From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia
Reserch Senter(*)
		OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS   #205
                ===============================
In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant
to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere
(validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra).

Our Home Page: <http://www.chickenhead.com/loserscopes/>
The Undeniable Evidence: <http://www.evil-doers.org/evidence>
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US Centcom News Releases: <http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/release_list.asp>
Iraqi Body Count: <http://www.iraqbodycount.net/> [9,211 as at 02 Jun 2004].
UN Mailing List: <http://www.kymhorsell.com/UN/>
Some Of The News, Some Of The Time: <http://www.chaser.com.au/default.asp?check=No>
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Selecting latest news stories and other data for you...
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I completely reject the notion that anything this president has done
or the justice dept has done has directly resulted in the kinds of
atrocities cited.
-- A-G John Ashcroft,  08 Jun 2004.
   Lawful torture. After a memo surfaced that indicated it was legal
   under US law for the Pres to order torture of POW's, Ashcroft
   pointed out to the Congress that people of Middle E appearance had
   not signed onto the Geneva Conventions.

I suspect that Mr Latham finds some comfort... in the anti-Americanism
expressed by Peter Garrett.
-- Aussie FM Alex The Downer, 08 Jun 2004.
   The Lib Party has warned the ALP that recruiting an anti-nuclear
   campaigner will damage Mr Howard's relations with the Mr Bush.

To think... that this great country... is bogged down [...]  [to
think] that this is an important issue [...] I just make the point to
you, that this is a preposterous proposition.
-- Aussie FM Alex Downer, 08 Jun 2004.
   POW abuse.  A letter dated Dec 2003 partly written by an Aussie
   military officer indicates "some" Aussies knew about abuses even last y.

Mr Downer needs to get out of denial mode...
-- Shadow FM Kevin Rudd, 08 Jun 2004.
   The Opp'n says the FM is increasingly hysterical in his denials
   that the Howard govt is party to a POW abuse cover-up.

I don't think polling is at all relevant to the decisions the
government has to make.
-- Aussie A-G Philip Ruddock, 08 Jun 2004.
   No poll matters? A new TV poll indicates a "close" result in
   support for gay marriage in AUS.

This is not a discussion the G8 is having about the Middle East...
This is a discussion the G8 is having with the Middle E.
-- US Nat'l Sec Adv Conny Rice, 07 Jun 2004.
   Rice had just been talking with Donald Rumsfeld.

----------------------------------------
Tue, 08 Jun 2004

	HEADLINES:
Stable oil prices drive US market higher
Communities urged to help combat Indigenous abuse
Labor slams Downer in prisoner abuse row
UN Sec Council on verge of Iraq deal
Top Iraq cleric offers caution on UN resolution
Iraq, terrorism top G-8 summit topics
Iraq official wanted in Germany
Inspectors: Iraq weapons sites destroyed
Downer dismisses revelations over Iraq letter
9 Iraqi militias said to approve deal to disband
"City that never sleeps" wants some rest
ASX hits new high
Aid workers hide as Pakistan hunts threat suspect
Anderson hits back at criticism of road plan
Astronomers count down to Venus transit
Bank robber returns to crime scene, repays cash
Boy saved as GP gets surgery tips via phone
Bush not interfering, says GG
Businesses prepare for economic slowdown
Chronic border delays in Ontario costing Canada $8.3 bn a year: study
E Timor pleased over ALP sea boundary comments
E Timor urged to reconsider Timor Sea tax regime
EU mulls Congo deployment
Farmers urged not to let concerns derail water agreement
Flint's resignation surprises everyone
Forecaster tips smaller grain harvest
Former Rwandan president jailed
Foster's review writes down wine assets
Garrett row threatens to embarrass Latham
Get back to basics, SARS expert tells health workers
Housing, retail slowdowns hit confidence
Insurance industry aims to lift standards
Israel attacks abandoned base in Lebanon
Kufa mosque explosion kills 2
Labor stalwart attacks Garrett plan
Latham welcomes Flint's resignation
Militia deal excludes Sadr from power
Pentagon confirms S Korea withdrawal plan
Pilots breached safety laws says CASA
Resignation to "restore confidence" in ABA
Sharon's coalition teeters after Gaza pullout vote
Thailand cracks down on black-market piranha trade
Vic police chief moves to sack officers
Vic prosecutors to drop corruption case: sources
WA police hunt 4WD roo killers
Western airliners may be al-Qaeda target


Stable oil prices drive US market higher
Wall Street made ground overnight.
NY/Sydney.  Wall Street stock prices have been driven higher by
stabilising oil prices and the latest US employment measures.
West Texas crude oil remains below $US39.00/bbl.
Last Fri, Washington's latest non-farm payroll numbers showed the
addition of 248,000 new jobs across America during May, which has
restored confidence in the US economic recovery.
Aircraft maker Boeing has been one of the stronger performers this
morning on the NYSE.
The DJIA has closed 148 points higher at 10,391, which is a rally of
almost 1.5%.
2 minutes of silence have been observed in memory of former president
Ronald Reagan who died at the weekend and the US markets will be
closed on Fri as part of a nat'l day of mourning.
Gains in Cisco Systems' share price have helped push the high-tech
Nasdaq market up by 2.1%.
The Nasdaq composite index has jumped 42 points to 2,021.
There have also been solid gains on the Brit share market, with
investor sentiment bolstered by cooling oil prices and a positive
economic outlook.
The UK mining and insurance sectors have been the best performers and
London's FT100 index is up 37 points at 4,492.
Yesterday in AUS, the market hit another record high with the All
Ordinaries index ending trade 16 points ahead at 3,482, and local
investors taking heart from last wk's strong US employment figures.
The AUD has made solid headway overnight and at about 7.15 am it was
quoted at 70.66 US cents and on the cross rates was worth 57.36 euros,
38.40 pence sterling and 77.41 yen.
The gold price is at $US393.90/oz and W Texas intermediate crude oil
is at $US38.72/bbl.

ASX hits new high
The ASX has pushed higher into record ground today.
Sydney.  The Aussie share market has pushed further into record
territory this morning.  The All Ordinaries index has been as high as
3,498.  Just before midday (AEST), it had settled back and was trading
up 5 points at 3,488.

Chronic border delays in Ontario costing Canada $8.3 bn a year: study
Toronto (CP).  Chronic delays for trucks using Ontario border
crossings to get in and out of the US are costing Canada's economy
$8.3 bn a year, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce warned Mon.
A new study by the chamber also warns that the figure stands to more
than double over the course of the next 25 y to nearly $18 bn if
Ottawa and the province don't start taking the problem seriously.
"Border crossings are the choke point of our economy," chamber
president Len Crispino told a news conference in front of the Ontario
legislature.
"We know that if the border is clogged, the economy suffers immediate
and dramatic damage."
The provincial share of the cost is $5.25 bn a year, much of it coming
from the congested Detroit-Windsor corridor -- a bustling trade route
that moves nearly half of the more than $1 bn in trade that crosses
the border each day.
The US market absorbs more than 93% of Ontario's exports and nearly
3/4 of all exports from Canada every year, and 70% of that is moved by
truck, Crispino said.
Ontario's export industry supports more than 1.6 mn jobs in Ontario
and 52% of the province's gross domestic product.
But despite plenty of encouraging rhetoric, no one seems willing to
actually tackle the problem, said Harold Heffernan, general manager of
Celadon Canada Inc, a trucking company based in Kitchener, Ont.
"We have politicians that have been talking about it for 2 y, [but] I
have yet to see a shovel break earth," Heffernan said.
"Foreign investment as well as domestic investment is going to slow down.
That means your friends, my friends, maybe us -- we are going to lose jobs."
Delays vary depending on the crossing in question and other factors
such as traffic and time of day, but they range between 10 minutes and
4 hr, the study said.
Chamber members reported an average delay of between one and 2 hr
every day, with Fri afternoons being the slowest period, it said.
The problem is for both countries to fix, said PM Paul Martin, who has
made both US Pres George W Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Tom
Ridge aware of Canada's concerns.
"We've got to make sure that there's confidence in both sides in what
we're dealing with, and I think that is one thing we have established,"
Martin said.
"I think there is now great confidence."
A proposed Liberal plan to shore up Canada's crumbling infrastructure
would also go a long way towards easing the pressure, he added.
The study attributes the delays to a shortage of border staff and too
few customs booths for vehicles to travel through, as well as and
warns that post 9/11 security improvements are sure to slow the
process even more.
Ontario Finance Min Greg Sorbara said the problem is a combination of
tighter security and a physical infrastructure that simply can't
handle the volume.
"We are living in a different world and the Americans are taking a
different approach," Sorbara said.
The province and Ottawa need to sit down with border state govts and
fed US officials "and make it a top priority," he added.
In Windsor, the Ambassador Bridge crossing -- the busiest in the world
-- is operating at 78% capacity for commercial trucks and 95% capacity
for passenger cars, the study said.
But much of the delay comes before vehicles are even on the bridge,
since the main artery runs right through Windsor itself. Some drivers
have been known to look for alternate routes to the bridge through
residential areas.
Because of the integrated economies of the 2 countries -- parts and
raw materials flow back and forth to manufacturing plants on either
side of the border -- the delays, and subsequent costs, are amplified,
Crispino said.
"It is a very advanced and sophisticated economic model ... but it is also
a model that requires maintenance and attention to operate effectively."

Businesses prepare for economic slowdown
High oil prices are among the factors weighing down business expectations.
Sydney.  Companies are bracing for a slower start to the new financial
year with a new survey showing business expectations have fallen.  The
latest Dun and Bradstreet business expectations survey shows some
executives are questioning the benefits of the global economic
recovery.  The survey puts the sales and investment outlook at its
lowest level in 2 and a half y with 1/3 of executives saying their
businesses have been hit by a slow down in consumer spending.  Dun and
Bradstreet economic consultant Duncan Ironmonger says there is also
division over the potential benefits of the improved global outlook
with more than a quarter of executives surveyed forecasting negative
ramifications.  "For some businesses they are worried about the oil
prices, I think, and the continuing disarray that's going on in Iraq,"
Dr Ironmonger said.  But businesses reported robust growth in sales
and profits for the Mar quarter, with the employment and sales price
outlook improving slightly.

Inspectors: Iraq weapons sites destroyed
UN (AP).  A number of sites in Iraq known to have contained equipment
and material that could have been used to produce banned weapons and
long-range missiles have been either cleaned out or destroyed, UN
weapons inspectors said Mon.
The inspectors' report said they didn't know whether the items, which had
been monitored by the UN, were at the sites during the US-led war in Iraq.
UN inspectors were pulled from Iraq just before the war began in Mar
2003 and the US has refused to allow them to return, instead deploying
its own teams to search for WMD.
"It is possible that some of the materials may have been removed from
Iraq by looters of sites and sold as scrap," the UN Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Commission said in its quarterly report to
the UN Sec Council.
UNMOVIC said its experts and a team from the Internat'l Atomic Energy
Agency, which was responsible for dismantling Iraq's nuclear program,
were jointly investigating items from Iraq that were discovered in a
scrap yard in the Dutch port of Rotterdam.
Through photographs taken during an initial IAEA investigation,
UNMOVIC said it discovered that SA-2 engines used in Iraq's Al Samoud
2 banned missile program were among the scrap.
Commission experts examined one missile engine at the site and
discovered from the serial number that it had been tagged by UN
inspectors in the past and had not been declared as having been fired.
Representatives at the scrap yard indicated that between 5 and a
dozen similar engines had been seen there in Jan and Feb, and that
more could have passed through the yard unnoticed, the report said.
Company staff said other items made of stainless steel and other
corrosion-resistant metal alloys bearing the inscription "Iraq" or
"Baghdad" had been observed in shipments delivered from the Middle E
since Nov 2003, it said.
UNMOVIC experts examined a number of items with a portable metal
analyser and determined that they were composed of heat-resistant
inconel and titanium -- both subject to monitoring because of their
possible dual-use in legitimate civilian activities and banned weapons
production, the report said.
Despite cooperation from the Netherlands and the company, UNMOVIC said
it wasn't possible to determine how many engines and how much other
material previously subject to monitoring in Iraq may have been sent
out of the country. It said its investigation was continuing.
The report said high-resolution satellite photos had detected that
some sites subject to UNMOVIC monitoring had been cleaned up and
equipment and material had been removed.
"In other areas, whole buildings that had previously contained
equipment and materials subject to monitoring had been completely
dismantled," it said.
The report showed satellite photos of a storage site in Shumokh, about
than 16 km NW of downtown Baghdad, taken in late May 2003 and late
Feb 2004.
UNMOVIC said that during the period between the photos, scrap items
and other material was removed from one area and several buildings
were demolished.
UNMOVIC rep Ewen Buchanan said the Shumokh site and the adjacent Ibn
Al-Batyr facility contained biological, chemical, and missile-related
items subject to UN monitoring. These included fermenters, a freeze
drier, distillation columns, parts of missiles, and a 130-gallon
"jacketed reactor vessel" which could be used in biological or
chemical weapons production, he said.
"All sorts of sites seem to have been systematically dismantled, and
it's not clear to us what has happened to items and material that was
subject to UN monitoring," Buchanan said. "It creates a headache in
trying to keep an accurate picture of what happened to everything."
The report noted that the US inspection team -- the Iraq Survey Group
now led by UNMOVIC's former deputy director Charles Duelfer -- has not
provided the UN with any official info on its work or the results of
its investigations.
Nonetheless, UNMOVIC said it was evaluating Iraq's procurement network
during the period from 1999 to 2002 when UN inspectors were not
allowed to return and had discovered a sophisticated network to obtain
foreign materials, equipment and technology.
"To date, UNMOVIC has found no evidence that these were used for
proscribed chemical or biological weapon purposes," it said.

Iraq, terrorism top G-8 summit topics
Washington (CP). World leaders who put on a show of unity to
commemorate D-Day are back to dealing with deep divisions over Iraq
this wk. US Pres George W Bush, who will host the Group of 8 Summit
on Georgia's Sea Island starting tomorrow, needs all the support he
can get among European leaders who opposed the US invasion and want to
speed the Middle E country's transition to full sovereignty.
Bush got a boost over the weekend when Iraq's new interim PM, Ayad
Allawi, invited US troops to stay in Iraq beyond the Jun 30 transfer
of power, hailing it as a "positive step forward."
But it was clear there's still considerable tension between Bush and
French Pres Jacques Chirac when the 2 met Sat in Paris.
Bush didn't endear himself to the French leader with recent
comparisons of the Iraq war and the fight against Nazi Germany in the
Second World War.
"History does not repeat itself," Chirac said, "and it is very
difficult to compare historical situations that differ. The situation
in Iraq has to be contained, has to be mastered. We have to roll up
our sleeves ... Perhaps we will succeed."
While Iraq will doubtless top the agenda, leaders gathering on the
exclusive vacation island off the Georgia coast -- protected by the
most extensive security measures ever taken for such an event -- will
also discuss anti-terrorism, US proposals for broader democracy in the
Middle East, weapons reduction, global warming and world economic issues.
But some analysts didn't expect much progress on the most contentious
items among leaders burdened by economic or political troubles at
home. Even US officials downplayed the chances for substantial
progress on Iraq.
PM Paul Martin, in the middle of an election campaign, will duck out a
day early to get back on the road.
He's expected to discuss Canada's $300-mn Cdn commitment to help
in Iraq and efforts in Afghanistan when he meets Bush tomorrow.
The 2 will also likely broach the long-running softwood lumber dispute
and Bush's promise in Apr to drop the ban on Canadian cattle that has
yet to yield results.
Other topics include rising gas prices and US and European
agricultural subsidies.
In the broader summit, Martin hoped to make headway on global poverty,
including how the wealthy Group of 8 countries can facilitate
private-sector development in developing countries.
Other G-8 countries were expected to push for progress on less
divisive issues, including HIV-AIDS initiatives, slave labour and
dismantling stocks of nuclear and chemical weapons.

Western airliners may be al-Qaeda target
Cairo (AP). An Internet statement signed by an al-Qaeda cell in Saudi
Arabia warned Mon that the terror network will target Western
airlines, military bases and residential compounds and told Muslims to
stay away from Westerners.
The warning of attacks in "the nr future" appeared on a Web site known
for posting messages from militants, including the video in which a
terror group with al-Qaeda links executed Nicholas Berg, an American
kidnapped in Iraq.
The authenticity of the statement, signed "Al-Qaeda on the Arabian
Peninsula," could not be confirmed. Al-Qaeda uses the term "Arabian
Peninsula" to refer to Saudi Arabia because it rejects the rule of the
Al Saud dynasty, after whom the country is named.
In Washington, State Dept deputy rep Adam Ereli noted that existing US
travel warnings call attention to possible threats to commercial
aviation in Saudi Arabia and urge Americans to take that into account
when making their travel plans.
The statement did not specify that airline attacks would be limited to
Saudi Arabia -- but suggested that more attacks on W targets in the
kingdom were imminent.
It warned that everything associated with "crusaders" -- the term used
by militants for Americans and Europeans -- including "compounds,
bases and means of transport, especially W and American airlines, will
be the direct targets of our next operations in the path of holy war
... especially in the nr future."
The statement warns all Muslims to avoid "contact with the American
and W crusaders and all non-believers in the Arabian peninsula."
Muslims should stay away from Americans and Westerners "in their homes,
compounds, movements and means of transport -- in all shapes and forms."
The statement said the warning aimed to spare Muslim blood. "We act
only to protect them, their religion, honour and life," the statement said.
Militants have stepped up attacks on foreigners in Saudi Arabia in
past weeks, most recently in a shooting Sun that killed an Irish
cameraman and wounded a Brit Broadcasting Corp reporter.
On May 29, gunmen attacked a complex housing oil workers in the
eastern city of Khobar, killing 22 people, most of them foreigners.
During that assault -- claimed by al-Qaeda -- the gunmen reportedly
separated out and spared Muslims and Arabs and killed non-Muslims.
Previous bombings by al-Qaeda that killed Muslims raised an outcry in
Saudi Arabia against the terror network.
The statement called on "all security personnel, guards of crusader
compounds and American bases, and all those that have stood by America
and its allies ... to return to the right path, to separate themselves
from non-believers, to become their enemies and to fight holy war
against them by money, word and weapon."
"This enemy must be fought," the statement said. "There is no other
way but to fight it and eradicate it."
The statement appeared to be concerned with the American presence in
Saudi Arabia rather than in Iraq. It referred to the Arabian Peninsula
in its signature and it spoke of "agents of the tyrannical Saudi govt."
The Web site has carried several statements and claims of responsibility
from Islamic militants, most recently for the Khobar attack.

Get back to basics, SARS expert tells health workers
SARS: The basics are the best defence.
Cairns, FNQ.  An internat'l SARS expert says AUS can learn simple
lessons about infectious disease control from the Canadian outbreak
last y.
Dr Michael Murray is the emergency services medical director at the
Canadian hospital at the centre of the epidemic of severe acute
respiratory syndrome.
Speaking at an emergency medicine conference in Cairns, Dr Murray says
hospital staff need to get back to the basics of washing hands and
wearing surgical masks.
"I would not like to see anyone else to have to deal with SARS in
order to make them understand the importance of these things," he said.
"But having gone through it, you recognise putting on masks and
washing your hands is very little to pay in order to prevent as
something as serious as SARS."
Dr Murray says maintaining those basic practices will be critical in
containing the next large-scale disease outbreak.
"The pandemic influenza that we've seen every 50 y in the course of
history kills 100s of 1000s and certainly that will come," he said.
"It's only a matter of time and we need to be prepared for that to
limit its impact.
"SARS was the warning that we need to put these precautions in place
for the next one that's going to be worse."

Downer dismisses revelations over Iraq letter
Alex Downer says the Govt has taken a lot of abuse over the Abu Ghraib
scandal.
Canberra.  FM Alexander Downer says revelations that an Aussie Army
officer helped draft a letter on the status of prisoners in Iraq are a
desperate attempt to involve the Govt in the prisoner abuse scandal.
ABC TV's 4 Corners revealed last night that Aussie lawyer Maj George
O'Kane helped draft a letter which said some prisoners would not be
protected by the Geneva Convention.
The Dec 24 letter said the US Army took the legal view that "where
absolute military security so requires, security internees will not
obtain full Geneva Convention protection".
The letter was signed by the officer in charge of the Abu Ghraib
prison, Brig Gen Janis Karpinski.
Mr Downer says Maj O'Kane's involvement is not proof that the Govt
knew of the abuse of prisoners in Iraq.
"I think it just shows how desperate some people are to try to make a
link between AUS and the Abu Ghraib atrocities," Mr Downer told Lateline.
"To suggest that somehow AUS is culpable in this whole exercise
because an Aussie Maj, which is a very junior officer, was involved
in some assistance with the drafting, or the full drafting of a
letter, that's more over the top than almost any claim I've heard in a
long time."
Mr Downer says it is preposterous to suggest the letter means the
Aussie Govt was involved in a cover-up of Iraqi prisoner abuse.
"You're so desperate that in the end you've found somebody who helped
draft a letter," he said.
"[It's] not the person who signed the letter, not the person who was
responsible for the letter but out of 50,000 serving personnel in the
Aussie Defence Force you can find one who helped draft a letter."
Mr Downer says the Govt has taken a lot of "abuse" about the issue.
"The ABC and the Labor Party are essentially making an argument here
that somehow there was an Aussie involvement in these Abu Ghraib
atrocities," Mr Downer said.
"Now, whenever I say that there are sucking in of breath. I'm going to finish
this because we've put up with an enormous amount of abuse about this.
"Actually, if an Aussie -- if the Govt is involved in a cover-up, then
the Govt therefore ipso facto must have known about the atrocities.
"How could the Govt have known about the atrocities?"

Labor slams Downer in prisoner abuse row
Shadow Foreign Affairs rep Kevin Rudd has described the prison
allegations as 'children overboard 2'.
Canberra.  The Fed Opp'n is again questioning the Govt's knowledge of
the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.
Last night, 4 Corners revealed details of a letter drafted by Aussie
military lawyer Maj George O'Kane about the mistreatment of Iraqis
held by the US.
The document was sent to the Red Cross and admitted some prisoners
would not be protected by the Geneva Conventions.
FM Alex Downer says it is preposterous to suggest the letter shows the
Aussie Govt was involved in the abuse cover-up.
But Labor's foreign rep Kevin Rudd says it is an extraordinary development.
"This is a serious question of this country's obligations under the
Geneva Conventions," he said.
"Mr Downer says it's the ABC's fault, it's the ALP's fault, it's uncle
Tom Cobbly's fault, it's everyone's fault except the Aussie Govt.
"It sounds to me like 'children overboard 2' that is it's everyone's
fault except John Howard and Alexander Downer."

9 Iraqi militias said to approve deal to disband
Baghdad (NY Times).  American and Iraqi officials said today they had
received commitments from 9 of the largest independent militias to
disband, as part of a process the officials here said would rid Iraq
of any private armed groups by the end of next y.
The announcement was made by the new PM, Ayad Allawi. It followed wk
of negotiations with the leaders of the 9 of the largest militias,
which together are thought to have more 100,000 soldiers, nearly all
of whom are operating outside any govt'l control.
But there were indications that not all of the militias named in the
agreement believed themselves to be part of it, and that carrying out
the policy might prove more difficult than the writing of it.
2 of the largest armed groups operating inside the country were not
included in the agreement: the Mahdi Army, the radical Shiite group
that American soldiers have been battling for weeks, and the Fallujah
Brigade, a force of ex-Republican Guard soldiers and anti-American
insurgents cobbled together last m to end the fighting there.
One indication of the difficulties ahead came this morning, when a
senior leader of the one of the 9 militias was shot dead by unknown
assailants in Baghdad.
Under the agreement, the militia leaders agreed to a plan that would
transfer their soldiers to the Iraqi police, army and other security
services according to specific timetables that will gradually reduce
the size of the private armies over time.
Militia fighters will qualify for pensions as if they were members of
the regular army. Those who don't want to stay will get job
training. All told, the program is expected to cost $200 mn.
Many Iraqis and Americans have long expressed fears here that the
militias, if left unchecked, could derail the democratic elections
scheduled for next y or lay the groundwork for civil war.
Mr Allawi, who was named PM a wk ago, said the agreement would help
strengthen the authority of the new Iraqi govt that is preparing to
take over from the Americans on Jun 30.
"The completion of these negotiations and the issuance of this order
mark a watershed in establishing the rule of law, placing all armed
forces under state control and strengthening the security of Iraq,"
Mr Allawi said from the steps of his office, inside the fortified
American compound known as the Green Zone.
Indeed, Mr Allawi, who is also the head of the Iraqi Nat'l Accord, a
political party, said he had already disbanded the army under his
control shortly after the fall of Mr Hussein's govt last y.
"We don't have any armed militias anymore," Mr Alawi said of the INA.
American officials said they had secured agreements to disband from
the 9 largest armed groups, 3 of which, they said, held the overwhelming
majority of fighters: the 2 Kurdish political parties, the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdish Democratic Party, which have about
75,000 fighters; and the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of a mainstream
Shiite political party, which has about 15,000 fighters.
6 other groups are thought to deploy much smaller armies. Iraqi
Hezbollah, a Shiite group; the Iraqi Communist Party; ad the Iraqi
Islamic Party, which together are thought to have about 12,000
fighters. In addition to the I.N.A, the militias of 2 other political
parties have told the Americans that they have disbanded:
the Dawa Party, one of the country's largest Shiite parties; and the
Iraqi Nat'l Congress, best known for its leader, Ahmed Chalabi.
The development came amid continuing violence in Iraq today. In Kufa,
an arms dump exploded nr the town's main mosque, where a radical
Shiite cleric presides, officials said. The cause of the detonations
was not immediately known.
At least one rebel fighter was killed and 9 were wounded, witnesses
and hospital sources told Reuters. The American military said in a
news release that no American troops were in the area at the time of
the explosion and that Iraqi police who had responded to the
explosions were repelled by "unknown attackers" inside the mosque.
For wk this spring, the mosque was the site of clashes between
American troops and forces loyal to the radical cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr.
But the town has been calm since last wk, when Mr Sadr and the
American authorities agreed to a cease-fire there and in nearby Najaff.
Riyadh Moussa, a militiaman who had been sleeping in the mosque
compound, told The Associated Press that he had heard a "whoosh of a
missile in the air" and a thud when a projectile hit the arms storage area.
"I'm sure it was the Americans who did it," he said. "We have no other
enemies."
An American soldier was killed and 2 were wounded today when a
roadside bomb exploded nr Iskandariyah, 40 km S of Baghdad, Agence
France-Presse reported, quoting a military rep.
American troops shot an unknown number of suspects fleeing the scene,
the rep added.
The developments came a day after bomb blasts killed at least 21
people in a car bombing at a military base N of Baghdad and at an
Iraqi police station 65 km to the south.

