Exclusive: U.N. support for Congo campaign against Rwanda rebels in doubt over abuses

By Michelle Nichols and Aaron Ross

UNITED NATIONS/KINSHASA Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:34pm EST

UNITED NATIONS/KINSHASA (Reuters) - United Nations support for a planned military operation against Rwandan rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo could be in doubt because Congo named a general accused of rights abuses to head the offensive, diplomats and officials said on Friday.

General Bruno Mandevu was appointed on Sunday to head a Congolese army (FARDC) operation against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which had been jointly planned with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO).

Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mandevu had been placed by MONUSCO on a so-called red list over accusations of 121 rights violations, including summary executions and rapes.

"If, because of the past record of units or their commanders, there are substantial grounds to believe there is a real risk that they commit grave human rights violations, support to those units will be withheld unless adequate mitigating measures can be put in place," a senior MONUSCO official told Reuters.

"In this particular case, this process has brought to light some concerns that have been brought to the attention of the DRC government. Discussions are underway at the highest level to address them," the official said.

During a U.N.-backed offensive against the FDLR in 2009, Congolese soldiers were accused by rights groups of massacring hundreds of civilians and committing wide-ranging abuses. The Congolese army denied the scale of the alleged abuses.

The FARDC and the Congolese government were not immediately available for comment.

A U.N. peacekeeping official in New York said that under the United Nations human rights due diligence policy, the world body has to "ensure that its support to non-U.N. security forces will not contribute to grave human rights violations."

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo threatened in 2013 to withdraw support for two Congolese battalions accused of involvement in the mass rape. The mission decided to keep working with the battalions after 12 senior officers, including the commanders and deputy commanders, were suspended and about a dozen soldiers were charged over the rapes in Minova.

U.N. peacekeepers and Congolese troops completed preparatory work for the offensive against the FDLR earlier this month and were waiting for Congolese President Joseph Kabila to sign off on a joint military plan so combat operations could start.

But during a meeting on Sunday with MONUSCO chief Martin Kobler and envoys from the United States, Britain, France, Belgium and the European Union, Kabila said that it would be an FARDC operation and not a joint campaign with the United Nations, said diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity.

They said Kabila told Kobler and the envoys that FARDC Chief of Staff Didier Etumba would provide a revised operations plan to tackle the FDLR, a group that includes former soldiers and Hutu militiamen responsible for Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

"It is not a joint operation, it is one that is being led by the FARDC with support from MONUSCO," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters earlier on Friday.

"We will participate, provide support operationally, logistically and strategically. MONUSCO and the FARDC together will conduct regular joint evaluations of the operations," Dujarric said.

The FDLR failed to meet a January deadline to disarm and surrender. U.N. officials say there are an estimated 1,400 FDLR rebels still in eastern Congo.

"Operations v. FDLR must ensure protection of civilians, minimize civilian impact and track with U.N. human rights due diligence policy," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, tweeted on Thursday.

(Editing by Christian Plumb)

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Japan, Jordan seek news on fate of Islamic State captives

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Elaine Lies

AMMAN/TOKYO Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:46pm EST

1 of 10. A relative of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh, who was captured by Islamic State after his plane crashed in northeastern Syria in December during a bombing mission against them, holds a picture of him at the family's headquarters in the city of Karak January 29, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Ahmad Abdo

AMMAN/TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan and Jordan scrambled on Friday to find out what had happened to two of their nationals being held by Islamic State, after a deadline passed for the release of a would-be suicide bomber being held on death row in Amman.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said every effort was being made to secure the release of journalist Kenji Goto.

"We are gathering and analyzing information while asking for cooperation from Jordan and other countries, making every effort to free Kenji Goto," he told a parliamentary panel.

Jordan's army said state agencies were "working round the clock".

Jordan said on Thursday it was still holding the Iraqi woman prisoner as a deadline passed for her release set by Islamic State militants, who threatened to kill a Jordanian pilot unless she was handed over by sunset.

An audio message purportedly from Goto said the pilot would be killed if Jordan did not free Sajida al-Rishawi, in jail for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack that killed 60 people in the Jordanian capital Amman.

The message extended a previous deadline set on Tuesday in which Goto said he would be killed within 24 hours if al-Rishawi was not freed.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said late on Friday that Tokyo was doing everything it could, but declined to answer whether negotiations had stalled.

"We are doing the things we have to, one after the other, steadily," he told a news conference.

