All Akcess

US forces in Iraq suffered their highest casualties last month than any month since September 2008.

May saw 22 US soldiers killed, bringing the total number of American casualties since the 2003 invasion of Iraq to just over 4,300.

All US forces are due to be off the streets of Iraq’s cities and main towns by the end of this month.

Combat operations everywhere in the country are due to end by September next year.

US President Barack Obama has pledged to remove all US troops from Iraq, other than those involved in training, by the end of 2011.

Although overall violence is sharply down on the levels of several years ago, the surge in US military deaths in May has left many here feeling uneasy about what will happen as the Americans begin their pullout, the BBC’s Nicholas Witchell in Baghdad says.

But Iraq’s leaders are confident and say Iraqi forces are now quite capable of handling internal security without US support, he says.

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A prominent US abortion doctor has been shot dead at his church in Wichita, Kansas, city officials say.

Sixty-seven year-old George Tiller was killed just after 1000 (1500 GMT) at the Reformation Lutheran Church.

Dr Tiller – one of the few US doctors who performed late-term abortions – had been demonised by some in the anti-abortion movement.

His clinic had often been the site of demonstrations, and he was shot and wounded by an assailant 16 years ago.

Police and city officials are quoted as saying Dr Tiller was shot in the lobby of the church.

They say the attacker, a white man, then fled in a car.

The shooting comes two weeks after President Barack Obama made a major speech on abortion at one of the main Catholic universities in the US.

Correspondents say the president is attempting to defuse the abortion issue – a highly emotive subject in US public life – by arguing that while it should remain legal, the government should do all it can to limit the number of unwanted pregnancies.

But members of the anti-abortion movement have been angered by the president’s reversal of restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and for family-planning groups which carry out or facilitate abortions outside the US.

Dr Tiller’s killing, however, was swiftly denounced by anti-abortionists.

"We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning," anti-abortion group Operation Rescue said on its website.

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A senior Sri Lankan Tamil political leader has urged the government to resettle civilians back to their homes as early as possible.

V Anandasangaree described condition in camps for civilians displaced by the country’s war as "horrible".

The head of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) said hundreds of thousands faced misery and hardship.

He said there were food, health and sanitation problems in camps set up for Tamil civilians in northern Sri Lanka.

"Many people are having skin diseases as they didn’t get a chance to have a shower for days because of water shortage"
V Anandasangaree
Tamil United Liberation Front

Agony in Sri Lanka’s refugee camp

The United Nations says nearly 300,000 people have been displaced by recent fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The civilians have been housed in various camps, most of them in Manik Farm, near the northern town of Vavuniya.

The Manik Farm camp site, which is described by the UN as the world’s largest displacement camp, houses around 220,000 people displaced by the fighting.

Health fears

Mr V Anandasangaree, the TULF leader, is one of the few remaining long-serving moderate Tamil political leaders in Sri Lanka. He has strongly supported the government’s stance against the rebels.

"From the reports I get from the people [in the camps] they are good in some areas and horrible in many," Mr Anandasangaree told the BBC.

"Health, water and sanitation situation is horrible. Many people are having skin diseases as they didn’t get a chance to have a shower for days because of water shortage.

"Pregnant mothers and newborn babies go through a harrowing time in the camps due to scorching heat," he said.

The Sri Lankan government accepts that conditions in some of the camps are not ideal but says facilities have been improved in many other camps. It says more land is also being allocated to build new camps to decongest those already full.

The United Nations and other aid agencies have also demanded better access to the camps to carry out humanitarian work.

Sri Lanka’s government is wary of aid agencies and has complained that the agencies had helped the Tigers in the past.

Sri Lanka says it plans to resettle most of the refugees within six months.

Mr Anandasangaree, a well-known critic of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the LTTE, also faulted the government for viewing every Tamil civilian in the camps as a possible Tamil Tiger suspect.

Sri Lanka has said it needs time to weed out potential Tamil Tiger infiltrators hiding in the camps.

"The civilians risked their lives while fleeing from the LTTE-held areas as the rebels were shooting at them. If the government suspects such people as Tamil Tigers, then the entire population of the two districts – Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu – should be the suspects," he said.

"Then the government will never solve the problem."

Sri Lankan officials say they have been overwhelmed by the sudden arrival tens of thousands of civilians from rebel-controlled areas since the start of the Sri Lankan military’s final battle against Tamil Tigers a few weeks ago.