Iraq official wanted in Germany
Baghdad (AP).  An Iraqi official charged with purging Saddam Hussein's
Baath party from govt faces prison if he returns to Germany -- his
home of 25 y -- for his role in an Iraqi Embassy raid.
Mithal al-Alusi, a snr aide to Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi, is
among 6 Iraqis sentenced in the takeover of the Iraqi Embassy in
Berlin in Aug 2002, 7 m before the war.
A German citizen, al-Alusi left the country for Iraq last Nov and said
he notified the judge, who wished him "success."
But a rep for Berlin's state court said Mon that al-Alusi and the
other men didn't have permission to go.
"They had to check in with the police, that was the order of the
court, and they haven't," Arnd Boedeker told The Associated Press. "If
they return to Germany they will be arrested."
Boedeker disputed al-Alusi's claim that the judge allowed him to
leave. "I wouldn't think the judges meant that," he said.
German police have issued a nat'l arrest warrant for the men,
including al-Alusi, director general of the Supreme Committee of Nat'l
de-Baathification and a member of Chalabi's Iraqi Nat'l Council.
4 of the 5 men left Germany for Iraq on Mar 10, al-Alusi said.
German authorities issued the men travel documents dated Feb 27, 2004.
They also provided plane tickets and pocket money -- about $600 each.
Al-Alusi produced copies of the travel documents and the Royal
Jordanian airline tickets.
The fifth, Muslih al-Jabir, stayed in Germany to marry, said al-Alusi.
The men who took over the embassy called themselves the Democratic
Iraqi Opp'n of Germany and said their actions were "the 1st step
toward the liberation of our beloved fatherland." German police
commandos stormed the embassy and freed 2 captives after 5 hr.
Al-Alusi, who owned a women's clothing shop in Hamburg, did not help
storm the embassy, but planned the operation.
The men spent 13 m in a German jail before they were each sentenced in
Sep to 3 y and 3 m in prison. They were freed pending appeal.
Al-Alusi said the judge promised he would be released if al-Alusi
agreed to remove from defence evidence a statement by Iraqi diplomats
in the embassy that they hadn't been treated as hostages.
Jatta Heck, al-Alusi's German lawyer, confirmed his account.
They're not so much "free" as "spared imprisonment" pending appeals,
Heck told AP in Berlin. She said the Iraqis had to check in with the
police, but "the judge was clear -- he signalled that they could also leave."
"There is only a nat'l arrest warrant, not internat'l, but the judge
has known for many m that he is back in Baghdad and Mr al-Alusi has
always said that he will come back when the process goes forward,"
Heck said.
The appeals court has not decided whether to hear the case, she said,
but if there's a new trial, her client will return to Germany. If the
verdict is upheld, Heck said al-Alusi would return to prison, though
he likely would only serve a few months.
The other men are Mohammed Tariq Mahmud Jal al-Aukati, 35, Harith Abed
Ahmed al-Mashhadani, 35, Abdel Karim al-Khafagi, 45, and Ali Swah
Ayada al-Furaidji, 39. They were refugees in Germany.
"I am surprised by their behaviour," said al-Furaidji, al-Alusi's
deputy at the de-Baathification committee. "We left legally with
German documents."
Al-Mashhadani said they notified the police and that German intel knew
of their plans.
"We kept asking if we could really leave and everyone said 'yes.'
Police said they didn't mind," al-Mashhadani said.
Al-Aukati runs the committee's science dept. Al-Khafagi is a clerk at
the committee.
The de-Baathification program, which has purged 1000s, uses computer
databases and files of 1000s of former party members to identify those
who did not commit crimes or abuse their positions.
11 m after its start, occupation authorities in Apr began softening
the purge, letting 1000s of teachers and professors cleared as "Baath
members in name only" return to work, for example.
The top US administrator in Iraq, L Paul Bremer, also announced that
the new Iraqi army would recruit former high-level officers from
Saddam's disbanded military.
Chalabi, who led the purge, called the re-hiring of former party
members "the same as Nazis taking part in a German govt."
Chalabi, once favoured by the Pentagon that groomed him as a possible
Saddam successor, is now embroiled in a battle with the occupation
authority. US forces raided his offices and home for documents.
Al-Alusi suggested Bremer might be behind the attempt to return him in
jail and had asked Chalabi several m ago "to get rid of me."
"He said I am a terrorist for making problems with Germans. Chalabi
said he's an Iraqi hero and he's no criminal," al-Alusi said.
He added: "I am not afraid of Mr Bremer ... Mr Bremer is an American
and I'm an Iraqi and I will stay in Iraq and he has to leave."

Top Iraq cleric offers caution on UN resolution
Najaff (Reuters).  Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, warned Mon any UN resolution on Iraq that mentions an
interim constitution endorsing autonomy for Kurds would have
"dangerous consequences."
"This law [constitution] was created by an unelected council in the
shadow of occupation and under its direct impact," a statement from
Sistani's office said.
"This matter is illegal and is rejected by most of the Iraqi people.
Therefore, any attempt to bestow legitimacy on this law [constitution]
by mentioning it in the internat'l resolution ... will have dangerous
consequences."
Sistani's views hold huge sway with Iraq's 60% Shi'ite majority and
his opp'n to measures proposed by US authorities in Iraq has prompted
changes in the past.
Iraq's Kurds, who make up 20% of the population, are pushing to have
measures of autonomy granted to them in Iraq's interim constitution
enshrined in the UN resolution.
Kurdish PM Nechirvan Barzani said Sun Iraq's unity could be at risk if
the resolution did not endorse autonomy granted to Kurds under the
present interim constitution.
"It would be a great disappointment for the Kurdish people -- we would
not oppose the Americans, but we would not participate in Baghdad,"
Barzani told Reuters.
The US and Brit are pressing UN Sec Council members to pass the
resolution on Iraq's future quickly, possibly as early as Tue, and
were struggling Mon to consider a flurry of amendments to the text.
There was little chance the latest draft would accommodate the Kurds,
who are threatening to quit the govt unless the resolution endorses
the autonomy granted them in the interim constitution, which was
signed in Mar.
Measures adopted in the interim constitution are not mentioned in the
latest drafts of the UN resolution because of long-standing objections
from Sistani.
Mon's statement from the cleric urged the 15-member Sec Council to
take Sistani's objections on board.

Militia deal excludes Sadr from power
Excluded: The Mehdi Army of Sadr has not signed up to the deal.
Baghdad (Reuters).  A deal to disband Iraq's militias that excludes
the Mehdi Army of Moqtada al Sadr, will effectively exclude the rebel
cleric from holding any position of power in the country for 3 y.
9 of Iraq's militias have agreed to disband as part of a rewards and
retraining program but the deal does not cover rebel cleric Moqtada al
Sadr's fighters.
Interim PM Iyad Allawi announced the deal, which will see most of the
100,000 militia fighters reintegrated into Iraq's new security forces.
Others will be retrained for jobs in civilian life or go into
retirement with a pension.
"I am happy to announce today the successful completion of
negotiations on the nationwide transition and reintegration of
militias and other armed forces previously outside of state control,"
Mr Allawi said.
The deal includes all of Iraq's largest private political armies,
including the peshmerga fighters of the country's 2 Kurdish parties,
the main Shiite militia and several smaller ones.
However, it pointedly does not include Sadr's Mehdi Army group.
Officials say that by not becoming party to the agreement, Sadr's
militia is now officially recognised as an illegal body.
Members of his militia will be banned from holding political office
for 3 y after leaving the organisation.
"As of now, all armed forces outside of state control, as provided by
this order, are illegal," Mr Allwai said.
"Those that have chosen violence and lawlessness over transition and
reintegration will be dealt with harshly."
The Mehdi Army launched an uprising against occupying troops across S
Iraq 2 m ago.
Last wk US forces agreed a truce with the militia after wk of skirmishing.
According to plans presented by the US-run coalition in Iraq, some
60,000 former militiamen will have entered the program by Jul 1.
The vast majority will join Iraqi security forces, about 10,000 will
go into retirement and others will get new job training or join
private security firms.
A snr coalition official says $200 mn, to be administered by
Iraq's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, has been set aside for
paying pensions to veterans or to provide jobs, training and education
to former fighters.
"To reward former resistance fighters for their service, opportunities
have been created for them to join state security services or lay down
their arms and enter civilian life," Mr Allawi said.
"Those who choose to return to civilian life will receive valuable job
training and other benefits.
"By doing this, we reward their heroism and sacrifices, while making
Iraq stronger and eliminating armed forces outside of govt control."
Sadr's militia is estimated to be up to 10,000 men strong and is Iraq's
largest security threat after the Sunni-led anti-American insurgency.
Iraq's interim constitution, which was agreed in Mar, outlaws militias.
US officials had often said militias were disarming, although it was
clear from the presence of fighters on the streets that they were not.
While the agreement may put Iraq on the road to bringing its militias
under control, there is not yet any clear process for monitoring and
verifying the demobilisation agreement.

Kufa mosque explosion kills 2
Kufa (AFP).  2 Iraqis have been killed and at least 9 wounded when a
weapons cache used by militiamen loyal to Shiite radical leader Sheik
Moqtada al-Sadr exploded.
The explosion caused a fire inside Kufa's Great Mosque compound,
according to witnesses, medical sources and the US military.
Most witnesses say a rocket hit the ammunition depot used by Sadr's
Mehdi Army militiamen nr the mosque, causing the dump to blow up.
The Great Mosque is where Sadr delivers his Fri prayer sermons.
A doctor at the Mohammad Baqr al-Hakim hospital puts the death toll at
2, while the nearby Furat al-Wasat hospital puts the wounded at 9 Iraqis.
However, it did not specify whether they were gunmen or civilians.
A statement by the US military confirms that an explosion has taken
place and that part of the mosque is on fire.
"Subsequent reports indicate Iraqi police attempted to investigate the
area and render assistance, but were fired upon by Moqtada al-Sadr's
militia from the vicinity of the Kufa Mosque," the statement said.
"This demonstrates al-Sadr's complete disregard for holy sites because
a weapons cache belonging to his militia that was stored there caused
the explosion and fire."
The shrine is built on hallowed ground where one of the founders of
the Shiite faith, Ali, was assassinated in 661 AD.
Although it remains unclear whether the blast is a result of an attack,
the explosion has shaken the latest truce efforts aimed at putting an
end to 2 m of deadly fighting between US forces and Sadr's militia.

UN Sec Council on verge of Iraq deal
UN (AFP).  UN Sec Council diplomats say they expect a deal soon on a
new draft resolution on Iraq after the US and Brit offered a
last-minute compromise on the text.
The council appeared headed for a showdown when the 2 allies presented
a new version that snubbed a French request, which had backing from
other nations, for a virtual Iraqi veto over US military operations in Iraq.
But as consultations dragged on at UN HQ in NY, and with the US and
Brit keen on a deal with the Jun 30 hand-over of power in Baghdad
approaching, the 2 revised the language on military actions.
Although the changes stopped well short of the virtual veto, the text
added that US-led forces would consult with the new Iraqi Govt on
security, "including policy on sensitive offensive operations".
France had been concerned about a repeat of the incident earlier this
year in Fallujah, when Iraqi forces refused to take part in a bloody
US crackdown on militants.
Diplomats say they expect the changes are now enough to satisfy lingering
concerns and the 15 nation council would vote on the measure later today.
"I think we have reached a state where the resolution has a very good
text," German ambassador Gunter Pleuger told reporters.
"The new text also reflects our concerns and I think we can live with that."
The new resolution would endorse the interim govt of new Iraqi Prime
Min Iyad Allawi but also authorise the presence of the roughly 160,000
US-led troops who will remain in Iraq after Jun 30.
The US had repeatedly said it would not accept any Iraqi veto over
military operations.
Instead, the relationship between the Iraqis and the US-led troops was
spelled out in 2 letters from Mr Allawi and US Secretary of State
Colin Powell which were attached to the resolution.
The letters pledged cooperation with the Iraqi Govt and underscore the
Iraqi desire for the forces to remain in the country to maintain
stability after self-rule begins at the end of the month.
The draft says that the US-led force would have "authority to take all
necessary measures to contribute to the maintenance of security and
stability in Iraq," in accordance with the letters.
The UN resolution would also endorse Mr Allawi's interim govt and
specify that a separate security force would be dedicated to providing
protection for the UN in Iraq.
UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan and his Iraq envoy Lakhdar Brahimi briefed the
Security Council just moments after the latest draft resolution emerged.
Mr Brahimi oversaw m of negotiations leading to the formation of the
interim govt and UN officials are also trying to help Iraq prepare for
elections by the end of Jan 2005.
"Let me reaffirm our readiness to do our utmost, as circumstances
permit," Mr Annan told the council.
"We look forward to a clear definition of our role and to the creation
of all the conditions, including the provision of security for our
staff and adequate resources."

Pentagon confirms S Korea withdrawal plan
Washington (AFP).  The Pentagon confirms the United States is
proposing to withdraw 12,500 troops from S Korea by the end of next y
as part of a realignment of forces under discussion with Seoul.
Richard Lawless, the deputy under-secretary of defence for Asian and
Pacific affairs, says US officials presented the proposal at a meeting
with S Korean officials.  "The proposal contained the following
points: First, a redeployment of 12,500 troops from the peninsula over
the 2004-2005 timeframe; second, that number does include the 3,600
troops from the 2nd Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade, who will deploy
from Korea to Iraq later this year," he said.  The US currently has
about 38,000 troops in S Korea.  There has been a large US force in
the country since the 1950 to 1953 Korean war when the US led a
UN-force against the communist North.

Sharon's coalition teeters after Gaza pullout vote
Jerusalem (Reuters).  Ariel Sharon's coalition faced possible collapse
on Mon when a key far-right partner said it was considering walking
out in protest against a cabinet vote approving the Israeli PM's Gaza
withdrawal plan.
But the govt defeated 2 parliamentary no-confidence motions brought by
small opp'n parties, the latest in a series in recent months.
The plan was passed by 14 votes to 7 on Sun but only after Sharon
placated mutinous ministers in his right-wing Likud party by agreeing
not to evacuate Jewish settlements for at least 9 m and then in 4
phases each requiring a vote.
By bowing to future votes of his unruly govt for each phase of
withdrawal, Sharon effectively left in the air the fate of the 21
settlements in the Gaza Strip and 4 of 120 in the W Bank he said he
intended to remove by the end of 2005.
Palestinians welcome any pullout from occupied Gaza, but object to
plans endorsed by Pres Bush for Israel to keep parts of the W Bank in
return. The militant Hamas group called the cabinet decision "a big trick."
Israel said it fired missiles on Palestinian guerrilla base S of
Beirut on Mon in response to rocket fire at an Israeli navy ship in
the Mediterranean earlier in the day.
"This evening the [Israeli military] targeted a terrorist base located
nr Beirut that is used as a platform for terrorist activity in
Lebanon," the army said in a statement.
In Beirut, a Lebanese security source said the attack was aimed at an
area in which the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine -- General Command, has a large base.
There were no reported casualties.
Sharon was clinging to a one-seat majority in the 120-member
parliament after firing 2 ultra-rightist ministers to secure the
cabinet vote, capping wk of manoeuvring and brinkmanship.
Leaders of the pro-settler Nat'l Religious Party (NRP) were split on
whether to quit the coalition. Rabbis who help draft NRP policy
declined to state their opinion later on Mon before a final decision
by the party's parliamentary group, Israeli media reported.
* ISRAELIS TIRED OF POLITICAL TURMOIL
If the NRP left, the coalition would drop to an untenable 55 seats.
This would force Sharon to court the centre-left Labour Party, which
favours his plan, or go for an early election, which weary Israelis do
not want after 3 in the past 5 y.
"We hope the NRP will stay, and even if the NRP does quit, the prime
minister has a clear political alternative to obtain a majority,"
Sharon's chief of staff, Dov Weisglass, told Army Radio in a clear
reference to Labour.
NRP deputy Shaul Yahalom said while many colleagues opposed leaving
Gaza, "some say that if we leave the coalition, Labour will join
immediately and the results will be worse."
Sharon's govt defeated the 2 no-confidence motions sponsored by
leftist and ultra-Orthodox parties which focused on its handling of
social issues rather than the Gaza plan itself.
Sharon would have been in more peril if Labour, with 19 deputies, had
submitted a no-confidence motion threatened but later withdrawn.
But Labour showed no inclination to throw Sharon a lifeline before a
decision by the A-G, not expected before mid-Jun, on whether to
indict him in a bribery scandal.
In Cairo, Israeli officials said after talks between Foreign Min
Silvan Shalom and Egyptian Pres Hosni Mubarak they were "very close"
to a deal on Egypt deploying more police along Gaza's frontier to stop
Palestinian arms-smuggling.
Cairo's hand is indispensable to any future Israeli troop pullback
from a Gaza border corridor Israel says it will leave only after a
"reliable alternative arrangement" with Egypt.
Palestinian Pres Yasser Arafat wrote to Mubarak saying he accepted his
demand for Palestinian security reforms as a condition for Egypt to
help stabilise Gaza if Israelis withdraw, Palestinian officials said.
But the extent of reforms agreeable to Arafat was not known. He has
previously thwarted such steps, complicating US-led efforts to revive
peacemaking between Palestinians and Israel.
Bush approved Sharon's blueprint to "disengage" from conflict with
Palestinians as a potential means of reviving the US-backed peace "road map."
Polls show most Israelis are behind Sharon, seeing Gaza as a bloody
liability. Some 7,500 settlers live in heavily-protected enclaves
among 1.3 mn Palestinians.

Israel attacks abandoned base in Lebanon
Beirut.  Israeli warplanes have struck an abandoned Palestinian
militia base just S of Lebanese capital Beirut.  The missile strike
was in response to an earlier Palestinian rocket attack launched from
inside S Lebanon.  The Israeli military says planes fired 2 missiles
into a camp used by Palestinian terrorists, 20 km S of Beirut.  But
Palestinian sources say the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine had abandoned the base some time ago.  There have been no
reports of casualties and the Israeli military says the strike was in
response to an earlier rocket attack launched by Palestinian militants
from over the border in S Lebanon.

Aid workers hide as Pakistan hunts threat suspect
Afghan/Pak border (Reuters).  Pakistani security forces are hunting a
suspected Taliban militant accused of planning attacks on foreign aid
workers.  Officials say they believe the cleric, named Mullah Hashmi
Sagzai, may be hiding in a refugee camp on the Afghan border.
About 40 foreign aid workers in the SW town of Quetta shut up shop and
took refuge in a hotel on Sun after being warned by the Govt that they
could be targets of suicide attacks.
A snr Govt official in Quetta says anti-terrorism squads have been
sent to a refugee camp in Dalbandin, about 250 km SW of Quetta, to
search for the suspect.
Taliban rep Abdul Latif Hakmi denies that anyone called Sagzai is
associated with the fundamentalist guerrilla group.
It also says it did not carry out attacks in Pakistan.
"We are attacking NGOs in Afghanistan," he said. "The Taliban are not
involved in attacks in Pakistan."
The Govt warned foreign agencies on Sat that Taliban remnants and Al
Qaeda members are planning suicide attacks against the UN refugee
agency (UNHCR) and other aid organisations.
The chief of security in Quetta wrote to the aid workers on Mon,
assuring them of complete protection, and urging them to return to work.
However, UNHCR rep Jack Redden says it is waiting for the Govt to
clarify the security situation.
"In the meantime, we are keeping a low profile with minimal activity."

E Timor urged to reconsider Timor Sea tax regime
Sydney.  The peak body for Aussie oil and gas producers says AUS is
providing a more favourable tax regime than E Timor in the Timor Sea
developments.  Aussie Petroleum Production and Exploration Association
rep Barry Jones says the controversy over the maritime borders is a
govt issue.  But he says E Timor should reconsider its tax
arrangements which are considerably higher than AUS.  Mr Jones says
companies are not concerned about who they pay taxes to, as long as
the companies remain competitive.  "If we pay more tax as a result in
a change of a border, that can threaten the viability of the project,"
he said.  "You know tax is one of the largest operating costs of the
industry so all the parties to this internat'l negotiation need to be
very careful that they don't end up with a nice set of borders that
suit everyone but no project."

E Timor pleased over ALP sea boundary comments
Darwin.  East Timorese Prime Min Mari Alkatiri says the Fed Labor Party
has made some very positive statements on maritime boundaries and the
division of revenue from the Sunrise Gas Field.
Dr Alkatiri addressed an oil and gas conference in Darwin yesterday
and reiterated that his Govt will not ratify an agreement to develop
the resource until the Aussie Govt provides assurances on sea boundaries.
He wants the Howard Govt to agree to a timetable for negotiations and
arbitration if the issue is not resolved during that period.
Mr Alkatiri would not comment on whether the negotiations would be
more successful under a Labor Govt.
"It's not my duty to pre-judge but I think we have a lot of friends
within the Labor Party," he said.
"But Labor is ultimately making statements, very positive statements,
on this issue."
Yesterday, N Territory Chief Min Clare Martin told the conference the
Fed Govt should negotiate a one-off revenue split with E Timor to
overcome the impasse on maritime boundaries.

EU mulls Congo deployment
Brussels (Reuters).  The European Union is considering sending troops
to eastern Congo after rebels captured a key town last wk, threatening
the country's fragile peace process.
Belgium's Foreign Min, Louis Michel, says the EU is expected to
discuss the matter more later today.
"We are in agreement on the principle [of deployment]... But we have
to be sure of the modalities," he said.
"In principle I am not opposed to this idea. It is a good idea if it
is necessary."
Congo's turbulent E has plunged into a fresh spiral of violence since
renegade troops captured the town of Bukavu on the eastern border with
Rwanda last wk.
The attack has triggered concerns it could spark a wider war.
One of the rebel soldiers' leaders says the Democratic Republic of
Congo army was is marching towards the town.
"The enemy has advanced towards Bukavu and is now about 10 km from
the town," Col Jules Mutebusi said.
"We expected them to advance but obviously we will defend ourselves."
Col Mutebusi says the advancing regular troops are led by regional
military cmdr Felix Budja Mabe, whose forces were chased out of Bukavu
on Jun 2.
He says they are backed by Mai Mai militia fighters.
On Sun, another renegade officer allied to Col Mutebusi, Gen
Laurent Nkunda, left Bukavu with some of the 4,000 men he says are
loyal to him.
That move was in line with a pledge made to the UN peacekeeping force
in DRC, MONUC.
Congo blames neighbour Rwanda for aiding the rebel troops in the
former Belgian colony, who say they are fighting Govt forces to
protect fellow Tutsi tribesmen.
Rwanda denies any involvement.
The European Union approved a French-led emergency intervention force
in the NE town of Bunia in Jun last y, the bloc's first military
deployment outside Europe.

Former Rwandan president jailed
Kigali (Reuters).  A Rwandan court has sentenced former president
Pasteur Bizimungu to 15 y imprisonment for charges that include
creating a militia and inciting violence in a country still scarred by
the 1994 genocide.
Bizimungu, whose trial began on Apr 1, has been convicted of
attempting to form a militia group, inciting violence and embezzlement.
He has received a consecutive 5-y jail sentence for each.
Bizimungu denies all charges.
An ethnic Hutu, Bizimungu became president when the ruling
Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took power in 1994.
The came to power after the genocide in which extremists from the Hutu
majority butchered 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.
Paul Kagame, whose Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Army ended the hundred
days of slaughter, was vice-president.
The double-act of Bizimungu, a French-speaking Hutu, and Kagame, an
English-speaking Tutsi, was intended to symbolise post-genocide reconciliation.
However, their relationship soured.
In Mar 2000, Bizimungu resigned after falling out with top RPF members.

"City that never sleeps" wants some rest
NY (Reuters).  New York wants to be the city that sleeps according to
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has proposed the largest overhaul of the
city's noise code in 3 decades.
The plan is Mr Bloomberg's latest effort to improve the quality of
life for citizens of NY, famously known as the city that never sleeps.
Barking dogs, humming air conditioners, booming car stereos, music
spilling out of bars and heavy-duty construction noise will all result
in fines if council approves the new law.
Mr Bloomberg says the new rules will allow NY to stay vibrant "by
balancing the need for construction, development and an exciting night
life with NYers' well-deserved right to peace and quiet".
But many NYers have blamed the Mayor's ban on smoking in bars, put in
place last y, for increasing noise by forcing smokers on to the
streets to hold loud conversations.
Under the new proposal, police and noise inspectors would use a
"common sense" standard rather than being required to use noise metres
to measure decibels.
Any sound that increases the ambient noise in a neighbourhood by 10
decibels during the day and 7 decibels at night will also be punished.
No date has yet been set for a vote.
The proposal follows an anti-noise crackdown called "Operation Silent
Night" by the city 2 y ago.
It targeted 24 noisy neighbourhoods and 34,000 tickets were issued.
But that campaign failed to quell city noise entirely.
New York's complaint hotline logs more calls from residents about
noise -- about 1,000 calls daily -- than any other issue.