The hostage crisis comes as Islamic State, which has already released videos showing the beheadings of five Western hostages, is coming under increased military pressure from U.S.-led air strikes and by Kurdish and Iraqi troops pushing to reverse the Islamist group's territorial gains in Iraq and Syria.

JORDAN DEMANDS PROOF

About an hour before the new deadline was due to pass on Thursday, government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said Jordan was still holding al-Rishawi.

"We want proof ... that the pilot is alive so that we can proceed with what we said yesterday; exchanging the prisoner with our pilot," Momani told Reuters.

The pilot, Muath al-Kasaesbeh, was captured after his jet crashed in northeastern Syria in December during a bombing mission against Islamic State.

"State organs are working round the clock following up on the case of the pilot," Jordanian army spokesman Colonel Mamdouh al Ameri said, but offered no new word on his fate.

Momani said separately that Jordan was coordinating with Japanese authorities in an effort to secure the release of Goto, a veteran war reporter.

Goto's wife urged both governments to work for her husband's release, saying she feared this was his last chance.

In the latest audio recording purportedly of Goto, he said that Kasaesbeh would be killed "immediately" if al-Rishawi was not at the Turkish border by sunset on Thursday, Iraq time, ready to be exchanged for the Japanese hostage.

That was some time around 0930 ET on Thursday.

DIFFICULT POSITION

The implication that the pilot would not be part of an exchange deal has left Jordan in a difficult position.

Protests have erupted in Karak, home town of the pilot, who is from an important Jordanian tribe that forms the backbone of support for the Hashemite monarchy.

In Japan, the hostage crisis is the biggest diplomatic test for Abe since he took office in 2012 pledging to play a bigger role in global security.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told journalists that Tokyo had asked Jordan to beef up protection of its diplomats in the country on Friday, the birthday of Jordanian King Abdullah.

Jordanian comments have raised concerns in Japan that Goto might not be part of any deal between Amman and Islamic State.

"I hope the negotiations materialize," Goto's mother, Junko Ishido, told reporters at her Tokyo home late on Thursday. "I don't want to think about it," she said, when asked what she would do if negotiations failed.

Abe has repeatedly said Japan would not give in to terrorism and would keep cooperating with the international community.

The hostage crisis erupted after Abe announced in Cairo $200 million in non-military aid for countries opposing Islamic State, but his government has rejected suggestions it acted rashly and stressed the assistance was humanitarian.

Goto went to Syria in late October. According to friends and business associates, he was attempting to secure the release of Haruna Yukawa, his friend and fellow Japanese citizen who was captured by Islamic State in August.

In the first video purportedly of Goto, released last week, a black-clad masked figure with a knife said Goto and Yukawa would be killed within 72 hours if Japan did not pay Islamic State $200 million.

A video on Saturday appeared to show Goto with a picture of a decapitated Yukawa, saying his captors' demands had switched to the release of al-Rishawi. Tuesday's video featured an audio track over a still picture that appeared to show Goto holding a picture of Kasaesbeh.

(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Linda Sieg in Tokyo, and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mike Collett-White)

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Greece says will not cooperate with "troika" or seek aid extension

By Lefteris Papadimas and Angeliki Koutantou

ATHENS Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:23pm EST

Tourists stand near the temple of Parthenon atop the ancient site of the Athens Acropolis on a cold and windy day January 30, 2015. Greece will refuse the planned return of European Union and International Monetary Fund inspectors to the country since the new government rejects the 240-billion-euro bailout programme, a government official told Reuters on Friday.

Credit: Reuters/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS TRAVEL)

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's new leftist government opened talks on its bailout with European partners on Friday by flatly refusing to extend the program or to cooperate with the international inspectors overseeing it.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' government also sacked the heads of the state privatization agency after halting a series of state asset sales.

The politically unpopular policy of privatization to help cut debt is one of the conditions of Greece's 240-billion-euro bailout that has imposed years of harsh austerity on Greece.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis met Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the euro zone finance ministers' group, for what both men described as "constructive" talks. But Greek media seized on signs of frosty body language between them and the hour-long meeting appeared to do nothing to bridge the gap between them.

The meeting marks the start of Athens' drive to persuade its creditors to ease the strict terms of the bailout. It precedes planned visits by Tsipras and Varoufakis to London, Paris and Rome next week.

Although neither France nor Italy has shown any sign of accepting the new Greek government's demand to write off part of its 320 billion-euro debt, they have both previously called for a change of course from German-style budget austerity.

