Suu Kyi’s party calls for talks with West on sanctions
AFP, Yangon

Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's party appealed Tuesday for talks with the West about possible changes to sanctions against Myanmar, but distanced itself from recent calls for their abolition.
The Nobel Peace laureate's National League for Democracy (NLD) stressed that any end to the punitive measures should be linked to an improvement in the junta's human rights record, notably the release of political prisoners.
"As the major causes of sanctions are violation of human rights and lack of democratic practices, it is by dealing effectively with these issues that the removal of sanctions can best be effected," it said.
In an indication that it sees no pressing need to end the measures, the NLD said that available evidence "indicates economic conditions within the country have not been affected by sanctions to any notable degree." But it called for discussion with the United States, the European Union and other nations "with a view to reaching agreement on when, how and under what circumstances sanctions might be modified in the interests of democracy, human rights and a healthy economic environment".
Suu Kyi's release from house arrest in November after Myanmar's first election in 20 years has reignited debate over the effectiveness of the measures, enforced notably by the United States and the EU in response to the junta's human rights abuses.
Myanmar analyst Renaud Egreteau said Suu Kyi's "cautious" stance on sanctions reflected the broad spectrum of views within her party on the issue.
"She is increasingly realising ... that the complexities of Myanmar affairs following the election will require the adoption of very measured positions on her part, above all in socio-economic issu-es," he added. At the same time the NLD wants to maintain its main asset-a strong link with the international community, notably the West, said Egreteau, a researcher at The University of Hong Kong.
Critics of the policy say sanctions, which have largely kept Western companies out of a resource-rich corner of Asia, are hindering development in what is one of the world's poorest nations.
Two pro-democracy parties which took part in the November polls-in which the military's political proxies claimed a huge win-have called for an end to sanctions on the grounds that they do not benefit the wider population.

 NATO soldiers, Afghan policeman killed in blasts
AFP, Kabul

Two NATO soldiers and an Afghan policeman were killed in a wave of insurgent bomb blasts in Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said.
The soldiers died in separate bombings in southern Afghanistan, the heartland of the nine-year Taliban insurgency against the government and foreign troops, the International Security Assistance Force said.
The police officer was killed in Balkh province in northern Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device struck a police vehicle. "One police has been killed and three others were injured," a local police spokesman said.
In the capital Kabul, an explosion took place in a traffic police vehicle in a congested area of the city centre, but there were no casualties. "We're investigating this. It was either a small magnetic bomb in the vehicle or a technical problem that caused the sound," said Mohammad Zahir, the city's criminal investigation police chief.
The last major incident in the Afghan capital saw eight people killed in a suicide attack on a supermarket.
In Jalalabad city, in eastern Afghanistan which is also troubled by the Taliban insurgency, another bomb injured at least six policemen, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a local administration spokesman, and a doctor told AFP.
Hours earlier, another similar explosion that appeared to target the vehicle of the son of a local warlord injured three guards, Abdulzai added. Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province on the Pakistani border. There are around 140,000 US-led international troops in Afghanistan fighting a Taliban-led insurgency alongside the Afghan police and army.

 Seoul envoy to visit China for N. Korea nuclear talks
AFP, Seoul

South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-Lac will visit Beijing this week for talks with his Chinese counterpart on North Korea's atomic programmes, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
Wi will meet Wu Dawei on Thursday, the first day of his two-day visit.
"The two will exchange ideas on a wide range of issues including the current situation of the North's nuclear programmes and future responses," the ministry said in a statement, without elaborating.
China's push to restart stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, and the North's recent disclosure of a uranium enrichment programme, are expected to be high on the agenda.
Pyongyang last November showed off the new programme to visiting US experts. It says the plant will be part of a peaceful nuclear power project, but experts say it could easily be reconfigured to produce material for atomic weapons.
South Korea is trying to refer the uranium issue to the United Nations Security Council, which ordered the North to shut down all atomic activities following two tests of plutonium bombs.
China, the North's ally and a veto-wielding Council member, has not said whether it would support a referral.
But President Hu Jintao, at a summit last month with US leader Barack Obama, expressed concern at the claimed uranium programme.
The six-nation talks grouping China, the United States, the two Koreas, Russia and Japan, have been in stasis since December 2008.
China wants them revived as part of a process to ease overall tensions on the Korean peninsula. The United States says the North must mend ties with the South before the nuclear dialogue can resume.
The two Koreas held military talks Tuesday, their first encounter since the North's deadly shelling of a South Korean island last November.

