Amnesty International activists dressed in orange jumpsuits like those worn by Guantanamo Bay detainees stage a protest against the US-led Guantanamo detention center outside the Parliament in Athens, Jan. 11.

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Jan. 14--The US military chief said Sunday that “war on terror“ detention center here should be shut down because of the damage its done to the US image in the world, but there are no plans to do so.
Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said no decisions have been made to close the facility and he was not aware it was even being considered because of the complex legal issues involved, reported AFP.
“We certainly look at this mission as an enduring mission until someone comes in and shuts it down,“ he said. “I have no idea how long it will be. The political leadership would have to make that decision.“
He made the comments to wire service reporters after a day of inspecting cell blocks and a maximum security court house being built for military trials of so called “high value“ detainees.
The new court house and a sprawling complex of trailers for lawyers and tents for media are scheduled to be completed by March 1, clearing the way for the first trials since the United States began airlifting prisoners here from Afghanistan on January 11, 2002.
“This is where the 9/11 people, when they are finally charged, will be tried,“ an officer said as he showed Mullen the unfinished court room, pointing out a glassed-in, sound proof gallery where reporters would be able to watch but not hear when classified evidence is introduced.
Currently, the number of detainees at Guantanamo have dwindled to a low of 277 from a high of around 600 due to transfers and releases.
“The world is focused on what’s going on here at Gitmo,“ Mullen told service members at an “all hands“ meeting. “That’s why we’ve got to get it right every single day, every single hour, every single minute,“ he said.

Jackie Selebi

LYON, France, Jan. 14--Interpol announced Sunday the resignation of its president Jackie Selebi, South Africa’s chief of police who has been placed on extended leave on suspicion of corruption.
“The general secretariat of Interpol today received a letter from Jackie Selebi ... confirming his resignation with immediate effect,“ the international police agency said in a statement.
“Mr Selebi’s decision was taken in the interests of Interpol.“ South African President Thabo Mbeki ordered Selebi to take an indefinite leave of absence in view of his possible prosecution on charges of taking money from a businessman accused of murder, AFP reported.
On Friday, the national prosecuting authority (NPA) said it would charge Selebi over his links to businessman Glenn Agliotti, who has been charged over the 2005 murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.
At a hearing at the Pretoria high court on Friday, Selebi failed in a bid to have the prosecution halted.
The NPA say Agliotti, whom Selebi acknowledges as a long-time friend, paid him more than 1.2 million rand (about $175,000, 120,000 euros) over an 18-month period in 2004 and 2005.
According to acting NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe, prosecutors also have evidence to show Selebi tipped off Agliotti that detectives investigating Kebble’s murder had unearthed phone records showing that Agliotti made a phone call from the scene of the killing.
Mbeki said Selebi agreed that his continued presence at his desk would be a distraction until the law “takes its course,“ and he had consequently stood down.
Selebi has consistently denied any wrongdoing, insisting “my hands are clean“ while his lawyers argued on Friday that the case was vague.
The main South African opposition, the Democratic Alliance, berated Selebi on Sunday for bringing the country into disrepute.
“If jail terms were given for bringing shame to a nation, police commissioner Jackie Selebi should serve a life sentence,“ said the party’s safety and security spokeswoman Dianne Kohler-Barnard.
“He had had no option whatsoever but to resign as chairperson of Interpol--a position that should have brought immense honor to this country but has instead brought utter disgrace.“
A warrant for Selebi’s arrest was initially obtained by the NPA last September but it was cancelled after Mbeki suspended the director of public prosecutions.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 14--Police are behind dozens of deaths in Kenya’s post-election turmoil, opening fire on both looters and opposition protesters under an unofficial “shoot to kill“ policy, a leading human rights group said late Sunday.
Human Rights Watch called on Kenya’s government to lift its ban on demonstrations and order police not to shoot at protesters, reported AP.
The appeal came three days before the opposition planned nationwide protests that police have warned will be stopped.
“Kenyan police in several cities have used live ammunition to disperse protesters and disperse looters, killing and wounding dozens,“ the New York-based group said.
Some 575 people have died since the disputed Dec. 27 presidential election, the Kenya Red Cross Society said.
The latest count--up from 485--was reached in collaboration with the government, and was based on bodies found at mortuaries, homes and other places previously too dangerous to reach, said spokesman Anthony Mwangi.
The violence has taken an ethnic turn--pitting other tribes against President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu people--and shaking Kenya’s image as a stable democracy in a region that includes war-ravaged Somalia and Sudan.
Some worried the real death toll was higher. “My greatest fear is that when the authorities and rescuers have combed every village, they will discover that many, many people have been massacred,“ Mutuma Mathiu, managing editor of The Sunday Nation, wrote in an editorial.
Intense international pressure has failed to push Kibaki and his rival, Raila Odinga, into talks.

