Pakistan 'modified US missiles'

The US has accused Pakistan of illegally modifying US-made missiles to expand its ability to hit land-based targets, according to a report in the New York Times.

Citing senior US administration and congressional officials, the newspaper said on Sunday that the charge came in late June through an unpublicised diplomatic protest to Yusuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani prime minister.

The accusation, made amid growing concerns about Pakistan's increasingly rapid conventional and nuclear weapons development, triggered a new round of US-Pakistani tensions, the report says.

"The focus of our concern is that this is a potential unauthorised modification of a maritime anti-ship defensive capability to an offensive land-attack missile," a senior administration official told the paper.

"When we have concerns, we act aggressively."

A senior Pakistani official called the accusation "incorrect", saying that the missile tested was developed by Pakistan, just as it had modified North Korean designs to build a range of land-based missiles that could strike India, according to the newspaper.

Suspicious missile test

US intelligence agencies allegedly detected of a suspicious missile test on April 23, which was never announced by the Pakistanis and which appeared to give it a new offensive weapon.

US military and intelligence officials suspect Pakistan of modifying the Harpoon sold to them in the 1980s during the Reagan administration as a defensive weapon, which would violate the Arms Control Export Act.

Pakistan denied the charge and said it had developed the missile, the New York Times said.

The missiles would bolster Pakistan's ability to threaten India, stoking fears of heating up the two nations' arms race.

The charges come as the administration of Barack Obama, the US president, is seeking congressional approval for $7.5bn in aid for Pakistan over the next five years.

South American News Americas Summit criticises US-Colombia deal

Latin American leaders have issued a statement warning "foreign military forces" not to threaten the sovereignty of any of the region's nations.

The declaration, which was signed by all 12 leaders of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), came after a lengthy debate on Friday on plans to increase the presence of US troops at bases in Colombia.

The statement "reaffimed that the presence of foreign military forces must not ... menace the sovereignty and integrity of a South American country and in consequence regional peace and stability".

It deliberately avoided specific mention of the US military in order to allow all the leaders, including Alvaro Uribe, the Colombian president, to sign the text.

Regional fears

The extraordinary meeting the Argentine mountain resort of Bariloche was called after Venezuela, along with Bolivia and Ecuador, complained that the US military could use seven bases in Colombia as launch points to overthrow their governments.

"The US global strategy for domination explains the installation of these bases in Colombia," Chavez said, holding up a document he said set out the US air force strategy to achieve that aim.

An attempt by Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, to get other leaders to sign a declaration rejecting the US deal with Colombia was rejected.

"As long as there are uniformed foreigners in a South American country, it's difficult for us to think there can be peace," he had told the summit.

Colombia has insisted that the US troops are vital to tackle drug trafficking in the region and pose no threat to its neighbours.

Uribe told the summit on Friday that he would "not cede one millimetre of sovereignty" under the deal.

"We are not talking about a political game, we are talking about a threat that has spilled blood in Colombian society."

US expansion

But Eva Golinger, a consultant to the Venezuelan government, told Al Jazeera that the US military deployment was not necessary.

"It has been made clear in other US documents this year, particularly one on irregular warfare, about the need not to have permanent troops stationed in any one country but to have this type of mobility which allows for effective non-conventional military operations - so that's the fear," she said.

"The fear comes in the form of territorial occupation of US military forces or an access to the entire infrastrucure of Colombia for an alleged war against drugs and that doesn't pan out."

Under the plan, about 300 US troops are already stationed in the country, but the new agreement allows the expansion of the force to 800 US soldiers and 600 civilian officials.

Many Latin American nations are wary of US intervention in the region, recalling Washington's backing of right-wing military governments in the past.

Brazil, Chile and Argentina have demanded binding guarantees be made that the US military assets and personnel in Colombia not be used for any other purpose other than their stated mission of fighting drug-traffickers and Colombian rebels.

Gabon votes for new president

Voters in Gabon are going to the polls in elections expected to bring Ali Bongo, the son of the late president, to power.

At least 19 candidates are still in the running to replace Omar Bongo after Sunday's vote, but the fractured opposition is thought to have handed his son the advantage.

Polls opened at 7am local time (06:00 GMT) and will close at 6pm.

Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow, reporting from the capital, Libreville, said: "Eager voters have been gathering outside the polling stations in most parts of the country since the early morning hours."

"People have been gathering here in Libreville since 4am ... it is the first time most of them have been voting and Omar Bongo, who ruled this country for 41 years, will not be on the ballot."

In several districts in the capital voting was delayed for up to two hours as people waited for the polls to open.

Family legacy

During the campaign, Ali Bongo has pledged change in the impoverished West African nation, while also defending the legacy of his father, who had been widely accused of corruption.

"It's not contradictory - not at all," he said as he attended his final campaign rally on Saturday.

"How could I not be confident?" Bongo asked, pointing at the thousands of supporters chanting his name.

Gabon is sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer, the world's third biggest provider of manganese and Africa's second biggest wood exporter, but an estimated 60 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.

Bongo and the other frontrunners - Andre Mba Obame, Casimir Oye Mba and Pierre Mamboundou - have all promised a fairer distribution of the country's natural resources.

A total of 23 politicians were originally in the race, but on Friday representatives of five candidates, including Jean Eyeghe Ndong, a former prime minister, Paul Mba Abessole, a former opposition leader, decided to stand down in favour of Obame, a former interior minister.

But the announcement also caused a row with four other contenders, including Oye Mba, a former oil minister, denying claims that they had joined the other candidates in pulling out of the race.

