran, some of them briefly breaking through the cordon before being chased back.

A few hurled shoes at police, who fought back with batons. One young man with blood on his face was helped by a fellow student, a photograph made available to Reuters showed.

The rally ended after a representative of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, told the crowd of hundreds of people not to break into embassies or clash with police.

Israel's military action has prompted days of protests in the Islamic Republic, mainly by students who accuse Arab and Western leaders of not doing enough to stop the Jewish state. On Tuesday, students broke into a British diplomatic compound.

"You the Jordanian traitors -- shame, shame," protesters chanted at Thursday's demonstration.

In another protest, thousands of students marched in downtown Tehran, some wearing white funeral shrouds showing they were "ready for martyrdom," Iranian media reported. A small rally also took place outside the British embassy.

Khamenei, Iran's top authority, has urged Muslims to defend Palestinians whatever way they can and a group of Iranian hardline clerics is signing up volunteers to fight in Gaza.

Iranian officials have condemned what they say is international inaction and bias towards Israel, Iran's arch-foe.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who often predicts Israel's demise, urged Arab leaders on Wednesday to act quickly to end Israeli air strikes that have killed at least 399 Palestinians.

An Iranian daily this week said hardline student groups had written letters to the Jordanian ambassador and the head of the Egyptian mission "giving them 48 hours to choose between clearly condemning Israel's attack on Gaza or leaving Iran's soil."

Like Egypt, Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel.

If demands were not met by noon on Thursday students would "carry out their revolutionary duty as happened on 13th Aban, 1358," the Iranian date when students stormed the U.S. embassy in 1979, the Seda-ye Edalat newspaper said.

Israel and the United States accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear arm, a charge Tehran denies, and have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the row.

Thousands hail Indian Kashmir's new leader

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) – A young, pro-India Muslim politician, set to become the new chief minister of Indian Kashmir, was hailed by thousands of supporters on his arrival here Wednesday from national capital New Delhi.

Omar Abdullah, the 38-year-old leader of the National Conference, was backed by India's ruling Congress party for the top job, after staggered state polls in the troubled Muslim-majority region produced a fractured verdict.

Supporters traveling in cars, buses, trucks and on motorcycles followed Abdullah's bullet-proof automobile as it left the fortified airport in Srinagar, the summer capital of the insurgency-hit region.

Carrying party flags, the supporters danced and shouted pro-Abdullah slogans, witnesses said.

Abdullah later addressed them inside a cricket stadium.

"I will work to end your problems, be it power, roads or jobs," said Abdullah.

The National Conference won 28 of the state assembly's 87 seats, while the Congress party bagged 17.

The regional People's Democratic Party will provide the main opposition with 21 seats.

Abdullah, who has served as India's junior foreign minister, met Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi Tuesday, who agreed that the young Muslim politician would lead Kashmir's newly-elected administration.

Despite a boycott call by separatists and Islamic rebels, more than 60 percent of voters participated in the Kashmir polls, which came after a period of direct federal rule in the region.

Abdullah inherited the party leadership in 2002 from his charismatic father, Farooq Abdullah, who had succeeded his own father Sheikh Abdullah as chief minister of the disputed Himalayan region.

Indian Kashmir is in the grip of a nearly two-decades-old insurgency against New Delhi's rule that has left more than 47,000 people dead by one official count.

Israel allows Palestinians to flee Gaza fighting

EREZ CROSSING, Israel – Israeli officials say they are allowing dozens of Palestinian holders of foreign passports to flee the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Army spokesman Peter Lerner says nearly 300 Palestinians are pouring through the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing Friday morning.

He says the Palestinians hold citizenship from a number of other countries, including the U.S., Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan.

For nearly a week, Israel has been bombing targets linked to the ruling Hamas militant group in Gaza. More than 400 Palestinians have been killed, and dozens of buildings have been damaged or destroyed.

Thousands of Australian Muslims rally for peace in Gaza

SYDNEY (AFP) – Thousands of Muslims staged a protest in Sydney Friday against Israeli attacks on Gaza after several local mosques urged worshipers to attend the rally rather than traditional prayers.