Tsipras has repeatedly said he wants to keep Greece in the euro but he has also made clear he will not back away from election campaign pledges to roll back the terms of the bailout.

His government, winner of last Sunday's election, has raced ahead with a series of anti-bailout moves including reinstating thousands of public servants laid off by the previous government as well as cancelling privatizations.

But Germany, Europe's paymaster, is also digging in.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Berlin was open for talks with the new government about its debt, but he also made clear that Athens had to do its part.

"We need solidarity in Europe, and besides we cannot be blackmailed," Schaeuble said.

After a volatile week in which banking stocks fell by as much as 40 percent, financial markets fell back after recouping some ground on Thursday. The main Athens stock market index was down 1.6 percent. Greek 10-year yields were down 22 basis points at 10.37 percent but still well above levels seen before Sunday's election.

BANK FUNDING

Varoufakis said Greece had no intention of cooperating with a mission from the lending "troika" of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, which had been due to return to Athens. He said Greece would not seek an extension to a Feb. 28 deadline with euro zone lenders.

"This platform enabled us to win the confidence of the Greek people," he told reporters after meeting Dijsselbloem. "Our first action as a government will not be to reject the rationale of questioning this program through a request to extend it."

He gave no indication of what Greece would do if it cannot reach an agreement by the deadline. The center-right New Democracy party, which lost power in Sunday's election, said the new government "does not understand what it is about to do."

Without the EU/IMF bailout program, Greece's banks would lose their access to ECB funding.

Dijsselbloem said a decision on the bailout deadline would be reached before the end of February but he rejected Greece's push for a special conference on debt, saying such a forum already existed in the shape of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers.

Athens is waiting on a final bailout tranche of 7.2 billion euros ($8.13 billion) and has been shut out of international bond markets. It faces around 10 billion euros in debt repayments this summer.

Like Germany, France has rejected suggestions that part of the Greek debt could be written off, but Paris has been more open to the possibility of offering other forms of relief such as pushing back debt maturity or cutting interest rates.

Varoufakis said he had assured Dijsselbloem that Athens planned to implement reforms to make the economy more competitive and stick to balanced budgets, but it would not accept a "self-fed crisis" of deflation and non-viable debt.

In turn, Dijsselbloem said he had told the new government to respect the terms of the existing agreement between Greece and the euro zone and warned against taking unilateral steps, saying it was important not to reverse progress made so far.

He said euro zone partners were ready to continue supporting Athens until it can begin borrowing on the markets again "provided that Greece fully complies with the requirements and objectives of the program".

Earlier on Friday Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis said the government was examining its options on a Canadian-run gold mine, one of the biggest foreign investment projects in Greece.

Privatization had been meant to raise billions for Greece's depleted state coffers but proceeds have been disappointing so far, amounting to no more than around 3 billion euros, a fraction of an initially targeted 22 billion euros.

($1 = 0.8858 euros)

(Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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Ukraine peace talks aborted as civilians die in east

By Aleksandar Vasovic and Andrei Makhovsky
DONETSK, Ukraine/MINSK Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:55pm EST

 

1 of 5. A woman surveys damage done to a house, which according to locals was recently damaged by shelling, in the suburbs of Donetsk January 30, 2015.
Credit: Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko

