Blair offers justification for Iraq war

LONDON – An unrepentant Tony Blair defended his decision to join the United States in attacking Iraq, arguing Friday before a panel investigating the war that the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks made the threat of weapons of mass destruction impossible to ignore.

The former British Prime Minister said that before Sept. 11 he thought "Saddam was a menace, that he was a threat, he was a monster, but we would have to try and make the best of it."

The attacks on New York and Washington changed everything, he said.

"After that time, my view was you could not take risks with this issue at all," he said.

This is Britain's third and widest-ranging investigation of the conflict, which triggered huge protests and left 179 British troops dead. The British military withdrew from Iraq last year.

It is not intended to apportion blame or hold anyone liable for the conflict. But it could embarrass American and British officials who argued — wrongly — the war was justified because Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction and building ties with al-Qaida.

Blair appeared somber as he began his scheduled six hours of testimony. He grew feistier as the day went on, gesturing, smiling and, at times, correcting what he saw as the flawed questions of panel members. The audience in the hearing room included family members of soldiers and civilians killed or missing in Iraq — all of whom sat quietly as he testified.

Rose Gentle, whose 19-year-old son Gordon was killed in Iraq in 2004, said she felt revulsion at Blair's presence.

"Actually, I felt sick," she said. "He seemed to be shaking as well, which I am pleased about — the eyes of all the families were on him."

Emotions also ran high outside, where demonstrators chanted and read the names of civilians and military personnel killed. Some 150 protesters shouted "Jail Tony" and "Blair lied — thousands died," as police officers looked on.

The five-member panel pressed Blair on when exactly he offered U.S. President George W. Bush support for an invasion. Earlier witnesses claimed he promised it in 2002, more than a year before Britain's Parliament approved military action.

Former British ambassador to Washington Christopher Meyer told an earlier hearing that an agreement had been "signed in blood" by Bush and Blair during a meeting at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002.

"The only commitment I gave — and I gave this very openly at the time — was a commitment to deal with Saddam," Blair said. He said military options were discussed, but said he told Bush that Britain wanted to exhaust diplomatic routes before an invasion was considered.

Blair said he had not been determined from the outset to remove Saddam Hussein.

"The absolutely key issue was the WMD issue," not regime change. But he added that "if necessary — and there was no other way of dealing with this threat — we were going to remove him."

Blair said other world leaders did not share his and Bush's enthusiasm for confronting the WMD threat, even after the Sept 11 attacks.

"Although the American mindset had changed dramatically — and frankly mine had as well — when I talked to other leaders, particularly in Europe, I didn't get the same impression."

Blair acknowledged that the decision to join the war — which led to the largest public protests in a generation in London — had met with opposition in the country, and in his own Cabinet.

"The one thing I found throughout this whole matter from a very early stage is that I was never short of people challenging me on it," Blair told the panel.

The former British leader arrived at the conference center in darkness shortly before 0700GMT (0200EST) Friday, dodging demonstrators by entering the conference center through a cordoned-off rear entrance.

"Blair should not be here giving his excuses for the illegal war, he should be taken to The Hague to face criminal charges because he has committed crimes against the Iraqi people," said protester Saba Jaiwad, an Iraqi who opposed the war.

Defending his stance, Blair also repeatedly warned that modern leaders must soon take similar tough choices to deal with Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

"I hold this fear stronger today than I did back then because of what Iran is doing," Blair told the inquiry. "A large part of the destabilization in the Middle East today comes from Iran

Israel Signals Tougher Line on West Bank Protests

The Israeli Army and security forces have recently begun clamping down, arresting scores of local organizers and activists and conducting nighttime raids on the homes of others.

Nigeria Muslim-Christian clashes killed 326: police

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) – Nigerian police said Tuesday that at least 326 people died in Muslim-Christian clashes last week in the central Plateau State.

Police gave the first official death toll from authorities from days of bloodshed which broke out on January 17 in Jos, the capital of Plateau, and later spread to nearby villages and towns.

"From the figures available to the police ... 326 people were killed in the recent violence," police spokesman Mohammed Lerama told AFP.