Bearing pro-Palestinian flags and banners, a crowd of more than 4,000 flocked to Parry Park in the city's Islamic heartland to demonstrate and pray for the victims of renewed violence in the Middle East.

Five local mosques had closed their doors on the first traditional day of worship in the new year, asking Muslims to attend the vigil instead.

Local imam Ibrahim Abu Mohammad led the service, urging Israel to recognize a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and agree to a ceasefire.

"Israel is committing an act of terrorism. It's the duty of all the free people in the world to stand against it and stop this evil," he said.

"This nation has many greeds, it is built on a philosophy of transgression. Their hearts do not have any mercy."

A makeshift coffin draped in the Palestinian flag was carried before the crowd, followed by a procession of eight imams.

Women and men were separated by an expanse of grass, but they moved as one, folding to their knees with foreheads pressed to the ground in supplication.

At least 420 Palestinians have died in a seven day blitz by Israel, while rockets fired from Gaza have claimed four Israeli lives.

Israel on Wednesday rejected a French proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire to help humanitarian efforts, and tanks and troops are now massed for a threatened ground offensive.

Hamas has called for a "day of wrath" on Friday in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, with "massive marches" after weekly Muslim prayers.

Captured Israeli soldier's fate becomes murky

By ARTHUR MAX, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – The fate of an Israeli army sergeant captured by Hamas and being held in Gaza has become murkier with the massive Israeli assault on the Palestinian territory.

Gilad Schalit, 22, was captured in June 2006 in a deadly cross-border raid by Hamas-allied militants on an outpost guarded by his tank unit.

Since then, he has become an Israeli national obsession. Musicians have composed songs in his honor, activists have staged a permanent demonstration outside the prime minister's house and world leaders have tried to mediate his release.

Although Israel has no direct political contact with the Islamic militant group, it has bargained fiercely for Schalit's freedom. Israel is willing to trade several hundred of its more than 8,000 Palestinian prisoners on Schalit, but negotiations have been bogged down by sharp disagreements over which prisoner would be freed.

After launching an intensive aerial bombardment against Hamas on Saturday, a senior Israeli military officer said Israel was not prepared to let Schalit's safety drive its strategy. He spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss policy issues.

The officer indicated Israel would demand Schalit's release as part of any deal to end the fighting in Gaza, but it was not likely to be a deal-breaker. His name barely has been mentioned as Israeli leaders list their minimum conditions for a new cease-fire.

Photographs of Schalit, who also holds French citizenship, show a fresh faced teenager — he was 19 when captured — and he is described as polite, a sports enthusiast and a good student.

Nothing has been heard from him in six months, his father Noam told The Associated Press Thursday. Noam Schalit declined to be interviewed further, while the Israeli attacks on Gaza were continuing.

As Israeli planes hammered Gaza's infrastructure and targeted its leaders and fighters, Hamas invoked Schalit's name to taunt its enemy.

"Of course, Gilad is now frightened, he's terrified," said an anchor on Hamas television said Thursday. "He must be asking himself, 'What's happening right now? What will happen to me?'"

A Hamas statement broadcast on radio challenged the Israelis to send ground troops into the Gaza. "We are waiting for you to enter Gaza to kill you or make you into Schalits."

Winning the return of Israeli captives — or even their corpses — is a cardinal tenet of the Israeli military, and lopsided prisoner exchanges have been common in the past. Soldiers are trained never to abandon comrades on the battlefield. The capture of two Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese border by Hezbollah, a Shiite Islamic militia allied to Hamas, was the trigger that set off the 2006 Israeli war in Lebanon.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a candidate for prime minister in next month's elections, angered many Israelis recently when she appeared to waver on Israel's commitment toward Schalit.

Although everyone wanted to see Schalit return safely, she said, "it is not a question of what we want or don't want. It is a question of what is and isn't possible. Not everything can be done."

Vice Premier Haim Ramon, indicating frustration at failing to free Schalit during a six-month truce with Hamas, said Thursday the Israeli assault on Gaza could only improve his chances. "The truce brought us no closer to returning Gilad Schalit. I am convinced that if there is a different reality at the end of this operation it will assist to bringing Gilad Schalit home."

