Sunni nationalist group claims victory in Iraq

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi lawmaker claims his Sunni Arab nationalist party has won a majority of votes in last weekend's provincial council race in the area around Mosul where ethnic tensions run high.

Official results from Saturday's vote for the government of Ninevah province, which includes Mosul, haven't been released but early returns are trickling out.

Sunni lawmaker Osama al-Nujaifi said Tuesday the National Hadba Gathering won 60 percent of the vote. He says the Kurdish list that previously dominated the council got less than 20 percent.

Al-Nujaifi didn't give a basis for his claim, which couldn't be confirmed, but political parties have monitored the counting process.

The Sunni group opposes Kurdish influence and the American military in Iraq.

Jordan sets up commission for int'l assistance to Gaza

The Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) has announced to establish an "international commission" to help rebuild Gaza, local daily The Jordan Times reported on Monday.

"Many organizations across the world want to help, but the commission will accept donations on the condition aid is channeled through civil society organizations, not dubious governmental bodies," JEA President Wael Saqqa was quoted as saying.

Activists from Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey have already expressed their willingness to participate in the commission and offer donations for Gaza via Jordan, Saqqa added.

The JEA decision came following a trip of its delegation to Gaza late last month to assess the situation in the war-battered enclave and find ways to assist reconstruction.

Israel carried out a three-week unprecedented military offensive on Gaza, during which about 1,400 Palestinians were killed and 5,500 others wounded.

Militants in Pakistan sever Afghan supply link

By Ibrahim Shinwari

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Suspected militants blew up a bridge in northwestern Pakistan's Khyber Pass on Tuesday, cutting the main route for supplies bound for Western forces in Afghanistan, Pakistani government officials said.

Separately, security forces killed at least 35 Taliban insurgents and wounded many others in an attack Monday night in the Swat Valley, northeast of the Kyber Pass, a military spokesman said.

Militants in northwestern Pakistan stepped up attacks on the road through the Khyber Pass, a crucial route into land-locked Afghanistan, last year in an attempt to deprive international forces fighting the Taliban of supplies trucked in from Pakistan.

The 30-meter (100-foot) iron bridge, 23 km (15 miles) west of the city of Peshawar, was blown up after midnight and administration officials said all traffic along the route was suspended.

"Militants blew up the bridge and it's going to take some time to fix it," said government official Rahat Gul. He declined to estimate how long it might take.

Guards are usually posted on heights above bridges on the road but it was not clear why they had been unable to stop the attack.

Militant attacks over recent months have disrupted supplies but the route had only been briefly closed twice since September.

The U.S. military and NATO's Afghan force have played down the impact of the attacks but nevertheless have been looking for alternative routes.

A NATO force spokesman in Kabul said he had no information about Tuesday's attack.

There are two routes through Pakistan into Afghanistan, one through the Khyber Pass to the border town of Torkham and on to Kabul. The other runs through Pakistan to the border town of Chaman and on to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

The U.S. Defense Department says the U.S. military sends 75 percent of supplies for the Afghan war through or over Pakistan, including 40 percent of the fuel for its troops.

HEAVY FIGHTING IN SWAT

Pakistani customs officials say about 300 trucks with Western force supplies travel through Torkham every day, compared with about 100 through the Chaman crossing.

With the U.S. military set to send thousands more soldiers to Afghanistan in coming months, perhaps nearly doubling the number to about 60,000, the need for reliable supply routes will become that much more vital.

The chief of the U.S. Central Command, General David Petraeus, said last month agreements had been reached for new routes into northern Afghanistan through Central Asian states and Russia. He did not give details.

In the Swat Valley, security forces pounded militants with artillery as they gathered to launch an attack, killing at least 35 of them, an officer in the military's information department said.

"We opened fire with artillery and mortars on credible information that a group of militants had gathered and was planning an attack in the dark," the officer said.

There was no independent verification of the casualty estimate.

The scenic Swat valley, only 130 km (80 miles) northwest of the capital Islamabad, and not on the Afghan border, was until recently one of Pakistan's prime tourist destinations.

Now the valley is on the front line of the country's struggle against Islamist militancy and has become a test of the government's resolve to check the spread of the Taliban.

Iran says sends first home-made satellite into space

By Fredrik Dahl and Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran said it launched its first domestically made satellite into orbit on Tuesday, boasting major progress in its space technology when tension with the West over its nuclear ambitions persists.

