India to pull 10,000 troops from held Kashmir

NEW DELHI: India plans to withdraw 10,000 paramilitary troops from held Kashmir in 2011 and renew efforts to hold talks in the violence-hit Himalayan region, a top government official said Sunday.

"I think this year we can easily take out 10 battalions (10,000 personnel), if not more," Indian Home Secretary Gopal Pillai told the state news agency.

"Irrespective of the situation, I can take out 10 battalions and it would not have any impact."

There are currently 70,000 paramilitary troops in Indian held Kashmir plus 100,000-150,000 army soldiers.

Many state politicians in Kashmir believe their huge presence has fuelled recent deadly violence.

"There are more than adequate forces in Kashmir and it can do with less central forces," Pillai, the home ministry's top civil servant, said.

"You have to start talking to other people and get fresh ideas so I think we have to reach out to the people of Kashmir."

Arab regimes must change or face revolt: analysts

DUBAI: Within less than a month, popular uprisings toppled the long-time presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, and revolts could spread to other Arab countries if they do not implement reforms quickly, analysts say.

"The Arab leaders are in a race against time: either they quickly adopt liberal changes, or they suffer the same fate as (the leaders) of Tunisia and Egypt," said Anwar Eshki, the director of the Middle East Institute for Strategic Studies in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak, who resigned on Friday after being in power since 1981, and Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who departed after ruling for 23 years on January 14, both bowed to unprecedented waves of popular protests.

Angered by injustice, unemployment and corruption, "the Arab citizen is not the same as he was two months ago" and "has proven he can bring down an Arab head of state after two or three weeks of demonstrations," said Paul Salem, the director of the Carnegie Middle East Centre.

Various Arab leaders, some of whom, such as Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, have been in power for over 40 years while many of those who have ruled with an iron fist have suddenly announced social security measures and political reforms.

The popular uprisings in those two countries "will have repercussions throughout the region" and the United States, which encouraged change in Tunisia and Egypt, will try to do the same in other Arab countries, said Saleh al-Qallab, a former Jordanian information minister.

"Who is next? No one can predict," he said, adding that this excludes Saudi Arabia, where "the process of reforms initiated by King Abdullah is moving slowly due to the weight of tradition and religion."

Eshki echoed that assessment, saying that "the United States will seek to avoid sudden change in the Gulf monarchies that could disrupt oil supplies to the world economy," but Washington "will advise them to engage in reforms and accelerate their implementation."

But he added that "the winds of change will blow on these (Gulf) countries. And if the leaders do not take the initiative, their people will."

The uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, which were initiated and led by young people using the social networking site Facebook and micro-blogging site Twitter, have showed the limits of Islamist activism, which Arab regimes have used as a scarecrow to ward off calls for reform, Salem said.

"Without adhering to an ideology," the uprisings have succeeded where Islamist movements have failed for decades, during which "they were presented or presented themselves as the only alternative to repressive Arab regimes," he said.

Salem added however that Mubarak's fall, in the eyes of Riyadh, "exacerbates the imbalance of power in the favour of Iran," which wants "an Islamic Middle East," and sees the departure of the Egyptian president as "the failure of the United States and Zionism in the region."

"The alliance of the Arab countries and the United States will weaken in favour of a degree of autonomy on the Turkish model, but these countries have no choice but to remain in the American fold," Salem said. 

Cutting aid threatens Afghan fight: US

KABUL: Congressional plans to slash US foreign assistance, including multibillion-dollar aid to Afghanistan, risk undermining the Obama administration's bid to leave behind a stable nation when it withdraws its troops.

Rajiv Shah, a doctor and administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said pledges from some leading lawmakers to cut funding for his agency, a prime target in Republican belt-tightening plans, would undermine the US fight in Afghanistan and ultimately jeopardise US security.

"In order to have a transition strategy, for our troops to be able to exit, and for us to be able to see gains in stability and governance and development be durable and sustainable, if USAID's resources are cut back ... that will both be costly to American taxpayers and it will be tremendously unwise," Shah said.

"Worse than all that, it will put our people's lives at risk. Now would be a terrible time to scale that back."

Shah spoke on a recent visit to Afghanistan, where he met Afghan leaders and visited US-funded aid projects. Military commanders are racing to show results on the battlefield before they start to send some troops home later this year.