Israel's New Year raids take Gaza death toll past 400

by Sakher Abu El Oun

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Israel Thursday launched New Year strikes by air and sea on battered Gaza that took the death toll from its blitz on Hamas to 402, as Islamist militants retaliated with volleys of rocket fire.

Israeli tanks and troops remained massed around the Palestinian enclave and there was no sign of a ceasefire, though Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted Israel was "not interested" in a long war.

On the sixth day of its blitz, Israel staged more than 30 attacks using warplanes and navy ships based off the Gaza coast, the military said.

They hit the parliament and justice ministry in the main Hamas government complex, rocket launching sites and tunnels used to smuggle weapons and supplies into the territory that Israel has kept virtually sealed since Hamas took control in June 2007.

Hundreds of houses around the targets have been destroyed.

The death toll from "Operation Cast Lead" reached 402 with 2,098 people wounded, the head of Gaza emergency services Moawiya Hassanein told AFP. The UN says at least 25 percent of the dead are civilians.

Israel started the air strikes Saturday in response to rocket attacks from the Gaza, run by the Islamist Hamas movement sworn to the Jewish state's destruction and branded a terror outfit by Israel and the West.

Hamas and its militant allies fired more than 10 rockets Thursday, some hitting deep within Israeli territory, without causing injuries, the military said.

One rocket slammed into an apartment block in the port of Ashdod more than 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Gaza border, the army said, adding that a warplane attacked the squad that launched the missile.

Two rockets fell without causing damage around the desert city of Beersheva, 40 kilometres (24 miles) from the border -- the deepest strike inside Israel.

Hamas's armed wing said it fired three rockets at the Hatzerim air force base west of Beersheva. The Israeli army did not comment.

Since Saturday, Hamas and its allies have fired more than 270 rockets and mortars into Israel, killing three civilians and one soldier and wounding several dozen people.

Israel and Hamas have rebuffed efforts to organize a ceasefire though Hamas said Thursday for the first time that it would accept an EU ceasefire proposal -- if Israel met conditions including ending a blockade of the territory and all border crossings are reopened.

Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was to hold talks in Paris with President Nicolas Sarkozy and other French leaders. Israel rejected a French proposal for a 48 hour ceasefire to help humanitarian efforts, saying the time was not yet ready.

Israel and its main ally, the United States, have said Hamas must halt rocket attacks before there can be a ceasefire.

Peace efforts were also stalled at the UN Security Council even though UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the conflict had become "a dramatic crisis".

The civilian population in Gaza and stability throughout the Middle East "all are trapped between the irresponsibility displayed in the indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas militants and the disproportionality of the continuing Israeli military operation," Ban added.

Libya presented a draft Arab League resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire.

But the United States and Britain said it appeared biased because it did not mention the Hamas rocket attacks.

Israel has massed tanks and thousands of troops around Gaza and Defence Minister Ehud Barak has warned of a ground assault to accompany the air raids.

Olmert said on a visit to Beersheva that Israel is "not interested in conducting a long war and we do not wish to conduct a war on a broad front."

He added however, "We will deal with Hamas and terror with an iron fist."

In a defiant televised speech late Wednesday, Hamas government chief Ismail Haniya vowed Israel would be defeated. "Our people will defeat those tanks," he said.

Amid fears of a mounting humanitarian crisis, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) made an emergency appeal for 34 million dollars to help the Gaza population.

Speaking from the agency's headquarters in Gaza, UNRWA commissioner Karen AbuZayd said, "In my eight years in UNRWA, the urgency of an appeal for the people here has never been so acute. I am appalled and saddened when I see the suffering around me."

Syria, Turkey warn against "dangerous repercussions" of Israeli aggression on Gaza

Syria and Turkey warned on Wednesday against the "dangerous repercussions" of the continued Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip to the security and stability in the region, the official SANA news agency reported.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the warning during a meeting here in Damascus, in which they discussed "the massacre" perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza and means to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, lift the siege and open crossing points.

Assad and Erdogan considered that "the Israeli aggression on Gaza has blown up all efforts exerted to realize peace in the region," adding that "it's impossible to talk about any peace in light of the Israeli stubbornness."

