MASSIVE IMPACT: The Islamabad Marriott, which has been struck twice before, is popular with foreigners. The Czech ambassador and two Americans were killed in Saturday’s attack. Anjum Naveed

Pakistani Taliban suspected in Marriott Hotel blast

Saturday's massive truck bombing, which killed at least 50 people, is seen as a warning to the Pakistani government over its cooperation with the US.

By Mian Ridge | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the September 22, 2008 edition

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New Delhi - The massive explosion that devastated the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, Saturday – killing at least 53 people and wounding hundreds – is being seen as a warning from Islamist militants over the Pakistani government's cooperation with the United States.

The hotel, which is popular with both diplomats and other foreigners, was struck by at least one truck filled with more than a ton of explosives in one of the country's worst acts of terrorism. The Czech ambassador and two Americans and about a dozen foreigners were among the dead.

"This was definitely a clear signal that this is no longer a safe place for foreigners, especially Americans," says Ayesha Siddiqa, an independent security analyst based in the city. "And it's a message to the Pakistani government: 'Can you handle us?' "

Though there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the main suspect is the Pakistani Taliban, which is made up of myriad Islamist militant groups and is believed to be linked to Al Qaeda.

Last month Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda's deputy leader, accused Pakistan's political leaders of acting on behalf of the US and called on his followers to rise up against them. But Saturday's explosion is also expected to exacerbate tensions between the US and Pakistan over how aggressively Pakistan is perceived to be cracking down on militants. A rising wave of violence has killed nearly 1,300 people in Pakistan this year alone.

India, too, believes it is feeling the effect of Pakistan's mounting insurgency. On the day of the Islamabad bombing, police in New Delhi claimed that the Pakistani Islamist militant group, Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, was behind bombs that ripped through busy Delhi markets on Sept. 13, killing at least 22 people.

On Sunday, authorities in India announced the arrest of three suspects in the bombing claimed by the Indian Mujahideen, a group that has claimed to carry out other large attacks in recent months. But Indian authorities say they are acting under the direction of Lashkar-i-Tayyaba.

In a bid to root out militants from Pakistan's tribal areas that border Afghanistan, the US has recently begun to carry out cross-border raids from Afghanistan, a move that has infuriated many Pakistanis.

Hours before Saturday's attack on the Marriott, Pakistan's newly elected president, Asif Ali Zardari, made his first speech to parliament since he succeeded Pervez Musharraf, in which he described terrorism as "a cancer" that Pakistan was determined to fight.

In a clear allusion to the US raids, Mr. Zardari, who is scheduled to meet President Bush next week, also pledged to resist violations of the country's sovereignty.

"We will not tolerate the violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity by any power in the name of combating terrorism," he said, as legislators thumped their desks and cheered in support.

Saturday's blasts have underscored the extent to which Pakistan's government is torn between cracking down on militancy and placating angry Pakistanis who do not want to be dictated to by the US.

The recent US raids will have increased militants' desire to bomb targets like the Marriott, says Mahmood Shah, a former secretary of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where Pakistan's insurgency is centered. "The only way to curb these attacks is to strengthen the Pakistani government, strengthen the Army," he says.

Though the Marriott in Islamabad has been bombed twice before, Saturday's attack was the worse of its kind the city has ever seen. The last major attack to hit Pakistan's capital occurred on June 2, when a car bomb exploded outside Denmark's embassy, killing at least nine people. Now, Pakistanis worry more is to come.

"The terrible thing is that the structure for dealing with such attacks is very poor," says Ms. Siddiqa, the security analyst, pointing out that in television footage of the Marriott in the hours after the blast, there was little sign of an efficient emergency fire service.

"I drove with my husband to the airport that evening, expecting to have to go through heavy security – and all the check posts had been abandoned," she adds, "The police are demoralized and there's a general weakening of law and order."

Others speculated, however, that the attack on the Marriott may do little to engender sympathy with Al Qaeda or Taliban aims.

Many of those killed and injured Saturday are likely to have been Pakistanis who had gathered at the hotel for the communal iftar meal – the breaking of the holy Ramadan fast.

