Karzai meets Qatar emir on Taliban office

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai has held talks with the emir of Qatar during a visit to discuss opening a Taliban office in the Gulf state as a prelude to a possible peace deal with the militants.

Karzai discussed "issues of mutual interest" with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on Sunday, state news agency QNA said, without giving details of the low-profile meeting in Doha.

The Afghan president previously opposed a Taliban office in Qatar since he feared his government would be frozen out of any future peace deal involving the Islamic extremists and the United States.

The militants refuse to have direct contact with Karzai, saying he is a puppet of the United States, which supported his rise to power after the military operation to oust the Taliban from Kabul in 2001.

But with US-led NATO combat troops due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of next year, Karzai recently backed the proposed office in Doha and his office said he would raise the plan on Sunday.

Any future peace talks still face numerous hurdles before they begin, including confusion over who would represent the Taliban and Karzai's insistence that his appointees should be at the centre of negotiations.

"We will discuss the peace process, of course, and the opening of an office for the Taliban in Qatar," presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi told AFP before Karzai's visit, which ended on Sunday evening.

"If we want to have talks to bring peace to Afghanistan, the main side must be the Afghan government's representatives - the High Peace Council, which has members from all the country's ethnic and political backgrounds," Faizi said.

Negotiating with the hardline Taliban regime that harboured al-Qaeda before the 9/11 attacks was for many years anathema to countries in the UN-backed coalition against the militants.

But the search for a political settlement became a priority as the insurgency raged on, with Taliban leaders able to fuel violence from safe havens across the border in Pakistan.

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Afghan kit removal to cost US $5bn

THE US operation to remove military hardware and vehicles from Afghanistan as troops withdraw after 12 years of war will cost between $US5 billion ($A4.8 billion) and $US6 billion, officials say.

Among statistics released by the military about the process known as a "retrograde" was that 25,000 vehicles have been shipped out of Afghanistan in the past year and another 25,000 remain in the country.

About 100,000 containers are also still in Afghanistan, and will be used to remove mountains of equipment ranging from fighting gear to fitness machines, furniture and computers.

"The retrograde from Afghanistan is one of the most challenging military transportation operations in history in terms of scale and complexity," Brigadier-General Steven Shapiro said in an email.

"Our number of vehicles in Afghanistan has dropped by nearly half in the past year."

Shapiro, the commanding general of 1st Theater Sustainment Command, said decisions were being made on what equipment was left for the Afghan army and police to take on the fight against Taliban insurgents.

"Ground commanders are able to nominate this equipment as they assess the needs and maintenance capabilities of their Afghan partners and numbers will vary," he said.

"The figures of five to six billion dollars corresponds to the total cost of retrograde from 2012 through 2014, and they're constantly being re-evaluated."

Most of the hardware will be flown out of land-locked Afghanistan or taken by road to the Pakistani port of Karachi, though the route has been hit by militant attacks and was temporarily closed by spats between Washington and Islamabad.

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Tanzanian building collapse toll hits 25

THE death toll from a building that collapsed in Tanzania's economic capital, Dar es Salaam, has reached 25, officials said, as hope faded of finding those missing two days after the accident.

"Six bodies were found between Saturday night and this afternoon. This brings the total number confirmed dead to 25," Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Saidi Mecky Sadicky told AFP on Sunday, updating an earlier toll of 19.

"The rescue exercise is still going on slowly. It is complicated and there is rain, but they will continue working there until every point is sifted."

Several dozen people are still missing around the site, which was littered with huge chunks of concrete, and Sadicky said earlier there was "little hope to find anyone alive".

It has been more than 48 hours since the last of 18 survivors were pulled from the remains of the 16-storey building.

Hundreds of rescuers have worked non-stop in search of those believed to be still trapped in the rubble from the shell of the tower.

Sadicky said between 60 and 70 people were reported to have been at or near the construction site on Friday morning when the building collapsed, meaning that between 17 and 27 people could still be trapped.