The launch of the Omid (Hope) satellite may irritate the administration of new U.S. President Barack Obama, who has said he sees the Islamic Republic as a threat but is also offering direct dialogue with its leaders.

The long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit can also be used for launching weapons, although Iran says it has no plans to do so.

The launch comes a day ahead of a meeting by Western powers on Iran in Frankfurt. Political directors from the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and China are to meet on Wednesday to discuss the conflict with Iran over its nuclear program.

It will be their first gathering since Obama took office.

The Obama administration has signaled that it will pursue direct talks with Tehran but has also warned Iran to expect more pressure if it does not meet the U.N. Security Council demand to halt uranium enrichment.

Sending the Omid into space is a message to the world that Iran is "very powerful and you have to deal with us in the right way," an Iranian political analyst said.

Omid, launched as Iran marks the 30th anniversary this month of the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the U.S.-backed shah, is designed for research and telecommunications, state television said.

It showed footage of a rocket blasting off from a firing platform and lighting up the night sky.

"Dear Iranian nation, your children have placed the first indigenous satellite into orbit," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a televised message.

"With God's help and the desire for justice and peace, the official presence of the Islamic Republic was registered in space," he said.

WESTERN CONCERN

The Omid was designed to gather information and test equipment, the television said. It will circle 14 times around earth every 24 hours, said Iran's ISNA news agency.

It was "another achievement for Iranian scientists under sanctions," the television presenter said, adding there were also plans to send an astronaut into space in the year 2021.

Iran is under U.N. and U.S. sanctions because the United States and other Western powers suspect Tehran is amassing the capability to produce nuclear weapons.

The Islamic state, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, says its nuclear ambitions are limited to the peaceful generation of electricity to meet the demands of its economy.

It caused international concern in February last year by testing a domestically made rocket as part of its satellite program. Tehran said it needed two more similar tests before putting a satellite into orbit.

The United States, which has been spearheading a drive to isolate Iran over its disputed nuclear plans, called the February rocket test "unfortunate."

In August, Iran said it had put a dummy satellite into orbit with a domestically made rocket for the first time. U.S. officials said that launch had ended in failure.

Ahmadinejad has set tough terms for any talks with Obama's administration, saying it must change policy not just tactics toward Tehran and apologize for past "crimes" against Iran.

Western experts say Iran rarely gives enough details for them to determine the extent of its technological advances, and that much Iranian technology consists of modifications of equipment supplied by China, North Korea and others.

The television broadcast said the Omid would return to earth with data after orbiting for one to three months. Iran already had a satellite in orbit but the Sina-1 was launched by a Russian rocket in 2005, said the television.

Dismay as Gadhafi chosen to lead African Union

By ANITA POWELL, Associated Press Writer

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Moammar Gadhafi of Libya was elected Monday as leader of the African Union, a position long sought by the eccentric dictator who wants to push his oil-rich nation into the international mainstream after years of isolation.

Gadhafi, once ostracized by the West for sponsoring terrorism, has been trying to increase both Libya's global stature and its regional influence — mediating African conflicts, sponsoring efforts to spread Islam on the continent and pushing for the creation of a single African government.

Still, some African leaders offered tepid praise for the choice of the strongman who grabbed power in a 1969 coup. Rights groups called him a poor model for Africa at a time when democratic gains are being reversed in countries such as Mauritania and Guinea.

He attended the session dressed in a gold-embroidered green robe and flanked by seven extravagantly dressed men who said they are the "traditional kings of Africa." Gadhafi told about 20 of his fellow heads of state that that he would work to unite the continent into "the United States of Africa."

Gadhafi arrived at the summit Sunday with the seven men, one carrying a 4-foot gold staff, and caused a stir when security officials did not admit them because each delegation gets only four floor passes. All seven "kings" were seated behind Gadhafi when he accepted the chairmanship.

"I think the coming time will be a time of serious work and a time of action and not words," he said.

The chairmanship of the African Union is a rotating position held by heads of state for one year and gives the holder some influence over the continent's politics but carries no real power

Diplomats who attended the closed-door meetings in which Gadhafi was chosen said several countries vigorously opposed him, seeking alternatives from Lesotho and Sierra Leone. However, the AU's chairmanship rotates among Africa's regions, and a North African had not been chaired the continental body since 2000, when Algeria held the chairmanship.

Meetings to select the chairman are held in private. The leader is usually nominated and then chosen by consensus. AU officials would not give details of the proceedings, including which countries objected.

Even in public the reception to his appointment — and the acceptance ceremony in which he invited two of the traditional kings to speak — was measured.

