In Brief: Wheat more expensive in Afghanistan than elsewhere - WFP

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KABUL, 20 May 2009 (IRIN) - Wheat prices in Afghanistan in April were 65 percent higher than international prices, 56 percent higher than in India and 18 percent higher than in neighbouring Pakistan, according to a WFP survey. Despite a 45 percent drop in the price of wheat flour since April 2008, food is still unaffordable for millions of Afghans. WFP plans to feed over eight million most vulnerable people across the country in 2009.

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Pakistan Country Information !!!

HISTORY:
Pakistan traces its history back to 2,500 years B.C., when a highly developed civilization in the Indus Valley, excavations at Harappa, Moenjodaro, Kot Diji and Mehr Garh have brought to light, the evidence of an advanced civilization existing even in more ancient times.

Around 1,500 B.C., the Aryans overwhelmed this region, and influenced the Hindu civilization, whose center moved to Ganges Valley, further east. Later, the Persians occupied the northern region in the 5th century B.C. up to the 2nd century A.D. The Greeks came in 327 B.C., under Alexander of Macedonia, and passed away like a meteor. In 712 AD, the Arabs, led by Muhammad Bin Qasim, Landed somewhere near modern Karachi and ruled the lower half of Pakistan for two hundred years. During this time, Islam took roots in the soil and influenced the life, culture and traditions of the people.

In the 10th century AD, began the systematic conquest of South Asia by the Muslims from Central Asia, who ruled here up to the 18th century,. Then the British became the masters of the land and ruled for nearly 200 years and for only 100 years over what is Pakistan now. The Muslim revival began towards the end of the last century when Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, a renowned Muslim leader and educationist, launched a movement for intellectual renaissance of the Muslims of South Asia. In 1930, the well known poet - philosopher, Allama muhammad Iqbal, conceived the idea of a separate state for the Muslims of the South Asia. In 1940, a resolution was adopted by the all-India Muslim League, demanding a separate dependent homeland for the Muslims of South Asia. After seven years of un-tiring struggle under the brilliant leadership of Quaid-e-Azam (The great leader) Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan emerged on the world map as a sovereign state, on 14th August, 1947.

GOVERNMENT:
Pakistan is an Islamic republic with its capital at Islamabad. It has four provinces: Balochistan, North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab and Sindh. Their respective capitals are Quetta, Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi. In addition to provinces, are the Federal Administered Northern Areas (F.A.N.A) and Federal Administered Tribal Areas (F.A.T.A). Pakistan has a federal structure. Parliament consists of National Assembly and the Senate. Members of the National Assembly are directly elected on the adult franchise base and there term of office is five years. The National Assembly determine the major policy issue and passes annual budget and legislation. It elects the Prime Minister from among its members. The Prime Minister forms his / her cabinet from among members of the Assembly and Senate. Provinces have their own elected legislative Assemblies and Chief Ministers. Majority of the members, of the upper house are elected by the Provincial Assemblies.

LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY:
Pakistan is situated between latitude 24 and 37 degrees north and longitude 62 and 75 degrees east. The country borders Iran on the west, India in the east, Afghanistan in the north-west, China in the north and Arabian sea on the south. The great mountain ranges of the Himalayas, the Karakorams and the Hindukush form Pakistan's northern highlands of the north-west frontier province and the Northern Area; Punjab province is a flat, alluvial plain with five major rivers dominating the upper region eventually joining the Indus river flowing south to the Arabian sea; Sindh is bounded on the east by the thar desert and the Rann of Kutch and on the west by the Kirthar range; the Balochistan plateau is an arid tableland, encircled by dry mountains.

POPULATION (1998 Census):
Total population : 130.58 million, Growth Rate : 2.61% per annum.
Density : 164 person / Sq.kms
Sex Ratio : 108 males to 100 females

AREA:
8,03,940 Sq.km (including FATA and FANA).

CLIMATE:
Pakistan has well defined seasons; Winter (December - February), Spring (March - April), Summer (May - September) and Autumn (October - November).
During summer in central and southern parts of the country, the temperature may go as high as 45^oC. However, the northern regions have very pleasant weather during summers. Between July and August, the season brings an average 38-51cm of rain to plains and 152-203cm in lower Himalayan valleys of Murree, Kaghan, Swat and Azad Kashmir.

RELIGION:
Muslim (97%), Hindu (1.5%), Christian (1%) and several other minorities.

LANGUAGES:
National language : URDU
Official language : ENGLISH
Main Regional Languages : Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi and Pashto.

CURRENCY:
Basic unit of currency is Rupee which divides into 100 paisa.
Currency notes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100,. 500 and 1000 rupees are in use.

CREDIT CARDS:
American Express is the most widely accepted card. Master card and Visa are also good. Dinner club and other cards have more limited use.

TRAVELERS CHEQUE:
Generally accepted at most banks, four & five star hotels and major shops. To avoid additional exchange rate charges, travelers are advised to take travelers cheque in US Dollars or Pounds Sterling.

ELECTRICITY:
220 V, 50 Hz AC.

TIME ZONE:
Pakistan Standard Time is GMT plus 5 hours. It gets dark at about 05:00pm in winter and at 07:30pm in summer.

DRIVING:
All traffic in Pakistan runs on the left side. International or own national license is valid. Cars must be insured and registered. Minimum age for driving is 18 years. Speed limit is 65 km/h at most roads and 120 km/h on Motorways.

INSURANCE:
Tourists are advised to take insurance against accidents, thefts etc. from the country of origin. There are many insurance companies in Pakistan's major cities who also offer such services.