Despite record violence in 2010, US President Barack Obama and other Western leaders hope a tenacious Taliban insurgency can be turned back in 2011 as foreign troops seek to put an unsteady Afghan military in the lead by the end of 2014.

Shah, 37, said USAID had struggled in the past to hold its aid contractors accountable, but said it had made big strides in maternal health, sending Afghan girls to school, increasing wheat yields and making tentative steps to expand farm exports.

Back in Washington, Shah will be making the case on Capitol Hill that the vacuum to be left by the US troop drawdown makes it all the more important to have a robust package from USAID, the biggest backer of aid activities in Afghanistan.

Yet he will face a test in convincing some Republicans, who took control of the US House of Representatives last month and are vowing to slash aid programmes they see as expensive, inefficient and vulnerable to waste and fraud.

The new Congress, seized by fears about a ballooning national debt yet unwilling to cut funding for military operations, will also examine cutting overall civilian assistance and training -- not just from USAID – for Afghanistan that has already cost the United States some $56 billion.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the influential Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has vowed to cut "fat" from the State Department and foreign aid budgets and to rein in programmes she said can perpetuate corrupt governments. 

Mubarak used last 18 days in power to stash billions

CAIRO: The former Egyptian president is accused of amassing a fortune of more than £3 billion - although some suggest it could be as much as £40 billion - during his 30 years in power.

It is claimed his wealth was tied up in foreign banks, investments, bullion and properties in London, New York, Paris and Beverly Hills.


In the knowledge his downfall was imminent, Mubarak is understood to have attempted to place his assets out of reach of potential investigators.

It took protesters 18 days to oust Hosni Mubarak, and he used that time wisely, funneling his fortune into untraceable overseas accounts, according to Western intelligence sources.

Switzerland has already frozen Mubarak’s assets, and the UK may do the same, but intelligence sources say Mubarak has been trying to place his fortune out of investigators’ reach.

Death toll from Iraqi suicide attack rises to 33

SAMARRA: The death toll from an attack in which a suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a bus filled with pilgrims near the Iraqi city of Samarra has risen to 33, medics said on Sunday.

"Our last toll from Saturday's attack is 33 dead and 28 wounded. There are two women among the dead and another two among the wounded," said a medic at Samarra's General Hospital. An earlier toll from the hospital was 30 dead.

Police said the attacker had stormed into a bus filled with pilgrims at a checkpoint outside Samarra before detonating an explosives-filled vest. It was the deadliest single attack in Iraq since a January 27 car bomb ripped through a funeral ceremony in a district of Baghdad, killing 48 people.(AFP)






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Egypt army scuffles with protesters

CAIRO: Egyptian soldiers on Sunday scuffled with dozens of die-hard protesters who refused to leave Cairo's Tahrir Square, the focal point of massive rallies that brought down president Hosni Mubarak. Hundreds of thousands camping out on the emblematic square packed up and went home after Mubarak's resignation on Friday, which saw power go to a military council that swiftly vowed to pave the way for democracy. But some protesters refuse to leave the square until promises for reform are implemented. When soldiers asked them to leave, they chanted, "Protest, protest, until we get our demands," leading to minor scuffles. The soldiers then backed away and allowed the protesters to remain in their positions. Traffic had resumed in parts of Tahrir Square after 18 days of massive protests that brought Cairo's bustling centre to a grinding halt. The new military leadership said Saturday that the current government would remain in place for a peaceful transition to "an elected civil authority to build a free democratic state," although it set no timetable. Massive nationwide protests erupted on January 25 demanding Mubarak's ouster, leaving at least 300 dead and scores more injured and detained.(AFP)