Asian states ban Chinese milk goods

Tainted milk powder has killed four babies and made more than 6,000 sick [AFP]
Malaysia has joined Singapore in banning the import of all Chinese dairy products after China's contaminated-milk scare widened.
Malaysia imposed the ban on all baby milk formulas, milk and milk products from China on Saturday, a day after Singapore initiated a similiar move.
Four babies have died, nearly 160 have suffered acute kidney failure and more than 6,000 have suffered illness after drinking products containing melamine.
The moves came after it was revealed three of China's biggest dairy firms sold milk contaminated with the chemical.
The chemical is used to make industrial products and plastics, but can also be added to milk to make it appear to have a higher protein content.
In the United States, inspections have been stepped up at ports on shipments of bulk food ingredients from Asia that are derived from milk.
Shelves emptied
The US Food and Drug Administration warned consumers on Saturday not to buy milk products from China over the internet.
Melamine
Chinese authorities say melamine was put into the milk powder to make it appear the product had more protein.
The chemical, normally used to make plastics and glues, is rich in nitrogen, an element often used to measure protein levels, and so can be used to disguise diluted milk.
It is being blamed for causing kidney stones in the affected babies, a condition that is rare in infants but which causes a range of health risks.Grocery stores across China continued to remove milk and other dairy products from shelves on Saturday.
In Beijing and Shanghai, the dairy sections of many stores were empty, a day after health officials said the scare, which had initially affected only baby formula, had spread to liquid milk, ice-cream and yoghurt.
A senior dairy analyst told the AP news agency that Chinese farmers were cutting corners to cope with the rising costs of feed and labour.
Chen Lianfang, an agribusiness consultant, said: "Before the melamine incident, I know they could have been adding organic stuff, say animal urine or skin - basically, anything that can boost the protein reading."
But he and others expressed scepticism that so many farmers would know to add melamine to milk.
"The chemical is not water-soluble and must be mixed with formaldehyde or another chemical before it can be dissolved in milk.
"Farmers can't be well-educated enough to think of melamine ... There must be people from chemical companies contacting them and telling them it's a good idea," Chen said.
Product recall
The Chinese government has said it will introduce a new food-monitoring system in response to the crisis - the latest in a series of safety scandals to rock China's food and manufacturing industries.
The government's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said tests showed nearly 10 per cent of samples taken from Mengniu Dairy Group and Yili Industrial Group - China's two largest dairy companies - contained melamine.
A third firm, the Shanghai-based Bright Dairy, has also been found to have sold contaminated products.
In Hong Kong, the authorities ordered a recall after China-made dairy products sold there were found to contain the toxin.
Al Jazeera's Laura Kyle, reporting from Beijing, said the scale of the scandal and fallout could be far wider than initially thought, with possibly tens of thousands of people affected.
Coffee chain Starbucks has already pulled milk supplied by Mengniu from its more than 300 cafes in mainland China.

