Qatar agrees to OIC meeting
Qatar agrees to OIC meeting
MALAYSIA: After rejecting Malaysia's plan to hold a formal emergency meeting of Islamic countries, Qatar has agreed to informal talks to discuss the specter of war in Iraq and the Palestinian issue, Malaysia's foreign minister said on Tuesday.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting will be held on Feb. 26 in Kuala Lumpur, following a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 which about 40 of the organization's 57 members will be attending.
Qatar, the current chairman of the Islamic conference, last week turned down Malaysia's proposal to host a full emergency meeting. Malaysia will take over the chairmanship of the conference later this year.
But the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, spoke with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Monday and expressed support for the informal meeting, said foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar. --AP
;AP;KOD; ANPAi..r.. ATW-Colombia-Village bomb Residents of village destroyed by rebel bomb fearful about their JP/11/ATW
Village destroyed by rebel bomb
COLOMBIA: A thunderous blast shook the earth, gouging a deep crater in the village and collapsing homes for 90 meters in every direction.
The explosion was heard kilometers away at the farms where villagers had taken shelter to get away from the huge bomb left by guerrillas. They knew La Union was no more.
No one was hurt, but the destruction of an entire village marked a new level of violence in Colombia's nearly 40 years of civil war. And it underlined the challenges facing President Alvaro Uribe.
Guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia had hauled in the bomb in December, leaving it inside the nicest house. The rebels planned to detonate the bomb by remote control whenever an army patrol passed through. --AP
;AP;KOD; ANPAi..r.. Maldives-Jailed Journalists Activists demand release of journalists jailed for 10 years on JP/11/ATW
Journalists jailed in Maldives
MALDIVES: International activists demanded the release of three journalists and their assistant who have been sentenced to prison in the Maldives for 10 years over articles criticizing the country's president and government.
An information ministry official in the Maldives' capital, Male, on Tuesday confirmed that a local court sentenced the four to 10 years in July 2002. He spoke on condition of anonymity and refused to give details.
Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders released a statement on Monday urging the Maldives' President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to immediately order the release of the four, whose "only crime was to exercise their right to freedom of speech".
Reporters Without Borders identified the four as Mohamed Zaki, Ibrahim Luthfee and Aminath Didi, editors of the Internet newsletter Sandhaanu, and their assistant, Fathimath Nisreen. --AP
;AP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. ATW-Australia-Howard Howard signals he will lead Australian government through next JP/11/ATW
Howard expects to remain in power
AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister John Howard signaled on Tuesday he would stay in office through the next election -- due by early 2005 at the latest -- saying he will be personally accountable to voters for his administration's tough policies on Iraq.
Howard was defending his government's dogged support of U.S. President George W. Bush's tough approach to Baghdad, and his decision to send 2,000 troops to join U.S. and British forces in the Persian Gulf preparing for war with Iraq.
The comment will likely trigger a wave of speculation that Howard will not, as widely expected, retire from politics this year, but lead his party to the next election.
For the past two years Howard has told voters he will consider his future in politics on his 64th birthday on July 26 this year.
Most analysts have believed that with three election victories to his name and seven years as prime minister, Howard would step down this year and hand over the top job to his finance minister and ambitious heir apparent, Treasurer Peter Costello. --AP