Top Afghan official threatens to quit after attack

By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – A powerful member of President Hamid Karzai's Cabinet threatened to quit after a suicide car bomb attack targeted him Sunday, killing five people, in the latest Taliban attempt to destabilize Afghanistan's struggling government. Two Americans were among six NATO troop deaths elsewhere.

Shortly after the bombing in the western city of Herat, Energy Minister Ismail Khan railed against the dramatic rise in violence in Afghanistan, saying that thousands of new refugees are seeking shelter in Herat because of militant attacks in outlying districts. Five civilians died in the failed assassination attempt, police said.

Two days ago, Khan said, a young man was hanged by militants only a couple miles (kilometers) outside a NATO base and Afghan government center. Kidnappings of wealthy family members are on the rise, including the abduction of girls, he said.

Khan said government security agents had warned him that insurgents planned to target him. Two earlier assassination attempts had been foiled, he said.

"Very clearly I want to say that if the government does not form a clear strategy to bring peace and security, and the situation continues like this, I will not participate in the Cabinet anymore," Khan said.

Taliban assassination attempts against Afghan officials have intensified this year, with more than 100 officials and pro-government tribal elders attacked — half of them fatally. Echoing a strategy of insurgents in Iraq, the targeted violence undermines the weak government and drives educated and competent Afghans away from official posts.

The convoy carrying Khan, a powerbroker in Herat and former governor of that western province, was headed to the airport when a suicide car bomb exploded outside a high school, said Raouf Ahmadi, a police spokesman. Khan said five civilians died and 17 people were wounded, including four of Khan's bodyguards.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility and said the target was Khan.

The Taliban assassination campaign is a strong sign of deteriorating security in the country, where a record number of U.S. and NATO troops have also died this year. The Obama administration is now debating whether to send more American troops to Afghanistan as its government faces allegations of widespread fraud from the disputed Aug. 20 presidential election.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued a stern warning to critics of a continued troop presence in Afghanistan Sunday, saying the Islamic extremist Taliban and al-Qaida would perceive an early pullout as a victory similar to the Soviet Union's humiliating withdrawal in 1989 after a 10-year war.

"Taliban and al-Qaida, as far as they're concerned, defeated one superpower. For them to be seen to defeat a second, I think, would have catastrophic consequences in terms of energizing the extremist movement, al-Qaida recruitment, operations, fundraising, and so on. I think it would be a huge setback for the United States," Gates said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

But many Americans are skeptical of sending more troops to support a government in the midst of recounting votes from a tainted presidential election. Karzai currently has about 54 percent of the vote. If enough questionable ballots get thrown out he could drop below the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.

Karzai's main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, said Sunday he was satisfied so far with the recount, which is using a sampling of votes to speed the process and meet a narrowing timeframe to hold a possible runoff before winter snows block much of the country.

"We will follow up that process step by step till, God willing, a government acceptable to you comes to power," he told a crowd in Kabul.

Two U.S. service members died Saturday in the country's south — one from a roadside bomb explosion and the other from an insurgent attack, the NATO-led force said Sunday. A British soldier died Sunday from a bomb explosion while patrolling in southern Afghanistan, Britain's Defense Ministry said.

Elsewhere, three French soldiers died in a violent storm in northeastern Afghanistan late Saturday. One soldier was struck by lightning, while two were swept away by a rain-swollen river during an operation in Kapisa province, said military spokesman Christophe Prazuck.

This year has been the deadliest of the eight-year war for U.S. and NATO troops. The six latest deaths bring to 64 the number of NATO troops killed this month.

An airstrike Saturday by international forces in Wardak province, bordering Kabul, killed three Afghan civilians, said Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman for the provincial governor. Civilian deaths in airstrikes have infuriated Afghans, and the top NATO commander, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has made protecting innocent Afghans a top priority.

Conservative Merkel captures 2nd term in Germany

By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press Writers

BERLIN – German voters handed conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel a second term and a chance to create new center-right government Sunday, while her center-left rivals suffered a historic defeat in the national election.

Merkel succeeded in ending her "grand coalition" with the center-left Social Democrats led by challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the current foreign minister, according to television projections. She can now form a government with the pro-business Free Democrats, who performed very strongly.

"We have achieved something great," a beaming Merkel told supporters. "We have managed to achieve our election aim of a stable majority in Germany for a new government."

She vowed to hold "swift and decisive" coalition talks with the Free Democrats' leader, Guido Westerwelle, who has been widely tipped as Germany's next foreign minister.

Merkel has argued that a change of coalition was needed to ensure stronger economic growth as Germany emerges from a deep recession. In joining with the Free Democrats, she hopes to cut taxes and halt a plan to shut down Germany's nuclear power plants by 2021.