Bomb a warning to end Pakistan-US cooperation

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — The brazen truck-bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad on Saturday is a warning from Islamic militants to Pakistan's new civilian leadership that it should end already-strained cooperation with the United States to pursue al-Qaida and the Taliban, analysts said.
The massive bomb targeting an American hotel chain killed at least 40 people and wounded hundreds, setting a fire that blazed for hours and gutted most of the five-story luxury hotel.
"The attack on the hotel is a message to the Pakistani leadership: End all cooperation with the Americans or pay the price," said Brian Glyn Williams, associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts. "Both sides see Pakistan as a vital battlefield in their global struggle and clearly Pakistani civilians are paying the price for being in the middle of this struggle," he told The Associated Press.
Within hours of the explosion, Pakistan's Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar was quoted on local television channels blaming "foreigners" for the bombing. He pointed the finger at al Qaida and its Chechen and Uzbek members, whose hideouts in the tribal regions have been targeted by the Pakistan military.
Terrorism researcher Evan Kohlmann told The AP it is almost certainly either Al-Qaida or Pakistani Taliban.
"We are looking at either Al Qaida or Tehrik-e-Taliban (Pakistan)," Kohlmann said. "It seems that someone has a firm belief that hotels like the Marriott are serving as 'barracks' for western diplomats and intel personnel, and they are gunning pretty hard for them."
According to the U.S.-based IntelCenter, an Al Qaida video released to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States threatened attacks against Western interests in Pakistan.
The threat was made by senior al-Qaida leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, who claimed responsibility for the summer bombing of the Danish Embassy in Islamabad.
"And we tell the ... people and Mujahedeen of Pakistan that in order for the Jihad in Afghanistan to continue and be victorious you must stand with your brothers the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to fight the puppet regime of Pakistan and its aggressive and tyrannical army and strike the interests of the Crusader allies in Pakistan," IntelCenter quoted Al-Yazid as saying.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's newly elected President Asif Zardari addressed the nation soon after the bombing, vowing not to be cowed and to step up Pakistan's assault on terrorists.
The U.S. has angered Pakistanis with increasing cross-border raids by its forces from Afghanistan to root out Islamic militants entrenched in the lawless and rugged tribal regions along the border.
Local newspapers are filled with outrage from columnists who accuse the United States of treating Pakistan as a surrogate, flaunting its sovereignty and killing innocents. Civilian casualties from the U.S. assaults have prompted tribesmen in the volatile frontier to threaten revolt.
Williams said the country's new leaders are caught between pressure from the U.S. to crack down on the militants and al-Qaida demands that they cut all ties with America.
Officials have harshly criticized U.S. incursions into Pakistani airspace and last week, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Pakistan to try to calm the anger.
At the same time, the government is also talking tough to the other side.
Just hours before the suicide bombing, Zardari vowed to wage war against extremists who have been battling government troops in the violent northwest. Osama bin Laden and his top deputies are believed to be hiding in the border region and the U.S. claims al-Qaida and the Taliban have found a safe haven to regroup there.
Zardari has received several threats from al Qaida and the Taliban, who are suspected of assassinating his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in December.
Last month al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri accused Pakistan's new leaders of acting on behalf of the United States and called on his followers to rise up against them.
"Let there be no doubt in your minds that the dominant political forces at work in Pakistan today are competing to appease and please the modern day crusaders in the White House and are working to destabilize this nuclear-capable nation under the aegis of America," said an audio message purported to be from al-Zawahri.
The militant groups that operate in Pakistan's northwest are a ferocious and disparate group.
The Pakistani Taliban operate under the umbrella group, Tehrik-e-Taliban, which was established last December. It used a tried and tested strategy to gain control of the area — promising to restore law and order.
Within months of taking control, the Pakistani Taliban then terrorizes the local population with public beheadings. Occasionally men accused of spying for the United States are taken to the center of the village and publicly beheaded. Taliban fighters often make videos of the gruesome beheadings that circulate in the markets in northwest Pakistan.
Daniel Markey, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former State Department official, questioned the government's ability to wage a successful battle without overhauling Pakistan's intelligence service, which is often accused of aiding and abetting the militants.
"They are able to fight but not able to win without a lot of changes," he said. "Most will have to be done by the Pakistani army and (intelligence), some by civilian government, and some that would need outside assistance," Markey added.