They urged the Arab countries to assume their responsibilities in a way that guarantees the deliver of all life and medical needs to the people in Gaza, particularly the victims of the Israeli crimes.

They "underlined the necessity of the Arab and Islamic countries to move and compel Israel to immediately halt the ongoing holocaust against unarmed Palestinians," said the report.

The two sides also underlined the necessity to continue cooperation and coordination between both countries to end the suffering of the Palestinian people and deliver aid to the besieged families in Gaza.

They also expressed appreciation of the Arab, Islamic and world popular move to support the Gaza people and put an end to the Israeli "flagrant aggression."

The Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was under intensive Israeli air strikes for the fifth successive day on Wednesday.

Since last Saturday, massive air raids on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has killed some 400 Palestinians and injured 2,000 others.

On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Turkey officially ended efforts to organize peace talks between Israel and Syria amid Israeli offensive on the strip.

A senior Syrian official reportedly said on Sunday that Syria has suspended indirect peace talks with Israel in response to Israel's attacks on Gaza.

In May, Syria and Israel, technically still at war since the first Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948, began indirect talks via Turkey after direct negotiations halted eight years ago over the thorny Golan Heights issue.

Following four rounds of negotiations, the process has been on hold since Olmert announced in July he would step down over corruption allegations.

Syria is the first leg of Erdogan's Mideast four-nation tour. Before his visit, he told reporters that Turkey is deeply concerned over the developments in Gaza since this ruthless operation began on Saturday and the objective of his tour is "to help stop these dangerous developments."

He will visit Jordan after leaving Syria, and is scheduled to meet with King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Erdogan then will head for Egyptian's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to hold talks with President Hosni Mubarak.

He will also visit Saudi Arabia to discuss the current developments in the region with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz.

Somali pirates hijack Egyptian cargo ship

CAIRO (AFP) – Somali pirates hijacked an Egyptian cargo ship with a crew of 28 near the coast of Somalia, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Thursday.

About 15 pirates, some of them heavily-armed, attacked the Blue Star, which carried 6,000 tonnes of fertilizer, near Bab al-Mandab at it was headed east, said foreign ministry official Ahmed Rizq.

"The crew are hostages ... there are efforts underway to conduct the necessary talks to free the ship," Rizq said in the statement.

More than 100 attacks occurred in the pirate-infested waters off the coast of the lawless Horn of Africa country in 2008 alone.

Pirates had captured an Egyptian ship with a crew of 25 in September, holding them for almost a month before setting them free. Egypt said it did not pay a ransom for the crew and ship.

The pirates have been undeterred by the presence of foreign navies patrolling in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in a bid to secure one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

Iranian resistance condemns Israel, Iran

PARIS, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran issued an official condemnation of the Israeli air assault on the Gaza Strip.

"The Iranian Resistance strongly condemns Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip and the killing of innocent civilians, in particular women and children," the NCRI said. "It mourns with the Palestinian people, especially with the relatives of those who have perished."

Israel Wednesday rejected international calls for a cease-fire, embarking on its fifth day of air strikes on the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory. An Israeli ground invasion appears imminent.

The NCRI called on the international community to speak out against what it described as "warmongering" on the part of the Iranian leadership toward the Gaza conflict, saying clerical leaders in Tehran were benefiting from it.

"The (Iranian) regime has been the main obstacle to the goals and legitimate demands of the Palestinian people over the past three decades," the group said, adding Iranian influence should be eliminated in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq.

The NCRI advocates regime change in Iran. It describes itself as the "parliament in exile" and is affiliated with the People's Mujahedin of Iran, a dissident group holed up in Iraq's Diyala province.

The NCRI and the PMOI are considered terrorist organizations by the United States and several other nations, though it recently won delisting cases in a European court.

Radwin to support City of David security

TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Israeli security solutions provider Mer Group has contracted Radwin to support security operations around the City of David landmark in Jerusalem.

Israeli security authorities contracted Mer Group to design a security solution to protect the City of David landmark. As part of the security design, Mer Group contracted Radwin for the company's trademarked WinLink 1000 wireless video security transmission technology.