AIRPORT FACILITIES:
Bank, car rental, tourist information (at Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and at Saidu Sharif), duty free shop, restaurant, hotels, reception booths, post office and public call office.

AIRPORT DEPARTURE TAX.
International :
Economy Class : Rs.400
Club/Business Class : Rs.600
First Class : Rs.800
Foreign Travel Tax (on tickets purchased inside Pakistan) : Rs.1,500
Domestic :
Economy Class : Rs.20 one way
Club/Business Class : Rs.40 one way

ENTERTAINMENT:
Pakistan Television (PTV) entertainment programs of music, plays/dramas and stage shows are telecast from 05 TV Stations; Karachi, Quetta, Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad. PTV has also started PTV World Channel which can be viewed in the Middle East and South Asia. The private Channel, Shalimar Television Network (STN), besides telecast of similar programs, also re-telecast programs of BBC, CNN & TNT movies.

Pakistan, Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) has 22 radio stations throughout Pakistan which offer music, plays, news and talks in national and local languages. A PBC World Service from Islamabad presents programs in a number of international languages. A private music channel, 'FM -100" has 24 hours music service from 04 major cities of Pakistan. All urban areas have cinema houses which run daily 03 shows of feature films in Urdu and other local languages. Some cinema houses in major cities run English movies also.

NEWSPAPERS:
More than 200 daily newspapers and 1700 magazines and periodicals are published throughout the country in English, Urdu and other regional languages.

TOURISM GROWTH:
In the year 1998, Pakistan attracted around 3,81,000 tourist from overseas and earned US$111 million as foreign exchange receipts. The number of foreign tourist arrivals in the south Asia region was 5 million. In 1998, the share of Pakistan in tourist arrivals in this region was 7.6%. More than half of foreign tourist arrivals in 1998 were for visiting friends and relatives followed by business travelers 18.3%, holidays and recreational travelers 13.4% and religious tourists to the tune of 2.5%. Most of the tourists from overseas had visited main cities like Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, mainly due to the nature of foreign tourism which is dominated by visiting friends and relatives.

HOW TO COME TO PAKISTAN:
By Air :
More than 25 airlines fly to Pakistan from over 40 countries. Most of the flights arrive at Karachi, but PIA, British Airways, Emirates, Saudia and China Xinjiang Airlines fly direct to the twin cities of Rawalpindi/Islamabad. PIA, Indian airlines, Saudia and Thai Airways fly direct to Lahore. Pakistan International (PIA) has direct flights from the main Mediterranean and European cities, as well as from New York, Toronto and Nairobi. It also runs a Far East Network from Tokyo, Beijing, Jakarta, Singapur, Kuala Lampur and Bangkok. PIA has also flights to Tashkent from Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi while another Pakistani Airline, Aero Asia has a weekly flight between Karachi, Bishkek and Dubai.

By Land :
From China, the Khunjrab Pass is open from 1st May to 31st October for groups and to 15th November for individual tourists. Customs, immigration post shall remain open daily from 08:30 to 11:00 for outgoing travelers and upto 16:00 for incoming tourists. Travel time from Sost to Taxkurgan is 05hrs (220 kms). The Chinese border post, Taxkurgan is open 12:00 noon to 14:00 for outgoing tourists and upto 19:00 for incoming travelers.

From India :
Wagha is the only Land border open between Pakistan and India. The Wagha border post open daily for foreigners; summer (18 April to 15 October) 08:30 to 14:30 hrs and winter (16th October to 15th April) 09:00 to 15:00 hrs. Minibus No. 12 leaves from outside Lahore Railway Station for Wagha every fifteen minutes, cost approximately US $ 0.20 per person. Taxi shall charge around US $ 8 for this half an hour journey.

By Sea:
No passenger boats or ships for the general public sail to or from Pakistan at present. A few pilgrim ships/boats, do ply between Pakistan and the Gulf states. There are some plans of starting a ferry Service between Karachi and Dubai in near future.

TRAVEL WITHIN PAKISTAN:
Air:
PIA serves 38 domestic airports with scheduled connections, including multiple daily flights between major cities of Karachi, Quetta, Multan, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar. Two private airlines, Aero Asia and Bhoja Air, also serve Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Islamabad. PIA has daily flights linking the Northern tourist towns of Gilgit, Skardu and Saidu Sharif with Islamabad, and Chitral with Peshawar. All flights to the northern region are subject to good weather.

Road:
Pakistan has an extensive network of roads and highways, linking every big and small town. There are several highways like Grand Trunk Road between Lahore and Peshawar, Super Highway and National Highway linking Karachi with interior of Sindh and Punjab, Indus Highway linking Peshawar with the Southern Punjab, RCD Highway linking Karachi with Quetta and on to Taftan (Pak-Iran border) and the Karakoram Highway joining Islamabad with Kashgar (China) through Abbottabad, Gilgit Hunza and Khunjrab Pass. A land mark has been achieved with the completion of Lahore-Islamabad motorway (M2) and Faisalabad-Pindi Bhatian Motorway (M3), which have opened some of the remote areas of Pakistan for visitors. Another project of Motorway i.e. Islamabad-Peshawar (M1) will be completed in near future.

You will find all types of public transport in Pakistan. Taxis, auto rickshaws, vans, tongas (horse & carriage) and mini-buses are used for traveling within the city/town/village limits, whereas air-conditioned, non air-conditioned and deluxe type of buses, vans and coaches regularly ply between major cities and tourists destinations.

