8 theSun | FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13 2009

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EPAPIX

Israel faces gridlock, peace

prospects dim possible pacts, Israeli media said
it seemed Peres would have no
choice but to tap Netanyahu if the
majority rightists all back him. But
it would be the first time in Israel’s
60-year history that the winner of
Police JERUSALEM: Israel headed for oth Ahronoth, over photographs of an election would be passed over.
forensic political gridlock on Wednesday both leaders. But to some commen- The results, not yet official, gave
and disaster with both sides declaring victory in tators, the rival claims showed that Netanyahu 27 seats in the 120-seat
victim an election that left the prospect of Israel, deeply beset with divisions Knesset, while Livni’s Kadima won
identification Israel and the Palestinians making over constitutional issues and years 28.
Australian police (DVI) officers
inspect a
peace as distant as ever.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s
of failed diplomacy with Arabs, had
lost.
She said she would be prime
minister and invited Netanyahu

detain 2 over
property centrist Kadima party won the “One thing is clear to all to join a “unity government”. But
at Steels most votes but had little chance Israeli voters,” said the paper’s Netanyahu said he would lead the
Creek, near of building enough support for Eitan Haber. “The political system “nationalist camp” in parliament,

deadly bushfires Kinglake,

YEA (Australia): Australian police
have detained two people sus-
pected of deliberately lighting
one of the bushfires that sav-
agely swept through southeast
Australia killing at least 181
people and leaving 5,000 home-
less.
“The investigation is in its
initial stages. Two people are
assisting police with inquiries,”
said a police spokeswoman
yesterday. Police would not give
further details.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
has described Australia’s dead-
liest bushfires last Saturday as
“mass murder”.
Authorities say the toll is
expected to rise beyond 200 as
more bodies are discovered in
the charred remains of houses in
the southern state of Victoria.
One razed town, Marysville,
sealed off to the public due to
the horrific scenes there, may
contain 50 to 100 more dead,
authorities say. That would bring
the toll to around 300.
In Victoria, arson carries a jail
term of two to 15 years, and 25
years if there’s loss of life.
Several bushfires tore through
rural towns north of Melbourne
on Saturday night, fanned by
strong winds and heatwave
temperatures. Melbourne’s
temperature on Saturday hit
46.4°C, a record.
The disaster area, more than
twice the size of London and en-
compassing more than 20 towns
north of Melbourne, has been
declared a crime zone. The fires
have burnt 1,033 homes and left
5,000 people homeless.
Standard & Poors estimated
the damage could exceed US$2
billion (RM7.3 billion).
Yesterday, survivors returned
to their burnt-out towns and
hamlets to rebuild their lives.
Those with houses still standing
offered shelter and support for
those who lost their homes.
But many were left to live
in tents and caravans, having
escaped the infernos with just
the clothes on their backs.
Australia has launched its
biggest arson investigation,
“Operation Phoenix”, over the
bushfires.
“We’re sure that the fire in
Churchill... was deliberately lit
and we have now been given
some information that makes us
suspicious about the Marysville
fire,” Victoria Police Commis-
sioner Christine Nixon told local
television.
More than 4,000 firefighters
are battling some 21 fires in
Victoria state, with several still
out of control. Nixon said police
had received reports that more
fires had been deliberately lit
since Saturday. – Reuters
looking for
clues.
a resilient coalition government.
Right-wing opposition leader
Benjamin Netanyahu can get the
is shattered.”
Washington signalled equa-
nimity. The new administration
backing in parliament, but analysts of US President Barack Obama
said the likely alliance would prove wants to revive peace talks to give
dysfunctional. the Palestinians a state alongside
“I won,” read the headline of the Israel, provided they can repair a
country’s biggest newspaper, Yedi- schism triggered by Hamas’s hold
on Gaza.
“We certainly hope that a new
(Israeli) government will continue
to pursue a path to peace. I see no
reason to think a new government
would do something otherwise,”
State Department spokesman Rob-
ert Wood said.
Israeli President Shimon Peres
must now decide whether to call
on Livni or Netanyahu, who then
has 42 days to form a government.
An official election tally is due out
by Feb 18, after which Peres would
have a week to make his nomina-
Netanyahu... is sure he Lieberman... emerged as tion.
will head the government potential kingmaker As the parties began negotiating
Quake near Sulawesi injures 50, damages buildings
JAKARTA: A powerful earthquake that depth of 20km. Indonesia’s meteorology
struck near the sparsely populated Talaud agency issued a tsunami warning, although
Islands north of Sulawesi has injured at least it was later lifted.
49 people, officials said yesterday. A reporter for Indonesia’s state radio
Hundreds of buildings, including schools, station in the town of Tahuna said soon after
churches and healthcare centres, were also the initial quake that frightened people had
damaged on the chain of islands that lie rushed out of their homes. The big quake
south of Mindanao. was followed by at least 20 aftershocks.
The US Geological Survey put the quake “At midday, there was a strong after-
that struck in the early hours of yesterday at shock, everyone panicked and ran to higher
a magnitude 7.2 and at a relatively shallow ground, even patients being treated in
and control 64 seats.
“With God’s help I will lead the
next government,” Netanyahu, 59,
told supporters of his Likud party.
“Tzipi Livni has only the
slightest chance, or none at all, of
forming a government under her
leadership,” said Abraham Diskin,
a political scientist at Jerusalem’s
Hebrew University.
Avigdor Lieberman’s far-right
Yisrael Beiteinu party, which
surged to third place in the ballot
with its demand to test the loyal-
ties of Israeli Arabs, emerged as a
potential kingmaker.
He met Livni and Netanyahu on
Wednesday, appearing to favour
the latter though he deferred any
decision. Another linchpin party,
the conservative Shas, held its own
talks with the Likud.
“We want a nationalist govern-
ment. We want a rightist govern-
ment,” Lieberman said. – Reuters
hospitals,” Hutdam Manurat, a local govern-
ment spokesman said by telephone.
Officials said they were still trying to
assess damage in the scattered chain of
islands lying on the edge of the Celebes
Sea, with communications also severed in
many areas.
The islands with a population of just
over 80,000 that are part of North Sulawesi
Province depend on agriculture and fishing.
– Reuters

