I was moved by Bali service: Howard
I was moved by Bali service: Howard
AUSTRALIA: Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Monday he was moved by the commemoration ceremonies for the Bali bombing anniversary, pointing out that many of the victims were young.
"Well, of course I was moved, most of them were young, their lives were just brutally torn apart, were destroyed," he said in a radio interview. "You'd be inhuman not to be moved, to actually see all of those photographs on that wall and they were all happy, young vibrant people.
"Most of them were young and it's always so tragic when parents have to bury their children."
Howard paid tribute to Indonesia's chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who used the commemoration to speak out forcefully against terrorism.
"I thought he made some very impressive comments about terrorism. I thought it was a very strong statement and it's very reassuring that he did," Howard said.
Asked about suggestions that Australia might buy the Sari Club site for a memorial, Howard said the idea had been mooted but was not under serious consideration at the moment.
Indonesian law bans foreigners from owning land in Indonesia.
Howard left Bali on Monday to return to Australia. -- AFP
;AP;ANJ; ANPAi..r.. ATW-USA-twins Twin boys successfully separated JP/11/ATW
Twin boys successfully separated
UNITED STATES: Told that his two-year-old twin boys were no longer joined at the top of their heads, their father -- who had just endured the wait through 34 hours of surgery -- fainted.
"At one point when someone came up and said you have two boys, the father jumped to my neck and he hugged me and he fainted and I cared for him," said Dr. Nasser Abdel Al, head of neonatal surgery at a Cairo hospital where the Egyptian twins were taken shortly after their birth.
"He told me that he never dreamed of such a moment," Abdel Al said.
Abdel Al was with the family for the marathon surgery over the weekend at Children's Medical Center Dallas.
"The mother on the other hand was crying like everybody else," said Abdel Al, describing the scene on Sunday when the parents of Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim learned of the successful operation to separate the boys.
At a news conference on Sunday afternoon, part of the medical team talked about the road ahead for the boys.
"We're very pleased with the surgical outcome," said Dr. Dale Swift, one of five pediatric neurosurgeons involved, "but the post-surgical care is extremely important -- really can determine your outcome. So right now, we're waiting." -- AP
;REUTERS;ANJ; ANPAu..r.. TAIWAN-LIBERIA Taiwan minister offers to quit over Liberia loss JP/11/ATW
Taiwan FM offers to quit over Liberia
TAIWAN: Taiwan foreign minister Eugene Chien offered to resign on Monday to take responsibility for the loss of Liberia as a diplomatic ally, leaving the number of countries that recognize Taiwan at 26.
But Premier Yu Shyi-kun told reporters he had asked Chien to reconsider his offer, saying the minister was needed.
"I have tendered my resignation to the premier and the president," Chien told parliament's foreign affairs subcommittee on Monday.
Liberia's surprise decision to reestablish relations with China on Sunday dealt a fresh blow to Taiwan's bid for international recognition.
Chien said Beijing had used its influence in the United Nations, which is deploying a peacekeeping force in Liberia, to put pressure on the war-torn West African country.
Liberia cut diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1989 and recognized Taiwan after the island promised US$200 million in aid for education and infrastructure.
China regards self-governing Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Taipei and Beijing accuse each other of using promises of aid to woo countries back and forth between them. -- Reuters
;REUTERS;ANJ; ANPAi..r.. ATW-Iraq-boy Wounded Iraqi boy gets new arms JP/11/ATW
Wounded Iraqi boy gets new arms
BRITAIN: An Iraqi boy who lost both arms and most of his family during the U.S-led war on Iraq has been successfully fitted with artificial limbs, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Ali Ismaeel Abbas, whose armless torso, horrific burns and haunted eyes symbolized civilian suffering in the conflict, was pictured wearing the prosthetic arms in the Daily Mirror newspaper.
"I'm all here now. My arms feel good," 13-year-old Abbas told the paper. "I didn't think they'd look this good.
"Now I want to hug my sisters and the rest of my family. I also want to brush my teeth by myself and wash my face."
The new arms were fitted at Queen Mary's Hospital in London in treatment paid for by the Kuwait government.
His left arm is a cosmetic prosthetic, because there was little remaining limb for surgeons to use, the paper said.
On his right side he has a working artificial limb operated by electrodes touching his remaining arm muscle.
Abbas is being treated at a London rehabilitation center with another maimed Iraqi boy, Ahmed Mohammed Hamza, who lost a leg and a hand.
"Everybody is very nice -- the doctors, cleaners and the coffee lady," said Abbas. "One day I hope they will come and visit all of us in Iraq." -- Reuters