Arab regimes must change or face revolt: analysts

DUBAI: Within less than a month, popular uprisings toppled the long-time presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, and revolts could spread to other Arab countries if they do not implement reforms quickly, analysts say. "The Arab leaders are in a race against time: either they quickly adopt liberal changes, or they suffer the same fate as (the leaders) of Tunisia and Egypt," said Anwar Eshki, the director of the Middle East Institute for Strategic Studies in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak, who resigned on Friday after being in power since 1981, and Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who departed after ruling for 23 years on January 14, both bowed to unprecedented waves of popular protests. Angered by injustice, unemployment and corruption, "the Arab citizen is not the same as he was two months ago" and "has proven he can bring down an Arab head of state after two or three weeks of demonstrations," said Paul Salem, the director of the Carnegie Middle East Centre. Various Arab leaders, some of whom, such as Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, have been in power for over 40 years while many of those who have ruled with an iron fist have suddenly announced social security measures and political reforms. The popular uprisings in those two countries "will have repercussions throughout the region" and the United States, which encouraged change in Tunisia and Egypt, will try to do the same in other Arab countries, said Saleh al-Qallab, a former Jordanian information minister. "Who is next? No one can predict," he said, adding that this excludes Saudi Arabia, where "the process of reforms initiated by King Abdullah is moving slowly due to the weight of tradition and religion." Eshki echoed that assessment, saying that "the United States will seek to avoid sudden change in the Gulf monarchies that could disrupt oil supplies to the world economy," but Washington "will advise them to engage in reforms and accelerate their implementation." But he added that "the winds of change will blow on these (Gulf) countries. And if the leaders do not take the initiative, their people will." The uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, which were initiated and led by young people using the social networking site Facebook and micro-blogging site Twitter, have showed the limits of Islamist activism, which Arab regimes have used as a scarecrow to ward off calls for reform, Salem said. "Without adhering to an ideology," the uprisings have succeeded where Islamist movements have failed for decades, during which "they were presented or presented themselves as the only alternative to repressive Arab regimes," he said. Salem added however that Mubarak's fall, in the eyes of Riyadh, "exacerbates the imbalance of power in the favour of Iran," which wants "an Islamic Middle East," and sees the departure of the Egyptian president as "the failure of the United States and Zionism in the region." "The alliance of the Arab countries and the United States will weaken in favour of a degree of autonomy on the Turkish model, but these countries have no choice but to remain in the American fold," Salem said. (AFP)

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Assange hails Wikileaks role in Middle East revolt

SYDNEY: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday said his site was "significantly influential" in the fall of Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, an event he said "no doubt" sparked a Middle East revolt. Assange, 39, said cables leaked on his whistleblowing site questioning US support for Ben Ali gave citizens the confidence to rise up and influenced the decisions of surrounding nations on whether to intervene. "It does seem to be the case that material we published through a Lebanese newspaper, Al Akhbar, was significantly influential to what happened in Tunisia," Assange told the SBS programme Dateline. "And then there's no doubt that Tunisia was the example for Egypt and Yemen and Jordan, and all the protests that have happened there," he added. Mass protests sparked partly by poverty and unemployment erupted across Tunisia last month, resulting in Ben Ali's overthrow, while an 18-day revolt in Cairo ended 30 years of autocratic rule by Hosni Mubarak. Similar demonstrations have taken place in Yemen and popular unrest has also flared in Jordan. Australian-born Assange, currently awaiting a London court's decision on whether he should be extradited to Sweden to face sex assault claims, said the tide of popular discontent with autocratic regimes was "extremely gratifying". "Yes, I've had all these troubles in London, but to see this happening elsewhere, it's worth every cent of time wasted on the other thing," the former hacker said. In a wide-ranging interview given on the sidelines of last week's legal hearings Assange said he had cut his long hair and started wearing suits in an attempt to dim attention on him and keep the focus on his work. He took aim at British newspaper the Guardian, claiming it breached an agreement to store a read-only back-up copy of WikiLeaks' US diplomatic cables by "squirrel(ing) away an entire copy to the New York Times". "It stored the material on Internet-connected computer systems where the Chinese intelligence and God knows who could get it," he added of the Guardian's alleged breaches. "And it published stories on it. And it set all this in motion without telling us." Assange said there was "very strong" support for him in Australia but he believed his work had compromised the ruling Labor government, who he accused of being "co-opted" into giving the United States "everything it wants". Official Australian investigations had been dropped into WikiLeaks but Assange said "under the surface... there is assistance being afforded to the United States" and he feared Canberra would extradite him there if he returned. He said there was a "broad spectrum" of fresh cables about Australia due to be released, involving a "number of large companies and international politics". Assange, an intensely polarising figure, has called on Australia to support him, accusing Prime Minister Julia Gillard of condoning calls from some quarters for his death by maintaining a "diplomatic silence", especially with the US. His release of classified documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and from US diplomats stationed around the world led some to call for his punishment, while others say he should be given the Nobel Peace Prize. (AFP)

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Egypt parliament dissolved, constitution suspended

CAIRO: Egypt's new military rulers announced Sunday the suspension of the constitution, in a statement read out on state television.

