ElBaradei free to seek Egyptian presidency: Mubarak

March 5, 2010 -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Thursday that former U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei was welcome to run for the presidency if he wants, but tartly dismissed any suggestion that he was a national hero.

Mubarak, who has ruled for almost three decades, made the comments on a visit to Germany, during which he will undergo medical tests, the official Egyptian news agency MENA reported.   

ElBaradei, one of Egypt's best-known international figures after leading the International Atomic Energy Agency, arrived home last month to an exuberant reception from his supporters who want him to run for president in 2011.   

"If he wants to join any political party as a citizen, he can do so.

We do not have any restrictions on this. If he wants to run as an independent, he is also welcome," Mubarak told a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.   

Analysts say election rules make it almost impossible for any candidate to stage a realistic challenge against the one nominated by Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).   

ElBaradei leads a coalition of opposition parties and other activists set up last week to press for political reform. He has garnered tens of thousands of supporters on Facebook and other sites backing him.   

WE DON'T NEED HEROES  

Mubarak, who was making his first comments on ElBaradei's ambitions, bristled when a reporter asked whether the ex-IAEA chief was an Egyptian national hero.   

"We do not need a national hero, here or there," Mubarak said, in response to a question about ElBaradei's welcome from supporters at Cairo airport.

Mubarak, 81, has not said whether he will run, but many Egyptians believe he will seek to hand the presidency to his son Gamal, 46, if he does not. Both Mubaraks deny this.   MENA, in its report on the news conference, said Mubarak was also in Germany for medical tests.   

"President Hosni Mubarak will be heading on Friday afternoon to the German city of Heidelberg to undergo some medical tests ... and this is to follow up on a recurrent complaint from gall bladder pains," it said.  

Mubarak travelled to Germany in 2004 for surgery for a slipped disc at a Munich hospital, a case that sparked rumours and sent jitters through Egypt's financial markets.   In 2003, he collapsed briefly during a speech to parliament.

Officials said that was from a combination of cold medication and fasting in the month of Ramadan.   

ElBaradei has stirred Egypt's calcified politics, saying he would consider running for president but wants constitutional changes with checks on power and guarantees of a fair vote. Analysts say such changes are unlikely to be implemented.   

"We do not have any restrictions in this field, according to the constitution," Mubarak added.   

ElBaradei has so far refused to run for an established party, one route to nomination, and to run as an independent he would need the backing of 250 elected representatives across parliament and local councils -- all dominated by the NDP. (Reuters)

$3M bail each in Seward killings

Relatives say two teens decided to rob a store to get a car out of the impound lot. Charges say the robbery left three dead. They entered the store shortly after 7:30 p.m. wearing ski masks and looking for money. One talked tough to a couple of customers in a grocery aisle; the other pointed a gun at two men behind the front counter. "This is a robbery!" he shouted. Seconds later, three East African immigrants lay dead in the bloody mess of a robbery turned fatal.

Those details were spelled out publicly for the first time by prosecutors Thursday as they charged two 17-year-old boys with first-degree murder in the Jan. 6 shooting at Seward Market and Halal Meats at E. Franklin and 25th Avenues in Minneapolis.

The triple homicide -- coming just days after the city reported that 2009 had recorded one of the lowest murder rates in years -- shocked a neighborhood and galvanized the city's East African community into helping police find the killers.

The defendants, from Minneapolis, were identified as Mahdi Hassan Ali, the alleged gunman, and Ahmed Shire Ali. Each is scheduled to appear in court Friday at 1:30 p.m. The teenagers are friends and not related.

"It's a tragic, senseless shooting," said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, who added that his office will seek to set bail at $3 million for each.

Gruesome details

The criminal complaint released Thursday detailed the chaotic moments leading to the shooting. Within seconds of shouting "This is a robbery," Mahdi Ali allegedly chased down and shot a store employee who tried to call for help, then pumped a second bullet into a customer whom he had shot moments earlier. The complaint didn't say what led to the robbery.