Officials say Radwin will deploy its WinLink 1000 to support video surveillance transmissions of more than 150 cameras to help ensure the security of more than tens of thousands of visitors annually to the historic landmark.

"Surveillance networks that use Radwin's equipment for surveillance transmission are designed, deployed and commissioned for a fraction of the time and cost of establishing a wired infrastructure, while providing an unparalleled level of safety and security," Roni Weinberg, Radwin chief operations officer, said in a statement.

Russia's S-400 air defense system may be world's best

By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI Senior News Analyst

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Russia is testing a new missile for its formidable S-400 Triumf air defense system that, if it performs according to its claimed specifications, is the most formidable long-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense system in the world.

Three-star Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, the commander of the Russian air force, announced testing plans for the new missile Tuesday, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

RIA Novosti described the S-400 Triumf -- NATO designation SA-21 Growler -- as being "designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles) -- twice the range of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot and 2.5 times that of the S-300PMU-2."

The report said the S-400 was projected to remain the backbone of Russia's theater air and missile defense systems at least until 2020, and possibly even until 2025.

"The S-400 system is being successfully deployed with air defense units. At present, we are testing a new missile for this system," Zelin said, according to the report.

RIA Novosti noted that in 2007, the Russian air force announced it had carried out effective live firing tests of the S-400 air defense complex at its Kapustin Yar firing range in south Russia's Astrakhan region. As previously reported in these columns, the Russian air force already has put into operational service a battalion of its first missile regiment armed with the S-400 to defend the Russian capital, Moscow, and its surrounding regions.

The S-400 Triumf system is claimed to have the capability to intercept "stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, with an effective range of up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and a speed of up to 4.8 kilometers per second (10,800 mph)," RIA Novosti reported.

The report said a regular S-400 battalion operates at least eight launchers with 32 missiles. The Russian government has approved funding for a state arms procurement program to produce 18 such battalions with a total arsenal of 576 missiles by 2015, it said.

UN introduces new food supplement against Somalia child hunger

NAIROBI (AFP) – The United Nations has introduced a new ready-to-use food supplement which could significantly boost efforts to reduce child malnutrition in Somalia, said a statement received by AFP Thursday.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said the new type of supplement -- called Plumpy'Doz -- will be distributed to more than 100,000 of the most vulnerable children in Somalia, a Horn of Africa country ravaged by war and famine.

"Plumpy'Doz is the latest generation of nutritious, safe, convenient, and ready-to-use food designed to satisfy the nutritional needs of children aged six to 36 months and supplement food distributions by partners such as the World Food Program (WFP) as well as other home food sources," it said.

The supplement is a brown paste -- made with vegetable fat, peanut butter, sugar, milk and other nutrients -- and has already been used by the French charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).

The new supplement has a longer shelf life than previously used aid diets, its taste is more appealing to children and does not need to be mixed with water, a major hazard in many countries.

The national average prevalence of acute malnutrition in Somalia is 18.6 percent, well above the 15 percent emergency threshold which signifies a very critical situation, UNICEF said.

The new product is produced by the French company Nutriset.

"By adopting this new approach, we aim to reach children before they become malnourished," said UNICEF Somalia representative Christian Balslev-Olesen.

Fighting involving clan militias, Somali government forces and Islamist insurgents continues to claim the lives of civilians almost every day, causing massive population displacements.

Iraq to expel Iran rebels as it takes over camp from US

BAGHDAD (AFP) – Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday that he would expel an Iranian armed opposition group from the country after taking over their base from US forces.

"Based on taking over everything and in accordance with our constitution and our policies of opening up to our neighbors... our forces are going to take full control of the camp where the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI) live," Maliki said.

Maliki was speaking to reporters on the sideline of a ceremony during which the United States handed over to Iraqi forces security control of the Green Zone, symbol of the American occupation of the country.

The PMOI "is a terrorist organization and thus cannot operate in Iraq because it will create a political crisis in contradiction with the constitution," Maliki said.

"We will treat them based on the international laws. We will not force them to go back (to Iran) but we will give them the opportunity to either go home, or to another country," he added.