State television reported that Egypt's caretaker government will remain in place for a six month transitional period, the country's new military rulers decided.

Military rulers also dissolved a parliament dominated by the ruling party of former president Hosni Mubarak, two days after he was overthrown in a popular revolt.

New military leadership said it would form a panel to amend the country's constitution before submitting the changes to a popular referendum, according to state TV.(AFP)




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US distances itself from Wisner's remarks on Mubarak

WASHINGTON: The United States distanced itself Saturday from a one-time envoy's suggestion that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should remain in office during a democratic transition. Frank Wisner, an influential retired diplomat and former US ambassador to Egypt who met with Mubarak at President Barack Obama's request this week, "was speaking for himself and not for the US government," a senior Obama administration official said in Washington. Wisner earlier called Mubarak an "old friend" of the United States, and said he "must stay in office in order to steer those changes through." "President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical," Wisner told the Munich Security Conference via video link. "It's his opportunity to write his own legacy. He has given 60 years of his life to the service of his country, this is an ideal moment for him to show the way forward." Another US official said he did not actually hear Wisner's comments and declined to comment on them when reporters read them out loud, but stressed the former diplomat was acting in a private capacity. "Frank Wisner was speaking as a private citizen... analyst... not as a representative of the US government," the official said on condition of anonymity. On Friday, Obama said the proud "patriot" Mubarak should listen to his people and make the "right decision," avoiding an explicit request for the longtime US ally to step down immediately. But citing unnamed US and Egyptian officials, The New York Times reported on Saturday that new vice president Omar Suleiman and senior Egyptian military leaders are exploring ways for Mubarak to make a graceful exit. Mubarak, who has led the most populous Arab nation with an autocratic hand for nearly three decades unchallenged until now, has said he is "fed up" with his job, but prefers to stay in power until September elections while calm is restored. Wisner said the Obama administration dispatched him on Monday to Cairo, where he met with the 82-year-old Egyptian leader and Suleiman. He is now back in the United States. "The crisis is of extraordinary importance. What happens in Egypt affects all of our interests throughout the region," Wisner said. "The United States has had a long and very close relationship -- 30 years plus -- standing with Egypt. Where Egypt goes, the domestic order, the external orientation of the Middle East, will be profoundly affected." Wisner said his mission "was to make sure that we communicated in a respectful manner to a man who has been an old friend of the US but who now faces the huge responsibility of having to lead Egypt through a transition to a new and a different future, and to do so without resorting to force."           current news,news headlines,world news today,latest news headlines, news 24, top news,headline news,business news,national news,news update, news articlesnews headlines today, world news headlines,      breaking news english,current news events,local news,latest world news,news stories,recent news,cnn headline news,latest breaking news,cnn world news,prime news,msn news, current world news,philippine news,urdu news,world news now,local breaking news,funny news,international news,latest local news,       breaking world news,breaking news headlines,late breaking news, win news,boxing news,economic news,      world breaking news,current news stories,news in hindi,news nz,irish news,economy news, it news,news,       worldnews,news today,breaking news,

Mubarak must make 'right decision': Obama

 WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama Friday delivered a clear hint that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should step down now, saying the proud "patriot" should listen to his people and make the "right decision."

Obama did not explicitly call on Mubarak to resign, but said the Arab strongman had already made the psychological leap of realizing his rule was ebbing, and now should reconsider his position amid a mass uprising.

The US president staked out a veiled, but forceful, position as tens of thousands of demonstrators held "departure day" protests in Cairo, and the United States sought a way to prod Mubarak to the exit after 30 years in power.

"I believe that President Mubarak cares about his country. He is proud, but he is also a patriot," Obama said.

"What I've suggested to him is, is that he needs to consult with those who are around him in his government.

"He needs to listen to what is being voiced by the Egyptian people, and make a judgment about a pathway forward that is orderly, but that is meaningful and serious."

Obama did not explicitly say Mubarak should leave power immediately, with the White House highly sensitive to perceptions that it is engineering Egypt's political future in a region that pulsates with anti-American feeling.

But his choice of words made clear that Washington's call for an immediate political transition did not include its wily ally of three decades, who has been a fulcrum of US Middle East policy.

"The key question he should be asking himself is, 'how do I leave a legacy behind in which Egypt is able to get through this transformative period?'" Obama said.

"My hope is, is that he will end up making the right decision."