However, other estimates from medical and aid workers and religious and community leaders put the toll at more than 550.

Christian resistance to the building of a mosque in a predominantly Christian neighbourhood sparked the violence. Other reports suggest a Muslim landowner was building a house that encroached onto property owned by a Christian.

"The clashes had no religious basis but (were) rather an affray hijacked in the name of religion by demons with a human face," said Lerama.

Leaders of both faiths have said the unrest owed more to the failure of political leaders to address ethnic differences than any religious rivalries.

The military deployed to quell the violence as it became apparent the killings were spiralling out of control for the local security forces.

Police said 313 people have so far been rounded up for suspected roles in the Jos killings.

Following the clashes in which some people in full military gear were reportedly arrested for suspected involvement, troop movements have been restricted, the army chief said on Monday.

The move was taken to avoid soldiers being dragged into the clashes or national politics amid tensions arising from President Umaru Yar'Adua's protracted absence from Nigeria for medical reasons.

"We are aware of the fact that there is tension in the country," the army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Danbazzau, told reporters in Abuja.

"We also got intelligence information that some people are trying to infiltrate our ranks," Danbazzau said.

Troops have been ordered to remain at their postings and only travel with permission to avoid attempts to pull the army into the violence.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has a history of military take-overs.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Paul Dike, warned members of the armed forces to steer clear of politics.

Yar'Adua has been undergoing treatment for a serious heart ailment in Saudi Arabia for more than two months. His absence has stalled governance across the board.

Adding to the uncertainty in the world's eighth largest oil exporter, former militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta warned Monday of signs of "restiveness" in the volatile region because of perceived let-downs by government.

Thousands of militants from the delta, in southern Nigeria, laid down arms last year under a government amnesty scheme proposed by Yar'Adua with promises of re-training and re-integration into society.

In a statement, top militant leaders Ateke Tom and Government Ekpemupolo warned that Niger Delta youths see the "lull in the implementation of the promises as a betrayal" by government, a feeling that could "further escalate" the situation.

Car bomb wounds 14 near US base in Afghan capital

KABUL – A suicide car bomber targeted a U.S. base in Kabul on Tuesday, wounding 14 people, including eight American, officials said, hours after gunmen killed four policemen in southern Afghanistan.

The car bombing was the latest attack to hit Kabul, coming just over a week after a team of Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers staged an assault that paralyzed the city and left 12 people dead. The violence has underscored fears that militants would try to stage attacks ahead of a key international conference on Afghanistan to be held Thursday in London.

The bomber detonated a minivan packed with explosives near Camp Phoenix, an American base inside Kabul, wounding at least six Afghan civilians, said Jamil Jumbish, the head of Afghanistan's criminal investigation unit.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was targeting an international military convoy, according to a text message to The Associated Press from a phone number commonly used by the militant group.

NATO forces confirmed a car bomb struck outside the main gate of Camp Phoenix, saying it was aimed at a civilian convoy that was entering the controlled checkpoint.

Eight Americans suffered minor injuries, according to a NATO official, who released the information ahead of a formal announcement on condition of anonymity. He did not say if they were troops or civilians.

Four Afghan policemen were killed overnight at a checkpoint near the Information and Cultural Affairs Ministry's directorate in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. The southern area is expected to be a major focus of fighting with the influx of 37,000 additional U.S. and NATO forces.

Taliban militants frequently target Afghan security forces and officials to undermine the U.S.-backed government, but authorities said it was not yet clear who killed the policemen.

Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said said the officers apparently had visitors and an investigation was under way into whether the attack was political or personal.

In eastern Kunar province, a NATO airstrike killed several suspected insurgents who were maneuvering into fighting position in an area previously used to stage attacks on international forces, the coalition said in a statement.

Spokeswoman Maj. Virginia McCabe said between five and 10 militants were killed.

President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that the London conference offers a major opportunity for his government to present its plans for reconciliation in an effort to drain the insurgency of support.

Karzai spoke Tuesday in Turkey after a meeting of nations that seek to help Afghanistan emerge from instability with aid, trade, training and political support. Delegates included British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that her country plans to increase its troop contingent in Afghanistan by up to 850 and focus more strongly on training local security forces.

