BRUSSELS: The United States and key allies France and Britain struggled to hammer out a new command structure for Libyan military operations amid divisions over the role NATO should play. US President Barack Obama, in El Salvador wrapping up a tour of Latin America, admitted Tuesday it would take a while to forge agreement on the major issue hanging over coalition strikes against Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi. "I would expect that over the next several days we will have clarity and a meeting of the minds of all those who are participating in the process," Obama said, as NATO amba...
Published On: 2011-03-23

WASHINGTON: The no-fly zone over Libya could end up costing the Western coalition more than $1 billion if the operation drags on more than a couple of months, defense analysts say. Zack Cooper, a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said the initial cost of eliminating Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's air defenses was likely to be between $400 million and $800 million. The expense of patrolling the no-fly zone once it is established is likely to be $30 million to $100 million a week, he said. The U.S. military has no official cost figures yet for the operatio...
Published On: 2011-03-23

CAIRO: Fire broke out Tuesday in an Egyptian interior ministry building in Cairo, shortly after thousands of policemen protested there to demand better working conditions, an AFP correspondent said. Thick black smoke barrelled into the sky and flames spread to another building in the ministry complex in the Lazoghly area of central Cairo in the incident that injured eight people, according to the official MENA news agency. "Suddenly, flames came out from inside the building, from the fourth or fifth floor," witness Walid Ibrahim told state television. It was not immediately clear ...
Published On: 2011-03-23

MOSCOW: Russia’s two leaders are openly disagreeing over the UN resolution authorising international military action against Libya, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin comparing it to the medieval crusades and President Dmitry Medvedev warning him to watch his use of words. Their statements represented a rare open clash on foreign policy. Putin, who served two terms as president and still dominates Russia’s politics, said the UN Security Council resolution was “flawed and inferior.” “It allows everything and is reminiscent of a medieval call for a crusade,”...
Published On: 2011-03-22

LONDON: A US Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle jet has crashed in Libya, the United States military said today. Both crew members ejected, one was safely recovered and the US military was on a mission to recover the other one. Vince Crawley, a spokesman for the Africa Command, says the crash could have been due to a mechanical failure. “We do not believe it was shot down,” Crawley said today. It was not immediately known where or when the plane went down. Crawley said until the second crewman is recovered the US’s Africa Command would not offer further details. The crew members ...
Published On: 2011-03-22

Tel Aviv : An Israeli court ordered former Israeli President Moshe Katsav to prison for seven years on Tuesday following a rape conviction, rejecting his attorneys’ request for leniency and making him the highest-ranking Israeli official ever sent to jail. ...
Published On: 2011-03-22

HAVANA: Fidel Castro said Tuesday he resigned five years ago from all his official positions, including head of Cuba's Communist Party, a pre-eminent job in the island's political pantheon that he was thought to still hold. It was the first time the 84-year-old revolutionary icon has said he no longer heads the Communist Party, which he has led since its creation in 1965. The Communist Party website still lists him as first secretary, with his brother President Raul Castro listed as second secretary. The declaration raised questions about just how much power Fidel Castro has been wielding be...
Published On: 2011-03-22

ABIDJAN: The U.N. peacekeeping mission to Ivory Coast said Laurent Gbagbo's forces were readying an attack helicopter and multiple rocket launchers Tuesday and condemned the growing use of heavy weapons against civilians. Its statement came as Gbagbo's rival Alassane Ouattara scolded the mission for not doing enough to protect civilians, saying Gbagbo's security forces had killed 832 people since a contested November election in the world's top cocoa grower. Gbagbo's spokesman was not immediately available to comment. The power struggle between the two has degenerated into armed conflict, w...
Published On: 2011-03-22

KATHMANDU: At the invitation of Deputy Speaker Purna Kumari Subedi, a seven-member delegation of the Member of Parliaments from State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation is arriving on Wednesday here on a five-day goodwill visit. The delegation led by Federation's Deputy Chairman Valery Afanasyevich Yazev is scheduled to arrive on March 23 tomorrow, according to the Legislature-Parliament Secretariat. During the visit, the MPs delegation is scheduled to hold meetings with the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Deputy Prime Ministers and the Energy Ministe...
Published On: 2011-03-22

CAIRO: Video footage released on social media show anti-government protests in Syria have spread to a southern village and a Damascus suburb. One clip on YouTube shows several hundred villagers in Samnin chanting "Freedom!" while another shows dozens gathered in Hajar Aswad neighborhood of the capital. Syrian activists who reported the protests say they took place Monday evening. The activists spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals. The videos' authenticity could not be independently confirmed. A deadly government crackdown in the southern city of Daraa left seven peopl...
Published On: 2011-03-22