Gabon Concourt hears claims of vote rigging in presidential poll

GABON’S Constitutional Court began public hearings yesterday into allegations that Ali Bongo Ondimba had rigged his way to victory in August’s presidential election.

Nine candidates and one citizen had lodged suits with the court, arguing that Bongo had been wrongfully proclaimed winner of the poll, in which he succeeded his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who had ruled the West African nation for 41 years. — Sapa-AFP

India successfully fires missile

INDIA successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable missile yesterday with a range of 350km .

Yesterday’s test was considered routine and unlikely to aggravate tensions with longtime rival Pakistan.

The surface-to-surface missile, “Prithvi-II” (Earth), was fired twice from a range in Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa .

It can carry a warhead weighing up to 500kg . — Sapa-AP

Death for Chinese rioters

CHINA sentenced six people to death yesterday over deadly July riots in its restive Xinjiang region, State media reported, delivering on a vow of harsh retribution over the ethnic unrest.

They were convicted of murder and other crimes by a court in the regional capital Urumqi in the first trials over the riots that killed nearly 200 people and left the city riven by ethnic tension.

China Central Television (CCTV) said one other defendant had been sentenced to life in prison over the unrest, in which members of the Uighur minority went on a rampage in attacks directed at members of China’s dominant Han ethnic group. — Sapa-AFP

More US support for Ireland

US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton pledged US help yesterday for Northern Ireland as its leaders battle to resolve a political standoff threatening the peace process.

In a major speech in Belfast, Clinton said Catholics and Protestants had come a long way since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which her husband had helped to broker, but warned that they still had some way to travel.

“I pledge that the United States will be behind you all the way as you work for peace and stability that lasts,” she said.

Clinton was in Belfast to meet the province’s leaders and make a major speech to its assembly, in a bid to boost efforts to defuse a row which has brought the fragile cross-community administration to a standstill . — Sapa-AFP

Socialists to lead Portugal

PORTUGUESE President Anibal Cavaco Silva designated Socialist leader Jose Socrates as prime minister yesterday following his victory in the September 27 parliamentary elections, while Socrates’ party reinforced its position in Sunday’s local elections.

Cavaco Silva also tasked Socrates with submitting his second government programme to Parliament.

Socrates announced he would start talks with the other parties in view of forming a government.

It was also thought possible he may head a minority government after losing his absolute majority in the parliamentary elections.

The Socialists meanwhile strengthened their position in Sunday’s local elections, according to definitive results released yesterday . — Sapa-DPA

Nato supports UN mission

NATO threw its weight behind the embattled UN mission in Afghanistan yesterday, as a dispute over fraud-tainted elections there undermines the organisation’s special representative.

“Nato fully supports the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, including the role it is playing, in accordance with its mandate, in support of the Afghan elections,” Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

“The Alliance, and I personally, also have full confidence in the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, Kai Eide, and commend him for the effort and commitment he has shown to helping Afghanistan build a better future,” he said in a statement . — Sapa-AFP

German guns on black market

HUNDREDS of old army handguns given by Germany to the Afghan police and army have found their way onto the black market in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan .

The Walther P1 pistols, which change hands for over 1000 on the black market, were part of a shipment of 10000 decommissioned guns to the Afghan interior ministry in 2006, regional public radio station NDR Info said.

Often the weapons end up in the wrong hands because of the high number of people leaving the Afghan security services without returning them, and also because of corruption. — Sapa-AFP

Soldiers’ payout to be reviewed

A BRITISH court has ordered a review of the compensation paid to two wounded soldiers following a government challenge to an earlier decision awarding the men more money.

The Court of Appeal said yesterday that the awards to Light Dragoon Corporal Anthony Duncan and Royal Marine Matthew McWilliams should be reconsidered by a compensation tribunal.

Duncan was shot in Iraq in 2005 and originally awarded R107688 , an amount quadrupled by the tribunal.

McWilliams, who fractured his thigh in training and was given R96046 , also later awarded a higher amount . — Sapa-AP

Scientist held for terror link

FRENCH magistrates are expected to charge a scientist from a nuclear lab that studies the “Big Bang” at the dawn of the universe with having Al- Qaeda links .

The 32-year-old engineer, who had been working with the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), was arrested on Thursday last week by French police intelligence officers.

It was not yet clear what offences the suspect would be charged with, but officials said investigators monitoring the Internet had intercepted contacts between him and Al-Qaeda’s North African offshoot . — Sapa-AFP

Gaza Strip tunnels destroyed

EGYPTIAN police have destroyed four smuggling tunnels in the border town of Rafah .

The tunnels were discovered in Salaheddin and Qomboz neighbourhoods in Rafah, which is bisected by Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians have dug thousands of tunnels to smuggle goods and fuel from Egypt to the Gaza Strip since Israel imposed a tight blockade on the impoverished enclave more than two years ago . —Sapa-DPA