Germany currently has nearly 4,300 soldiers in northern Afghanistan. They serve under a parliamentary mandate that sets the maximum number at 4,500; Merkel did not specify what the new upper limit might be.

In Kabul, meanwhile, security officials gave the first detailed account of how a small group of militants infiltrated the capital in the Jan. 18 attack on government buildings and a major shopping center, which left five civilians and Afghan security forces dead, along with the seven assailants.

Intelligence officials played a videotape for reporters from a man who allegedly sheltered the seven attackers — all of whom died in the attack. The alleged ringleader — who was arrested a day after the attack — said operatives from the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani militant network ordered him to the capital from his home in eastern Nangarhar province.

"I received a phone call telling me to come to Kabul," said Kamaluddin, who like many Afghans goes by one name. "The plan was organized by a commander for Jalaluddin Haqqani."

He said a man named Bashir explained that he would bring seven suicide bombers and Kamaluddin was to keep them in a house he rented in the city and help organize the attack — including painting a vehicle loaded with explosives to look like an ambulance.

Kamaluddin supplied the bombers with suicide vests and ammunition, said Sayed Ansari, a spokesman for the Afghan intelligence service. He said they were still trying to identify the lead bombers in the attack.

St. Kitts ruling party wins in early elections

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – The ruling party of St. Kitts and Nevis seized a fourth consecutive term in early elections, officials said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Denzil Douglas' Labor Party claimed six of eight parliamentary seats allotted to St. Kitts, according to preliminary results, elections supervisor Leroy Benjamin said.

The opposition People's Action Movement won two seats, one more than it had in the last elections. The Nevis-based Concerned Citizens Movement held on to its two seats, and the Nevis Reformation Party kept its single spot, he said.

Benjamin said he did not yet have a breakdown of how many votes each party received.

Neither Douglas nor opposition leader Lindsay Grant reacted immediately to the results.

Roughly 70 percent of 32,000 eligible voters participated, Benjamin said, adding that his office received no immediate reports of irregularities.

The People's Action Movement said on its Web site there were reports of people voting in the wrong districts and improperly registered voters participating.

Douglas, a physician who has been in office since 1995, campaigned on his party's efforts to boost the island's fragile economy, build roads and hospitals and continue servicing the national debt.

The People's Action Movement governed St. Kitts and Nevis from 1980 to 1995. Grant, a Harvard-educated lawyer, was named party leader in 2000.

Germany to increase Afghan contingent by up to 850

BERLIN – Germany plans to increase its troop contingent in Afghanistan by up to 850 and focus more strongly on training local security forces, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday.

Berlin plans to send 500 extra troops to Afghanistan. It also expects to adjust the parliamentary mandate under which they serve to allow for another 350 soldiers to be deployed as a "flexible reserve," to help with events such as elections if necessary, Merkel said.

She gave the figures after meeting with ministers to thrash out Germany's position for this week's London conference on the future of Afghanistan.

Germany currently has nearly 4,300 soldiers in northern Afghanistan. They serve under a parliamentary mandate that sets the maximum number at 4,500; Merkel did not specify what the new upper limit might be.

Merkel said that Germany would step up the number of soldiers involved in training Afghan forces.

She said Berlin is not setting a withdrawal date for its troops.

Germany to increase Afghan contingent by up to 850

BERLIN – Germany plans to increase its troop contingent in Afghanistan by up to 850 and focus more strongly on training local security forces, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday.

Berlin plans to send 500 extra troops to Afghanistan. It also expects to adjust the parliamentary mandate under which they serve to allow for another 350 soldiers to be deployed as a "flexible reserve," to help with events such as elections if necessary, Merkel said.

She gave the figures after meeting with ministers to thrash out Germany's position for this week's London conference on the future of Afghanistan.

Germany currently has nearly 4,300 soldiers in northern Afghanistan. They serve under a parliamentary mandate that sets the maximum number at 4,500; Merkel did not specify what the new upper limit might be.

Merkel said that Germany would step up the number of soldiers involved in training Afghan forces.

