The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Rebels claim win in self-rule vote, want Russia to take over

Donetsk/Slaviansk, May 12
Pro-Moscow rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine called on Monday for their region to become part of Russia after declaring victory in a weekend referendum on self-rule. The separatist region of Donetsk appealed to Moscow to consider its absorption into Russia, a move that would echo the annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula after a similar referendum earlier this year.

The call is likely to anger the government in Kiev and Western nations that accuse Russia of stirring up unrest in the east following the overthrow of a pro-Moscow president in February by protesters demanding closer links with Europe.

"The people of Donetsk have always been part of the Russian world. For us, the history of Russia is our history," said Denis Pushilin, a leading member of the self-declared "Donetsk People's Republic".

"Based on the will of the people and on the restoration of a historic justice, we ask the Russian Federation to consider the absorption of the Donetsk People's Republic into the Russian Federation," he told a news conference. Moscow denies any ambitions to absorb the mainly Russian-speaking east into the Russian Federation.

However, it has massed troops on the Ukrainian border, and Kiev fears they may be sent in. Ukrainian President Oleksander Turchinov accused Russia of working to overthrow legitimate state power in Ukraine. He said the Kremlin was trying to disrupt a presidential election later this month, which is taking centre stage in a confrontation pitting Moscow and the separatists against the government in Kiev and its Western backers.

RIA news agency quoted a rebel leader as saying the eastern Luhansk region would boycott the May 25 election. What he called the "Republic of Luhansk" may hold a further referendum on union with Russia, as Ukraine's Crimea region did under Russian military occupation before its annexation by Moscow in March.

Ukraine's election is intended to secure democratic continuity and legitimacy after pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovich fled the country in February, and Western governments have threatened more sanctions in the vital areas of energy, financial services and engineering if Moscow disrupts the vote. Moscow said it respected the outcome of Sunday's referendums, in which separatists claimed 80 per cent support in the industrial Donetsk region, while RIA, a Russian state news agency, reported 96.2 per cent backing in Luhansk region.

The results should be implemented peacefully, Russia said, without saying what further action it might take. Eastern Ukraine has been plagued by turmoil as Kiev has tried to regain control, and authorities said 49 people have been killed in violence in the region of Donetsk since March 13.

The EU declared the referendums illegal and increased pressure on Russia on Monday by taking a first step towards extending sanctions to companies, as well as people, linked to Crimea's annexation. However, revealing cracks in the West's united front, diplomatic sources said France would press ahead with a 1.2 billion-euro ($1.7 billion) contract to sell helicopter carrier ships to Russia because cancelling the deal would do more damage to Paris than to Moscow. — Reuters

EU moves to raise pressure on Russia

* The European Union agreed to impose sanctions on two Crimean companies and 13 more Russians and Ukrainians on Monday, stepping up its response to Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula and its support for Russian-speaking separatists.

* It was the first time the EU's 28 governments had taken aim at corporations rather than individuals, but the measures still fall far short of Washington's sanctions against 17 companies.

Taliban kill 21 at start of Afghan spring offensive

Kabul, May 12
The Taliban unleashed a wave of attacks today across Afghanistan to mark the start of their spring offensive, storming a government building in the east where attackers killed two police guards and five civilians, and striking a police checkpoint to the south and killing nine policemen.

Also today, rockets hit inside the grounds of the Kabul international airport but caused no damage. Rockets also struck the NATO base at Bagram, just north of the Afghan capital, causing minor damage, the alliance said.

This year’s Taliban spring offensive comes at a sensitive time, against the backdrop of a key presidential election. Militants have also stepped up terror attacks to sow insecurity and weaken the government as international forces prepare to withdraw from the country by the end of this year.

Fewer than 30,000 US troops remain on the ground in Afghanistan, the lowest number since the 2001 invasion. Last summer, Afghan security forces took full responsibility for the country’s defense, making this Taliban spring offensive an important gauge of how well they will face insurgent attacks once international forces are gone.

Today’s attack on the provincial justice ministry building in the city of Jalalabad began around 9 am, just as employees were arriving for work, said Nangarhar provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai.

According to the spokesman and the provincial police chief, three attackers shot and killed the two police guards, broke into the ministry and took over the building. One of the attackers died when he detonated his explosives’ vest inside the ministry, while the other two were killed by police, said Gen. Fazel Ahmad Sherzad. — AP

US says ready to work with new govt

Washington, May 12
Congratulating the people of India on the successful elections, the polling for which concluded today, the US said it is looking forward to working with the new Indian government.

