Thai govt lifts emergency in more provinces

July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 20 (Reuters) – Thailand’s government said on Tuesday it was lifting a state of emergency in three provinces but it would remain in force in others including Bangkok, after being imposed in April to help authorities cope with political unrest.

The government had lifted the emergency in five provinces on July 6 when the initial period came to an end, but extended it for another three months in other areas covering a quarter of the country because it said anti-government elements still posed a threat.

The state of emergency bans political gatherings of more than five people and gives the government powers to censor the media. It also gives broad powers to the security forces, including the right to detain suspects without charge. (Reporting by Pracha Harirasapitak; Editing by Alan Raybould)

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Timeline: Unrest in Kyrgyzstan’s south

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Here is a timeline on Kyrgyzstan in the past five years:

March 21, 2005 – Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second biggest city, falls to opposition control as protests sweep across the south to demand the resignation of President Askar Akayev.

March 24 – Kyrgyzstan’s opposition declares itself in power after seizing key buildings as Akayev vanishes after protests.

March 25 – Opposition party leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev is named acting president. Akayev confirms reports he has left the country, but says he has not resigned.

March 28 – Kyrgyzstan’s new parliament takes over and confirms Bakiyev as prime minister as well as acting president.

July 10 – Bakiyev wins presidential elections.

November 8, 2006 – Parliament adopts a new constitution reducing the president’s powers.

February 19, 2009 – Parliament votes to close the only U.S. air base in Central Asia. Washington later agrees to pay $180 million to Kyrgyzstan to keep the base open.

March 17, 2010 – Thousands of Kyrgyz protesters threaten to oust Bakiyev if he fails to accept their demands within a week.

April 3 – Visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on Kyrgyzstan to protect human rights after protesters shout “help us” as he drove to parliament.

April 7 – Bakiyev orders a state of emergency in Bishkek and three other areas after police clash with protesters. He later flees to southern Kyrgyzstan, his traditional power base.

April 8 – Opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva says she is taking over the president’s and government’s responsibilities.

April 12 – The U.S. welcomes statements from the interim government that it will abide by agreements covering the U.S. air base that supports military operations in Afghanistan.

April 15 – The ousted president Bakiyev leaves Kyrgyzstan for Kazakhstan. At least 85 people are killed in the upheaval.

April 27 – The interim government says it has charged Bakiyev with “mass killing.”

May 13 – Bakiyev supporters seize control of government buildings in the cities of Osh, Jalalabad and Batken. A day later the interim government says it has regained control.

May 19 – A state of emergency is declared in Jalalabad after two people die and 74 are injured in clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan.

– Otunbayeva’s government says she will act as president until the end of 2011, after which she will be replaced.

June 10/11 – Ethnic conflict between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks flares up in Osh and the southern region. The interim government declares a state of emergency.

June 13 – Bakiyev issues a statement from Belarus denying he is behind the clashes.

June 18 – The United Nations says 300,000 are displaced in Kyrgyzstan and another 100,000 people have crossed over into Uzbekistan. June 20 – The government extends state of emergency in Osh and three surrounding regions until June 25.

June 21 – Otunbayeva pledges to press ahead with a referendum on June 27.Security forces clash with ethnic Uzbeks near Osh killing at least two. At least 250 people have been killed and the interim government says it could be up to 2,000.

June 27 – Kyrgyz vote in referendum that new rulers hope will pave the way for the creation of Central Asia’s first parliamentary democracy.

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TIMELINE-Unrest in Kyrgyzstan’s south

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan voted on Sunday in a referendum whether to become Central Asia’s first parliamentary democracy after a wave of ethnic bloodshed.

Here is a timeline on Kyrgyzstan in the past five years:

March 21, 2005 – Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second biggest city, falls to opposition control as protests sweep across the south to demand the resignation of President Askar Akayev.

March 24 – Kyrgyzstan’s opposition declares itself in power after seizing key buildings as Akayev vanishes after protests.

March 25 – Opposition party leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev is named acting president. Akayev confirms reports he has left the country, but says he has not resigned.

March 28 – Kyrgyzstan’s new parliament takes over and confirms Bakiyev as prime minister as well as acting president.

July 10 – Bakiyev wins presidential elections.

Nov. 8, 2006 – Parliament adopts a new constitution reducing the president’s powers.

Feb. 19, 2009 – Parliament votes to close the only U.S. air base in Central Asia. Washington later agrees to pay $180 million to Kyrgyzstan to keep the base open.

March 17, 2010 – Thousands of Kyrgyz protesters threaten to oust Bakiyev if he fails to accept their demands within a week.

April 3 – Visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on Kyrgyzstan to protect human rights after protesters shout “help us” as he drove to parliament.

April 7 – Bakiyev orders a state of emergency in Bishkek and three other areas after police clash with protesters. He later flees to southern Kyrgyzstan, his traditional power base.

April 8 – Opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva says she is taking over the president’s and government’s responsibilities.

April 12 – The U.S. welcomes statements from the interim government that it will abide by agreements covering the U.S. air base that supports military operations in Afghanistan.

April 15 – The ousted president Bakiyev leaves Kyrgyzstan for Kazakhstan. At least 85 people are killed in the upheaval.

April 27 – The interim government says it has charged Bakiyev with “mass killing”.

May 13 – Bakiyev supporters seize control of government buildings in the cities of Osh, Jalalabad and Batken. A day later the interim government says it has regained control.

May 19 – A state of emergency is declared in Jalalabad after two people die and 74 are injured in clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan.

– Otunbayeva’s government says she will act as president until the end of 2011, after which she will be replaced.

June 10/11 – Ethnic conflict between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks flares up in Osh and the southern region. The interim government declares a state of emergency.

June 13 – Bakiyev issues a statement from Belarus denying he is behind the clashes.

June 18 – The United Nations says 300,000 are displaced in Kyrgyzstan and another 100,000 people have crossed over into Uzbekistan. June 20 – The government extends state of emergency in Osh and three surrounding regions until June 25.

June 21 – Otunbayeva pledges to press ahead with a referendum on June 27.Security forces clash with ethnic Uzbeks near Osh killing at least two.At least 250 people have been killed and the interim government says it could be up to 2,000.

June 27 – Kyrgyz vote in referendum that new rulers hope will pave the way for the creation of Central Asia’s first parliamentary democracy.

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Kyrgyz forces remove barricades, Uzbeks still wary

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

OSH, Kyrgyzstan, June 20 (Reuters) – Kyrgyz forces started removing barriers dividing the city of Osh on Sunday as the government extended a state of emergency in some regions where up to 2,000 people have been killed in ethnic clashes.