She said Berlin is not setting a withdrawal date for its troops.

British, Irish hold talks to save NIreland govt

HILLSBOROUGH, Northern Ireland – The prime ministers of Britain and Ireland held a second day of talks Tuesday with political parties in Northern Ireland as they struggled to keep the fractious Catholic-Protestant government there from collapsing.

Negotiators from the opposite sides of Northern Ireland's unraveling government — the British Protestants of the Democratic Unionists and the Irish Catholics of Sinn Fein — denounced each others' positions as they arrived for separate talks with the two premiers, who launched a surprise diplomatic effort Monday.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office issued a statement saying the talks — which halted around 3 a.m. (0300GMT) Tuesday and resumed six hours later — had been "hard going," but both premiers "remain determined that progress can be made."

Government officials would not say how long Brown and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen intended to press their case for power-sharing. If they leave without brokering a deal, prospects appear dim for sustaining Northern Ireland's coalition of former foes.

Northern Ireland's 1998 U.S.-brokered Good Friday peace accord proposed power-sharing between majority Protestants and minority Catholics as the best way to end a conflict that had claimed more than 3,600 lives since the late 1960s.

A fragile peace had already taken hold thanks to mid-1990s cease-fires by Northern Ireland's rival underground armies. Those truces have been bolstered by disarmament — but power-sharing has proven to be a crisis-prone struggle.

Sinn Fein negotiators said they expected their Protestant partners in government to make long-sought commitments to agree to let Britain hand over control of Northern Ireland's courts and police. If that does not happen within hours, their Irish nationalist party would withdraw from the 2 1/2-year-old coalition, triggering its collapse.

"I would like to be optimistic but I haven't seen much cause to be. There's a fair degree of frustration about," said Sinn Fein negotiator Conor Murphy. He rejected the notion that the current effort to reach a new agreement with the Protestant side of government could run a few more weeks.

"I think the DUP (Democratic Unionists) would like to keep sitting around tables for the next five years without any movement on any issues," Murphy said. "We're rapidly reaching the point where decisions have to be taken, and that's in a matter of hours rather than days."

A Sinn Fein withdrawal would force the dissolution of the 108-member Northern Ireland Assembly and new elections that, analysts warn, could produce even more polarized results that would make power-sharing even harder to resurrect.

A previous 1999-2002 coalition led by moderate Northern Ireland parties repeatedly broke down amid arguments about when Sinn Fein's paramilitary colleagues in the Irish Republican Army would surrender their arsenal. Britain resumed direct control of Northern Ireland, the system originally imposed at the height of bloodshed in 1972.

After the outlawed IRA finally renounced violence and disarmed in 2005, a new power-sharing push created a coalition government in 2007 led by Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists, Northern Ireland's electorally popular extremes.

Sinn Fein agreed to share power on condition that Britain handed over control of Northern Ireland's courts and police.

While Britain and Ireland back handing over control of Northern Ireland's courts and police, the Democratic Unionists have steadfastly resisted — and their negotiators stressed Tuesday they aren't willing to cave in now.

"Sinn Fein have thrown their toys out of the pram (baby carriage), they've had to get the prime ministers in, and they're threatening to bring the Assembly down," said Democratic Unionist negotiator Edwin Poots. "They really need to calm down."

"No one has to make policing and justice a deal-breaker," said another Democratic Unionist lawmaker, Nelson McCausland. "The problem is that Sinn Fein try to put pressure on, to coerce people, to browbeat and threaten people. There should be devolution of justice and policing — but it has to be at the right time, on the right terms."

For its part, Sinn Fein has rejected a Democratic Unionist demand for a British government-appointed Parades Commission to be abolished. That panel has restricted Protestant groups from parading near Sinn Fein strongholds, marches that triggered widespread riots in the mid-1990s.

Auschwitz survivor teams up with rap band

BERLIN – Esther Bejarano says music helped keep her alive as a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz and in the years that followed.

Now, 65 years after the liberation of the Nazi death camp, the 85-year-old has teamed up with a hip-hop band to spread her anti-racism message to German youth.