Train:
Pakistan has over 12,700 kms of railways, including 8,500 kms inherited from the British. Main line runs from Karachi to Peshawar connecting important tourist places like Moenjodaro, Sukkur, Bahawalpur, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi / Islamabad, Taxila and Peshawar. Another main line link Quetta with the rest of the country, There are several daily trains running on these lines, however, the faster trains like Shalimar Express and Railcar have more comfortable air-conditioned compartments for travelers.

Pakistan Railways allow a 25% concession in all classes, to foreign tourists and 50% discount for foreign students. This concession is allowed on production of a recommendation certificate issued by any PTDC Tourist Information Centre and original passport, to the Divisional Superintendent of Pakistan Railways.

WHAT TO BUY ?
Pakistan is a treasure house of exquisite handicrafts, made by a people who grew up to weave, to pot, to work metals, wood and stone, to decorate, to build things small and great. Pottery here is a living history, a traditional craft that become an art, with its origin of Pakistan claims its own special jars and jugs, from sturdy terra-cotta to paper-thin ceramics, in vivid colors of mustard yellow, deep green, brick red and sky blue. For those keen on shopping, the prices are still quite reasonable. You will find yourself returning home with hand-woven carpets, marble pieces, copper and brass items, woodwork, embroidered "Kurtas" and "Khussas" and countless objects d'art.

WHAT TO EAT ?
Having inherited the culinary traditions of the Mughals, the Turks, the Central Asian and the Iranians, eating out in Pakistan is a rich and unique experience. Most local restaurants serve authentic Pakistani dishes straight from the oven, with the sites and sounds of a bazaar in the background. Meat, fish and vegetable dishes are seasoned with spices. Pakistani mutton and chicken curries and the oriental rice dish called, Pullao, are also popular with natives and foreigners alike.

WHAT TO WEAR ?
Lightweight, cotton clothes suffice except in north in winter. Men wear suits for business meetings, social events. Casual shalwar suits are worn by all women and the most men in public. Women should dress modestly.

FESTIVALS AND HOLIDAYS OF PAKISTAN:
Pakistan's calendar features a great many Muslim religious festivals. Others are in memory of National Heroes or commemorate political events in the nation's recent history. Muslim festivals are celebrated according to Muslim (Lunar) Calendar and may occur some 10 days earlier each successive Christian year. There are several folk festivals held regularly in every part of the country. Exact dates of such festivals are fixed annually by the District Administration of the respective area, at least 02 months in advance.

DON'TS :
Please don't photograph military installations, bridges and airports. Taking photographs of women is prohibited but the girls in the Kalash Valleys can be photographed provided they agree. Don't travel at night on mountain roads and don't swim in the rivers up north or other fast flowing mountains streams.

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World People Says This is Taliban >> But WHY !!!

YEH ISLAM K DIFAH KARNY WALY HAY.

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Exclusive: Inside Pakistan's Swat Valley !!

ABC News Has Rare Access to Taliban Region of Pakistan

People in the region are terrified. Of the more than 1.5 million people here, more than 200,000 have fled. We saw long lines of vehicles with families and their belongings packed on top, evacuating Swat Valley today.

Girls schools have been closed and ransacked, bombers have staged attacks and businesses have been shuttered. Many people say their businesses are completely ruined.

And followers of a radical Islamic cleric, Maulana Fazlullah, have had no trouble scaring away or slaughtering the few Pakistan government forces have been sent to the area. A dozen were publicly beheaded in recent weeks, and dozens more were taken hostage. They were later released but only after the government freed dozens of insurgents in exchange.

Getting out of the car to do standups was tricky. We did not want to stay in one place too long, or we would attract attention and word would spread that foreigners were in town. In fact, the place I wanted to do a standup was off limits.

"They are looking to take an American hostage over on that side of the river," our local cameraman said. "You should not go there."

So we stayed in the area he told us to. I shot several on-camera pieces, including one right across the river from Taliban headquarters. We attracted huge crowds, and as soon as we did we hopped back in the car.

People we talked to in the small area of Swat that has not yet fallen to the Taliban blame one man for the problems here -- Musharraf. There is talk that President Musharraf may soon mount a major operation here to show that his emergency declaration is intended to battle terrorists, but most people here want to know why he hasn't acted sooner.

I talked to a few people on the streets, but our time was limited. It was getting dark and it was a long way home.

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Exclusive: Inside Pakistan's Swat Valley !!

ABC News Has Rare Access to Taliban Region of Pakistan

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK By MARTHA RADDATZ
SWAT VALLEY, Pakistan
Nov. 8, 2007
Pakistan's Swat Valley is 150 grueling miles, and a world away from Islamabad.

We left early this morning, and it is lucky we did. It took more than five hours to make the trip through treacherous mountain passes paved only in gravel, and small villages where covering my face and hair was imperative.

We were in the heart of Taliban country, but this wasn't Afghanistan -- it was Pakistan.

I started reading about the Swat Valley on my way over to Pakistan early last week. I knew that it was a former tourist spot surrounded by a staggering wall of mountains. The mountains are still spectacular, but the tourists are nowhere to be found. I also knew that it was now considered too dangerous for foreigners, especially Westerners, which is why we did our best not to look that way.

Related

When I met our guide this morning he had left his polo shirts and khaki pants home. He, the cameraman, and British producer Bruno Roeber were all dressed in native garb. Despite Bruno's bright blue eyes, the men blended in fairly well.

