Bahrain policeman killed in unrest

A Bahraini police officer has been killed as protests and violence continue in the Gulf kingdom.

The interior ministry reported the officer's death late on Thursday night.

The death was Thursday's second. In the morning a 16-year-old protester died after police shot him in the stomach. Several others were reportedly wounded.

The protests were held to mark the second anniversary of the start of demonstrations against the rule of the country's Sunni royal family.

On Friday thousands of anti-government marchers blocked a major road, the Boudaya highway, leading into the capital Manama. For a second day clashes broke out between security forces and protesters.

Police chief Tariq Hassan al-Hassan said that the police officer, Mohammed Asif, died after being struck by a projectile.

"While Asif and several other police officers were securing roads a group of rioters attacked with Molotov cocktails, steel rods and stones."

He called it an "unprovoked attack".

The protests and violence come as the government and opposition start a national dialogue aimed at easing the country's crisis. The majority Shia community in Bahrain is pressing for greater political rights.

On 14 February 2011, peaceful protesters took over an iconic Bahraini monument, Pearl Roundabout. Three days later security forces cleared the site using tear gas, batons and birdshot. At least two protesters died and hundreds were injured.

As violence escalated 35 people, including five police officers, were killed, hundreds more were hurt and thousands jailed in February and March 2011.

The vast majority were Shia Muslims in a country ruled by a minority Sunni royal family.

Since then, opposition and human rights activists say another 45 people have been killed, a figure which the government disputes.

Although many people have been released, 13 activists and politicians including the leader of the secular Waad party, Ibrahim Sharif, remain in jail.

They have been convicted and in some cases given life sentences on evidence that is widely accepted to have been obtained under torture.

BBC News

Oscar Pistorius denies Reeva Steenkamp South Africa murde

South African Olympic and Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius has strongly rejected a charge that he murdered his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Ms Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, was shot dead at Mr Pistorius's home near Pretoria on Thursday.

Appearing in court in Pretoria, Mr Pistorius wept as prosecutors vowed to pursue a charge of premeditated murder.

An application for bail was postponed until next Tuesday and the athlete will remain in police custody.

Dubbed "blade runner", he made history last summer by becoming the first double-amputee track athlete to run in an Olympic Games.

"The alleged murder is disputed in the strongest terms", said a statement released by Mr Pistorius's family and management company after the court hearing.

"Our thoughts and prayers today should be for Reeva and her family - regardless of the circumstances of this terrible, terrible tragedy," it said.

They were the first words released on behalf of the 26-year-old athlete since Ms Steenkamp was found fatally wounded at his home in the gated Silver Woods development outside the South African capital.

But they gave no explanation of what had happened.

'Traumatised'

Hours earlier, Mr Pistorius sobbed audibly during his initial appearance at Pretoria Magistrates Court.

Dozens of reporters witnessed the hearing, where chief magistrate Desmond Nair was presiding.

The BBC's Andrew Harding, who was there, said the defendant cut a lonely figure in a crowded court, with his hands clenched and his neck muscles twitching, before he held his head forward, breathing heavily through tears.

When Prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued for the graver charge of "premeditated murder", Mr Pistorius slumped forward at the mention of the words.

If convicted of premeditated murder, the athlete will face a life term in prison. But his defence is seeking a lesser charge, possibly culpable homicide, which is defined in South African law as unlawful, negligent killing.

Media access was discussed at the 40-minute session and the magistrate ruled that there should be no live recording of the bail hearings.

Mr Pistorius's team had argued against such coverage and cited his "extremely traumatised state of mind".

Both prosecution and defence agreed Mr Pistorius could remain in custody at a police station and not in prison.

Members of Mr Pistorius's family, including sister Aimee, brother Carl and father Henke, were in the courtroom.

His brother and father, sitting behind the athlete, reached forward to touch his shoulder during the proceedings.

Mr Pistorius had earlier arrived at court in the back of a police vehicle, hiding his face with a jacket and notebook.

Forensic scientists are expected to continue examining the house in the Silver Lakes area on the outskirts of South Africa's administrative capital where Ms Steenkamp, 29, died.

Correspondents say the athlete's arrest has stunned the country where he is considered a national hero.

