SOUTHEAST ASIA: Third day of fighting on the border between Thailand and Cambodia

Fighting with heavy weapons broke out Sunday morning for the third consecutive day between Cambodian and Thai troops at the disputed border between the two countries, hours after the UN call for a cease-fire.

According to a Cambodian military official, the clashes resumed around 10:00 local time (0300 GMT) around a disputed group of temples.

A Thai official has confirmed new incidents."Cambodia opened fire first," he added.

As usual, the two neighbors blame the cause of clashes that killed six soldiers and four Cambodian Thai since Friday.

The gunfire was clearly audible 20 km away fighting the Cambodian side, where villagers were evacuated found shelter in schools and temples, according to an AFP photographer.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the two neighbors to "take immediate steps to implement a cease-fire effective and verifiable," said a spokesman.

Cambodia and Thailand have clashed several times in recent years in the jungle near the ancient temples located on a border that has never been fully demarcated, partly because of mines left by decades of civil war in Cambodia.

Phnom Penh on Saturday accused the Thai army have used "heavy weapons containing poison gas," that the Thai authorities have denied.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit him Sunday accused its neighbor of wanting to "internationalize" the conflict.

Cambodia calls since the latest fighting in February mediation to resolve the border disputes, but Bangkok urges bilateral talks.

After these clashes, the two countries had given their agreement to send observers to the border, after mediation organized by the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) in February.

But since the Thai military said that these observers were not welcome and they were never deployed.

The fighting of February 4 to 7, which had ten dead, including civilians, were held in more than 100 km further east, near the Khmer temple of Preah Vihear.

These ruins of the eleventh century, whose classification by UNESCO in 2008 had rekindled tensions within the sovereignty of Cambodia by a ruling of the International Court of Justice in 1962.

But the Thais its main access control, and both countries claim an area of ​​4.6 km2 below the building that has not been delineated.

COTE D'IVOIRE - EXCLUSIVE: The reconciliation of the country through the people of Duékoué

Some images may offend the sensibilities of viewers.

Ten days after the effective takeover of the Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara, the new government must now begin on a gigantic construction: that of reconciliation. The Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI), which brought to power Ouattara, are now sovereign and crisscross the country to collect weapons in circulation and safety.

In Duékoué, Caroline Dumay, special correspondent for FRANCE 24, followed FRCI patrols in the heart of one of the cities most affected by the clashes between pro-and pro-Gbagbo Ouattara.Their mission focuses on two areas: ensuring the safety of people and uncover possible weapons caches.

"Duekoué was the nest of the militia and Liberian mercenaries. The amount of weapons we have recovered is below the estimates we made on the number of weapons distributed here," said the commander of the gendarmerie Konda Duékoué responsible for operations in the region.

In recent weeks the clashes, several reports have confirmed that the armed forces loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo had out massively distributed weapons to civilians.For the commander Konda, this weapon is a threat to the newfound peace in Côte d'Ivoire.

Massacres

Securing Duékoué by FRCI is now one of the priorities of government Ouattara, while residents return to their homes and attempt to identify the many dead.

In recent weeks, several humanitarian agencies have accused the pro-Ouattara of committing atrocities in the region of Duekoue. The Red Cross had even suggested a figure of 800 deaths in one district of Carrefour.

The Government believes that the balance Ouattara civil clashes is 330 deaths in the region.Officials of the UN mission on site, for their part, said they had conducted the burial of 198 bodies.

According to FRANCE 24 journalists in Duékoué, it is likely that many civilians were summarily executed. Images they filmed, the lifeless body emerged, particularly that of a pastor who tried to surrender before being shot.

The time of reconstruction

The authorities said the residents of Duekoue that the area was now secure and that they could return to their city.But for many people, the main concern now is to know where to sleep, while many houses were swept away by the fighting.

Father Bertin, parish of Diahouin, chose to return. But the return is difficult. His chapel was burned, his house was looted and the well is filled with corpses. "It is not difficult to return, but once you're there, where to stay Where to live?" Asks he.