"(Staying in) Iraq will not be an alternative for them," Maliki said.

Maliki, who was speaking ahead of a visit Saturday to Tehran, told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in March that he would take steps to ensure that Iraq was not used by "terrorists" from Al-Qaeda, or from Iranian rebel groups.

US forces confiscated the organization's weapons following the March 2003 US-led invasion, taking away some 300 tanks, many of which were subsequently given to the Iraqi armed forces.

Two years ago Iraq decided to restrict the movements of the estimated 3,500 PMOI members to their base at Camp Ashraf, near the Iranian border, where they have been held under a kind of US-supervised house arrest

Described as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, the PMOI, which was founded in 1965, has many supporters in the US Congress and British parliament.

Group members fought alongside Iraqi forces in the 1980-1988 war between Iraq and Iran and then settled in Iraq.

Iraq takes control of Green Zone, US troops

By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD – The U.S. formally transferred control of the Green Zone to Iraqi authorities Thursday in a pair of ceremonies that also handed back Saddam Hussein's former palace. Iraq's prime minister said he will propose making Jan. 1 a holiday marking the restoration of sovereignty.

Under the new security agreement between Washington and Baghdad to replace a U.N. mandate for foreign troops in Iraq, the Iraqi government also now has control of American troops' actions and of the country's airspace.

The moves came amid a dramatic fall in violence over the past year. However, insurgents still stage daily attacks and could try to expand the fight now that U.S. troops cannot take unilateral action.

Two Iraqi soldiers and three policemen were killed in attacks Thursday. In the northern city of Kirkuk, Iraqi and U.S. troops killed three suspected al-Qaida gunmen during a raid, police said.

Many of the changes inaugurated on New Year's Day won't bring immediately visible results. The Green Zone, the country's government and military command center, remains ringed by concrete blast walls and off limits to most Iraqis. U.S. troops still man its checkpoints, although now as trainers rather than leaders.

But the Americans have moved out of the Republican Palace, the sprawling former headquarters of Saddam's regime that they took over shortly after the 2003 invasion. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki formerly took control of the building Thursday and exulted over the security pact under which U.S. troops are to leave the country by 2012.

"A year ago, the mere thought of forces withdrawing from Iraq was considered a dream," al-Maliki told reporters afterward. "The dream that no one had the right to think about became true."

He called for making Jan. 1 a national holiday called "Sovereignty Day." Iraq already officially observes New Year's Day as a holiday.

Also on Thursday, British troops turned over to Iraqi officials the airport in Basra, the country's second-largest city. Britain says it will withdraw its approximately 4,000 soldiers in Iraq by May 31.

"Iraq is taking another step toward the future, signaling to its citizens and the international community that it is indeed a new day for sovereign Iraq," U.S. Army Col. Steven Ferrari said at a separate ceremony handing over control of the Green Zone.

The Green Zone was the most potent symbol of the U.S. invasion and occupation.

The 4-square-mile area, which nestles into the start of an oxbow bend of the Tigris River, formally is called the International Zone. Sarcastically, it's called "The Bubble" because the foreigners who live and work there often have little contact with the shabby and violent city on the other side of the 13-foot-high, reinforced concrete blast walls around the perimeter.

But the sense of security is only relative. The zone was a favorite target for rockets and mortars fired by insurgents. In 2007, the attacks were so heavy that the U.S. Embassy ordered its workers to wear flak jackets and helmets anywhere outside.

Asked whether insurgents could resume attacks now that the area is under Iraqi control, Ferrari said, "Common sense says they'll probably test the Green Zone."

The walls and the seemingly endless series of checkpoints inside have been worrisomely porous. A suicide bomber attacked the parliament's dining hall in 2007, killing one person. Suicide vests wired with explosives have been found on the grounds.

Although Baghdad is calmer now, the Green Zone is full of unsettling reminders of war. Duck-and-cover bunkers dot sidewalks under lush date palms. Walls bear signs warning drivers not to stop for any reason and frequent speed bumps force vehicles to a near crawl.

Even before U.S. troops took control of the area in 2003 and put up the walls, the neighborhood had an air of intimidation. Saddam and his sons had lavish residences there and motorists who drove through understood they shouldn't stop.