He is known as "blade runner" because of the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he races in. He was born without a fibula in both legs and had his legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday.

Police were called to his home in the early hours of Thursday morning.

They found paramedics treating a 29-year-old woman with four gunshot wounds to the head and upper body. She died at the scene, and officers recovered a 9mm pistol.

A post-mortem examination was carried out on Friday but the results would not be made public, police said.

Ms Steenkamp's body is due to be flown home to Port Elizabeth for a memorial service next Tuesday, South African media report - the same day that Oscar Pistorius is next expected in court.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21475873

Exclusive: Turkey to Iran gold trade wiped out by new U.S. sanction

(Reuters) - Tighter U.S. sanctions are killing off Turkey's gold-for-gas trade with Iran and have stopped state-owned lender Halkbank from processing other nations' energy payments to the OPEC oil producer, bankers said on Friday.

U.S. officials have sought to prevent Turkish gold exports, which indirectly pay Iran for its natural gas, from providing a financial lifeline to Tehran, largely frozen out of the global banking system by Western sanctions over its nuclear program.

Turkey, Iran's biggest natural gas customer, has been paying Iran for its imports with Turkish lira, because sanctions prevent it from paying in dollars or euros.

Iranians then use those lira, held in Halkbank accounts, to buy gold in Turkey, and couriers carry bullion worth millions of dollars in hand luggage to Dubai, where it can be sold for foreign currency or shipped to Iran.

Halkbank had also been processing a portion of India's payments for Iranian oil.

A provision of U.S. sanctions, made law last summer and implemented from February 6, effectively tightens control on sales of precious metals to Iran and prevents Halkbank from processing oil payments by other countries back to Tehran, bankers said.

"Halkbank can only accept payments for Turkish oil and gas purchases and Iran is only allowed to buy food, medicine and industrial products with that money," one senior Turkish banker told Reuters.

"The gas for gold trade is very difficult after the second round of sanctions. Iranians cannot just withdraw the cash and buy whatever they want. They have to prove what they are buying ... so gold exports will definitely fall," he said.

Trade in Turkish gold bars to Iran via Dubai was already drying up as banks and dealers declined to buy the bullion to avoid sanctions risks associated with the trade.

Reuters first reported the boom in Turkish gold sales to Iran via Dubai last year.

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Cağlayan signaled a decline in the trade last week when he said that, while Turkey would not be swayed by U.S. pressure to halt gold exports to Iran, Tehran's demand for the metal was expected to fall.

"You could say that the United States has achieved its aim," said a western diplomat. "If Turkey is going to continue energy imports from Iran, there is no other way to go than trading sanction-free goods."

NEW ROUTES?

Washington says Tehran is enriching uranium to levels that could be used in nuclear weapons and has been trying to ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes.

Turkish ministers had acknowledged the "gold-for-gas" trade but said it was carried out entirely by the private sector and was not subject to U.S. sanctions.

Turkey like China, India and Japan is heavily dependent on imported energy and, while it has cut back on oil from Iran, has made clear it cannot simply stop buying Iranian oil and gas.

"With so many restrictions, Iran's cash may accumulate in Halkbank accounts... they may have difficulty getting some of that money out of Turkey," another senior Turkish banker said.

That could mean Tehran will look elsewhere for allies willing to try to get round the U.S. sanctions, although it may struggle to continue to receive gold as a payment method.

"The gold trade may switch to countries that support Iran politically but Russian banks, for example, would be very cautious because they are very much in the global banking system," the second banker said.

"China may be another option. But I can say that the gold trade is over for Turkey."

Turkey, which is not a major gold producer, was a net gold, jewelry and precious metals importer in 2011 but swung to being a net exporter last year. Analysts said Iranian demand had prompted both the high imports two years ago - which were largely sold on to Iran - and the surge in exports last year.

Gold exports to Iran rose to $6.5 billion in 2012, more than ten times the level of 2011, while exports to the United Arab Emirates - much of it for onward shipment to Iran or conversion to hard currency - rose to $4.6 billion from $280 million.

Overall Turkish bullion exports fell to 10.5 tonnes in December from 15.2 tonnes in November.

