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BBC news 2007-12-29 加文本

2007-12-29来源:和谐英语
BBC 2007-12-29


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BBC News with Blerry Gogan.

The government of Pakistan says it has evidence that al-Qaeda and the Taliban were behind the assassination of the opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto on Thursday. It said it had communications intercepts which made clear al-Qaeda's responsibility. Navdip Dhariwal reports from Islamabad.

"The government has promised no effort will be spared to bring her killers to justice and pointed the finger of blame at al-Qaeda and its network. Across Pakistan, there's been violent reaction to Ms. Bhutto's assassination. Rawalpindi was among the many places where protesters took to the streets, cars were burnt, shops and banks looted, and a train torched. In Sindh province, Ms. Bhutto's main support base, the security situation remains tense. "

One of the frontrunners to take part in the US presidential election, the democratic party's senator, Hillary Clinton says there should be an independent international investigation into the death of Benazir Bhutto. Senator Clinton said Pakistan's government and President Musharraf had lost its credibility. "As Americans, we have to hope that President Bush will make it very clear we need an international independent investigation of the death of Benazir Bhutto. The Pakistani government does not have the credibility to conduct that investigation. "

An Australian man who, who was the first detainee of the US prison in Guantanamo Bay to be convicted has walked free after six years in prison. David Hicks, was captured with Taliban forces in Afghanistan in late 2001 and spent five years in Guantanamo before pleading guilty to terrorism charges before a US war crimes tribunal. He's served out his sentence in his home city of Adelaide. From Sydney, here's Phil Mercer.

"Six years after being detained by the United States in Afghanistan, David Hicks is a free man. The 32-year-old former Muslim convert was smiling as he was released from Adelaide's Maximum Security Yatala Prison. He was picked up by his father and lawyer who read a statement on his behalf. Hicks thanked his family and friends as well as the human rights groups that have campaigned for him during his detention. He asked to be left alone to make a slow and gentle transition to freedom. "

An operation has begun to secure the release of three hostages held by FARC rebels in Colombia for more than five years. Two Venezuelan helicopters that will be used to pick them up from a rebel-held jungle area have arrived in Colombia. Our correspondent in Colombia is Jeremy McDermott.

"Relatives of the hostages that are due to be liberated, Clara Rojas, her son Emmanuel and Consuelo Gonzalez, are in Caracas, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their loved ones who've spent over five years in guerrilla hands. There's still uncertainty over the timing of the operation as bad weather may be slowing up the gorillas as they move to the rendezvous point. But President Chavez insists that aircraft and helicopters are now ready to move to any place in Colombia once the guerrillas reveal the handover point. "

BBC News.

The ailing President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, has again alluded to the possibility of retiring from power. In a letter sent to the Cuba national assembly, he said that in the past he had been the person who clung to power, but that his experience of life and his studies had changed his perspective. Mr. Castro made reference to a letter published last week in which he said that he would not cling to power or obstruct the progress of the younger generation.

The leader of the governing African National Congress in South Africa, Jacob Zuma, has been charged with corruption. He's accused of taking a bribe from a French arms company. Prosecutors serve Mr. Zuma with papers requiring him to stand trial on counts of corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering. His lawyer said the case would be vigorously defended.

Six French charity workers who were imprisoned in Chad for trying to take children out of the country have been flown to France where they will serve their sentences. They've been convicted of attempting to kidnap more than one hundred African children. The aid workers said they were trying to save orphans from Darfur but most of the children turned out to be Chadians with living parents. From Paris, here's Emma Jane Kirby.

"The four men and two women from the French Charity, Zoe's Ark, arrived at Le Bourget airport, just outside Paris where they were met by French police. It's hoped the French Justice System will commute or reduce their jail terms, but any such move will require the agreement of the Chadian government which charged the aid workers with child trafficking and imposed on them a nine-million-dollar fine. "

Climate officials in Tajikistan say that glaciers in the remote Pamir mountains in the east of the country have shrunk by up to thirty percent in volume since 1960 because of climate change. The head of the Tajik climate change monitoring agency said the largest Pamir glacier, the Fedchenko glacier, had shrunk by one and a half kilometers in length. Water from the Pamir glaciers feeds some of the chief rivers of central Asia and is important for hydroelectric production.