DONETSK, Ukraine/MINSK (Reuters) - Civilians were killed on both sides in heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine on Friday, while an attempt to reopen peace talks in neighboring Belarus was aborted before it began.
Rebel delegates flew to the Belarus capital Minsk, only to announce that no talks would take place on Friday and they were flying straight back to Moscow. Any talks would be the first since a five-month-old ceasefire collapsed with a new rebel advance last week.
The main rebel stronghold Donetsk echoed to the sound of heavy artillery fire, including salvoes from multiple rocket launchers and heavier thuds from artillery coming from the direction of the airport, a constant battlefield.
A Reuters cameraman in Donetsk saw four covered bodies near a cultural center that had been hit by artillery while residents were queuing outside for humanitarian aid. A fifth body lay in a badly-damaged car nearby. A woman was weeping by one of the bodies. A kilometer (half mile) away, a sixth dead person lay where a trolleybus had been hit.
The separatists said the total death toll in those two strikes was seven, blaming government forces. Kiev said the shelling was carried out by the rebels to ruin the chance of peace talks. Both sides have made similar allegations throughout the conflict, which are impossible to verify.
"We are already used to this artillery and there's nothing we can do about it. Our boys are defending us," said Alla, a shopkeeper in downtown Donetsk.
In Debaltseve, east of Donetsk, seven civilians were killed on Friday by separatist shelling of their homes, regional police chief Vyacheslav Abroskin said in a Facebook post. Earlier he reported another seven civilians killed in and around the town in the previous 24 hours. The government-held town is a key rail and road junction in the east. It and nearby Vuhlehirsk have come under fierce attack from rebels encircling government garrisons there, with water and electricity supplies cut off.
In the nearby rebel-held frontline town of Horlivka, eight civilians were killed in rocket attacks the previous day, the mayor's office said. Ukraine authorities did not comment. Kiev's military said five of its servicemen had also been killed and 23 wounded in fighting in the past 24 hours, describing the situation in the conflict zone as "hard".
"They are repeatedly using Grad (missiles), artillery, mortars, tanks and rocket launchers," spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in a televised briefing.
The past week has seen by far the worst fighting since the ceasefire was signed five months ago, with rebels announcing an offensive that Kiev says amounts to a repudiation of the truce.
NATO and Kiev accuse Russia of sending thousands of troops to support the rebel advance with heavy weapons and tanks. Moscow denies it is directly involved in fighting over territory that the Kremlin refers to as "New Russia".
European Union foreign ministers agreed at an emergency meeting on Thursday to extend for another six months economic sanctions against Russia that had been due to expire soon. Washington has promised to tighten its own sanctions, which have helped feed an economic crisis in Russia.
The arrival of two rebel negotiators in Minsk was the first sign of a reopening of negotiations since the rebels launched their latest advance.
But neither Kiev nor Moscow confirmed that they were ready for talks, and one of the rebel delegates, Denis Pushilin, swiftly announced they were heading back to Moscow. He said the rebels were prepared to press on with their offensive and seize more territory if artillery continues to fall on their cities.
"If shelling resumes, then we reserve for ourselves the right to continue the offensive and go to the very borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions," he said, referring to the two provinces where separatists have declared "people's republics".
The Ukrainian foreign ministry said it was ready to participate in talks either Friday or Saturday but was waiting for an agreement on draft documents.
FEAR OF ASSAULT
The immediate fear of Kiev and its NATO allies is of a rebel offensive on Mariupol, with 500,000 people by far the biggest government-held city in the two restive provinces. It was hit by shelling on Saturday which Kiev said killed 30 civilians, although the rebels have since denied it is a target for now. They halted at its gates during their last big advance five months ago.
The rebels have said their principal aims for now are to push government guns out of range of their cities and make their positions more secure by "straightening out the front" - choking off a government-held pocket around Debaltseve.
Both are moves that would make existing rebel areas more defensible if, as many Western countries suspect, Moscow's aim is to pursue a stable "frozen conflict" in eastern Ukraine.
A rebel assault on Mariupol, with the potential to unleash unprecedented urban warfare, is a far more dangerous prospect. While the rebels say they are not trying to capture it yet, they have repeatedly said they reserve the right to do so.
The leaders of France and Poland, two of Europe's strongest advocates for tighter sanctions against Russia, met in Paris and called for EU relations with Moscow to be "rethought".
Donetsk, a city of a million people before the war, has become a desolate frontline town.
"I have nothing to sell to leave. I am a pensioner and if I have to die here, so be it," said Leonid, in his 70s, dressed in a shabby winter coat and leaning on a cane. He and his wife moved in with relatives after their apartment was destroyed a month ago. He has received no pension since Ukraine cut off funding three months ago.
Dozens of cars and trucks queued at a Ukrainian checkpoint outside Donetsk, where a crowd of people were filling in applications to enter government-held territory. "All civilians should be evacuated, but neither (the rebels) nor the Ukrainians could care less, and we are dying every day," said schoolteacher Martina Alexandrovna, 46.

(Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kiev; Writing by Alessandra Prentice, Richard Balmforth and Peter Graff)

Mexico tests DNA of babies who survived blast in search for parents

MEXICO CITY Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:10pm EST

Crew members work to clear debris the day after a deadly gas truck explosion ripped through a maternity hospital in Mexico City, January 30, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Edgard Garrido

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Plunged into chaos just hours after entering this world, nine babies found alive after a gas blast in a Mexican maternity hospital underwent DNA tests on Friday in a bid to reunite them with their parents.

Thursday's blast devastated the hospital on the western edge of Mexico City, sending a fireball into the air and killing a nurse and two infants. But dozens of people, including mothers and newborns, who were inside at the time survived, many cut by broken glass.