#Syria Syrian opposition won't talk to officials linked to crackdown

Syrian opposition won't talk to officials linked to crackdown

An opening in the ceiling of a room caused by shelling is seen at a building where patients of lbn Khaldoun psychiatric hospital were transferred to, in Aleppo February 14, 2013.

(Reuters) - Syria's opposition coalition is ready to negotiate President Bashar al-Assad's exit with any member of his government who has not participated in his military crackdown on the uprising, coalition members said on Friday.

Syrian authorities have given no formal response to several offers of talks in recent weeks. But officials say they cannot accept pre-conditions about Assad's departure and have privately dismissed what they say are no more than media initiatives.

The political chasm between the sides, along with a lack of opposition influence over rebel fighters on the ground and an international diplomatic deadlock preventing effective intervention, has allowed fighting to rage on with almost 70,000 people killed in 22 months of conflict, by a U.N. estimate.

Opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib made an offer of negotiations last month without consulting the coalition's 70-member assembly, prompting criticism from a powerful bloc within the movement dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem is due to visit Moscow, one of Assad's main foreign allies, later this month. Russia also hopes Alkhatib will visit soon in search of a breakthrough to end the bloodiest of the Arab Spring uprisings.

But coalition members say no date has been set for an Alkhatib trip to Moscow and Syria's Foreign Ministry played down suggestions that Moualem and he could meet there, saying any dialogue must take place inSyria.

An overnight meeting of the coalition's 12-member politburo in Cairo endorsed Alkhatib's initiative, although it set guidelines for any peace talks which will be presented for approval by the full assembly next Thursday.

"These guidelines stipulate that Bashar al-Assad and all the security and military leaders that (have) participated in the killing of the Syrian people and whose hands are stained with blood have no place in the Syria of the future," coalition member Abdulbaset Sieda told Reuters in Cairo after the meeting.

"We agreed to reassure the Syrian brothers from the (ruling) Baath Party whose hands are not stained with the blood of the Syrian people that they are partners in the coming political process."

Another opposition member said next week's gathering of the full coalition would try to revive plans for a provisional government, undermined so far by divisions among Assad's foes.

Walid Bunni, one of a handful of liberals in the Islamist-heavy assembly, told Reuters that Assad and his military and intelligence officials could not be part of any negotiations.

"Bashar and his cohorts will not be party to any talks. We will not regard those present from the government's side as his representatives," Bunni said.

He said the meeting addressed how to deal with Iran and Russia, Assad's main supporters, after Alkhatib met the foreign ministers of Russia and Iran in Munich earlier this month.

NO SIGN OF DIALOGUE

Syria's Foreign Ministry complained to the United Nations on Friday over what it said was pressure by Turkey, which backs the rebels, on Syria's opposition to reject any negotiated solution. The ministry said Turkey was "training and arming terrorist groups including al Qaeda" to fight Assad's forces.

Turkey has repeatedly denied arming or training the Syrian insurgents.

Alkhatib has said he is willing to hold talks with Assad's representatives in rebel-held areas of Syria or outside the country to try to end the conflict. Syria's minister for national reconciliation, Ali Haidar, initially gave a positive response, saying he was willing to travel abroad to meet him.

But in an interview on state television this week Haidar reiterated the government's position that any serious dialogue must be on Syrian territory and said the opposition had not formally presented any proposals.

"There is no initiative at the table of the Syrian government," he said. "The government is not a media office to answer ideas through the media."

Haidar has also said the authorities reject any dialogue that aims "to hand power from one side to another".

Alkhatib has headed the Syrian National Coalition since it was founded last December in Qatar with Western and Gulf backing. He has quietly built up a student following and links with civic and religious figures across Syria, although he has no control over armed insurgents seeking Assad's overthrow.

Rebels captured the town of Shaddadeh in the eastern, oil-producing province of Hasakah on Thursday after three days of battles in which activists said 30 members of the al Qaeda-linked, anti-Assad, Nusra Front and 100 soldiers were killed.

The United Nations food agency WFP said on Friday that an estimated 40,000 people had fled Shaddadeh for the provincial capital Hasakah, 45 km (30 miles) to the north.

