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Sri Lanka rejects truce calls as rebels resist

COLOMBO, March 1, 2009 (AFP) - Sri Lanka Sunday rejected fresh calls for a ceasefire with Tamil Tigers rebels as security forces hit stiff resistance in their efforts to secure final victory in the island's ethnic conflict.

Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said any ceasefire would be unnecessary if the Tigers accepted international appeals to surrender.

"When the Tigers lay down arms, there will be no fighting. The fire will automatically cease," Kohona told AFP.

Kohona was responding to calls from neighbouring

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OPT: The damage caused by the Gaza war

RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 1, 2009 (AFP) - The Palestinian Authority (PA) hopes to get 2.8 billion dollars from international donors who will meet in Egypt on Monday to discuss the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

Israel's deadly 22-day military onslaught that ended on January 18 caused damaged estimated at 1.95 billion dollars in the impoverished enclave, the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR) says.

It says 5,000 homes were destroyed and 20,000 damaged, in addition to extensive damage to infrastructure.

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War medicine a lifeline for Afghans

by Herve Asquin

NIJRAB BASE, Afghanistan, March 1, 2009 (AFP) - The Afghan man lying on the examination table, his eyes rolled back and his body emaciated, is in agony.

He breathes roughly through a pipe in his trachea and has tubes in his stomach and bladder as well as a bulky pins through a fractured leg.

"If he is not taken care of quickly in intensive care, he will die in a month from dehydration and infection," says the head of a medical post staffed by French doctors about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of Kabul.

Fabien C., whose full name cannot be

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Somali Islamist group rejects truce plans

MOGADISHU, March 1, 2009 (AFP) - Hardline Islamists in Somalia rejected on Sunday a truce offer from new President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and vowed to keep up their attacks on government forces.

The president, elected only last month, reached out to hardliners on Saturday by offering to accede to their demands to introduce sharia law across the war-torn country and introduce a ceasefire.

Ahmed made the offer after talks with mediators.

But Hizb al-Islamiya (Islamic Party), a group of hardline Islamists who claimed bloody attacks in the capital last week, rejected the proposals.

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OPT: Israel warns of Gaza riposte on eve of aid meeting

by Charly Wegman

JERUSALEM, March 1, 2009 (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Sunday to respond "severely" to militant rocket strikes from Gaza on the eve of an international donor conference on funding the territory's reconstruction.

Israel waged its deadly 22-day offensive with the stated aim of halting rocket and mortar fire by Gaza militants, a goal it signally failed to achieve.

"If the rocket fire from Gaza continues, we will hit back severely, so much so that the terrorist organisations

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OPT: Abbas insists on leading Gaza rebuilding

by Nasser Abu Bakr

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb 28, 2009 (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday insisted his government should spearhead postwar reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip days before a major international donors' conference.

But although his Fatah party has relaunched reconciliation talks with the Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza, the region's political standoffs could leave such efforts stillborn regardless of how much money is pledged.

"We expect rapid international aid from all parties to completely rebuild Gaza," Abbas told reporters

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Somalia president agrees to sharia, truce plan

MOGADISHU, Feb 28, 2009 (AFP) - Somalia's President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said Saturday he accepted a proposal by local and foreign religious leaders for a truce with hardline Islamists and the implementation of sharia, or Islamic law.

The religious leaders are trying to mediate between the government and its foes who have ramped up their onslaught against the new president, elected on January 31.

"I met with religious leaders and elders and accepted their demand for ceasefire and reconciliation with the opposition members and I call on all opposition parties to halt the

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Sri Lanka troops enter last rebel stronghold: military

by Amal Jayasinghe

COLOMBO, Feb 28, 2009 (AFP) - Sri Lankan troops entered the last urban area held by Tamil Tigers, the defence ministry said Saturday, as the UN repeated calls for the rebels to free civilians in the war zone.

Government forces fought their way Friday into the small town of Puthukkudiriruppu, despite heavy resistance from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and fought pitched battles elsewhere, the ministry said.

Troops who entered the town "found the LTTE's high-tech satellite communication centre" and met "stiff

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Philippine hostage makes contact: report

MANILA, Feb 28, 2009 (AFP) - One of three Red Cross workers being held by militants in the southern Philippines has re-established contact more than a week after the group was last heard from, a report said Saturday.

Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba, 37, said life in captivity was tough for her and colleagues Eugenio Vagni of Italy and Andreas Notter of Switzerland and called on government negotiators to step up efforts to secure their release.

The three have been held in captivity in the jungle on southern Jolo island for 44 days. They were seized by

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Afghan president orders elections by April

by Sardar Ahmad

KABUL, Feb 28, 2009 (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered Saturday that presidential elections be held by April, months earlier than the August 20 date set by a voting authority grappling with security and logistics issues.

In a decree that comes after weeks of consultations about a date for the war-torn nation's second-ever presidential vote, Karzai said the Independent Election Commission had to conduct the poll according to the constitution.