Our guide told me to bring a large black or white scarf and to wear it over my head. Half way up the mountain he could see I wasn't very good at handling a head scarf, and he pulled over to show me how. It must drape your shoulders as well

As we got closer to Swat and were passing through a village, I peered out the window and our guide calmly said, "Look straight ahead, don't let them see your face."

But the streets were so swarmed with people that it was difficult not to be noticed.

And then we hit the traffic jam -- an unimaginable traffic jam. On a high mountain pass we came to a dead stop because they were doing some blasting up ahead. We were surrounded by huge, brightly colored trucks filled with cattle, rice, hay and people. Drivers were squeezing in between the cars. Our guide told me to stay in the car, make sure my hair was covered and not look around. Finally, after an hour we began moving again.

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EU election sees swing to the right

Centre-right parties have hailed their European Union (EU) parliament election victories as a vote against increased stimulus spending, while pledging to find conservative solutions to the continent's economic crisis.

The June 4-7 elections across the 27-nation bloc saw a record low of only 43 per cent of 375 million eligible voters cast ballots for representatives to the 736-seat EU legislature.

Latest EU projections showed centre-right parties were expected to take 263 seats, with centre-left parties heading for 163.

Green and pro-EU parties look to have captured 52 seats, while far-right and anti-EU parties were on around 40 seats. Smaller parties take up the rest of the seats.

Right-wing gains

Joseph Daul, the leader of the European People's Party, the main umbrella group for centre-right national parties, said his bloc would back a $27bn EU plan that allocated no new money for stimulus programmes.

It would instead require European governments to more quickly spend existing EU funds on job-creation.

Right-wing gains

Joseph Daul, the leader of the European People's Party, the main umbrella group for centre-right national parties, said his bloc would back a $27bn EU plan that allocated no new money for stimulus programmes.

It would instead require European governments to more quickly spend existing EU funds on job-creation.

Other priorities for the centre right include common immigration and energy policies to reduce the number of illegal migrants and to lessen Europe's dependence on Russian natural gas exports.

Right-leaning governments came out ahead in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties won in Britain, Spain, and Bulgaria.

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the European Socialists group, said his member parties would "continue to fight" for more money.

"Europe still needs a new direction. We are in the middle of a recession and it will not go away," he said.

The Labour party of Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, finished third behind the UK Independence Party, an anti-EU party.

Labour's worst post-war election result casts more doubt on Brown's future, in the wake of a series of resignations by Labour ministers.

'Anti-Semitic' charges

Far-right groups made gains in Britain, Austria, the Netherlands and Hungary.The election saw the all-white British National Party (BNP) pick up two seats in the EU assembly for the first time ever.

The BNP will join other successful far-right parties from the Netherlands, Hungary and Austria that have criticised Islam, immigrants and minorities.

Austria's big winner was the rightist Freedom Party, which more than doubled its strength over the 2004 elections to 13.1 per cent of the vote.

In the Netherlands, the Party for Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, took 17 per cent of the country's votes, winning four of 25 seats on an anti-Islam ticket.

Three of 22 seats in Hungary went to the far-right Jobbik party, which describes itself as against immigration.

Critics say the party is racist and anti-Semitic.

Sarkozy success

In Germany, the ruling Christian Democrats convincingly defeated their rival Social Democrats, only months before the country holds its own national election.

Volker Kauder, the leader of the Christian Democrats in the German parliament, said: "We are the force that is acting level-headedly and correctly in this financial and economic crisis.''

Nicolas Sarkozy's, the French president, governing conservatives trounced the socialists, while the green Europe-Ecologie party, posted third place.

In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition fared well with about 35 per cent of the vote, boosting the prime minister.

But conservative success was not uniform across Europe.

Voters angry over unemployment, inflation and political scandals punished right-leaning ruling parties in Greece, Hungary and the tiny island of Malta.

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Nasrallah concedes election defeat

The secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia political party, has accepted that his opposition alliance has lost a parliamentary election in Lebanon to the ruling March 14 coalition.

Hassan Nasrallah made the acknowledgment on Monday, hours after official results of the popular poll were released.

"We accept the official results in a sporting spirit," he said in a televised address.

"I would like to congratulate all those who won, those in the majority and those in the opposition," he said.

Official results showed the Sunni-led March 14 coalition, led by Saad Hariri, the son of Rafiq Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister, winning 71 seats in the 128-seat parliament, while the Hezbollah-led alliance took 57.

Even before the official results were out, the March 14 coalition, named for the date of a protest that prompted the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, declared victory, prompting street celebrations among its supporters.

Poor performance

Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East centre, said that the loss of the Hezbollah-led opposition could be attributed to the poor performance at the polls of the Free Patriotic Movement, its Christian ally.

"The March 8 coalition is in alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement, led by General Michel Aoun [a Maronite Christian]," he said.

"[Overall] victory for March 8 would have come from the Christian district and would therefore have come on the back of General Michel Aoun's movement. That movement did well but not as well as the movement would have hoped, and the loss came from that angle."

James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Beirut, said two areas needed to be examined by Lebanon's political parties in the wake of the result.

"First, is the idea of a veto [over cabinet decisions] for Hezbollah and its allies if they were to join a new government of national unity," he said.

"That [veto] has existed for the last year, since violent clashes in Beirut last year led to a unity deal between political parties in Doha [the Qatari capital].

"If Hezbollah joins a new unity government they would like that veto retained - but March 14 have said that the people have spoken ... and that they need to govern.