Amid reports that Washington was working on a number of scenarios with key players in Cairo that would result in Mubarak's departure, Obama stressed Egyptians must decide their future themselves.

But he said he understood "some discussions" were already underway in Egypt on a transition to a system that would respect universal rights and lead to free and fair elections.

Mubarak's one-time foreign minister and a future possible presidential candidate, Arab League chief Amr Mussa, meanwhile said he doubted his former boss would leave any time soon.

The New York Times reported that Washington has been pushing proposals for Omar Suleiman, Mubarak's veteran intelligence chief and now vice president, to head a transitional government.

The White House took issue with aspects of the report, but did not deny it outright, and its response hinted that the United States may be studying a range of options to prod Mubarak to go and defuse the confrontation in Cairo.

"It's simply wrong to report that there's a single US plan that's being negotiated with the Egyptians," a senior White House official said on condition of anonymity.

Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq however ruled out the possibility that Mubarak would transfer power to Suleiman.

Amid signs of intense US diplomacy on a crisis which could impact Washington's foreign policy for years, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed to a major security conference in Munich with Egypt topping her agenda.

During the flight, she called Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and was in "constant" touch with Washington, a State Department official said.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates meanwhile spoke by phone to his Egyptian counterpart, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi.

The Pentagon is apparently seeking to guard its ties with Egypt's politically powerful military.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff cautioned against cutting the 1.3 billion dollars in US annual support to the Egyptian military, following signals from the White House that the aid bonanza was under review.

"I would just caution against doing anything until we really understand what's going on," Admiral Mike Mullen said in an interview on media.

For years, Egypt has been the second largest recipient of US foreign aid after Israel.

Obama also delivered another unequivocal warning that violence against journalists, human rights activists and journalists was unacceptable, though said he was pleased with restraint shown on a mass day of protests on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Obama said he told Mubarak clearly in two telephone calls that the "old ways" that had sustained his 30-year-rule were not going to work.

"Suppression is not going to work, engaging in violence is not going to work."

Later Friday the White House said Obama had spoken to key regional ally Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister of Turkish prime minister to discuss the situation in Egypt, and the pair agreed their countries "would continue to consult closely as events unfold in Egypt."

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Two Nato troops killed in Afghan blasts

 KABUL: NATO says two of its service members have been killed in separate bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan.

Details of the service members' identities and the exact location of Saturday's blasts were not immediately disclosed.

Five service members with the international coalition have been killed so far in February, and 36 since the start of the year. Last year was the deadliest of the nearly decade-long war for international troops, with more than 700 killed, compared to just more than 500 in 2009, previously the worst of the war.

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Egypt minister sorry for 'harsh treatment'

WASHINGTON: Egypt's Finance Minister Samir Radwan apologized Friday for any instance of journalists or Egyptian protestors that have been subject to "harsh treatment" at the hands of government forces, in an interview with CNN. "I would apologize to any journalist or any foreigner or any egyptian for that matter that has been subjected to this harsh treatment," the newly appointed minister told CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight." "I inquired and I was told that there is zero tolerance, zero tolerance of this government on attacks against foreigners, let alone journalists whom we need to have them on our side, to watch this situation unfold and convey a much better image to the outside world," he said. Radwan acknowledge the protestors that have mounted massive protests across Egypt in recent days had "fair demands." "They are talking about jobs. They are talking about corruption. They are talking about, you know, the freedom and so on... Now the fact that there are other political agenda that interfered with the situation and unfortunately on Wednesday the situation turned a bit nasty." Clashes left at least eight people dead and more than 800 hurt on Wednesday and Thursday. According to UN estimates, more than 300 people have been killed since the protests began. Egypt's defiant strongman Hosni Mubarak meanwhile Friday showed no sign of quitting following a "departure day" on Friday that drew tens of thousands opposed to his 30-year grip on power and international calls for him to quit. US President Barack Obama meanwhile hinted that Mubarak should step down saying the "patriot" should "listen what is voiced by the people," while EU leaders clearly said it was time for change.

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Attempt to assassinate Egypt VP fails, 2 bodyguards killed

CAIRO: A failed assassination attempt on Egyptian VP Omar Suleiman — a possible successor to President Mubarak — has left two guards dead. Suleiman had been appointed as vice president by embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to control the unrest in the country. According to US TV, Suleiman was attacked in recent days.