"I think that tonight we can really celebrate, but I would say that after that there is work waiting for us," Merkel told the crowd at her party's headquarters in Berlin, who chanted "Angie! Angie!"

"I would not tell anyone to remain sober, but we don't want to forget that there are many problems in our country to be solved," she added.

Projections by the nation's public broadcasters, based on early vote counts and exit polls, put support for Merkel's Christian Democrats at up to 33.8 percent of the vote and for the Social Democrats at 23 percent. The Free Democrats captured nearly 15 percent, the Left Party had more than 12 percent and the Greens were at 10 percent or more.

Both ARD and ZDF television channels said that would produce a stable center-right majority in parliament. It was a major shift from the 2005 election, in which Merkel's conservatives squeaked in with 35.2 percent of the vote to the Social Democrats' 34.2 percent.

Sunday's election was the worst showing since World War II for the Social Democrats — who head into opposition after 11 years in government.

"There is no talking around it: this is a bitter defeat," a subdued Steinmeier said at the party's Berlin headquarters.

He vowed to lead a strong opposition.

"Our job in the opposition will be to very carefully pay attention to whether they can do it," he said of the incoming government.

Merkel made clear that she wants to maintain the consensual approach that has made her popular over the past four years.

"My understanding was, and my understanding is, that I want to be the chancellor of all Germans," she said.

The Free Democrats have called for far deeper tax cuts than the modest middle-income tax relief Merkel has pledged. Neither has said a date for the proposed cuts, which Steinmeier's party has opposed — arguing that they were unrealistic, in view of big government debt run up to combat the global economic crisis.

The Free Democrats leader was eager to join the government.

"We are pleased with this exceptional result but we know that above all else, this means responsibility," Westerwelle told supporters.

"We are ready to take on this responsibility," he added. "We want to help govern Germany because we need to assure that there is a fair tax system, better chances for education and that citizens' rights will finally be respected again."

Germany's three opposition parties appeared to have gained in the past four years, with all of them headed for their best results ever. In 2005, all three parties scored less than 10 percent of the vote each.

While the outcome Sunday was particularly painful for the Social Democrats, Merkel's party also performed poorly. The result wasn't much better than their own worst postwar performance — 31 percent, in 1949.

Still, Merkel's conservatives were relaxed, seeing the surge in support for the Free Democrats as a vote for their own leader.

"Together, they're all Merkel votes," the chancellor's chief of staff, Thomas de Maiziere said of the center-right's support.

Twin tigons born in S China wildlife park

Rare twin tigons, the offspring of a male tiger and a female lion, have survived their first 28 days since being born in a wildlife park in south China's Hainan Province, a park official announced Sunday.

The cubs were born in the Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden on Sept. 1, after the 106-day pregnancy of an African lioness.

The first tigons born in the island province, they are the offspring of Sha Sha the lioness and 4-year-old Manchurian tiger Guo Guo.

Tigons have features of both tigers and lions, with their heads usually resembling the mother and the body the father.

The tigons each weighed more than 1.5 kilograms and stood almost 30 centimeters tall, said He Zailin, director of the park's animal management department. They weighed 500 grams and stood no more than 20 centimeters at birth.

Tigons had a survival rate close to 1 in 500,000, said He.

He told Xinhua that the tigon is much rarer than the liger, a hybrid of a male lion and a tigress. "Because it's more dangerous for a lioness to give birth to babies than tigress, and the survival rate of tigons are much lower."

The twins were very healthy and the zoo was considering asking the public to suggest names, he said.

In China, tigons can also be seen in zoos in Shenzhen, a city of the southern Guangdong province and Xiamen, a city of east China's Fujian province.

Polls; Merkel on track to win 2nd term in Germany

By GEIR MOULSON and MELISSA EDDY, Associated Press Writers

BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel looked set to romp into second term and form a new center-right government after Sunday's national election, while her center-left rival conceded that his party had suffered "a bitter defeat."

Merkel, a conservative, was seeking to end her "grand coalition" with the center-left Social Democrats of challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier and form a government with the pro-business Free Democrats instead.

Both the ARD and ZDF television networks forecast that Merkel was on track to get her wish — helped by a very strong showing for the Free Democrats.

Projections for the two stations, based on early counting and exit polls, put support for Merkel's Christian Democrats at 33.5 percent of the vote and for the Social Democrats at around 23 percent. The projections also showed the Free Democrats at nearly 15 percent, the Left Party at more than 12 percent and the Greens at more than 10 percent.

If the projections are borne out, it would be the worst parliamentary election result for the Social Democrats since World War II.

Steinmeier swiftly conceded that his party was headed into opposition.

"There is no talking around it: this is a bitter defeat," a subdued Steinmeier told supporters at the party's Berlin headquarters, vowing to provide a strong opposition to Merkel's new government.