"We have nine DNA tests pending," Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said. "There are parents who have identified their children, but as the babies did not have bracelets on, we have to follow a protocol to identify them."

Mancera said several babies survived because their mothers sheltered them with their own bodies during the blast.

A leak in a hose from a gas truck, which was fueling the hospital's tanks, was believed to have triggered the explosion, officials said.

Many areas of Mexico City have no mains gas supply and rely on deliveries from gas trucks. Mancera said the gas truck company involved had been working in Mexico City since 2007.

(Reporting by Liz Diaz and Anahi Rama; Writing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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Aviation leaders seek new safety mandate after deadly 2014

By Allison Lampert and Allison Martell
MONTREAL Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:33pm EST

Children write messages of hope for passengers of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) outside Kuala Lumpur June 14, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Samsul Said

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Aviation leaders will try to secure a mandate to implement new safety standards when they meet next week after a string of high-profile accidents around the world made 2014 the deadliest year for commercial airlines in almost a decade.
Efforts to adopt new standards for global plane tracking and co-operation on the risks of flying over conflict zones will dominate the meeting on safety in Montreal from Feb. 2-5, weeks ahead of the anniversary of the disappearance of flight MH370, the Malaysian Airlines jet with 239 people on board.
Regulators and officials at the meeting will have to juggle political sensitivities and arguments over the budgets of cash-squeezed airlines.
"Issues such as flight restrictions over conflict zones can only be tackled at a global or regional level," Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Aviation Safety Agency, said.
"The global aviation regulatory system should also act more quickly to address the recommendations for safety improvement made by accident investigators," he told Reuters ahead of the talks at the International Civil Aviation Organization.
While statistics suggest flying is safer than ever in proportion to the amount of traffic, 924 people were killed in passenger accidents last year, the worst for loss of life since 2005, shaking perceptions of air travel worldwide.
Last year's disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jet, and the downing of a sister plane on flight MH17 over Ukraine with a combined loss of 539 lives, pose one of the biggest challenges to the 70-year-old U.N. organization since security threats in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Like hijackings in the 1970s, the Korean Airlines 007 fighter jet shootdown, and the Pan Am 103 bombing, the downing of MH17 represents an abhorrent, watershed moment in civil aviation history," said Pillsbury Law partner Kenneth Quinn, a former U.S. official who took part in a task force on the issue.
Airlines have called for controls on weapons such as the high-altitude ground-to-air missile suspected of shooting down MH17 over eastern Ukraine last July, and greater sharing of intelligence information on threats.
MH17 was hit during fighting between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. The United States said the plane was hit with a ground-to-air missile by rebels. Russia says a Ukrainian military aircraft downed it.
NO FAIL-SAFE METHODS
ICAO, one of the international institutions which sprang out of World War II, is credited with making it safer to fly by ensuring coordination in standards across the globe.
But getting collaboration when it comes to disputed territory can be tough. Some major intelligence agencies were invited to take part in preparatory ICAO talks on conflict zones but didn't show up, two people familiar with the discussions said.
Faced with the reluctance of most countries to share highly sensitive information, ICAO has proposed overhauling a system of notices to pilots to ensure that what data already exists is more widely available and able to be cross-checked.
"No system for identifying, verifying, and sharing threat information is fail-safe, but a centralized database at ICAO at least ensures that identified threat information gets shared on a more widespread and timely basis," Quinn said.
That is likely to disappoint airlines that have said it is the responsibility of states to tell them what they know.
On tracking, however, airlines have displayed divisions over the costs of installing new systems, while several competing business groups will be lobbying on the sidelines of ICAO.
Senior officials involved in the discussions said the recent AirAsia crash was not part of the UN debate because the jet was within controlled airspace and its flight recorders were found relatively quickly after delays mainly due to bad weather.
Next week's conference is likely to call for planes to send tracking signals at regular intervals in normal flight and to speed them up when they get into trouble. It is also looking at ejectable black boxes as one way to aid searches and solve mysteries like that of the missing MH370.
But in December, the International Air Transport Association, which represents over 200 carriers, refused to back a call by an industry-wide committee that had met under its own leadership to install existing systems on its planes within 12 months.
A strong ICAO mandate to impose flight tracking would also need national measures to take effect. The European Union is expected to move quickly to make them law, an EU official said.
But some delegates have expressed concerns that the global response to last year's shock events could be weakened if there is only patchy compliance with the new recommendations.