"It's a clash of everything: age, culture, style," Bejarano, a petite lady with an amiable chuckle, told The Associated Press ahead of Auschwitz Liberation Day on Wednesday. "But we all love music and share a common goal: we're fighting against racism and discrimination."

The daughter of a Jewish cantor from Saarbruecken in western Germany, Bejarano grew up in a musical home studying piano until the Nazis came to power and tore her family apart. Bejarano was deported to Auschwitz, where she became a member of the girls' orchestra, playing the accordion every time trains full of Jews from across Europe arrived at the death camp.

"We played with tears in our eyes," Bejarano remembered. "The new arrivals came in waving and applauding us, but we knew they would be taken directly to the gas chambers."

Bejarano survived, but her parents and sister Ruth were killed by the Nazis.

For the past 20 years Bejarano has played music mostly from the past — Yiddish melodies, tunes from the ghetto and Jewish resistance songs — with her children Edna and Yoram in a Hamburg-based band called Coincidence.

About two years ago, Kutlu Yurtseven, a Turkish immigrant rapper from the Cologne-based Microphone Mafia, got in touch with the band to see if they'd team up with them.

"Our band wanted to do something against the growing racism and anti-Semitism in Germany," Yurtseven, 36, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

"Yoram told me that first of all he had to ask his mother Esther what she thought about a crossover project with a bunch of young rappers."

Esther Bejarano, it turned out, thought hip-hop music "was really a bit too loud," but also said she saw it as a good way to reach out to Germany's youth.

"We want to keep the memories of the Holocaust alive, but at the same time look into the future and encourage young people to take a stand against new Nazis," said Bejarano. "I know what racism can lead to and the members of Microphone Mafia are immigrants and have experienced their share of discrimination as well."

Yurtseven, a Muslim, also sees a message of religious harmony.

"All religions ask to love an respect others and that's what we do as well," Yurtseven said.

The crossover of modern hip-hop and traditional Jewish folklore turned out to be quite a hit. The rappers have mixed Jewish songs with stomping hip-hop beats and also created new lyrics for some of the songs that are more accessible for a younger audience.

Last summer, the two bands released a CD called Per La Vita and a documentary about the band that was initially scheduled for the Auschwitz liberation anniversary is now supposed to be ready later this year to be shown at high schools across Germany.

The CD was released on a small, independent label and it was not clear how many copies were sold.

Currently, the troupe is touring through Germany. Their audiences range from teenage immigrants at metropolitan youth centers to a more established, older crowd that usually favors Bejarano's classic approach to music.

"They all love it," said Bejarano. "Even some of the older guests sometimes climb on the chairs and dance."

Bejarano said it can be exhausting at her age to perform on stage with a bunch of youngsters but that she has found ways to adjust the shows to her needs.

"I've educated the boys," Bejarano said with her trademark chuckle. "We've lowered the volume and I told them to stop jumping around on stage all the time."

For Yurtseven and his fellow band members, the fact that they are performing with an Auschwitz survivor has been a unique experience as well.

"I once asked Esther how she can still make music after Auschwitz," he remembered. "And she said that if they had also taken away the music from her, she would have died."

Joanna Lumley wins "Oldie of the Year" award

LONDON (Reuters) – Actress Joanna Lumley was named "Oldie of the Year" on Tuesday by the monthly Oldie magazine for campaigning for the rights of retired Nepalese Gurkha soldiers wanting to settle in Britain.

Thanks in part to the 63-year-old's lobbying, the government announced in May, 2009 that former Gurkhas who retired before 1997 with more than four years' service would be eligible to apply to live in Britain.

The decision potentially affected up to 15,000 veterans.

"We would like to award her for her relentless efforts and continuing campaigning for Ghurkhas' rights and The Gurkha Justice Campaign," Oldie organisers said.

Broadcaster and television personality Terry Wogan, 71, who stepped down as presenter of the popular BBC Radio 2 breakfast show last month, will hand out the prizes at a ceremony in London and pick up his own award -- Retirer of the Year.