Three more held over India serial blasts

4 hours ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) — Indian police on Sunday said they had arrested three more suspected militants over a series of bombings across the country that have left more than 140 people dead.
The police said the three men belonged to the Indian Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility for serial blasts in several cities including attacks in New Delhi on September 13.
Two of the three men were among those who had planted bombs in the Indian capital, killing 22 people and injuring about 100, police said. Five bombs exploded while three were defused.
The latest arrests takes to five the number of suspects held since Friday's gun battle in a Muslim-dominated district of New Delhi, in which two suspects were shot dead.
Two alleged guerrillas escaped and one police officer was killed during the raid.
One of the slain militants -- an Indian Mujahideen leader named only as Atif -- was plotting to stage 20 blasts in New Delhi's busy Nehru Place business district, Deputy Police Commissioner H.G. Dhaliwal told reporters.
"Atif was diabolical as he would celebrate after every serial blast that his boys staged in India and on the days where there were no attacks he would scan newspapers and say 'there's no good news happening'," Dhaliwal said.
"Atif even cross-questioned the bombers who caused minimum casualties," Dhaliwal said, citing confessions of the three men arrested earlier Sunday.
He said one of the arrested men, Mohammad Shakeel, a 24-year-old university economics student, had casually eaten an ice cream before planting his deadly bomb in a packed Delhi electronics market.
Another of the men was a business school student who planted a bomb near the India Gate war memorial in the heart of the capital. It did not go off.
"The third suspect is the caretaker of the building where the gunbattle took place and he is the father of a terrorist who planted another of the Delhi bombs," Bhagat said.
The Indian Mujahideen first came to public attention last November following serial blasts in Uttar Pradesh in which at least 13 people died.
The shadowy outfit said it was also responsible for a string of five bomb blasts in July in the western city of Ahmedabad that killed 45 people.
The group sent an email to media outlets after blasts in May in the tourist city of Jaipur that left 63 dead. In the email it announced it had launched an "open war" against India for supporting the United States.
Delhi anti-terrorism chief Karnal Singh meanwhile accused Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of using Indian nationals to disguise its part in serial bombings in India.
If a Pakistani national is caught "then internationally the ISI faces problems and so they changed their strategy and the agency now has begun involving more Indian nationals in such attacks," Singh told reporters.
The Delhi shootout came a day after the government unveiled security measures to tackle what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said were "vast gaps" in intelligence gathering.

Zimbabwe: Power-Sharing Deal Excites Africa's Churches

Nairobi
African churches today gave thunderous applause to the power-sharing agreement signed last week to end the political impasse that has caused untold suffering to Zimbabweans.
All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the umbrella association of Protestant and evangelical churches, described the deal signed between embattled President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsivangirai as "a beacon of hope for the people of Zimbabwe who have prayed and cried for a solution to the crisis."
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Zimbabweans, who have suffered under the yoke of political intolerance, oppression and have experienced unrest as well as unbearable economic and humanitarian hardships, "are the real heroes in this process and are the first to be honored for their perseverance and relentless quest for peaceful change in Zimbabwe."
AACC further said the deal signalled prospects for peace and stability in the country. "But we also acknowledge the need for all stakeholders to join hands in the process of rebuilding Zimbabwe into a prosperous, peaceful and democratic nation. The roots of hatred, fear and bitterness have to be pulled out and a process of healing, truth, restorative justice and reconciliation has to be embarked upon. The right time for this is now!"
The parties to the agreement, AACC said, should continue to show practical and effective leadership as servants to the nation. Africa expects them to turn "swords into ploughshares" by nurturing a spirit of reciprocal tolerance and inclusiveness in the dialogue on the way forward.
They should take necessary steps to reform the economy, including a righteous settlement of the land issue.
AACC also called for inclusion of churches and civil society organizations in the rebuilding process and for removal of the humanitarian aid blockade. The leaders should make every effort to regain the confidence of the Zimbabwean people, fellow Africans and the global community.
The ecumenical association expressed satisfaction with the mediation efforts and called on South African President Thabo Mbeki, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) to continue to accompany the Zimbabwean nation in this critical time.
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"The [AACC] reiterates its longstanding commitment to accompany Zimbabwe and its people in prayer, solidarity and assistance in the rebuilding process that is now to start. May God Bless Zimbabwe!"