But cars, tyres and piles of scrap metal remained in place across alleys in central Osh leading to burnt-out neighbourhoods occupied by ethnic Uzbeks, still fearful of more violence.

“We have become like Palestinians. They attack us with rifles while we can use only stones,” said Mavlyuda Mamadzhanova, 53, an ethnic Uzbek who fled her home when it was attacked.

The ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan have killed 2,000 people and uprooted 400,000, who are crammed into squalid camps on Kyrgyzstan’s sun-parched border with Uzbekistan with little access to clean water or food. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For related news stories click on [ID:nLDE65A145] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The United States and Russia, which both operate military air bases in the Muslim country, are concerned that turmoil in Kyrgyzstan could spread to other parts of Central Asia, a vast former Soviet region north of Afghanistan.

The violence erupted on June 10 with coordinated attacks by unidentified individuals in balaclavas and quickly led to fierce fighting between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.

Mainly Uzbek households were attacked in three days of unrest, with entire neighbourhoods burned to the ground. The United Nations says an estimated 1 million people were affected.

INTERIM GOVERNMENT

Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva, whose government assumed power after Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown as president on April 7, has struggled to assert control in the south.

On Sunday, the interim government extended the state of emergency in Osh and three surrounding regions until June 25, two days before it plans to hold a referendum on constitutional reform that would devolve more power to a prime minister.

Russia said its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “underscored the importance of the June 27 referendum … for stabilising the situation” during a phone call on Sunday.

Authorities say barricades must be removed to help restore normal life. A few shops reopened along the main Navoi Street.

“They are ethnic Uzbeks, but they are Kyrgyz citizens. They are not restricted in their movements,” said a Kyrgyz security official at a checkpoint, who declined to give his name. Armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, he wore a T-shirt and dark glasses.

However, Uzbek residents are afraid of more violence.

“We no longer trust these patrols. Last time, they only cleared the way for these gangs,” said Hairulla Jalalov, 53, who was helping coordinate refugees in an outlying district of Osh. He said the cut above his eye was caused by a stray bullet.

Sabir Mirzasharibov, 42, a construction worker in central Osh, said there would be no escape should more clashes break out: “We will die and that’s that. We’ve got no other way out.”

DESPERATE CONDITIONS

The U.S. envoy for Central Asia, Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, on Saturday urged Kyrgyzstan to create conditions for a safe return of refugees.

Kyrgyzstan’s tiny, under-equipped army has struggled to bring order to the south and security worries have prevented relief organisations reaching the worst-affected areas.

Besides camps on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, some refugees are living in desperate conditions on the outskirts of Osh.

One such district, Dekhkan Kishlak, houses around 1,500 refugees, some of them living in concrete stables and kennels used to breed fighting dogs.

“I know nothing certain about our future,” said Ergash Akhmetzhanov, 76. “Most probably we will have to go to the other life. We have nothing left.”

Kyrgyzstan is a patchwork of tribes and clans and Bakiyev’s departure has set off a fierce fight for control over money in a country that lies on a drug trafficking route from Afghanistan.

There has always been rivalry between Kyrgyz people and traditionally richer Uzbeks. Observers say Bakiyev loyalists are playing on ethnic divisions to try to regain power.

The interim government has accused supporters of the former president of igniting the violence. Bakiyev, an ethnic Kyrgyz currently in exile in Belarus, has denied any involvement. (Writing by Robin Paxton and Steve Gutterman; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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Kyrgyz forces remove barricades, Uzbeks wary

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

OSH, Kyrgyzstan, June 20 (Reuters) – Kyrgyz forces started removing barriers dividing the burnt-out city of Osh on Sunday as the government extended a state of emergency in some regions where up to 2,000 people have died in ethnic clashes.

A Reuters reporter said authorities had removed makeshift barriers in central Osh, but cars, tyres and piles of scrap metal remained in place across alleys leading to neighbourhoods occupied by ethnic Uzbeks, still fearful of more violence.

“Look at the situation we have in this town. Why should we be in any hurry to dismantle this?” said Sabir Mirzasharibov, 42, an ethnic Uzbek construction worker.

Ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan have caused 2,000 deaths and uprooted 400,000 people, who are crammed into squalid camps on Kyrgyzstan’s sun-parched border with Uzbekistan with little access to clean water or food.

The United States and Russia, which both operate military air bases in the strategic Muslim country, are concerned that turmoil in Kyrgyzstan could spread to other parts of Central Asia, a vast former Soviet region north of Afghanistan.

The violence erupted on June 10 with coordinated attacks by unidentified individuals in balaclavas and quickly led to fierce fighting between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, witnesses said.

Mainly Uzbek households were attacked in three days of unrest, with entire neighbourhoods burned to the ground. The United Nations says an estimated 1 million people were affected.

Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva, whose government assumed power after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown in a revolt on April 7, has struggled to assert control in the shattered south.

On Sunday, the interim government extended the state of emergency in Osh and three surrounding regions until June 25, two days before it plans to hold a referendum on constitutional reform that would devolve more power to a prime minister.

It is also enforcing a night-time curfew in Osh.

Kyrgyz authorities in the city say the barricades should be removed to help restore normal life. Tree trunks, a truck-mounted crane and a bus had been removed and a few shops reopened along the main Navoi Street, named after a mediaeval Uzbek poet.

“They are ethnic Uzbeks, but they are Kyrgyz citizens. They are not restricted in their movements,” said a Kyrgyz security official at a police checkpoint, who declined to give his name. Armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, he was dressed in a T-shirt and dark glasses.

However, Uzbek residents are afraid of more violence.

Mirzasharibov said he and many Uzbeks would never leave their home region for good. Asked what he would do if clashes resumed, he said: “We will die and that’s that. We’ve got no other way out.”

DESPERATE CONDITIONS

The official death toll is about 190 but the government says it is probably 10 times higher.

The U.S. envoy for Central Asia on Saturday urged Kyrgyzstan to create conditions for a safe return of refugees.

Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, speaking after talks with Kyrgyz officials, said an international investigation must be held into the possible causes of the violence.

Kyrgyzstan’s tiny, under-equipped army has struggled to bring order to the south and relief organisations have been unable to reach the worst-affected areas for security reasons.

Besides camps on either side of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, some refugees are living in desperate conditions on the outskirts of Osh.

Kyrgyzstan is a patchwork of tribes and clans and Bakiyev’s departure has set off a fierce fight for control over money in a country that lies on a drug trafficking route from Afghanistan.

There has always been rivalry between Kyrgyz people and traditionally richer Uzbeks. Observers say Bakiyev loyalists are playing on ethnic divisions to try to regain power.