Sri Lankan troops a suspicious package near the

briefs
Octuplet mother
launches online
appeal for aid
LOS ANGELES: Octuplet mother
Nadya Suleman unveiled a new
plan on Wednesday to care for
her brood of 14 amid growing
concern that taxpayers could
foot the bill for her medically
enhanced reproduction.
The Los Angeles single
mother unveiled a website with
photos of the tiny babies and an
appeal for donations.
The website at thenad-
yasulemanfamily.com was put
together by Suleman’s recently
hired PR firm and includes links
for paypal donations and an ad-
dress where people can send
checks.
The online appeal came
amid growing doubts about the
unemployed Suleman’s ability
to support her children, as it
emerged that she reportedly
received food stamps for her six
older children and government
payments for three children
with disabilities. – dpa
kill 28 Tamil rebels
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan troops
killed 28 Tamil rebels and
seized a cache of weapons
and ammunition in their lat-
est push for victory in the
island’s drawn-out ethnic
conflict, the government said
yesterday.
Security forces captured
nine mortar tubes from a forti-
fied camp at Kuppilankulam
on Wednesday, the defence
ministry said, adding 28 Tamil
Tiger guerillas had been killed
in fighting in the area.
Also seized were a
workshop for making hand
grenades and roadside
bombs, and several vehicles
including an armour-plated
van used by Tiger leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran, the
ministry said. – AFP
Philippine troops
defuse bomb in
south
MANILA: Troops have defused a
powerful bomb left near a popu-
lar restaurant in the southern
Philippine city of Cotabato, the
military said yesterday.
A group of children found
Hermanas Restaurant in a busy
part of the city on Wednesday
night, and alerted authorities
after noticing electrical wiring
components, the military said.
Army ordnance experts
were dispatched to the area to
defuse the device, described
later as a 60mm mortar shell
rigged to a cellphone that could
be remotely detonated. – AFP
Lawyer’s
conviction quashed
in leak case
HONGKONG: A High Court yes-
terday quashed the convic-
tion of one of the city’s most
high-profile lawyers, who had
been jailed for disclosing the
identity of a protected wit-
ness to a journalist.
The Court of Appeal
freed Kevin Egan, who was
sentenced to two and a half
years in prison in 2006 for
leaking the identity of Becky
Wong to a South China Morn-
ing Post reporter.
Wong was a witness in a
financial criminal case and be-
ing held in protective custody
of the city’s anti-graft body,
the Independent Commission
Against Corruption. – AFP