"I think his time has come," Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told The Associated Press. "He's worked for it. I think it's up to us to make sure it comes out best."

Still, Gadhafi appeared to cast his selection as a victory.

"Silence means approval," he said during his acceptance speech. "If we have something and we are silent about it at the next summit it means we've accepted it."

Since he seized power Gadhafi has ruled the oil-rich state with an iron hand and the often quixotic ideology laid out in his famous "Green Book," which outlines Gadhafi's anti-democratic and economic policies.

In 2007, his regime released five Bulgarian nurses and a naturalized Palestinian doctor after eight years in prison for allegedly infecting Libyan children with HIV. The medics said they had been tortured in prison to exact a confession, a charge Gadhafi's son admitted to in a 2005 television interview when he said they had been tortured with electrodes and threats to their families. They were released following a deal struck by the European Union that involved payment of millions of dollars in aid to Libya.

"The Libyan government continues to imprison people for criticizing Gadhafi," said Reed Brody, a Brussels-based lawyer with Human Rights Watch who watched Gadhafi take the helm of the AU. "Hundreds more have been 'disappeared.' Libya has no independent NGOs and the government tightly controls all forms of public expression."

The large North African country is perhaps best known for the 1988 downing of a Pan-Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people on board the flight from Heathrow to New York were killed when a bomb exploded. Another 11 people died on the ground.

The bombing prompted United Nations-imposed sanctions and breaking of diplomatic ties with Britain and the United States.

Libya has paid several billion dollars to the families of Lockerbie victims, and has accepted "general responsibility" for the attack. Sanctions have since been lifted and diplomatic ties re-established.

Gadhafi renounced terrorism in 2003.

Libya has also entered into deals with major oil companies for exploitation of its reserves and re-established diplomatic ties with the U.S.

In Washington, the State Department declined to comment specifically on Gadhafi's election but said the United States would remain engaged with the African Union.

"We are going to continue to work with the AU," spokesman Robert Wood told reporters. "It's a critical institution in terms of our dealing with the continent."

Gadhafi has also been involved in mediating the conflict in Darfur with little success. He has mediated between Chad and Sudan — both have accused each other of supporting the other's rebel groups. The Libyan leader's mediation has resulted in deals between Chad and Sudan, which have later been violated.

Libya has never held the chairmanship in the 46-year-history of the African Union and its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity. This contributed to his being denied the chairmanship of the Organization of African Unity in 1982.

Joumblat: Iran should handle its missing diplomats through diplomatic channels

Lebanese Druze majority leader Walid Joumblat said on Monday that Iran should follow up the case of its four missing diplomats in Lebanon through diplomatic channels, local Elnashra website quoted Joumblat as telling al-Anbaa weekly to be published on Tuesday.

Responding to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's call on the Lebanese government to handle the issue of the missing Iranians, Joumblat said that following up the whereabouts of the four Iranian diplomats should be the same as following up the Lebanese missing in Syria.

The four Iranian diplomats were kidnapped in 1982 at a checkpoint in northern Lebanon, by the Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) militia, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Hezbollah accused Israel of having the four Iranians in jail, after they were handed over by the LF who was the strongest Israeli ally at that time.

However, Israel handed over a report to Hezbollah saying that the four Iranian diplomats were executed by the LF and did not arrive to Israel.

Last week Nasrallah held the Lebanese government responsible for finding the whereabouts of the missing Iranians, prompting a respond by Prime Minister Fouad Seniora who said that he sent a letter to UN Secretary General last year asking his help in the case.

Aid Ship Heads To Gaza From Lebanon

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AFP)--An aid ship bound for Israeli-blockaded Gaza and loaded with medical supplies, food, clothing and toys left the port city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon early on Tuesday.

On board the "Brotherhood Ship" were eight people including the former Greek- Catholic archbishop of Jerusalem, Hilarion Capucci, who left Jerusalem in the 1970s after serving time in an Israeli jail for membership of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

"We have decided to go ahead with this mission in solidarity with the people of Gaza so that they don't feel cut off from the world," organizer Hani Suleiman told AFP before the boat left Tripoli at around midnight.

"There is no reason whatsoever for Israel to prevent us from reaching Gaza," he said. "We have no rockets, no weapons, just aid for the people of Gaza."

The Togolese-registered Tali was headed first to Cyprus where authorities were to search the vessel to ensure transparency, before continuing on to the Gaza Strip.

