Thai Red Shirts 'reach deal to end protests'

Bangkok, Thailand (News Terupdate) - Anti-government protesters who have been blocking off central Bangkok appear to have reached a deal with the government, their leaders told demonstrators Tuesday.

Leaders of the protest movement told supporters they are prepared to accept a five-point deal being offered by the government, including a call for new elections in November.

But they will not end their demonstrations until the prime minister announces when he will dissolve parliament, they said.

The crowd erupted in a roar of approval when their leaders told them of the deal, which seems to remove the threat of a violent crackdown on the protesters.

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Thousands of anti-government protesters have brought the center of Thailand's capital to a standstill for weeks as they seek to unseat Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, which they say is illegitimate and undemocratic -- accusations Abhisit has called "unfounded."

iReport: Behind Red Shirt lines

The demonstrators -- known as "Red Shirts" because of their clothing -- support Thaksin Shinawatra, who was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, before he was ousted in a bloodless coup.

Explainer: What are the protests about?

More than two dozen civilians and military personnel have died since protesters began occupying key tourism and shopping areas in Thailand's capital.

Thai security forces fired on crowds of anti-government protesters just outside Bangkok last week as tensions flared in the latest round of confrontations between the two groups.

The Erawan rescue agency said eight protesters were injured in the clashes. One soldier was killed by friendly fire, police said.

Riot police and government troops had massed along a major highway to stop the progress of an anti-government convoy headed toward a location where demonstrators have gathered in the past.

The British and United States governments have issued warnings to their citizens about travel to Thailand in light of the protests.

Source : CNN

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Twin brother hopes to succeed late Polish president

(News Terupdate) - Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of the Polish president killed in a plane crash earlier this month, will be a candidate to succeed him, his party announced Monday.

Poland will hold elections on June 20 to elect a successor to Lech Kaczynski, who died April 10, along with 95 others including his wife and many top military leaders and officials.

Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski has also said he will be a candidate.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski was prime minister for about two years, until the brothers' Law and Justice party lost parliamentary elections to the Civic Platform in 2007.

Lech Kaczynski and his wife were laid to rest on April 18, marking the end of a journey filled with grief for the central European nation.

Their bodies were taken along Krakow's historic "royal route" from St. Mary's Basilica to Wawel Castle after the funeral mass.

Kaczynski's coffin was draped in the presidential flag, while his wife's was covered with the red-and-white Polish flag during the ceremony at the huge, elaborately decorated cathedral.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, ashen-faced, led mourners at St. Mary's. Dressed in a simple black suit and tie, the surviving twin was joined by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, former President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Lech Kaczynski's daughter and foreign dignitaries.

Tens of thousands of Poles dressed in black lined the streets and tossed flowers at the motorcade carrying the president and first lady, who were killed in a plane crash in Russia April 10.

About 50,000 mourners, some waving flags, sat in silence in Market Square outside the cathedral, where giant monitors televised the service, the Polish government press office said.

Images of Poland's collective grief

Ninety-six people died in the plane crash, including dignitaries and top military leaders. The group was on its way to a service commemorating Polish prisoners of war massacred in Russia during World War II. The plane crashed in bad weather.

Source : CNN

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Iran leader leaves Uganda without oil deal

Entebbe, Uganda (News Terupdate) - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Uganda without striking a deal on the African nation's oil, President Yoweri Museveni indicated Sunday.

"We have not concluded anything on oil," the Ugandan president said at a press conference as the visit ended, apparently cutting off Ahmadinejad's answer to a journalist.

Iran's government-backed Press TV reported Sunday that the two countries signed several agreements, but did not list oil among them.

During a visit to Tehran last year, Museveni invited Iranian investors to build an oil refinery in Uganda's northwest region, which is believed to hold at least 2 billion barrels of oil.

But on Saturday he said he wanted clarification from the United States about sanctions against Iran.

"We are just students on this matter. It is a debate I have not been following," he said when asked about international pressure on Iran.

The United States and its allies fear Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, despite Tehran's repeated denials.

Museveni has recently sought guidance from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Iranian Foreign Minister Manounchehr Mottaki "to hear from them why they are in dispute over nuclear use," he said.