Now, Iraqi officials have their eyes on making the area accessible, inspiring and educational, even though it's not yet clear when they will feel confident enough to take down the walls.

"It depends. There are many steps to take," Iraqi Security Minister Sherwan al-Waili said when asked about prospects for opening the zone.

In July, the National Investment Commission approved plans to build a $100 million luxury hotel in the zone.

And in the next couple of months, the Iraqi High Tribunal plans to open a museum in the zone detailing the brutality of Saddam's regime. It will include a replica of the hole-in-the-ground hideout where Saddam was captured in 2004, two years before he was executed, tribunal head Arif Abdul-Razzak Al-Shaheen told the newspaper Asharq al-Awsat last month.

Violence around Iraq plunged in 2008, with attacks declining to an average of 10 a day from 180 a year ago. The murder rate in November was less than 1 per 100,000 people — far lower than many cities in the world.

U.S. military deaths in Iraq plunged by two-thirds in 2008 from the previous year, a reflection of the improving security following the American counterinsurgency campaign and al-Qaida's slow retreat from the battlefield.

According to a tally by The Associated Press, at least 314 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq during 2008, down from 904 in 2007. In all, at least 4,221 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq since the war began in 2003.

Israeli airstrike kills a top Hamas leader

By IBRAHIM BARZAK and JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writers

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – An Israeli warplane dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on the home of one of Hamas' top five decision-makers Thursday, instantly killing him and 18 others, while the Israeli army said troops massed on the Gaza border were ready for any order to invade.

The airstrike on Nizar Rayan was the first that succeeded in killing a member of Hamas' highest echelon since Israel began its offensive Saturday. The 49-year-old professor of Islamic law was known for personally participating in clashes with Israeli forces and for sending one of his sons on a 2001 suicide mission that killed two Israelis.

The attacks continued Friday. Before dawn, Israeli aircraft hit 15 houses belonging to Hamas militants, Palestinians said. They said the Israelis either warned nearby residents by phone or fired a warning missile to reduce civilian casualties. Twelve people were hurt in the attacks, hospital officials said.

Even as it pursued its bombing campaign, Israel kept the way open for intense efforts by leaders in the Middle East and Europe to arrange a cease-fire. Israel said it would consider a halt to fighting if international monitors were brought in to track compliance with any truce.

Adding to the urgency of the diplomatic maneuvering, the Israeli military said its preparations for a possible ground assault were complete and that troops stood ready to cross the border if the air operation to stamp out Hamas rocket fire needed to be expanded.

Soldiers massed along the Gaza frontier said they were eager to join the fight, and some even cheered as they heard thunderous airstrikes in the distance.

The hit on Rayan's home obliterated the four-story apartment building and peeled off the walls of others around it, creating a field of rubble in the crowded town of Jebaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. Mounds of debris thrown up by the blast swallowed up cars.

Eighteen other people, including all four of Rayan's wives and nine of his 12 children, also were killed, Palestinian health officials said. A man cradled the burned, limp body of a child he pulled from the rubble.

The house was one of five bombed Thursday, among more than 20 targets altogether. Warplanes shredded the houses, taking off walls and roofs and leaving behind eerie, dollhouse-like views into rooms that still contained furniture.

Israel's military, which has said the homes of Hamas leaders are being used to store missiles and other weapons, said the attack on Rayan's house triggered secondary explosions from the arms stockpiled there.

Seven other Palestinians were killed in airstrikes Thursday and one died of earlier injuries.

Israel has targeted Hamas leaders many times in the past, and the current leadership went into hiding at the start of the offensive. Rayan, however, was known for openly defying Israel and in the past had led crowds to the homes of wanted Hamas figures — as if daring Israel to strike and risk the lives of civilians.

Residents said he openly went to a nearby mosque Thursday morning to pray.

In his last interview, recorded with Hamas TV on Wednesday, Rayan was as defiant as ever about confronting the Israeli military.

"Oh fighters, know that you will be victorious," he said. "God promises us either victory or martyrdom. God is greater than they are, God is greater than their planes, God is greater than their rockets."

