WEST AFRICA

REBELS ACCUSE SUDAN’S GOVERNMENT OF NEW RAIDS

ABUJA, Nigeria – Rebel accusations that new government air raids killed 26 civilians in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region cast a pall over peace talks in Nigeria, where African Union mediators struggled yesterday to broker an end to fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people. A Sudan army official denied the rebel report. Lieutenant General Mohammed Ismail, deputy chief of staff of the Sudanese army, said there had been no new violence in Darfur, which the United Nations has said is site of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

A spokesman for the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, Mahgoup Hussain, said the bombings occurred Tuesday and yesterday in Allaiat, a town in eastern Darfur. “It is still continuing,” Mr. Hussain said. “Definitely this round [of negotiations] will not go well. It is not logical. You are coming here for peace, and you are bombing people over there.” Mr. Hussain, who said a pregnant woman was among the 26 victims, spoke at the end of a third day of peace talks that so far have failed to yield any agreement. The conflict has displaced 1.5 million people since it started in February 2003.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

SHARON VOWS TO REBUFF PRESSURES FROM PARTY REBELS

Prime Minister Sharon sought to face down rebels in his Likud Party, vowing in comments published yesterday that he would not give in to “pressures and threats” over his Gaza withdrawal plan. Four Cabinet ministers – led by Mr. Sharon’s top rival, the finance minister, Benjamin Netanyahu – voted along with a majority of lawmakers who approved the Gaza plan on Tuesday. But the four said they would step down if the prime minister did not commit to a national referendum on it.

The turmoil raised new doubts about Mr. Sharon’s ability to go ahead with the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank next summer, as pledged. The ministers’ resignations could force elections in coming months and delay implementation of a withdrawal. Alternately, Mr. Sharon could try to reshuffle his coalition and bring in the moderate Labor Party. Mr. Sharon said he would not be swayed by the threats. Mr. Sharon suggested he would try to avoid early elections, telling the Yediot Ahronot daily: “I can promise you that I will have a coalition that will continue to run this country.”

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

BOY RESCUED FOUR DAYS AFTER JAPANESE QUAKE

TOKYO – In a dramatic rescue shown on live TV, a 2-year-old boy was pulled out alive yesterday after four days trapped inside his family’s minivan, buried by an earthquake-induced landslide. The joy was muted, however, by news that rescuers were unable to save Yuta Minagawa’s mother, and the fate of his 3-year-old sister looked increasingly grim.

The family’s white van was swept away Saturday in a wave of boulders and earth that pulverized the hillside road they were on when the 6.8-magnitude quake ripped across rural Niigata prefecture. The van was spotted Tuesday under hillside rubble, and TV cameras tracked rescuers painstakingly digging through to a voice they heard inside. Eventually, the toddler was shown being lifted out in the arms of an orange-clad rescue worker – covered in mud and looking weak, but conscious. He was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital.

– Associated Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA

THAI LEADER DEFENDS FORCES OVER DETAINEE DEATHS

PATTANI, Thailand – Facing harsh denunciation from Islamic leaders across Southeast Asia, Thailand’s prime minister defended his security forces yesterday in the deaths of 78 young Muslims in army custody, maintaining troops used a “soft approach” in quelling a riot. Thaksin Shinawatra also insisted security forces “did not fire a single round into the crowd,” although at least seven other people apparently died from police bullets in clashes Monday that threaten to worsen sectarian unrest in the Muslim dominated south of this mostly Buddhist country.

Police and soldiers detained about 1,300 people following the riot in Narathiwat province’s Takbai district that erupted when a crowd marched on a police station to demand freedom for six men accused of giving arms to Muslim separatists. The prisoners were jammed into trucks to be driven to army camps and 78 died, most from suffocation, Justice Ministry officials have said. The deaths, which were not announced until a day after the riot, brought thunderous criticism and warnings that Thailand’s government is worsening frictions with Muslims. Mr. Thaksin has been repeatedly accused of using excessive force in dealing with unrest in the south.

– Associated Press