Hundreds of people, including residents and army rescuers, clawed through piles of rubble in the hunt for survivors, alongside earthmovers and excavators.

Chinese construction firms in the city were told by their embassy to lend extra equipment to aid the rescue effort and Chinese workers have been at the site instructing operators of excavators and forklifts that were sifting through the rubble.

Local residents have turned out to supply rescuers with food, water and medication.

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Egypt comedian bailed on insult complaints

EGYPTIAN satirist Bassem Youssef has been released on bail after nearly five hours of questioning over alleged insults to the president and religion, highlighting concerns over freedom of expression in post-revolt Egypt.

Youssef, whose weekly program, Albernameg (The Show), has pushed the boundaries of local television with its merciless critique of those in power, was ordered to pay 15,000 Egyptian pounds (about $A2100) pending investigation into the complaints, judicial sources told AFP.

On Twitter, Youssef confirmed the bail conditions, saying they were for three lawsuits. He said no date has been set for questioning into a fourth legal complaint.

On Sunday morning, Youssef continued to challenge the authorities even as he arrived at the prosecutor's office.

He made his way through a throng of cameras and supporters, to pose with an enormous version of a hat worn by President Mohamed Morsi earlier this month when he received an honorary doctorate from a university in Pakistan.

Youssef had worn the hat on his show a week earlier.

The public prosecutor on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for Youssef, who has more than 1.2 million Twitter followers, following several legal complaints against him relating to the material used on the show.

He is accused of offending Islam through "making fun of the prayer ritual" and of insulting Morsi by "making fun of his international standing".

Dubbed the Egyptian answer to American television's Jon Stewart, star of The Daily Show, Youssef has repeatedly poked fun at those in power and became a household name in the Arab world's most populous country.

He now joins the ranks of several colleagues in the media who face charges of insulting the president.

Rights lawyers say there have been four times as many lawsuits for insulting the president under Morsi than during the entire 30 years that Mubarak ruled.

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Five children under 10 die in France fire

FIVE children between the ages of two and 10 died when a fire ravaged their home in northern France while staying with their divorced father, who was seriously burned trying to save them.

In Saint-Quentin, a town about 130km northeast of Paris, a father who had his children for the weekend jumped out of a first-floor window to get help as flames engulfed his house.

The father, in his 40s, attempted to go back into the house with a neighbour, but the two were helpless in the face of the massive flames.

"He never thought of himself. He tried to go get help. He burned himself trying to save his son," said the neighbour, Olivier Hubeaux.

Masses of smoke "seriously complicated the work of the firefighters", who found the five bodies of the children, "dead from asphyxiation", said town official Jean-Jacques Boyer.

Autopsies will be carried out on the children on Monday.

Investigators are following the assumption the fire was accidental, but its exact origin has not been confirmed.

The father was in hospital with serious burns and was told only on Sunday morning by a psychologist that his children had died.

The children's mother arrived on Sunday and was in the care of doctors after receiving the news.

Another deadly fire that killed three people broke out on Saturday evening in a rundown seven-storey building housing squatters in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers.

One person died after jumping out the window, another burnt to death on the third floor and a third died in hospital, while at least 13 people were injured.

A resident told journalists the blaze erupted when someone threw a petrol bomb during a brawl between occupants, but investigators could not immediately confirm that.

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US prosecutor murdered with wife

A TEXAS district attorney and his wife have been found dead in their home - the second murder of a US prosecutor in the same office in less than two months, sparking fears of a larger plot.

In January, Kaufman County assistant district attorney Mark Hasse, 57, reportedly investigating the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood, was gunned down just outside a courthouse in a small Texan town.

On Saturday, the county's district attorney, Mike McLelland, and his wife, Cynthia Woodward McLelland, were found shot dead at their home.

"It is a shock," Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh told the Dallas Morning News.

"It was a shock with Mark Hasse, and now you can just imagine the double shock," he said.