The other issue is that of who will become prime minister in any new government, Bays said.

"Saad Hariri wants the job, but others, including the Americans, have said privately that they would prefer the previous prime minister, Fouad Siniora, to stay on," he said.

Christian vote

Michel Aoun, a former military chief and leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), which is allied to Hezbollah, conceded on Lebanon's OTV that his party's candidates had been defeated.

The win by the March 14 coalition had been by no means certain and it was thought the elections would be decided in Christian districts where Aoun's candidates challenged other Christian competitors allied to the March 14 camp.

But Robert Fisk, a writer and journalist based in Lebanon, said that the Christian vote had not played as decisive a role as analysts had expected.

"The Christian vote did not seem to be as split as we feared it might be," he told Al Jazeera.

"Aoun, I think, lost a lot of Christian votes, but got more Muslim votes, which is interesting.

"Aoun did have a lot of die-hard supporters at one stage, but I think his gradual flirtation with Syria, with Iran and with Hezbollah has really put a lot of his supporters off."

Coalition expected

While the March 14 bloc may have retained its grip on power, it now faces a battle to keep the divided country together.

"The elections once again led to a parliament of national divisions," said the As-Safir newspaper, which is close to the Hezbollah-led opposition bloc, known as March 8.

Michel Sleiman, Lebanon's president, expressed hope that a new national unity government would be formed, a prospect both sides have already raised.

"Its quite clear that Michel Sleiman, the president of Lebanon, is actually acquiring more power by playing this role as mediator between two sides," Fisk said.

"At the end of the day there will have to be some form of coalition here. It's not going to be winner takes all and the minorities sit mute in parliament waiting for the next election in four years time."

Naim Salem, professor of international affairs and diplomacy at Notre Dame University in Beirut, also said that the March 14 coalition could not rule alone.

"There will be much negotiation going on in the coming days. I do not think that the March 14 can govern by themselves," he said.

"But I don't think that the March 8 will participate in this government without taking one third of the ministers in the cabinet to give them veto power. I think veto power will be the number one issue that will be contested between the two groups."

Before the results were announced, police and soldiers moved out in force in sensitive areas, but no major security incidents were reported.

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Several die in Thai mosque attack

At least 10 people have been killed and 19 injured after armed men opened fire on a mosque in southern Thailand.

Men armed with assault rifles entered the mosque in the Cho-ai-rong district of Narathiwat province during evening prayers on Monday and opened fire, the army and police said.

"They opened fire indiscriminately at about 50 worshippers inside the mosque," a police official said on condition of anonymity. The dead included the local imam, he said.

The attack in the Muslim-majority south comes amid a recent spike in violence in a five-year insurgency that has left at least 3,700 people dead.

Police have said at least five gunmen carried out the attack, one of the deadliest single incidents since the insurgency began in 2004.

'Unknown assailants'

Most of the violence in Thailand's south has been blamed by authorities on Muslim armed separatist groups.

The identities of those who attacked the mosque on Monday were not known, Colonel Parinya Chaidilok, a Thai military spokesman, said but he added that they had tried to make it look as if Thai security forces were responsible.

"They are trying to make it look like the attackers are the authorities, because Muslims would apparently not shoot inside a mosque. But it is impossible that it is the work of the military," he said.

Chaidilok said the local hospital was short of blood following a series of attacks in recent days and that military trucks with loudspeakers were urging residents to
donate.

"We are calling on all Thais, Buddhist and Muslim alike, to donate your blood for humanitarian reasons because the hospital is now suffering from an acute lack of various groups of blood," the announcements said.

Very rarely does any group claim responsibility for attacks in the area, and the identity and precise goals of the fighters have never been publicly declared.

Earlier on Monday in the same province, nine soldiers were wounded when the truck in which they were travelling was ambushed, the state-run Thai News Agency reported.

The agency said a remote-controlled roadside bomb destroyed the vehicle, and attackers then opened fire on the solders before fleeing.

Last week, two teachers, one eight months pregnant, were killed in Narathiwat province in an attack blamed on separatist fighters.

The attacks on Monday come as Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai prime minister held talks with Najib Razak, his Malaysian counterpart, on efforts to halt the insurgency in southern Thailand.

Government efforts

The two discussed measures to bring economic progress to the south, including Malaysia's role of providing scholarships for Thai Muslim students and promoting the development of the education system in Thai provinces bordering northern Malaysia.

"In terms of creating opportunities particularly for young people in the area, I think that Malaysia has very important contributions," Abhisit told reporters after the meeting with Najib in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

In April the Thai government announced it was extending emergency rule for another three months in the region, despite a promise by Abhisit in January to cancel the measure.

A month earlier Abhisit announced that 4,000 more soldiers and other security personnel would be deployed to the region, supplementing more than 60,000, including local part-time forces, already stationed there.a

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Inside North Korea's labour camps !!!

Two US journalists have been sentenced to 12 years hard labour in a North Korean prison camp after being found guilty of "grave crimes" against the North Korean state.

Deeply secretive North Korea does not publish any details of the camps or the detainees held in them, but accounts from former inmates and guards who have defected paint a bleak picture.

Other details have emerged from the study of satellite photographs by intelligence agencies and human-rights groups.

The US state department estimates that 150,000-200,000 prisoners are detained in the camps, located in valleys in remote mountainous areas of the and central and northern part of North Korea.

There are thought to be between six and eight main camps, with dozens of other smaller camps.