But the army's firepower in the east remains formidable, rebels say. An activist in the city of Deir al-Zor, where rebels launched an operation this week to expel Assad's forces, came under the heaviest artillery barrages since the start of the conflict from the airport and surrounding bases to the south.

In Damascus, fighting continued on the edge of central areas where rebel brigades have encroached after breaching the Assad forces' defensive lines at the ring road two weeks ago.

Assad's elite Republican Guard and Fourth Division Forces, belonging mostly to his Alawite sect, remain dug in on Qasioun Mountain on the northwestern edge of the capital, at the Mezze military airport on its western edge and in surrounding hills in Somariya and an Alawite enclave known as Mezze 86.

"I hear the shelling from Mezze airport and Somariya and Mezze 86 on Daraya and Moadamiya. From Qasioun it targets Jobar and the southern neighborhoods," said a local witness.

REBEL TANK BARRAGE

Video footage showed a tank captured by the Liwa al-Islam Brigades, one of the biggest rebel units operating around Damascus, shelling a purported army position in the Eastern Ghouta, an expanse of farmland and urban areas from where opposition forces have been attacking the capital.

Illustrating the dominance of Islamists in the armed opposition, Liwa al-Islam was established by the son of a Salafist sheikh in Saudi Arabia, a major source of funding for the rebels, along with Qatar.

In the northern province of Idlib, where rebels shot down two air force jets on Thursday, Assad's forces shelled the town of Maarat al-Numan after days of heavy clashes around the military base of Wadi Deif on the main north-south highway.

Activist Anas Najm, speaking by phone from the town with the sound of jets buzzing and bombardment in the background, said rebels retook the highway from the army last week.

"The road to Turkey is basically now all under opposition control, except in an area near Aleppo where the regime has a big fortified roadblock," he said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence in Syria, said dozens of people were kidnapped on Thursday in apparent tit-for-tat sectarian operations in Idlib.

It said pro-Assad armed groups from the Shi'ite Muslim villages of Fua and Kafraya seized four vehicles carrying men and women from the Sunni Muslim villages of Saraqeb, Sarmeen and Binnish. Another group captured 40 people from Fua and Kafraya, it said.

The rebels come mainly from Syria's Sunni majority, while the Alawites follow a faith derived from Shi'ite Islam.

#New_York Manufacturing stumbles but seen regaining footing

Manufacturing stumbles but seen regaining footing

File photo of Chevrolet Cruze chassis moving along the assembly line at the General Motors Cruze assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio July 22, 2011.

(Reuters) - Manufacturing got off to a weak start this year as motor vehicle production tumbled, but a rebound in factory activity in New York state this month suggested the decline would be temporary.

Consumers were a bit more upbeat early this month even as they paid more for gasoline and saw higher taxes reduce their paychecks, other data on Friday showed. Households drew comfort from steady job gains, which together with rising house and share prices should help to underpin consumer spending.

Manufacturing output fell 0.4 percent in January after rising 1.1 percent in December, the Federal Reserve said. That followed two months of solid gains and largely reflected a 3.2 percent drop in auto production.

"Given that most of the weakness was due to the give-back in motor vehicle production after the 11 percent surge in activity during the last two months of last year, we expect this retreat in industrial output to be temporary," said Millan Mulraine, senior economist at TD Securities in New York.

In a separate report, the New York Fed said its "Empire State" general business conditions index rose to 10.0 from -7.8 the month before. February's index showed the first growth in the sector since July and the best performance since May 2012.

The rebound was driven by new orders, where the index was at its highest since May 2011. Economists said the pick-up in activity likely reflected recovery from Superstorm Sandy, which struck the East Coast in late October.

"Growth in the current quarter could get a boost from rebuilding efforts in the region," said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York.

CONSUMER SENTIMENT PERKS UP

A third report showed the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment rose to 76.3 in early February from 73.8 in January. Its gauge of current economic conditions rose to 88 from 85 the prior month, while a measure of consumer expectations rose to 68.7 from 66.6.

"Consumers are getting over the fact that their paychecks are a little smaller since the beginning of the year due to the sunset of the payroll tax holiday," said Thomas Simons, an economist at Jefferies & Co. in New York.

"This offers some encouragement that consumption will recover following a weak month in January."