The interim government has accused supporters of the former president of igniting the violence. Bakiyev, an ethnic Kyrgyz currently in exile in Belarus, has denied any involvement. (For related news stories click on [ID:nLDE65A145])) (Writing by Robin Paxton; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

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Timeline: New clashes in Kyrgyzstan’s south

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Here is a timeline on Kyrgyzstan in the last five years:

March 21, 2005 – Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second biggest city, falls to opposition control as protests sweep across the country’s south to demand the resignation of President Askar Akayev.

March 23 – Police violently break up a protest in the capital, Bishkek, and the interior minister says prepared to use force and weapons to restore order.

March 24 – Kyrgyzstan’s opposition declares itself in power after seizing key buildings as Akayev vanishes after protests.

March 25 – Opposition party leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev is named acting president. Akayev confirms reports he has left the country, but says he has not resigned.

March 28 – Kyrgyzstan’s new parliament takes over and confirms Bakiyev as prime minister as well as acting president.

July 10 – Bakiyev wins presidential elections.

November 8, 2006 – Parliament adopts a new constitution reducing the president’s powers. The opposition, which had staged days of protests calling on the president to quit if he would not cede to their demands, hailed the vote as a victory.

February 19, 2009 – Parliament votes to close the only U.S. air base in Central Asia. Washington later agrees to pay $180 million to Kyrgyzstan to keep the base open.

March 17, 2010 – Thousands of Kyrgyz protesters threaten to oust Bakiyev if he fails to accede to their demands within a week, five years after violent protests propelled him to power.

April 3 – Visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on Kyrgyzstan to protect human rights after protesters shout “help us” as he drove to parliament.

April 7 – Bakiyev orders a state of emergency in Bishkek and three other areas after police clash with protesters. He later flees to southern Kyrgyzstan, his traditional power base.

– Some 1,000 people storm the prosecutor-general’s office in the capital.

– Plumes of smoke billow from the White House, the main seat of government, as crowds rampage through the building.

– Opposition activists also take control of state television channel KTR.

April 8 – Opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva says she is taking over the president’s and government’s responsibilities. She says the government has resigned and the opposition is negotiating the resignation of Bakiyev.

– Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks to Otunbayeva effectively recognizing her government.

April 9 – Otunbayeva says she will guarantee the safety of Bakiyev and allow him to leave the country if he resigns.

April 12 – The U.S. welcomes statements from the interim government that it will abide by agreements covering a U.S. air base that supports military operations in Afghanistan.

April 15 – The ousted president Bakiyev leaves Kyrgyzstan for Kazakhstan. At least 85 people are killed in the upheaval.

April 27 – The interim government says it has charged Bakiyev with “mass killing” and has formally prepared an extradition request.

May 4 – Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko says he will not hand over Bakiyev to face charges over the violent upheaval last month.

May 13 – Bakiyev supporters seize control of government buildings in the cities of Osh, Jalalabad and Batken, kidnap the governor of Jalalabad region and try to take control of the area’s main airport in Osh.

May 14 – The interim government says it has regained control across the south after at least two people die in violent clashes with supporters of the ousted president.

May 19 – A state of emergency is declared in Jalalabad after two people die and 74 are injured in clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan.

– Otunbayeva’s government says she will act as president until the end of 2011, after which she will be replaced.

June 11 – At least 17 people are killed and 253 wounded as ethnic conflict flares up in Osh and in the southern region.

– The interim government declares a state of emergency in four southern regions.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

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Timeline: New clashes in Kyrgyzstan’s south

June 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Here is a timeline on Kyrgyzstan in the last five years:

March 21, 2005 – Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second biggest city, falls to opposition control as protests sweep across the country’s south to demand the resignation of President Askar Akayev.

March 23 – Police violently break up a protest in the capital, Bishkek, and the interior minister says prepared to use force and weapons to restore order.

March 24 – Kyrgyzstan’s opposition declares itself in power after seizing key buildings as Akayev vanishes after protests.

March 25 – Opposition party leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev is named acting president. Akayev confirms reports he has left the country, but says he has not resigned.

March 28 – Kyrgyzstan’s new parliament takes over and confirms Bakiyev as prime minister as well as acting president.

July 10 – Bakiyev wins presidential elections.

November 8, 2006 – Parliament adopts a new constitution reducing the president’s powers. The opposition, which had staged days of protests calling on the president to quit if he would not cede to their demands, hailed the vote as a victory.

February 19, 2009 – Parliament votes to close the only U.S. air base in Central Asia. Washington later agrees to pay $180 million to Kyrgyzstan to keep the base open.

March 17, 2010 – Thousands of Kyrgyz protesters threaten to oust Bakiyev if he fails to accede to their demands within a week, five years after violent protests propelled him to power.

April 3 – Visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on Kyrgyzstan to protect human rights after protesters shout “help us” as he drove to parliament.

April 7 – Bakiyev orders a state of emergency in Bishkek and three other areas after police clash with protesters. He later flees to southern Kyrgyzstan, his traditional power base.

– Some 1,000 people storm the prosecutor-general’s office in the capital.

– Plumes of smoke billow from the White House, the main seat of government, as crowds rampage through the building.

– Opposition activists also take control of state television channel KTR.

April 8 – Opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva says she is taking over the president’s and government’s responsibilities. She says the government has resigned and the opposition is negotiating the resignation of Bakiyev.

– Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin speaks to Otunbayeva effectively recognizing her government.

April 9 – Otunbayeva says she will guarantee the safety of Bakiyev and allow him to leave the country if he resigns.

April 12 – The U.S. welcomes statements from the interim government that it will abide by agreements covering a U.S. air base that supports military operations in Afghanistan.

April 15 – The ousted president Bakiyev leaves Kyrgyzstan for Kazakhstan. At least 85 people are killed in the upheaval.

April 27 – The interim government says it has charged Bakiyev with “mass killing” and has formally prepared an extradition request.

May 4 – Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko says he will not hand over Bakiyev to face charges over the violent upheaval last month.

May 13 – Bakiyev supporters seize control of government buildings in the cities of Osh, Jalalabad and Batken, kidnap the governor of Jalalabad region and try to take control of the area’s main airport in Osh.

May 14 – The interim government says it has regained control across the south after at least two people die in violent clashes with supporters of the ousted president.

May 19 – A state of emergency is declared in Jalalabad after two people die and 74 are injured in clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan.

– Otunbayeva’s government says she will act as president until the end of 2011, after which she will be replaced.

June 11 – At least 17 people are killed and 253 wounded as ethnic conflict flares up in Osh and in the southern region.