Thailand cracks down on black-market piranha trade
Thai officials are warning the piranha could pose a public danger if
released into Bangkok's waterways.
Bangkok (ABC, Peter Lloyd).  Authorities in Thailand are cracking down
on a thriving black-market trade in flesh-eating piranha fish.
Nearly 500 piranhas have been seized during raids in the past year.
Officials are warning the S American species could pose a public
danger if released into Bangkok's waterways.
It is a long way from the Amazon to the mighty Chao Phraya River that
courses around Bangkok.
Locals were on the lookout after reports the world's most notorious
species of fish, the S American piranha, was making itself at home in
the city's waterways.
Alas, it turned out to be another proverbial fishing story, big on
exaggeration, light on for substance.
The story began when authorities expressed the real fear that
collectors of exotic fish may well release piranha stock in a
crackdown in the trade on illegal species. Nearly 500 have been netted
this part year.
Thailand's fisheries boss, Jaranthada Karnasuta, says most collectors
are a sadistic bunch.
"I think there are certain people, they like the violent habits of
this fish," he said.
Most of the trafficking is done at the capital's weekend market, which
is a notorious centre for trade in all kind of illegal species.
The piranha is not on show, but a shopkeeper promised he could supply
the fish in bulk for more than $200 each.
When I told him I thought that was expensive he replied: "That's not
expensive, I bought one for 25,000 bhat."
That is close to $1,000 for a fish. Other shopkeepers were just as
happy to oblige.
Back on the water, local children having an afternoon swim were
dismissive of official concern about piranhas, claiming the Chao
Phraya is simply too polluted for the fish to survive. In fact, the
truth is quite the reverse.
"These fish can breed all y around in Thailand. Also we believe if we
let it in our nat'l water it will spread quite well and rapidly," Mr
Jaranthada said.
So those who bathe and swim in Bangkok's waterways can only hope
piranha collectors keep their nerve.

Boy saved as GP gets surgery tips via phone
Naracoorte, SA.  A doctor in SA's SE has recounted how he performed a
life-saving operation on an 11-yo boy while receiving instructions
over a mobile phone.  A trail-bike accident nr his Naracoorte home 4
wk ago left Harry Moyle with brain swelling that only a neurosurgeon
would normally operate on.  But Harry's GP, Jeff Taylor, drilled into
the boy's skull while receiving instructions over the phone from the
head of neurosurgery at the Adel Women's and Children's Hospital.  Dr
Taylor says he had to act quickly when the boy's condition
deteriorated.  "[I used] the old-fashioned drill that probably hadn't
been used for 15 y," he said. "I suppose fortunately none of us have
ever had to use it but this was the day that it had to come out."
Harry is recovering in the Adel Women's and Children's Hospital.

Insurance industry aims to lift standards
Sydney.  The general insurance industry is moving to raise standards
by developing a new code of practice.  A draft code has been launched
today and the industry is urging consumers and businesses to comment.
The Insurance Council of AUS says the draft code aims to lift
standards beyond the requirements of the Fed Govt's new regulatory
regime.  It covers the issue and renewal of policies, claims handling,
responses to catastrophes, disputes and sanctions.  Insurance Council
president Mike Wilkis says it has been broadened to cover all classes
of insurance including small business and commercial lines.  "There
were over 41 mn policies in force and the general insurance industry
on average was paying around $49 mn a day in claims," he said.  "I
think that certainly demonstrates the effect that this industry has on
our community generally. So this public consultation draft code, I
think, is going to have a genuine impact on all Aussies."

Foster's review writes down wine assets
Melbourne.  Beer and wine company Foster's Group is to write down its
wine assets value by up to $300 mn.  The move is part of a
sweeping review of the company's global wine trade business, which
begun in Jan.  The review was in response to more competitive wine
industry conditions, particularly in N America.  A range of
initiatives is expected to generate efficiency gains of $60 mn a
y by 2007 and $85 mn by 2009.  The company also plans to reduce its
planned capital investment by at least 40% but it says there will be a
substantially increased investment in brands and marketing.  Among a
number of management changes, Jamie Odell is to take over as Beringer
Blass Wine Estates managing director from Jan next y.

Housing, retail slowdowns hit confidence
Concerns about the retail sector, along with housing, have hit confidence.
Canberra.  The cooling housing and retail sectors continue to weigh on
business confidence.  The latest Nat'l AUS Bank (NAB) business survey
shows business confidence halved in May, hitting its lowest level in a
year.  The bank's chief economist, Alan Oster, says the housing and
retail slowdowns are dragging business spirits down despite the
benefits of the global recovery.  "Other parts of the economy,
particularly those in say mining and agribusiness, ie those exposed to
a global economy are getting better so it's not all gloom and doom,"
he said.  The record wheat crop is also helping prop up confidence in
the wholesale sector.  Overall business conditions were steady, with
growth slowing from the runaway rates of late last y but still robust.

Forecaster tips smaller grain harvest
Grain crops are tipped to be lower.
Canberra.  This year's main grain crop in AUS is expected to be
somewhat smaller than last y's bumper harvest.  The Aussie Bureau of
Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) says the winter crop is
forecast to be 2.6 mn tonnes down on the record production of
2003/2004.  In its latest Aussie Crop Report, ABARE says 2004/2005
should produce about 36.7 mn tonnes as yields return to average after
an exceptional season last y.  This year, it says Autumn rainfall
across the grain belt has been variable and some S areas are still
waiting for sufficient planting rains to allow winter crops to be sown.

Farmers urged not to let concerns derail water agreement
Canberra.  Deputy Prime Min John Anderson has urged farmers not to let
concerns about risk derail the water agreement to be discussed at the
next Council of Aussie Govts (COAG) meeting later this month.  Mr
Anderson has opened a Nat'l Farmers Federation (NFF) meeting in CBR
today.  The NFF has proposed the risk of changing water allocations
should be divided in thirds between farmers, states and the Fed Govt.
Mr Anderson will not say if he agrees with the plan but says it should
not become a stumbling block.  "You've got ministers, putting politics
aside here very clearly, I think you can see that and they are singing
the same tune," he said.  "Look, you've got a lot of people
negotiating in good faith.  "Everyone is going to have to meet
somewhere on this because if it falls over we'll never get an
opportunity like this again."

Anderson hits back at criticism of road plan
Canberra.  Fed Transport Min John Anderson is angry over the states'
criticism of the nat'l road plan announced yesterday.  The $12 bn plan
will see the Pacific and Hume Highways upgraded to create 2 lanes each
way between MEL, SYD and Bris, as well as a host of other road and
rail projects.  But the NSW Govt has dismissed the funding increase as
a disgrace; the Vic Govt says it has been dudded and the Qld Govt
says the plan is not good enough.  Mr Anderson has hit out at that
response, telling Channel 9 the plan delivers a massive increase in
road funding.  "[It is] really pretty pathetic, isn't it," he said.
"I mean Victoria's had a 118% [increase], NSW has had a 76% increase
[and] Qld's had about a 2 thirds increase.  "Since when have any of
their transport ministers, or their govts, put increase into their
road funding of that sort of magnitude."

Communities urged to help combat Indigenous abuse
Perth.  The Nat'l Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and
Neglect (NAPCAN) says welfare agencies need to develop specialised
cultural skills for dealing with abuse in Aboriginal communities.  It
has been alleged that Aboriginal children in the Town of Warburton in
W AUS's SE are being given solvents by adults in exchange for sex.
The Dept of Community Development is investigating and says 2
welfare workers will be placed in the town.  But Adam Foster from
NAPCAN says welfare workers will need a good understanding of
Aboriginal language and culture to enlist the help of the community.
Mr Foster says child abuse is traditionally seen as a problem for
welfare agencies but he believes communities need to be involved.
"What's actually causing that is a question that would be well worth
the whole community exploring," he said.  Mr Foster says NAPCAN is
working with the Aussie Arabic Communities Council and Aboriginal
welfare groups to develop anti-abuse strategies for all cultural groups.

Resignation to "restore confidence" in ABA
Canberra.  There has been a generally positive response to the
resignation of Aussie Broadcasting Authority (ABA) chairman, Prof
David Flint, 4 m before the end of his term.
The Fed Govt is now considering how best to replace him ahead of next
y's planned merger between the ABA and the Aussie Communications Authority.
Prof Flint says his decision is based on that merger and denies he has
quit because of public pressure over his involvement in a number of
recent controversies.
"I don't think my position has become untenable," Prof Flint said.
"The board has indicated to me that they could continue to work
effectively with me but I think there is a public interest in my
vacating the office rather than waiting for what would be a matter of
a few further weeks."
But ABA board member Ian Robertson believes Prof Flint was finding his
position increasingly untenable.
"My own feeling, which I expect is shared by a majority of the board
of the ABA, is relief to some extent," he said.
"This whole episode particularly in recent m has been very distracting
and I think we're now free to concentrate on the job at hand without
this distraction."
* Speculation
PM John Howard will not comment on the speculation.
"I don't have anything to add to what he's said at his news
conference," he said.
Prof Flint insists Mr Howard's office did not pressure him to quit,
but concedes none of Mr Howard's staff tried to stop him leaving.
Derek Wilding, the director of the Communications Law Centre at the
University of New S Wales, is both surprised and pleased at the news
of Prof Flint's resignation.
"It provides the opportunity for restoring some public confidence, I
think, in the role of the broadcasting authority," he said.
Prof Flint's deputy, Lyn Maddock, will act in the position until the
Govt fills the vacancy.
Communications Min Daryl Williams says he will also consider
replacements for other outgoing board members.
FM Alexander Downer says Prof Flint's replacement is unlikely to be
former communications minister Richard Alston.
"I'm not sure that he particularly aspires to that job," Mr Downer
said.  "I know Richard very well and I've seen him recently. He never
mentioned that to me so I have no idea.
"David Flint's only just resigned and we'll wait and see what
recommendation Daryl Williams comes forward with for a replacement."
The Aussie Democrats say the ABA must have a merit-based appointment
process.
Communications spokesperson John Cherry fears there will be a
political appointment otherwise.
"I'm deeply concerned that given this Govt's track record of putting
political mates into positions that if we don't change the act and put
in a merit-based appointments process, we will get another mate into
this position," he said.
"I think the last thing the ABA needs after the experience the last
couple of y under Prof Flint is another mate in such a sensitive
political regulatory position."

Flint's resignation surprises everyone
Canberra (ABC, David Hardaker).  The head of the Aussie Broadcasting
Authority (ABA), Prof David Flint, has resigned in a move which has
taken just about everybody by surprise, including his own board.
Prof Flint had managed to weather 6 wk of intense scrutiny after
revelations from the ABC's Media Watch program and it seemed to most
observers that he would see out the little that's left of his term,
which expires in Oct.
The ABA chairman has been under extreme pressure over a number of
claims of conflict of interest, most notably over letters which he
exchanged with the controversial broadcaster Alan Jones, just four
months before sitting on an inquiry into Mr Jones.
In announcing that he would be stepping down as head of the ABA, Prof
Flint said it was proof of how well democracy worked.
"It's an irony, isn't it that the formal head of the Press Council and
chairman of the ABA should find himself the subject of what eventually
became a feeding frenzy?," he said.
"But it encourages me in one particular way -- that is that you and I
live in a country in which it is possible for the head of the media
regulator to be subjected to requirements as to accountability and
perhaps some excesses and yet that be done without anybody suffering
any, certainly on the media side, suffering any disadvantages."
The manner of Prof Flint's departure is as idiosyncratic as much of
his tenure as head of the ABA.
He told no one, bar one board member, of his decision. 2 board members
contacted by PM said they had no idea of what was to come and had only
learnt through a press release that "something" was happening.
And his reasoning also took some deciphering.
First Prof Flint said it was all about a planned merger of the ABA and
the Aussie Communications Authority (ACA), which is due to take place
early next year.  Prof Flint wanted a seamless transition,
untrammelled by controversy.
But under questioning from PM and others, that melted away.
Asked why he was resigning now when the merger was not happening until
early next y, Prof Flint replied: "I think the Govt has indicated that
it would wish to put in place a board of the new authority before the
taking to effect of the new legislation.
"They have kept the position of chairman of the ACA vacant and I see
that there would be an advantage in doing that and for the other
reason that I have indicated, that is that I think the merger should
proceed seamlessly and in the absence of controversy."
Asked whether it was a convenient cover for the fact that his position
had become untenable, Prof Flint had this reply.
"I don't think my position has become untenable and the board has
indicated to me that they could continue to work effectively with me,"
he said.
Prof Flint though lost board support dramatically 6 wk ago.
That's when the Media Watch revealed an admiring letter, which he had
written to the high profile broadcaster Alan Jones.
He had written the letter 4 m before taking the chair of a special
inquiry into Mr Jones but had failed to declare it, even though he had
remembered 2 other fleeting contacts with the broadcaster.
After that revelation, the ABA chairman only managed to dig himself
into a deeper and deeper hole.
He declared that the letter was only one of a stream of letters, then
later corrected that to be just a trickle of letters, maybe only 1 or 2.
But as he announced his resignation, he refused to say he did the
wrong thing.
"I in no way resile from the substance of those letters, whether they
might have been on my personal letter head, or whether I might have
expressed them orally, are things one can reflect over. I don't think
there was any great moment in those letters, certainly when they were
written, I had no knowledge of anything anybody else had of the events
which would follow several m later," he said.
But as is often the case, from little things, big things grow.
Prof Flint's written indiscretion with Mr Jones led to more claims of
bias.  Ultimately he was forced to excuse himself not just from any
complaint into Mr Jones, but into Mr Jones radio station, 2GB.
As well, he had stepped aside from any inquiry into allegations
against the ABC's AM program, having gone into print critical of the ABC.
The Labor Party was also demanding he step aside from any complaint
about political broadcasting, given that Prof Flint had involved
himself in a recent Liberal Party preselection.
In the end a majority of his 7-member board had become exasperated
with him.
But they were powerless to move against him.
What may have been critical is the role of the PM.
Mr Howard had described Prof Flint's failure to disclose his letters
to Mr Jones as something he should regret and for a good month, Mr
Howard's office has failed to give him unqualified support.
Instead his office had been saying they were waiting for dept'al advice
on the letters.
Prof Flint denies there was pressure to resign from the Prime Min's
office?
"Not a dot of pressure. It is my decision and my decision alone," he said.
"I didn't speak to the PM himself, I spoke to his staff and they said
that they would be informing the Prime Minster.
"A number of people have attempted to dissuade me. Nobody from the
Prime Minster's office."
Opp'n communications rep Lindsay Tanner has consistently called for
the Govt to move on Prof Flint.
"I welcome Prof Flint's resignation. It is good to see that he at last
has summed up the courage to do the right thing, even if John Howard
couldn't," Mr Tanner said.
Prof Flint's resignation may have come as a surprise to the ABA's
board but at least one board member, Ian Robertson, says he is
relieved by the resignation.
"Well my own feeling, which I expect is shared by a majority of the
board of the ABA, is relief to some extent. This whole episode, particularly
in recent m has been very distracting and I think we're now free to
concentrate on the job at hand without this distraction," he said.
"It is very important that the right processes are put in place now to
ensure the new authority is as effective as possible. I expect, though,
that he's probably felt his own position to be increasingly untenable."

Latham welcomes Flint's resignation
Canberra.  Fed Opp'n leader Mark Latham has welcomed the resignation
of Aussie Broadcasting Authority (ABA) chairman Prof David Flint.
Prof Flint announced he will be standing down and insisted it had
nothing to do with recent controversies surrounding his position.
Speaking at an outer MEL primary school Mr Latham said Prof Flint had
too many conflicts of interest to continue.  He says the Fed Govt
should not rush to find a replacement.  "If the Govt is going to have
an early election then obviously they shouldn't rush in, that should
be something that happens after the election," he said.  "But if the
election goes out towards the end of the y then one would logically
expect the Govt will put someone forward and we'll judge that person
on their merits."

Garrett row threatens to embarrass Latham
Oil troubles waters: Local members are dismayed by the nomination of
Garrett.
Sydney.  An internal Labor Party brawl threatens to embarrass Mark
Latham, with rank and file members refusing to accept the fed leader's
choice of candidate for a safe SYD seat.
Mr Latham has personally endorsed environmentalist Peter Garrett for
the inner-city seat of Kingsford Smith.
The Labor leader has made it clear he wants Mr Garrett on Labor's
side, saying it would be an honour if the former lead singer of rock
band Midnight Oil would join the ALP.
"To have someone of Peter Garrett's quality and reputation around AUS
would be an asset for our party, an asset for the nat'l Parliament,"
he said.
Officials from the party's executive met yesterday to discuss
nominating Mr Garrett as the preferred candidate, without holding a
rank and file vote.
That has upset local branch members, including Dominic Sullivan who is
planning to stand for preselection.
"Party members are understandably aggrieved, I mean they're the ones
who raise funds for the party and who work for the party," he said.
"I believe they deserve their opportunity to choose their local
candidate," Mr Sullivan added.
Party assistant general secretary for NSW Mark Arbib, says the
executive wants to talk further with the members and the leadership
before it makes a decision.
But if the infighting continues and locals win the brawl, it will be
an embarrassing rebuff for Mr Latham.

Labor stalwart attacks Garrett plan
Sydney.  ALP power-broker Bill Ludwig has attacked the party's
leadership for offering a plum seat to environmentalist and former
Midnight Oil front man Peter Garrett.
Fed Opp'n leader Mark Latham says he would be "tickled pink" if Mr
Garrett stood for the ALP in the safe SYD seat of Kingsford Smith.
"To have someone of Peter Garrett's quality and reputation around AUS
would be an asset for our party, an asset for the nat'l Parliament,"
Mr Latham said.
But local party officials are fighting the move and they now have the
backing of Mr Ludwig, a member of Labor's nat'l executive and the fed
president of the Aussie Workers Union.
Mr Ludwig says the move would send a dangerous message to hard-working
supporters of the party.
"I think the leadership has lost the plot to some degree," he said.
"Are we just going to recruit people from whatever populist,
particular position that they come from within the community and
ignoring the will of those party members that really thought that all
the y that they have put in that they would have some input into
selecting the candidate."
Mr Garrett has not commented on the speculation that he may run in
Kingsford Smith, though a spokesperson said he was "considering his options".
* Principles
Aussie Greens Sen Kerry Nettle says she does not believe Mr Garrett
will join Labor.
Sen Nettle says she has worked closely with Mr Garrett on a number of
environmental issues, including the logging of rainforests and uranium mining.
She says Mr Garrett would have to sacrifice some of his main
principles and ideals if he signs on to run for Labor in Kingsford-Smith.
"I would genuinely be surprised if that was something that Peter was
prepared to change -- that fervent fever for protecting our environment --
which he would need to do if he decided to play a role in an ALP
parliamentary party," Sen Nettle said.
Officials from Labor's executive met yesterday to discuss nominating
Mr Garrett as the preferred candidate for Kingsford Smith without
holding a rank-and-file vote.
That has upset local branch members such as Dominic Sullivan, who is
planning to stand for pre-selection.
"Party members are understandably aggrieved, I mean they're the ones
who raise funds for the party and who work for the party," he said.
"I believe they deserve their opportunity to choose their local
candidate," Mr Sullivan added.

Bush not interfering, says GG
Perth.  Aussie G-G Michael Jeffery believes the US Pres
George W Bush was not interfering in Aussie politics by commenting on
Labor's pledge to withdraw troops from Iraq.  During Prime Min John
Howard's recent US visit, Mr Bush told a media conference any decision
by AUS to withdraw from Iraq would be disastrous.  The comment has
been interpreted by many in the Labor Party as an attempt to interfere
in Aussie politics.  But Maj-Gen Jeffery has told ABC Radio in
Perth, Mr Bush's answer was direct and truthful.  "I interpreted it in
the context that he got a straightforward question from an Aussie
reporter on what would be his views if we carried out a certain
action," he said.  "I won't comment on that but I think the Pres gave
an honest answer as he saw it."

Pilots breached safety laws says CASA
Launceston, Tas.  2 Qantas pilots charged with recklessly operating an
aircraft have had their case adjourned in the Launceston Magistrates
Court this morning.
Peter Maxwell Edwards, 61, of Eltham in Vic and 39-yo Stephen Sarunic
of Essendon in Vic are charged with 2 counts of reckless operation of
an aircraft.
Around 77 people were on board on the Qantas Boeing 737-400 which flew
from Launceston to MEL in Oct 2001.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority alleges Qantas pilots Peter
Edwards and Stephen Saranic failed to activate the Launceston
Airport's runway, taxiway and obstacle lighting system before take
off, around 11 pm.
CASA says the flight arrived in MEL without incident but it believes
the alleged actions breached the Civil Aviation Act.
The men were not required to enter a plea or be present for their
first appearance.
The court heard the men's defence lawyers are yet to receive a
detailed brief from the Commonwealth Dept of Public Prosecution.
The matter was adjourned until the middle of next m.

Vic prosecutors to drop corruption case: sources
Police informant Terrence Hodson and his wife were shot dead in their MEL home.
Melbourne (ABC, Nick McKenzie, Rachel Carbonell and Rafael Epstein).
The Office of Public Prosecutions in Vic will drop drug-related
charges against a suspended police officer tomorrow after an informer
due to testify in the case was murdered last m, sources have told the ABC.
DS Paul Dale is currently charged with conspiring to traffick large
commercial quantities of illegal drugs.
He was charged along with another policeman, David Miechel and police
informer Terrence Hodson.
Hodson was to testify against the officers but he and his wife
Christine were shot dead in their E Kew home last m.
Dale and Miechel have consistently denied any wrongdoing.
ABC Radio's AM program has been told the Office of Public Prosecutions
will drop the charges against Dale tomorrow.
But Vic's Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, will use her 'no
confidence' powers to sack Dale after the charges are dropped, sources say.
Commissioner Nixon used her tough new 'no confidence' powers for the
first time last week, moving to sack another officer, though not in
relation to corruption issues.
With the Vic Govt looking to toughen the Commissioner's powers to
sack officers, Paul Mullett from the Police Association wants an
independent body to review those decisions.
"The Chief Commissioner does have discipline powers to remove members,
yes she does have the no confidence provisions," Mr Mullett said.
"But all those are best placed before an independent and external tribunal."
The Office of Public Prosecutions is believed to be reviewing the
charges against Detective Miechel.
The ombudsman is investigating how a secret police file on Hodson was
leaked to the underworld, with some police believing the leak could
have contributed to his murder.

Vic police chief moves to sack officers
Christine Nixon has moved to dismiss 2 officers.
Melbourne.  The Chief Commissioner of Vic Police, Christine Nixon, has
moved to dismiss 2 police officers as part of a crackdown on
corruption and says up to 20 more dismissals could follow.
She says Detective Sgt Paul Dale from the Major Drug Investigation
Division and Snr Constable Edward Robb from Benalla are suspended and
have until the end of the m to show why they should keep their jobs.
The actions represent the 1st time Commissioner Nixon has used Vic's
'Commissioner's confidence' powers to dismiss members of the force.
Commissioner Nixon says up to 20 other officers may also face dismissal.
"Over the coming months, I intend to use this power in a bid to ensure
that Vic Police is corruption free as best we can," she said.
Detective Sgt Dale is facing drug-related charges but the Office of
Public Prosecutions will drop those charges tomorrow, after the police
informer who was to testify against him, Terrence Hodson, was murdered
last m.
Commissioner Nixon says the 'no confidence' powers are an important
tool in fighting corruption, as courts and juries are generally loath
to convict police officers.
"I have to make some decisions about the way we deal with people and
so 'commissioner's confidence' is part of it," she said.
"Criminal charges where there is sufficient evidence to convict people
is part of it as well."

WA police hunt 4WD roo killers
Perth.  6 kangaroos were killed in the SW W Aussie town of Australind
on the weekend when they were deliberately run down by four-wheel
drives.  Police say they have an idea who killed the animals after
examining three vehicles at the scene and questioning a number of
people.  Australind residents have been calling for increased patrols
in the area for more than a y after an increase in hoon behaviour by
young drivers.  Senior Constable Craig Ralph says the scene was
devastating.  "It's quite a popular place for residents in the
area. They actually take people down to Cathedral Avenue to show them
where the kangaroos are...you don't know what sort of people can do
something like this, but hopefully we'll be able to get to the bottom
of it as soon as possible," he said.

Astronomers count down to Venus transit
Siding Springs Obs, NSW.  Venus will leave a little black dot as it
passes in front of the sun today, creating an image not seen since 1874.
The head astronomer at Siding Springs Observatory at Coonabarabran in
central-western NSW, Fred Watson, says Venus will look like a beauty
spot on the sun.
The transit begins from 3.00 pm  today.
But Dr Watson is warning people who want to view the transit of Venus
not to look directly at the sun.
"[Venus] is probably about a 60th of the diameter of the sun,
something like that," he said.  "All you see is this little black
circle silhouetted against the sun, which is why someone beautifully
described it as the sun will have a beauty spot."
The transit of Venus will happen again in 2012 and then there will be
another 120 y wait.
The College of Ophthalmologists has warned that it is dangerous to
look directly at the sun and says even using devices such as
sunglasses, welder's masks or darkened mirrors will not protect those
wanting to watch Venus's transit from damaging their retinas.
College president Peter Henderson says people who are interested in
the event should watch it on an Internet webcast.
"With modern technology we've just got a great advantage to be able to
see the great detail which is available by webcams -- people should be
watching it through that," he said.
James Cook University's Centre for Astronomy will offer one such
webcam but Dr Watson has suggested viewers try some older technology.
"If you get a piece of paper or card and put it behind the eyepiece of
the telescope or the binoculars then what happens is you can focus the
telescope so it makes a sharp image on this card," he said.
"You're then looking at the card with your back to the sun so it's not
dangerous."
The vice-president of the Astronomical Society of Vic, Perry Vlahos,
says the transit will look amazing so long as the weather is clear.
"An intensely black spot moving over the front of the sun's disc,
which is very bright, and the brown dot of Venus is about the size of
a marble with the sun's bright disc being about the size of a
beach ball -- that's how it appears to us from earth," he explained.
Mr Vlahos says there is a strong connection between Capt James Cook
and the rare astronomical event.
"Cook's visit to the S Seas was initially 1st to observe the transit
of Venus in Tahiti in 1769 and then he opened a second envelope with
new orders to go and find the 'Great S Land' and map its Eastern
coast, which is what he did later," he said.
Astronomers have suggested Perth and Darwin will be the best places in
AUS to view the transit.