Without specifically announcing a date, he cited an article of the constitution that says the vote must be held

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Dengue outbreak threatening Bolivia's neighbors

LA PAZ, Feb 28, 2009 (AFP) - Bolivia's dengue fever epidemic, which has left at least 20 dead in recent weeks, is "unprecedented" and could affect neighboring countries, Health Minister Ramiro Tapia warned Saturday.

"This is an unprecedented epidemic," Tapia said on state television TVB, calling on the population to acknowledge the full and serious extent of the outbreak.

"Bolivians must be aware of the seriousness of the disease and all -- national and local government, municipalities and individuals -- must help fight the disease."

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DR Congo violence might halt Nord-Kivu aid: UN

GENEVA, Feb 27, 2009 (AFP) - UN relief agencies warned Friday that growing violence in Democratic Republic of Congo's northeastern Nord-Kivu province could force them to curtail vital relief aid for thousands of people.

"This increase in insecurity could force humanitarian agencies to reduce their operations or limit them," said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"Should this happen, it could have disastrous consquences for the population," she told journalists.

About one million people are displaced

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UN braces for Sri Lankans fleeing conflict

GENEVA, Feb 27, 2009 (AFP) - The UN refugee agency said Friday it was preparing for the arrival of tens of thousands of displaced people fleeing the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka over the coming weeks.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had received three acres of land from the government to set up, by the end of the week, a camp for 42,000 people.

But it warned that it needs to double that capacity.

"UNHCR is urging the government to continue to make necessary preparations to receive and accommodate the

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Around 50 killed in south Sudan fighting this week: UN

KHARTOUM, Feb 27, 2009 (AFP) - Fighting in the key southern city of Malakal this week has killed some 50 people and left another 100 wouned, a UN official said on Friday.

"According to our estimates, drawn from on-the-ground observations and different sources, the violence has resulted in about 50 deaths and 100 wounded" among both combattants and the civilian population, the official said.

Fighting erupted on Tuesday between former rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which now runs south

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Two dead in Madagascar protest: police

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 27, 2009 (AFP) - Two people were killed Friday and 13 were injured as security forces broke up an opposition protest in southern Madagascar, police and organisers said.

"Two people died when an opposition gathering was dispersed in Fianarantsoa," spokeswoman Lala Rakotonirina told AFP.

Thirteen people were also "seriously injured" and taken to hospital, a rally organiser told AFP from the town, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of the capital Antananarivo.

Details on the precise circumstances

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US gives 21 mln dollars aid to WFP in Central Africa

BANGUI, Feb 27, 2009 (AFP) - The United States has given 20.7 million dollars (16.3 million euros) to the UN World Food Programme to help displaced people in the Central African Republic, the UN agency announced Friday.

The funds were for 14,450 tonnes of food for displaced people in the deeply impoverished, landlocked central African country, which has been wracked by years of insurgency, military uprisings and coups d'etat.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and relief charities estimate the number of

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Palestinians meet for unity talks after prisoner deal

by Sakher Abu El Oun

CAIRO, Feb 26, 2009 (AFP) - Rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas are holding reconciliation talks brokered by Egypt on Thursday aimed at paving the way for the creation of a unity government.

On the eve of the talks, the feuding factions agreed to resolve the fate of prisoners detained by both sides, a key stumbling block in reconciliation efforts, and stop a war of words being played out in the media.

The stakes are high as billions of dollars of funds to rebuild the Gaza Strip after Israel's war on the territory

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Beshir pledges 'free' elections in Sudan

KHARTOUM, Feb 26, 2009 (AFP) - President Omar al-Beshir, who faces a possible arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Darfur, said on Thursday he wanted to hold "free" elections soon to guarantee stability in Sudan.

"I am looking forward to holding free elections in the near future and I ask all parties to prepare themselves for the next elections," Beshir told opposition party leaders.

"There is no security and economic stability without political stability," said Beshir, who was speaking

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Mugabe eyes fresh Zimbabwe elections in two years

by Fanuel Jongwe

HARARE, Feb 26, 2009 (AFP) - President Robert Mugabe said Zimbabwe could hold fresh elections in two years, and refused to back down on his choices for central bank chief and other top posts, in an interview with state media Thursday.

Mugabe, 85, said in the Herald newspaper that the new unity government with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, formed only two weeks ago, was a temporary solution until the parties could agree on a new constitution and fresh polls.

"We are an interim arrangement. We are not a permanent inclusive government," Mugabe said.

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New Somali government sets security as top priority

BRUSSELS, Feb 26, 2009 (AFP) - Somalia's foreign minister vowed Thursday that security would be the new government's priority, as hardline Islamists ramped up an onslaught against newly-elected President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

"Security is the number one issue," Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullah Omar told reporters in Brussels, after presenting the cabinet's programme to representatives from some 15 countries, the United Nations and the EU.

"The opponents must see that the goverment has strength," he said.

His remarks came a day after Somali Islamists

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