The expiration of a 2 percent payroll tax cut and increases in tax rates for wealthy Americans on January 1 were blamed for a sharp slowdown in retail sales last month.

The pick-up in consumer sentiment is welcome given the cooling in factory activity. Manufacturing carried the economy's recovery from the 2007-09 recession.

Last month's weakness in manufacturing helped push overall industrial production down 0.1 percent. Output had increased 0.4 percent in December.

Production at the nation's mines fell 1.0 percent, but cold weather boosted utilities production by 3.5 percent -- a positive development for consumer spending this quarter.

With industrial output weak, the amount of capacity in use fell to 79.1 percent from 79.3 percent in December.

Industrial capacity utilization - a measure of how fully firms are using their resources - was 1.1 percentage points below its long-run average.

Officials at the Fed tend to look at utilization measures as a signal of how much "slack" remains in the economy, and how much room growth has to run before it becomes inflationary.

Exclusive: North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test

A passenger walks past a television report on North Korea's nuclear test at a railway station in Seoul February 12, 2013.

(Reuters) - North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks with Pyongyang, said a source with direct knowledge of the message.

Further tests could also be accompanied this year by another rocket launch, said the source who has direct access to the top levels of government in both Beijing and Pyongyang.

The isolated regime conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday, drawing global condemnation and a stern warning from the United States that it was a threat and a provocation.

"It's all ready. A fourth and fifth nuclear test and a rocket launch could be conducted soon, possibly this year," the source said, adding that the fourth nuclear test would be much larger than the third at an equivalent of 10 kilotons of TNT.

The tests will be undertaken, the source said, unless Washington holds talks with North Korea and abandons its policy of what Pyongyang sees as attempts at regime change.

North Korea also reiterated its long-standing desire for the United States to sign a final peace agreement with it and establish diplomatic relations, he said. The North remains technically at war with both the United States and South Korea after the Korean war ended in 1953 with a truce.

Initial estimates of this week's test from South Korea's military put its yield at the equivalent of 6-7 kilotons, although a final assessment of yield and what material was used in the explosion may be weeks away.

North Korea's latest test, its third since 2006, prompted warnings from Washington and others that more sanctions would be imposed on the isolated state. The U.N. Security Council has only just tightened sanctions on Pyongyang after it launched a long-range rocket in December.

The North is banned under U.N. sanctions from developing missile or nuclear technology after its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

North Korea worked to ready its nuclear test site, about 100 km (60 miles) from its border with China, throughout last year, according to commercially available satellite imagery. The images show that it may have already prepared for at least one more test, beyond Tuesday's subterranean explosion.

"Based on satellite imagery that showed there were the same activities in two tunnels, they have one tunnel left after the latest test," said Kune Y. Suh, a nuclear engineering professor at Seoul National University in South Korea.

Analysis of satellite imagery released on Friday by specialist North Korea website 38North showed activity at a rocket site that appeared to indicate it was being prepared for an upcoming launch (here).

NORTH 'NOT AFRAID' OF SANCTIONS

President Barack Obama pledged after this week's nuclear test "to lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats" and diplomats at the U.N. Security Council have already started discussing potential new sanctions.

The North has said the test this week was a reaction to what it said was "U.S. hostility" following its December rocket launch. Critics say the rocket launch was aimed at developing technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"(North) Korea is not afraid of (further) sanctions," the source said. "It is confident agricultural and economic reforms will boost grain harvests this year, reducing its food reliance on China."

North Korea's isolated and small economy has few links with the outside world apart from China, its major trading partner and sole influential diplomatic ally.

China signed up for sanctions after the 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests and for a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in January to condemn the latest rocket launch. However, Beijing has stopped short of abandoning all support for Pyongyang.

Sanctions have so far not discouraged North Korea from pursuing its nuclear ambitions, analysts said.

"It is like watching the same movie over and over again," said Lee Woo-young, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

"The idea that stronger sanctions make North Korea stop developing nuclear programs isn't effective in my view."

The source with ties to Beijing and Pyongyang said China would again support U.N. sanctions. He declined to comment on what level of sanctions Beijing would be willing to endorse.