"Until we know what happened, I really can't confirm that it's related, but you always have to assume until it's proven otherwise."

The newspaper reported that authorities were providing security at the homes of others who feared they could also be targeted.

A statewide bulletin in December said the Aryan Brotherhood - an organised crime syndicate - was "actively planning retaliation against law enforcement officials", the paper said.

Authorities are also probing whether Hasse's shooting was linked to the killing of a Colorado prison chief on March 19.

The suspect in that shooting is Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, a white supremacist with a criminal history spanning a decade, who was shot and killed after a standoff with sheriff's deputies.

However, authorities have not found evidence tying Ebel to Hasse's murder, the Dallas paper said.

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Chavez heir vows probe into leader's death

VENEZUELA'S acting president, Nicolas Maduro, says his mentor, Hugo Chavez, fought for his life "until the last second" and called for an inquiry into the leader's death.

"Until the last second of his life he believed that he would live and he wanted to live," Maduro told AFP in an exclusive interview.

A visibly emotional Maduro recalled how he had visited Chavez in the military hospital on March 5 intending to discuss matters of state with the ailing leader, who had not appeared in public since December.

"I was carrying a red folder with all of these pending decisions. I thought I would spend the day discussing various topics. So there I was with the folder. And there he was, probably thinking the same thing.

"He always wanted to live. He had this gigantic optimism and faith in life," Maduro said.

Hours later, the government announced the death of Chavez, a larger-than-life presence who governed oil-rich Venezuela for 14 years and came to embody a resurgent Latin American left.

Maduro reiterated his intention to launch an investigation into Chavez's death. Hours before Chavez passed away, Maduro, then vice-president, had hinted that "historic enemies" had been behind the leftist leader's death, a veiled reference to the United States.

"It's a very delicate subject," Maduro told AFP.

"I personally believe there has to be a thorough investigation. You know that some world powers have tested weapons for spreading viruses or cancer, and I believe Comandante Chavez was infected," he said.

"It's a personal conviction. I have many reasons and a lot of information which leads me to believe it."

Venezuelans will elect a successor to Chavez on April 14, with Maduro carrying the late leader's mantle and facing off against Henrique Capriles, the opposition candidate who lost to Chavez in October.

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'Albo' has nothing to fear from reshuffle

Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese is likely to remain a part of Julia Gillard's Cabinet after any reshuffle this week. Picture: Sam Ruttyn Source: News Limited

ANTHONY Albanese is not universally liked within the Labor Party - nobody is - but he does have more friends than most.

When Prime Minister Julia Gillard announces her reshuffle, probably today, Albanese will keep his jobs despite having been linked to moves to return Kevin Rudd to the top job.

As Leader of the House, he is the guy who keeps the minority government working, rounding up the essential votes needed and scheduling a legislative agenda which is not just manageable but successful.

Albanese is also the Infrastructure Minister, which makes him something of a 12-months-a-year Santa Claus, handing out money for roads, bridges, ports and other big things that make life easier for voters.

It's natural Labor MPs will like Albanese, including Rudd, who understands the Sydney left-winger can sway opinion in the parliamentary and wider party.

Rudd and Albanese regard themselves as friends - going back to Kim Beazley's last time as leader when the Queenslander offered his colleague a spot as deputy.

A year ago Albanese publicly backed Rudd for the leadership, in large part because of a continuing distaste for what happened to the former prime minister in June 2010.

After that ballot, Albanese offered his resignation to Gillard but she turned it down.

Albanese told colleagues he would not support any move against a sitting prime minister, and he told his good friend Wayne Swan he would never challenge him in any circumstances.

The Rudd forces - like their champion - always exaggerated what they were doing, who was following them and what consequences might occur.

This included spreading the view that Albanese was on a promise from Rudd to be the deputy if the leadership changed, and that the minister was closely involved in renewed agitating for Gillard's downfall.