Bank robber returns to crime scene, repays cash
London (Reuters).  A Brit robber who stole about $300,000 in cash from
a bank broke back in a wk later to give most of it back, police say.
The thief got into the Barclays Bank in E London, smashed a window and
helped himself to the cash in the automatic teller machine.  A wk
later, baffled staff called detectives to say the robber had returned
about $270,000.  "We were contacted by staff saying a large amount of
cash had been found in a black bag in the premises," a police rep
said.  Police are investigating whether the bizarre double break in,
thought to be unique in Brit, was an inside job, The Sun newspaper
reports.  "We know we offer cash back facilities but we didn't expect
anything like this," a Barclays insider told the paper."

{{
1 am
BBC World Service.  Kigali.  The former Pres of Rwanda has been
sentenced to 15 y in prison on a number of charges, inciting a civil
disturbance.  The Pres, a Hutu, was accused of threatening state
security.  His trial has been dramatic, with one witness withdrawing
testimony, saying it had been given under police pressure.

The interim Iraqi govt says it's reached an agreement on disbanding 9
militias.  Originally they belonged to groups who opposed Saddam
Hussein.  But the groups to be disbanded do not incl those recently
fighting US forces.  The 9 factions have members in the cabinet.
They've agreed to integrate themselves into the nat'l security forces
or civilian life by next y.  Groups that have not agreed to disband
are now outlawed.  The move should mean Iraqi nat'l elections will be
less vulnerable to intimidation.

The US has confirmed it's proposed withdrawing 12,000 troops by the
end of next y from Korea.  The withdrawal incl 3,600 soldiers already
earmarked for re-deployment to Iraq.  Until recently, the US had
denied reports troops would be removed permanently.  The Pentagon now
says it's part of world wide changes to make US forces more flexible.
The US says new weapons will compensate for the loss of US personnel
in the sensitive region.

The largest-ever conf on Palestinian refugees is being hosted in
Geneva by the Swiss Govt.  Reps from 70 countries and 30 organisations
are attending.  The meeting comes at a time that fin'l aid for Pals is
in decline.  1.5 mn Pals live in camps in Gaza and Lebanon where the
UN says the need for aid has risen dramatically.  The most pressing
issues to be discussed will concern the inability of the internat'l
community to solve the Pal problem of statelessness.

Brit PM Blair says the world needs to remain vigilant for terrorism
after an attack on BBC journalists in Saudi Arabia.

Human Rights Watch has attacked Iran.  It says the sit'n in Iran is
worse than at any time since Hatamei came to power in 1997.  Tehran
has abandoned its duty to dispense justice fairly, says HRW.  It also
accused the Iran govt of abuses in illegal detention centres.

A 5 day period of mourning for former Pres Reagan has begun.

2 am
DW Radio News.  Chancellor Schroeder says the UNSC is close to an
agreement on the Iraq hand-over Res.  US amb to the UN Negroponte says
he will present the latest version of the Res later today.

An arms depot in a mosque in Kufa has exploded.  The blast killed 3
and wounded several others.  Al-Sadr has blamed the US for the
explosion.  But American cmdrs says their forces were not in the area
at the time.

Israeli PM Sharon seems to be facing the collapse of his ruling
coal'n.  The NRP is debating whether to pull out of the govt.  The row
was sparked after Cabinet agreed to the withdrawal of 24 Jewish
settlements from Gaza and the W Bank.  The pull-out will start next Mar.

Israeli has announced it will purchase 2 German subs.

Saudi forces are looking for killers of a BBC journalist.  1 Brit is
still in critical condition in hospital after surgery for several
gunshot wounds.  It was the 4th deadly attack on W-ers within 5 wks in
the Kingdom.

5 aid groups in NW Afghanistan are pulling out of a prov after a
grenade attack on an Italian NGO.  There were no cas in the attack.
Doctors Without Borders is one of the groups ceasing ops.
Elsewhere, election officials were attacked with RPG's in the S.

There are emergency talks in Europe and the UN to end the crisis in the
DRC.  At least 100 people have died in the last fews days.  The crisis
was sparked last wk after the town of Bukavu was seized by a rebel
general.  The town had been nominally under UN control.

2.15 am
DW Radio, Kabul.  A growing number of Afghans have come forward,
claiming they have been physically, psychologically and sexually
abused while in US detention at Bagram AFB, Afghanistan. At least 3
prisoner deaths have also been ruled "murder" by the US military.
Afghanistan and US reps characterise it as "a few bad apples".  But
human rights groups say there's evidence abuse is widespread across US
facilities in Afghanistan. The US military have turned down requests
for rights groups to inspect prisons, adding it allows only the Red
Cross into US facilities.

8 am
Wall Street stock prices have been driven higher by stabilising oil
prices and the latest United States employment measures.

Companies are bracing for a slower start to the new FY with a new
survey showing business expectations have fallen.

9 am
The Aussie share market has pushed further into record territory this
morning.

Midday.
The Aussie share market reached new highs today with the All
Ordinaries peaking at a record 3,484.7 in afternoon trade before
settling back to be up almost 16 points at just over 3,482.

The Office of Public Prosecutions in Vic will drop drug-related
charges against a suspended police officer tomorrow after an informer
due to testify in the case was murdered last month, sources have told
the ABC.

The peak body for Aussie oil and gas producers says AUS is providing a
more favourable tax regime than E Timor in the Timor Sea developments.

4 pm
A bomb has exploded outside a US HQ in Baquba, killing 4 Iraqis and
injuring 10 others.

FM Downer has warned the ALP that recruiting Peter Garrett will damage
Australia's relationship with the US.  Garrett is a long-standing
anti-nuclear campaigner and has demonstrated against US bases and
nuclear targets in AUS.

The AUD is trading around 70.37 US c.  The All Ords has fallen to
3,480.  In Japan, the Nikkei is up 82 pts.  The Hang Seng is up 130
pts to 12,457.  The FTSE is not trading yet.  Gold is around $US394.05/oz.

4.30 pm
The All Ords has closed unchanged.

5 pm
MEL astronomers got what that wished for -- a clear sky for viewing
the 6 hr transit of Venus.  More than 100 visitors at the MEL
Observatory watched the approx 1-in-122 y event.  The next one's in 8 y.

Israeli warplanes have fired 4 missiles at a deserted base 8 km s of
Beirut.  There were reportedly no cas.  It's the first attack in C
Lebanon in around 3 y.  The Israeli military says the attack was in
retaliation for a rocket attack on a naval vessel.  Pal reps say the
base is now a clinic and is not used for military purposes.  [Other
reports say it was deserted at the time].

6.30 pm
Iraq hand-over.  A vote expected in the early hrs of tomorrow morning,
AEST.  A unanimous vote is expected.  The main sticking pt -- US force
and the interim govt> Despite snubbing the French idea to give the
interim govt a veto over US operations, France says it's satisfied
with the final wording of the Res.  The Res gives the interim govt
some powers over foreign forces.  Meanwhile, the violence continues.
5 Polish troops have been killed during a de-mining operation S of
Baghdad.  In Mosul, 3 suicide attackers blew up 2 car bombs, 45 mins
apart, and killed 10 people and injured at least 100.  In the run-up
to a G8 meeting in Georgia, US, differences remain over Iraqi debt.

AUS has renewed travel warnings about Saudi Arabia.  A terrorist web
site threatens new attacks on W compounds and airlines in the
Kingdom.  The warning comes after an attack on BBC journalists.
Authorities say they've renewed a crack-down, and that has led to new
arrests.  But officials also admit the sit'n is not completely under
control.  A new BBC team has arrived in Riyadh to investigate the
first attack.  1 journalist remains in critical condition in hospital.

New evidence has emerged that Aussies soldiers abused POW's in Somalia
11 y ago.  Soldiers are accused of an assault on a POW during an
interrogation.  According to an Aussie witness, a rifle barrel was
shoved into the prisoner's mouth and he was "slapped around a bit'.

A new Newspoll commissioned by SBS shows 44% of Australians oppose gay
marriage.  But 38% agree with it.  18% are uncommitted.  The govt says
it will ban gay marriage in the nat'l interest.  But activists say
the idea will eventually be accepted by the community and govt has no
mandate to ban it.  Pollster Sol Lebovic said the survey was a "close"
result.

7.30 pm
At least 6 Coal'n soldiers have been killed in a de-mining operation S
of Baghdad. The soldiers are from Poland, Slovakia and Latvia.  They
arte the first KIA's for Slovakia and Latvia in Iraq.  A rep said the
blast happened when soldiers were working in an ammo dump dating back
to the Saddam regime.

10 pm
Oil is trading at $US39.00/bbl.

11 pm
The Italian FM says 3 Italian hostages in Iraq have just been
released. [Some reports say the Italian govt paid a secret ransom for them].

Reuters says there's been another shooting in Riyadh.  The agency
quotes a Western diplomat saying an American has been killed.  But the
report has not been confirmed.

At least 2 people have been killed by falling rocks after Mt Bromo
erupted in E Java, Indonesia.  Elsewhere, in the far NE of the
country, some 15,000 have fled another volcano that started erupting
earlier this wk.

Israel says Hezbollah has fired rockets and mortars at posts in the
disputed Shebaa Farms border region.

The KDP is worried that the interim constitution doesn't mention the
independence of the Kurdish region of N Iraq.  In a letter from
Kurdish leaders to Mr Bush, they reminded the US Pres they are unhappy
about not being included in the positions of Pres or PM of Iraq.  Reps
say no decision has been made about a proposed boycott of the
up-coming elections.

Police in Italy have arrested at least 3 men they belive were involved
in the Madrid bombings.  Italy say one man played a prominent role in
al-Qaeda bombings in which 191 people died.  Shortly after, Belgian
police said they'd arrested 15 men in connection with a planned attack.

Microsoft has launched an appeal against the EC.  The EC had accused
M/S of using its monopoly position unfairly to bundle its media player
in Windows and exclude competition from other s/w.  While the $US600
mn fine was not a problem for the cash-rich company, analysts say M/S
is afraid the EC could move on to claim unfair competition in other
components bundled into its popular O/S.

11.30 pm
A court in Moscow has set a trial date for Khodorkovsky.  He will
stand trial on Wed next wk.  His trial will be combined with one of
his business associates.

300 people at an ALP meeting in Kingsford Smith have sent a message to
Opp'n leader Mark Latham, saying they don't want Peter Garrett imposed
on them in the next Fed election.  "Don't bother applying", one local
ALP member said.
}}

----------------------------------------
Wed, 09 Jun 2004

	HEADLINES:
Oil prices rebound after "attack" on Iraq pipeline
US steps up pressure for massive Iraq debt forgiveness
UN endorses Iraq sovereignty transfer
UN council approves new Iraq deal
Suicide car bombs in Iraq claim more lives
Iraq-Turkey pipeline attacked 
Iraq hostages sold: cleric 
Iraq deal allows US to take prisoners
G-G should stay clear of Iraq debate: expert
G-8 summit opens with attention on Iraq
Brit Muslims, angry over Iraq, to punish Blair's party
4 hostages freed in Iraq
18 anti-terrorism arrests made in Europe
2 quit Israeli Cabinet over Gaza pullout
AUS joins terror exercise
AUS to join anti-WMDs effort
Arrests made in ganglands swoop
Ashcroft refuses to hand over torture memo
Ashcroft says Bush rejects use of torture
Aust man deported from Thailand
Autopsy report confirms Crick was cancer-free
Belgium arrests 15 "Islamic extremists"
Blair confident he wasn't misled on WMDs
Bush team accused of sanctioning torture
Canada expects to harmonise feed rules with US 
Cancer patients' genes used to tailor treatment: study
Car bombs, mine blasts kill 21; Turkish hostages paraded
Charity likens Qld prisons to Abu Ghraib
Chief Min backs regional bodies to replace ATSIC
Chirac gives lost Kiwi veteran a lift to Paris
Consumer sentiment resilient, housing attractive
Date set for Yukos tycoon's fraud trial
East coast koalas could die out
Fragile N Korean economy grows
G8 leaders gather for meeting
Gabon plane crash kills 16
Govt promises to look after minerals industry
Gunmen kill American in Riyadh
Hezbollah, Israel exchange fire
Iran fostering trust with Europe on nuclear issue: Kharrazi
Israeli helicopters strike Gaza workshops
Latham unsure Garrett wants Labor gig
Man shot dead answering front door
Markets cautious as rates speculation grows
Mineral exports earnings decline
PBL appoints new CEO in shake-up
Palestinians to lose jobs as Israel closes industrial zone
Rates will rise if inflation grows: Greenspan
Resolution exposes Shia, Kurd divisions
Roh nominates new S Korean PM
Rumsfeld authorised torture techniques
Suspended policeman pleads case against sacking
Third child dies after Matraville house fire
UN resolution hastens troop return: PM
US base to "pressure" Indonesia
US troops free hostages
US's Ashcroft won't release or discuss torture memo
Venus captivates star-gazers
Vic scientists to map wallabies' genome
Warning issued on pregnancy drug
Web domain registrations hit 63 mn
Zimbabwe to nat'lise all farmland: report


Iraq-Turkey pipeline attacked 
Kirkuk (Herald Sun).  Saboteurs attacked the Kirkuk-Turkey pipeline on
Sun, the security chief for Iraq's N Oil Company (NOC) said today,
shortly after another official of the firm had denied any such attack.
"Assailants detonated sound grenades on the pipeline Sun at dawn
(local time), 120 km E of Kirkuk, causing damage, and a loss of a huge
quantity of oil," said NOC security chief Ghazi Talabani.  "The oil
loss has been stopped and a group of technical experts are repairing
the pipeline and the damage could be repaired by Tue night. Restarting
production depends on the decision of the coalition and the oil
ministry," he said.  Earlier, NOC's project manager Abdullah al-Rubai
said there had been no new attack on the Kirkuk-Turkey pipeline since
May 24 and that the main export artery was about to reopen.

Oil prices rebound after "attack" on Iraq pipeline
London (The News, Pak).  Oil prices shot higher in trading on Tue amid
reports of an attack on a key pipeline in N Iraq, analysts said.
The price of benchmark Brent N Sea crude oil for Jul delivery rose by
57 cents to 36.53 dollars/bbl in early afternoon trading in London
following reports of the pipeline attack.
NY's reference light sweet crude Jul contract climbed 41 cents to
39.07 dollars/bbl in pre-opening electronic deals.
The contract remained a long way from a record high level of
$42.45/bbl, however, seen in electronic trading on Jun 1 following a
deadly attack in oil kingpin Saudi Arabia.
"Prices are back up on the back of an attack on Iraq's vital oil
pipeline to Turkey, which has again halted crude flows," Commerzbank
analyst David Thomas said.
"The rally is due to headlines about the attack on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan
pipeline," said Prudential Bache analyst Christopher Bellew.
Northern Iraq's pipeline which takes crude from the Kirkuk oilfields
to Turkish's Mediterranean terminal of Ceyhan has not been in regular
use since last Aug because of a series of sabotage operations blamed
on anti-US guerrillas.
Saboteurs meanwhile attacked a pipeline in S Iraq last m, halving
tanker loadings from the port of Basra of about 1.7 mn bpd.
Thomas said the latest attack in the N would reduce Iraqi oil exports
by about 350,000 bpd.
He added that oil prices were also winning support from a looming
general strike in Nigeria against rising fuel costs.
"In terms of support for oil prices, there is also the oil strike in
Nigeria scheduled for tomorrow, which is a general strike and looks
like it could disrupt exports," he said.
Nigerian officials were meanwhile making a last ditch effort to head
off the strike, with the Fed Govt going to court in Abuja seeking an
injunction to halt the nationwide action.
World oil prices had been easing following an agreement by the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Beirut last wk to
raise its daily production ceiling of 23.5 mn barrels by 2 mn next m
and by another 500,000 barrels in Aug.
Prior to OPEC's move, prices surged to record high levels after
suspected Islamist militants killed 22 people, many of them
foreigners, in a shooting rampage and hostage-taking drama in Saudi
Arabia's eastern oil city of Al-Khobar.

Mineral exports earnings decline
Canberra.  There has been a 2% decline in the value of AUS's mineral
exports in the Mar quarter.  The Aussie Bureau of Agricultural and
Resource Economics says total offshore earnings from mineral resources
have fallen to $12.6 bn.  In the latest Aussie Mineral Statistics, it
says the weaker performance reflects lower export volumes for more
than 3 quarters of the minerals and energy products that AUS exports.
Export earnings are down 10% compared to this time last y.  In the
latest period, there have been significantly lower receipts for coking
coal, iron ore, diamonds, zinc, alumina, liquid natural gas (LNG),
copper and uranium oxide.  Iron and steel, nickel and steaming coal
have been the best performers.

Canada expects to harmonise feed rules with US 
Ottawa (Reuters).  Canada expects to change its livestock feed rules
in concert with the US as part of a harmonised response to 2 cases of
mad cow disease in the countries in the past year, Canadian Ag Min Bob
Speller said on Tue.
"It will be more than likely simultaneous," Speller told Reuters on
the sidelines of an election debate on farm issues.
Since 1997, both countries have banned the practice of feeding protein
made from cud-chewing animals known as ruminants back to other
ruminants -- a practice thought to have spread mad cow disease in
European cattle in the 1990s.
But the material can still be fed to pigs and chickens. After Canada
and the US each reported a case of mad cow disease in the past year,
internat'l experts recommended the countries tighten up regulations to
ensure no ruminant material is inadvertently fed to cattle by way of
pigs or chickens.
Last week, Canada's top veterinary official said Canada would move to
ban all ruminant material from livestock feed, including pig and
poultry feed for 3 to 5 y.
Speller did not, however, confirm that his govt would ban the
material. Speller's governing Liberal Party is in the midst of a tight
campaign for the Jun 28 fed election.
But he acknowledged that Canada is working with industry players and
US counterparts on strengthening feed rules.

Rates will rise if inflation grows: Greenspan
Washington (AFP).  US Fed Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan says he
still expects a "measured" response by the central bank on boosting
interest rates but warns that it would "do what is required" to keep
inflation in check.
Dr Greenspan's comments were delivered by satellite to a London
central bankers panel.
The comments indicate the Fed Reserve could move quicker than
anticipated in boosting rates if its judgement on economic conditions
and inflation is "misplaced".
Dr Greenspan notes that concerns about deflation are "presumably
safely behind us".
He reiterates that interest rates would have to rise to more normal
levels after a long period of super-low rates to stimulate the economy
and protect against deflation.
He says this move on rates will be "at a pace that is likely to be measured".
"[That conclusion] is based on our current judgement of how economic
and financial forces will evolve in the m and quarters ahead.
"Should that judgement prove misplaced, however, the FOMC [Fed Open
Market Committee] is prepared to do what is required to fulfil our
obligations to achieve the maintenance of price stability so as to
ensure maximum sustainable economic growth."
Most financial markets believe the "measured" pace of rate hikes would
mean the fed funds rates, now at a 46-y low of 1%, would be lifted by
a quarter-point in Jun and another quarter-point in Aug.
Dr Greenspan says cost pressures have been "relatively subdued" but
that the spike in oil prices is a "worrisome element" that has been a
net drain on the economy and could boost inflation if the high price
level persists.

Markets cautious as rates speculation grows
Rates talk has Wall Street nervous.
NY/Sydney (ABC, Adrian Thirsk).  US Fed Reserve chairman Alan
Greenspan has sent a frisson through financial markets by indicating a
heightened readiness to raise interest rates.
He has told a central bankers' panel in London that he still expects a
"measured" response on American rates.
But he has also cautioned that the Fed Reserve will "do what is
required" to keep inflation in check, especially if its current
judgement of economic conditions should prove misplaced.
On Wall Street, share prices initially fell in response to the
Greenspan comments but a further slide in oil prices has helped lift
sentiment.
The DJIA closed 41 points higher at 10,433.
The high-tech Nasdaq market has just inched forward with the Nasdaq
composite index adding 3 points to 2,024.
There has been a 5th straight day of gains on the Brit share market
with more takeover talk swirling around banking group Abbey Nat'l.
Some caution is evident ahead of tomorrow's meeting at the Bank of
England, however, with a significant degree of expectation that United
Kingdom interest rates could be raised.
London's FT-100 index rose 13 points to finish trade at 4,505.
Yesterday in AUS, the market remained steady overall after earlier
touching on a new all-time high.
Foster's Group shares added 2 cents to $4.59 after the company
announced the results of its wine business review, while preparing to
write down the value of its wine assets by as much as $300 mn.
Investors bailed out of James Hardie shares on fears it faces
increased claims for asbestos compensation.
The company's stock was marked down 70 cents, or more than 11%, to $5.52.
The All Ords ended virtually unchanged at 3,482.
The AUD has eased back overnight. About 7.20 am it was buying 69.96 US c.
It was quoted at 57.06 euro cents, 76.75 yen, 38.10 pence Sterling.
The gold price is at $US391.40/oz.
Crude oil futures have dropped sharply with the market punting on
increased inventories in the US and shrugging aside reports of an
attack on an important pipeline in N Iraq.
West Texas intermediate crude oil is worth $US37.18/bbl.

G8 leaders gather for meeting
Sea Island, Ga (ABC, Leigh Sales).  Leaders from the Group of 8 (G8)
industrialised nations are gathering in the US for their annual
summit.  The G8 talks will be dominated by the Middle E and US Pres
George W Bush would like to use the meetings to come up with a common
position on spreading democracy through the Middle East.  In reality,
the outcomes of the meeting are likely to be limited.  Oil prices will
undoubtedly come up for discussion, as will the United Nations
resolution on Iraq.  African leaders have been invited to join the G8
for this meeting to discuss AIDS and development issues.  The summit
is being held on Sea Island, off the coast of the southern state of
Georgia.  Security is incredibly tight and only meeting participants
are allowed onto the Island.  The G8 includes the US, Canada, Italy,
France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Russia and the leaders
all of those countries are in attendance.

Gabon plane crash kills 16
Libreville, Gabon (AFP).  The Gabon Express HS 748's landing gear fell
off just after take-off.
16 people have died and 3 are missing after a Gabonese airliner
nose-dived into waters off the Gulf of Guinea coast in Africa.
The plane crashed shortly after take-off from Libreville, with 30
people on board.
The Gabon Express HS 748 was headed from Libreville to Franceville in
the SE of the central African country when it crashed after take-off.
Part of the plane's landing gear fell off and landed on the beach.  11
survivors -- 8 passengers and 3 of the 4 crew members -- were
hospitalised in the capital, a rep of the airline, Gabon Express, said.
The office of Gabon's Pres announced the toll after emergency services
worked most of the day to rescue those trapped inside the plane.
7 French nat'ls were aboard the plane, 5 passengers and 2 crew members, 
and 5 of them were among the survivors, the French embassy told AFP.
A hospital official said the survivors were in stable condition,
adding they "were not seriously injured".
The plane plunged into the sea about 100 metres off the beach, close
to Libreville's Leon Mba internat'l airport, leaving only its
tailplane jutting above the surface of the water, raising hopes more
survivors could still be found.
Many witnesses criticised the rescue efforts as too slow and too
poorly equipped.

Blair confident he wasn't misled on WMDs
London.  Brit PM Tony Blair, in an interview broadcast on Tue, said he
remains confident he was not misled about Saddam Hussein and WMD in Iraq.
In a BBC radio interview, Blair said that while no such weapons had
yet been found in Iraq, Brit's intel services, as a rule, "very
rarely" erred with regards to a "pattern" of intel.
Blair also said he expected the findings of the Iraq Survey Group,
which is hunting for clues to WMD, to conclude that Saddam's regime
was indeed a threat, even if no actual weapons have been uncovered.
"I think the basic pattern -- i.e, that this [Saddam] was someone who
retained complete determination to pursue this WMD business -- I would
be very surprised if that turned out to be wrong," he said.
"My experience [with the intel services] is that they very rarely get
a pattern wrong," he added.
Blair made the remarks in the context of last Thu's resignation of
George Tenet as head of the US Central Intel Agency (CIA) amid
criticism over intel failures on Iraq and the Sep 11 attacks in 2001.
An independent enquiry in Brit into the accuracy of intel in the
run-up to the Mar 2003 invasion of Iraq is continuing, led by Lord
Robin Butler. It is to report by this summer.
Blair's interview with BBC radio's Today programme was recorded Mon as
he was campaigning for Jun 10 local and EU elections.
Blair, to a greater degree than US Pres George Bush, took Brit into
the Iraq war on the basis of Saddam's suspected pursuit of WMD and the
risk that such weapons might fall into terrorist hands.
"In respect to the weapons, I think we should let the Iraq Survey
Group do its work, because there are 2 things we know," the PM said.
"We know he had them because he used them, and that's why we had 10 y
of UN resolutions about Saddam and WMD. What we also know is that we
haven't found them in Iraq," he said.
Blair added: "Whatever else the Iraq Survey Group comes up with... 
they will not report there was no threat from Saddam, I don't believe."