"When China supported U.N. sanctions ... (North) Korea angrily called China a puppet of the United States," he said. "There will be new sanctions which will be harsh. China is likely to agree to it," he said, without elaborating.

He said however that Beijing would not cut food and fuel supplies to North Korea, a measure that it reportedly took after a previous nuclear test.

He said North Korea's actions were a distraction for China's leadership, which was concerned the escalations could inflame public opinion in China and hasten military build-ups in the region.

The source said that he saw little room for compromise under North Korea's youthful new leader, Kim Jong-un. The third Kim to rule North Korea is just 30 years old and took over from his father in December 2011.

He appears to have followed his father, Kim Jong-il, in the "military first" strategy that has pushed North Korea ever closer to a workable nuclear missile at the expense of economic development.

"He is much tougher than his father," the source said.

After years of toil, book names #Bosnian war dead #Libya #Syria

After years of toil, book names Bosnian war dead

(Reuters) - Mirsad Tokaca calls it the "crowning achievement" of 10 years of painstaking research - thousands of grey pages bearing the names of 95,940 victims of the Bosnian war, where they died and when.

Published last month, war crimes researchers say The Bosnian Book of the Dead represents the most comprehensive statistical analysis yet of the bloodshed in Bosnia after federal Yugoslavia fell apart at the close of the 20th century.

For Tokaca, 58, it's the ultimate answer to political leaders across the countries carved from Yugoslavia who still dispute the crimes committed, the numbers killed and who bore the blame when their joint state collapsed.

"You can't deny the crime if you determine the exact number of victims," the former journalist and businessman told Reuters. "Nobody has done anything like this. It's unique."

Rights activists say an accurate picture of what went on in the Bosnian, Croatian and Kosovan wars of the 1990s is vital to the slow process of reconciliation in the Balkans, a region still scarred but seeking to join the European mainstream.

The European Union's external borders will reach Bosnia in July, when neighboring Croatia becomes the bloc's 28th member.

But the book, whose title recalls the funerary texts that ancient Egyptians believed guided the deceased in the afterlife, almost never came about.

For years, a state commission tasked with gathering data on war crimes was starved of funding by Bosnia's central government, an uneasy alliance of the Serb, Croat and Muslim former warring sides.

With thousands of files at risk of falling into disrepair, Tokaca, a former member of the commission, established the Identification and Documentation Centre and launched the book project in 2003 with the help of foreign donors.

SHUNNED BY THE STATE

He took on the records, but was shunned by the state when he asked for funding to continue the research, "probably because they couldn't dictate what it would look like," he said.

Amid a row with donors over how the money was being spent, the book was finally published with the help of the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre, run by Serbian rights campaigner Natasa Kandic.

"The (Bosnian) state was never interested in taking on that huge documentation," Kandic told Reuters in Belgrade. "If it wasn't for Tokaca, I believe the files would have fallen apart."

The book's four hardback volumes list almost 100,000 dead, civilian and military, in alphabetical order, their ethnicity, and when and where they died. It provides a chilling picture of the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Roughly half the dead were civilians, while 82 percent of those were Bosnian Muslims (known as Bosniaks). Some 10,000 women were killed, again the majority Bosniaks. Of 24,000 Serb dead, 20,000 were soldiers.

The facts do not alter the narrative of the war as accepted in the West.

But it is another part of a campaign by the likes of Kandic and Tokaca to reconcile Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks around a common view of what went on when Bosnian Serb forces, with the backing of Belgrade, seized and "ethnically cleansed" swathes of Bosnia after it voted to secede from Yugoslavia.

They laid siege to the once multi-ethnic capital Sarajevo for 43 months, killing, according to the book, 14,000 people. Croatia, too, helped foment the fighting on behalf of the Bosnian Croats.

Kandic said a similar project was underway in Kosovo and another planned in Croatia, with the aim of creating a complete registry of the dead from Yugoslavia's collapse.

"It will be a first in the history of the Balkans and the world, and we will know what our legacy is," Kandic said. "Names close down the room for manipulation of numbers, for minimizing other victims and inflating one's own."

CONFLICTING NARRATIVES

Tokaca's research had already halved the estimated number of Bosnian war dead from an earlier figure of 200,000, stirring controversy in a country still hamstrung by ethnic division and conflicting narratives of the conflict.