Iran's parliament lauds Turkish PM's walkout over Gaza

Iran's Majlis (parliament) on Sunday lauded Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his outburst with Israel over its massive onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

The parliament praised in a statement the bravery act by Erdogan "in defending the rights of the oppressed people in the Gaza Strip and uncovering of the Zionists crimes against the Palestinian nation," the official IRNA news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani also expressed his gratitude towards "the zealous stand taken by the Turkish premier," who stormed out of a debate on the Gaza situation on Thursday at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Erdogan walked out of the forum saying Israel had committed "barbarian acts" during the recent three-week unprecedented war on Gaza, which killed over 1,300 Palestinians and wounded over 5,500 others.

On Saturday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters that Erdogan's outburst in Davos "was a genuine expression of the heartfelt feelings of both the Turkish people and other nations worldwide."

Ahmadinejad characterized Erdogan as a "human being who feels deeply for human dignity and justice," and unveiled the fake mask of those claiming fight against terrorism but slaughtering a large number of innocent Palestinian children in the unequal and unfair battle.

Hamas chief urges Iran students to help liberate Jerusalem

TEHRAN (AFP) – Hamas political supremo Khaled Meshaal on Monday urged Iranian students to join the Palestinian Islamist movement in helping to liberate Jerusalem so they can "pray together" in the holy city.

"God willing we will liberate Al-Quds (Jerusalem) together and pray together there," Meshaal told students at the University of Tehran on the third day of a visit to Iran.

"We are fully preparing ourselves to liberate all of Palestine, retake Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and secure the return of all Palestinians," he said in an address delivered in Arabic, which was translated into Farsi.

Israel rejects the political legitimacy of the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip and fought a 22-day war with the Islamist movement which ended in mutual ceasefires on January 18.

The Jewish state said its onslaught on Hamas, which killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, was aimed at halting rocket fire into southern Israel by Gaza-based militants.

Israel has long accused Iran of arming the Islamists in Gaza, a claim Tehran denies even though it says it offers moral support to Hamas.

The Damascus-based Meshaal said he had also held talks with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over possible Iranian help in reconstructing Gaza Strip, which was devastated during the Israeli onslaught.

"We met (Khamenei) and reached agreement on how Iran can help in rebuilding Gaza," Meshaal said.

The Israeli assault devastated wide swathes of the impoverished and densely populated Palestinian enclave, already reeling under a punishing Israel blockade imposed after the Hamas takeover of the territory in June 2007.

After meeting Khamenei on Sunday, Meshaal ruled out a permanent ceasefire unless Israel lifts the blockade.

One Palestinian militant was killed on Monday by an Israeli air raid on Gaza where Hamas has said it favours a conditional one-year truce on condition the territory's crossings are opened to the outside world.

NATO says members may use Iran for Afghan supplies

By SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – NATO would not oppose individual member nations making deals with Iran to supply their forces in Afghanistan as an alternative to using increasingly risky routes from Pakistan, the alliance's top military commander said Monday.

Gen. John Craddock's comments came just days after NATO's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, urged the U.S. and other members of the Western military alliance to engage with Iran to combat Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

"Those would be national decisions. Nations should act in a manner that is consistent with their national interest and with their ability to resupply their forces," Craddock, an American who is NATO's supreme allied commander, told The Associated Press. "I think it is purely up to them."

Securing alternative routes to landlocked Afghanistan has taken on added urgency this year as the United States prepares to double its troop numbers there to 60,000 to battle a resurgent Taliban eight years after the U.S.-led invasion.

It also comes at a time when the main supply corridor through neighboring Pakistan is becoming increasingly dangerous as insurgents attack convoys that supply the foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Some political and military leaders have hinted at the need for closer cooperation with the government in Iran over the war in Afghanistan, where some 70,000 NATO and U.S. troops are currently trying to beat back the resurgent Taliban.

The United States has viewed Iran's role in Afghanistan with suspicion, although the Islamic Republic has a long history of opposing Taliban rule.

U.S. officials have previously alleged that Iranian-made weapons and explosive devices were finding their way in the hands of insurgents in Afghanistan. But such criticism has been muted recently as President Barack Obama's administration tries to set a new tone in relations with Iran.

Some experts suggest that nations with good relations with Iran such as France, Germany and Italy may try to set up an alternate supply route to western Afghanistan via Char Bahar, a port in southeastern Iran.

"NATO is looking at flexible, alternate routing. I think that is healthy," Craddock said, when asked about the possibility of using Iranian territory for supply.