– The interim government declares a state of emergency in four southern regions.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

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INTERVIEW – Thai PM says election possible early next year

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thai Prime Minsiter Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday that an emergency decree would remain in place for now, but the situation was calm and an election was possible early next year.

Abhisit, in an interview, also said economic growth in the second quarter could exceed 6 percent and full-year growth could be close to 6 percent. He expected no rush by the central bank to raise rates as that would depend on recovery and inflation.

The prime minister said he wanted a quick end to emergency measures, imposed on about a third of the country amid the most violent protests in the country’s modern history between security forces and “red shirt” anti-government protesters.

But they would remain in place for now.

“I think people understand that this is needed to make sure that we can curb some of the remaining activities as far as those who want to use violent means are concerned,” Abhisit told Reuters on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting.

Things were calm, he said, but “feelings could run high”.

“We want to do it as soon as possible,” he said.

“And what we’re waiting now is to make sure that everything’s in place, the police, the governors who’ll be the ones to tell us that they are confident to deal with the situation without added special power granted by the state of emergency.”

An early election, focal point of the protests, could solve problems and lead to reconciliation.

“If we pursue the reconciliation plan, if we get good cooperation, especially from people in the opposition, I think we could look at elections sooner rather than later,” he said.

The mostly poor rural and urban protesters, broadly allied with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, blame authorities for the violence during which 88 people were killed.

Protesters, camped out in Bangkok for six weeks, had demanded an early election, saying Abhisit had no popular mandate and had come to power illegitimately in a parliamentary vote.

On the economy, Abhisit 12 percent gross domestic product growth in the first quarter had been “very impressive”. Forecasts had been cut back, but he hoped to achieve 6 percent for 2010, exceeding a state planning agency projection of 3.5-4.5 percent.

Interest rates had been kept at a record low of 1.25 percent since April 2009 to help revive the economy and any central bank move to raise them, he said, would depend on annual inflation, which picked up to 3.5 percent in May from April’s 3.0 percent.

“I don’t think they will be in a rush to raise interest rates, but obviously that will depend on how strong a recovery we see and how much upward pressure there is on inflation,” he said.

(Editing by Ron Popeski)

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One dead in volcanic eruption in Guatemala

May 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Guatemala City/Quito, May 29 (DPA) At least one reporter was killed in a volcanic eruption in the Central American state of Guatemala overnight Friday, officials reported.

The authorities did not immediately confirm two further deaths, which had been reported earlier.

Several people were injured in the eruption of the Pacaya volcano, and Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared a state of emergency in the area, affecting the provinces of Guatemala and Esquintla.

Guatemala City, which is home to about 3 million people, also saw effects of the eruption. Ash and sand fell on the city, causing traffic chaos, and the airport was temporarily closed, until the sand could be removed from the runways. Lessons were suspended at schools and universities.

Television reporter Anibal Archila had travelled to the volcano with his team, in order to report on the eruption. He was hit and killed by falling debris.

In San Jose Calderas, San Francisco and other villages in the area, debris damaged the roofs of precarious houses. People ran out of their homes in panic, the daily La Prensa reported. The villages of El Rodeo and El Patrocinio, around five km away from the volcano, were also impacted by the eruption.

The country’s seismological institute Insivumeh said that the volcano shot ash more than 1,500 metres into the atmosphere. Around 1,800 people were evacuated to safety from the endangered region after the Pacaya volcano eruption.

The Pacaya, 2,500 metres high, is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America. It lies 26 km south of Guatemala City.

Also Friday, Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute reported a volcanic eruption, which it described as ‘large’ on the Tungurahua, 130 km from Quito.

The eruption of the Tungurahua, which stands 5,010 metres high, led to the evacuation of the nearby villages of Cusua and Juive Grande. Experts said the volcano let off a 7,000-metre-tall column of ash along with pyroclastic flow.

The Tungarahua’s eruptive process started in 1999, although the level of alert has varied since then. Four years ago, a strong eruption caused damage to roads and agriculture.

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Shadow of emergency dulls Buddha birth anniversary in Nepal

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kathmandu, May 27 (IANS) The shadow of emergency and President’s rule only a day away dulled Buddha Purnima festivities in Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha, even as the world celebrated the 2,554th birth anniversary of the apostle of peace and non-violence Thursday.

Lumbini, the town in southern Nepal along the Indian border where the founder of Buddhism was born in a princely family, observed the event amidst uncertainty as an unprecedented constitutional crisis lurked from Friday midnight.

Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav and embattled Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who is fighting a protracted demand by the opposition for his resignation, cancelled their scheduled visits to Lumbini to attend Thursday’s religious celebrations as a war-like situation deepened in the capital with the major parties still at loggerheads.

Talks continued to break down between the ruling alliance and the opposition Maoist party and the nation faced the danger of parliament and the government dissolving from Friday midnight, when a constitutional deadline expires.

As per a peace accord signed between the parties and the former Maoist guerrillas four years ago, a new constitution written by the people themselves is to be promulgated by May 28.

However, the parties have failed to complete the task due to a bitter squabble over power-sharing for nearly two years.

The Maoists, who fought a 10-year war for the people’s constitution, want the prime minister to resign and lead the government since they emerged as the biggest party after elections in 2008.

The prime minister, however, has been steadfastly refusing to quit. Instead, he is asking the Maoists to help amend the constitutional deadline and disband their guerrilla army, which has nearly 20,000 combatants.

With neither side ready to back down, President’s rule and a state of emergency looms over the country.

On Thursday, in a bid to avert the disaster, the president summoned the three leaders of the three largest parties, including the Maoists, and urged them to reach an agreement at the earliest.

Time has begun running out with parliament sitting Friday to decide on the constitutional deadline.

The ruling parties have proposed that it be extended. The Maoists, on the other hand, have warned they would veto it unless the prime minister steps down.

The 601-member parliament will see a vote Friday where neither side can win on its own since a constitutional amendment requires two-third of the lawmakers to agree.

The president, who may willy-nilly find himself at the helm of the government from Friday midnight, has also held consultations with the prime minister about the future course of action.

Ironically, the new crisis comes just two years after Nepal went through a turbulent pro-democracy protest against its royal family and the Hindu kingdom was declared a secular republic.

On Saturday, a day after the midnight crisis, the country is scheduled to celebrate Republic Day.

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Drug-linked violence shakes Jamaica capital, 31 dead

May 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Jamaican soldiers and police skirmished on Tuesday with armed supporters of a fugitive alleged drug lord facing US extradition in the third day of violence that has killed 31 people, mostly young civilians.