Merkel had argued that a change of coalition was needed to ensure stronger economic growth amid the global economic decline. In joining with the Free Democrats, she hopes to cut taxes and halt a plan to shut down Germany's nuclear power plants by 2021.

Volker Kauder, the conservatives' parliamentary leader, said a center-right majority appeared "reachable."

"We have achieved our election aims and it is a good result for our country," Kauder told ARD.

Germany's three opposition parties appeared to have gained over the past four years, with all of them headed for their best results ever.

In 2005, all three parties scored less than 10 percent of the vote each. Merkel's conservatives squeaked in as the winners then, scoring 35.2 percent to the Social Democrats' 34.2 percent.

While the outcome was particularly painful for the Social Democrats, Merkel's party also performed poorly. The result was little better than their own worst postwar performance — 31 percent, in 1949.

However, Kauder argued that many votes for the Free Democrats were "Merkel votes."

Tulip Entered Europe Through Al-Andalus Five Centuries Earlier Than Believed

ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2009) — A new study carried out at the University of Cordoba and the School of Arabic Studies provides information on the arrival of the flower to Europe. Contrary to what was thought up until now, the first bulbs could have arrived to Holland, where today the tulip is the country symbol, through 11th century al-Andalus, five centuries before what was believed.

Researchers attempted to reconstruct the diversity of the flora present in the medieval period in al-Andalus (territory which today would be divided between Andalusia, Castilla la Mancha and areas of eastern Spain and southern Portugal) through the study of all known texts by Andalusian agronomists. This was when they discovered what appeared to be, for Esteban Hernández Bermejo and Expiración García, directors of research and researchers at the University of Cordoba and the School of Arabic Studies (Superior Council of Scientific Research), ¨the first historic reference to tulips¨.

In the Umda (Umdat al-tabib), a botanical work attributed to Abu I-Jayr and dated from between the 11th and 12th centuries, the ornamental use of this flower in the Iberian Peninsula's territories under Islamic domain is indicated. It is probable that a known 11th century agronomist from Toledo, Ibn Bassal (¨the onion-vendor's son¨) played a protagonist role in the introduction and the first cultivation of the tulip in Iberian territory.

The study, brought to light by the magazine Economic Botany, a publication promoted by the New York Botanical Garden, overthrows the traditionally accepted version that the tulip arrived to Holland from the Ottoman Empire, passing through central Europe.

According to the new theory, the ornamental origin of the flower is in Byzantium, and arrived to Europe by means of the Seljuq Turks, through what today is Andalusia. ¨We cannot be categorical with this, but we defend the proposed hypothesis and we give fairly solid arguments, ¨ explains Hernández Bermejo to SINC.

The groups directed by Hernández Bermejo and García Sánchez have spent more than 20 years ¨studying the texts and contributions of Andalusian agronomists and botanists to agriculture, the world of ornamental plants and medicinal plants, and the knowledge of our wild flora¨.

¨The existence of representations of tulips in the Temples of Konya (Turkey) which date from the 11th century, and the mention of al-Andalus in the Umda, point towards the introduction of tulips into the European ornamental world some 500 years before the references known up until today, ¨ indicates Hernández Bermejo to SINC. Previously, their expansion into Holland was situated at the end of the 16th century.

The tulip is the national flower in Iran and Turkey, in addition to the Netherlands, where its cultivation has been traditionally important for more than four centuries. But already by the 13th century, Turkish poet Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi defined the tulip as, ¨the most sad smile of them all¨.

Up until today, numerous theories have refuted the tulip's arrival to Europe from the Ottoman Empire by way of the Hapsburg Empire until reaching Holland. One of the more popular indicates that Ogier Ghislain of Busbecq, the ambassador of Ferdinand of Hapsburg I in Suleymán's court, was the first to alert the Western world as to the beauty of these bulbs, ¨which the Turks know as tulips¨, in 1554.

However, and in spite of the fact that Abu I-Jayr's agricultural document analyzed by Hernández Bermejo and García Sánchez precedes Busbecq's testimonies by various centuries, the tulip's Andalusian route has not been proven at this time. For the researchers, one of the reasons for this is that, ¨despite the feverish fad known as ´tulip mania´ which began in Holland in the 17th century; no testimony was gathered in our country¨.

The authors of the study examined the book Agricultura de Jardines (Agriculture of Gardens) without finding a trace of tulips, a manual written in 1604 by Gregorio de los Ríos, an expert gardener who Philip II later made Chaplain of the Casa de Campo. The monarch himself, affirm Hernández and García in their study, ¨was a connoisseur of botany and wrote about ornamental bulbs in the letters to his daughters, mentioning narcissuses, but not tulips¨.