"Now I'm going to engage the United States to hear their version, then come back to and consult with our African brothers whom I represent on the U.N. Security Council," Museveni said.

Uganda is a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

The country's foreign minister, Sam Kutesa, Sunday denied that Iran had tried to use an oil deal to win Uganda's backing on the Security Council.

"No!" he said, adding, "They have no leverage." Kutesa pointed out that many other countries around the world had companies that could built a refinery in Uganda.

"We are not the agents of Iran or anybody else... Nobody can blackmail us about that oil -- including the Iranians," he said.

Museveni said the day before that Uganda will be not be doing the bidding of the United States, either.

"We are not agents of the West on the U.N. Security Council -- we are representatives of Africa and we follow what Africa decides," he said.

The British-Irish firms Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil have already signed contracts with Uganda to develop its oil reserves, the non-profit group Platform said in a highly critical report in February.

The contracts "place profits before people," in the words of the report's title. Platform called for more environmental protections, greater accountability for military forces protecting oil installations, and more equitable distribution of revenues.

Ahmadinejad, who arrived in Uganda on Friday to seek support for his country's controversial nuclear program, said he discussed the sanctions, which he described as a "joke."

"We want Uganda to understand that our nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but Iran is being denied the right to develop it on baseless suspicions by the West," Ahmadinejad said.

Earlier, during a state dinner, Ahmadinejad accused the West of trying to deny countries the right to nuclear energy.

Museveni, on the other hand, called for a "nuclear weapons-free world," defending nations' rights to have access to nuclear technology, but only for "peaceful purposes" such as medical uses.

"Nuclear weapons are dangerous for humanity -- even more dangerous than all the other previous weapon systems," Museveni said. "We should, therefore, work for a nuclear weapons-free world. This means that those who have these weapons should work to get rid of them under an internationally agreed and verifiable treaty."

Uganda was one of two African nations Ahmadinejad visited this week. He also made a two-day trip to Zimbabwe, where he launched a tractor production line and attended a trade fair.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said he and Ahmadinejad have the "same policy and same stance -- anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist and a stance to protect our sovereignty and our right of ownership of our resources."

Source : CNN

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Abbas: State with temporary borders would be a 'trap'

Jerusalem (News Terupdate) - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that he would not accept a Palestinian state with temporary borders and described an Israeli proposal for such an arrangement as a "trap."

He was speaking before a meeting of leaders from his Fatah party in Ramallah in the West Bank.

George Mitchell, the U.S. special envoy, held talks with both Palestinians and Israelis Friday in an effort to get the two sides back to the negotiating table. He is scheduled to stay in the region until Sunday.

Neither American nor Israeli officials would confirm whether a proposal for a Palestinian state with provisional borders had in fact been presented within the framework of ongoing talks to get negotiations started.

Palestinians have resisted American pressure to resume talks unless the Israeli government agrees to a complete halt of new settlement construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Abbas reiterated the point Saturday in his speech and noted that while there was no substitute for a two-state solution, an increasing number of Palestinians are becoming supportive of a one-state solution, in which Israelis and Palestinians would live under one government.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Israeli forces shot and wounded two Palestinians and a Maltese activist during a protest in Gaza, medical officials and activists said.

Demonstrators condemned Israel's establishment of a buffer zone between Israel and Gaza that they say amounts to a cessation of farming in that location. They also deplored Israeli policies and actions toward the Palestinian territory.

The incident took place east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp.

There has been no immediate reaction from the Israel Defense Forces.

The International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian group, said on its website that about 150 people attended the "peaceful" and "nonviolent" demonstration and that soldiers opened fire on the demonstrators from the border fence.

Nidal Al Naji, 18, was shot in the right thigh and Hind Al Akra, 22, was shot in the stomach. Bianca Zimmit, 28, of Malta was filming the demonstration when she was shot in the left thigh, the group said.

Israel Defense Forces said it fired warning shots at a group of Palestinians gathering "very close to the security fence" in central Gaza. In its initial probe of the incident, the IDF said its forces "identified hitting three of the Palestinians."

"The area adjacent to the security fence is a combat zone used by terrorist organizations to execute attacks against Israel. The IDF will not allow anyone to be present in it, since it is considered a threat to the residents of Israel and to Israeli security forces, " the IDF said.

Source : CNN

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