The sound of intermittent gunfire echoed through parts of the Caribbean tourist island’s capital Kingston, as members of the security forces carried out door-to-door searches for Christopher “Dudus” Coke, 42. The United States is seeking his extradition on drugs and gun-running charges.

Police spokesman Karl Angell said 26 civilians were killed and 25 injured in the teeming Tivoli Gardens slum of West Kingston, Coke’s “garrison” stronghold, where US prosecutors say he commands an army of young gunmen.

Many were killed when heavily armed soldiers and police stormed the slum on Monday hunting for Coke. The dead included three members of the security forces.

Angell said police had detained more than 200 people and seized firearms.

US prosecutors have described Coke as the leader of the “Shower Posse,” which murdered hundreds of people by showering them with bullets during the cocaine wars of the 1980s.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who declared a state of emergency in two Kingston parishes on Sunday, defended the tough security operation launched in Tivoli Gardens.

“We are facing a crisis … The measures are extraordinary, but they are extraordinary responses to extraordinary actions taken by some,” Golding told parliament. He said the limited state of emergency would remain in force for one month.

Two of the dead civilians were shot dead by suspected supporters of Coke in Spanish Town, 14 miles west of Kingston, late on Monday, authorities said.

The sharply increased death toll followed reports from residents of numerous civilian casualties during Monday’s assault on Tivoli Gardens. Residents complained on Tuesday of being “roughed up” and kept inside their homes by soldiers.

“We are hungry, we have no food and we cannot go outside,” one woman told Reuters by telephone. “Some of us are desperate. Whenever we try to go outside our homes, the soldiers chase us back in and tell us to stay inside,” she said.

“UNDER SIEGE BY CRIMINALS”

Some of the residents had reported military helicopters dropped explosives on the ramshackle slum district on Monday.

Information Minister Daryl Vaz denied this but said the government was determined to fight crime, which has in the past damaged Jamaica’s position as a popular vacation destination for US and European visitors.

“This country is under siege by criminals and the time has come where it is going to be dealt with and this government is prepared to deal with it,” Vaz said.

The violence erupted when suspected gangland supporters of Coke shot up or set fire to five police stations and staged carjackings and looting sprees in downtown Kingston on Sunday.

The unrest, which also disrupted flights in and out of Kingston airport, prompted the US State Department to warn Americans against travel to the city and surrounding areas.

Some business leaders have complained of a sharp hit to tourism. But officials said the violence had had no impact so far on the island’s bauxite, sugar and banana production.

The United States requested Coke’s extradition in August last year but Jamaica initially refused, alleging that evidence against him had been gathered through illegal wiretaps.

An arrest warrant to begin extradition proceedings against Coke was finally issued last week. He was indicted in Manhattan in 2009 on charges of conspiracy to traffic in drugs and guns, charges that carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

He is accused of running a vast smuggling ring that exports cocaine and marijuana to New York and sends guns back to Jamaica. The US indictment alleges that Coke has controlled Tivoli Gardens since the early 1990s and describes the neighborhood as a “garrison” community guarded by armed men who erect barricades and act at his direction.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States still hoped to have Coke turned over.

“We filed the extradition request with Jamaica last year and the government has recently decided to arrest him. Obviously they would have to go through a legal process to evaluate whether extradition is appropriate under Jamaican law,” he said.

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30 killed in drug related clashes in Jamaica

May 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Mexico City, May 26 (DPA) At least 26 civilians were killed in the Jamaican capital of Kingston as police stormed a drug gangster’s stronghold and violence spread to outlying regions, local media reported Tuesday.

The deaths confirmed by the Jamaica Constabulary Force would bring to 30 the number of people, including three members of the security forces, killed since clashes began over the weekend.

Another 25 people have been injured and more than 200 arrested.

The clashes broke out when military and police officials attempted to arrest accused drug kingpin Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, wanted in the US on criminal charges. He is believed to be hiding in the Tivoli Gardens neighbourhood of the capital, where the clashes have centred.

Explosions were heard near the quarter in the capital, and heavy clouds of smoke rose from the area late Monday, according to local media reports.

Violence initially broke out Sunday after Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding vowed to extradite Coke to the United States.

Police reportedly came under fire in parts of West Kingston Sunday, and a police station was set ablaze after being abandoned by besieged officers who had run out of ammunition.

In response, Golding declared a month-long state of emergency in parts of the capital and outlying St Andrew, media reports from the Caribbean island said.

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Drug-linked violence shakes Jamaica capital, 31 dead

May 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Jamaican soldiers and police skirmished on Tuesday with armed supporters of a fugitive alleged drug lord facing U.S. extradition in the third day of violence that has killed 31 people, mostly young civilians.

The sound of intermittent gunfire echoed through parts of the Caribbean tourist island’s capital Kingston, as members of the security forces carried out door-to-door searches for Christopher “Dudus” Coke, 42. The United States is seeking his extradition on drugs and gun-running charges.

Police spokesman Karl Angell said 26 civilians were killed and 25 injured in the teeming Tivoli Gardens slum of West Kingston, Coke’s “garrison” stronghold, where U.S. prosecutors say he commands an army of young gunmen.

Many were killed when heavily armed soldiers and police stormed the slum on Monday hunting for Coke. The dead included three members of the security forces.

Angell said police had detained more than 200 people and seized firearms.

U.S. prosecutors have described Coke as the leader of the “Shower Posse,” which murdered hundreds of people by showering them with bullets during the cocaine wars of the 1980s.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who declared a state of emergency in two Kingston parishes on Sunday, defended the tough security operation launched in Tivoli Gardens.

“We are facing a crisis … The measures are extraordinary, but they are extraordinary responses to extraordinary actions taken by some,” Golding told parliament. He said the limited state of emergency would remain in force for one month.

Two of the dead civilians were shot dead by suspected supporters of Coke in Spanish Town, 14 miles (22 km) west of Kingston, late on Monday, authorities said.

The sharply increased death toll followed reports from residents of numerous civilian casualties during Monday’s assault on Tivoli Gardens. Residents complained on Tuesday of being “roughed up” and kept inside their homes by soldiers.

“We are hungry, we have no food and we cannot go outside,” one woman told Reuters by telephone. “Some of us are desperate. Whenever we try to go outside our homes, the soldiers chase us back in and tell us to stay inside,” she said.

“UNDER SIEGE BY CRIMINALS”

Some of the residents had reported military helicopters dropped explosives on the ramshackle slum district on Monday.

Information Minister Daryl Vaz denied this but said the government was determined to fight crime, which has in the past damaged Jamaica’s position as a popular vacation destination for U.S. and European visitors.

“This country is under siege by criminals and the time has come where it is going to be dealt with and this government is prepared to deal with it,” Vaz said.

