Egyptian Muslims and Copts attack each other with sticks after the funeral of a Coptic Christian who was stabbed yesterday during a church service in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, April 16. (AFP Photo)

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, April 16--An Egyptian died Sunday of wounds sustained during clashes between Copts and Muslims in the city of Alexandria as more communal violence marred Palm Sunday, medical sources and witnesses said.
Mustafa Meshaal, who was wounded during violent clashes between Muslims and the Christian Coptic minority in the port city on Saturday, died of his wounds in hospital, medical sources told AFP.
The violence erupted after an attack on Coptic worshippers in several churches in Alexandria on Friday that left one person dead and several wounded.
Security sources said 45 people had been arrested following the violence that flared after the funeral for Friday’s 78-year-old victim. A total of 22 people were injured in the fighting.
The interior ministry said it had arrested the suspected knife-wielding assailant--25-year-old man named Mahmud Salaheddin Abdul Razek--and described him as “mentally unstable“.
The official MENA news agency, quoting security sources, said demonstrators “smashed the windscreens of a number of vehicles, burned two other vehicles and some shops“, blaming that unrest on “extremist elements.“
Witnesses said clashes erupted afresh on Sunday in front of Al-Quidissin church--one of the three attacked on Friday--following prayers marking the Orthodox Church’s Palm Sunday.
Friday’s attacks were the most serious incidents of sectarian violence since a protest by Muslims accusing an Alexandria church of hosting a play offensive to Islam left three dead in October.
Egypt’s Copts--the largest Christian community in the Middle East--account for an estimated 10 percent of the country’s 73 million inhabitants and complain of systematic discrimination and harassment.

CHERBOURG, France, April 16--Thousands of activists gathered here Saturday to join an anti-nuclear protest against the building of a new nuclear reactor in the French region bordering the English Channel.
The organizers said 30,000 people turned out while police put the number at 12,500, AFP reported.
According to Stephane Lhomme, spokesman for the organizers, ’Sortir du Nucleaire’, an alliance of some 718 groups seeking to phase out nuclear power, “this is a very strong mobilization in this neck of the woods which is hard to reach and marks a turning point in France’s energy policy“.
The French parliament has already endorsed the project “but a public inquiry must still take place, followed by an eventual decree,“ Didier Anger, regional coordinator of the Anti-nuclear opposition told a press conference, stressing that the nuclear plant was not yet a done deal.
The proposed project would involve the construction of a new generation European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) in Flamanville, situated in the French department of Manche in northwest Normandy.
The opponents claim that France already over-produces electricity with nuclear energy, according to the STOP EPR website.
The web site also says that nuclear power cannot provide the solution for easing dependence on oil for transportation. New renewable sources are needed, such as wind power.
“Nuclear power is not an alternative to the energy problem, neither at the European level nor at the international level,“ said Jose Bove, speaking for a rural confederation.
The gathering this weekend in Cherbourg also comes just ahead of the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl, the worst civilian nuclear accident, which took place in Ukraine. On April 26, 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant north of Kiev exploded and sent a radioactive cloud across Europe.

ROME, April 16--Center-left leader Romano Prodi demanded anew Saturday that Premier Silvio Berlusconi concede defeat in Italy’s tight election and apologize for alleging fraud after the number of contested ballots dwindled dramatically.
The conservative premier, however, remained defiant, describing himself late Friday as a “fighter“ and an “optimist“ and saying he still hoped to be declared the winner, AP reported.
He also indicated in a letter published Saturday in Italy’s main daily, Corriere della Sera, that he was not giving up.
“At least on the basis of the popular vote, there’s no winner and no loser,“ Berlusconi wrote.
The official results of the contested ballot count have not been announced but were certain to confirm Prodi’s narrow victory in the April 9-10 parliamentary elections after the Interior Ministry on Friday sharply reduced the number of contested ballots.
While the outcome could still be questioned, that process could take weeks to play out and Prodi urged his rival not to keep Italians waiting.
“He must acknowledge how things went, and, I believe, apologize as well after what he said about fraud,“ Prodi told reporters Saturday in Bologna, where he lives.
Berlusconi alleged election fraud shortly after the vote but quickly backed away from his comments.
On Friday, the Interior Ministry reduced the number of contested ballots from 80,000 to 5,200 Ñ a figure that is insufficient to reverse the electoral result, even with a gap as narrow as the one dividing the two coalitions.
The ministry explained the confusion by saying that invalid or blank ballots had been lumped in by mistake with the contested ballots Ñ those where the voting intentions are not clear.
The official result would formally end a week of political stalemate. Prodi’s center-left won a razor-thin majority in both houses of parliament, but Berlusconi alleged irregularities and demanded thorough checks.