British embassy in Yemen shut until security stepped up

SANAA (AFP) — The British embassy in Sanaa has been closed until security at the building has been improved in the wake of a rebel attack on the US mission, which killed 16 people.
"The embassy has closed its doors until further notice and has suspended all the services that it provides," a source, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
A British foreign office spokeswoman in London said: "We have temporarily suspended operations at our embassy until additional security measures are put in place."
The decision comes as the Yemeni authorities tighten security around foreign diplomatic facilities after an Al-Qaeda-linked group, the Organisation of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack and threatened more.
Militants detonated a booby-trapped car before firing a volley of rockets at the heavily fortified US mission killing six soldiers, six assailants and four others, including an American and her Yemeni husband.
The group vowed to continue attacks "against Western interests," Yemeni public figures and the Saudi embassy unless militants being held by Yemeni authorities were released.
It also called for the closure of the US and British missions in the Arabian peninsula republic, the ancestral homeland of Saudi-born Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who remains at large seven years after the September 11 attacks.
A Yemeni security source said on Thursday that authorities had rounded up 25 suspects over the attack, which was the second strike on the compound in six months, and the latest in a spate of attacks against Western interests and oil installations in impoverished Yemen.
The Yemeni interior ministry said on Saturday that the suspects were continuing to be interviewed in connection with the investigation.
A statement by the ministry added that "the different security services and elements had put in place a total state of alert" and that "security measures around diplomatic missions has been reinforced following terrorist threats."

.Pakistan’s President Calls for End to Terrorism and Criticizes Intervention by U.S

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Asif Ali Zardari addressed a joint session of Parliament on Saturday, his first speech there since his election two weeks ago, and offered a program of peace and reform while vowing to root out terrorism and extremism.
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Associated Press of Pakistan, via E.P.A.
Asif Ali Zardari outlined his goals in his first speech to Parliament on Saturday.
Mr. Zardari, who is seen as pro-American but is confronted by public hostility to American policy toward militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas, said his government was determined to meet the challenge posed by terrorist and extremist elements in those areas.
His government would offer peace to anyone willing to renounce violence, and would invest in development and political reform of the border areas, but would use force as a last resort to those who challenged the authority of the government.
He declared that his government should be firm in its resolve not to allow terrorists to use Pakistani soil to carry out terrorist activities against any foreign country, and said he wanted to improve relations with two of Pakistan’s neighbors, Afghanistan and India.
But he also warned that Pakistan would not abide further American military incursions into the border areas. “We will not tolerate the violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity by any power in the name of combating terrorism,” he said in a comment that was broadly greeted by legislators, who loudly thumped on their desks to show their support.
His warning followed a strong statement last week by Pakistan’s military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, warning that the country would defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs against any incursion.
Mr. Zardari placed a framed photo of his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated by a suicide bomber in December and whose Pakistan Peoples Party he now leads, on the lectern before he began his speech.
“We are here, this Parliament is here, because of the historic choices she made,” he said. “It is indeed her day. I wish she was addressing the Parliament today and not me.”
Mr. Zardari pointed out that he was addressing Parliament within two weeks of his election, and would do so annually as required under the Constitution, unlike General Musharraf, who addressed Parliament only once in the eight years of his rule.
Mr. Zardari recommended a return to the 1973 Constitution, and offered to give up some of his presidential powers, calling on Parliament to form an all-parties committee to review amendments made under General Musharraf that gave the president powers to dismiss Parliament and to appoint the senior military chiefs, among others.
“Never before in the history of this country has a president stood here and given away his powers,” Mr. Zardari said.
Yet his critics in Parliament said forming a committee was disingenuous and could delay any rapid reform. “I have a feeling it should have been done straightaway,” said Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Mr. Jhagra also expressed disappointment that Mr. Zardari did not mention restoration of the Supreme Court judges dismissed by General Musharraf during emergency rule last October. Mr. Zardari’s refusal to reinstate the chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, led to the party’s pulling out of the coalition government.
Legislators also complained that his speech lacked specifics considering that his party has already been in government for six months and the country is facing a critical period with growing militancy and a sliding economy. “It was all generalities,” said Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, who served as interior minister under General Musharraf. “He had to spell out the government’s policies, he had to be very specific.”
“I have a dream for Pakistan,” Mr. Zardari said. “My dream is to free this great country from the shackles of poverty, hunger, terrorism and disunity.”
He also said his government would move to bring the tribal areas, which are troubled by militancy, into the national political mainstream by removing their special federal status, which dates from colonial times.