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Ten killed in China bus accident

BEIJING: Ten people were killed when a minibus toppled into a reservoir in southeastern China, state media reported Saturday, in the latest fatal crash on the country's notoriously dangerous roads.

The accident happened Friday afternoon near Shaowu city in Fujian province when the driver of the minibus carrying 21 people apparently swerved to avoid a motorbike, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing local authorities.

The bus rolled over and fell into the Qianling hydropower station reservoir, Xinhua said.

Nine people were rescued, while about 200 police and rescuers were searching for two people still missing.

China's roads are among the most dangerous in the world, with traffic laws widely flouted. Almost 70,000 people died in road accidents in 2009, or around 190 fatalities a day, according to police statistics.

Mubarak resigns as head of ruling party

 CAIRO: The leadership of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party resigned on Saturday, including Gamal Mubarak, the son of President Hosni Mubarak whose rule has been shaken by days of protests, state television said.

Al Arabiya television said Mubarak had also resigned as head of the ruling party. This could not immediately be confirmed.

A party official could not confirm the television report but said that if Mubarak had resigned from the party it would not affect his position as president.

"These are two different positions," the official said.

In its report, state television named the new secretary-general as Hossam Badrawi, seen as a member of the liberal wing of the party.

"(The resignation) is very important politically because this party was exploiting the state for the interests of the party, and that has caused a lot of criticism," said analyst Diaa Rashwan, adding that it had fuelled anger over corruption.

Protesters who have rocked Egypt's political system have complained about corruption, poverty and political repression that left power in the hands of Mubarak and his allies.

"Practically, it is important because the people using violence were being mobilised by the party ... and now they have been stripped of this protection and they won't feel secure that they have a party behind them," Rashwan said.

The outgoing leaders include secretary general Safwat el-Sherif, 77, who has been powerful in the Egyptian establishment since the 1960s and is a pillar of the old guard. Sherif is also speaker of the upper house of parliament.

Without a place in the leadership, Gamal Mubarak would no longer qualify as the party's presidential candidate under the existing constitution.

President Mubarak himself bears the title of NDP president and state television did not say that had changed.

The outgoing leadership make up the five-man core committee in the party. The other members are Zakaria Azmi, Mubarak's chief of staff, NDP spokesman Ali el-Din Hilal and steel magnate Ahmed Ezz, who had already resigned a few days after the outbreak of the popular uprising against Mubarak.

The party was one of the main targets of the uprising and its headquarters near Tahrir Square was gutted by fire during the protests.

Bilal Fathi, 22, a member of the protest movement, said: "These are not gains for the protesters. This is a trick by the regime. This is not fulfilling our demands. These are red herrings."

The protesters' main demand is that President Mubarak leave office.

Envoy spoke about Mubarak as private citizen: official

MUNICH: A retired diplomat who carried a US message to Egypt's Hosni Mubarak last week and on Saturday said he should stay in office during a transition, was speaking as a private citizen, a US official said.

"Frank Wisner was speaking as a private citizen... analyst... not as a representative of the US government," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official said he did not actually hear Wisner's comments and declined to comment on them when reporters read them out loud, but stressed he was acting in a private capacity.

Wisner went to Cairo on Monday to carry a message from US President Barack Obama's administration to the Egyptian leader. He is now back in the United States.