At 85, like many others, he can not afford to rebuild. This heavy burden will be the new power in place. A "major challenge", recognizes Sidiki Konate, a government minister Ouattara."If it solves the problem of reconciliation in Duékoué, it solves the problem of reconciliation in Côte d'Ivoire," he says.

A scenario that can take shape without the rapid reconstruction of infrastructure.

LIBYA: Gaddafi After the message, the White House calls for "action, not words"

AFP - The White House insisted Wednesday Muammar Gaddafi deeds and not words after receiving a message from the leader following the withdrawal of U.S. fighter planes to Libya.

"We can confirm that there was a letter, obviously not the first" the Libyan leader, told reporters the spokesman of President Barack Obama, Jay Carney, aboard Air Force One carrying President Philadelphia (Pennsylvania East) for a meeting focused on the economy.

But without disclosing the content of the message, Mr.Carney said that Obama had been saying for weeks that a cease-fire in Libya would depend "acts and not words (and) an end to violence."

"The words, this is not the same as action," insisted the spokesman.

Earlier Wednesday, state news agency Jana announced that Colonel Gaddafi had "Wednesday sent a message to President Barack Obama after the withdrawal of U.S. coalition aggressive colonialist cross against Libya," the agency said without give details on the contents of the message.

The U.S. military had withdrawn Monday that fighter jets were involved in the international campaign in Libya. It should now provide more than had intended to conduct air refueling missions as well as jamming and surveillance.

Liveblogging: France launches military action in Libya

What you should remember:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that French fighter planes had penetrated into Libyan airspace to prevent the forces of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to attack the city of Benghazi, a stronghold of the opposition.


The statement by the French head of state concluded an international summit on the situation in Libya, which gathered in Paris this Saturday the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Prime Minister David Cameron and many Arab and European politicians.
A military plane was shot Saturday morning while flying over the city of Benghazi.The aircraft belongs to the opponents of Muammar Gaddafi.
According to the insurgents in Benghazi, forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi bombed roads leading into town. The regime denies the accusations and says its planes remained on the ground, according to the cease-fire it announced Friday.

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BAHRAIN: The king declared a state of emergency for three months

AFP - The King of Bahrain Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa has declared a state of emergency on Tuesday for three months, following the arrival of troops from the Gulf came to help contain the Shiite challenge.

"Due to circumstances that crosses Bahrain (...) King declares a state of emergency for a period of three months," said a statement broadcast by state television.

The statement said the king instructed the commander of the armed forces to restore order by using the army, police forces, units of the National Guard and "any other force, if necessary" .

This last statement appears to refer to units sent to Bahrain by its partners of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

This decision comes as Shiite protesters block streets in Manama and are gathered in a square in the capital, following the arrival of troops from the joint force of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called "Shield Peninsula ", in this small kingdom ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

LIBYA: In Benghazi, the police dispersed a rally against the government

AFP - The Libyan police forcibly dispersed the night from Tuesday to Wednesday a sit-in against the power in Benghazi (east), and hundreds of supporters of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi soon after marched in several cities, it was learned from sources.

Family members of prisoners killed in 1996 in a shootout in the prison of Abu Slim in Tripoli, gathered outside a police station in Benghazi to demand the release of their coordinator, the lawyer Fethi Tarbel, the newspaper reported Online Al-Manara.

Ms. Tarbell, whose reasons for arrest are unknown, was released under pressure from families, according to the newspaper's website Qurina near Seif Al-Islam, son of Colonel Gaddafi.

But the crowd did not move out and others joined the protest, prompting the police to disperse them by force, according to the website Libya al-Youm.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against the regime: "Benghazi wake up is the day you were waiting for" the blood of martyrs is not shed in vain, "or" the people want to bring down corruption, "according these media.