Previous Oldie of the Year Award winners include David Attenborough (2005), Ranulph Fiennes (2004), Eric Sykes (2002), John Mortimer (2001) and Spike Milligan (1994).

Recession barely over: UK grows 0.1 pct in Q4

LONDON – Britain's worst recession since World War II is officially over — but only just.

Gross domestic product rose a feeble 0.1 percent in the final quarter of 2009, the Office for National Statistics reported Tuesday.

That was enough to officially end a grinding 18-month downturn that has seen 1.3 million people lose their jobs. Britain is the last of the major economies to return to growth after the global credit crunch.

But the figure fell short of expectations of a stronger 0.3 to 0.4 percent rise.

Capital Economics economist Jonathan Loynes said the figure, a first estimate that will be revised twice as more data is analyzed, was "a major blow to hopes that the U.K. economy had emerged decisively from recession."

The economy will be a major issue in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's bid to be releected in a general election that must be held by June. Tuesday's growth announcement had been much anticipated — leading the usually media-shy statistics office to hold a rare televised press conference in central London to announce the figure.

The statistics office's chief economist, Joe Grice, acknowledged that the first estimate, which is based on 40 percent of the data used to reach the final figure, could easily be revised up or down by around 0.1-0.2 percent.

A revision of a negative 0.2 percent in the next estimates, due at the end of February and March, would nix Britain's recovery from recession, but Grice declined to comment on the possibility of that outcome.

"We don't know on the evidence we have," he told reporters, noting his job was to analyse data as it became available, rather than make forecasts.

Hetal Mehta, senior economic advisor to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club said that the preliminary estimate appeared to be at odds with more upbeat survey data, including the expected positive impact of a yearlong reduction in sales tax on retail sales.

"There is a strong possibility that the Q4 figures will be revised up," Mehta said.

Loynes agreed that an upward revision was possible. But he said it wouldn't change the big picture of an economy operating far below pre-recession levels and major budget deficits looming.

"With household incomes under pressure, credit in short supply and a major fiscal squeeze looming, the path to a full recovery is going to be a long and bumpy one," he added.

Britain is the last of the major industrial countries to exit recession, with the French and the German economies returning to growth last summer.

It was hit particularly hard by the global credit crunch because of its huge banking and financial-services sector centered in London, which had to be propped up by the government's multibillion-pound bailout of major banks, and higher levels of personal debt among consumers. Like the U.S., it also faced a collapsed real estate bubble.

The fallout cost the country 100 billion pounds ($160 billion) in lost output as GDP shrank 6 percent over the 18 months of the downturn. Some 1.3 million people were laid off, unemployment rose as high as 7.9 percent and around 50,000 families had their homes repossessed.

Statistics office economist Grice said that the fourth quarter showed a uniform picture of small increases across the distribution, hotels and restaurants and government sectors.

Output of manufacturing and other production industries, which have had the deepest slump, rose by 0.1 percent, as did the services sector, which represents around 70 percent of the economy.

Economists had expected GDP to be supported by strong pre-Christmas sales as shoppers tried to beat an increase in the sales tax on Jan. 1, a government-sponsored vehicle scrappage program, the revival of exports and a slow recovery in the massive services sector.

IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer said he now expected the economy to struggle to grow by more than 1 percent this year, adding that the Bank of England would likely keep interest rates at the current record low of 0.5 percent until the end of the year and possibly beyond.

The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee will take the GDP figures into account when it meets next week to discuss the level of interest rates and whether to extend its program of purchasing assets to boost the money supply.

The 200-billion-pound program is due to be completed by early February, just before the committee's meeting on Feb. 3-4.

France should denounce, ban Muslim face veils: panel

PARIS (Reuters) – France's National Assembly should pass a resolution denouncing full Muslim face veils and then vote the strictest law possible to ban women from wearing them, a parliamentary commission proposed on Tuesday.

Presenting conclusions after six months of hearings, the panel also suggested barring foreign women from obtaining French visas or citizenship if they insisted on veiling their faces.

But it could not agree whether to opt for an absolute ban on the veils, known here as burqas or niqabs, or one restricted to public buildings because some members thought a total ban would be unconstitutional.

