Mali leader: Presidential election set for July 28

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali's interim leader says the country's presidential vote will take place on July 28 after months of speculation about the date.

On a visit to Belgium ahead of a donors' conference for Mali, President Dioncounda Traore also said Tuesday that neither he nor any member of the transitional government would run for office.

A field of about a dozen candidates is expected to take part in the election, which faces significant logistical and security challenges.

Some critics have questioned how the vote can go forward when hundreds of thousands of Malians remain displaced.

Radical jihadists have launched a series of suicide bombings across the north, raising fears for the safety of the vote, which comes more than a year after a coup toppled the previous government.

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Look at major issues facing Pakistan's new leader

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The winner of Pakistan's historic national election, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, faces a host of problems, including faltering economic growth, worsening energy shortages and continued attacks by militants.

FALTERING ECONOMIC GROWTH: The economy has grown at less than 4 percent a year under the most recent government, which was led by the Pakistan People's Party and governed for five years. That is much lower than the rates during the previous administration, which at times hovered near 7 percent. Under the most recent government, inflation spiked, reaching an annualized rate of around 25 percent in some months. However, the inflation rate has fallen and averaged around 11 percent last year.

ENERGY SHORTAGES: Electricity shortages nearly doubled under the PPP compared with the previous administration. Some places in Pakistan suffer blackouts for up to 18 hours a day during summer months. The country also has experienced increased shortages of natural gas, which were felt acutely during the winter because many people rely on natural gas to heat their homes as well as cook. Spending on energy subsidies and failing public enterprises has helped sap the government's funds, which are much lower than they should be because of ineffective tax collection. The combination of these factors means the government will likely have to seek yet another unpopular bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

TALIBAN ATTACKS: The military has launched numerous operations against the Pakistani Taliban in the country's northwest tribal region along the Afghan border during the past five years. Analysts say the operations and U.S. drone attacks against militants in the tribal region have helped produce a significant decline in overall levels of violence in 2011 and 2012. But the Taliban have remained a potent threat, including during the election campaign. The group carried out near-daily attacks against election candidates and offices that killed more than 130 people. The militants mostly targeted liberal secular parties that supported operations against the Taliban. Sectarian violence by radical Sunni Muslim militants against minority Shiites also has significantly worsened in recent months.

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Central African Republic to probe ousted leader

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Central African Republic's interim government says it is investigating what it claims are human rights abuses committed under the rule of deposed president Francois Bozize.

Justice Minister Arsene Senda, speaking on state radio Saturday, said he instructed prosecutors to probe crimes allegedly carried out by Bozize and other members of his government. Senda charged that the Bozize government was responsible for assassinations, torture, kidnappings and economic crimes. He charged that 119 people were killed by Bozize's bodyguards. He accused Bozize and his family of embezzling state funds.

Bozize, 66, was toppled in March after 10 years in power and sought refuge in Cameroon. The Seleka rebels, led by Michel Djotodia, formed an interim government and have vowed to hold free and fair polls within 18 months.

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C. African Republic leader calls for public order

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Central African Republic's leader is calling on his fighters to restore public order as anger mounts over pillaging in the capital more than a month after they seized power.

In an address televised late Wednesday, Michel Djotodia also called on police and security forces to return to their jobs in an effort to help stabilize the volatile country.

"Weapons should be silenced. I want public order to be reestablished across the nation and for security to return to Central African Republic," he said.

Thousands fighters belonging to a rebel coalition known as Seleka overtook the capital in late March, overthrowing the president of a decade who fled to Cameroon. Djotodia was later chosen to lead an interim transitional government that is promising elections in 18 months' time. That concession has failed to satisfy the international community, though, and the United States maintains the only "legitimate" leader in Central African Republic is the prime minister who retained his post even after Djotodia took power by force.

The International Crisis Group said Wednesday that the security situation has "significantly deteriorated" in Bangui.

"So far, however, the Seleka leadership has been unable or unwilling to bring its fighters under control," it said.

The fighters have looted hospitals, aid organizations and private residences throughout Bangui. Many of their vehicles have been stolen and repainted to cover their original emblems. The looting became so severe in the days after the government's overthrow that some aid organizations allowed rebels to guard their complexes in an effort to keep them from stealing everything.