Besides the book's 95,940 dead, another 5,100 are named but the circumstances of their deaths have yet to be established.

Tokaca, a Bosniak, said he believed the book would serve as a model for other conflict regions such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya or Syria, which is in the grips of an increasingly sectarian conflict often compared to Bosnia in its complexity and big-power inertia.

Without an accurate picture of the human toll, Tokaca believes reconciliation is impossible.

"You can't preach against war and explain to people what war is without demonstrating the price of war in terms of human lives alone," he said.

Pro-autonomy leaders in east Libya urge calm on revolt anniversary

People hold Libyan national flags as preparations take place in the city for the upcoming celebrations to commemorate the second anniversary of the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi, in Benghazi February 13, 2013.

(Reuters) - Pro-autonomy leaders in eastern Libya urged followers to cancel planned rallies against central authorities on Friday for fear they could ignite violence as the country marks two years since the start of its revolution.

Various opposition and interest groups in Benghazi, fount of the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, have prepared mass demonstrations later in the day to demand better security and investment for Libya's second biggest city.

"Everyone is carrying weapons in Benghazi and there is still general chaos and confusion," activist Zeid el-Ragas said. "As activists it's our responsibility to minimize harm in our city, so we will stay home on February 15."

While Sunday will be the actual two-year anniversary of the start of the anti-Gaddafi revolt, celebrations were to begin later on Friday in remembrance of the arrest of a human rights lawyer in Benghazi that kindled unrest.

Many Libyans, particularly those in the east, have been urging citizens to take to the streets to voice their discontent over the Tripoli government's inability to provide security by disarming militias or moving towards writing a constitution.

Security is a particular headache in Benghazi where violence against foreigners and police assassinations by inchoate Islamist militant groups have become regular occurrences.

On January 25, Britain urged their nationals to leave Benghazi, citing a "specific and imminent" threat to Westerners days after a deadly attack by Islamist militants on a natural gas complex and taking of hostages in neighboring Algeria.

In Benghazi, the base of the rebel leadership during the 2011 war, daily life has been disrupted by violence and unrest on top of demands for greater autonomy or investment in a region separated from Tripoli 1,000 km (620 miles) away to the west.

This has led to calls in the region - where most of Libya's oil wealth lies - for a return to a federal political structure, that is, more regional autonomy, which Libya had before Gaddafi seized power in a coup in 1969.

Federalist groups say they have come under harsh criticism from the central government and even religious leaders accusing them of calling for a separation of the east from the west of Libya, something they deny they want to do.

"We have been demonized in the state media as traitors and if anything goes wrong on February 15 we will be blamed for it, so it is better if we stay home," Ragas said.

It was not clear how many people would still rally in central Benghazi squares after Friday prayers.

"REVOLUTION NOT OVER"

In September, civilians stormed militia bases in Benghazi after a militant assault on the local U.S. diplomatic mission in which the U.S. ambassador was killed. This happened after an anti-militia "Save Benghazi" rally.

Fearing a repeat, militias have been keeping a low profile in the run-up to the weekend, some of them removing weapons from their bases. More security checkpoints were set up around town.

Long a pro-autonomy hotbed behind earlier attempts to unseat Gaddafi, Benghazi is now the focal point of a widespread sense that the new Tripoli authorities are still ignoring and neglecting the east of the vast North African state.

The over-arching issue is what status Benghazi will have in the new Libya and what stake in national oil supplies of 1.6 million barrels a day - much of it extracted in the east.

"We don't feel like it is a real celebration in Benghazi," said student Samia Ali, 22. "The revolution started here and it is not over yet. We need so many things fixed and Tripoli doesn't listen to our needs - especially our economy."

However, like in Tripoli, hundreds of small tricolor national flags have fluttered in Benghazi throughout the week, and buildings have been decorated with colorful lights.

In Tripoli, drivers in cars adorned with Libyan flags honked horns and blasted patriotic music. Security was tight with a slew of police and pro-government militia checkpoints checking license plates, registration papers and car boots.

As part of the increased security measures over the weekend, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said overland borders with Tunisia and Egypt would be closed.