Relatives of Ahmed Ali, however, told the Star Tribune that he told them that Mahdi Ali needed money to get a car out of the city impound lot. Police wouldn't comment about that scenario. Ahmed Ali's family said they were told the car had been towed days before.

Somali pirates free Indonesian ship for $7.5mn

Somali pirates freed a Singaporean-flagged chemical tanker, having 24 crew members including Indians, after a ransom was delivered by parachute, a spokesman for the European Union Naval Force said.

Somali pirates have received the largest ransom of $7.5 million for releasing an Indonesian ship carrying chemicals and its 28 crew.

It has been the largest amount of ransom paid to Somali pirates so far for releasing a foreign ship hijacked in Gulf of Aden, Press TV's correspondent said.

A source close to pirates, Abdi Risaaq Faytaan, said that since the chemicals were urgently needed, the ship's owner agreed to pay $7.5 million to the pirates.

Pirates left the chemical tanker Pramoni and the vessel has set a course away from the coast, EU spokesman Cmdr John Harbour said yesterday.

Harbour could not give details on the ransom paid for the release of the tanker, which was seized on Jan 1 with 24 crew members from China, India, Nigeria and Vietnam.

An EU warship is monitoring the situation and all the crew were safe, he said.

The cash was bundled in a waterproof container, attached to a parachute and pushed out the back of a small plane. It is a common way of delivering the multimillion dollar ransoms the pirates demand.

In the meantime, the Somali pirates also shot dead a Yemeni fishing captain who delivered a cargo of weapons to the Somali government's officials at Puntland seaport of Bosaso, our correspondent added.

Heavy and small weapons are said to be flooded from Yemen to Somalia on a regular basis. They cause daily attacks in Somalia and increase the endless hostility among people of Somalia.

Somalia backs UN sanctions on Eritrea

MOGADISHU –The Somali envoy to the United nations security council, Elmi Ahmad Du’ale, has said the sanctions imposed on Eritrea by the Security Council on 23 December were “proof” that the country aided terrorism.

The Security Council on Wednesday imposed sanctions Eritrea over providing military support to Islamist insurgents battling the Somali government.

“The sanctions were based, first and foremost, on proof that Eritrea supports terrorism and extremist groups opposed to the Somali government, which have been the stumbling block to stability in Somalia” Du’ale said in a strong drawl in an interview with Hornafrik local radio in Mogadishu on Thursday.

He said the horn of Africa nation was on the shoulder of the militant groups fighting to topple Somalia’s weak transitional government.

‘’Eritrea supports these groups by providing arms, financial and moral support. Eritrea continues to host Somalia’s rebel hardliners who are opposed to peace in Somalia. These were the conditions which the sanctions was based on” he added.

The Ugandan-drafted text imposes an arms embargo on Eritrea, as well as travel restrictions and asset freezes on the country’s political and military leadership.

“There were resolutions before the current one, the international community led by the Security Council, African Union, United States and Somalia have all warned Eritrea over and over again against destabilizing Somalia however Eritrean leaders ignored international demands. Eritrea even refuses to recognize the Somali government. That was it,” the Somali envoy said.

Djibouti, like Somalia also welcomed the sanction since Eritrean forces occupy parts of Djibouti and refuse to withdraw it’s troops.

Eritrea has repeatedly denied the allegation. “The draft resolution is based on unfounded accusations against Eritrea on the issue of Somalia,” Ambassador Araya Desta said in a letter.

Thirteen of the council’s 15 members voted in favor of Resolution 1907. Veto-wielding China abstained, while Libya, the lone Arab council member and the current African Union chair, voted against that resolution.

Mr Duale, a medical graduate from Sapienza University of Rome became the Permanent Representative of Somalia to the United Nations in 2005.

Somalia has not had a functional government since 1991 and is been mired in chaos ever since.