Supporters of slain Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto light candles to pay tribute to their leader in Karachi, Jan 13.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 14--Nearly half of Pakistanis suspect that government agencies or government-linked politicians killed Benazir Bhutto, an opinion poll showed, highlighting the popular mistrust of the country’s US-allied president ahead of elections next month.
Bhutto, an opposition leader and former prime minister, was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Dec. 27, reported AP.
The government of President Pervez Musharraf has blamed extremists for the assassination, who had already reportedly threatened to kill her.
The opinion poll, seen Sunday by The Associated Press, showed that 23 percent of Pakistanis suspected government agencies in the slaying, while 25 percent believed government-allied politicians were behind it. Only 17 percent suspected Al-Qaeda or Taliban.
The poll by Gallup Pakistan, which is affiliated with Gallup International polling group, questioned 1,300 men and women in face-to-face interviews across Pakistan soon after Bhutto’s slaying. No margin of error was given.
Information Minister Nisar Memon questioned the poll and its findings.
“I don’t think this is representative of the thought process of the people of Pakistan and neither does it reflect the realities,“ he said of the survey. “It is very clear that people know that it is the terrorists who are responsible.“
Musharraf, who has himself survived at least three assassination attempts blamed on militants, seized power eight years ago in a military coup. His popularity was already low before the Bhutto assassination amid demands for greater democratic rule.
The parliamentary elections, which will take place on Feb. 18 after being delayed for six weeks amid rioting triggered by Bhutto’s death, are seen as key to Pakistan’s transition to democracy as it battles rising attacks by Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
Bhutto’s party and the other major opposition grouping are expected to do well in the polls, in part because of sympathy over her death. But most analysts expect no party will gain enough seats to form a government alone and predict the polls will result in a likely unstable coalition.
Others fear that vote-rigging may taint the whole process and trigger fresh disputes.

LONDON, Jan. 14--British troops could be in Afghanistan for decades, the country’s Defense Secretary Des Browne said in comments published Sunday.
Asked by The People weekly newspaper when Britain’s soldiers would withdraw from Afghanistan, Browne said: “We cannot risk it again becoming an ungoverned training haven for terrorists who threaten the UK, AFP said.
“But there is only so much our forces can achieve. The job can only be completed by the international community working with the Afghan government and its army.
“It is a commitment which could last decades, although it will reduce
over time“.
Browne’s comments echo those of the head of the army, senior figures in the security services and former prime minister Tony Blair that the battle against Islamist extremism could last a generation.
The current prime minister Gordon Brown visited British troops in southern Afghanistan last month and told President Hamid Karzai of Britain’s commitment to the country’s long-term success.
Britain has about 7,800 troops in Afghanistan as part of a 40,000-strong UN-sanctioned, NATO-led force aimed at helping reconstruction and fighting Taliban militia.

TAIPEI, Taiwan,
Jan. 14--Tensions between Taiwan and rival China will ease following the pro-Beijing opposition’s big win in parliamentary elections, but thorny political disputes will not be resolved overnight, analysts say.
China will be comforted by the Kuomintang’s landslide win over the party of President Chen Shui-bian, who has repeatedly angered Beijing with his pro-independence rhetoric and persistent drive for UN membership, they say, reported AFP.
But in the long term, even if KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou wins the presidency in March--a very likely outcome, according to polls published Monday--observers say putting an end to 60 years of political rivalry will not be easy.
“Lingering cross-strait tensions will be eased to some extent,“ Chang Hsien-chao, assistant professor of China studies at National Sun Yat-sen University, told AFP.