"We look forward to working with the leaders chosen by the Indian people to advance this important partnership and to set an ambitious agenda," State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference today.

"We congratulate the people of India on their participation in the largest-ever free and fair democratic election in human history. Over 500 million eligible voters peacefully went to the polls over the last six weeks, often in remote or challenging locations, she said.

"These elections are an inspiring example of the power of the democratic process, and the United States has great admiration and respect for the vibrancy, diversity and resilience of India's democracy,” Psaki said. — PTI

Boko Haram offers to swap girls for prisoners
About 100 girls wearing full veils shown at an undisclosed location in YouTube video

Maiduguri, May 12
The leader of the Nigerian Islamist rebel group Boko Haram has offered to release more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by his fighters last month in exchange for prisoners, according to a video seen on YouTube. But the Nigerian government rejected conditions set out by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.

raising the pitch: Protesters demonstrate to press for the release of missing Chibok schoolgirls in Lagos on Monday. AFP

About 100 girls wearing full veils and praying are shown in an undisclosed location in the 17-minute video in which Shekau speaks.

Boko Haram militants, who are fighting for an Islamist state, stormed a secondary school in the northeastern village of Chibok on April 14 and seized 276 girls who were taking exams.

Some managed to escape but about 200 remain missing. The attack has provoked global outrage, and concern about the fate of the girls deepened when Shekau threatened in a video released earlier this month to sell the girls “in the market”.

Nigeria has deployed two army divisions to hunt for the girls while several nations including the United States, Britain, Israel and France have offered help or sent experts.

In a 1.25 minute clip of the video on YouTube, scores of girls in black and grey veils sit on the ground and chant, before Shekau, wearing military fatigues and holding an AK-47, addresses the camera. He appears confident and at one point laughs.

“All I am saying is that if you want us to release the girls that we have kidnapped, those who have not accepted Islam will be treated as the Prophet (Mohammed) treated infidels and they will stay with us,” he said, according to a translation of his words originally spoken in a Nigerian language.

“We will not release them while you detain our brothers,” he said, before naming a series of cities in Nigeria. It was not clear whether he was in the same location as the girls. There was no immediate reaction from authorities to the new video but one senior official said the government was studying the situation. Authorities are holding hundreds of suspected Boko Haram militants and there have been several jail break attempts.

Suspected militants overpowered guards at a prison near the presidential villa in Abuja in March, triggering a gun battle that killed 21 people. In another incident the same month, insurgents attempting to free captured comrades fought a two-hour battle in March at Giwa barracks in the northeastern city of Maiduguri. Human rights groups have said previously that Giwa barracks has been used to illegally detain and torture suspects, something the military denies. — Reuters

14 die in Mediterranean migrant shipwreck

Rome, May 12
At least 14 persons died when a ship packed with migrants sank between Libya and Italy today, in the latest shipwreck tragedy to hit the Mediterranean. The Italian navy said another 200 people had been rescued after the ship sank with a reported 400 people on board.

"Fourteen bodies have been recovered so far. Medical workers on the Sirio and the Grecale are providing assistance to the 200 survivors," the Italian navy said on Twitter, referring to two warships on the scene.

Two Italian coast guard vessels and several merchant ships scrambled to the area were also taking part in the high-seas rescue operation, the navy said. It said it had also deployed a helicopter in the zone.

Libya has long been a springboard for Africans seeking a better life in Europe and the number of illegal departures from its shores is rising.

Hundreds of migrants land in Italy almost every day, most of them asylum-seekers from Eritrea, Somalia and Syria, and many are now being picked up by Italian warships.

The latest shipwreck happened at around 1100 GMT and some 100 nautical miles south of Lampedusa island, Italy's southernmost point.

The area is closer to Libyan than to Italian shores. Italian media reported that there had been some 400 people on board the migrant boat, which would leave dozens of people still unaccounted for. The migrant boat later sank near an offshore oil rig, the report said. The cause is not yet known. — AFP

UK police trail Indian-origin conman

London, May 12
The British police are looking for an Indian-origin ‘spiritual guru’ wanted in connection with a series of blackmails and high-value frauds and have appealed to the people to be on guard against him.

The Leicestershire Police warned public in the pre-dominantly Indian dominated city to guard against the conman known as Kamal-Ji and purports to be a devotee of Sai Baba.

They said the traditional Indian kurta-pyjama wearing man initially offers healing and astrology services to win trust of his victims and attempts to assist them for success, matrimonial, health and relationship issues.

Then, he demands money to defrauding them of tens of thousands of pounds paid in cash or through bank accounts. — PTI