"Options are a good thing, choices are a good thing, flexibility in military operations is essential," he said. "What nations will do is up to them," he said, without elaborating.

Craddock's comments came after U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus said last month that America had struck deals with Russia and several Central Asian states close to or bordering Afghanistan to allow supplies to pass through their territory.

U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan get up to 75 percent of "non-lethal" supplies such as food, fuel and building materials from shipments that cross Pakistan.

Waste, fraud in Iraq being repeated in Afghanistan

By RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Waste and corruption that marred Iraq's reconstruction will be repeated in Afghanistan unless the U.S. transforms the unwieldy bureaucracy managing tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure projects, government watchdogs warned Monday.

The U.S. has devoted more than $30 billion to rebuilding Afghanistan. Yet despite the hard lessons learned in Iraq, where the U.S. has spent nearly $51 billion on reconstruction, the effort in Afghanistan is headed down the same path, the watchdogs told a new panel investigating wartime contracts.

"Before we go pouring more money in, we really need to know what we're trying to accomplish (in Afghanistan)," said Ginger Cruz, deputy special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. "And at what point do you turn off the spigot so you're not pouring money into a black hole?"

Better cooperation among federal agencies, more flexible contracting rules, constant oversight and experienced acquisition teams are among the changes urged by the officials in order to make sure money isn't wasted and contractors don't cheat.

Cruz, along with Stuart Bowen, the top U.S. official overseeing Iraq's reconstruction, delivered a grim report to the Commission on Wartime Contracting. Their assessment, along with testimony from Thomas Gimble of the Defense Department inspector general's office, laid out a history of poor planning, weak oversight and greed that soaked U.S. taxpayers and undermined American forces in Iraq.

Bowen, who has made 21 trips to Iraq since he was appointed in October 2004, said the U.S. has financed a wide array of projects in Iraq — from training the Iraqi army and police to rebuilding the country's oil, electric, justice, health and transportation sectors.

Some of these projects succeeded, Bowen told the commission at its first public hearing, but many did not. Violence in Iraq and constant friction between U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad were also major factors that undercut progress.

A 456-page study by Bowen's office, "Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience," reviews the problems in an effort the Bush administration initially thought would cost $2.4 billion.

The U.S. government "was neither prepared for nor able to respond quickly to the ever-changing demands" of stabilizing Iraq and then rebuilding it, said Bowen. "For the last six years we have been on a steep learning curve."

Overall, the Pentagon, State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development have paid contractors more than $100 billion since 2003 for goods and services to support war operations and rebuilding projects in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Congress created the bipartisan panel a year ago over the objections of the Bush White House, which complained the Justice Department might be forced to disclose sensitive information about investigations.

There are 154 open criminal investigations into allegations of bribery, conflicts of interest, defective products, bid rigging and theft in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, said Gimble, the Pentagon's principal deputy inspector general.

Gimble noted that contracting scandals have gone on since the late 1700s when vendors swindled George Washington's army.

"Today, instead of empty barrels of meat, contractors produced inadequate or unusable facilities that required extensive rework," Gimble said. "Like the Continental Forces who encountered fraud, the (Defense Department) also encounters fraud."

Gimble's office found that a small number of inexperienced civilian or military personnel "were assigned far-reaching responsibilities for an unreasonably large number of contracts."

He cited an account tapped frequently by U.S. military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan to build schools, roads and hospitals. More than $3 billion was spent on these projects, which were not always properly managed.

"In some instances, there appeared to be scant, if any, oversight of the manner in which funds were expended," Gimble said. "Complicating matters further is the fact that payment of bribes and gratuities to government officials is a common business practice in some Southwest Asia nations."

In "Hard Lessons," Bowen said his office found fraud to be less of a problem than persistent inefficiencies and hefty contractor fees that "all contributed to a significant waste of taxpayer dollars."

Styled after the Truman Committee, which examined World War II spending six decades ago, the eight-member panel has broad authority to examine military support contracts, reconstruction projects and private security companies.

In addition to examining flawed contracting, the commission will also study whether battlefield jobs handled by contractors such as aircraft maintenance and motor pools should be reserved for military and government employees.

The panel has until August 2010 to produce a final report. It can refer to the Justice Department any violations of the law it finds.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who pushed for formation of the commission, urged members to be aggressive and to hold people accountable.

"Harry Truman has been rolling in his grave for the last five years," said McCaskill, referring to the former Missouri senator (and later president) who led the Truman Committee. "A report is not going to be enough. You're going to need a two-by-four."