Nigerian oil rebels call ceasefire

Mend had stepped up its attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta [EPA]
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), an armed group fighting for oil wealth in southern Nigeria, has declared a ceasefire.
The ceasefire comes after Mend declared it was waging an "oil war" and carried out a string of attacks on industry targets, particularly against Royal Dutch Shell.
A statement said that the group would begin a unilateral ceasefire on Sunday, exactly one week after announcing its oil war. The group said the ceasefire would last until further notice.
'Unilateral ceasefire'Yvonne Ndege, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Lagos, said: "There are two news agencies reporting that Mend have declared a unilateral ceasefire and there are also two theories emerging as to what could have prompted this.
"One is that they are regrouping and rearming. The second is that their intelligence sources are telling them that the Nigerian army is preparing for a major assault on their bases.
"As of yet, there has been no official motivation, given by Mend, as to why they have called for this unilateral declaration of a ceasefire and there is still no reaction from the Nigerian government to this news," she said.
Crippled outputShell, which has confirmed only two of the six attacks claimed by Mend, on Friday declared force majeure on exports from the Bonny terminal.The legal move freed the company from delivery obligations in the wake of attacks on the oil terminal.Mend's statement comes a day after the group said it had destroyed a Shell-run pipeline.The group last week declared it was fighting a "war" against the oil industry after what it called an attack on its positions by the Nigerian army.Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with 140 million people, and about 90 per cent of the country's foreign currency earnings come from oil and gas.Amid the unrest in the oil-producing region's output has dropped to between 1.8 million and two million barrels per day, down from an average of 2.6 million bpd two years ago.Mend said on Sunday it will renew attacks if the Nigerian military targets it again."We hope that the military has learnt a bitter lesson... The next unprovoked attack will start another oil war," its statement said.Mend has said that more of Nigeria's oil wealth should be channelled back to the local population.

UPDATE 1-HK girl treated after drinking tainted milk

changes dateline)
BEIJING, Sept 21 (Reuters) - A three-year-old Hong Kong girl was found to have a kidney stone after drinking tainted milk and Brunei banned imports of milk products from China, the latest developments in the widening milk scandal.
Hong Kong health authorities said in a statement issued late on Saturday that the girl did not have any symptoms, but had a checkup after consuming Yili brand milk beverage daily for the past 15 months.
The girl was the territory's first suspected victim of a scandal that has sparked an outcry from China's trading partners.
While Brunei's health ministry said the country does not directly import dairy items from China, the ban took effect after similar moves by Singapore and Malaysia on Friday.
Yili Industrial Group Co (600887.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Sanlu Group -- the country's largest infant milk powder maker -- along with 19 other dairy producers vowed to improve the quality of their products and make appropriate reparations to victims, state media reported on Sunday.
China last week ordered checks on dairy products and a nationwide recall of suspect products, in a spreading scandal that has killed four children and caused thousands more to fall ill from consuming dairy products.
The Hong Kong girl was discharged from hospital on Saturday.
Samples of the product consumed by the girl were found to have been adulterated with melamine, a chemical that can cause kidney stones and can lead to renal failure among children. "Her condition is good. She did not receive any operation," said a spokeswoman for the Princess Margaret Hospital.
A government food quality watchdog in China has said nearly 10 percent of milk and drinking yoghurt samples from three major dairy companies contained potentially deadly melamine.
The nitrogen-rich compound can be added to watered-down milk to get past quality inspections, which check for nitrogen to measure protein levels.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Hodgson in Hong Kong, Kirby Chien in Beijing and David Chance in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by David.

