[Blue Blood]

US Guantanamo tribunals 'illegal'

The US Supreme Court has ruled that the Bush administration does not have the authority to try terrorism suspects by military tribunal.

Justices upheld the challenge by Osama Bin Laden's ex-driver to his trial at Guantanamo, saying the proceedings violated Geneva Conventions.
The ruling is seen as a major blow to President George W Bush - but it does not order the closure of Guantanamo.
Mr Bush said he would respect it but also protect Americans from "killers".
The Cuba-based facility currently holds about 460 inmates, mostly without charge, whom the US suspects of links to al-Qaeda or the Taleban.


Profound implications

Osama Bin Laden's ex-driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, is one of 10 Guantanamo inmates facing a military tribunal.
He launched the proceedings demanding to be tried by a civilian tribunal or court martial, where the prosecution would face more obstacles.

In its ruling, the court said: "Whether or not the government has charged Hamdan with an offence against the law of war, cognisable by a military commission, the commission lacks power to proceed."
"The procedures adopted to try Hamdan also violate the Geneva Conventions," the justices said.
The ruling does not demand the release of prisoners held at Guantanamo but gives the administration an opportunity to come up with another way of trying those held.
The BBC's Nick Miles in Washington says the implications of the decision are profound, as Washington will either have to court-martial the detainees or try them as civilians.
It may end up releasing many prisoners and returning them to their home countries, our correspondent adds.


'Serious look'

One of the dissenters, Justice Clarence Thomas, took the unusual step of reading part of his opinion from the bench, saying the decision would "sorely hamper the president's ability to confront and defeat a new and deadly enemy".

President Bush said he would "look seriously" at the case, adding: "The ruling, as I understand it, won't cause killers to be put out on the street."
He added that he would work with Congress "to determine whether or not the military tribunals will be an avenue in which to give people their day in court".
The decision was welcomed by senior Democratic Senator Carl Levin.
"The Supreme Court has once again demonstrated its vital constitutional role as a check and balance on the actions of the executive and legislative branches of government," he said in a statement.

Mr Hamdan had success in his first legal outing, in the US District Court in Washington, which ruled that he could not face a military trial unless he had previously been found not to be a prisoner of war under the Geneva Convention.
He claims POW status, but like all camp prisoners, he is denied this and is instead designated an "unlawful combatant" by the Bush administration.
However, an appeal court reversed this decision and said Mr Bush had the authority to order the trials.

[Blue Blood]

Israel strikes hit Gaza targets



Israeli aircraft have targeted several sites across Gaza, seriously damaging the Palestinian interior ministry.

Reports also suggest Palestinian militants have clashed with Israeli special forces in northern Gaza, though Israel denies having troops there.
Israel sent forces into southern Gaza on Tuesday night in a bid to force the release of a captured soldier.
On Thursday it said it was delaying a ground advance into northern Gaza amid appeals to allow time for diplomacy.
But large numbers of troops remain poised for an assault, and several air strikes have been carried out.


Strikes and skirmishes
Israel says it struck secret weapons manufacturing facilities in Gaza. Militant training camps and an electrical supply facility are also reported to have been hit, along with offices used by Hamas and Fatah officials.
Israel shelled open areas to prevent retaliation by militant rocket crews.

Later, there were reports of heavy exchanges of fire between militants and an undercover Israeli force near the town of Jubalia.
The Israelis have denied that there are any of its troops in northern Gaza, but in reality, they would be unlikely to confirm the presence of an undercover unit, says the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza.
Eight members of the Hamas-led government and 20 MPs were detained in the West Bank on Thursday on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.
Palestinians called it an act of war.
The body of a teenage Israeli settler abducted by Palestinian militants on Sunday has been recovered by Israeli troops near the West Bank town of Ramallah.


Egyptian hopes
A planned northern ground incursion has reportedly been postponed amid hopes for a diplomatic resolution.

According to a newspaper report, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said that Palestinian militants holding the soldier, Cpl Gilad Shalit, captive since last Sunday have offered his conditional release.
But there has been no public Israeli response. The Israeli government has demanded his unconditional release, and our Jerusalem correspondent Nick Thorpe says the Israeli government seems unlikely to greet Mr Mubarak's comments with great enthusiasm.
Egyptian officials have been trying since the beginning of the crisis to negotiate his release.
Cpl Shalit was seized by Palestinian militants during a raid on an army post outside Gaza on Sunday in which two other soldiers and two gunmen were killed.
Israel has denied that the Palestinian cabinet ministers detained in the West Bank are to be used as bargaining chips to release a captured Israeli soldier, saying this is a separate operation against a "terrorist organisation".
The militants holding Cpl Shalit have demanded Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails be freed.


