In the World
After deal, Turkey presses Armenia
ANKARA, Turkey - One day after Turkey and Armenia signed a U.S.-aided deal to end a century of enmity, Turkey's leader set a tough condition for normalizing ties: Armenia must withdraw from the disputed Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.The statement appeared to be an effort by Turkey to appease its ally Azerbaijan, which said the new agreement will aggravate the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. The region, inhabited mainly by ethnic Armenians, was taken over by Armenian forces in 1993.
Yesterday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the agreement to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia and reopen their border. He called it an "important step" that would lead to cooperation and dialogue.
But he said, "If problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia are resolved, the public (and parliament) would more easily accept Turkish-Armenian relations." - AP
Somalia's rebels threaten Kenya
MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Islamist insurgents in Somalia may attack targets in neighboring Kenya, an official for the rebels said yesterday, accusing the Kenyans of arming ethnic Somalian Kenyans opposed to the rebels.The insurgency's appointed governor of Gedo region, Sheikh Da'ud Mohamed Garane, made the threats on behalf of the al-Shabab militia following reports that Kenya's military was stepping up recruitment of ethnic Somalis who are Kenyan citizens.
"These men are being prepared to attack the peaceful positions we control. But let me tell Kenya that we will do all we can to prevent that to happen," he told a crowd of about 200 people in southwestern Somalia.
Kenyan officials were not immediately available for comment. Many who live in Kenya's arid northeastern region speak Somali and consider themselves part of that ethnic group.
- AP
Britain to sell national assets
LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to announce today a sale of government assets aimed at raising 3 billion pounds ($4.8 billion), his office said yesterday.He also plans to say that local governments will sell off another 13 billion pounds ($21 billion) in assets. The money will help finance capital investment and pay down debt, his office said.
British national assets to be sold over the next two years include the Channel Tunnel rail link, the Dartford bridge and tunnel crossing the River Thames, betting company the Tote, and the government's 33 percent stake in European uranium consortium Urenco.
Britain is suffering its worst recession in decades and the budget deficit, the gap between spending and revenues, is widening. - AP
Elsewhere:
A French physicist of Algerian origin arrested last week while working at the world's largest atom smasher has acknowledged to investigators that he corresponded over the Internet with a contact in North Africa's al-Qaeda branch, a judicial official said yesterday.
A Zimbabwean deputy attorney general said several top officials and cronies of President Robert Mugabe being sued for torture by prominent human-rights activist Jestina Mukoko and eight others will not receive state legal assistance.