The violence erupted when suspected gangland supporters of Coke shot up or set fire to five police stations and staged carjackings and looting sprees in downtown Kingston on Sunday.

The unrest, which also disrupted flights in and out of Kingston airport, prompted the U.S. State Department to warn Americans against travel to the city and surrounding areas.

Some business leaders have complained of a sharp hit to tourism. But officials said the violence had had no impact so far on the island’s bauxite, sugar and banana production.

The United States requested Coke’s extradition in August last year but Jamaica initially refused, alleging that evidence against him had been gathered through illegal wiretaps.

An arrest warrant to begin extradition proceedings against Coke was finally issued last week. He was indicted in Manhattan in 2009 on charges of conspiracy to traffic in drugs and guns, charges that carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

He is accused of running a vast smuggling ring that exports cocaine and marijuana to New York and sends guns back to Jamaica. The U.S. indictment alleges that Coke has controlled Tivoli Gardens since the early 1990s and describes the neighborhood as a “garrison” community guarded by armed men who erect barricades and act at his direction.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States still hoped to have Coke turned over.

“We filed the extradition request with Jamaica last year and the government has recently decided to arrest him. Obviously they would have to go through a legal process to evaluate whether extradition is appropriate under Jamaican law,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Andy Quinn and Jane Sutton; Writing by Pascal Fletcher and Tom Brown; Editing by Jackie Frank)

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Japan govt under fire over foot-and-mouth outbreak

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Japan’s government came under fire in domestic media on Tuesday for its handling of a worsening outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the latest headache for unpopular Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama with an election just months away.

Voter doubts about Hatoyama’s leadership have already slashed his ratings to around 20 percent ahead of an upper house election his party must win to avoid policy paralysis as Japan struggles to keep a recovery on track while reining in its huge debt.

Media suggested the government’s handling of the outbreak in Miyazaki, southern Japan, had been too tepid, and Hatoyama acknowledged the response might have been better.

“There may have been certain problems in terms of having done everything we could to prevent it spreading,” Kyodo news agency quoted the premier as telling reporters a day after setting up a special task force to deal with the outbreak.

On Tuesday, Miyazaki Governor Hideo Higashikokubaru declared a state of emergency in the prefecture and told residents to refrain from going outside as much as possible. Soldiers have been dispensed to help farmers cope by disposing of carcasses and infected materials.

Animals with foot-and-mouth disease were found in at least 126 farms and facilities in Miyazaki — famed for its tender, high-grade beef — with suspected cases totalling over 114,000 cows, pigs and other livestock, a prefectural official said.

“The affected areas are gradually expanding, moving southwards, although we have not confirmed any evidence of the virus spreading outside the prefecture,” the official said.

Japan suspended beef exports on April 20 after three cows were of suspected of being infected with the disease, the first cases since 2000.

Domestic media said local officials had checked a farm in the area some three weeks earlier but dismissed the possibility that water buffaloes there had the disease. The prefectural official said the animals had not shown the usual symptoms.

Agriculture Minister Hirotaka Akamatsu also came under fire for travelling abroad during Japan’s “Golden Week” holidays in late April-early May.

Some media also suggested the government was distracted by a feud over a U.S. airbase on the southern Japan island of Okinawa, with Hatoyama’s perceived mishandling of the matter contributing to his sinking support rates.

“It would be hard to say that the official response has been sufficient,” the Yomiuri newspaper said in an editorial.

(Reporting by Linda Sieg and Chikako Mogi)

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TIMELINE – Twists and turns in Thailand’s crisis

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thai troops and anti-government protesters fought on Bangkok’s streets for a third day on Saturday as the death toll rose to 16 dead and at least 141 wounded, turning the capital into a bloody battlefield.

Following is a timeline of the main developments in the current round of crisis that has battered tourism and consumer confidence and left 46 people dead and at least 1,500 wounded.

March 12 – Protesters converge on Bangkok

March 14 – Up to 150,000 protesters hold mass rally at the Phan Fah bridge in Bangkok’s old quarter

March 17 – Protesters splash bottles of their own blood outside prime minister’s home and office as a sign of their “sacrifice for democracy”

March 29 – Two days of televised talks between the government and protest leaders end without agreement. Red shirts vow to continue their fight

April 3 – Protesters seize the Rachaprasong intersection in downtown Bangkok, which is packed with shopping malls and hotels

April 6 – Up to 90,000 red shirts defy government orders by holding a mobile Bangkok rally in pickup trucks and on motorcycles

April 8 – State of emergency declared in Bangkok after red shirts force their way into parliament

April 9 – Protesters lay siege to Thaicom satellite earth station in Pathum Thani, seeking to get a blocked TV channel back on air

April 10 – Troops attempt to break up protest at Phan Fah bridge, 25 people killed and more than 800 wounded in the country’s worst clashes in 18 years

April 14 – Red shirts consolidate protests into one site at Rachaprasong

April 16 – Four red shirt leaders escape, one by scaling down a building wall on a cable, after police commandoes try to raid their hotel but are overwhelmed by protesters

April 22 – One woman is killed and more than 70 civilians injured when five M-79 grenades are launched near pro-government demonstrators in Bangkok’s Silom Road business district

April 28 – A soldier is killed and about 20 protesters wounded when clashes erupt after security forces try to block a mobile rally on a highway in Bangkok’s outskirts

May 3 – Abhisit announces a five-point reconciliation road map, culminating in a Nov 14 election

May 4 – Red shirts respond, saying they accept Abhisit’s offer, but object to election date

May 7 – Gun and grenade attacks in the heavily guarded Silom area kill two police and wound 13, among them 10 police officers

May 11 – Red shirt leaders announce they agree to Abhisit’s peace plan but make several demands that the government rejects

May 12 – Abhisit tells red shirts the deal is off and cancels plans for Nov. 14 election, giving demonstrators until midnight to end their protest or face eviction by force

May 13 – A rogue Thai general leading a militant wing of the red shirts is shot in the head and critically wounded and a man is killed when the army used force to blockade the street rally.

May 14 – Troops and protesters clash at multiple locations across Bangkok’s commercial heart, where grenades and gunshots are heard throughout the day and night.

May 15 – Clashes spread to other areas as troops struggle to isolate the protest encampment. The death toll rises to 16 with 141 wounded.

(Compiled by Martin Petty; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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TIMELINE – Twists and turns in Thailand’s crisis

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A rogue Thai general leading a militant wing of anti-government protesters was shot in the head and critically wounded on Thursday. One protester was shot in the eye and died after a group of red shirts confronted soldiers.

Following is a timeline of the main developments in the current round of crisis that has battered tourism and consumer confidence and left 29 people dead and more than 1,000 wounded.