Why Mbeki had to go

By Martin Plaut BBC Africa analyst

Thabo Mbeki has been left with few friends in the upper ranks of the ANC
The African National Congress's decision to sack President Thabo Mbeki has been described by some South African commentators as "regicide".
Certainly it is unprecedented in South African history that a head of state is dismissed in this way. Nor is the ANC the kind of organisation that goes in for this humiliation of its leaders.
So why did it happen?
The immediate cause was Mr Mbeki's ongoing feud with his former deputy, the ANC party leader Jacob Zuma.
But this was not just a personal vendetta between two men. Behind these events lie two major factors: one political, one personal.
Fight with the left
Thabo Mbeki, although a former member of the South African Communist Party, has used conventional economic policies to drive the country's development agenda.
Tight monetary and budgetary targets have been set and met. The result has been a period of unprecedented economic growth, reaching 5% a year in recent years.
In June 1996 Finance Minister Trevor Manuel introduced a neo-liberal economic strategy known as Growth, Employment and Redistribution (Gear).
This included commitments to open markets, privatisation and a favourable investment climate.
The ANC is in a formal alliance with two groups on the left, the Communists and the trade union movement, Cosatu. Both were fiercely critical of the strategy and argued that they had been excluded from its development and implementation.
In the report to the Communist Party Congress in July 1998 the Central Committee spelled out their objections to Gear in great detail.
This concluded: "We remain convinced that Gear is the wrong policy. It was wrong in the process that developed it, it is wrong in its overall strategic conception, and it is wrong in much of its detail.
"At the end of the day, we cannot allow our entire transformation struggle to be held hostage by conservative approaches to the budget deficit."
In May this year Blade Nzimande, General Secretary of the Communist Party wrote: "Despite the many modest gains that our own democracy has made since the 1994 democratic breakthrough, our own self-imposed structural adjustment programme, Gear, failed to make a dent in unemployment (unemployment actually increased dramatically between 1996 and 2006), and eroded the capacity to build a developmental state."
These criticisms are not just held by the Communist Party, they are a reflection of the unease on the left as a whole at the policies that Thabo Mbeki adopted.
Anger at the president's strategy to tackle the problems of unemployment, in particular, contributed to his downfall.
Victims unite
All politicians make enemies. That is the nature of the game. But President Mbeki has made more than most. One example should suffice to illustrate the problem.
In April 2001 the country's national daily, the Star, had a headline that read "Mbeki plot rocks ANC".
President Mbeki had sent his minister of safety and security to accuse three leading members of the party of plotting to oust him.
The accused - former ANC secretary-general, Cyril Ramaphosa and two former provincial premiers, Tokyo Sexwale and Mathews Phosa ­- were among the party's most respected figures.
All three were men who had driven to seek their fortunes in business after being marginalised by Mr Mbeki.
To this day there is no clear explanation of why these extraordinary charges were made. Nelson Mandela himself emerged from retirement to say that he held all three in "high esteem".
The Mail and Guardian newspaper commented at the time that it was a strategy worth of Joseph Stalin and said: "Many observers have dismissed the plot theories as a strategy to warn off potential competitors with ambitions to challenge Mbeki's leadership."
No evidence was ever led against them, no charges were laid and the matter was swept under the carpet. However, it was certainly not forgotten.
Today Mathew Phosa is the ANC Treasurer General, one of the top party posts. Cyril Ramaphosa and Tokyo Sexwale are members of the National Executive.
Their names, along with those of Zwelinzima Vavi, leader of the trade unions in Cosatu and Blade Nzimande of the Communist Party, have been cited in the South African press as among those who wielded the knife against Thabo Mbeki.
The political and the personal had come together

Israeli PM Olmert declares intent to resign

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, dogged by allegations of corruption, formally announced his intention to resign Sunday at a Cabinet meeting.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not give a timetable Sunday when he would officially leave office.