The military said it had information that there was a tunnel beneath Rayan's home for use as an escape route.

Israel seemed determined to press ahead with airstrikes on Hamas houses. It also has been targeting buildings used by the territory's Hamas government — emptied days ago by evacuations — as well as rocket-launching sites and smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt.

"We are trying to hit everybody who is a leader of the organization, and today we hit one of their leaders," Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon said in a television interview.

More than 400 Gazans had been killed and some 1,700 wounded since Israel embarked on its aerial campaign, Gaza health officials said. The United Nations has said the death toll includes more than 60 civilians, 34 of them children.

One of them, 11-year-old Ismail Hamdan, was buried Thursday after dying of wounds suffered from an airstrike Tuesday that killed two of his sisters, Haya, 4, and Lama, 12. His body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag and his battered face was still bandaged as he was carried above a crowd of mourners.

Since Saturday, three Israeli civilians and one soldier have also died in rocket attacks that have reached deeper into Israel than ever before, bringing more than a tenth of Israel's population of 7 million within rocket range.

The bombing campaign has worsened an already hard life for Gaza's mostly poor population of 1.5 million. On Thursday, hundreds of people stood in long, snaking lines across the territory waiting to buy bread.

Israel launched the offensive Saturday after more than a week of intense Palestinian rocket fire that followed the expiration of a six-month truce, which Hamas refused to extend because Israel kept up its blockade of Gaza.

So far, the campaign has been conducted largely from the air. But a military spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich, said preparations for a ground operation were complete.

"The infantry, the artillery and other forces are ready. They're around the Gaza Strip, waiting for any calls to go inside," Leibovich said.

Thousands of soldiers waited along the border, resting among tanks, armored personnel carriers and howitzers. The troops watched warplanes and attack helicopters flying into Gaza, cheering each time they heard the explosion of an airstrike.

One soldier, who can be identified under military rules only as Sgt. Yaniv, said he was eager to go in. "I am going crazy here watching all this. I want to do my part as well," he said.

Hamas promised to put up a fight if Israeli land forces invaded.

"We are waiting for you to enter Gaza to kill you or make you into Schalits," the group said, referring to Israeli Sgt. Gilad Schalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid by Hamas-affiliated militants 2 1/2 years ago and remains in captivity in Gaza.

Israel's bruising campaign has not deterred Hamas from assaulting Israel. According to the military, militants fired more than 30 rockets into southern Israel during the day.

No injuries were reported, but an eight-story apartment building in Ashdod, 23 miles from Gaza, was hit. Panicked residents ran through a debris-strewn street.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rebuffed a French proposal for a two-day suspension of hostilities to allow for the delivery of humanitarian supplies. Israel has been allowing trucked relief supplies to enter Gaza. Ninety aid trucks crossed the border Thursday.

Still, Olmert seemed to be looking for a diplomatic way out, telling Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other world leaders that Israel would accept a truce only if international monitors took responsibility for enforcing it, government officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential.

A Turkish truce proposal included a call for such monitors.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, speaking to reporters during a visit to Paris for meetings with French officials, expressed skepticism about the benefits of a cease-fire. She said Hamas used the lull during the six-month truce that expired last month to build up its arsenal of weapons.

"Our experience from the past is that even when we accept something in order to have a peaceful period of time, they abuse it in order to get stronger and to attack Israel later on," Livni said.

Egypt's foreign minister said Hamas must ensure that rocket fire stops in any truce deal, and he criticized the Palestinian militants for giving Israel an "opportunity on a golden platter" to launch the offensive.

Gaza has been under Hamas rule since the group's fighters overran it in June 2007. The West Bank has remained under the control of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been negotiating peace with Israel for more than a year but has no influence over Hamas. Bringing in truce monitors would require cooperation between the fiercely antagonistic Palestinian factions.

An Abbas confidant said the Palestinian president supported the notion of international involvement. "We are asking for a cease-fire and an international presence to monitor Israel's commitment to it," Nabil Abu Rdeneh said.

World leaders have not been deterred by the initial rejections by Israel and Hamas of truce efforts, and next week French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans a whirlwind trip around the region.