"The full veil represents in an extraordinary way everything that France spontaneously rejects," National Assembly President Bernard Accoyer said as the commission delivered its report.

"It's a symbol of the subjugation of women and the banner of extremist fundamentalism."

While not defending the all-enclosing veils, leaders of the five-million-strong Muslim minority say a legal ban would be excessive since fewer than 2,000 women are said to wear them.

Jamel Debbouze, a highly popular Parisian-born comedian of Moroccan background, condemned the plan as xenophobic. "People who go down that path are racists," he told French radio.

The veil issue has become linked with another controversial debate about national identity that the government launched only months before regional elections in March. "This debate is sterile and dangerous electioneering," Debbouze said.

Supporters of a ban say civil servants need a law to allow them to turn away fully veiled women who cannot be identified when they seek municipal services such as medical care, child support or public transport.

"GURUS OF FUNDAMENTALISM"

Andre Gerin, a communist deputy from Lyon who headed the commission, said a total ban would also help combat what he called "gurus of fundamentalism" who he said were spreading radical Islamism and forcing women to wear full veils.

He said France needed "an Islam compatible with the Republic" and its values of secularism and sexual equality.

Eric Raoult, a conservative deputy and vice-chairman of the commission, said a resolution denouncing full veils should find wide support in parliament but a law banning them needed to be carefully drafted to ensure it is not overturned.

"There wouldn't be anything worse than proclaiming something and seeing it annulled by the Constitutional Council," he said.

The commission presented a draft resolution to denounce full face veils, examine the legal basis for a ban and characterize veiling as a radical religious practice that is contrary to French values and grounds to reject requests for citizenship.

The text said the state should study the motivations of veiled women, do more to combat violence against women and teach more about sexual equality at school.

Accoyer said the parliament would not have time to work out a solid law banning face veils and pass it before the regional elections in March.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission in London issued a statement calling the commission report "the latest in a line of racist policies and laws that target Muslims, and in particular Muslim women" and said it would "simply legitimize further acts of racism and discrimination."

France should denounce, ban Muslim face veils: panel

PARIS (Reuters) – France's National Assembly should pass a resolution denouncing full Muslim face veils and then vote the strictest law possible to ban women from wearing them, a parliamentary commission proposed on Tuesday.

Presenting conclusions after six months of hearings, the panel also suggested barring foreign women from obtaining French visas or citizenship if they insisted on veiling their faces.

But it could not agree whether to opt for an absolute ban on the veils, known here as burqas or niqabs, or one restricted to public buildings because some members thought a total ban would be unconstitutional.

"The full veil represents in an extraordinary way everything that France spontaneously rejects," National Assembly President Bernard Accoyer said as the commission delivered its report.

"It's a symbol of the subjugation of women and the banner of extremist fundamentalism."

While not defending the all-enclosing veils, leaders of the five-million-strong Muslim minority say a legal ban would be excessive since fewer than 2,000 women are said to wear them.

Jamel Debbouze, a highly popular Parisian-born comedian of Moroccan background, condemned the plan as xenophobic. "People who go down that path are racists," he told French radio.

The veil issue has become linked with another controversial debate about national identity that the government launched only months before regional elections in March. "This debate is sterile and dangerous electioneering," Debbouze said.

Supporters of a ban say civil servants need a law to allow them to turn away fully veiled women who cannot be identified when they seek municipal services such as medical care, child support or public transport.

"GURUS OF FUNDAMENTALISM"

Andre Gerin, a communist deputy from Lyon who headed the commission, said a total ban would also help combat what he called "gurus of fundamentalism" who he said were spreading radical Islamism and forcing women to wear full veils.

He said France needed "an Islam compatible with the Republic" and its values of secularism and sexual equality.

Eric Raoult, a conservative deputy and vice-chairman of the commission, said a resolution denouncing full veils should find wide support in parliament but a law banning them needed to be carefully drafted to ensure it is not overturned.

"There wouldn't be anything worse than proclaiming something and seeing it annulled by the Constitutional Council," he said.

