BBC news 2011-01-20 加文本

BBC news 2011-01-20

BBC News with Marion Marshall

Tunisia's interim President Fouad Mebazaa has promised to deliver a fresh start for his country and to protect the will of the people. He made the pledge in his first televised speech. Wyre Davies reports from Tunis.

The interim President Fouad Mebazaa said he guaranteed that the transitional government would ensure a total break with the past. He also said there would be an independent judicial system, freedom of the press and a commission to investigate corruption under the previous government. An amnesty for all political prisoners has already reportedly begun. The interim president also promised to detain those responsible for orchestrating violence against pro-democracy campaigners.

United Nations says it's sending a team of human rights officials to Tunisia to advise the new government and look into the recent violent turmoil. The UN commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, said she was responding to the scale of violence before the overthrow of President Ben Ali last Friday.

"It is a matter of great sadness that so many lives had to be lost to bring about this opportunity. My office has received information concerning more than 100 deaths over the last five weeks as a result of live fire."

In Tunisia, the situation remains tense, but curfew hours have been reduced.

The first official results from this month's referendum in southern Sudan indicate that people voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence for the region. Officials in the southern Sudanese capital Juba say preliminary results there show that 97.5% voted for secession from the north. Figures from most of the 10 states in the south also suggest that the vast majority of people voted in support of independence.

World News from the BBC

The UN Security Council has unanimously agreed to send 2,000 extra peacekeepers to Ivory Coast. The country has been in deadlock with Laurent Gbagbo refusing to cede power to his rival Alassane Ouattara, who's widely recognised as the winner of the presidential election. Barbara Plett reports from the UN.

UN patrols have been attacked, and their movements severely restricted by forces loyal to the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, who accuses the UN of bias because it supports his rival Alassane Ouattara. The extra troops and armed helicopters authorised by the Security Council will be used to protect UN personnel as well as the delivery of supplies to the hotel where Mr Ouattara is under blockade. They'll also comprise a rapid reaction force to respond to emergencies and strengthen attempts to protect civilians and investigate reported atrocities.

The Electoral Commission in Uganda has identified at least nine armed groups allied to political parties and candidates which it says are threatening to disrupt presidential elections later this year. The commission chairman said the militias had been organised with the pretext of guarding the votes of the politicians they are affiliated with. The government has been accused of sponsoring two of the nine groups.

Four Haitians have filed a private lawsuit against the former leader Jean-Claude Duvalier, accusing him of torture and other crimes against humanity. The four were jailed during Mr Duvalier's rule. Mr Duvalier, also known as "Baby Doc", has already been charged with alleged corruption following his surprise return to Haiti on Sunday after 25 years in exile.

A German man has admitted to smuggling hundreds of live tarantula spiders to the United States through the mail. Prosecutors in Los Angeles said Sven Koppler was caught after he posted tarantulas from Germany to federal agents posing as buyers. Court documents showed Mr Koppler, who faces a possible 20 years in jail, had earned $300,000 smuggling spiders to dozens of countries.

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