Humanitarian fears
Meanwhile, the UN's emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland said that Gaza was on the brink of a humanitarian crisis after the destruction by the Israeli air force of the only power plant there on Tuesday night.

"Hamas leaders, if they are behind this kidnapping of an Israeli soldier in Israel, they should have known it's the worst possible thing at the worst possible time," said Mr Egeland.
"Israelis know that if they attack electricity, it is and foremost the civilian population which is hurt. Of course, Israel has to restrain itself. It should work within international law and not go after civilian installation, hurting [the] civilian population ..."
Much of Gaza's water supply and the sewerage system is dependent on electricity. Some of the wells can be operated by generators, but fuel is scarce after Israel stopped supplies.
Nervous civilians have been stockpiling batteries and candles, as well as food and water.

Resource: BBC News

[Blue Blood]

Belgian child pair were strangled

Two little Belgian girls who went missing at a street party were both strangled and the elder of them raped, prosecutors have confirmed.

Public prosecutor Anne Bourguignont briefed reporters in Liege following examinations on the bodies of the two girls, who were step-sisters.
The remains of Stacy Lemmens, seven, and Nathalie Mahy, 10, were found only after three weeks, near a railway line.
A suspect with paedophile convictions is in custody, but denies involvement.
Abdellah Ait Oud, a 38-year-old Moroccan, has been charged with kidnapping.
He was seen close to the step-sisters on 9 June, the day they disappeared, in the city in eastern Belgium.
He turned himself in to police two weeks ago after his details were published in the Belgian media.
The case, which has shocked Belgium, has rekindled memories of the notorious Marc Dutroux paedophile crimes.

Nation in shock

Both girls appear to have been strangled around the date they went missing, Ms Bourguignont told reporters.
"We can say that Stacy Lemmens was hauled manually by both arms," she said.
"She presents traces on the neck indicating she was strangled. Nathalie Mahy also presents traces indicating she strangled. She also shows traces of rape."
The girls' parents were informed of the results earlier on Thursday.
Police discovered Stacy's body under a manhole cover in scrubland beside railway lines at 1100 (0900 GMT) on Wednesday.
A short while later, Nathalie's body was discovered some 20 metres away.
Nathalie is due to be buried on Saturday in a private ceremony in Liege's Cointe district, and Stacy's funeral is due to take place on Monday in the city's Saint-Leonard district.
Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said earlier in a televised address that all Belgians felt "repugnance, sadness and impotence".
"We cannot understand what drives certain people," he added.

Echoes of Dutroux

Belgium was deeply shocked by the Marc Dutroux paedophile case, in which two girls from Liege disappeared in June 1995.

Their bodies were not found until a year later - in Dutroux's garden.
In 2004 Dutroux was found guilty of leading a gang that kidnapped and raped six girls in the mid-1990s, leading to the deaths of four of them.
Shocked residents of Saint Leonard, where the girls disappeared, are asking why it took the police so long to find the bodies.
"It's absurd that it took them more than two weeks to find them when they were so close by," Andre Deaelcominette told the French news agency, AFP.

Resource: BBC News

[Blue Blood]

Iran rejects early nuclear reply


Iran insists it needs until August to assess an international offer of incentives to get it to halt its controversial nuclear programme.

Tehran was responding to a call by the G8 group of industrialised countries and Russia to give a reply next week.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his country was "seriously and carefully" reviewing the package.
But he added that questions still needed to be clarified, and it was reasonable for Iran to take time.
G8 foreign ministers on Thursday urged Iran to reply to the proposals at a meeting on 5 July between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.
"We are disappointed in the absence of an official Iranian response to this positive proposal," the ministers said in a statement.
"An agreement of this sort would allow the Iranian people to enjoy the benefits of modern civil nuclear power and would bring Iran many other long-term political and economic advantages."
The ministers were meeting in Moscow ahead of a summit of G8 leaders in mid-July in St Petersburg.
The six major nations involved in negotiating with Tehran - the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany - will assess the situation just before the summit.
They put together an offer - reportedly including technological help and trade concessions - to try to persuade Tehran to end uranium enrichment.
Iran says its programme is entirely peaceful and is designed to meet its energy needs, but the US and other powers say it is using it to develop nuclear weapons.