The commission presented a draft resolution to denounce full face veils, examine the legal basis for a ban and characterize veiling as a radical religious practice that is contrary to French values and grounds to reject requests for citizenship.

The text said the state should study the motivations of veiled women, do more to combat violence against women and teach more about sexual equality at school.

Accoyer said the parliament would not have time to work out a solid law banning face veils and pass it before the regional elections in March.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission in London issued a statement calling the commission report "the latest in a line of racist policies and laws that target Muslims, and in particular Muslim women" and said it would "simply legitimize further acts of racism and discrimination."

Bombing attack in Baghdad kills at least 18

A suicide bombing attack killed at least 18 people and injured more than 80 others near an Interior Ministry building in central Baghdad Tuesday, Iraqi police said. Police and hospital officials said the bomber in Tuesday's attack tried to drive a pickup truck through a checkpoint and blast walls protecting the forensic evidence office. Among those confirmed killed were 12 police officers and six civilians who were visiting the office. According to the AP, officials said more than half the wounded were police.


On Monday, three suicide attacks on well-known Baghdad hotels killed at least 36 people.



Also on Tuesday, the nephew of the man known as Chemical Ali arrived in Baghdad to collect the body of Saddam Hussein's cousin and close deputy who was hanged Monday. A grave was dug for Ali Hassan al-Majid near his hometown of Tikrit next to Saddam's two sons and grandson

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

World War I Color Photos

Meerut Families Caught Burying Their Children ALIVE!

Not everybody celebrates a solar eclipse with a traditional pinhole projector. The folks in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, for instance, like to commemorate the occasion by burying their children.Local authorities in Meerut were shocked to discover their local graveyard filled with families on January 15th, the day of India’s latest annular eclipse.

Chinese Wonderland Displays Chocolate Warriors

In a bid to foster a love for chocolate, Chinese confectioneries came up with a grand plan and created a chocolate replica of the Great Wall complete with edible clones of the famous Terracotta Warriors.

Australia Set Pakistan 287-run Target in 3rd ODI

Dan Damon

Started out as a technical operator in the BBC radio control room.
Teamed up with his wife Sian to form a freelance news team in 1989.
Started out as a technical operator in the BBC radio control room.
Teamed up with his wife Sian to form a freelance news team in 1989.
Returned to BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service in 1996.
Between 1998-2000 he undertook two Masters degrees, in Nationalism and International law.
Passionate about horse riding.
I get most excited using new technology to produce live radio from hostile situations. Be it a roof in Gaza blasted by desert winds, using a slow mobile phone link to read scripts in an Istanbul mosque or propping a satellite dish on a car roof so Mexican voters give their views uncensored.

Returned to BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service in 1996.
Between 1998-2000 he undertook two Masters degrees, in Nationalism and International law.
Passionate about horse riding.
I get most excited using new technology to produce live radio from hostile situations. Be it a roof in Gaza blasted by desert winds, using a slow mobile phone link to read scripts in an Istanbul mosque or propping a satellite dish on a car roof so Mexican voters give their views uncensored.

Nigeria clash victims found

More than a hundred bodies found in a village near the Nigerian city of Jos where there have been clashes between Christians and Muslims

The World Today

A happy new year and welcome to 2010!
We’re off to a freezing cold start of the year in London and snow and transport conditions are such that we haven't seen a few of our colleagues for several days.
What will the new year bring - apart from warmer weather, hopefully? President Obama’s first anniversary in office is not far off as is his first State of the Union Address – we’ll be taking a look at whether and how America has changed.
Elections in Sri Lanka, one of our most-covered countries in 2009, are imminent, with the wartime army commander running as a candidate. Our correspondents are preparing to report from Colombo as well as from last year’s battlefieds in the north.
The World Service internet season - “Superpower” - is looming large as is the first World Cup held in Africa later in the year.
For now many of the African footballer plying their trade in Europe have escaped the freezing conditions to play in the Africa Nations Cup in Angola, another hosting debut from where we’ve just begun to report.
Amid the uncertainty of what the new year may bring, just one very safe prediction from us:
Many more editions of the World Today with reports from all walks of life and all corners of the world. Stay tuned.