A Kosovo Albanian student kisses an Albanian flag during a rally for an immediate declaration of independence in Pristina, Dec. 10.

MOSCOW, Dec. 11--Russia warned the West that recognizing a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) by Kosovo could set off a “chain reaction“ of problems in the Balkans and beyond.
Russia, which has backed its ally Serbia over the status of the breakaway Serbian province, would also demand that any unilateral declaration be rescinded, Reuters reported.
“I want to stress that UDI of Kosovo and recognition of such independence will not remain without consequences,“ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Nicosia.
“It will create a chain reaction throughout the Balkans and other areas of the world,“ he said, speaking through an interpreter after talks with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Kosovo with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone, Russian news agencies reported, quoting the Kremlin press service.
The talks came on the day mediation efforts between Serbia and Kosovo Albanian leaders officially expired and after Kosovo Albanians said they would start immediate talks with Western backers about an independence declaration.
Russian mediator Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko spelt out the tougher diplomatic line from Moscow.
Meanwhile, the gleeful voices of several thousand people echoed along Bill Clinton Boulevard in the Kosovo capital of Pristina on Monday, celebrating a day of national independence that has not yet arrived, Theglobeandmail.com wrote.
Even though nothing really changed, as the United Nations gave up its attempts to find a compromise on the status of the embattled Serbian province, it was enough for about 3,000 young people to take to the streets, waving banners and shouting, in Albanian, “Free Kosovo“ and the name of the outlawed Kosovo Liberation Army.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 11--A parliamentary session to elect a new president in Lebanon was postponed for an eighth time, with a new date set for December 17, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said.
“The office of the speaker has decided to postpone tomorrow’s session to next Monday,“ a statement said.
The postponement was necessary “in order to allow for more consultation to agree on the election of a new president for the country,“ it added, AFP said.
The decision marked the eighth time a session in parliament to elect a successor to President Emile Lahoud has been postponed since he stepped down on November 23 with the Western-backed ruling majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition unable to agree on a candidate to succeed him.
The statement by Berri’s office came minutes after MPs from the ruling coalition announced a boycott of Tuesday’s session amid refusal by the opposition to amend the constitution to allow the army chief to be elected president.
“The March 14 parliamentary majority believes that (Tuesday’s) parliamentary session will not produce anything but further
undermine the credibility of the democratic process,“ the statement said.
“The parliamentary session scheduled to take place December 11 must be devoted to amending the constitution to elect a president for the country.

An Israeli tank rolls back into Israel from the Gaza Strip at the Suffa crossing, during a military operation in the Palestinian territory, Dec. 11.

GAZA CITY,
Occupied Palestine, Dec. 11-- About 30 Israeli tanks and bulldozers moved into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday in an operation against Palestinian militants, setting off clashes with Hamas fighters firing rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds.
Soldiers took over the rooftops of several homes and detained about 60 people in house-to-house raids, residents said. The Israeli military said they were detained for questioning, AP said.
The gunfire kept frightened motorists away from the main road between the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, which was blocked at one section by an Israeli tank. Troops also were demolishing a gas station on the road.
The military described the operation as a routine operation “against the terror infrastructure.“ Militants in Gaza routinely fire crude rockets and mortars at Israeli border communities, and smuggle in weapons from Egypt.
The violence came a day after Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, pledged to “forge a historic path“ toward a final accord with the Palestinians in the first formal peace talks in seven years, warning that if Israel tries to maintain control over Palestinian territories, its future as a Zionist regime is in jeopardy.
The talks are set to open Wednesday. The chief negotiators, Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, met on Monday to finalize arrangements for the launch of talks, which were set in motion last month at a US-sponsored conference.
Olmert told a business conference on Monday that the stakes are high for Israel.

LIMA, Peru, Dec. 11--Peru’s former president Alberto Fujimori on Tuesday faces sentencing for ordering an illegal search in the crumbling days of his reign, as he fights on against a separate, bigger trial for murder and kidnapping.
A court on Lima’s outskirts is expected to hand down punishment for Fujimori’s order in 2000 for a warrantless police inspection of an apartment belonging to the wife of his corrupt security chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, AFP reported.
Such a verdict would make Fujimori, 69, the first Peruvian former head-of-state to be convicted of a crime carried out while in office.
He has admitted to the search, but said it was necessary because of Swiss allegations of money-laundering against Montesinos. The maximum sentence he risks is seven years in prison.
There was some question, though, as to whether Fujimori would make it to court on Tuesday.
On Monday, on the first day of the much bigger trial for alleged human rights violations near the beginning of his 1990-2000 rule, Fujimori suffered such high blood pressure after proclaiming his innocence that proceedings were suspended.
“I declare myself innocent,“ he shouted in a fiery outburst. I don’t accept the charges against me ... I never ordered the death of anybody,“ he said, gesticulating wildly.
A court doctor prescribed 24 hours of rest for Fujimori, and the presiding judge said the trial would continue early Wednesday.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Dec. 11--The first woman to be elected president of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, 54, was sworn in on Monday, receiving the sash of office from her husband, the outgoing head of state.
Chants of “Viva Cristina“ erupted as Kirchner effectively traded her position as first lady for that of president, AFP said.
Kirchner, a social-democrat who is often compared to New York Senator Hillary Clinton, was sworn in before the two chambers of Congress and in the presence of 160 foreign delegations.
In her first speech as president, Kirchner vowed to wage war on poverty.
“There will be no definite triumph as long as there is poverty,“ she said.
She again received thunderous applause as she insisted Argentina’s “sovereignty“ over the Malvinas-- the Argentine name for the Falkland Islands--is non-negotiable.
The new president hailed her husband’s government, which she said battled tirelessly against unemployment and poverty.
The transfer of power from husband to wife symbolized the political continuity the new president has vowed to follow.
The first-lady-turned-president made it clear her husband would not fade into the political background.
“For me and for all Argentines, he will also continue being president,“ she said recently.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11--A retired CIA agent confirmed in a US interview that interrogators used a simulated drowning technique on an Al-Qaeda suspect and admitted that the disputed method is a form torture.
In an ABC News interview, retired agent John Kiriakou, who led a CIA team that captured and interrogated Al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah, said using the “waterboarding“ technique was necessary and yielded crucial information, AFP said.
Kiriakou said the method broke Zubaydah--one of the first top Al-Qaeda suspects captured after the September 11, 2001 attacks--in less than 35 seconds, according to ABC.
“The next day, he told his interrogator that he had decided to cooperate,“ Kiriakou told ABC News.
“From that day on, he answered every question,“ he added. “The threat information he provided, disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks.“
The technique involves pouring water on the covered face of a restrained prisoner.
Although Kiriakou admitted that waterboarding was used, he did not entirely approve of it: “We’re Americans, and we’re better than this. And we shouldn’t be doing this kind of thing.“
But he also said that in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, there was a sense of urgency in getting information on terrorist groups.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 11--Pakistan successfully tested a cruise missile with a range of 700 km (435 miles) on Tuesday, the military said.
The military did not say on Tuesday if the Hatf-VII (Babur) missile is nuclear-capable but it has previously identified it as such, reported Reuters.
The test would consolidate Pakistan’s strategic capability and strengthen national security, the military said in a statement.
“The Babur, which has near stealth capabilities, is a low flying, terrain hugging missile with high maneuverability, pinpoint accuracy and radar avoidance features,“ it said.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India routinely carry out missile tests despite a peace process they launched in early 2004, and both have agreed to inform each other of such tests in advance.