Many candidates have questioned the electoral roll, saying that the official figure of 813,164 eligible voters in a country of 1.5 million was too high.

'Open election'

However, Adama Gaye, an Africa analyst based in Senegal, said that the election was likely to be the most open in Gabon's history.

"President Bongo was not just Africa's longest-serving president, but also the world's longest-serving president," he told Al Jazeera.

"Because of his really high stature and financial muscle the elections were usually a foregone conclusion and there was also support from the French authorities to ensure he won."

More than 300 observers have been accredited for the vote, including representatives from the African Union, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and a global grouping of francophone countries.

There are also fears that lingering anger over the huge personal fortune accumulated by Omar Bongo will prompt unrest if Ali Bongo wins.

'Worrying signals'

Al Jazeera's Adow said that the opposition candidates had warned that they would "not take an Ali Bongo victory lying down".

"Despite all the security in the capital, many people have been leaving the city and heading to their rural homes," he said.

A group of leading intellectuals in Gabon on Saturday urged all sides not to resort to violence after the election, pointing to "numerous worrying signals" and warning of "confrontations" in the wake of the vote.

Before the polls opened, Bongo issued a warning to any potential protesters.

"It is clear that we cannot accept disorder... We shall use all the institutions that the law authorises us to use - the street belongs to no one," he told Radio France International.

The 3,000 polling stations across the country have been placed under heavy security and voters have been told to return to their homes after voting.

NIPON PM 'to quit over poll defeat'

Taro Aso, Japan's prime minister, has said he will step down in the wake of his party's apparent defeat in the country's elections.

Aso said on Sunday that he had to "take the responsibility" following what exit polls showed was a landslide victory for the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) over his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

"I would like to listen to the people's criticisms and we will have to rebuild our party all over again," Aso, the party's fourth leader in four years, said.

Exit polls have forecast a huge loss for Aso's LDP, which is expected to win only about 100 seats in the lower house of parliament, down from 300.

The DPJ is expected to win between 398 and 329 seats in the 480-member lower house of parliament.

'Revolutionary change'

"The people are angry with politics now and the ruling coalition," Yukio Hatoyama, the DPJ leader, said.

"We felt a great sense of people wanting change for their livelihoods and we fought this election for a change in government."

Hatoyama, who stands to be Japan's next prime minister, said that he planned to form a coalition with some of Japan's smaller parties - the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party.

The opposition already controls the less powerful upper house of parliament following elections in 2007, but its election win is historic as the LDP has ruled for all but 10 months since it was founded in 1955.

Earlier Hiroyuki Hosoda, the LDP secretary-general, said that he and other officials in the former ruling party planned to step down from their posts over their party's apparent defeated.

The LDP's defeat is being seen as a demand for change by voters disappointed with the LDP's performance and worried about a record jobless rate and a rapidly ageing society that is inflating social security costs.

Al Jazeera's Steve Chao, reporting from Tokyo, said: "Many people would say this has been a long time coming and the LDP should have seen the need for change."

Challenges ahead

In the build up to the elections, Yukio Hatoyama, the DPJ leader, promised voters "revolutionary change", pledging to focus spending on social-welfare, including cash handouts for job seekers in training and families with children.

The DPJ has also vowed to cut wasteful spending and reduce the power of Japan's bureaucrats.

But the Democrats will face an uphill struggle.

Economic experts have suggested that their spending plans could inflate Japan's massive public debt and push up government bond yields.

The ruling party's loss will end a three-way partnership between the LDP, big business and bureaucrats that turned Japan into an economic juggernaut in the aftermath of the Second World War.

That strategy foundered when Japan's "bubble" economy burst in the late 1980s and growth has stagnated since.

"This is about the end of the post-war political system in Japan," Gerry Curtis, a Japanese expert at Columbia University, said.

"It marks the end of one long era, and the beginning of another one about which there is a lot of uncertainty."

Ehud Olmert charged with graft

The Israeli authorities have charged Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister, with corruption.

The indictments include illegal acceptance of funds from an American supporter and double-billing for foreign trips, the attorney-general's office said on Sunday.

"The attorney-general ... has decided to press charges against former prime minister Ehud Olmert," a statement from the office of Menahem Mazuz said.

"The charge sheet was presented today in Jerusalem district court."

Olmert is the first ex-Israeli prime minister to be indicted.

Shula Zaken, Olmert's personal secretary, was also charged.

The allegations initially occurred during Olmert's premiership, and forced him to step down.

He is suspected of committing the crimes while serving as mayor of Jerusalem and afterwards when a cabinet minister, before he became prime minister in 2006.

Scores die in Kuwait wedding fire

At least 41 people, all women and children, have died after a fire broke out in a tent being used at a wedding in Kuwait City.
At least 50 other people are believed to have been injured in Saturday's incident in Jahra, west of the Kuwaiti capital, Saad al-Enezi, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kuwait, said.
"Many of them are in a very, very serious condition," al-Enezi said.
"The rescue operation has finished now - everyone is either in hospital or the morgue
StampedeIt
is thought that the death toll will rise due to a stampede as relatives and onlookers flooded the scene during the fire, which took less than two minutes to engulf the tent
Al-Enezi said that candles may have ignited the tent, leading to the country's biggest such disaster in 40 years.
The authorities said they were investigating the cause of the blaze.
"The tent, in an enclosed surrounding, did not have any emergency exit and it was made from a very flammable material - cotton," al-Enezi said.
Fire officials told Al Jazeera that the tent had probably not been constructed to correct safety standards.
In Kuwait, wedding celebrations are held separately for men and women, with children attending the women's party.