US seeks support for Egypt's transition

MUNICH: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Saturday for international support for an orderly transition to democracy in Egypt as she warned of forces that might try to derail it. Visiting Munich, Germany, Clinton also advocated support for open and accountable governments across the Middle East -- shaken by mass protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen -- despite the short-term risks of chaos and instability. And the chief US diplomat praised the restraint of Egyptian security forces in largely peaceful mass protests on Friday. A transition in Egypt "will become immeasurably harder if there is not restraint by government and security forces, and we thankfully saw that yesterday with the very large but peaceful demonstration," she said. Clinton, who was addressing the international Munich Security Conference, also worried about other threats to stability, referring to an attack by unknown saboteurs on an Egyptian gas pipeline supplying Jordan. The attack forced authorities to switch off the gas supply from a twin pipeline to Israel, an official told media. "There are forces at work in any society, and particularly one that is facing these kinds of challenges that will try to derail or overtake the process to pursue their own specific agenda," Clinton said. This, she said, is "why I think it is important to support the transition process announced by the Egyptian government actually headed by now-Vice President Omar Suleiman." Her remarks raised Suleiman's profile even though she said he was acting under Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's orders. Citing unnamed US and Egyptian officials, the New York Times reported on Saturday that Suleiman and senior Egyptian military leaders were exploring ways for Mubarak to make a graceful exit. Rather than go immediately, they said, Mubarak's powers would be scaled back, enabling the creation of a transitional government headed by Suleiman, the former intelligence chief, to negotiate reforms with the opposition. However, the picture became confused when Frank Wisner, who last Monday was sent by President Barack Obama with a message for Mubarak, said the Egyptian president should stay in office during the transition. "President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical," Wisner said. "It's his opportunity to write his own legacy. He has given 60 years of his life to the service of his country, this is an ideal moment for him to show the way forward." US officials, however, quickly distanced themselves from Wisner's remarks, saying he was speaking as a private citizen. On Friday, Obama said the proud "patriot" Mubarak should listen to his people and make the "right decision". He avoided an explicit request for the longtime US ally to step down immediately. Mubarak, 82, whose three decades as leader of the Arab world's most populous nation had gone unchallenged until now, has said he is "fed up" with his job, but prefers to stay in power until September elections while calm is restored. Clinton meanwhile appeared to ease the pressure on the Egyptian leadership when she said a number of "concrete steps" were needed before elections could take place in September. "That takes some time," she said, her comments less insistent than those she and other officials in the Obama administration had made in the past week, when they called for the transition to start "immediately". In a speech that recalled one she gave last month in Qatar calling for reform in Arab countries, Clinton said the "challenge is to help our (Middle East) partners take systematic steps to usher in a better future." Clinton, whose speech in Doha came just a day before Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia after mass popular protests, said the Middle East was being battered by a "perfect storm" of powerful trends. She spoke of too many young people seeking too few jobs in countries with depleting water and energy resources -- and expressing their frustrations on social-networking sites. "Across the region, there must be clear and real progress toward open, transparent, fair, and accountable systems." Nonetheless, "there are risks with the transition to democracy," Clinton added. "(The) transition can backslide into just another authoritarian regime," she said. "Revolutions have overthrown dictators in the name of democracy, only to see the political process hijacked by new autocrats who use violence, deception, and rigged elections to stay in power, or to advance an agenda of extremism."

Muslim Brotherhood in talks with Egypt authorities

CAIRO: Egypt's key opposition Muslim Brotherhood said Sunday it had launched talks with authorities "to see up to what point they are ready to accept the demands of the people."

An official from the brotherhood, which the government has accused of trying to profit from the sweeping protests posing the greatest threat to Mubarak's three-decade-old grip on power, said talks had taken place on Saturday morning between them and Egypt's new Vice President Omar Suleiman.

They were the first talks ever between the government its bete noire.

"Keeping in mind the interests of the nation and its institutions and concerned about preserving the country's independence ...we began talks to see up to what point they are ready to accept the demands of the people," the official told media, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official also said the dialogue was aimed at eliminating "foreign or regional interference in our affairs," in an effort to distance the group from Iran, which has called for the installation of an Islamist regime in Egypt.

The brotherhood, which is officially banned but tolerated in Egypt, is the best-organised opposition movement drawing on a vast social aid network.

Senior members of Mubarak's National Democratic Party resigned on Saturday, but demonstrators staging a 12th day of anti-regime protests rejected the shuffle as a cosmetic move.

The resignations came after Mubarak huddled with his new government for the first time on, and an official said that the country's stock exchange would remain closed indefinitely as the stand-off continues.

Chinese vessel not hijacked: state media

 BEIJING: A Chinese-flagged commercial ship reportedly hijacked by Somali pirates was safe and being escorted by anti-piracy naval vessels, state press said on Sunday.

The ship had not been hijacked off the Yemeni coast, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the China Maritime Search and Rescue Centre.

A Chinese naval fleet working as part of an international anti-piracy force in waters off Yemen was "safely" escorting the ship, it said.

Yemen's interior ministry said Saturday that Somali pirates had hijacked the "Tien Hau" off Yemen's western port of Al-Hudaydah.

China's military attaché to Yemen, earlier quoted by Xinhua, had also confirmed the apparent hijacking.

Heavily armed pirates using speedboats operate in the Gulf of Aden where they prey on ships, often holding vessels for weeks before releasing them for large ransoms paid by governments or ship-owners.