Soon after, hundreds of demonstrators marched pro-regime in Benghazi, the second largest city, 1,000 km east of Tripoli, but also in Sirte (east), Sebha (south) and Tripoli, according to images state television.

Since 4:00 local time (0200 GMT), the channel al-Jamahiriya broadcast live images of protesters marching on foot and in cars, waving flags and pictures of Colonel Qaddafi and chanting slogans in praise of the Guide of the Libyan revolution and cons channel Al-Jazeera accused by the regime to incite rebellion in Arab individuals.

The string "al-Jazeera despicable, we do not want anything other than our leader," chanted the demonstrators particular.

These events occur on the eve of the "day of anger" Libyan scheduled for Thursday, according to appeals on Facebook.

Under the slogan "Revolt of February 17, 2011: to make a day of anger in Libya," a Facebook group, which calls for an uprising against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, has risen from 4,400 members Monday at 9600 Wednesday morning.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), at least 1,200 prisoners were killed by police during a shootout in the prison of Abu Salim in 1996, under circumstances that remain unclear.

In recent years their families, much of which originated in Benghazi, continues to claim that light and justice are made on the massacre.

FRANCE: Michele Alliot-Marie criticized for its friendly relationship with someone close to Ben Ali

AFP - The head of French diplomacy, Michele Alliot-Marie, was used in 2010 in Tunisia in a private jet Tunisian businessman, presented by the weekly Le Canard Enchaine as a member "of the clan Ben Ali" what was denied on Tuesday the cabinet of the Minister.

The newspaper reveals that the minister used between Christmas and New Year's Day this aircraft to connect to the city of Tunis Tabarka, with her husband Patrick Ollier, Minister for Relations with Parliament, and members of their families.

Tunisian revolt began some two weeks ago, after self-immolation of a young Tunisian, December 17 in Sidi Bouzid, in the center of the country.

Michèle Alliot-Marie was sharply criticized in France since 11 January for having underestimated the Revolution of jasmine and have proposed to the National Assembly security cooperation regime in the Ben Ali.

The private plane and the destination hotel Michèle Alliot-Marie owned Aziz Miled, longtime friend of the Minister and presented by Le Canard Enchaine as close Belhassen Trabelsi, brother of former President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.

"It is true that Michele Alliot-Marie, after taking a commercial flight from Paris to Tunis, then took a private plane to Tabarka," he told AFP his cabinet."It was at the invitation of Aziz Miled, a friend for several years, which is the owner of an airline called Nouvelair. Miled Aziz was on the plane and took them with her parents and her husband" sources said the same source.

"But Aziz Miled is not a clan member Ben Ali," said the minister's office. "He was caught by a family member Trabelsi 20% of its shares in the airline and the presidency of this society," we sure of the source. Family Trabelsi is the wife of the former president.

"Mr.Miled is even less a friend of Ben Ali as the new Tunisian authorities, after the latter's departure and his family, he gave back all its shares so that the chair of Nouvelair, "argued the firm the minister. "In any case, it was a clan for Ben Ali", it was stressed from the same source.

However Aziz Miled is part of the list of which Switzerland has frozen the assets on January 19 after the fall of Ben Ali. He is featured on this list, published by the Swiss government as a partner Belhassen Trabelsi.

Sunday, in an interview with Paris, Michèle Alliot-Marie had admitted being on vacation in 2010 in Tunisia. "Like millions of French, I'm going to Tunisia.That's all, "she had said.

She added he had not thought about resigning after his controversial remarks on police assistance that France could make to Tunisia, saying had "learned to have thick leather" faced with controversy.

Last week, Segolene Royal, Socialist former candidate for president in 2007, was deemed "hateful" about the minister before the deputies and found that having "very personal ties with Tunisia" made "blind".

The Chained Duck also states that it sought in vain to who had paid the hotel bill of Tabarka stayed where the minister and his family."It was settled by Ms. Alliot-Marie and her family," assured the minister's entourage without elaborating.