According to MPs who spoke to him, Albanese made it clear that the only circumstance in which he would support a return to Rudd would be if Gillard quit and there was a clean slate - something that didn't happen and was never likely to happen.

Because Albanese was named incorrectly as one of the Rudd number crunchers - along with Chris Bowen, Kim Carr and Joel Fitzgibbon - who last Thursday gave last-minute advice to the former prime minister, he has been targeted by some commentators and those enemies he does have in the ALP.

If Albanese offered his resignation - which he says is not needed - it wouldn't be accepted by Gillard. She wants him doing the job he does and for which he is widely respected.

 Dennis Atkins is The Courier-Mail's national affairs editor.

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Zygier gave up names of informants: report

THE man known as Prisoner X - Melbourne-born former Mossad agent Ben Zygier - was outfoxed trying to turn a Hezbollah representative into a double agent and unwittingly became one himself, handing over the names of two valuable informants in Lebanon, Fairfax Media says.

That is the reason why he became a top-secret inmate in an Israeli jail where he took his own life.

Fairfax says Mr Zygier, recruited in 2004, was disconsolate that his career as a Mossad agent had become bogged down at a desk job and he took it upon himself to turn the Hezbollah link into a double agent.

But in an effort to prove he was a Mossad agent, he handed over the names of two informants in Lebanon who were subsequently arrested and given hefty jail sentences.

Fairfax says that unable to bear the shame of his downfall, and facing a minimum 10-year jail sentence with no prospect of a return to the Mossad, Mr Zygier apparently took his own life on December 15, 2010.

Fairfax said that he learned that east European man was known to be close to the militant Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah, and set up a meeting towards the end of 2008 with the intention of turning him into a double agent.

But the reverse happened, and Mr Zygier became the conduit for information flowing from Tel Aviv to Hezbollah.

In an effort to prove his Mossad bona fides he gave up the names of Israel's two top Lebanese informants, Ziad al-Homsi and Mustafa Ali Awadeh.

Both men were subsequently arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 15 years jail with hard labour.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Cyprus in last-ditch bailout talks

CYPRUS President Nicos Anastasiades has entered emergency talks with the island's international creditors seeking to avert bankruptcy in a crisis that is again threatening the stability of the wider eurozone.

The clock is ticking for the tiny country after the European Central Bank threatened to halt life-support funding if there is no deal by Monday, a day before Cyprus's banks are due to reopen after a 10-day shutdown.

Cyprus and its creditors are trying to nail a deal that will restructure the island's banks and deliver up to six billion euros ($A7.5 billion) from large bank deposits in order to resurrect an agreement for a bailout worth up to 10 billion euros.

European Union economics head Olli Rehn acknowledged Cypriot leaders faced hard choices to try to limit the damage from the blow to its bloated banking sector, after a firestorm of protest over the EU plans to impose a special levy on bank customer deposits.

Anastasiades's cortege entered EU headquarters in Brussels shortly after 2pm on Sunday (0001 AEDT Monday), an AFP correspondent said.

Anastasiades was to meet with ECB head Mario Draghi, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, EU president Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem and Rehn, sources told AFP.

Dijsselbloem will also bring in the finance ministers from all 17 currency partners from 1700 GMT (0400 AEDT) for what is likely to prove yet another sleepless night in snow-covered Brussels.

Cypriot reports suggested officials had made progress with EU and IMF representatives, having agreed a 20 per cent haircut on Bank of Cyprus and a 4.0 per cent levy on other banks.

A radical restructuring of the island's second largest lender Laiki (Popular Bank) will see all deposits over 100,000 euros put into a "bad bank" where they will be tied up for years and may never be fully recovered.

But negotiations stumbled on EU-IMF demands for a substantial levy on deposits above the same threshold in the Bank of Cyprus to avoid it facing similar restructuring. It holds more than a third of all deposits.

The haircut would take the form of a bond or share swap in a bid to get the measure through parliament.

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