Resource: BBC News

[Blue Blood]

Bush and Koizumi talk beef and NK

Beef, North Korea - and Elvis Presley - were among the topics discussed by the US and Japanese leaders in Washington on Thursday.

President George Bush thanked Japan for moving to lift a ban on US beef imports over fears of "mad cow disease".
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi warned North Korea "pressures" would be applied if it goes ahead with test-firing a long-range missile.
Mr Bush thanked Mr Koizumi for Japan's support in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It was dubbed a "sayonara summit", as Mr Koizumi steps down in September ("sayonara" means goodbye in Japanese).
The joint news conference was dominated by questions to Mr Bush on the US Supreme Court's ruling on military tribunals at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
There were several expressions of the two leaders' personal esteem for each other.
Mr Koizumi said there had been no other world leader with whom he had shared the same "heart-to-heart" friendship and trust.


Sanctions averted


Mr Bush hailed Japan's decision to restore beef imports from the US - first banned in December 2003 after a cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, was discovered in Washington state.
The issue had provoked threats of trade sanctions by the US against one of its closest allies.

But this month Tokyo decided to lift the ban, pending inspections of US meat processing plants, and during Thursday's news conference Mr Koizumi revealed he had eaten US beef the night before.
Mr Bush also said he and Mr Koizumi were concerned about "unacceptable" North Korean plans to test-fire a long-range missile thought to have Alaska within its range.
Mr Bush said they did not know what would be loaded on to the missile, and where North Korea intended to aim it. He said North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il had an obligation to provide a "full briefing" to those concerned on his intentions.
Mr Koizumi warned the North it would face "various pressures" if it went ahead with the test, without elaborating.


Elvis gags

On Friday, Mr Koizumi will be treated to a tour of the home of his musical hero, Elvis Presley, escorted by Mr Bush.
"Officially he's here to see the president, but I know the highlight of his trip will be paying his respects to 'the King'," joked Mr Bush.
And Mr Koizumi ended the conference by saying, "Thank you very much, American people, for Love Me Tender."

Resource: BBC News

[Blue Blood]

Bush backs F-16 sale to Pakistan


US President George W Bush has asked Congress to approve selling 18 new F-16 jets to Pakistan as a US nuclear deal with India progresses. The administration submitted a package also including an option to purchase a further 18 jets and an offer to upgrade Pakistan's existing F-16 fleet.
Congress has 30 days to consider the deal with its traditional ally.
The state department said the deal was not related to the passage of a bill on nuclear cooperation with India.


The Senate Foreign Relations Committee took an hour to endorse the Indian agreement by 16-2 on Thursday after it was cleared by a House of Representatives panel on Tuesday.
State department spokeswoman Julie Reside said the $5-billion F-16 deal with Pakistan was not related to the agreement with its historic rival.
"We believe in treating each country individually," she said. "Each faces defence issues different from the other."
The sale was, she said, "part of an effort to broaden [America's] strategic partnership with Pakistan".
Indian and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir and both have nuclear arsenals.

Resource: BBC News

[Blue Blood]

New 'Bin Laden message' released


A new recording purportedly from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been posted on an Islamic website.

He praised Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader killed in Iraq three weeks ago, as the "lion of holy war".
The video, lasting 19 minutes, shows a still picture of Osama Bin Laden, and moving pictures of al-Zarqawi.
It is the fourth voice message from the al-Qaeda leader this year, although no new video images have appeared since October 2004.

Resource: BBC News

[Blue Blood]

Indian PM visits debt-hit farmers


Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits the western state of Maharashtra on Friday, where cotton farmers are facing an agricultural crisis. At least 745 farmers have reportedly committed suicide so far this year, due to crop failure and growing debts
The prime minister is scheduled to tour the affected areas for two days and announce a relief package that will ease some of their burden.
He is also expected to announce free distribution of cotton seed.
Lack of loans
Mr Singh's visit to the cotton-growing Vidarbha region in Maharashtra state is indication enough that the situation is grim.