Conditions in the network of labour camps are reported to be extremely harsh, with rights groups saying that torture and ill-treatment are widespread and thousands of children held and forced to work as slave labourers alongside their parents.

Worked to death

Based on accounts from former detainees, human-rights groups believe the conditions are so harsh that at some camps 20-25 per cent of prisoners die every year.

According to a recently published report by the nongovernmental US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, thousands of prisoners are forced to work - many to their deaths - in mining, logging, farming and industrial enterprises.

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N Korea finds US reporters guilty

North Korea has sentenced two US journalists to 12 years hard labour after finding them guilty of entering the country illegally, according to state media.

Monday's report deepened Pyongyang's confrontation with the US, with the report drawing a "deeply concerned" response from Washington.

"We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release," Ian Kelly, a state department spokesman, said.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained by North Korean border guards on March 17 and have been held in the country ever since.

The two were sentenced on Monday following a trial behind closed doors that began last week, the North's official Korean Central news agency (KCNA) said.

"The trial confirmed the grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing as they had already been indicted and sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through labour," KCNA said, giving no other details.

The two journalists who were working for California-based Current TV, an online service set up by Al Gore, the former US vice-president, cannot appeal because they were tried in the country's highest court, where decisions are final.

North Korea has said the two reporters had crossed illegally to its side of the border with China, although other reports have suggested the two were on the Chinese side when they were arrested.

Previous reports from North Korea have said Ling and Lee were accused of "hostile acts" but also did not give details.

Tensions with US

Their arrest and trial come against a background of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, following the North's recent nuclear and missile tests.Analysts say the sentences appeared unusually harsh and seemed to back up views that the journalists could be used as a bargaining chip by the North in its standoff with the US.

News of the verdict came a day after Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said Washington was looking into putting North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation that could subject the impoverished state to more financial sanctions.

The US removed North Korea from the blacklist in October in a bid to revive faltering six-party nuclear disarmament talks, prompting the North to take some measures to disable its nuclear facilities.

But Pyongyang has since reversed those steps and said it had restarted its nuclear complex, including reprocessing nuclear fuel to obtain weapons-grade plutonium.

Clinton appealed on Sunday for the two women's release, saying their case was a humanitarian issue and separate from the nuclear issue.

Pyongyang has also vowed to retaliate with "extreme" measures if the United Nations punished it for conducting its nuclear test last month.

The security council has been deliberating its response and may issue a new resolution as early as this week, although there appear to be division among members over how tough sanctions should be.

"Our response would be to consider sanctions against us as a declaration of war and answer it with extreme hardline measures," the North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary on Monday.

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Many killed in Mexico drug clash !!

At least 17 people have been killed in clashes between Mexican soldiers and suspected members of a drug gang.

The dead in the gun battle in the town of Acapulco on Sunday included at least 15 members of a gang and two soldiers, officials said.

Five people were arrested, the national defence directorate said in a statement.

The fighting broke out after soldiers surrounded a house in the resort town late on Saturday after a tip-off that there were armed men inside.

Members of the gang inside threw grenades at the security forces and the fighting lasted for several hours, the defence directorate said.

"First some military vehicles arrived, then the federal police arrived, also the local police, all of them masked, also the ministerial police arrived to that hotel," a witness told Associated Press television news.

"Yes there was a lot of movement, and it was probably what the situation required, some of the criminals got away. But I think the more dead the better."

Two men and a woman were caught in the gunfire and wounded, paramedics said.

Police hostages

Four Guerrero state police officers were found handcuffed inside the garage of the house after the operation, an army colonel, who did not give his name, told reporters at the scene.

"We found them like this, handcuffed, and they say they were kidnapped. So if they were kidnapped, as they say, then we rescued them," he said.

Troops seized 36 rifles, 13 shotguns, two hand grenades, 13 fragmentation hand grenades, 3,525 cartridges, 180 magazines and eight vehicles, according to the directorate.

Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president, has vowed to tackle drug violence, which has killed about 2,300 people so far this year, by deploying 45,000 troops and federal police across the country.

Al Jazeera's Mariana Sanchez, reporting from Mexico City, said that it was difficult to say whether the crackdown on the cartels was working.

"There has been drug violence in Mexico for decades," she said.

"But since President Felipe Calderon took power, he has decided to attack the cartels head-on and as a result they have been hard hit with drug lords and hit men detained around the country.

"This brings a shuffling in the structure and the command of the cartels, so the level of violence is higher as the cartels fight among themselves."

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Peru tribes accused of 'barbarity'

Alan Garcia, the Peruvian president, has accused indigenous tribes of "barbarity" after 22 members of a paramilitary force were killed in two days of clashes sparked by a row over Amazonian land.

Speaking from Lima, the Peruvian capital, on Sunday, Garcia also accused the tribes of impeding progress by opposing oil, gas and other development on their native lands.

Protesters said they were defending their ancestral home, but Garcia hit out at their attacks on police.

"When one thinks of the final moments of those officers who were disarmed, tied up and then had their throats slit like animals, one understands the barbarity and savageness," he said.

Indigenous tribes, worried they will lose control over natural resources, have protested since April to force the Peruvian congress to repeal investment laws that allow firms to drill for oil and mine resources in the jungle.

Clashes took place on Friday after about 400 police moved in to clear a road blocked by around 2,500 indigenous tribes people, some carrying spears and machetes.

Protesters took dozens of police hostage and Peruvian troops launched rescue operations on Saturday in the town of Bagua Grande, about 1,400km north of Lima, after 14 of their colleagues died in clashes with natives.