A Chadian civilian lies in a hospital tent after Thursday's rebel assault on the capital N'djamena April 16. (Reuters Photo)

N’DJAMENA, Chad, April 16--Humanitarian groups on Sunday said the fate of 200,000 refugees was hanging in the balance because of the escalating crisis between Chad and Sudan but they doubted Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno would expel them from his country.
Deby threatened to close camps housing refugees from Sudan’s conflict-ridden Darfur region after rebels he says are backed by the neighboring regime attacked the Chadian capital N’Djamena on Thursday, AFP reported.
A representative for the UN High Commissioner for refugees said she was “very worried“ about the plight of the refugees who have been living in eastern Chad for three years.
“The refugees have already suffered enough in Darfur. We do not want them to become victims of the tension between the two countries,“ Ana Liria-Franch told AFP, adding that rebels have begun entering the camps to recruit fighters.
The non-governmental organization Care, which is active in four of the 12 camps in eastern Chad, said it believed Deby was playing a political game and it was unlikely he would carry out his threat.
“It does not seem realistic to relocate 200,000 refugees. Where would they go?“ said Nicolas Palanque from Care.
He pointed out that Chad has for months been calling for a UN force to be deployed along its troubled border with Sudan and said Deby was now trying to force the hand of the international community.
“But it is not impossible that the government could decide to close the camps from one day to the next and the humanitarian fallout will be very serious,“ he warned.
Aid workers said the situation on the Chad-Sudan border has become increasingly dangerous since December as rebels infiltrate the camps which Chadian soldiers are supposed to guard.
“We started having serious problems in December,“ a representative from Care told AFP, adding that rebels have stolen about 20 vehicles from humanitarian organizations.
“The rebels use them to make their way across to Sudan,“ she explained.
The HRC’s Liria-Franch said the rebels have been coming into the camps to recruit refugees as fighters, often under duress.
The HRC has asked Chad to launch an investigation.

GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestine, April 16--Dozens of masked Palestinian security men stormed a government building in the Gaza Strip on Saturday demanding the Hamas-led administration, already under international financial pressure, pay overdue salaries.
“Salaries, or go home,“ the protesters chanted in the central town of Khan Younis, directing their message at Hamas in the biggest such demonstration since the Islamic militant group assumed power last month following its January election victory, Reuters reported.
The security men, some of them firing in the air, burst into a government building in the town, briefly occupying offices and forcing workers to leave. They also blocked a main road leading south to Rafah, on the border with Egypt.
Salaries for the 140,000 employees on the Palestinian Authority’s payroll are two weeks overdue.
The United States and the European Union have cut aid to the Hamas-led government because it has not met their demands to renounce violence, recognize Israel and agree to abide by interim peace deals.
The US Treasury Department has also barred Americans, US companies and the US subsidiaries of foreign firms from pursuing most business dealings with the Palestinian Authority.
“The economy is paralyzed. We can’t buy groceries because no one will give us credit. Taxi drivers, won’t give us a ride, because we don’t have money,“ said Abu Mohammed, a leader of the protesters, most of them from the rival Fatah movement.
“We warn this is only a first step,“ he said.
Palestinian Finance Minister Omar Abdel-Razek of Hamas said on Al-Jazeera satellite television that he was “appalled and astonished“ by the Khan Younis protest.
“Everyone knows (the cash crunch) is the result of the oppressive isolation that is forced on the Palestinian people and the government. They all know that the account is empty ... and we don’t have enough to pay salaries,“ he said.
Hamas says it inherited a Palestinian Authority with empty coffers and more than $1.3 billion in government debts. The movement won election on a platform of cleaning up government corruption and pursuing armed struggle against Israel.
Accusing the United States of waging “economic war“ against the Palestinian government, Abdel-Razek said Hamas would not be forced into political concessions and he voiced the hope that Arab governments would send financial aid soon.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 16--Iraq’s Sunni Arab and Kurdish leaders warned on Sunday that the long-running political deadlock over Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari was unlikely to end before parliament convenes this week.
Violence has soared in recent months as politicians struggle to form the new government, with rebel attacks Sunday claimed the lives of eight people across Iraq, including four in a Baghdad bus bombing, AFP reported.
Iraqi leaders have failed to agree on the Shiite nomination of Jaafari to remain premier, four months after a landmark election for the country’s first permanent post-Saddam Hussein government.
Leaders of Sunni and Kurdish parliamentary blocs said negotiations over Jaafari’s candidacy were unlikely to find a solution before the assembly meets Monday for only the second time since the December 15 election.
“It will be difficult,“ said Zhafer Al-Ani, spokesman of the Sunni-led National Concord Front, which has 44 seats in the 275-member parliament.
“We are not optimistic about a decision today before the parliament opens tomorrow as negotiations are very difficult.“
Prominent Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said leaders of all political parties would meet Sunday and were even likely to consider whether to attend parliament or not on Monday.
“I do not think they will be able to reach an agreement, especially on all the candidates for key parliamentary posts,“ Othman told AFP.
Shiite leaders had originally said they would finalize their candidates for the various government posts before Monday.
The Sunnis and Kurds are opposed to Jaafari staying on as premier, accusing him of failing to curb sectarian violence that has engulfed Iraq for the last few months, leaving hundreds of people dead.
Sunnis fear that the Shiites--in a tit-for-tat political move--may oppose their candidates for other key posts.
Ani said the Front had finalized candidates for three posts. Top Sunni leader Adnan Al-Dulaimi was nominated as vice president, Tareq Al-Hashemi parliament speaker and Khalaf Al-Alyan deputy prime minister.
“We will consult today with other groups on these candidates and I hope they (the Shiite alliance) will not have reservations on our names due to our objections to Jaafari,“ Ani told AFP.
“They should consider national interests and rise above their own party interests.“
Othman said Kurdish groups had not yet finalized candidates for the posts of deputy parliamentary speaker and deputy prime minister but insisted that “Jalal Talabani will be the candidate for the president.“
In the last few days the Shiites have been stressing the importance of discussing candidates for all key posts as part of an overall package, not just the premiership.

BEIT-UL-MOQADDAS, April 16--Israel could release jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi if Washington grants clemency to a US Navy analyst convicted of spying for the Jewish state in the 1980s, Israel’s Army Radio said on Sunday.
It said Israel plans to propose the swap for Jonathan Pollard once acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is sworn in, Reuters reported.
Israel would hope to convince the Bush administration that freeing Barghouthi, a senior figure in the once-dominant and pragmatic Fatah movement, would weaken the new Palestinian government under Islamist group Hamas, Army Radio said.
Barghouthi is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison for masterminding Palestinian militant attacks. In public, Israeli officials have ruled out his release.
US administrations have been similarly firm on Pollard serving out a life term handed down for treason, despite calls for a pardon from Israel and fellow US Jews.
Israeli government officials denied the Army Radio report, which cited sources in the Prime Minister’s office and has proven authoritative in the past.