(Writing by Tim Hepher; additional reporting by Julia Fioretti in BRUSSELS; Editing by Amran Abocar and Alan Crosby)

Hostage in Sydney siege 'killed by police bullet ricochet'

By Jane Wardell and Colin Packham

SYDNEY Wed Jan 28, 2015 9:59pm EST

Photographs of Sydney's cafe siege victims, lawyer Katrina Dawson (L) and cafe manager Tori Johnson are displayed in a floral tribute near the site of the siege in Sydney's Martin Place, December 23, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed

SYDNEY (Reuters) - One of the hostages held during a siege at an Australian cafe last month was killed by a ricochet of at least one police bullet that also injured three other hostages, an inquest into the deaths was told on Thursday.

Jeremy Gormly, counsel assisting the New South Wales state coroner, said lawyer Katrina Dawson, 38, was hit by six fragments of a police bullet, or bullets, with one striking a major blood vessel.

"She lost consciousness quickly and died shortly afterwards," Gormly said at the opening of the inquest.

Police stormed the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in central Sydney in the early hours of Dec. 16, ending a 17-hour siege by Man Haron Monis after the gunman shot cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34.

Johnson's execution - he was ordered to kneel and then shot without warning at close range in the back of the head - was witnessed by a police marksman, Gormly said.

Monis, 50, who fired five rounds from a sawn-off pump action shotgun, was killed instantly by several police bullets and bullet fragments to the head and body, Gormly added.

The inquest is running alongside a government inquiry into how Monis was able to access a gun and why he was granted bail while facing charges as an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. He was also facing more than 40 sexual assault charges.

The self-styled sheik harboured deep grievances against the Australian government and had found little kinship in the city's large Muslim community, where he was seen as deeply troubled.

He was found guilty in 2012 of sending threatening letters to the families of eight Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan as a protest against Australia's involvement there.

Gormly said investigators had so far not established any contact between Monis and Islamic State before the siege. There was evidence that a psychiatric profile of Monis "will throw light" on his motivations, he said.

Monis ordered and consumed a piece of chocolate cafe and tea after entering the cafe early on Dec. 15, the inquest heard. Around half an hour later, he asked to move tables and to speak to manager Johnson, who then asked an employee to lock the doors. Once that was done, Monis stood up, putting on a vest and bandana, telling staff, according to one hostage account: "This is an attack. I have a bomb."

Coroner Michael Barnes said he would conduct the inquiry as quickly as possible, noting it raised "issues relevant to the actual security and the sense of security of the wider population".

(This story corrects number of shots, paragraph six)

(Editing by Richard Pullin and Nick Macfie)

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Turkey detains 26 security officers over illegal wiretapping

ISTANBUL Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:17am EST

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 26 security officers on Tuesday on suspicion of illegally wiretapping politicians, civil servants and businessmen, Dogan News Agency reported.
The raids were a further salvo in President Tayyip Erdogan's campaign against supporters of his ally turned arch-foe, the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.
The chief prosecutor's office in the western coastal city of Izmir carried out the raids, according to Dogan, a privately owned national news service.
Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.
Erdogan accuses Gulen of setting up a "parallel state" within the Turkish administration and trying to topple him, blaming his supporters within the police and judiciary for a corruption inquiry that rocked the government late in 2013.
In the course of the scandal, apparently incriminating wiretap recordings of the then-prime minister, ministers and other senior officials were leaked onto the Internet.
Erdogan has cast the investigation, which led to the resignation of three ministers, as a "coup attempt" and in response he had thousands of police officers, judges and prosecutors removed from their posts.
Last month a Turkish court issued an arrest warrant against Gulen on suspicion of heading up a criminal organization. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile but was for years an important Erdogan ally before their relations soured, denies any involvement in plots against the government.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Car bomb kills one in Egypt's Alexandria: security sources

CAIRO Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:19am EST

CAIRO (Reuters) - One person was killed by a car bomb, parked near a police station by suspected Islamist militants, in the Egyptian city of Alexandria early on Tuesday, security sources said.
The attack in Egypt's second-biggest city also wounded two people but there were no immediate details about the identity of the victims.
Security sources also said that unknown assailants had attacked a police station in western Alexandria with Molotov cocktails, setting it alight but causing no casualties.
On Sunday, about 25 people were killed in anti-government demonstrations on the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that ousted veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Activists accuse President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of returning Egypt to authoritarian rule since the army removed the Muslim Brotherhood from power in 2013 and then mounted the biggest crackdown against Islamists in the country's history.
Sisi says he is committed to democracy in Egypt, a strategic U.S. ally with influence across the Arab world.
Islamist militants have killed hundreds of police and soldiers since then-army chief Sisi overthrew president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.
A law enacted during Sisi's rule severely restricted demonstrations, dramatically reducing unrest in Egypt.
However, signs of discontent emerged in the run-up to the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that raised hopes of greater freedoms in the most populous Arab country.