The government says it also requires help from the international community for post-war resettlement and reconstruction.

The TULF leader also challenged the official view that de-mining needs to be carried out before the resettlement of civilians can begin in the north.

"The theory that the area is heavily landmined cannot be accepted because I am in touch with a number of people. So, when I ask them they tell me where the landmines are placed. They are local people. According to them, 75% per cent of the area is not at all landmined," the Tamil leader said.

Mr Anandasangaree said Sri Lankan security forces were doing a commendable job in carrying out relief work for the displaced civilians, but said that was not enough.

"The government cannot address the problem fully on its own because of the size of the displaced population."

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Senior executives at General Motors are expected to meet later to discuss proceedings for a widely expected filing for bankruptcy protection.

They are likely to firm up the details of how to completely restructure what was once the world’s largest car company, under judicial supervision.

GM’s sales have been hit hard by the financial crisis and the firm has received $20bn (£12bn) in state aid.

President Barack Obama will give full details of the restructuring on Monday.

He is scheduled to hold a press conference on the plan at around 1400 GMT (1500 BST) on Monday.

The Obama administration had given GM a 1 June deadline to submit a viable revival plan or file for bankruptcy.

A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by GM would rank as one of the largest bankruptcies in US history.

GM’s European arm, which makes the Vauxhall and Opel brands, will likely be spared bankruptcy following a deal by Canadian car parts maker Magna to buy GM Europe.

However, unions fear that jobs may be lost at Vauxhall plants in Luton and Ellesmere Port, which employ 5,500 people.

Jobs may also go in Belgium, Poland and Spain.

Creditors key

The support of GM’s creditors will be key to orderly bankruptcy proceedings.

BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION

• US bankruptcy protection is called Chapter 11
• It gives US businesses time to rearrange their finances while continuing to trade, protected from their creditors

Ugly choice for GM creditors

Investors turned down an earlier deal to swap their $27bn worth of GM corporate bonds – IOUs issued by big companies – for a 10% stake in GM. This made bankruptcy all but inevitable.

However, bondholders with slightly more than 50% of GM’s bond debt agreed to support a new restructuring plan although this is not seen as enough to prevent bankruptcy, the New York Times reported.

That plan would split General Motors in two – "Old GM", with all the "bad" assets like defunct car plants – and "New GM", which will own the "good" assets, such as viable factories and brands like Chevrolet and Cadillac.

The bondholders were offered up to 25% of "New GM" if they would come on board.

But it is still possible that dissident bondholders may mount legal challenges in the bankruptcy court.

Meanwhile, a US bankruptcy court judge in New York is expected to approve a deal between US carmaker Chrysler and Italy’s Fiat on Monday.

The third biggest US automaker has declared bankruptcy and is seeking a tie-up with Fiat to save the company from liquidation.

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A cruise liner at the centre of concern about the spread of swine flu has been cleared to dock in Sydney and allow its 2,000 passengers to disembark.

Three crew members on the Pacific Dawn had tested positive for swine flu.

The swine flu infections forced the Pacific Dawn to abandon a voyage to the Great Barrier Reef.

But New South Wales officials gave the ship the all-clear on Monday, saying no new cases had been found and that no human-to-human transmission occurred.

The Pacific Dawn has been blamed for the recent increase in swine flu infections in Australia after health officials allowed hundreds of passengers to go home at the end of a previous cruise despite a suspected outbreak onboard.

At least 20 travellers were later diagnosed with the virus.

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Muslims should not use weapons of mass destruction and possess them only as a deterrent, a top Islamic cleric says.

Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa said using such weapons would violate Islamic teachings as Muslims as well as non-Muslims could be killed.

He issued the religious ruling, or fatwa, following reports that the use of such weapons was legitimate, the state news agency MENA said.

His ruling comes just days before the visit of US President Barack Obama.

Mr Obama, who arrives on 4 June, is expected to give a speech on US relations with the Muslim world.

On a recent visit to Turkey he said the US was not at war with Islam and called for a greater partnership with the Muslim world.

Cairo has said it does not want to make atomic bombs and in the past has called for a region free of nuclear weapons.

Correspondents say that is a reference to Israel – the only Middle Eastern power suspected of possessing such an arsenal.

Pakistan is the only Muslim country known to have nuclear weapons, although Western powers and Israel suspect Iran of trying to develop an atomic bomb.

The grand mufti, who is state-appointed, also said it was also not allowed for Muslims to kill civilians even during a declared war.

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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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