Posted on Thu, Sep. 4, 2008
Protest strike fails in Thailand
BANGKOK, Thailand - An unsuccessful strike by antigovernment activists gave Thailand's beleaguered prime minister breathing room yesterday but did not defuse the campaign to oust him.
The right-leaning People's Alliance for Democracy insisted it would not end its nine-day occupation of the prime ministerial office complex until Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej resigned. But the alliance suffered a setback when a strike planned by labor allies to increase pressure on Samak fell flat.
A federation of 43 unions had said it would lead 200,000 workers in strikes to crimp supplies of power and water to government offices and disrupt telecommunications and transport. But few, if any, services were affected.
Samak was expected to make a national radio address today.
- AP
Sarkozy pushes Syria-Israel talks
DAMASCUS, Syria - French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday encouraged Syria to pursue face-to-face peace talks with Israel during his first trip to the Arab nation - a visit also aimed at undercutting Iranian influence in Damascus.
After meeting President Bashar al-Assad, Sarkozy said France was ready to sponsor direct Syria-Israel talks "when the time comes." He also urged Syria to help persuade its ally Iran to cooperate on resolving a standoff with the West over its nuclear program.
Syria demands a full return of the Golan Heights, its strategic plateau occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. Assad said face-to-face talks would "need the presence" of the United States and others. In the past, he has criticized the Bush administration for not sponsoring such talks.
- AP
IRA is fading, report indicates
BELFAST, Northern Ireland - The Irish Republican Army is fading away in Northern Ireland and poses no security threat to the British territory, international experts concluded yesterday.
The governments of Britain and Ireland heralded the report of the Independent Monitoring Commission as the effective obituary of the IRA. Both appealed to local British Protestant leaders to accept the experts' verdict and deepen, not weaken, their cooperation with Irish Catholics in a partnership government.
The 16-month-old coalition in Belfast has been threatening to unravel amid myriad disputes, including Protestant demands for the IRA command to formally disband after more than a decade of cease-fire.
- AP
Elsewhere:
Fourteen African migrants died trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands in a packed boat, the Spanish Interior Ministry said in Madrid yesterday.
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