At least nine police officers were killed as their colleagues attempted to rescue them.

'Unprovoked' attack

An indigenous leader was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying that about 40 protesters had been killed in the clashes and that the police actions had been unprovoked.

The military said on Sunday that it was in control of Bagua Grande after an overnight curfew was imposed to defuse what is the worst crisis of Garcia's term.He has been accused of enacting laws that aim to lure billions of dollars in foreign investment to the rainforest.

Garcia blamed the indigenous tribes' opposition to his plans on "elemental ignorance" and manipulation by outside interests, though he gave no indication which outside parties he was referring to.

"There is a conspiracy aimed at stopping us from using our natural resources for the good, growth and quality of life of our people," he said.

But the tribes, too, have accused the government of brutality.

Champion Nonimgo, a member of Peru's leading indigenous rights group, Aidesep, said: "We are dealing with a government that massacres Indians from helicopters. We are not going to hold talks under these conditions."

'Cover up'

Hundreds of northern natives who sought refuge during the clashes at a Catholic mission in Bagua Grande have drawn up a list of dozens of missing people.

"We have been told that many of our dead brothers have been thrown into the Maranon river to cover up the killing," Carlos Anchanchi, one of the group's leaders, said.

The recent violence has highlighted deep divisions between elites in Lima and the rural poor, and threatened to derail the government's push to further open Peru to foreign investors.

Analysts say Garcia - whose approval rating is just 30 per cent - will probably have to fire senior cabinet members, including the prime minister, and roll back investment laws to end the stand-off.

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Search teams find Air France bodies !!

The total number of bodies recovered of people on board Air France Flight 447 which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean last week has risen to 17.

Brazilian and French ships searching the waters where the airliner is believed to have come down, found 15 bodies on Sunday.

Two male bodies and personal items had been recovered the previous day.

Captain Giucemar Tabosa Cardoso of the Brazilian navy said the teams were "navigating through a sea of debris".

Separately, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Munhoz, a Brazilian naval spokesman, said that "as well as the bodies, there are various remains of the aircraft ... plane seats, part of the wing and various other items were localised".

Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo reported, quoting the Brazilian navy, that search teams had found as many as 100 pieces of various types of debris.

"They say they have also spotted more bodies. Although they have not said how many bodies they have seen from the air, they are sending navy cutters to the area now to retrieve them," our correspondent said.

"They seem to be making some serious progress in finding an area and starting to recover some bodies and debris."

Forensic teams

The wreckage and other items found in the ocean were being taken to the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, off the northeast coast of Brazil, for initial inspection by police forensic teams.

From there, the evidence will be flown to the mainland city of Recife for further analysis by French officials

The bodies will also be flown to Recife, where a mortuary has been set up to work on identifying the victims.

Relatives of those on board the airliner have already given DNA samples to help identify their loved ones.

The search for the Airbus A330-200's "black box" - the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder - is becoming more urgent as it will continue emitting a radio signal for only another three weeks.

After this period, the instruments will be near impossible to locate in the deep ocean.

The French navy has already deployed two deep-water submarines for the mission.

And the US navy is expected to send two "pinger" locator devices, which can pick up radio signals from the black box, to assist in the search, Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, told our correspondent late on Sunday night.

It has been confirmed that the aircraft, which was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, broadcast a series of 24 automatic error messages as its systems shut down one-by-one in its final minutes on Monday.

Conflicting data

French accident investigators said the cockpit instruments were receiving conflicting speed data at the time of the incident.

Air France said on Saturday that it had accelerated existing plans to replace airspeed-monitoring units in its jets.

The airline said it began noticing "incidents of loss of airspeed information during cruise flight" on its twin-engine A330s and four-engine A340s in May last year.

It said it informed Airbus of the problem.

The device in question is the Pitot probe, usually on the leading edge of a wing, which measures the force of the air through which an aircraft passes.

Dominique Bussereau, France's transport minister, said it was too early for investigators to identify the most likely cause of the crash, but confirmed that Airbus jets had experienced problems with speed monitors.

"Too low a speed can cause the plane to stall, or too high a speed can lead to it ripping up as it approached the speed of sound, as the outer skin is not designed to resist such speed," he said.

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Guinea-Bissau poll candidate killed !!

Armed men in Guinea-Bissau have shot dead a government minister who was to be a candidate in the country's upcoming presidential election.

Baciro Dabo was killed early on Friday, reportedly after uniformed men burst into his house to arrest him in connection with an alleged coup plot.

"It was during an attempted arrest, which Baciro Dabo is reported to have resisted, that he was killed by members of the armed forces who came to arrest him," a statement from the interior ministry said.

But Lamine Diata, his chief of staff, said that Dabo had been sleeping next to his wife when the men broke into his residence and opened fire, killing him instantly.

State radio reported that Dabo, who was a close ally of Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira, the former Guinea-Bissau president who was killed by soldiers earlier in the year, was killed at 4am local time (04:00 GMT).

The Reuters news agency reported a witness as saying: "Men in uniform came in a four-wheel-drive vehicle and entered his house."

Alleged plot

Guinea-Bissau's elections are scheduled for June 28 and campaigning is due to start on Saturday.

Dabo had resigned his post as territorial administration minister last month and quit the ruling party to run as an independent.

Following Dabo's death, Guinea-Bissau's interior ministry claimed he and three other men had been part of a planned coup attempt.

The ministry statement also named Helder Proenca, a former defence minister in Vieira's administration, as being part of the alleged coup plot.