AUS to join anti-WMDs effort
Washington (AFP).  7 new countries including AUS will join US Pres
George W Bush's yo initiative to stop the spread of weapons of mass
destruction by intercepting them in transit, a senior US official said.
The official, speaking as leaders from the Group of 8 world powers
prepared to open their annual summit, said the gathering would adopt
an accord to expand the so-called Proliferation Security Initiative.
"Tomorrow, the leaders will announce that 7 new countries have joined
the global partnership, those being AUS, NZ, S Korea, Belgium,
Denmark, Ireland and the Czech Republic," the official said.
The announcement, coupled with the adoption of a G8 action plan on
stopping the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons, "will be the most significant statement on weapons of mass
destruction that the G8 leaders have issued," the official said.
Bush launched his initiative just before last year's G8 summit. From
an initial group of 11 core participants there are now 17 with another
80 nations involved.
Those now include Russia -- the only G8 member not to join -- which
signed up to the program at the end of May.
The initiative will intercept and seize nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons, their components and delivery systems on the high
seas, in internat'l airspace, or during overland transit.
Bush created the scheme with the intent of stopping countries,
particularly N Korea and Iran, from contributing to the proliferation
of such weapons.
A seizure of uranium enrichment components headed for Libya under the
program last y is believed to have influenced Tripoli in its decision
to renounce WMD.

UN resolution hastens troop return: PM
Canberra (AAP).  The return of Aussie troops from Iraq is a little bit
closer after the UN' backing of the new interim Iraqi govt, Prime Min
John Howard says.
Mr Howard said the UN's move was a good step forward for democracy in
Iraq, which in turn would bring benefits to the entire Middle East.
The UN Sec Council has unanimously backed a US-Brit resolution
endorsing the new interim govt that will take power after the Jun 30
hand over and setting out a timetable leading to democratic elections
next y.
The US and Brit clinched the diplomatic victory with a compromise on
US-led forces that won over France and Germany, 2 of the council's
most vocal critics of the war.
Mr Howard described the resolution as a very big step forward for the
fledgling Iraqi govt.
He said it showed the process in Iraq was working, and that eventually
it would lead to the return of AUS's troops from that country.
"If more and more involvement in the running in Iraq can be given to
Iraqis, and this govt will have effective authority, then that is a
real step forward and a real step along to the day we all look to when
Iraq is democratic in its own Iraqi way," he told ABC radio.
"If the various steps along the path to Iraqi democracy occur and
occur effectively, that will bring a bit closer the day when our
people can come home and the Americans who have 140,000 people there,
by far the largest, they can also come home."
Mr Howard said it was still unclear when AUS's troops would return.
He also said that after his talks with US Pres George W Bush last wk,
the president was still unsure when America's troops would come home.
"I don't think he knows either," he said.
"We all want to see the job finished as soon as we reasonably can.
"Nobody wants to stay an occupier, nobody wants to stay in another
country, nobody wants to have its troops overseas any longer than
necessary."
Mr Howard said bringing democracy to Iraq would help broaden the
appeal of democracy in other parts of the region.
He said Iraq would join Israel as the only democratic country in the region.
"Iraqi democracy won't be the same as Aussie or Brit or American
democracy and neither it should be," he said.
"Nobody wants a country to take a form of govt it feels uncomfortable
with, but it will be a terrific thing for the Middle E if we can have
another democratic country there.
"If we can see the emergence of a truly democratic Arab state that is
going to have profoundly beneficial impact on the whole region and on
the whole Arab world."

Brit Muslims, angry over Iraq, to punish Blair's party
London (AFP).  Brit's Muslims, feeling stigmatised by the US-led "war
on terrorism" and angry over Iraq, may use Thu's local and European
elections to deliver a stinging rebuke of PM Tony Blair's Labour Party.
Numbering only 1.6 mn in a nation of some 60 mn, Muslims could be a
swing force in close races, their vote highlighting the influence of
global politics on local elections, pollsters say.
"Vote, and vote right" the Muslim Association of Brit [MAB] urged its
members, issuing a list of preferred candidates that virtually
boycotts Blair's party.
Labour has put "a stigma on the Muslim community", the association's
press officer Ihtisham Hibatullah told AFP.
"The Muslims are being looked down upon, seen as something to fear,"
he said, adding: "We hold the govt directly responsible."
In recommendations for 6 key races, MAB lists only one Labour member
-- London's fiercely anti-war mayor, Ken Livingstone, who only
recently rejoined the party.
The other favoured candidates are from the anti-war Respect party or
the Greens.
Muslim groups fear that an expected turnout of only one in 3 may
favour far-right parties on Thu, and have urged Muslims to vote
strategically.
"I have to say that on the whole it would be absolutely foolish...  if
the Muslims threw their vote away by giving it to Respect," said
Pakistan-born Baroness Kishwer Falkner, a Muslim member of
parliament's upper chamber the House of Lords.
Falkner denounced the MAB list, calling Respect "a single-issue party
[that] cannot build the critical mass".
"As Muslims, we shouldn't be interested in protesting, but in parties
that can change something."
Her Liberal Democratic party, which strongly opposed the Iraq war, has
most to gain from Labour's falling popularity among Brit Muslims, and
has climbed to compete with the Conservatives as the main opp'n grouping.
"Iraq is what has made [Muslims] open the door to the Liberal
Democrats, and then they like what they see," Falkner said.
While Blair's party has seen its support among Muslim voters fall from
75% in the 2001 election to 38% today, Liberal Democrats now are
backed by some 36% of Muslims, according to the Guardian newspaper.
Visiting a mosque last wk in the Welsh capital Cardiff, Liberal
Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said his party was trying to engage in
"as much dialogue as they can" with Muslims.
He also criticised the "terrible errors" of Brit foreign policy over
the past 2 y.
The Iraq war and Brit domestic policies aimed at fighting Islamic
extremism have shifted political debate from social and regional
questions to global issues.
They have also mobilised Muslims at a time when experts warn of rising
Islamophobia across Brit and a possible backlash by Islamic radicals.
"Muslims are made to feel that they do not truly belong here, they
feel that they are not truly accepted, let alone welcomed, as full
members of Brit society," a report by the Commission on Brit Islamophobia 
said last wk, warning that a "time bomb" of extremism was set to go off.
Brit's largest Islamic group, the Muslim Council of Brit, urged all
members of the faith to vote strategically to fight far-right parties
also running on Jun 10.
Muslims must vote, it said in a letter last Thu, "in order not to let
in the racist and far-right parties simply by default, which could
happen if people do not vote".
"We understand that many Muslims are disillusioned," the council's
media coordinator Inayat Bunglawala told AFP. "They turned out in huge
demos [against the war] last y, and most politicians ignored them."
But he said the council gave no voting preferences, just the call to
participate to oppose groups like the far-right anti-immigration Brit
Nat'l Party, which hopes to make it past the 5% mark to join the
London Assembly.
The council, an umbrella organisation for some 400 Islamic groups
across Brit, wants to see "Muslim-friendly candidates" win, he said.
He was certain that Thu's vote would go far beyond local concerns and
focus on Blair's taking Britons to war. "Iraq is definitely going to
be a major factor," Bunglawala said.

AUS joins terror exercise
Canberra (AAP).  AUS will undertake its most extensive military
training exercise with South-East Asia since the Cold War following
concerns waterways between Malaysia and Indonesia are being used to
train terrorists.
Defence Min Robert Hill said a navy and air force exercise in the S
China Sea, in which a mock merchant shipping strike would be staged,
will be the 1st conducted under the 33-yo 5 Powers Defence Agreement (FPDA).
The FPDA was set up in 1971 in defence of Malaysia and Singapore,
mostly against Indonesia.
The exercise comes amid concerns a growing number of crew abductions
in the notorious Malacca Straits could be terrorist-linked, according
to a report in The Aussie.
Internat'l Maritime Organisation Sec Gen Efthmios Mitropoulos 
told a weekend conference in Singapore he feared terrorists could
resort to pirate-style tactics, or collaborate with pirates.
Mr Hill said invitations would be extended to nations outside the FPDA
to observe the exercise, the most extensive cooperation since the
collapse of the Cold War-era Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation, the
report said.

18 anti-terrorism arrests made in Europe
Rome (BBC).  At least 18 people suspected of plotting terrorism
attacks in Europe have been arrested in Belgium and Italy.
One man, Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, is an Egyptian sought by the Spanish
authorities as the alleged mastermind of the Madrid train bombings in Mar.
Over the past few weeks, Italian and Belgian investigators have been
sharing info about the activities of alleged terrorist cells operating
in both countries.
Suspects have been monitored and communications intercepted in a
pan-European intel gathering operation and last night, police moved in
to make a series of arrests.
In the Belgian cities of Brussels and Antwerp, 200 officers searched
dozens of homes and 15 men said to be of Palestinian, Egyptian,
Jordanian and Moroccan origin, are now in detention.
Documents, videos, and computers were taken away.

Belgium arrests 15 "Islamic extremists"
Brussels (AFP).  15 suspected Islamic extremists have been arrested in
Belgium as part of a major Europe-wide investigation, officials say.
Belgian fed prosecutor Daniel Bernard says the 15 are all foreigners.
"They have been deprived of their liberty.  Some of them will be
referred to an examining magistrate," he said.
Mr Bernard did not immediately draw a link between the arrests and the
Madrid bombings in Mar.
Spanish Interior Min Jose Antonio Alonso says that there has been
"several people arrested in Belgium in relation to internat'l terrorism".
Italian anti-terrorist police say they have netted one of the
masterminds of the Mar 11 Madrid bombings as part of an
investigation involving police in at least 2 other European countries.

Gunmen kill American in Riyadh
Riyadh (Reuters).  Unidentified gunmen have shot dead an American in
the Saudi capital of Riyadh in the 2nd attack on a foreigner this wk.
"An American man was gunned down," a W diplomat said.  Security
sources say gunmen driving a Lexus car fired at the American before
fleeing in an eastern suburb of Riyadh.  A W executive says the man
worked for a US contracting company.  A statement purportedly from Al
Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia warned yesterday of new attacks on US
and W airlines.  The statement came as a Saudi diplomat said the
militant group was behind an attack that killed a BBC cameraman.
Suspected militants shot dead on Sun Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers,
36, and critically wounded BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner,
42 in a Riyadh area known as a militant stronghold.

Warning issued on pregnancy drug
Women urged to consult mums, doctors over pregnancy drug.
Canberra.  Women aged between 30 and 60 y old are being urged to ask
their mothers if they were prescribed the drug Stilboestrol during
pregnancy.
The synthetic oestrogen is known to contribute to an increased risk of
a rare cervical cancer and higher infertility rates.
Stilboestrol was prescribed to pregnant women who had a history or
were at risk of miscarriage between 1940 and 1971.
Doctors stopped prescribing Stilboestrol in 1971 but the side effects
carry over into the next generation.
Women born during the period when the drug was prescribed are being
encouraged to ask their mothers if they took the drug during pregnancy.
Therapeutic Goods Admin medical advisor John McEwan has urged women to
find out if their mothers used the drug and to consult their doctor.
"They may miscarry, they may have difficulty conceiving," he said.
"I guess that the reason that the Adverse Drug Reactions [Advisory]
Committee published this item in its bulletin was to remind practising
doctors about this, that many of the doctors who are practising today
probably hadn't even gone to medical school in 1971."
"We don't think that there will be any further serious consequences
but because this is such an unusual thing it's actually important that
women maintain an assurance that they're healthy," Mr McEwan added.
The note reminds doctors that daughters of women who took the drug
need to have regular pap smear tests and mammograms.

Ashcroft refuses to hand over torture memo
Washington (AFP).  US A-G John Ashcroft has refused to give
politicians copies of a Justice Dept memo that allegedly advised the
Whitehouse that torture during war on terrorism interrogations could
be justified.
The Washington Post reports that an Aug 2002 memo sent by the Justice
Dept in response to a Central Intel Agency request for legal guidance
said internat'l laws against torture "may be unconstitutional if
applied to interrogations" conducted in the war on terrorism.
But Mr Ashcroft refused to provide the memo to politicians on the
Senate Judiciary Committee.
"We believe that to provide this kind of info would impair the ability
of advice-giving in the executive branch to be candid, forthright,
thorough and accurate at all times," Mr Ashcroft said.
"This Admin rejects torture," he said, insisting the Whitehouse did
nothing to contravene the Geneva Conventions or US law.
"Congress has the right to ask whatever questions it wants," he said.
But he added: "There are certain things that, in the interest of the
executive branch operating effectively, that I think it's
inappropriate for the A-G to say."
He added that "some of these memos may be classified in some ways for
some purposes".
Democrats have expressed outrage at Ashcroft's refusal to provide the
documents.
"You may be in contempt of Congress," warned Democratic Sen Joseph Biden.
"You are not allowed not to answer our questions," he said, adding
that the Justice Dept had "better come up with a good rationale" for
refusing to furnish the memo.
The Senate's top Democrat, Tom Daschle, said at a press conference
that "it's very important ... for the Congress to have the documents".
Any document that suggests torture might be permissible "undermines
the rule of law in this country and around the world", he said.
Sen Ted Kennedy drew a direct link between the memo and the abuse
committed by US troops against inmates at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
"We know when we have these kinds of orders what happens," Sen Kennedy
said at the hearing, holding now-familiar photos of detainees being
mistreated at the facility.
"We get the stress test, we get the use of dogs, we get the forced
nakedness that we've all seen ... this is what directly results when
you have that kind of memoranda out there."
The Justice Dept memo, addressed to Whitehouse Counsel Alberto
Gonzalez, reportedly said torturing a suspect in captivity "may be
justified" if it would "prevent further attacks on the US by the Al
Qaeda terrorist network".
Arguments about "necessity and self-defence could provide
justifications that would eliminate any criminal liability", the
50-page document signed by Assistant A-G Jay Baybee and obtained by
The Washington Post said.
The memo served as basis for a Mar 2003 classified report prepared
for Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld, after cmdrs at the US military prison in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, complained that they were not getting enough
info from prisoners.
The Wall Street Journal on Mon revealed the 2003 report.
The Aug 2002 memo, The Washington Post wrote, argued that inflicting
moderate or fleeting pain did not necessarily constitute torture,
which "must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying
serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily
function, or even death".
The newspaper said US Army manuals on interrogations were more
restrictive, banning such practices as pain induced by chemicals or
bondage; forcing an individual to stand, sit or kneel in abnormal
positions for prolonged periods of time; and food deprivation.

US's Ashcroft won't release or discuss torture memo
Washington (Bloomberg).  US A-G John Ashcroft, testifying before a
congressional committee, refused to release or discuss memoranda that
news reports say offered justification for torturing suspected
terrorists. 2 Democratic senators said Ashcroft's stance may
constitute contempt of Congress, a fed crime.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked Ashcroft about
reports in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the NY
Times that the Justice Dept advised the Whitehouse in 2002 and 2003
that it might not be bound by US and internat'l laws prohibiting
torture. Ashcroft said he wouldn't reveal advice he gave to Pres
George W Bush or discuss it with Congress.
"The president has a right to hear advice from his attorney general,
in confidence," Ashcroft said. He also refused to answer whether he
personally believes torture can be justified under certain circumstances.
Sen Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, challenged Ashcroft to say
whether he was invoking executive privilege in refusing to give
Congress the Justice Dept memos. Ashcroft said he wasn't invoking
executive privilege.
"You might be in contempt of Congress, then," Biden replied.
"You have to have a reason. You better come up with a good rationale."
* Contempt Citation
The committee's chairman, Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, gave no
indication that he intends to pursue a contempt citation against
Ashcroft. The citation, if approved by the full House or Senate,
triggers a criminal investigation by a fed prosecutor.
Sen Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Ashcroft had to cite a
fed statute to justify not sharing the requested info. Ashcroft replied 
that his refusal was "protected by the doctrine of separation of
powers in the Constitution." Durbin shot back, "You are not citing a law."
Hatch asked Ashcroft whether the memos in question are
classified. After consulting with staff members, Ashcroft replied,
"Some of these memos might be classified in some ways, and for some purposes."
Durbin called that answer "an evasion."
* Prison Photographs
The Washington Post, citing one Justice Dept memo, said govt lawyers
told the Whitehouse in Aug 2002 that torturing captured al-Qaeda
members abroad may be justified in the war on terrorism.
Sen Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, held up copies of some
of the photographs that have been released that depict abuses against
inmates at Abu Ghraib prison nr Baghdad. 7 US military police soldiers
have been charged in the abuses.
"This is what directly results when you have that kind of memoranda
out there," Kennedy said.
Ashcroft denied any link between the Admin's deliberations and the
mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
"The kind of atrocities" depicted in the photographs "are being
prosecuted by this Admin," he said. "They are being investigated by
this Admin. They are rejected by this Admin."
"This Admin rejects torture," Ashcroft said. Bush "has not directed or
ordered any conduct that would violate the Constitution of the US,"
any US laws or any internat'l treaties, he said.
Ashcroft challenged the lawmakers on whether their questions were
appropriate. "We are at war," Ashcroft said. "And for us to begin to
discuss all the legal ramifications of the war is not in our best
interest, and it has never been in times of war."
Sen Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, told Ashcroft that "you are
wise" not to offer an opinion "on the absolute, ultimate power of a
president of the US to protect the people of this country."

Ashcroft says Bush rejects use of torture
Washington (AP).  A-G John Ashcroft, pressed by senators in testy
exchanges Tue, refused to make public Justice Dept memos that
contended a wartime president was not bound by anti-torture laws or treaties.
However, Ashcroft denied that Pres Bush had issued orders that would
have allowed violations of such laws.
During a three-hr appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee,
Ashcroft repeatedly insisted that the Bush Admin does not condone torture, 
even of al-Qaeda terrorist suspects. He said his dept would investigate 
vigorously anyone accused of it who is outside military jurisdiction.
"This Admin rejects torture," Ashcroft said. Later, he added: "I don't
think it's productive, let alone justified."
Still, the A-G refused to give the committee copies of dept memos
written in 2002 that Democratic senators said could have laid legal
groundwork for abuses that occurred at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and
elsewhere in the war on terror.
"I do believe the president has the right to have legal advice from
his A-G and not have that revealed to the whole world," said
Ashcroft. Yet the Admin was not invoking executive privilege claims to
protect the documents, he said.
One of the memos, cited in a Mar 2003 Pentagon policy paper, stated
that the president's broad wartime nat'l security authority may
override anti-torture laws and treaties, including the Geneva
Conventions, in certain circumstances.
Waving photos of abused prisoners in Iraq, Sen Edward M Kennedy,
D-Mass, said such memos could lead to interpretations by military
personnel or interrogators that laws and agreements that forbid
torture were no longer in effect.
"We know when we have these kinds of orders what happens: we get the
stress test, we get the use of dogs, we get the forced nakedness that
we've all seen, and we get the hooding," Kennedy said.
* bickering
Ashcroft said, however, that the Bush Admin has done nothing that "has
directly resulted in the kind of atrocity which were cited. That is false."
Several Democrats said Ashcroft was coming perilously close to
contempt of Congress by refusing to provide the memos, many of which
have been subjects of published news stories. Sen Charles Schumer,
D-NY, scolded Ashcroft by saying "sometimes you're your own worst
enemy" by invoking secrecy.
Sen Joseph Biden, D-Del, his voice booming, suggested that American
military personnel could be in greater danger of torture because of
the US mistreatment.
"That's why we have these treaties. So when Americans are captured,
they are not tortured. That's the reason, in case anybody forgets it,"
said Biden, noting that his son, Beau, is in training for the Delaware
Nat'l Guard's judge advocate general office.
Glaring back at the committee, Ashcroft responded that his son, Andy,
recently returned from duty in the Persian Gulf aboard a Navy
destroyer, the USS McFaul, and is scheduled to return there soon.
"Well, as a person whose son is in the military now on active duty and
has been in the Gulf within the last several months, I'm aware of
those considerations," he said.
The Justice Dept has several cases of prisoner abuse under
investigation that were referred for prosecution by the Defense Dept
and the CIA, he said.
Ashcroft also told the committee that the Bush Admin had determined
that al-Qaeda operatives were not covered by the Geneva Conventions
because they did not belong to govts that had signed the agreements
and did not meet other requirements, such as wearing of recognisable
military uniforms.
"The Geneva Convention does not apply everywhere, by its own terms,"
he said.
Nonetheless, Ashcroft said, Bush issued a directive requiring that
Taliban and al-Qaeda captives be treated under the same principles as
other soldiers. Most of those prisoners are held on a US naval base at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and testimony at hearings on the Abu Ghraib
abuses said Bush had ordered that their treatment be "consistent with"
the Geneva principles.
Some Republican senators rallied to the Admin's defence Tue on the
Justice Dept memos, arguing that their release could lead to
misinterpretation about US policy regarding torture.
Sen John Kyl, R-Ariz, said terrorists could train to resist certain
interrogation techniques if documents detailing them were made public.
"It's not useful to give them a blueprint on how we go about
interrogating them," Kyl said.
Ashcroft also was subjected to criticism about the broader war on
terror, especially by Sen Patrick Leahy of Vermont, snr Democrat on
the Judiciary Committee. Leahy drew attention to a Jun 3 story by The
Associated Press that detailed how the Justice Dept overruled
prosecutors and deported rather than filed criminal charges against
Nabil al-Marabh, once one of the FBI's most-wanted terrorist suspects.
"This is one of the most disturbing and, frankly, stunning revelations
to emerge from the home front in the war on terrorism," Leahy said.
Ashcroft did not directly respond but said much progress had been made
in the war on terror, even though the threat from al-Qaeda remains high.

Rumsfeld authorised torture techniques
Washington (AP).  US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld last y approved 24
interrogation techniques for use on suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda
prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including 7 techniques that were
not in the army's field manual for interrogation, a Pentagon rep said
yesterday.
Cmdrs were required to give Rumsfeld 7 days' notice before using 4 of
the additional techniques, but 3 other additional techniques required
no special notification, said Bryan Whitman.
"At this point in time, I can't tell you specific techniques because
those remain classified," he said.
Justice Dept lawyers are reported to have argued in legal analyses
that torture could be justified as a necessity to prevent attacks,
raising new questions about the actual interrogation techniques that
have been authorised.
According to The Washington Post, an analysis justifying torture was
1st drawn up in Aug 2002 in response to a request for legal guidance
by the CIA, and surfaced again in a draft report in Mar 2003 to
Rumsfeld on a review of rules for interrogation at a detention centre
in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Whitman said the Defence Dept was weighing whether to make public the
interrogation techniques authorised by Rumsfeld "to further
demonstrate that the policy of the US has always been the humane
treatment of those people in our custody."
But there were "competing interests" against disclosure, he added,
saying "a certain amount of ambiguity" was desirable because public
knowledge of the techniques would make it easier for terrorists to
train to counter them.
Whitman said the Pentagon working group that reviewed the
interrogation policy at Guantanamo considered 35 interrogation
techniques in all, but discarded nearly a dozen of them.

Bush team accused of sanctioning torture
Washington (FT).  The Admin of Pres George W Bush was accused on Tue
by some members of Congress of sanctioning torture by preparing legal
analyses that said harsh treatment of detainees was permissible under
US and internat'l laws.
The charges came following the leak of memos from 2002 and 2003 in
which snr lawyers from the justice and defence depts had concluded
that torture may be legally permitted as part of the war on terrorism.
In heated exchanges before the Senate judiciary committee, the charges
were angrily denied by John Ashcroft, the US A-G, who endorsed the
arguments contained in the Admin's memos.
But snr Democratic senators charged that the Admin had in effect
authorised the sorts of abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib prison in
Iraq and had endangered US soldiers by weakening the internat'l
prohibitions against torture.
Holding up some of the pictures taken at Abu Ghraib, Sen Edward
Kennedy said: "This is what directly results when you have that kind
of memorandum out there."
Joe Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate's foreign relations
committee, said: "There's a reason we sign these treaties.  It's to
protect my son in the military, so that when Americans are captured
they are not tortured."
The Bush Admin has insisted that the abuses in Iraq were the work of a
handful of soldiers who defied explicit military orders that prisoners
should not be mistreated. But the revelation of the memos this wk
showed that as early as Aug, 2002, top Admin lawyers were trying to
enable the US to interrogate detainees in the war on terrorism as
harshly as possible without falling foul of domestic or internat'l laws.
Mr Ashcroft on Mon strongly denied any link between the memoranda and
the abuses in Iraq. "I completely reject the notion that anything this
president has done or the justice dept has done has directly resulted
in the kinds of atrocities cited," he said in response to Mr
Kennedy. "That is false. It is an inappropriate conclusion."  He said
the Admin would "both investigate and prosecute" anyone who violates
domestic laws or internat'l treaties against torture.
But he defended much of the reasoning underlying the documents. In the
memoranda, Admin lawyers concluded that Congress had defined both
internat'l and domestic prohibitions on torture very narrowly, saying
that harsh treatment was torture only if interrogators deliberately
afflict serious physical or mental harm over prolonged periods. "When
the Congress of the US makes these definitions, that's what I have to
live by," he said.
And he refused to rule out one of the most radical interpretations in
the documents that the president's inherent authority as cmdr-in-chief
overrides congressional laws against torture during wartime.
Mr Ashcroft denied that the president had at any point written a
directive giving immunity to govt interrogators who are found to have
engaged in torture of detainees. A draft memo dated Mar 2003 and
prepared by the Defence and Justice depts said that exercise of the
president's authority to bypass congressional laws against torture
"would be best if it can be shown to have been derived from the Pres's
authority through presidential directive or other writing."
Some senators on Tue warned Mr Ashcroft he could face contempt of
Congress charges for refusing to turn over any of the memoranda to
Congress. Mr Ashcroft said that sharing the documents would harm the
Justice dept's ability to provide unfettered advice to the president,
but he did not cite any statutes or assert executive privilege.