New species of babbler bird discovered in China

By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer

BANGKOK, Thailand – A new species of the fist-sized babbler bird has been found in a network of underground caves in southwestern China, raising the prospect the country could become a hot spot for other discoveries, a conservation group said Thursday.

Ornithologists Zhou Fang and Jiang Aiwu first spotted the dark brown bird with white specks on its chest in 2005 and have since confirmed its identity as an undescribed species. They named it the Nonggang babbler, or Stachyris nonggangensis, for the region in China where it was found.

A formal description was published last year in The Auk, which is the quarterly journal of the Virginia-based American Ornithologists' Union.

"This is exciting evidence that there could be many more interesting discoveries awaiting ornithologists in China," said Nigel Collar of Birdlife International, which announced the discovery.

The new species resembles a wren-babbler in that it prefers running to flying, and seems to spend most of its time on the ground foraging for insects, Zhou said. About 100 Nonggang babblers have been identified so far in the Nonggang Natural Reserve in southwestern China.

A similar habitat straddles the border of northern Vietnam and southeast Yunnan, China, and it is possible the species may also be found there, Zhou said.

"The discovery shows that there are still some birds that haven't been (identified) yet in China, such a vast territory that is rich in biodiversity," Zhou said in a statement.

Xi Zhinong, the founder of conservation group Wild China, said similar finds are likely to become more common in China as laymen join professionals in the search for new species.

Because China was never explored like India and other countries that were colonized, and has regions that are difficult to access, researchers said they believe there are scores of small birds that remain to be identified.

"In recent years, more and more bird lovers and photographers are participating in the research of wild birds," Xi said. "The participation of those nonprofessionals has pushed forward the research of wildlife in China."

Birdlife's Mike Crosby noted that there are now 27 bird watching clubs across China.

"There is an emerging middle class in China with leisure time," said Crosby, who has worked extensively in the country.

But Zhou warned the country's rapid development could threaten many biologically rich areas like the karst formations — a network of limestone sinkholes marked by underground streams and caverns — before further discoveries are made.

"The fragility of the karst ecosystem and its destruction by people pose great threats to the bird's existence," he said.

Ten new amphibian species discovered in Colombia

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ten new species of amphibians -- including three kinds of poisonous frogs and three transparent-skinned glass frogs -- have been discovered in the mountains of Colombia, conservationists said Monday.

With amphibians under threat around the globe, the discovery was an encouraging sign and reason to protect the area where they were found, said Robin Moore, an amphibian expert at the environmental group Conservation International.

The nine frog species and one salamander species were found in the mountainous Tacarcuna area of the Darien region near Colombia's border with Panama.

Because amphibians have permeable skin, they are exposed directly to the elements and can offer early warnings about the impact of environmental degradation and climate change, Moore said. As much as one-third of all amphibians in the world are threatened with extinction, he said.

"Amphibians are very sensitive to changes ... in the environment," Moore said in a telephone interview. "Amphibians are kind of a barometer in terms of responding to those changes and are likely to be the first to respond, so climate change ... impacts on amphibians heavily."

Amphibians also help control the spread of diseases like malaria and dengue fever, because they eat the insects that transmit these ailments to people.

The new species discovered in Colombia include three poison frogs, three glass frogs, one harlequin frog, two kinds of rain frogs and one salamander.

'NOAH'S ARK' IN COLOMBIA

The expedition that turned up the new amphibians also recorded the presence of large mammals like Baird's tapir, which is considered endangered in Colombia, four species of monkeys and a population of white-lipped peccary, a pig-like creature.

"Without a doubt this region is a true Noah's Ark," said Jose Vicente Rodriguez-Mahecha, the conservation group's scientific director in Colombia.

"The high number of new amphibian species found is a sign of hope, even with the serious threat of extinction that this animal group faces in many other regions of the country and the world," Rodriguez said in a statement.

The area where the new species were found has traditionally served as a place where plants and animals move between North and South America. While the terrain is relatively undisturbed now, its landscape faces threats from selective logging, cattle ranching, hunting, mining and habitat fragmentation.

Between 25 and 30 percent of the natural vegetation there is being deforested.

Moore said protecting the Tacarcuna area where these amphibians were found could also benefit local people by preserving an important watershed.

"We don't go in there and try and tell them to protect the forest for frogs," Moore said. "It's more a case of working with them to find more sustainable long-term solutions that will protect these resources that are ultimately benefiting them."