State radio reported that Proenca has also been killed.

Portugal's state news agency - Guinea-Bissau was a former Portuguese colony - reported that Proenca was shot dead on a road between the northern town of Bula and the capital Bissau.

It cited an unidentified source at Bissau's Simao Mendes hospital as saying Proenca was taken to the morgue there early on Friday.

In March, soldiers killed then President Vieira in what appeared to be an apparent revenge attack for the slaying of General Batista Tagme Na Wai, the country's army chief.

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Madagascar sentences ex-leader

Marc Ravalomanana, Madagascar's former leader, has been sentenced by a local court to four years in jail and fined $70m for "abuse of office", a minister in the country's transitional government has said.

The former president, who was ousted in March after the opposition backed by the military seized power, was absent from Wednesday's court proceedings.

"The verdict was made today condemning Ravalomanana," Christine Razanamahasoa, the justice minister, told the Reuters news agency.

The court fined him for abuse of office over buying a presidential jet, and also gave Haja Razafinjatovo, Ravalomanana's former finance minister, the same sentence over the alleged deal.

Andry Rajoelina, the opposition leader who took over from Ravalomanana after leading protests against him, has called the former president corrupt and dictatorial.

He has established a transitional authority on the Indian Ocean island, and promised an election by 2010.

But many African nations have condemned his takeover as a coup and urged talks between the two rivals.

Ravalomanana is currently in South Africa, where he is seeking international support for a return to Madagascar.

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French media: Gabon leader dead !!

A French news website has reported that Omar Bongo Ondimba, the president of Gabon and Africa's longest serving leader, has died at the age of 73.

Government officials in the west African nation denied French media reports of the president's death and there was no official confirmation on Monday, either from Gabon or France.

Bongo's death was reported on the website of French weekly newspaper Le Point.

But Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Gabon's prime minister, said that he had no news regarding the reported death.

"If such a situation happens, I think and I know that the family of President Bongo would naturally inform me. This is not the case at the moment I am talking to you," Ndong told Gabonese television on Sunday.

Separately, a Spanish diplomatic source also denied reports of Bongo's death.

President hospitalised

Bongo was hospitalised in Spain late last month, amid reports that he was ill with cancer.

Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spain's foreign minister, said then that Bongo had been admitted "for medical treatment" at a clinic in Barcelona.

Sources close to the president in Libreville, Gabon's capital, had said only that Bongo had undergone an operation and was "better" following the May procedure.

Bongo ruled the former French colony of Gabon for 41 years, in a reign overshadowed by corruption allegations, which he denied.

Last month, a French judge said that an investigation was under way into Bongo's financial activities in France, as well those of Denis Sassou Nguesso and Teodoro Obiang Nguema, his respective counterparts from Congo-Brazzaville and Equatorial Guinea.

Transparency International, the corruption watchdog, said that the leaders embezzled millions of dollars of public money to fund a lavish lifestyle.

All three leaders denied the claims.

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Mauritania rivals sign agreement !!

Military rulers and opposition leaders in Mauritania have signed a deal to end the country's political crisis.

The agreement sealed on Thursday involves the resignation of Sidi Ould Sheikh Abdallahi, the president toppled in a coup last year, the formation of a national unity government and a presidential election on July 18.

The agreement, done in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, postpones an election that the military government had planned for Saturday.

Opposition parties had rejected the poll, saying it was organised without their consent.

August coup

The six days of intensive negotiations were concluded hours after Mauritania's former prime minister, Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf, was freed from jail.

Waghf was detained in the wake of August's military coup, in which Abdallahi, Mauritania's first democratically elected president, was removed from power.

His removal was spearheaded by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, whose decision to give up power as president in April constitutionally allowed him to run in elections.

The Dakar talks were organised by an international group of mediators, including officials from the African Union, the European Union, the United Nations and the Arab League among others.

Abdoulaye Wade, the Senegalese president, who was closely involved in the negotiation process, presided over the signing of the agreement at the capital's convention centre.

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Scores killed in Somalia clashes!!!

More than 100 people have been killed in clashes between rival armed groups in central Somalia, a rights group and witnesses say.

Reports that Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of an anti-government group and a former Islamic Courts Union leader, was among the dead were quickly denied by his followers on Sunday.

"Sheikh Hassan is alive and unharmed," Sheikh Musa Arale, a spokesman for Hizbul Islam, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

"That is the propaganda of our enemies whose commanders and leaders we killed yesterday."

Aides to Dahir Awyes confirmed to Al Jazeera that reports of his death were false.

Dahir Aweys has been accused by the United States and United Nations of having links to al-Qaeda.

Territorial battle

The local Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation said that 123 people had been killed in the fighting, one of the worst flare-ups of violence this year in Somalia.

Scores of bodies lay in the streets of Wabho town after fighters from the al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam groups fought against the Ahla Sunna Waljamaca group for territorial control, witnesses said.

Some residents of Wabho and a fighter from Hizbul Islam said Dahir Aweys was injured during the clashes and had been taken to hospital in El Bur.

Neither pro- nor anti-government forces had won control of Wabho, locals said.

Aid agencies say three million people need urgent food aid in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises as a consequence of the fighting.

In Mogadishu, al-Shabaab fighters have been battling the security forces of Sharif Ahmed, the president, with one of the group's primary objectives being the enforcement of their interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law, in the country.

In the country's centre, groups have been fighting all year, with towns changing hands regularly.

Supporters of Dahir Aweys were quick to dismiss reports of his death [EPA]

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