Iraq deal allows US to take prisoners
The US can keep taking prisoners in Iraq under a new UN resolution.
NY (Reuters).  A UN Sec Council resolution adopted today ends the US
occupation of Iraq but lets the US military keep taking and holding
prisoners even after the Jun 30 hand over of power to Iraqis.
The text of the resolution, drafted by the US and Brit, is silent on
the issue of the military prisons where the US holds more than 8,000
"security and criminal detainees", including the now-infamous Abu
Ghraib detention centre.
But a side letter from US Secretary of State Colin Powell authorises
the US-led multinat'l force in Iraq "to undertake a broad range of
tasks to contribute to the maintenance of security" including
"internment where this is necessary for imperative reasons of security".
Council members Brazil, Chile and Spain had pressed Washington and
London during negotiations on the draft resolution to add language
committing the multinat'l force to humane treatment of prisoners and
protection of civilians in combat zones as required under internat'l
humanitarian law.
But the co-sponsors rejected their request.
Instead they added a phrase to the non-binding preamble "noting the
commitment of all forces promoting the maintenance of security and
stability in Iraq to act in accordance with internat'l law, including
obligations under internat'l humanitarian law, and to cooperate with
relevant internat'l organisations".
Iraqi For Min Hoshiyar Zebari signalled last wk that despite the
scandal over US soldiers' abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, the
new interim govt would agree to Washington's demand that US forces be
allowed to take and hold prisoners after the hand over.
While the new govt generally should have power over its prisons,
civilian and military prisons were "two separate things", and the new
govt would leave the issue of the US military prisons to the Powell
letter, he told Reuters.
Amnesty Internat'l says it is "deeply concerned" that the Security
Council missed an opportunity to clearly set out the multinat'l
force's legal obligations in carrying out any internments.
"Internment is a provision of the Fourth Geneva Convention that deals
with the powers of occupying forces," Amnesty's representative at the
UN, Yvonne Terlingen, said in a printed statement.
"However, neither the resolution nor the letter from the US Secretary
of State clarify the legal basis for such internment, or the
internat'l or nat'l standards that must be observed by the multinat'l
force under the broad powers given to them in the resolution," her
statement said.

UN endorses Iraq sovereignty transfer
UN (AP).  The UN Sec Council gave resounding approval Tue to a
resolution endorsing the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq's new govt by
the end of Jun.
Pres Bush said the measure will set the stage for democracy in Iraq
and be a "catalyst for change" in the The unanimous 15-0 vote came
after a last-minute compromise allowed France and Germany to drop
their objections to the US-Brit resolution, which underwent 4
revisions over wk of tough negotiations. Diplomats on the council,
which was deeply divided over the war, welcomed the Americans' flexibility.
The compromise gives Iraqi leaders control over the activities of
their own fledgling security forces and a say on "sensitive offensive
operations" by the US-led multinat'l force -- such as the controversial 
siege of Fallujah. But the measure stops short of granting the Iraqis
a veto over major US-led military operations.
The resolution spells out the powers and the limitations of the new
interim Iraqi govt that will assume power on Jun 30. It authorises
the multinat'l force to remain in Iraq to help ensure security but
gives the Iraqi govt the right to ask the force to leave at any time.
Bush claimed victory before the vote, telling reporters at the Group
of 8 summit in Sea Island, Ga, that a unanimous approval would tell
the world that the council nations "are interested in working together
to make sure Iraq is free, peaceful and democratic."
"These nations understand that a free Iraq will serve as a catalyst
for change in the broader Middle East, which is an important part of
winning the war on terror," Bush said.
But his Admin lowered expectations of gaining other countries'
military support -- one of the original hopes behind the resolution. 4
members of the Group of 8 summit -- France, Germany, Russia and Canada
-- have said they won't send troops to take the burden off the 138,000
American soldiers and the 24,000 troops from coalition partners.
Nevertheless, the adoption of the resolution will likely buy time for
the new Iraqi govt, boosting its internat'l stature as it struggles to
win acceptance and cope with a security crisis at home.
The interim govt -- put together by a UN envoy, the Americans and
their Iraqi allies -- hopes the vote will give it a legitimacy that
eluded its predecessor, the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. That
legitimacy would put it in a better position to curry support among
fellow Arab regimes and seek economic help from abroad.
Iraqi For Min Hoshyar Zebari, speaking in NY at the Council on Foreign
Relations, predicted it would have a "positive impact" on security by
removing the perception of the US-led multinat'l force as an occupying power.
Although the resolution says the interim govt will have authority to
ask the force to leave, new Iraqi PM Iyad Allawi indicated in a letter
to Secretary of State Colin Powell that the force will remain at least
until an elected transitional govt takes power early next y.
French For Min Michel Barnier said many French ideas were incorporated
in the final text though Paris would have liked a clearer definition
of the relationship between the new Iraqi govt and the US-led force.
"That doesn't stop us from a positive vote in NY to help in a
constructive way find a positive exit to this tragedy," he told
France-Inter radio.
Iraqi Pres Ghazi al-Yawer, meeting in Washington with Powell, brushed
off any suggestion that there might be disagreement between US and
Iraqi cmdrs.
"We are working together," al-Yawer told reporters. "These people are
in our country to help us."
He added: "We have to think proactive. We cannot afford to be pessimistic."
In Berlin, German For Min Joschka Fischer said he hopes "that now
there will finally be a stabilisation of the security situation in Iraq."
France and Germany had been among the sharpest critics in the Sec
Council of the US decision to invade Iraq.
On Tue, Barnier said that during the wk of negotiations on the
resolution "there was a real dialogue for the 1st time in this affair."
"The Americans clearly understood, after m and m of military
operations, that there was no way out by arms, by military operations
in Iraq," the foreign minister said.
"Washington understood that we have to get out of this tragedy by the
high road."
Brit PM Tony Blair called the vote "an important milestone for the new Iraq."
"We all now want to put the divisions of the past behind us and unite
behind the vision of a modern democratic and stable Iraq that will be
a force for good not just for the Iraqi people themselves but for the
whole of the region and therefore the wider world," Blair said in Sea Island.
US Ambassador John Negroponte, who will become US ambassador to Iraq
after the hand over of power, said the unanimous vote was "a vivid
demo" of broad internat'l support for "a fed, democratic, pluralist
and unified Iraq in which there is full respect for political and
human rights."

UN council approves new Iraq deal
Iraqi interim president Ghazi al-Yawar says the resolution ushers in a
new age.
NY (Reuters/AFP).  The United Nations Security Council has approved a
US-Brit resolution on Iraq's future that formally ends the occupation
of Iraq on Jun 30 and authorises a US-led force to keep the peace.
Iraq's new interim president, Ghazi al-Yawar, says the resolution
"means full sovereignty for Iraq ... [and] a new age in hopefully very
pleasant Iraqi history".
The unanimous vote by the 15-nation Security Council endorses a
"sovereign" interim Iraqi govt and means the country's new leaders
have the right to order internat'l troops to leave at any time.
The resolution says the mandate of the multinat'l force commanded by
the Americans will expire, in any case, by the end of Jan 2006.
As part of the text, the US pledged "partnership" and coordination
with Iraq's leaders on military campaigns.
However, it stopped short of giving Baghdad a veto over major offensives 
as France, Germany, Algeria and other council members had wanted.
US Pres George W Bush has welcomed the resolution's passage as "a
great victory for the Iraqi people".
"The vote today in the UN Sec Council was a great victory for the
Iraqi people," Mr Bush told reporters covering the Group of Eight
summit. "It showed we stand side-by-side with the Iraqi people."
Mr Bush, speaking during a photo opportunity with fellow G8 leader
Vladimir Putin of Russia, said the resolution supported the interim
Iraqi govt.
"I appreciate your help, Vladimir, in getting that Sec Council
resolution through today," Mr Bush said.
Mr Putin said: "Without any exaggeration, I would state that it is a
major step forward."
The United States envoy to the UN, John Negroponte, says the motion
gives internat'l legitimacy to the interim govt that will take over
from the US-led occupation.
"This resolution makes clear that Iraq's sovereignty will be undiluted
and that the Govt of Iraq will have the sovereign authority to request
and to decline assistance, including in the security sector," Mr
Negroponte said.
"The Govt of Iraq will have the final say on the presence of the
multi-nat'l force."

Resolution exposes Shia, Kurd divisions
"The abandonment of Iraqi interim constitution is seen as gambling the
destiny of Kurdish people, and this is a red line."
-- Masoud Barazani, leader, KDP
UN (Al-Jazeera).  UN Sec Council set to vote on power hand over
resolution Iraq's Arab Muslim Shia and Sunni Muslim Kurds exchanged
blows Tue over the wording of a new UN Sec Council resolution
recognising Iraq's "sovereignty", with the political battle
threatening to bring down the caretaker govt.
Kurdish leaders Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani issued a joint
statement warning Iraq's interim constitution, or fundamental law,
should be mentioned in the new UN resolution as they sought legitimacy
for the cause of Kurdish self-rule.
In a statement he made to Aljazeera.net in Arbil Ahmad al-Zawiti,
Masoud Barazani, the leader of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) held
those who want to put the Iraqi interim constitution on the shelf for
any future consequences.
"The abandonment of the Iraqi interim constitution is seen as gambling
the destiny of Kurdish people, and this is a red line."  Barazani said.
He stressed that the Iraqi interim constitution is the only reason
that convinced Iraqi Kurds to stay within Iraq.
The war-weary country's ethnic fault-lines resurfaced as the world's
diplomats said they had all but clinched a deal in NY on a new Sec
Council resolution, giving the stamp of approval to a sovereign Iraq.
* Conflicted demands
Shia militias in Iraq are up in arms over the fundamental law's
guarantee of Kurdish semi-autonomy in the N provinces of Duhuk, Arbil
and Sulaimaniyya.
The country's most influential Shia leader Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, who is based in Najaff, Iraq, cautioned the UN against any
reference to the charter in its resolution, threatening dire
complications if they did.
Any mention of the interim constitution "is illegal and is rejected by
a majority of Iraqis", Sistani's office said in a statement.
"Any attempt to give it legitimacy by mentioning it in the resolution
... could have dangerous consequences," the statement read, dated 6
Jun and handed out in the S Muslim holy city of Najaff on Mon.
When the interim law was adopted 8 Mar, Sistani and Shia politicians
voiced anger, allegedly over the fact Islam was not the sole basis of
the charter and that Kurds were granted an implicit veto over a
permanent constitution to be drafted next y.
The law gave the veto to any 3 Iraqi governorates which agree to
object to any piece of legislation. Kurds form the majority in 3
governorates.
Around 2,000 Muslim Shia Arabs marched through the streets of Baghdad
on Tue heeding Sistani's latest call. They headed from the N district
of Al-Shaab toward the coalition's HQ, waving Sistani posters.
The crowd denounced the interim constitution as an instrument of the
US, drafted behind closed doors with the aid of the US-picked and now
dissolved Governing Council.
"No, no to the provisional constitution. Yes, Yes to Ali. The
Governing Council and the occupation forces have no right to write the
Iraqi provisional constitution," they shouted.
* Hard-earned privileges
The Kurds, estimated to make up anywhere from 15 to 20% of Iraq's
population, are determined to keep their hard-earned privileges, which
they have fought for over more than 5 decades.
"We want the fundamental law to be mentioned in the UN Security
Council resolution," Talabani and Barzani said, in the statement
published in the Kurdistan Democratic Party's Al-Taakhi newspaper.
"We want to be sure that it will be the basis of govt before and after
elections" scheduled for Jan.
The govt picked early next y will rule until a permanent constitution
is drafted and approved at the end of 2005, "We want to obtain
assurances in this interim period so that we can participate actively
in the transitional govt," the statement read.
"In case the law is not applied or is suppressed, there will not be
any choice for the Kurdistan govt but to stop participating in the
central govt and its institutions, to boycott elections and forbid
members of the central govt from entering Kurdistan," it added.
The leaders made clear they would never relinquish the self-rule they
won in the N after the 1991 Gulf War.
"The people of Kurdistan will not be treated as second-class citizens
after Saddam," the 2 leaders wrote.
The Kurds were also annoyed with the occupation authorities. "We hope
the new Iraq will be different from that of the past concerning the rights 
of the Kurdish people. But after the liberation of the country, we
feel that the US authorities are against the Kurds for inexplicable reasons."
Both Barzani and Talabani had wanted the presidency or role of premier
in the new caretaker govt, but had been blocked by US overseer Paul
Bremer, some former Governing Council members said.

Iraq hostages sold: cleric 
London (The Australian).  AN Anglican cleric in Iraq said today that
about 20 foreigners are still being held hostage there and it could be
very difficult to win their freedom since some may have been sold by
their captors to Islamic militants.
"Things are looking very bad for the hostages," said Canon Andrew
White, an adviser to the Brit-funded Iraqi Centre for Reconciliation
and Peace who has been seeking the release of foreign hostages in Iraq
for nearly 2 m.
"The groups that kidnap them are selling them off to militant groups
who sell them off again. It is very hard to track them down. I'm
worried that eventually these people will end up in the hands of groups 
such as al-Qaeda," White said in a telephone interview from Iraq.
The complexity of the hostage situation in Iraq, involving everything
from former Saddam Hussein agents to highway bandits, was obvious in 2
developments today.
First, US officials announced that coalition forces had freed 3
Italians and a Polish hostage in a military operation S of
Baghdad. Then Iraqi gunmen displayed 7 Turkish citizens, saying they
had kidnapped the men because they worked for Americans.
Videotape obtained by Associated Press Television News showed 3 of the
hostages surrounded by armed men wearing masks. The 4 other hostages
were shown to reporters separately.
White, 39, who is working with the US-led Admin in Iraq and some
embassies in an effort to free hostages, refused to say whether he had
played any role in the release of the Italians and the Pole.
But he said about 20 foreigners remain in captivity in Iraq.
As many as 40 people from several nations have been abducted in Iraq
in the last 2 m as Iraqi insurgents became more emboldened, often
targeting foreigners working with contractors taking part in the
rebuilding of Iraq.
Many of the captives were later freed, but at least 2 were killed,
including American Michael Berg who was beheaded by Islamic
militants. A video of Berg's slaying was posted on the internet, and
Washington has accused Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a suspected operative in
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, of carrying out the killing.
White said he has been involved in the hostage-freeing efforts in Iraq
for the last 53 days, working with tribal leaders and sheiks in Iraq
to try to penetrate the complex network of hostage holders and to open
negotiations with them.
"I don't want to say too much because this work is very sensitive," he said.
"The whole situation of trying to identify who is holding the hostages
is an unending process," he said.
It also can be difficult to find reliable intermediaries, especially
when the captives are from America or key allies in the US-led
coalition, he said.
A key goal of the Iraqi Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, which is
based at Coventry Cathedral in England, is to try to help reconcile
Iraq's complex mix of Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims, Kurds and Christians
in the hope of averting a possible civil war as a new Iraqi govt is formed.
White, a veteran peacemaker in Africa and the Middle East, has visited
Iraq regularly over the past 6 y.

G-8 summit opens with attention on Iraq
Sea Island, Ga (AP).  Pres Bush welcomed world leaders today for three
days of discussions with his Admin's hopes high that the Group of 8
summit will help the president and his adversaries set aside
differences on Iraq.
An upbeat Bush told reporters he believed a UN Sec Council resolution
recognising the new Iraqi interim govt would be a "catalyst for
change" in the region.
"There were some who said we would never get it," Bush said of the UN
resolution before lunch with Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi, whose
country has sent troops to Iraq.
Asked if the US expected the resolution to persuade additional
countries to contribute troops, Bush said: "I expect nations to
contribute as they see fit."
His nat'l security adviser said Mon that the Admin no longer expects
the resolution to draw in additional troops, but hopes it will help
countries with troops already in Iraq stay the course.
Koizumi told reporters that he was looking forward to discussing Iraq
reconstruction and the issue of N Korea's nuclear ambitions with Bush.
Bush also had one-on-one sessions scheduled today with the leaders of
Russia, Canada and Germany, countries that opposed the US-led war in
Iraq. The G-8 meetings were scheduled to get under way with a dinner tonight.
Iraq and the broader Mideast have eclipsed the official economic
agenda of the annual gathering of powerful countries -- the United
States, Japan, Germany, France, Brit, Italy, Canada and Russia.
US officials did, however, announce G-8 agreement today on fighting
famine on the Horn of Africa, eradicating polio, cutting poverty and
developing an HIV vaccine.
US officials also expected agreement Wed on a declaration on promoting
democracy across the broader Middle East.
Turkey's PM warned today, however, that the success of the Middle E
initiative depends on resolving conflicts in Iraq and between Israel
and the Palestinians.
"Solving the Israeli-Palestinian problem is an urgent matter above
everything else," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters at the Ankara
airport before leaving for the summit.
"As long as we don't solve these problems, as long as we don't achieve
these, it won't be easy to implement the project," he said.
Anticipating that line of criticism, American officials said the
document will include a firm rejection of the idea that the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict has stalled democratic and human-rights reforms.
Overall, Bush Admin officials say they sensed an opening on Iraq,
thanks to a confluence of positive developments and what they see as
the absence of the bitter disagreements that have characterised other
recent summits.
The establishment of an interim Iraqi govt last wk marked the
beginning of the end of the US occupation, they say, and the caretaker
govt's president was due to arrive at the summit this evening.
Images of Bush meeting with Ghazi al-Yawer on Wed will send a powerful
symbolic message about the president's intention to give Iraq full
sovereignty, aides say.
But the Whitehouse's cautious hope that violence had diminished in
Iraq was shattered in an eruption of violence today.
2 car bombs exploded in separate cities, killing at least 14 Iraqis
and one US soldier. Dozens were wounded, including 10 American
soldiers. A US Marine was killed in action W of Baghdad, and
elsewhere, 6 coalition soldiers -- 2 Poles, 3 Slovaks and a Latvian --
were killed while defusing mines.
US officials acknowledged their previous goal of drawing in more
foreign troops was all but gone, even with the new resolution.
Bush's nat'l security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said the hope now was
that the new resolution would convince those countries with troops
already in Iraq to "stay the course."
Police and journalists far outnumbered protesters at the start of the
G-8 Summit, disappointing activists who said heavy security scared
away many others. Protest marches in Brunswick, the closed inland
community nr the summit site of Sea Island, and Savannah, 80 miles to
the north, drew around 100 activists each today as the Group of 8
leaders arrived for the start of their 3-day meeting.
The G-8 countries reached consensus on 4 humanitarian issues,
according to Jim Wilkinson, deputy nat'l security adviser. Each
measure seemed tailored to burnish Bush's "compassionate conservative"
credentials in an election year.
-- On famine in the Horn of Africa, the 8 countries were endorsing
efforts to improve worldwide hunger-monitoring and response efforts,
to raise agricultural production and bring "food security" to 5 mn
Ethiopians by 2009.
-- They were agreeing to take "all necessary steps" to eradicate polio
by the end of next y. The disease remains a problem in 15 countries.
-- On fighting poverty, they were backing efforts to allow migrant
workers to send money home less expensively by cutting in half
transaction costs, which can reach 15%. They were placing special
emphasis on the Mideast.
-- They were announcing a Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise program to
accelerate the development of a vaccine against the AIDS virus. The
initiative would streamline research and development efforts.

US steps up pressure for massive Iraq debt forgiveness
Savannah (AFP/Channelnewsasia).  The US stepped up pressure on the
world's economic powers to forgive the "vast majority" of Iraq's debt
in the face of resistance from creditors France and Germany.
Pres George W Bush's Admin, hosting a three-day summit of world
leaders starting Tue, said it was winning the argument for wiping out
80 to 90% of the Iraqi debt, estimated at 120 bn dollars.
Iraq war opponents France and Germany, whose leaders are attending the
Group of 8 meeting in the Atlantic beach retreat of Sea Island, have
balked at letting Iraq off the hook on such a huge sum.
A snr US Admin official said the Internat'l Monetary Fund had issued
Iraq's creditors with a detailed analysis of the Iraqi debt situation,
including its economic growth prospects and reconstruction requirements.
Each of the members of the Paris Club -- a gathering of public
creditors -- was examining the IMF report, the official said on
condition of anonymity.
"I think that analysis supports strongly the position that we have
been taking for some time that the vast majority of Iraq's debt needs
to be reduced," the Admin official said.
"It just shows that the numbers add up to the need for the vast
majority of the debt to be reduced for Iraq situation to be
sustainable and we continue to hold that position."
Paris Club members and other creditors would discuss how to resolve
the debt, the official said.
"I just think that the weight of analysis is going to be supporting of
the need for the vast majority of the debt to be reduced."
Although forgiving the Iraq debt is not on the official agenda of the
G8 -- Brit, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US
-- the dispute mars US efforts to show a united front on Iraq's future.
Bush secured a diplomatic coup after France and Germany said they
would vote for a new UN Sec Council resolution endorsing the new Iraqi
interim govt and allowing US forces to stay in the country after
self-rule begins.
But Germany and France have indicated they are not willing to go
beyond forgiving 50% of the Iraq debt.
In Paris, French sources said it was impossible for political reasons
to forgive 80 to 90% of the debt, noting that debt cancellations
traditionally only amount to 2/3 of the total.
It would be difficult to explain to Nigeria, Indonesia and other
debtor nations why Iraq had been given more over the course of a y
than the rest of the world's poorest countries combined, sources in
Chirac's office said.
Washington has put enormous pressure on its partners to forgive Iraq's
debt, arguing that such a gesture would help stabilise the
violence-wracked country and put a stop to attacks by insurgents.
French sources said that while Paris and Berlin were on the same page
with respect to the debt issue, Brit, Italy and Japan were "more open"
to fulfilling US demands.
About 1/3 of Iraq's debt is owed to the Paris Club, an informal group
of industrialised creditors that meets monthly with debtor nations to
discuss debt restructuring.

Car bombs, mine blasts kill 21; Turkish hostages paraded
3 Turkish hostages, said to have been kidnapped because they worked
for Americans, are displayed by Iraqi resistance forces at an
undisclosed location in Iraq, Tue.
Baghdad (AP).  Iraqi gunmen put 7 kidnapped Turkish citizens on
display Tue, saying they abducted the men because they worked for the
Americans.
Videotape showed 3 of the hostages surrounded by armed men wearing
masks. 4 other hostages were shown to reporters separately. The
hostages were sitting against the backdrop of the old Iraqi flag, held
by some of the kidnappers.
"We urge the Muslim Turkish people ... to stand by the side of their
Iraqi Muslim brothers in their crisis by refusing to work with the
occupation forces," said one of the masked men.
"We also ask the companies that deal with the occupation forces to
cancel their contracts and withdraw its personnel from Iraq in order
for the hostages to be released," the masked man said.
At the end of the statement he said "God is great" 3 times.2 car bombs
exploded in separate cities in Iraq on Tue, killing at least 14 Iraqis
and one US soldier. Dozens were wounded, including 10 American
soldiers. A US marine was killed in action W of Baghdad.
Elsewhere, 6 coalition soldiers -- 2 Poles, 3 Slovaks and a Latvian --
were killed in an explosion while defusing mines in Suwayrah, 40 kms S
of Baghdad, authorities said.
The Slovaks and the Latvian were the 1st soldiers from either of those
countries to die in Iraq, Polish officials said in Warsaw.
One of the car bombs blew up in the N city of Mosul as a convoy of
provincial council members passed by.
The council members escaped injury, officials said. But 9 other people
died and about 25 were injured, the US military said. The Mosul deputy
police chief was hurt, but not seriously.
In the other blast, a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb during
rush hour outside the American forward operating base called War Horse
in Baqouba, about 50 km NE of Baghdad.
At least 5 Iraqis and one American soldier were killed, the US
military and police said. 15 Iraqis and 10 American soldiers were
wounded while standing at a security checkpoint.
In Ramadi, a Sunni Muslim city in Anbar province, a bomb exploded as a
convoy of westerners passed by, witnesses and police said Tue. The
westerners fired back after the Mon night attack. Hospital officials
said 8 Iraqis were killed and 3 injured.
The identity of the westerners was unclear, and there was no comment
from US authorities.
Attackers also fired several mortar rounds at a military base camp in
the northern part of Mosul, the military said. 2 contract employees
received non-life-threatening injuries.
The latest violence occurred as the UN Sec Council in NY prepared to
vote on a US-Brit resolution outlining a blueprint for post-occupation
Iraq and giving internat'l support to the new Iraqi leadership.

