EGYPT: The detention of Hosni Mubarak extended

AFP - The Egyptian judiciary said Tuesday it has extended the detention of former President Hosni Mubarak for 15 days as part of the investigation into the suppression of anti-regime protests earlier this year.

The Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud "ordered the preventive detention of former President Hosni Mubarak for 15 days, beginning at the end of his current period of detention" May 12, said in a statement.

The spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office said a team of investigators visited the hospital Tuesday in Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea, where Mr.Mubarak, for further interrogation.

A source at the prosecutor's office told AFP that he would announce in coming days if Mr. Mubarak will be tried or not.

He could be sentenced to up to hanging if convicted, had said in late April the Minister of Justice, Abdel Aziz al-Guindi.

The former president, 83 years, driven by 11 February a popular revolt that ended three decades of power, had been placed in custody April 13 for periods of 15 days, renewable.He is charged along with his two son Gamal and Alaa to the violent repression of the protest movement and is suspected of corruption.

Mr.Mubarak is being treated since April 12 at the international hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh resort in Sinai, after having a heart attack during interrogation.

He is asked about his responsibility in the deaths of protesters during the revolt (January 25 to February 11) and the controversial contracts for the sale of Egyptian gas to Israel which led to losses of several billion dollars for the country, according the prosecution.

According to one report, 846 civilians died in the protests that led to the departure Mubarak.A member of the commission of inquiry into the suppression indicated that the former president was complicit in the bloodshed.

Former Interior Minister Habib el-Adli is on trial for ordering the firing against demonstrators, after being sentenced to twelve years in prison Thursday for embezzlement.

More than two months after the fall of M.Mubarak, the pressure remains high in Egypt for the former president and his immediate family are brought to justice swiftly.

Justice had asked the Interior Ministry being transferred to Tora prison in the southern outskirts of Cairo, where his son already Alaa and Gamal, also detained for periods of 15 days, renewable, and former Ministers and senior officials of the regime.

But the department ruled that the prison hospital was not adequately equipped to cope with any rapid deterioration in his health.

On 10 April, Mr. Mubarak was out for the first time in its silence to be a victim of "defamation". In a speech sound, he denounced the "smear campaigns" against him and defended his "reputation" and his "integrity." He assured that neither he nor his wife Suzanne had any assets abroad and said he was ready to cooperate with the law.

BELARUS: President Lukashenko sees foreign forces behind the bombing of Minsk

At least 12 people were killed and more than a hundred injured Monday night in an attack on the subway in Minsk, in the center of the capital of Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko does not exclude that the explosion could have been organized "from abroad".

"A terrorist attack occurred around 5:54 p.m. today at the station Oktyabrskaya" said Assistant Attorney General Andrei Chved, following an emergency meeting convened by Mr Lukashenko a few hours after the tragedy.

"I told you we would not let us live in peace," saidLukashenko was quoted by the Ria Novosti agency, during the meeting with senior officials of the country.

"I do not exclude that this 'gift' comes from abroad, but we must also look at us," added the President who instructed the authorities to do everything to solve this case.

"The head of the KGB, you are personally responsible for the investigation," he said, addressing the chief of security.

The initial balance of 11 dead was increased to 12 after the death of one of the wounded into the night, said Monday morning the KGB, saying that a total of 149 people needed medical treatment and 22 of them are in serious condition.

"The culprits must be found as soon as possible.Return the entire country, "said Mr Lukashenko, according to Ria Novosti.

The blast occurred at a gas station near the Belarusian presidency, said a witness told AFP.

Shortly after the explosion, black smoke coming out of the Oktyabrskaya metro station and passengers escaped from the underground, face bloodied, some with tattered clothes, witnesses said.

"There are many wounded, we are not able to give figures," said emergency medical services in the city.

Television images showed smoke-filled subway station, the wounded on the ground or leaning against the pillars, while others fled.

"People are evacuated from the station.The resort itself is very smoky. There are many wounded exits, "he told a correspondent of the newspaper online naviny.by Belarus, who was on site.

"People go out in blood the underpass leading to the subway, they have their hands and face covered in blood.Smoke coming from the underground, "he added.

Belarus, ruled with an iron fist by Alexander Lukashenko in power for 16 years, had not undergone major attack in recent years.

In July 2008, an artisanal craft had exploded in the center of Minsk on the feast of the independence of this former Soviet republic, making about fifty wounded, according to news reports.

The explosion occurred on Monday amid political tensions in Belarus, where many opponents were arrested in late December after the controversial re-election of Mr Lukashenko.

The re-election with over 80% of the votes of Mr.Lukashenko on December 19 had caused a major opposition demonstration in Minsk, denouncing massive fraud.

The rally was dispersed and manhandled by police and more than 600 people were arrested.

Twenty-two opponents are still in custody and five have fled abroad, including one of the presidential candidates, Ales Mikhalevitch, who received political asylum in the Czech Republic.