 Sri Lanka rally for jailed former army chief
AFP, Colombo

Thousands of Sri Lankan opposition activists staged a protest outside a jail on Tuesday to demand the release of former army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka.
Supporters of the JVP, or People's Liberation Front, shouted anti-government slogans and carried placards demanding freedom for Fonseka who is serving a 30-month sentence after being convicted by a court martial.
The JVP organised the demonstration outside the Welikada jail to mark the first anniversary of Fonseka's arrest by the military, just two weeks after he lost the January 2010 presidential vote.
"We will not give up our struggle until he is released," Fonseka's wife, Anoma, told the protesters.
Police closed a section of the main road outside the prison in a bid to prevent a repeat of Friday's violence when government supporters clashed with Fonseka loyalists.
At least four opposition MPs were among a dozen people wounded in the Friday night attack, while cars belonging to opposition lawmakers were smashed by ruling party activists.
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) is planning another protest in Colombo on Wednesday to press for Fonseka's release.
Mass protests erupted in Sri Lanka soon after Fonseka's arrest a year ago.
Fonseka is widely credited with leading troops to crush Tamil Tiger rebels and ending the island's decades-long separatist war in May 2009. However, he then fell out with President Mahinda Rajapakse.

 Arab regimes struggle against revolt spread
AFP, Cairo

From talks with the opposition to promises not to stay in power forever, Arab regimes are taking steps aimed at stopping Tunisian and Egyptian-style popular revolts spreading to their doorsteps.
Protests about a lack of political rights and freedom of expression, corruption and police abuses, unemployment and high food prices have sprung up in several countries.
Since Tunisia's longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted during a popular revolt in mid-January, the question on everyone's lips has been: who is next?
The first answer came from Egypt, where two weeks of unprecedented protests have rocked the three-decade rule of President Hosni Mubarak.
Faced with rising pressure from the street, Mubarak, 82, announced that he would not seek another term when his mandate ends in September, promised reforms and invited the opposition to a national dialogue.
Those at the talks included the powerful but banned Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamists' first official encounter with the regime in half a century.
Since then, other Arab leaders have also announced that they will not stay in power forever, as once appeared to be the case.
Like Mubarak, who stressed that his decision not to stand again was taken a long time ago and had nothing to do with the deadly protests, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said his decision had been taken beforehand.
"I have personally decided not to seek another term after this one, a decision I made at the beginning of my first term," Maliki told AFP, adding that he wanted to change the constitution to limit premierships to two terms.
"One of the characteristics of a lack of democracy could be when a leader rules for 30 or 40 years," Maliki told AFP. "It is a difficult issue for people. It may be intolerable, and change is necessary."
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power since 1978 through Cold War division, a civil war, rebellions and an Al-Qaeda insurgency, has also made concessions in the face of protests.
Last week, he announced he would freeze proposed constitutional changes that would have allowed him to stay in office for life, and said he was opposed to hereditary rule.
Tens of thousands nevertheless turned out to protest against him the next day, although the opposition then issued a statement calling for Saleh to implement the promised reforms, but did not call for further protests.

  Mubarak reform step as Egypt protests enter third week
AFP, Cairo

Egypt's embattled President Hosni Mubarak took a step towards democratic reform Tuesday in another bid to appease opponents as mass street protests against his regime entered their third week. Mubarak has issued a decree forming a committee to oversee constitutional changes ahead of elections later this year, said Vice President Omar Suleiman, whom many now see as the effective power behind the throne.
"The president also tasked the prime minister with forming a follow-up committee to implement decisions taken by parties to the national dialogue," Suleiman said, in a brief televised address.
The vice president has begun meeting representatives of some opposition parties-including the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, but not some of the street protest groups-to draw up plans for a democratic transition.
Mubarak has promised not to stand for re-election in September, rebuffing calls for him to step down right away, but opposition groups say any election to replace him would not be fair under Egypt's current constitution.
Meanwhile, Egyptian protesters were once again massing in Cairo's Tahrir Square amid calls for renewed nationwide street action to mark two weeks of anti-government rallies that have rattled the regime. Several thousand were already occupying the square-the focal point of unprecedented protests calling for the end of Mubarak's 30-year reign-sleeping under tents or rolled up in blankets at the foot of army tanks.
A massive banner that reads "The people want the end of the regime" hangs over Tahrir, but the 82-year-old strongman has ploughed on regardless, reshuffling his cabinet and offering reform but refusing to step down.

  Palestinians to hold local polls on July 9
AFP, Ramallah

The Palestinian cabinet decided on Tuesday to hold local elections on July 9, in what will be the first time the people have gone to the polls since 2006, officials said.
"The cabinet decided during its meeting today to hold local elections on Saturday 9 July and charged the electoral commission with making the necessary preparations for it," government spokesman Ghassan Khatib told AFP, reading from an official statement.
Local polls were originally set for July 17, 2010 but postponed after the Islamic Hamas movement, which rules Gaza, said it would not participate.
Hamas on Tuesday reiterated its refusal to participate in polls run by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by the rival Fatah movement, meaning the elections are likely to be limited to the West Bank.