BBC news 2011-04-03 加文本

BBC news 2011-04-03

BBC News with Jonathan Izard

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned an attack on a UN building in Afghanistan. At least 14 people died, among them seven UN staff, when demonstrators stormed and torched the facility in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Police said some people were shot, others stabbed, and two were beheaded. The UN Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy gave more details of what happened.

"There was an important demonstration, and part of the demonstrator[s] rushed into our compound with weapons. And they stormed the compound, they put fire on it, and they killed several of our staff. They killed seven international staff, three civilian[s] and four international security guards. I understand that also from the demonstrator[s], some of the attackers, some of them were killed too."

The violent protest in Afghanistan was organised in response to the burning in the United States last month of a copy of the Koran in the presence of the American pastor Terry Jones. Pastor Jones rejected accusations that he should be held responsible for this latest violence.

"That is an excuse. If they did not use the Koran burning as an excuse, they would have a different excuse. When they flew the planes into the buildings on 9/11, they also probably had an excuse. They use our government as an excuse because we're in Afghanistan, because we're in the Middle East. They use any excuse that they desire to use."

Forces loyal to the internationally recognised President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, have been attacking areas of the main city Abidjan, still controlled by Laurent Gbagbo, who is refusing to give up power. There were explosions and gunfire throughout Friday. A key supporter of Mr Gbagbo, the leader of the Young Patriots militia Charles Ble Goude, told the BBC there was room for dialogue, but warned he could still, if pushed, send his fighters onto the streets.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it believes at least 800 people were killed in the city of Duekoue in Ivory Coast this week. It said they died in inter-communal violence in one district of the city. Greg Morsbach reports.

The Red Cross said the killings had apparently occurred in just one district of the Ivorian city of Duekoue on Tuesday this week. It said there were a huge number of corpses and the killings were particularly shocking because of their scale and brutality. The Red Cross said the circumstances were being investigated by its Ivorian staff in Duekoue, and it was still waiting for detailed information. But it appealed to the warring parties to remember that they had an obligation under international law to protect civilians.

An airliner has made an emergency landing in the United States after a hole blew open in the roof of its passenger cabin. The Southwest Airlines flight, carrying 118 passengers, descended rapidly as the cabin lost air pressure. One woman said she could see the sky through the split panel.

World News from the BBC

An Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip has killed at least three Palestinians. The Israeli army said the target was a car carrying Hamas militants who it alleged were planning to kidnap Israelis during the Passover religious holidays. Hamas confirmed that those killed were members of the group.

The Libyan government has rejected the offer of a conditional ceasefire by rebel forces. A spokesman said it was ridiculous to expect the government to withdraw its forces from cities as the rebels had demanded. He described coalition air strikes as a crime against humanity. John Simpson reports from Tripoli.

A government spokesman here has rejected the rebels' ceasefire proposals as mad. But privately senior officials here say that  Mohammed Ismail, the private secretary of Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, has himself been discussing the possibility of a ceasefire in London. But a ceasefire on its terms would suit the Gaddafi regime rather well now that it's doing so much better in the war. A ceasefire would also suit the rebels if only because they are losing.

Africa's most populous country Nigeria votes in parliamentary elections today, a test of whether it can overcome a history of voting fraud and political violence. The head of the country's electoral commission said it was vitally important to the future of Nigeria that the elections were free, fair and credible. "We must get this right," he said. The governing People's Democratic Party has won every poll in Nigeria since the end of military rule 12 years ago.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, has agreed to pay more than $40,000 in fines after failing to declare free tickets to cultural and sporting events. An official inquiry into his activities concluded that his actions weren't deliberate. However, Mr Villaraigosa said he took full responsibility for breaking official protocol about declaring the gifts, which included complimentary tickets to the Oscars and baseball games.

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