Suicide car bombs in Iraq claim more lives
Baghdad (AFP/Reuters).  2 suicide car bombs have killed at least 12
people, including a US soldier, and wounded 68 in Iraq's Sunni Muslim
heartland.
In the latest unrest, a suicide car bomb and a roadside bomb exploded
simultaneously in the N city of Mosul, killing 10 people and wounding
37, according to hospital sources.
The fate of 3 suicide bombers who helped carry out the attack was unclear.
"A car bomb and a roadside bomb exploded as Maj Gen Sammi al-Haj
Issa's 9 car convoy passed by," said police Brig Gen Adnan Obeidi.
Maj Gen Issa, who is chief of the city's security committee, was
slightly wounded by the blasts as the convoy passed the city hall,
said Maj Gen Tareq Mohammed Ali.
The US military said an orange and white taxi exploded at 9.15 am
[local], with 3 suicide bombers in the car.
An hour earlier, a suicide car bomb exploded as Iraqis queued for work
at the US military base in Baqubah, 60 km NE of Baghdad.
The explosion killed one US soldier and one Iraqi and wounded 31
others, the military and medical sources said.
Those wounded included 10 US troops.
At least 6 soldiers, including 2 from Poland, 3 from Slovakia and one
from Latvia were killed in a blast on Tue during a de-mining operation
S of Baghdad, military authorities and diplomats said.
The US military announced that a marine died on Mon in al-Anbar
province, W of the capital.
During clashes in Karma nr Fallujah, reports say at least four Iraqis
were killed and 10 injured in clashes between US forces and guerrillas
nr the Sunni city, hospital sources said.
Some reports say up to 11 people were killed, however.
Witnesses said the clashes broke out in Karma when guerrillas attacked
a US military convoy using mortars, RPGs and automatic weapons.
"Fighting broke at around 12.30 pm [local] as the insurgents opened
fire at the US forces nr the police station," resident Mohammed
Sleiman told AFP.
"The Americans then called over loudspeaker for residents to stay away
from the clashes and to hand over the terrorists," the witness said.
The marines denied knowledge of the clashes but said that a mortar
fired by insurgents had hit a house in Karma, causing civilian casualties.

4 hostages freed in Iraq
Baghdad (Reuters).  Special forces from the US-led coalition have
raided a hideout S of Baghdad and freed 3 Italian hostages held for
almost 2 m and a Pole abducted last wk, coalition officials say.
The cmdr of US forces in Iraq, Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez,
said some of the kidnappers were seized during the operation on Tue
which was conducted without a shot being fired.
Italy said no deal had been cut with the hostage-takers.
"At this point in time the hostages are in coalition control, in good
hands, and in good health," Sanchez told a news conference in Baghdad,
flanked by Italian and Polish diplomats.
"This was a happy ending to a story that could have been tragic,"
Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi said on state TV.
He said the men were being flown by helicopter to Baghdad and were due
to return to Italy on Wed.
Even as the dramatic rescue was announced, Turkey said suspected
insurgents had abducted 2 Turks and their Iraqi driver in Fallujah on
Mon. Turkey's embassy in Baghdad later said one Turkish hostage had
been freed but the 2nd was still being held.
Dozens of foreigners have been taken hostage by armed groups who are
battling the US-led presence in Iraq. Some hostages have been freed,
others have been killed.
Italy, unlike Turkey, has troops in the US-led coalition in Iraq,
contributing 2,700 soldiers. The Rome govt stood to make political
capital out of the Italian hostages' release ahead of European
elections this weekend.
It could help the centre-right govt by tempering some bad feeling in
Italy over the presence of the troops in Iraq.
* WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
Berlusconi said coalition forces identified the place where the
hostages were being held several days ago and considered approaching
local religious authorities to help win their freedom.
But the forces took advantage of a window of opportunity on Tue and
launched a rescue operation.
The 3 Italians, Umberto Cupertino, Maurizio Agliana and Salvatore
Stefio, worked in Iraq for a US security firm and were kidnapped on
Apr 12 as a wave of abductions swept Iraq.
A 4th Italian hostage, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, was shot dead after Italy
refused to bow to demands to withdraw its 2,700 troops from Iraq.
Agliana's father Carlo said he had not told his wife about the
kidnapping of their son because she was too ill. "Finally I won't have
to lie to my wife any more," he said. The hostage's sister, Antonella
Agliana, said: "When I see my brother again I'll kiss him, I'll hug
him and I'll tell him off."
Angelo Stefio, father of another hostage, celebrated with crowds in
his home town, a rainbow "peace flag" around his neck and an Italian
flag in his hand.
"The nightmare is over, the anguish is over," said Carmela Chimenti,
mother of Umberto Cupertino. "Today, for me, it's as if my son Umberto
was born again."
Pope John Paul greeted the release with "joy and relief", his rep
said, adding that the pope was also thinking of the family of Quatrocchi.
"They were freed about one and a half hours ago by coalition forces
near Baghdad. There was no bloodshed. The boys are on their way to the
airport now," Italian For Min Franco Frattini said.
"We are confirming again today that there have been no deals. When it
comes to kidnappers it is not possible [to cut deals]," Frattini said,
denying money had been paid.
The Pole freed along with the Italians on Tue was Jerzy Kos, a manager
with the Polish construction company Jedynka.
Italy has the 3rd biggest contingent with the occupation forces after
the US and Brit. Poland also has a sizeable contingent of troops in Iraq.
Italy was shocked last Nov when 19 Italians, most of them paramilitary
Carabinieri police, were killed by a truck bomb in the southern Iraqi
town of Nassiriya.

US troops free hostages
Baghdad (Reuters).  3 Italian hostages, who have been held in Iraq for
almost 2 months, have been freed and are in good condition, the
Italian FM says.
"They were freed about one-and-a-half hours ago by coalition forces
near Baghdad," For Min France Frattini said.
"There was no bloodshed.  The boys are on their way to the airport now."
Mr Frattini says no deal has been cut for the release of the hostages.
A Polish hostage has also been freed.
The cmdr of Polish troops in Iraq says special forces from the US-led
coalition freed the four.
"Thanks to coalition special forces, the Polish citizen ... was freed
along with 3 other captives of Italian nat'lity," Gen Mieczyslaw
Bieniek said.
The Turkish embassy in Baghdad also says one Turkish hostage has been
freed but another Turk abducted with him remains in captivity.
Few other details were immediately available.
4 Italians working for a US security firm were abducted on Apr 12 near
Baghdad.
One of them was shot dead after Italy refused to bow to demands to
withdraw its 2,700 troops from Iraq.
Footage of the other 3 was shown on Arabic satellite channel Al
Jazeera last wk.
One of them said they were being treated well.
Al Jazeera also aired a statement from the kidnappers, who called
themselves the Green Battalion, urging Italian people to demonstrate
against the policies of the US and PM Silvio Berlusconi.

Iran fostering trust with Europe on nuclear issue: Kharrazi
Tehran (MNA).  FM Kamal Kharrazi says Iran's diplomatic efforts,
including his recent trips to Germany, Belgium, and Denmark, have
increased trust between the Islamic Republic and Europe about Tehran's
nuclear program.
Upon returning here Sat morning, Kharrazi made an upbeat assessment of
his trip, describing it as positive.
He said, "Overall, it was necessary to brief European Union officials
on the country's nuclear developments, including those of Germany,
Belgium, and Denmark, which are following up Iran's nuclear dossier.
"There was a positive development in negotiations with officials of
those countries concerning Iran's nuclear dossier and given the
Islamic Republic's cooperation and the important steps which it has
taken, increased trust has been fostered," he said. Kharrazi added
that Tehran is committed to total cooperation with the Internat'l
Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], predicting, "We will witness notable
achievements in the future in this regard."
The Iranian foreign minister stressed that all outstanding issues must
be tackled between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog before the IAEA
Board of Governors session in Jun.
"[IAEA Director Mohamed] ElBaradei has expressed satisfaction with the
positive trend of cooperation concerning Iran's nuclear issues.
Naturally, this trend must continue so that all outstanding issues can
be resolved and we reach a final settlement during the next session,"
he said.
ElBaradei was quoted as saying on Thu that Tehran was moving "in the right 
direction' towards full cooperation with the internat'l nuclear watchdog.
"Overall I think we are moving in the right direction," AFP quoted him
as telling a French parliamentary hearing during a visit to Paris.
Kharrazi said several other topics, including Tehran's ties with
European countries as well as issues relating to Iraq, the Middle
East, and Afghanistan were also discussed during his talks with
European officials.
He also mentioned the recent revelations about the abuse of Iraqi
prisoners by US troops, which has provoked an internat'l outcry.
Kharrazi said, "All European officials expressed disgust at the
blatant violation of human rights and the US soldiers" disrespect of
human dignity. "What is happening in Iraq indicates a contradiction
between the claims of the Americans and their performance in Iraq,
showing that they are pursuing other objectives in that country."
Kharrazi arrived in Brussels Mon on a European tour to discuss a
series of issues, including Tehran's civilian nuclear program and the
situation in Iraq.
In Belgium, Kharrazi met European Commission Chairman Romano Prodi,
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU foreign
affairs commissioner Chris Patten.
The Iranian foreign minister also met Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt and
his Belgian counterpart Louis Michel to discuss the 2 countries' ties.
On Wed, Kharrazi arrived in Berlin on the 2nd leg of the trip, where
he met with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his German counterpart
Joschka Fischer.
In Denmark, the Iranian foreign minister met with PM Anders Fogh
Rasmussen and his Danish counterpart Per Stig Moeller.

Fragile N Korean economy grows
Seoul.  North Korea's fragile economy is showing modest progress,
expanding for the 5th y in a row.  It is hard to know the truth about
N Korea's economic performance.  However, according S Korea's central
bank the communist country's gross domestic product grew by 1.8% in
the past year.  The economy was buoyed by increased industrial output
and improved exports. I It is the 5th consecutive y of growth but N
Korea's economy remains fragile.  The country still replies on foreign
aid to feed its people.

Roh nominates new S Korean PM
Seoul (AFP).  South Korean Pres Roh Moo-Hyun has nominated
reform-minded senior ruling party lawmaker Lee Hai-Chan as the new PM.
"A motion will be sent to the parliament tomorrow to get approval for
his nomination," the Pres's office said in a statement.  Mr Lee, 51,
is a 5-term lawmaker of the ruling Uri Party.  He was once been a
student activist and was even jailed for his dissident activities in
the 1980s before joining the politics.  Under the previous Admin, Mr
Lee served as vice mayor of Seoul and education minister to lead
various reforms led by then-president Kim Dae-Jung.  Under S Korean
laws, the presidential appointment of a new prime minister requires
parliamentary approval.  Mr Lee, if approved, is to succeed to former
PM Goh Kun, who resigned last m.  He resigned when Pres Roh returned
to office after a 2-month suspension following a parliamentary vote to
impeach him.  Media reports say Pres Roh is to conduct a cabinet
reshuffle after appointing his new PM.

Israeli helicopters strike Gaza workshops
Gaza (AFP).  Israeli helicopter gunships have fired rockets at 2
workshops at the Chatti refugee camp entrance in Gaza city,
Palestinian security sources said.  There was no immediate word on any
casualties but the 2 workshops were destroyed.  In a brief statement
the Israeli Army said it had attacked "a workshop containing weapons
for the Hamas terrorist group".  "The arms depot destroyed was used by
Hamas terrorists for terror attacks on Israeli civilians," the
statement said.  The raid follows an attack from the Gaza Strip with
Qassam rockets on the southern Israeli city of Sderot, which did not
cause any injuries.  The rocket struck a road, damaging 2 vehicles and
5 people were treated at the scene for shock, said Israeli public TV.
The Qassam rockets take their name from the Ezz ad-Din Al-Qassam
Brigades, the military wing of Hamas which manufactures them.

2 quit Israeli Cabinet over Gaza pullout
Jerusalem (Reuters).  Israeli PM Ariel Sharon has lost his
parliamentary majority after the head of a pro-settler party quit
Cabinet over the leader's Gaza pullout plan.
However, Mr Sharon appears in no immediate danger of being toppled.
Housing Min Effi Eitam, who leads the Nat'l Religious Party (NRP), and
deputy minister Yitzhak Levy, also of the NRP, tendered their
resignations to Mr Sharon.
"As a comrade in arms, a Cabinet colleague and a brother of the Jewish
people, I call upon you Mr PM: 'Stop! don't hand the country over to
terror,'" Mr Eitam wrote in his resignation letter.
Before the ministers quit, Mr Sharon controlled 61 of Parliament's 120
seats.
The NRP's 4 other legislators made no immediate decision to leave the
coalition and are weighing a compromise to keep the party in Govt for
at least 3 more m.
That would grant Mr Sharon a temporary reprieve from total breakdown
of his coalition, which would force him to reshape his Govt or call
elections.
"From this moment on, we have 59 Knesset members in the coalition,"
Gideon Saar, the head of Mr Sharon's Likud faction in Parliament, told
Channel One TV.
But Mr Saar noted there was still no unified group in Parliament able to 
muster the 61 votes required to bring down the Govt in a no-confidence vote.
Israeli political commentators say the pro-withdrawal Labour Party led
by Shimon Peres is likely to spread a safety net under Mr Sharon,
backing him from the opp'n benches to ensure plans for a Gaza pullout
move ahead.
In a boost to Mr Sharon, Labour has withdrawn a no confidence motion
one day after Cabinet approved "in principle" the proposal to remove
all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and 4 of the 120 W Bank settlements.
Mr Sharon pushed the plan through the Cabinet only after firing 2 of
his ministers and placating Likud dissidents by agreeing not to
evacuate settlements for at least 9 m and then in 4 phases, each
requiring a vote.
Opponents of the withdrawal say it would only reward "Palestinian
terror" after more then 3 y of bloodshed.
If the plan is carried out, it would mark Israel's 1st removal of
settlements in the W Bank and Gaza Strip, territories captured in the
1967 Middle E war.
Polls show a majority of Israelis are willing to part with Gaza's
hard-to-defend settlements, where 7,500 Jews live cloistered from 1.3
mn Palestinians.
But Mr Sharon's Likud rejected his pullout plan in a May 2 referendum.

Hezbollah, Israel exchange fire
Beirut (AFP).  The Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah has
launched about 20 rockets and mortar rounds at 3 Israeli army posts in
the disputed Shebaa Farms border area.
Military sources in Israel say that army positions nr the border with
Lebanon have come under Hezbollah attack.
Lebanese police say the combatants fired about 20 rockets and rounds
on the Ruwaisat al-Alam, Ramta and Sammaqa positions in the Shebaa Farms.
Hezbollah's TV station, Al-Manar, reports the attacks have been
carried out by fighters of the Islamic Resistance, the group's
military wing.
In response, Israeli troops inside the Shebaa Farms fired back around
40 shells on the outskirts of the Lebanese border villages of
Kfarhamam, Kfarshuba and Hebbariyeh.
There are no reports of casualties from the attack or the shelling.
"The shelling targeted 2 of our positions in the so-called Shebaa
Farms area," the Israeli sources said.
"We are checking for damages and for the kind of weapons that were used."
The attacks come a day after Israeli jets bombed suspected positions
of the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command in Naameh, 20 km S of the Lebanese capital.
The raid was in response to an earlier attack that has not been
claimed by any group.
Israel said that attack had targeted a naval vessel patrolling in
Israeli territorial waters.

Palestinians to lose jobs as Israel closes industrial zone
Jerusalem (ABC, Mark Willacy).  Israel will close a large industrial
zone on the border with the Gaza Strip, which employs about 4,000
Palestinians.  The Israeli Govt says the businesses inside the zone
will be moved to Israel as part of the pullout from Gaza.  Announcing
the decision to close the Erez industrial zone, Israeli Trade Min Ehud
Olmert blamed the volatile security situation.  The area straddles the
Israel-Gaza Strip border and is the site of several large Israeli-owned 
factories which employ about 4,000 Palestinian workers.  The zone has
been the target of several Palestinian mortar attacks and suicide
bombings.  Mr Olmert says the businesses will be moved to communities
inside Israel, meaning Palestinians will be unable to keep their jobs.

US base to "pressure" Indonesia
Canberra (AAP).  The US move to set up a joint training base in AUS
aims to pressure Indonesia to take more effective action against
terrorists, the US think tank Stratfor says.
In an analysis of the proposed training facility, Stratfor, a private
sector intel group based in Texas, said the base would allow the US
military to continually pre-position limited troops and equipment a
relatively short distance from Indonesia.
It said Indonesia was the home of the al-Qaeda linked terror group
Jemaah Islamiah and, with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, was one of the
epicentres of the militant Islamic world.
The US had already launched operations against militant groups in the
Philippines while long-time ally Thailand had shown its willingness to
assist US efforts.
"All these moves are intended to pressure Jakarta to take further
action against militants operating in its territory," Stratfor said.
"The also position the US to act unilaterally if necessary."
Stratfor said the Aussie facility, plus facilities in Singapore and
the Philippines would give the US access to the Indonesian archipelago
from the NW, NE and south.
"Jakarta will feel pressured to take more aggressive action under the
shadow of an increasing US military footprint in the region," it said.
"If former ruling party Golkar's candidate Gen Wiranto wins
Indonesia's upcoming election, the US might have an ally in Jakarta
with enough political muscle and military authority to aggressively
move against JI."
The proposed joint training base has been under discussion for a y and
Defence Min Robert Hill and US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld, who met in
Singapore at the weekend, foreshadowed a formal agreement to be
announced next m.
The deal would involve substantial US investment to upgrade an
existing Aussie Defence Force facility, either at Shoalwater Bay in
Qld or at one of the training areas in the NT.
Stratfor said the US basing strategy might not pay dividends in the nr
future since such pressure was not guaranteed to change Jakarta's behaviour. 
But it was working in other places.
"The US occupation of Iraq caused the Saudi govt to re-evaluate its
policies and crack down on al-Qaeda operations, embroiling the kingdom
in a low intensity civil war," it said.

Aust man deported from Thailand
Canberra (AAP).  An Aussie man previously convicted in Qld and NSW for
indecent dealings with boys is being deported from Thailand.
The Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed David Leonard Arthur,
48, was being deported, but would not comment further.
Arthur was due to arrive in Bris on Wed morning after a Thai court
ordered his deportation, the ABC reported.
He was arrested and charged with sheltering illegal immigrants in
Chiang Mai in Apr after a tip off by the Aussie Embassy that sex
offences were being committed.
However, police found no evidence of any paedophile activity.
The Aussie embassy in Bangkok was not immediately available for
comment and the Aussie Fed Police (AFP) would not comment.
Arthur, who has lived in Thailand on and off for about 10 y, has been
found guilty in the past of child sex offences and possession of child
pornography.

Date set for Yukos tycoon's fraud trial
Moscow (AFP).  Russia's richest man and Kremlin foe Mikhail
Khodorkovsky is to go on trial next wk on charges of fraud and tax
evasion that his supporters say are politically motivated.
In a small victory for Khodorkovsky, a judge has ruled that he can be
tried together with Platon Lebedev, another key shareholder in
Russia's largest oil company Yukos, who faces the same charges.
The judge has set a trial date for Jun 16.
Khodorkovsky has been held in custody since his arrest in Oct.
He is charged with 7 counts of tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement,
and faces a possible jail term of 10 y.
He and Lebedev are accused of cheating the state out of more than $US1
bn through their business dealings.
The defence team had pushed for the 2 cases to be combined, believing
that a joint trial could help their case.
Today's decision is the 1st since Lebedev was arrested in Jul that a
court has ruled in favour of the defence.
The trial of the Yukos founders will be open to the press and will be
heard by 3 judges rather than an open jury, another concession to the
defence.
It is expected to last several months.
Khodorkovsky's defence team and a clutch of family and friends have
been defiant in their backing of the 40-yo.
They say that the Kremlin launched a campaign against him only because
he dared challenge Pres Vladimir Putin's rule by openly funding the opp'n.
A benchmark of post-Soviet Russia's judicial system followed around
the world, the Yukos case began with the Jul 2 arrest of Lebedev,
followed by the arrest or self-imposed exile of the company's main
shareholders and founders.
The company has since warned that it may go into bankruptcy.
The Russian stock market -- just recently the most booming emerging
market in the world -- has followed the fall of Yukos.

Zimbabwe to nat'lise all farmland: report
Harare (Reuters).  Zimbabwe plans to nat'lise all the country's
farmland and issue farmers with 99-y leases, according to Land Reform
and Resettlement Min John Nkomo.
"The Govt has stepped up efforts to acquire more land with the sole
objective of nat'lising all productive farmland, from crop fields to
conservancies, in the country," Mr Nkomo told the official Herald newspaper.
"In the end all land shall be state land and there will be no such
thing called private land," Mr Nkomo said Mr Nkomo is urging all
landowners to offer their land so that they could be considered for
the leases.
He was not immediately contactable.
The Zimbabwean Govt has forced about 2/3 of Zimbabwe's 4,500 white
commercial farmers off their land in the past 4 y.
The redistribution is part of Pres Robert Mugabe's controversial
program to resettle landless blacks on the plots.
Farm output has fallen sharply, an outcome blamed by Mr Mugabe's
opponents largely on his land seizure policy and by Govt officials on
economic sabotage and bad weather.
The Herald's report did not give a timeframe for the nat'lisation program.
However, it says the Govt would issue 99-y leases, referred to as "in
perpetuity", for productive farmland and 25-y leases for wildlife and
conservation areas.
The Govt has forcibly acquired 259 mostly white-owned farms since Jan
alone and given notice to confiscate 918 more.
It has also confiscated agricultural equipment and machinery
authorities say was lying idle on the farms and allocated it to black
Zimbabweans resettled on the land.
The land reforms have drawn criticism mostly from W countries.
Mr Mugabe argues the program is necessary to restore land to blacks
dispossessed when Brit colonised the country over a century ago and
white farmers took the best farmland.
Mr Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, has vowed to pay
compensation only for improvements on the farms that are taken over,
saying it is Brit's responsibility to compensate dispossessed farmers
for the land itself.

Chirac gives lost Kiwi veteran a lift to Paris
Paris (Reuters).  French Pres Jacques Chirac gave a D-day veteran a
lift back to Paris in one of his jets after the NZer got lost
following Sun's ceremonies in N France to honour World War 2 Allied troops.
Keith Coleman hopped on a coach after the main internat'l ceremony in
Arromanches to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-day landings in Normandy.
But instead of taking him back to the French capital, he ended up at a
remote military airfield where all the other veterans got on a plane.
"There was this important-looking guy wearing gold braid who I told my
story to and I guess he must have felt sorry for me because he made a
few phone calls and told me he thought he could get me back to Paris,"
Mr Coleman, who speaks no French, told Brit's Guardian newspaper.
A car whisked the 86-yo former gunner with Brit's Royal Air Force to
another airfield, where 2 jets were waiting.
A cavalcade pulled up and the French Pres got out.
"He came over ... I snapped to attention and gave him a little salute
... he put his arm round me," Mr Coleman told the paper.
"He said he would be happy for me to travel in one of the aeroplanes
and gave instructions that I was to be driven to the door of my hotel."

Autopsy report confirms Crick was cancer-free
Brisbane.  An autopsy report on the suicide of a Gold Coast woman more
than 2 ya has confirmed she did not have cancer when she died.
The autopsy report into 69-yo Nancy Crick's death has been released to
her family more than 2 y after her death but prosecutors are yet to
lay charges on the 21 people who were with Mrs Crick when she took her life.
Exit AUS director Philip Nitschke says there are 42 occasions in the
autopsy report where it is pointed out that Mrs Crick did not have cancer.
He says he does not know if that changes the legal position of the
witnesses.
"It is lawful to end your life but is it a crime to sit with them," Dr
Nitschke asked.
"That question should be a simple question to answer legally and maybe
they'll be encouraged to take some legal steps against the 21 [people].
"If they do, that might be a good thing because then at last we'll see
a decision and a clarification of laws."
Dr Nitschke says the report does not change how he feels about Mrs
Crick's death but despite the confirmation she did not have cancer, he
still believes she was very sick.
"Because I watched her in those last few m and I effectively listened
to her carefully as she described what she was going through and why
she just simply didn't want to go through anymore and I could only
empathise with her," he said.
"I know that plenty of people will say: 'oh well, she didn't have
cancer, therefore she must have been a well woman' and that's just rubbish.
"I mean, this was not a well woman. You don't find a 32 kg woman who
has lost that much body fat, wasting away and then say that they're a
well woman."

Govt promises to look after minerals industry
Canberra.  The Fed Govt says it has not forgotten the minerals
industry.  Fed Min for Industry Tourism and Resources Ian Macfarlane
has promised the minerals sector will be looked after despite a lack
of funding in last m's Budget.  It is hoped an announcement will be
made soon to increase exploration in AUS.  Minerals Council of AUS rep
Mitch Hooke says the industry wants tax incentives in the exploration
area.  "The Govt cannot continue to lay silent on the issue of
minerals exploration," he said.  "It needs a determination and it
needs to determine [that] the flow-through shares are a useful adjunct
to assisting the industry in that cause."

Charity likens Qld prisons to Abu Ghraib
Brisbane.  Qld's anti-discrimination commissioner has been asked to
investigate claims of human rights abuses in the state's women's
prisons.  Prisoner support group Sisters Inside has compared the Qld
claims to the abuse alleged to have occurred inside Iraq's notorious
Abu Graib prison.  The group says many female inmates who are victims
of sexual abuse are further abused when subjected to humiliating strip
searches.  The organisation also alleges prisoners with a mental
illness or disability are often placed in isolation without proper
care, or are forcefully restrained.  Sisters Inside director Debbie
Kilroy says the organisation has asked anti-discrimination
commissioner Susan Booth to investigate.  "When you look at the
photographs that are coming out of Abu Ghraib and the stories, they're
the same stories we hear on a daily basis in our prisons," she said.
"I'm hoping that she will have an inquiry and then go and speak to the
Govt and get changes."

PBL appoints new CEO in shake-up
Melbourne.  Kerry Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL)
has announced a big shake-up of its boardroom and executive positions,
including the appointment of a new chief executive.
Incumbent chief executive officer Peter Yates is leaving the company
immediately for personal reasons and will be replaced by John Alexander.
Mr Alexander is currently the chief executive of PBL's Aussie
Consolidated Press unit and he will retain that role.
David Gyngell will become the 9 Network's chief executive officer and
Chris Anderson, who recently left the SingTel Optus board, joins PBL
as a non-executive director.
Mr Packer will assume the position of PBL deputy chairman. His son,
James Packer, remains executive chairman.
In a statement to the Aussie Stock Exchange, James Packer said: "Peter
has done an outstanding job as CEO of PBL.
"He has re-focused and re-energised the PBL business, leaving it in
significantly better shape than when he started.
"He has brought the PBL group businesses together which has allowed us
to capitalise on the scale of the company."
Mr Alexander says he is looking forward to taking on the role of chief
executive.
"We have terrific momentum across all of our businesses," he said in
the statement.
The PBL share price initially dropped as low as $12.80 but by 11.00
am, it was up 7 cents at $12.95.