#Obama #Libya #Iraq Republicans block vote on Obama's defense nominee, Hagel

Republicans block vote on Obama's defense nominee, Hagel

(Reuters) - Republican lawmakers succeeded on Thursday in delaying a Senate vote on confirming President Barack Obama's choice of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary, but another vote was planned for later in the month and Obama said he expected his nominee to be approved.

The tally was 58-40, with almost every Republican voting no, falling short of the 60 needed to pass a motion to stop debate and allow a vote by the full Senate on confirming the former Republican senator.

The result delayed, but did not end, Hagel's hopes of becoming the civilian chief at the Pentagon.

Democrats were furious at the delay, which they characterized as the first time in history that the procedural tactic known as a filibuster had been used to block a defense nominee, something disputed by Republicans.

"I'm going to go call Chuck Hagel when I finish here and say I'm sorry, I'm sorry this has happened," the Senate majority leader, Democrat Harry Reid said on the Senate floor after the vote.

Charging the opposition party with trying to score political points against Obama's White House, Democrats said Republicans were putting the country at risk by delaying the filling of a major security post.

"My expectation and hope is that Chuck Hagel, who richly deserves to get a vote on the floor of the Senate, will be confirmed as our defense secretary," Obama said in an Internet question-and-answer session hosted by Google+. "It's just unfortunate that this kind of politics intrudes at a time when I'm still presiding over a war in Afghanistan."

Republicans insisted they were not using a filibuster and not trying to kill the nomination, which has faced bitter opposition since Obama picked Hagel on January 7.

John Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said that Republicans just wanted more time and more information from Hagel.

"This is not any attempt to kill this nomination. This is not a filibuster," he said, during several minutes of heated debate on the Senate floor after the vote.

Reid set another vote on the motion for February 26, after a weeklong recess. Republicans said they expected the motion would pass then, after they have had more time to consider the nomination.

With Democrats controlling 55 votes in the 100-seat Senate, Hagel's nomination is expected to win the simple majority of 51 votes needed for his confirmation as the civilian leader at the Pentagon, once such a vote is allowed.

BENGHAZI AND IRAQ

If confirmed, Hagel, 66, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, would replace 74-year-old Leon Panetta, who has said he will remain in his post until his successor is in place but is longing to retire to his California walnut farm.

Thursday's vote meant Panetta faces at least two more weeks before saying goodbye to Washington.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement that Panetta would continue to serve as defense secretary and attend a NATO meeting in Brussels next week.

Republicans had been in negotiations with the White House on a compromise under which at least a handful of Republicans would agree to let the confirmation go ahead if the procedural vote were delayed until after next week's recess.

One major sticking point was the Obama administration's refusal to release more information about the deadly September attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya.

The struggle over Hagel's nomination is one of many battles raging between Obama's Democrats and Republicans in Congress, including disputes over gun control, immigration rules and dealing with huge budget deficits.

Hagel broke from his party as a senator by opposing former President George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq War, angering many Republicans. Some Republicans have also raised questions about whether Hagel is sufficiently supportive of Israel, tough enough on Iran or capable of leading the Pentagon.

His performance at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee also drew harsh criticism. Even some Democrats have said he appeared unprepared and at times hesitant in the face of aggressive questioning.

The panel voted 14-11 along party lines on Tuesday to advance Hagel's nomination to the full Senate.

Republican Senator John McCain, for example, had said he opposed procedural tactics to block the vote on Hagel, but changed his mind in order to press the White House to release more information on Benghazi.

"As far as we are concerned on this issue, there are other questions. We feel the intervening week and a half is sufficient time to get those questions answered," McCain told a news conference with fellow Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte, who have been among the most vocal Hagel critics.

Republicans said that Reid brought the uncertainty on himself by trying to rush Hagel's confirmation. Obama nominated Hagel on January 7 and his hearing before the Armed Services panel took place on January 31.

Democrats said the time frame was not unusually short. They also noted that many of Hagel's most vocal opponents served with him during his two terms as senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009 and knew him well.

The confirmation of another of Obama's national security nominees, John Brennan for CIA director, also faces a delay as the White House and lawmakers joust over the release of sensitive documents, including some related to Benghazi.