Officials admit that on average two farmers take their lives every day as they are unable to pay their debts.
Most of them are cotton growers who have been plagued by crop failure, falling cotton prices, lack of bank loans and little access to cotton seeds.
During his visit the prime minister will travel to villages where farmers have committed suicide, and meet the families they have left behind.
He will also meet officials to review the agricultural crisis in the state.
Most importantly he is expected to announce a relief package, expected to include loan waivers of up to $555 per person, free distribution of seeds and interest-free credit for cultivation.
Activists working with farmers in the region say the prime minister's visit has increased the hopes of the people.
They say they are fearful that if the financial package announced does not live up to the farmers' expectations, then the number of suicides could well increase in the coming days.

Resource: BBC News

[Blue Blood]

Bush refuses to abandon tribunals


US President George Bush has refused to rule out military tribunals for inmates at Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

His administration was dealt a blow on Thursday when the Supreme Court ruled it had overstepped its authority in setting up the tribunals.
But Republican senators immediately began planning how to win congressional approval for new tribunals.
The ruling came in response to a case brought by Osama Bin Laden's ex-driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan.
He is one of 10 Guantanamo inmates facing a military tribunal, but demanded to be tried by a civilian tribunal or court martial, where proceedings would be more open and defendants would have greater access to the evidence against them and greater opportunity to confront their accusers.

His lawyer said he was "awe-struck" at the court's ruling.
The Cuba-based facility currently holds about 460 inmates, mostly without charge, whom the US suspects of links to al-Qaeda or the Taleban.

No 'sweeping mandate'
In its ruling, the court said military tribunals contravened both the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners, and the US code of military justice.
It also ruled that the tribunals were not expressly authorised by any congressional act, and there was no "sweeping mandate for the president to invoke military commissions whenever he deems them necessary".

But the ruling does not demand the release of prisoners held at Guantanamo, and it does hold out the possibility of coming up with another way of trying those held.
President Bush promised to take the findings of the court "very seriously" when he spoke to reporters shortly after the ruling on Thursday. But he signalled he might seek congressional approval to resurrect the tribunals.
"To the extent that there is latitude to work with the Congress to determine whether or not the military tribunals will be an avenue in which to give people their day in court, we will do so," he said.
"The American people need to know that this ruling, as I understand it, won't cause killers to be put out on the street."
And within minutes of the court ruling, reports the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington, a small group of Republican senators were working the phones trying to sort out the mess.

A former military lawyer who is leading these efforts to salvage the tribunal system, Senator Lindsey Graham, predicted that the Senate would begin work on ideas for new tribunals within weeks and vote on the plan in September.
Meanwhile, Sen Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican who chairs the powerful judiciary committee, introduced an "Unprivileged Combatant Act" which would, he said, balance "the need for national security with the need to afford detainees with sufficient due process".
At the White House, spokesman Tony Snow underlined the administration's resistance to abandoning the special courts.
"Nobody gets a 'get out of jail free' card," he said.

Ruling welcomed
Mr Hamdan had success in his first legal outing, in the US District Court in Washington, which ruled that he could not face a military trial unless he had previously been found not to be a prisoner of war under the Geneva Convention.

He claims POW status, but like all camp prisoners, he is denied this and is instead designated an "unlawful combatant" by the Bush administration.
However, an appeal court reversed this decision and said Mr Bush had the authority to order the trials.
This latest decision was welcomed by human rights groups, lawyers for inmates and some politicians including senior Democrat Senator Carl Levin.
"The Supreme Court has once again demonstrated its vital constitutional role as a check and balance on the actions of the executive and legislative branches of government," he said in a statement.

Resource: BBC News

[Blue Blood]

'Militants' shot dead in Kashmir



The Indian army says it has killed eight suspected militants who tried to cross the Line of Control into Indian-administered Kashmir.
An army spokesman said the clash took place early on Friday when the militants cut through the barbed wire fence in Keran area and moved in.
Indian authorities say there has been a rise in militants crossing the de facto border in recent months.
There has been a rise in attacks in Kashmir recently after relative peace.
Indian army spokesman Col H Juneja told the Associated Press news agency that the militants were killed after a long gun battle.
"The militants opened fire when they were challenged and a six-hour-long gun battle ensued," he said.
"We have found eight bodies and a cache of arms and ammunition."
India alleges that militants cross into Indian-administered Kashmir in the summer, when the snow on high mountain passes melts.
Delhi also says there are militant training camps across the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a charge that Islamabad denies.

Resource: BBC News