(Writing By Shadi Bushra; Editing by Michael Georgy and Paul Tait)

Fidel Castro appears to lend support to Cuba talks with U.S.

By Daniel Trotta

HAVANA Mon Jan 26, 2015 10:19pm EST

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro attends the closing ceremony of the sixth Cuban Communist Party (PCC) congress in Havana April 19, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Desmond Boylan

HAVANA (Reuters) - Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Monday appeared to lend his support to talks with the United States in his first comments about his longtime adversary since both countries agreed last month to restore diplomatic ties.

But Castro stopped short of an enthusiastic endorsement of the rapprochement, announced on Dec. 17 by his younger brother and Cuba's current president, Raul Castro, and U.S. President Barack Obama.

"I don't trust the policy of the United States nor have I had an exchange with them, but this does not mean ... a rejection of a peaceful solution to conflicts or the dangers of war," Fidel Castro, 88, said in a statement published on the website of Cuba's Communist Party newspaper Granma.

The United States and Cuba held historic high-level talks last week in Havana that are expected to lead to the re-establishment of diplomatic ties severed by Washington in 1961.

"Any peaceful or negotiated solution to the problems between the United States and the peoples or any people of Latin America that doesn't imply force or the use of force should be treated in accordance with international norms and principles," Fidel Castro said.

"We will always defend cooperation and friendship with all the peoples of the world, among them our political adversaries."

He took power in a 1959 revolution and spent much of his 49 years in power railing against the United States, which never succeeded in many attempts to oust him.

He was finally forced into retirement in 2008 by poor health and was succeeded by his brother Raul, who is now 83.

"The president of Cuba has taken the pertinent steps in accordance with his prerogatives and the powers given to him by the National Assembly the Communist Party of Cuba," Fidel Castro said of his brother in the statement.

His silence on the issue had led to speculation over his health and whether he supported his brother's rapprochement with the United States.

On Jan. 12, he sent a letter to friend and retired Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona that squelched rumors he had died.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Kieran Murray)

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Argentine president plans to dissolve spy agency after prosecutor's death

By Jorge Otaola and Richard Lough

BUENOS AIRES Mon Jan 26, 2015 9:35pm EST

A woman walks behind a poster that reads ''AMIA (Jewish community center). Nisman's death. Disolve the SIDE (Secretary of Intelligence)'' in Buenos Aires January 26, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Marcos Brindicci

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - President Cristina Fernandez plans to disband Argentina's intelligence agency amid suspicions that rogue agents were behind the mysterious death of a state prosecutor investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center.

In her first televised address since Alberto Nisman was found dead with a single bullet to the head, Fernandez said on Monday night she would send Congress a bill creating a new security body that would be more transparent.

Nisman's death on Jan. 18, just a day before he was due to appear in Congress over his claims that Fernandez conspired to derail his investigation, has triggered a storm of conspiracy theories, including some directly against Fernandez.

But her government says Nisman was tricked into making his allegations against Fernandez and then killed when he was no longer of use to those who led the conspiracy.

It said the scandal is linked to a power struggle at the Intelligence Secretariat, or SI, and to operatives who had recently been fired.

The SI, formerly known as the SIDE, has significant power and autonomy. In the "dirty war" directed by Argentina's military dictatorship of 1976-83, the agency spied on Marxist rebels, labor unions and other leftists.

Fernandez said the draft bill will be sent to Congress before she travels to China at the weekend, and that legislators would hold extraordinary sessions in the February holiday period to debate the proposal.

"We need to make the intelligence services more transparent because they have not served the interests of the country," said Fernandez, seated in a wheel chair and dressed all in white.

The feisty leader said the intelligence services had changed little since the return to democracy but she steered clear of her usually frothy rhetoric after a week in which she has come under a barrage of criticism for her handling of the scandal.

Nisman claimed the week before his death that Fernandez opened a secret back channel to Iran to cover up Tehran's alleged involvement in the AMIA bombing and gain access to Iranian oil.

Fernandez has called the accusation absurd.