Dozens of opponents, including several presidential candidates, have been charged with "organizing mass disturbances" in the wake of these events and could face up to 15 years in prison.

The Belarusian government had estimated that the April 5 December demonstration against the reelection of Mr. Lukashenko was an attempted coup "plotted with representatives from abroad".

LIBYA: France recognizes the Libyan National Transitional Council

AFP - France said on Thursday the National Transitional Council (CNT) of Libya, which includes opposition to the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, as the only "legitimate representative of the Libyan people" and will soon send an ambassador to Benghazi, said the Elysee.

"France has recognized the Transitional National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people," he announced to the press an emissary of the CNT, Ali Essaoui after a meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee.

This information was immediately confirmed by the Presidency of the Republic, making France the first country to recognize the NLC as the sole representative "legitimate" of the Libyan people.

"Based on this recognition, we will open a diplomatic representation, so our embassy in Paris, and an ambassador of France will be sent to Benghazi," said Mr. Essaoui."The ambassador will be installed temporarily in Benghazi, before returning to Tripoli," he added.

The next exchange of ambassadors between Paris and Benghazi was also confirmed in the wake of the Elysee.

This recognition comes on the eve of a special summit of Heads of State and Government of the European Union (EU) in Brussels on Friday, in which Nicolas Sarkozy will propose a "comprehensive plan" on the Libyan crisis.

"There will be a strategic plan to be proposed by France tomorrow (Friday) before the European Council," said another of the emissaries of the Libyan opposition received by Nicolas Sarkozy, Mahmoud Jibril.

"The president told us that there was a comprehensive plan that would be proposed and adopted to address the situation but at a European level, to work for the Libyan people and save the Libyan people's sufferings and massacres perpetrated against him, "said Mr. Jibril, whose remarks were translated into Arabic.

The Elysee Palace confirmed that the plan would be presented Friday to the member countries of the EU, without giving further details.

Nicolas Sarkozy is the first Head of State or Government of 27 to receive official representatives of the Libyan opposition.After the interview, he escorted the three emissaries of CNT on the steps of the Elysee Palace and shook hands at length to reporters.

The French initiative contrasts with the withholding expressed so far by the EU, whose foreign minister Catherine Ashton on Wednesday refused to Strasbourg to support the application of CNT to be recognized as the sole legitimate authority in Libya, yet supported by the European Parliament.

TUNISIA: Three killed in clashes in Tunis

AFP - Three people died in clashes Saturday between demonstrators and police in downtown Tunis, said the interior ministry in a statement.

The statement said "three people were killed among the twelve who have been injured in the clashes and were transferred to a hospital to be treated."The use of the term "person" suggests that this would be protesters.

"Several members of security forces were injured to varying degrees," the statement said without specifying their number.

On the other hand, the statement said, "more than 100 people were arrested on Saturday" and "88 other perpetrators of acts of vandalism were arrested the day", during the first clashes between police and protesters occurred Friday in the heart of Tunis.

The ministry attributed the violence against the police "to a group of agitators infiltrated the ranks of peaceful demonstrators who have used high school students as human shields to engage in acts of violence intended to spread fire terror among citizens and to the internal security forces. "

He calls "the population to be vigilant and urging parents to cooperate with security forces and to convince their children not participate in these events."

Previously, the ministry announced a ban on travel for pedestrians and cars on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in downtown Tunis, the scene of violent clashes, from 6:00 p.m. on Saturday until midnight Sunday, reported the TAP.

The central avenue was delivered Saturday to a pitched battle between police and demonstrators, the police dispersed several times by tear gas.

TUNISIA: A Polish priest murdered by extremists near Tunis

Insecurity in Tunisia and the risk of pushing fundamentalist were illustrated Friday with the murder of a Polish priest found murdered "by extremists" near Tunis, officials said, and the attack of street prostitutes by Islamists who wanted to set fire to the center of the capital.

This is the first murder of both a religious and a foreigner since the fall of the regime of Ben Ali on January 14.

The priest, aged 34, was found dead "murdered" on Friday in a private school in the region Manouba, told AFP a source close to the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior.

It is "a fascist terrorist group with extremist orientations who is behind this crime, given the way he was murdered," the ministry said in a statement without specifying whether this was the Islamists.

Marek Rybinski was found murdered in the garage of a private religious school where he was responsible for accounting.He was assaulted before being murdered, the ministry said cited by the official news agency TAP.

An outbreak of fever had arisen in the Islamic afternoon in Tunis: dozens of them have attempted to set fire to a street where prostitutes work.

"The Islamists have tried to enter the street Abdallaah Guechi to burn," he told AFP Tunisian policeman under cover of anonymity. A major brothels in Tunis is located in the street near the Medina.

"Residents have prevented them from returning to this street until the arrival of agents of security forces who blocked the entrance prohibiting passage.They then managed to disperse the demonstrators, "said the policeman.

This area was flown for several hours by several army helicopters.