March 12 – Protesters converge on Bangkok

March 14 – Up to 150,000 protesters hold mass rally at the Phan Fah bridge in Bangkok’s old quarter

March 17 – Protesters splash bottles of their own blood outside prime minister’s home and office as a sign of their “sacrifice for democracy”

March 29 – Two days of televised talks between the government and protest leaders end without agreement. Red shirts vow to continue their fight

April 3 – Protesters seize the Rachaprasong intersection in downtown Bangkok, which is packed with shopping malls and hotels

April 6 – Up to 90,000 red shirts defy government orders by holding a mobile Bangkok rally in pickup trucks and on motorcycles

April 8 – State of emergency declared in Bangkok after red shirts force their way into parliament

April 9 – Protesters lay siege to Thaicom satellite earth station in Pathum Thani, seeking to get a blocked TV channel back on air

April 10 – Troops attempt to break up protest at Phan Fah bridge, 25 people killed and more than 800 wounded in the country’s worst clashes in 18 years

April 14 – Red shirts consolidate protests into one site at Rachaprasong

April 16 – Four red shirt leaders escape, one by scaling down a building wall on a cable, after police commandoes try to raid their hotel but are overwhelmed by protesters

April 22 – One woman is killed and more than 70 civilians injured when five M-79 grenades are launched near pro-government demonstrators in Bangkok’s Silom Road business district

April 28 – A soldier is killed and about 20 protesters wounded when clashes erupt after security forces try to block a mobile rally on a highway in Bangkok’s outskirts

May 3 – Abhisit announces a five-point reconciliation road map, culminating in a Nov 14 election

May 4 – Red shirts respond, saying they accept Abhisit’s offer, but object to election date

May 7 – Gun and grenade attacks in the heavily guarded Silom area kill two police and wound 13, among them 10 police officers

May 11 – Red shirt leaders announce they agree to Abhisit’s peace plan but make several demands that the government rejects

May 12 – Abhisit tells red shirts the deal is off and cancels plans for Nov. 14 election, giving demonstrators until midnight to end their protest or face eviction by force

May 13 – A rogue Thai general leading a militant wing of the red shirts is shot in the head and critically wounded and a man is killed when the army used force to blockade the street rally.

(Compiled by Martin Petty; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Maoists, government begin number game after strike fails

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kathmandu, May 11 (IANS) After their six-day general strike failed to oust the ruling coalition of Nepal, the opposition Maoists have begun a number game in a renewed effort to take power while the embattled government is also doing the same to outwit the former guerrillas.

The Maoists, who emerged as the biggest party in parliament after a historic election in 2008, hold almost 38 percent of the seats in the house.

Now the former guerrillas, who fought a 10-year war to abolish monarchy in the world’s only Hindu kingdom, are wooing the fringe parties in a bid to evict the 21-party government of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.

On Tuesday, nine dissident parties that are not in the government pledged to support the Maoist bid to form a new government.

Only one of the new allies, the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, is a party of some stature. After the elections, it became the fourth-largest party and a kingmaker winning 54 of the 601 seats.

However, the party from the Terai plains has now lost its potency after a vertical split, with the other faction joining the government.

The eight other fringe parties have less than 15 MPs between them and besides moral support would be of no real use to the Maoists if they seek to bring a no-trust vote against the government.

The prime minister remains in an unassailable position since he enjoys the support of the Nepali Congress, the second largest party which together with his own party, will outpace the Maoists in any house vote.

However, as a constitutional crisis looms larger, even the prime minister has begun to court other parties since he now needs two-third majority instead of a simple one.

If Nepal fails to promulgate a new constitution by May 28, the house will be dissolved automatically and with it the government, unless the latter declares a state of emergency.

The only way out is to amend the constitution and extend the constitutional deadline.

The prime minister’s party is asking him to extend the time by another year. Following the advice, Nepal Tuesday began wooing the smaller parties not aligned with the Maoists.

However, like the former guerrillas, he too faces an uphill task as the Maoists have said they would not allow the deadline to be stretched unless the prime minister resigns first.

Also, the prime minister’s ally, the Nepali Congress, is recommending fresh elections to form a new parliament if the May 28 deadline fails.

There is also growing pressure on Nepal by the international community to quit.

May 24 is likely to be a decisive date now with the government trying to get the constitution amended by then and the Maoists warning they would start another strike if the prime minister failed to quit.

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Tornado kills 10 in Mississippi: officials

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – A tornado nearly a mile wide ripped through central Mississippi on Saturday, killing 10 people, including three children, and injuring dozens of others, state authorities said.

U.S.

The tornado struck at least 13 counties, destroying scores of homes and trapping people inside, damaging businesses, blocking highways and knocking out power to thousands, said the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Five people died in Choctaw County, four in Yazoo County and one in Holmes County, said Greg Flynn, spokesman at the agency.

Governor Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency after the first major U.S. tornado of the year.

“It has done huge damage around Yazoo City,” Barbour, who grew up in the city, told CBS television.

“We have fatalities, a number of people that we’re still trying to rescue who are trapped in buildings. But it is a major, significant tornado … and it did some huge damage and perhaps some fatalities north of here,” Barbour said.

“The Hinds County Sheriff’s Department is sending two dozen deputies and 100 inmates to assist with the response in Yazoo County and clear debris,” the emergency agency said.

The storm system has moved to Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, said Greg Carbin, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(Reporting by Peggy Gargis; Writing by Matthew Bigg; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Haiti approves key post-quake reconstruction body

April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Haiti’s parliament has approved the creation of a commission that will allow foreign donors to participate in deciding how to rebuild the poor Caribbean nation after its devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.

The bill approving the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, which was set up by an international donors conference on March 31, was passed by the Haitian Senate late on Thursday after the national assembly’s lower house had also endorsed it.

The assembly also extended a post-quake state of emergency for 18 months, corresponding to the commission’s tenure.

The joint commission, to be co-chaired by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, and by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, will determine which reconstruction projects will receive backing from multibillion-dollar funding pledged by foreign donors.

President Rene Preval is due to sign the bill into law and the president will have final veto over rebuilding projects.

Even before the catastrophic quake, which shattered the fragile and impoverished Haitian economy and killed more than 300,000 people, Haiti had a reputation for high levels of government corruption. Donors had called for guarantees of oversight and accountability in the rebuilding process.

Sitting on the commission, under the joint chair, will be an equal number of Haitian and non-Haitian representatives. The latter include officials of international organizations, multilateral lenders and major donors.

The body will operate for 18 months before handing over to a government redevelopment authority.