Iran has repeatedly denied any link to the bomb attack.

Opinion polls have shown few Argentines expect they will ever know how Nisman died.

Thousands took to the streets last week to protest the slow pace of justice for the victims of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA center that killed 85 people and demanding answers to the questions around Nisman's death.

The scandal around Nisman's death has created fresh turmoil in Argentina just 10 months ahead of a presidential election. Fernandez is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.

(Reporting by Richard Lough and Jorge Otaola; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Kieran Murray)

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Japan vows to work with Jordan to secure hostage release

TOKYO Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:03am EST

A man walks past screens displaying a television news program showing an image of Kenji Goto, one of two Japanese citizens taken captive by Islamic State militants, on a street in Tokyo January 25, 2015.

Credit: Reuters/Yuya Shino

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has vowed to work with Jordan to secure the release of a Japanese journalist held by Islamic State militants after the killing last week of another Japanese captive, but it reiterated that it would not give in to terrorism.

The hostage crisis has become a test for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took power in 2012 pledging to bolster Japan's global security role.

Abe on Sunday condemned the killing of Japanese citizen Haruna Yukawa by the militants as "outrageous" and called for the release of veteran correspondent Kenji Goto, captured by Islamic State militants in Syria.

"We would like to work together with the Jordanian government to secure the release of Goto," Yasuhide Nakayama, state minister for foreign affairs, told reporters in Jordan late on Monday.

Nakayama was sent to Jordan last week to deal with the crisis.

The militants have dropped a ransom demand. They now say they will free Goto in exchange for the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, a convicted Iraqi suicide-bomber, from prison in Jordan.

The hardline militants captured a Jordanian pilot after his plane crashed during U.S.-led coalition bombing in eastern Syria in December and Nakayama said he hoped Japan and Jordan could work together for his release too.

"The release of this pilot as soon a possible is also an issue for us Japanese," Nakayama said.

"Both our nations have to work together to ensure that both the pilot and the Japanese hostage return to their respective homes with smiles on their faces."

Media has reported that the militants were demanding the release of another death-row convict, raising speculation about multiple swaps involving Goto and the Jordanian pilot.

Jordan's King Abdullah was quoted as telling a Jordanian newspaper that the case of the pilot, First Lieutenant Muath al Kasaesbeh, "tops the country's priority".

In Tokyo, Abe told parliament on Tuesday that Japan would do its utmost to save Goto.

"The horrible act of terrorism by ISIL is outrageous and we resolutely condemn it," Abe said, referring to the militants.

"The situation is extremely severe but we'll do the utmost to have Kenji Goto released as soon as possible ... We won't give in to terrorism."

Two members of Jordan's parliament told Kyodo news agency on Monday that Jordan may be willing to release al-Rishawi in exchange for Goto and Kasaesbeh.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Australia knights Prince Philip, sparking national outrage

By Morag MacKinnon

PERTH Sun Jan 25, 2015 11:19pm EST

Britain's Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip bid farewell to Singapore's President Tony Tan and his wife Mary Chee at Buckingham Palace in central London October 23, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Chris Jackson/Pool

PERTH (Reuters) - Conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott has awarded Australia's highest honor to Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, sparking a barrage of criticism across the country on its national day of celebration.

Prince Philip was made a Knight of the Order of Australia, awarded as part of the country's honors system announced on Australia Day, with Abbott saying it paid "tribute to an extraordinary life of service".

The award grated with republicans who want to sever ties with Britain and appoint an Australian president.

"It's a time warp where we're giving knighthoods to English royalty," Opposition leader Bill Shorten told Australian radio.

Commentator and associate editor of the national daily, The Australian, Chris Kenny tweeted, "Just another own goal and an embarrassment for Australia on our national day".

Australia is a constitutional monarchy, with the British monarch its head of state who acts in predominately a ceremonial manner but has the power to approve the abolition of parliament, which happened in 1975 toppling the then government.

Australians also questioned the procedure for issuing knighthoods, which are awarded solely on the recommendation of the prime minister to the queen. Any Australian can nominate a fellow citizen for other honors. Abbott's surprise reintroduction of knights and dames in the country's honors system last year drew criticism that he was out of touch with national sentiment. At the time he said they were intended to recognize "pre-eminent Australians".

Abbott, whose popularity has fallen sharply in recent months, said he stood by the decision to award the knighthood to 93-year-old Prince Philip because "the monarchy has been an important part of Australia's life since 1788".

(Reporting by Morag MacKinnon; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

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