The value of agricultural documents

The Umda, by Abu I-Jayr, is the most important contribution to the knowledge of wild flora in al-Andalus and the western Mediterranean, but it is not the only testimony gathered by the study to reinforce this new model of the history of tulips.

One century later, Ibn al-‘Awwam wrote his Kitab al-Filaba, one of the few Andalusian agricultural documents still conserved in its totality. The value of this encyclopedia on rural economy includes a multitude of citations from Andalusian and Oriental texts, which justifies its great historical and testimonial value.

About tulips, Ibn al-‘Awwam (who denominated the flower as a ¨Macedonian onion¨) says the following: ¨It is a type of yellow narcissus and comes from Macedonia, province of Alexandria. Its flower is yellow inside and pink outside, shaped like a cube. Another beautiful and aromatic flower is found in its interior. It grows in moist and mountainous places and is cultivated like the yellow narcissus¨.

At the beginning, the description of this ¨Macedonian onion with a cube-shaped flower¨ was confusing and did not allow scientists to identify it as the tulip. It was upon collating this text with the Umda -especially the morphological descriptions of the flower, its leaves, its roots and its flowering period- when the team realized that they were before the first historical evidence of the presence of tulips in Europe.

Now, the research team is about to complete, along with scientists such as Julia Carabaza from the University of Seville, a complete work on Andalusian Agricultural Flora.

Sweden agrees to accept camp refugees

Sweden and a dozen other European countries have agreed to accept Somali and Eritrean refugees from camps in Kenya and Sudan.

The refugees will be accepted into Sweden as part of quotas agreed with the UNHCR - the refugee organ of the United Nations.

"It feels good that Sweden can take part in such as large humanitarian operation," Dan Eliasson, the director-general of the Swedish Migration Board, told Sveriges Radio's news program Ekot.

Three further camps on Iraq's border with Syria will also be emptied in cooperation with the USA. The camps currently house mostly stateless Palestinian refugees.

"These camps are in the some of the most difficult places on Earth where the living conditions are dreadful. Now we can help to ensure...that these people that live there can come to Europe and the USA," Eliasson said.

Sweden is set to accept a couple of hundred refugees of the total of almost 3,000, according to Ekot.

Sweden has been a driving force within the EU to push member states to accept more of the so-called quota refugees. Sweden is the EU country that accepts the most, with a total of 1,900 last year, of the 4,800 that arrived in Europe.

Jordan, Syria seek greater integration

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) In preparation for the meetings of the Joint Jordanian-Syrian Higher Committee, members of the two countries' technical committee resumed their discussions on Friday, addressing means to increase cooperation in the fields of agriculture, education, electricity, energy, water and irrigation.

Co-chaired by Industry and Trade Ministry Secretary General Muntasir Oqla and Director General of the Syrian Prime Minister's Office Tayseer Zoubi, the technical committee meetings began on Thursday, amid hopes of increasing economic integration, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported from Damascus.

During the meetings, the two sides examined the commercial exchange volume and obstacles impeding the flow of goods between the two countries.

Oqla emphasized the need for reviewing the implementation of earlier agreements to take steps to increase the joint commercial exchange volume, which reached $570 million in 2008 and $313 million during the first seven months of this year.

To enhance cooperation, Zoubi said the committee members will draw up executive plans for the accords that have already been signed between the two sides to outline a time frame and streamline their implementation.

The Syrian official also called for increasing economic cooperation between Jordanian and Syrian businessmen as well as between economic entities to set up joint investment ventures, starting with the development of transport services.

Zoubi highlighted the importance of reaching a twinning agreement between the port of Aqaba and Syrian ports to link the Mediterranean and the Red Seas.

To facilitate their work, the delegates were separated into two specialized committees to review bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding.

The economic committee will tackle financial, industrial, commercial banking and agricultural issues while the service committee will deal with issues of communication, education, culture, labor, tourism, energy and media cooperation.

Jordan and Syria were scheduled to begin talks on Thursday on issues of common interest, with the sharing of water from the Yarmouk River Basin topping the agenda, a government official said on Wednesday.

Jordan Valley Authority Secretary General Musa Jamaani, who heads the Jordanian side at the Jordanian-Syrian Committee of the Yarmouk River Basin, said that during the meetings, several issues will be discussed, mainly the Yarmouk River Basin hydrogeological study and how to end Syrian violations on the Yarmouk River.

The study, which will be carried out jointly by Jordan and Syria, seeks to evaluate the quantity and quality of water resources in the Yarmouk River Basin, identify the causes of their depletion, and propose means to protect the basin from pollution and arbitrary pumping.

Jordan urged Syria several times to stop the cultivation of crops upstream and downstream on the Yarmouk River as the farming activity slows the river's water flow and reduces storage at the Wihdeh Dam.