Thirteen senators voted for the bill, one voted against, and two abstained, but in preceding debates, Preval’s administration had to overcome arguments from some lawmakers who said the quake-hit nation was ceding sovereignty by agreeing to a foreign donor role in decision-making.

“I could not vote this law because it is against the country’s constitution and it violates our sovereignty,” said Senator Youri Latortue, who refused to back the bill.

Rejecting these fears, Preval told Haitians the operation of the commission would facilitate the release of massive reconstruction financing that will be administered through a Multi-Donor Trust Fund, to be supervised by the World Bank.

“Do we lose our sovereignty because of the creation of this commission? I think the answer is no,” Preval said recently.

MANY HAITIANS MISTRUST GOVERNMENT

At the March 31 donors’ conference in New York, foreign governments, multilateral institutions and non-governmental organizations from around the world pledged a total of $9.9 billion for Haiti’s reconstruction, $5.3 billion for the next two years alone.

The emergency measures accompanying the creation of the recovery commission authorize the Haitian government to use funds and take other measures needed for reconstruction without prior approval by parliament, and also allow it to avoid some legal and constitutional constraints.

Many Haitians have criticized what they say was the Preval government’s slow and ineffective response to the natural disaster. A poll funded last month by the international charity Oxfam showed that only 6.6 percent of Haitians believed their government alone should be left to rebuild the country.

But government supporters said the commission would help to get the reconstruction underway quicker. “We want this law to take effect as soon as possible so the population may see the concrete results of commitments made by the government and the international community,” Senator Joseph Lambert said.

International aid workers are striving to care for more than 1 million homeless Haitian quake survivors who are camped out in makeshift tent and shelter communities sprawled across the wrecked capital and in other damaged towns.

Aid workers say that unless safer, more secure shelter is found for the hundreds of thousands of homeless quake victims, the imminent rains, and the hurricane season starting on June 1, could cause another humanitarian catastrophe.

(Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Eric Beech)

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Q+A-What is going on in Thailand?

April 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

BANGKOK, April 14 (Reuters) – Thai anti-government protesters on Wednesday abandoned one of their two protest sites to congregate in a downtown Bangkok shopping district, a tactical move in preparation for what they say is “a final battle.”

At least 23 people were killed on Saturday, with hundreds wounded. The violence was a game-changing factor, which may tip the balance of power in favour of the opposition, analysts said.

So what happens now?

IS VIOLENCE ABOUT TO ERUPT AGAIN?

It is unlikely in the short term. The failed attempt to eject protesters from one of their encampments on Saturday, which turned into violent clashes, embarrassed the military. It is now going on a public relations offensive to explain that security forces were targeted by “terrorists”. The army is unlikely to come out in full force again, risking its reputation to protect Abhisit, whose political capital appears to be dwindling.

The protesters have abandoned a vulnerable protest site on a bridge in the historic part of the city and are consolidating in th Rachaprasong intersection shopping district, close to the main business area. The geography of the area, and the presence of families, tourists, expatriates in luxury hotels and apartments, make it very unlikely the troops will move in.

A state of emergency is in effect, banning public gatherings of more than five people, yet thousands remain on the streets. Army chief Anupong Paochinda said “political problems require a political solution”, another indication the army is unwilling at this point to crack down on behalf of the embattled government.

COULD ABHISIT CAVE IN?

Abhisit will likely have to dissolve parliament soon or resign. Pressure will mount on him if the protests continue to paralyse the capital’s commercial heart. The government has said it does not want to give in to mob rule but Abhisit has offered few clues as to how he will resolve the crisis.

Complicating Abhisit’s future, Thailand’s poll watchdog set in motion a procedure that could lead to the disbanding of his Democrat Party over suspected funding irregularities. A similar ruling ended a Thaksin-supported coalition government in 2008, ending a seizure of the airport by “yellow shirt” protesters.

Some in the establishment, however, are believed to be manoeuvring for Abhisit to quit, paving the way for a temporary “national unity government” that would bring all parties, including the Thaksin-allied opposition, into the fold. That could take the red shirts off the streets and buy time before fresh polls are called.

WILL THE VIOLENCE HURT THE ECONOMY?

The short answer is yes. Credit rating agencies and economists say the escalation of violence will hit tourism revenue, foreign direct investment, economic growth and the country’s ability to repay its debts.

But Thailand has had 18 coups since 1932 and protests by yellow shirts, red shirts, and others are a way of life, even if Bangkok has not seen such violence since 1992. Until the declaration of a state of emergency last week, Thailand along with the rest of Southeast Asia had seen a surge in foreign investment inflows, with $1.8 billion coming into Southeast Asia’s second largest economy from Feb. 22 to March 7.

Stocks dived over 3 percent on Monday and all eyes will be on the market when it reopens on Friday, looking for a sign of a trend. Tourism has taken a hit, but it always bounces back in what many people believe to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

IS THERE A CHANCE OF ANOTHER COUP?

It’s not totally out of the question if Abhisit’s government teeters and the influential men in green who traditionally play a pivotal role in politics risk losing behind-the-scenes clout.

The top brass is well aware that another coup will not sit well with the international community and could provoke a violent response in the bitterly divided country. Some within the army may prefer the use of “soft power” to push Abhisit out and install a new premier to buy time before the next poll is held.

Analysts say large numbers of soldiers in the lower ranks and some senior officers sympathise with the red shirts. Many of the military’s top brass are at the other end of the political spectrum, allied with royalists, business elites and the urban middle classes who wear yellow or pink at counter-protests and broadly back the 16-month-old government.

Adding to the mix is the question of succession of ageing 82-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has been hospitalised since Sept. 19, and whether an eventual succession would lead to a change in the balance of power in the military, which is traditionally closely aligned with the palace.

WHO ARE THE RED SHIRTS AND WHAT ARE THEY FIGHTING FOR?

They are mostly supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, drawing support from the rural poor, and increasingly from the urban working class.

Their formal name is the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD). They wear red shirts to distinguish themselves from the pro-establishment yellow shirts. A leader also said once that it is “a striking colour which shows our fighting spirit.”

They back Thaksin, because of his welfare and rural development policies while in office from 2001-2006. Many of them believe his conviction for corruption after he was ousted in a 2006 military coup was an attempt to keep him out of politics after the coup. Not all red shirts back Thaksin unreservedly, but all are angered by the manner of his removal and believe democracy is being undermined by powerful, unelected figures.

The red shirts say Abhisit’s coalition government is illegitimate because it was not elected but pieced together with the backing of the army in a “silent coup” in December 2008 after a ruling pro-Thaksin party was dissolved. It wants new elections, which it is confident the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai Party would win. (Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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