Consumer sentiment resilient, housing attractive
Consumer confidence remains resilient.
Canberra.  Consumers appear to be re-assessing their views of the
housing market.  A new survey indicates a growing belief that now is a
better time to buy a home.  The Westpac-MEL Institute Index of
Consumer Sentiment has dipped a modest 1.1% overall this m.  However,
it is still less than 4 % below the decade high registered at the
start of the year, in a result Westpac described as "surprisingly
resilient".  The survey was taken after last wk's lower-than-expected
measure of economic growth and the decision by the Reserve Bank to
hold interest rates steady.  The index measuring whether now is a good
time to buy a home has jumped more than 29% for the Jun quarter.  It
is only 2 per cent below its level of a y ago and possibly reflects
perceptions that housing is becoming more affordable with steady
interest rates and declining prices.

Third child dies after Matraville house fire
Sydney.  A seven-yo boy who was critically injured in a SYD house fire
that killed his younger brother and sister has died.  The boy had been
in intensive care at Westmead Children's Hospital after suffering
burns in a house fire in Matraville, in SYD's east, early on Mon
morning.  According to a police media officer, the boy died overnight.
His mother remains in a critical condition at the Royal N Shore Hospital.

Chief Min backs regional bodies to replace ATSIC
Darwin.  NT Chief Min Clare Martin believes stronger regional
authorities are the key to giving Aboriginal people a voice once ATSIC
is dismantled.
Key stakeholders are attending a series of meetings across the Top End
this wk about ways the Indigenous community can retain representation
after ATSIC goes.
The Miwatj Provincial Governing Council is holding a summit today at
Gulkula nr Nhulunbuy.
Ms Martin believes a regional authorities model should be pursued.
"What it is about [is] building stronger regional authorities and
representation on those authorities because they are spread around the
Territory and would be predominantly Indigenous," he said.
"We believe this is the most effective way to have Indigenous voice in
decision- making through the stronger regions policy, so we've put
that forward to the Fed Govt."
Ms Martin also says she will use this m's Council of Aussie Govts
Meeting (COAG) to push for more bilateral agreements on Indigenous
service delivery.
She says she wants to see Commonwealth and Territory Govt depts
working more closely together.
"What we want is bilateral relationships. We want bilateral agreements
between the Fed Govt and the Territory about delivery of those
services and we believe this is the most effective way to go," she said.
"To have a duplication of services has not served our remote
communities well."

Cancer patients' genes used to tailor treatment: study
Melbourne.  A Vic company involved in cancer treatment trials says it
has proof that genetic make-up can be used to optimise chemotherapy
doses.  AGT Biosciences has detailed its results at a cancer
conference in the US.  Company chief executive George Collier says
patients metabolise the chemotherapy drug at different rates meaning
their treatment can be optimised by adjusting doses.  "We can measure
the rate of metabolism of the drug by measuring their genetic
background and then we can give them different doses of the drug," he
said.  "The exciting thing about this is, by varying the dose based on
the genotype and the way that the individual actually metabolises the
drug, you are actually able to limit the side effects and therefore
increase and optimise the dose."  Dr Collier says the trial is one of
the 1st examples of personalised medicine.  "That's where you're able
to look at the actual patient, look at the individual and personalise
the medicine based on the individual's genetic background and the way
they can metabolise drugs."

Vic scientists to map wallabies' genome
Scientists are set to map the genetic code of the tammar wallaby.
Melbourne.  Vic scientists will lead the world's 1st gene study on
marsupials.
The $12 mn study to be overseen by the Nat'l Institute of Health in
the United States will map the genomic sequence of wallabies.
Speaking from the US, Vic Innovation Min John Brumby says it is the
most important gene study to involve Aussie scientists.
"It is research of internat'l significance. It is research which will
be keenly examined right round the world," Mr Brumby said.
"It is research which is in partnership with the biggest research
facility in the world, the Nat'l Institute of Health in the United
States, and it's going to put AUS on the map."
"We expect the data generated by the kangaroo genome project will
prove to be extremely valuable for medical research, as well as
agricultural research, around the globe," Mr Brumby added in a statement.
The animal to be studied is the small tammar wallaby, known
scientifically as Macropus eugenii and found on islands along AUS's S
and W coasts.
Mr Brumby says the results will be of interest to AUS's dairy industry
because the study will examine the impact of gestation periods on milk
production.
"[It offers] huge benefits in terms of human health, things like
spinal regeneration," he said.
"And in terms of animal health, things like milk production, eyesight
and gestation periods are of great interest right through agriculture
but in particular in the dairy industry."
The idea of the project is to add to the variety of animals whose DNA
is fully sequenced so they can be compared genetically to humans, thus
shedding light on disease and basic biology.
Because the wallaby is a marsupial and relatively distantly related to
humans, differences between it and other mammals such as humans may
offer insights into the biology of reproduction.
The director of the US's Nat'l Human Genome Research Institute,
Francis Collins, says the project is a critical next step.
"This scientific collaboration between the US and AUS represents
another important step in our quest to gain a better understanding of
the human genome," Dr Collins said.
"As we build on the success of the Human Genome Project, it has been
increasingly clear that one of the best tools for identifying crucial
elements in the human genome is to compare it with the genomes of a
wide variety of other animals."
Marsupials such as the wallaby give birth to extremely undeveloped
embryos that develop in a pouch, nursing on milk, while other mammals
carry their young inside the body using a placenta to nourish it.
Scientists believe marsupials last shared a common ancestor with
humans about 130 mn y ago, while chimpanzees, for instance, split off
7 mn y ago.

East coast koalas could die out
Koala populations at risk, study suggests. 
Canberra.  The Fed Govt has been asked to list AUS's koalas as a
vulnerable species, with new research showing the animals could be
extinct in the eastern states within 15 y.
The Aussie Koala Foundation has been conducting surveys of 1,000 sites
along the E coast and says the population is been decimated by urban
sprawl, roads through the middle of koala habitat and dogs.
Foundation executive director Deborah Tabart says in SE Qld alone,
20,000 koalas were killed in just 8 y and that is having a devastating
impact on breeding cycles.
"We might be looking at koalas who are living happily in the bush but
because they live until 10 y old, you might actually be looking at an
extinct population," she said.
"Because they haven't got any way of going out of their little home
range, mating with someone then coming home pregnant.
"So they just sit there, eke their time out and then the bush will go silent."
Ms Tabart says roads, housing and dogs are the main reasons for the decline.
"I think within 15 y it'll be very hard to find a koala on the east
coast, on the E of the Great Divide," she said.
"That is because the urbanisation of our country is so rapid and I
don't think they can handle the pressure."

G-G should stay clear of Iraq debate: expert
An expert says Maj Jeffery is leaving himself open to perceptions of bias.
Sydney.  A constitutional law expert says the G-G should not have
weighed in to the highly contentious political debate over how long
Aussie troops should remain in Iraq.
G-G Michael Jeffrey told the ABC the US Pres was not interfering in
Aussie domestic politics when he appeared to criticise Labor's
Christmas deadline for withdrawing troops.
During a joint press conference with PM John Howard, Pres George W
Bush said it would be disastrous if AUS pulled out of Iraq.
Maj-Gen Jeffrey says Mr Bush was simply giving an honest answer
to a direct question.
But a constitutional law expert from the University of SYD, Professor
George Williams, says the G-G's comments may suggest he
has political view on the matter.
"He would have been sensible not to enter into that debate and that's
because it's such a hot political issue," Prof Williams said.
"I think governors-general and governors need to be careful not to
talk about matters in ways that might give rise to perceptions of bias
or politicisation.
"That means when you're dealing with something like this that
governors-general just have to be very very careful when they tread on
that ground."
Professor Williams says any suggestion that the G-G has a
political perspective is dangerous.
"That's dangerous in someone who may have to act as an umpire if a
constitutional crisis arose," he said.

Latham unsure Garrett wants Labor gig
Labor wants Peter Garrett but does he want Labor?
Sydney.  Labor Party leader Mark Latham has admitted he does not
know whether environmentalist and former Midnight Oil front-man Peter
Garrett wants to join his election team.
The ALP machine appears likely to impose its own candidate on the safe
Labor seat of Kingsford Smith in SYD, despite strong support for a
rank-and-file preselection ballot.
Labor leader Mark Latham has said the party has offered Mr Garrett
endorsement in the seat.
But about 200 local branch members have formally declared they want to
choose their own candidate for the next fed election.
The branch meeting last night agreed to demand the vacancy created by
Laurie Brereton's resignation be filled by a candidate who wins
preselection in a rank-and-file vote.
Former deputy PM Lionel Bowen was at the meeting and says that if
Labor wants Mr Garrett to get a spot on the frontbenches, it should
put him in a seat that will increase the party's overall majority, not
a safe seat that already has good candidates.
"My idea as a professional politician is that you've got to win as
many seats as you can," Mr Bowen said.
The branch's resolution will be put to NSW party officials this wk but
many at the meeting privately say the vote will make no difference.
* Persuasive
Mr Garrett is yet to announce whether he wants the job and Mr Latham
says he does not know whether Mr Garrett will take the job.
"Bob Carr, the Prem of NSW, tried to get him into state politics and
he said no," Mr Latham told Channel Ten's Rove program last night.
"Hopefully this time we can be more persuasive."
Mr Latham says he is expecting an answer in the next few days.
Meanwhile, barrister and unionist Tony Slevin, who spoke at last
night's branch meeting, says members will eventually accept Mr Garrett
as their candidate when the dust of the preselection battle settles.
He says branch members are justified in their anger over the way the
matter has been handled but will eventually do what is best for the
party's fed election chances.
He says that though there has been little consultation about the
preselection, "if you're going to have someone dumped on you, he's not
a bad guy to have dumped on you".

Man shot dead answering front door
Dubbo.  NSW police have launched a murder inquiry after a man was
shot while answering the door to his home in the state's central west.
The man's wife found the fatally wounded man in the hallway of their
Fitzroy Street home in Dubbo.
She had rushed to his aid from another part of the house after hearing
several gunshots.
The man was in his 40s and police rep Norris Smith says officers need
more info to help to catch his killer.
"A vehicle described only as a white tray utility was seen in the area
about the time of the incident," he said.
"Police are appealing for members of the public who saw anyone acting
suspiciously in the vicinity of Fitzroy Street at about 9.00 pm last
night to contact Dubbo Police or Crime Stoppers."
SYD police are flying to the state's central-west to help find the
person who shot the man.
Acting Orana Local Area Cmdr Ian Borland says the man was known to
police before his murder.
He says police are now looking for a man seen driving a white ute near
the house at the time of the shooting.
"I just simply appeal to anybody that may have seen anyone in the area
last night or seen something they may think is suspicious to contact
police," he said.
"Because they may have the very pieces of info we need to assist us in
progressing the matter."

Suspended policeman pleads case against sacking
Melbourne.  A police officer from Benalla, in NE Vic, suspended by the
Chief Police Commissioner says he has been forced to publicly defend
himself.
Commissioner Christine Nixon has used her loss of confidence powers
for the 1st time in suspending Edward Robb of Benalla and Detective
Sgt Paul Dale of the drug investigation division.
Both men have been given 3 wk to show why they should not be sacked.
SC Robb says people will assume he is guilty if he makes no comment.
"What choice do I have? I have done my absolute best to keep my name
out of the media and to keep these allegations out of the media," he said.
"My family don't deserve it and I don't deserve it. By Christine Nixon
naming me and publicly trying to shame me, that is her way of giving
her case some credibility."
Snr Constable Robb says he has never been involved in corruption.
He has been acquitted of charges relating to intent to cause injury
and serious injury, false imprisonment and attempting to pervert the
course of justice.
The police association has called on the Chief Commissioner to prove
that the Benalla community has lost faith in Snr Constable Robb.
Association secretary Paul Mullett says he thinks the people of
Benalla still have faith in the officer.
"Well, the community of Benalla support their police, the police at
Benalla have an excellent relationship with all their local communities 
and it's one of the issues that the Chief Commissioner has to prove,
that this member has lost the confidence of the community, so that's
an interesting aspect," he said.

Arrests made in ganglands swoop
MEL police have made several arrests this morning.
Melbourne.  Police investigating MEL's gangland killings have arrested
several people in a major operation this morning, including accused
drug trafficker Carl Williams.
Police say there may be more arrests as part of a larger operation
expected to unfold throughout the day.
Mr Williams and the 16-yo son of his wife Roberta Williams were
arrested this morning, according to Ms Williams.
Their arrests coincide with a Purana task force operation nr the
cemetery in Brighton this morning, in which 2 men were taken into custody.
Purana members and the Special Operations Group arrested the 2 men
shortly after 7.00 am on the footpath in busy N Road outside the cemetery.
Detectives wearing blue plastic gloves began examining the scene
shortly afterwards.
A number of items -- including yellow police raincoats, other clothing
and a handgun -- were found on the footpath and police have taken the
items away in brown paper bags.
Police were also guarding a nearby house in Raymond Grove which has
been cordoned off.
All those arrested have been taken to the St Kilda Road police complex
for questioning.
* Crime commission
The arrests come as alleged underworld figure Mick Gatto joined calls
for a crime commission to put an end to MEL's gang war.
Gatto is facing a murder charge over the death of underworld figure
Andrew Benji Veniamin in Mar.
He has joined the list of Vic's calling for a standing crime
commission to deal with the ongoing allegations of links between
allegedly corrupt police and the underworld.
However, he has told The Bulletin magazine he doubts the "state's
power elites would allow a commission to uncover corruption at the
highest echelons".
Some members of MEL's legal fraternity have been lobbying for an
independent inquiry and Vic Opp'n leader Robert Doyle maintains a
royal commission is required.
Mr Doyle says the Govt's moves of giving more powers to the Chief
Commissioner of police and the ombudsman to tackle the problem are not enough.

Venus captivates star-gazers
Sydney (Reuters).  Venus has made a rare transit across the face of
the Sunn, giving star-gazers from AUS to the Middle E and Africa a
celestial view that no living person has seen before.
To the delight of 100s of people around the globe -- armed for the
occasion with telescopes, pinhole cameras and special glasses -- Venus
appeared as a small black dot on the lower edge of the Sun at the
start of its six-hr transit.
In AUS, it was already afternoon when 40 amateur astronomers gathered
at the home of Jos Roberts N of SYD.
"I feel very privileged to be alive at the right time, to be in the
right place, to have no clouds or monsoons," said Mr Roberts, who
toasted the event with champagne with his colleagues.
Similar Venus-watching celebrations were held all over the country,
despite cloud obscuring Aussies' views of the final passage of the planet.
* Historic quest
The discovery of the transit in the 17th Century triggered a quest for
glory between Brit and France.
They were eager to be the 1st to time the eclipse from different parts
of the world and thus calculate the "astronomical unit" -- the
distance between the Sun and Earth, the fundamentalist unit of
measurement in space.
Europe's 2 great powers sent scientists on dangerous expeditions to
distant parts of the globe to carry out the parallax measurement.
In doing so, they pushed the envelope on scientific knowledge.
After the 1769 transit, Brit's James Cook became the 1st European to
discover AUS's Great Barrier Reef and make the 1st detailed map of NZ.
And in 1882, French astronomer Pierre Janssen invented a rotating
photographic plate to take swift, multiple exposures.
His device was picked up by the Lumiere Brothers to make the first
movie camera.
This time, too, observers around the world timed the transit and
repeated the historic calculations.
"It's the different timings, from different locations, which allow you
to measure the distance [to Venus]," John Mucklow, of the Astronomical
Society of S Africa, said.
He used an old telescope mounted on a wooden tripod to watch the
spectacle from the roof of a hotel nr Johannesburg.
* Eager crowds
In the UK, more than 100 people gathered in the courtyard of Brit's
Royal Observatory to witness the phenomenon.
"This  morning  we are watching the 1st transit of Venus since 1882.
Until this morning no one alive has ever seen this event," Dr Robert
Massey, from the observatory in Greenwich, said.
Banks of photographers with telephoto lens and TV crews captured the event.
People queued patiently as parents lifted small children to gaze into
telescopes set up in the courtyard of the observatory on a clear, warm morning.
Others used special glasses handed out by staff to see the event.
"It is very mysterious," Japanese tourist Hiroyuki Narasawa said,
after peering up at the sky through a cardboard tube and camera.
In the Middle East, school children gathered on the hills outside
Beirut to watch the passage through dark glasses.
The complete transit was only partially visible in the Americas.
* Rare event
The Venusian transit only occurs 4 times every 243 y.
2 are in Dec, 8 y apart, and then 121.5 y later there are 2 Jun
transits, also 8 y apart.
After another 105.5 y the cycle begins again.
The next passage will occur in 2012 but will not be visible in many
parts of the world.
But Dr Robert Walsh, of the University of Central Lancashire in
northern England, had arguably the best viewing position for this
year's spectacle.
He was in the bedroom of Brit astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks, who was
the 1st person to observe a transit in 1639.
"To see what he saw from a specific point is very exciting indeed," he said.

Web domain registrations hit 63 mn
LA (AFP).  The total number of registered Internet addresses has
reached a new high of 63 mn, after a record increase of 4.7 mn in the
first quarter of this y.
VeriSign, which owns the domain registrar Network Solutions, says the
surge in registrations reflects interest in the newer extensions like
dot-biz, dot-info and dot-museum.
The total number of 63 mn is roughly one for every 100 people living
in the world today.
"This number is greater than at any time in the Internet's history,
surpassing even the heights that were seen during the Internet
'bubble.'" VeriSign said in a statement.
"Moreover, data reveal that the current base of domain names is being
utilised more actively than ever before, as measured by renewal rates,
look-up rates and the%age of domain names tied to live sites."
The spike in demand is at least partly driven by the recent
availability of Arabic, Chinese and Russian characters within domain
names, VeriSign officials said.
More than 72% of the domain names are part of a live website, up from
55 % at the height of the boom in Dec 2002, the firm said.
This indicates "that the speculative purchase of domain names that
fuelled much of the growth in the late nineties has been replaced by
real websites and e-mail boxes, to which real people are connecting."
Rusty Lewis, executive vice president of VeriSign's Naming and
Directory Services, says Asia and Europe are driving extra growth.
"Though N America has the highest number of Internet users as a
percentage of its population -- about 55% -- increasing Internet
traffic is a reflection of a fast-growing group of Internet users
around the world," Mr Lewis said.
"For instance, 223 mn people in Asia and 173 mn people in Europe
currently use the Internet on a regular basis, compared with around
175 mn in N America.
"But those Internet users represent only 6% and 22%, respectively, of
the total populations of Asia and Europe."

{{
0.30 am
2 key members of Ariel Sharon's cabinet have resigned in protest at
the planned phased pull-out from the Gaza Strip.

Analysts in Brit say Tony Blair has become the "invisible man" in
the up-coming local and EP elections.  The PM -- once considered a
prime asset for the Labour Party -- has reportedly not appeared in
campaign literature or on TV in Yorkshire or other N council areas.
Opinion polls indicate Labour won't do well in the elections.

A Brit committee says about 1/3 of the cost of milk is unexplained.  A
report says suspicion and mistrust plague the industry.  It says
there are a number of unexplained costs that originate somewhere in
the retail chain.

9.30 am
Israel has announced it will close a large industrial zone nr the Gaza
border.  It's the site of several large Israeli-owned factories that
employ about 4,000 Pals.  Olmert says it will be moved inside Israel,
meaning Pals will be unable to keep their jobs.

Israel has announced it has developed a SS missile with a range of at
least 250 km.  Observers say it is capable of flying much further than
its stated range.  The missile will be able to hit any regional
capital except Tehran.  Israel has long sought such a capability .

10.15 am
The All Ords is down slightly.  The Nikkei is down 50 pts.  The AUD is
trading at 70 US c.  Oil is up 17 c.

11 am
US A-G Ashcroft has refused to release memos that discuss the use of
torture in Bush War on Terror.  
A US newspaper have published details of legal advice to the US govt
that say the Pres had the authority to order torture of prisoners and
that it could be necessary in the war on terror.  
Previously, the Whitehouse had claimed torture at Abu Ghraib was the
work of a few rogue privates despite the fact it has also emerged
that similar techniques were used in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
Before a Senate committee yesterday, the A-G refused to release
personal memos to the Pres that discussed techniques that could be used
to interrogate prisoners.  He claimed the memos were part of his
personal advice to the Pres.  
The session was marked by several sharp exchanges, with the A-G
refusing to give reasons for not co-operating, and several Senators
reminding him about the powers of the Senate and the US Const'n.
Observers and human rights groups say the revelations indicate the
Bush Admin virtually authorised a policy of torturing POW's.

Midday.
US A-G John Ashcroft has refused to give politicians copies of a
Justice Dept memo that allegedly advised the White House that torture
during war on terrorism interrogations could be justified.

A UN Sec Council resolution adopted today ends the US occupation of
Iraq but lets the US military keep taking and holding prisoners even
after the Jun 30 hand over of power to Iraqis.

All 15 members of the UN security council voted to approve a US-Brit
resolution on Iraq's future, formally giving Baghdad sovereignty when
the occupation ends on Jun 30.

PM John Howard has welcomed a new resolution from the United Nations
Sec Council formally ending the occupation of Iraq at the end of this m.

A police officer from Benalla, in NE Vic, suspended by the Chief
Police Commissioner says he has been forced to publicly defend himself.

Israel will close a large industrial zone on the border with the Gaza
Strip, which employs about 4,000 Palestinians.

Platypus researchers fear the mammal's numbers on King Island, north
of Tas, could be devastated if an application to kill one for research
purposes is granted.

The Fed Govt has been asked to list AUS's koalas as a vulnerable
species, with new research showing the animals could be extinct in the
eastern states within 15 y.

Vic scientists will lead the world's 1st gene study on marsupials.

6.30 pm
1000s of O/S students each y have their visas cancelled in AUS.  They
are found to be working, rather than study.  Some colleges offer
"flexible attendance" in order to poach students from other
institutions. SBS TV says QUT is the biggest offender -- with 20% of
its O/S intake having their visas cancelled last y.

7 pm
Anti-nuclear and land rights campaigner Peter Garrett today formally
applied to join the ALP.  Pundits say despite strident protests from
the safe seat of Kingsford Smith, he'll be endorsed as the Labor
candidate within 2 wks.  He's also resigned as the head of the ACF, a
position he's held since 1998.

11 pm
BBC News Hour.  Key Arab states are staying away from the G8 meeting.
There is growing cynicism about US motives in the Middle E.

A general strike is proceeding in Nigeria, despite govt broadcasts
claiming it has been called off.  Is also went ahead despite a court
order that it be cancelled.  The strike was called by trade unions in
protest at a petrol price hike. The govt has announced the end of fuel
subsidies.  Opp'n groups say it's unbelievable the world's 6th-largest
exporter of oil can't offer cheap fuel to its own pop'n.  Banks and
public offices closed in Abuja.  There are few cars and bikes on the
streets in Lagos.  Petrol stns are closed after it became clear the
strike was going ahead.  The sit'n is calm.  200,000 officers have
been deployed to keep the peace.

At the G8 summit Pres Bush says he wants to promote democracy in the
Middle E.  But rather than his prev vision of modelling the region
after the west, he now calls his policy a "partnership for progress".
Mr Bush is trying to convince the Middle E his plan is not just
another form of colonialism.  But Egypt and Saudi Arabia declined
invitations to attend the summit.

There's renewed political friction in Iraq over the latest UN Res.
Kurds say they may withdraw from the interim govt because the Res
didn't enshrine the independence of the N.  15% of the Iraq pop'n is
Kurdish, and they control 3 of Iraq's 18 provs.  The interim const'n
in Mar recognised Kurdish autonomy.

Police in Fiji are claiming the biggest drug bust ever in the S
hemisphere.  Police from Fiji, AUS and NZ have captured $US500 mn of
"ice" and 7 men have been arrested.  A drug factory was set to produce
about 500 kg of ice per wk -- intended for the US, Europe, AUS and NZ.

Chinese state media reports the country's biggest corruption trial has
started.  The trial is taking place on the S Is of Hunan and involves
$3 bn that was embezzled by officials of a investment company.  But
the tentacles of the case stretch across the country.  The principal
defendant was a security official in the firm.  He allegedly used
client's money to trade in shares and buy property.

The US military says it will give the Red Cross access to its 2-dozen
jails in Afghanistan.  Until now, the ICRC had only been allowed to
visit 1 of the US-run prisons.  US cmdrs say prisoners are treated in
accord with the Geneva Conventions.  But prisoners released from
prison say they were sometimes treated in the same manner as
prisoners in Abu Ghraib.

A Turkish court has announced that the conviction of several Kurds on
charges of belonging to an illegal organisation will be quashed.  The
EU has been pressuring Turkey on its human rights ahead of its joining
the group.
In another sign of a cultural thaw, Turkey has started broadcasting
Kurdish-language programs on state TV. 
Until the 80s it was illegal to speak the language in public.
The 30 min program was attacked by Turkish nationalists who warned it
could lead to the disintegration of the country, which is made up of
more than 2 dozen ethnic groups
}}
========================================
(*) Who is responcible for W.A.R.S?  A small group of dedicated
sandgrubbers, bannana-lickers and 5th columnists on the run from
support payments and sundry legalese in their home countries. Mention
us at any Uncle Harry's Suburban Bunker and get a 10% discount on cop-killers!

All speling macroizated for correctitood by Mcrosotf Speelchek.

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