"This was not an easy or simple decision," he said before the meeting.
His office said he would submit his official letter of resignation to President Shimon Peres at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
However, Olmert will remain the prime minister of a transition government until a successor assumes power either by forming a new coalition in the current Knesset or through new general elections.
There are many possible scenarios that could play out in coming months.
Peres is likely to call on Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who won by a narrow margin to lead the ruling Kadima party last week, to form a coalition.
The Labor Party, the largest of Kadima's partners in government, could pull out of the coalition, which could force early elections or force the government to take on new coalition partners.
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If elections are called, former prime minister and Labor leader Ehud Barak could vie for the top spot, but polls have shown he may not have enough support.
Some observers think former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the opposition Likud Party, is also a potential candidate for the office.
Whoever succeeds Olmert as prime minister will be handed a set of daunting challenges, including determining the fate of Israel's talks with the Palestinians, its indirect talks with Syria and its tough talk on Iran's nuclear aspirations.
If Livni replaces Olmert, she will be the second woman in Israel's history to serve as Prime Minister. Golda Meir served from 1969 to 1974. Watch Livni win Kadima vote »
Livni, a 50-year-old who entered the Knesset less than 10 years ago, owes her victory to her reputation for clean hands in a party that lost Olmert to allegations of graft.
She told reporters on Thursday that she intends "to bring together Kadima factions and to go on this new path together."
Livni is the chief Israeli negotiator with the Palestinian Authority as the two sides work toward a peace deal. She also refuses to be tied to the Bush administration's vision of a peace deal by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, police have recommended that Olmert be indicted on corruption charges.
Israeli authorities say Olmert, while serving as Jerusalem mayor and a government minister, asked various public organizations to cover the same expenses and pocketed the extra money.
In May, an American businessman testified that he gave cash-filled envelopes to Olmert, who denies any wrongdoing.
Olmert was Jerusalem's mayor from 1993 to 2003 and served in several cabinet posts from 2003 to 2006. He took over as prime minister after a 2006 stroke left then-premier Ariel Sharon in a coma from which he has never recovered.

Rescuers comb Pakistan bomb hotel

Page last updated at 09:28 GMT, Sunday, 21 September 2008 10:28 UK
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Rescuers comb Pakistan bomb hotel

The damage caused by the truck bomb
Rescuers in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, are continuing to search for survivors of a suicide bombing at a hotel, which killed at least 54 people.
Some 270 others were hurt in the blast, which devastated the Marriott Hotel.
The explosion, thought to have been caused by a truck bomb, left a six- metre (20ft) crater.
Most of the dead were Pakistani. The Czech ambassador was among at least four foreigners killed, and the death toll is expected to rise.
US, German and Vietnamese citizens were also killed in the blast, which injured at least a dozen foreign nationals.
Four Britons and an unknown number of Saudi, German, Moroccan, Afghan and US citizens, were among those hurt.
However, there are fears that more bodies will be found as rescue teams move deeper into the hotel.
The BBC's Barbara Plett, at the scene of the blast, says emergency services have not been able to reach the upper floors of the hotel, where more people are feared trapped.
Collapse fears
The heavily-guarded hotel was attacked at about 2000 (1500 GMT) on Saturday, when a truck blew up at the entrance after it was stopped for a security check, according to hotel officials.

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The blast shredded the steel and concrete structure and triggered a fire which engulfed the 290-room, five-storey building for hours.
Witnesses described a scene of horror as blood-covered bodies were pulled from the wreckage and guests and staff ran for cover from shattered glass.
Rescue teams have been searching the building room-by-room, but were being hampered by heat and continuing fires, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Officials warned the building could collapse.
"The building's structure is dangerous," Malik Ashraf Awan, a senior civil defence officer, was quoted by AP as saying.

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"It consumed too much heat and shock."
At least 200 people - many breaking their daytime Ramadan fast - were reported to be in the hotel's restaurants when the explosion hit.
The attack came shortly after Mr Zardari vowed to fight terrorism, in his first speech to parliament since his election earlier this month.
After the bombing, he addressed the nation on television.
"This is an epidemic, a cancer in Pakistan which we will root out," he said. "We will not be afraid of these cowards."
US pledge
There has been no claim of responsibility so far, but the BBC's Shoaib Hasan, in Islamabad, says the key suspects are the Pakistan Taleban who operate in the north-west of the country.

US President George W Bush condemned the attack and pledged assistance.
He said it was "a reminder of the ongoing threat faced by Pakistan, the United States, and all those who stand against violent extremism".
He said the US would "assist Pakistan in confronting this threat and bringing the perpetrators to justice".
The Marriott is the most prestigious hotel in the capital, and is popular with foreigners and the Pakistani elite.
It is located near government buildings and diplomatic missions, so security is tight, with guests and vehicles subject to checks.
The Marriott has previously been the target of militants. Last year a suicide bomber killed himself and one other in an attack at the hotel