"Some groups have tried to enter the street but the police already knew that protesters were coming.They blocked the exits and now the street is guarded by the police and the army, "said one trader.

The Islamists had earlier expressed in the inner city, shouting "No to places of prostitution in a Muslim country."

"We demanded the closure of this street, we are in a Muslim country and we must apply what Islam requires," said one of them, Hamza, 21.

Last week, the Tunisian Jewish community had expressed its concern to the government after anti-Semitic incidents at the Great Synagogue of Tunis.

"Here we are vigilant," he repeated Friday the president of the community Roger Bismuth."It is the work of Salafists, the most extreme Islamists trained by the Wahhabis, but there is no soil in Tunisia for the development of Salafism," he added.

Aware of the prevailing security vacuum after the fall of the regime, the government decided last week to recall reservists retired for five years who joined the army on Wednesday.

The government is confronted daily with the instability of many armed robberies, demonstrations of Tunisians desperately calling on welfare and illegal immigration of thousands of Tunisians parties seek employment in Europe.

In an attempt to ease social tensions and meet the demands of a population exasperated by unemployment (14%, double that for young people), the government announced Friday a series of welfare measures aimed at emergency most disadvantaged (financial allocations, tenure of construction workers, allocation of free health care cards).

He also called on social partners to begin negotiations in the private and public key demand of the powerful trade union UGTT, according to his spokesman Baccouch Taieb.

Finally, the government passed a general amnesty for political prisoners. A decree-law shall be announced in "coming days".

KOREA: First contact between the two Koreas after months of high tensions

AFP - North Korea and South on Tuesday held their first talks since the deadly bombing in November of a South Island by forces that Pyongyang still had heightened tensions between the two warring brothers.

Hosted discussions in the "Peace House" in the village of Panmunjom in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), began at 10:00 am (0100 GMT) and continued in the afternoon, according to a carrier word of the South Korean Ministry of Defense.

The two colonels in charge of the debates have shaken hands before opening the discussion, according to photographs provided by the department.

These discussions are intended to prepare a formal high-level meeting, presumably between the two Defence Ministers, at a date yet to be determined.

This initial contact after months of high tensions in Seoul was to test the intentions of Pyongyang, which was launched in late 2010 in a charm offensive and had repeated desire to resume the dialogue.

"The two parties discussed the agenda and organization of an encounter at a high level," said Kim Min-Seol, spokesman for the Department of Defense. "The atmosphere was serious and there were no political discussions".

Mr.Kim recalled that prior to any substantive dialogue, Pyongyang must take "responsible action" after the recent attacks and refrain from conducting further hostilities.

The year 2010 was marked by two serious incidents, the sinking in March of a South Korean corvette in which 46 sailors were killed and the bombing in November of a South Korean island that killed two soldiers and two civilians.

The North's side rejects any liability in the sinking of the sloop despite the findings of an international investigation that put into question.The communist regime also claims that the bombing in November was speaking in response to South Korean laborers in the region.

"It is possible that these discussions will result in a freeze on all positions," said a military official was quoted by South Korean Yonhap news agency before the talks began.

"The two sides could hold a series of preliminary discussions," he added.

China, Pyongyang's only ally, and the United States, an ally of Seoul, have urged the two warring brothers to resume the discussion.

Beijing is pushing for a resumption of six-party talks on nuclear disarmament of North, but Washington insists that the North first discuss with the South.

In response to the bombing in November, South Korea has conducted a series of maneuvers.It also strengthened the defenses of the island referred to Yeonpyeong and four other islands border.

A military source quoted by Yonhap, Seoul also plans to strengthen its marine corps of 2,000 men to reinforce the defense of this sensitive area, the scene of other incidents in the past.

The army has also deployed new batteries of artillery, radar systems for detecting weapons and missiles capable of striking North Korean artillery hidden in underground shelters.

The South also plans to deploy missiles on board a destroyer of 4,500 tons, sailing in the disputed area of the Yellow Sea, according to a source quoted by Yonhap.

EURO ZONE: France and Germany want a "pact of convergence" economic

AFP - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed on Friday a summit meeting of the euro area in March to prepare for the development of a "pact of convergence" Closer Economic European states.

"We will present the details of what we want to adopt in March during a summit of the eurozone (...) so that all observers around the world understand that all European economies is in the right direction with the interests of competitiveness, "saidSarkozy on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

"We asked (the President of the European Union Hermann) Van Rompuy to consult with other states in order to make a decision at the top end of March the European Union on the issue," said Ms. Merkel told reporters.

"That means we must first come to an agreement within the euro area," she said.

"We will explain this to our partners and we will have decisions to next March, first in a summit of the eurozone, the European Council and a" bringing together 27 countries across the EU, saidSarkozy.

"We want to strengthen Europe's competitiveness and its economy, we want to converge the various European economies," he said, "so it's a stronger integration of economic policy to serve a purpose: strengthen the competitiveness of our economies. "