Bangui's airport has been secured by French military forces, though much of the city remains in a near-anarchic state apart from rebels patrolling in pickup trucks.

Djotodia pledged Wednesday to begin the process of disarmament as soon as possible "because I am a responsible head of state." However, the rebels might not be willing to give up their weapons without some type of compensation and Djotodia did not specify what budget would be used to fund the process.

The issue was long a sticking point between the rebels from northern Central African Republic and Bozize. The rebels accused Bozize and his government of failing to deliver on promises to integrate disarmed fighters into the national military and pay them compensation.

Fighters from several different groups joined forces in December to form Seleka, and threatened at the time to overthrow Bozize. They later agreed to talks and signed a January peace accord but that deal quickly unraveled and by March thousands of rebels invaded Bangui.

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Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal.

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Ugandan leader donates sack of cash, drawing ire

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — It's become an infamous photo in Uganda. The country's leader looks on in bemusement as a young man bends low to carry a sack filled with a donation from the president — almost $100,000 in cash.

The money is a donation from President Yoweri Museveni to a partisan group of youths in eastern Uganda, where he struggles to win votes in national elections, and activists and opposition politicians are seizing upon the moment as a blatant example of political corruption in Uganda.

The picture, which was distributed by the president's office after the event last weekend, was meant to highlight Museveni's generosity toward a group of youth. Instead it has focused attention on Museveni's profligacy during political tours and what some say is his role in fueling graft in the East African country that he has led since 1986.

Museveni has long been accused of using public money at his disposal to build the patronage networks that have kept him popular in some parts of the mostly impoverished country. He makes many promises at campaign rallies and distributes brown envelopes to supporters who beg for his help at campaign stops.

But donating a sack filled with Ugandan bills hit a raw nerve among critics who say it makes the president look like he's actively buying support. Others say it sets a bad example in a country that depends on foreign donors to finance about 25 percent of its budget.

"It's not generosity; it's patronage," said Bishop Zac Niringiye, a retired Anglican cleric. "The level of patronage is also related to regime longevity. He's stayed in power for too long and he thinks he can do things and get away with them."

The political success of Museveni, who took power by force in 1986, has been built in part on the idea that he is the generous, moderate politician who rescued Uganda from brutal dictators. But some also see a desire to stay in power at all costs. In 2005 Museveni had term limits removed from the constitution so he could run for office again, and Ugandan police routinely block the opposition from holding rallies. The ruling party, citing indiscipline, last week expelled four lawmakers who persistently criticized official corruption.

Museveni, who was re-elected in 2011, has not said if he will run when his current term expires in 2016, by which time the president who is now in his late 60s would have ruled Uganda for three decades. The substantial cash gifts he's giving out suggest he's looking forward to the next election, some opposition politicians and activists say.

"This is the new form of corruption that we need to talk about ", said Geoffrey Ekanya, an opposition lawmaker. "It's actually theft of public resources."

Ekanya said giving garden tools and seeds to the jobless youths would have been a more meaningful gesture than giving out cash that will be fought over.

The president's office defended the cash gift, saying "donations" are budgeted for. Frank Tumwebaze, a government minister for presidential affairs, said the rest of the money comes from entertainment per diems that Museveni doesn't claim for himself. The president's office said the sack had 250 million Ugandan shillings in it, just shy of $100,000.

Because some of the money is given in sealed envelopes, it's hard to tell how much Museveni donates. The lack of transparency has often brought his office into conflict with lawmakers who are asked to pass supplementary budgets after the presidency runs out of cash midway through the year. Lawmakers approved $23 million for the president's official household in the last budget, but at least $74 million has already been spent and more will be needed before the year is up, according to lawmakers handling the presidency's latest budget proposal.

Museveni, who has two official residences, flies in a Gulfstream private jet. This year he added two new Mercedes Benz limousines to his motorcade. In a country that is short of nurses and doctors, and where teachers have recently gone without pay, some say such expenditures are unacceptable.

Jackie Asiimwe-Mwesige, an anti-corruption activist, said she hopes Ugandans will now "smell the coffee."

"Which president walks around with kilograms of money? It looks so pedestrian. It doesn't augur well for his stature," she said.

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Somalia leader: Foreigners aided attack on court

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia's prime minister said Monday that several experienced foreign fighters took part in the most serious Islamic extremist attack on Mogadishu in years, while other officials indicated the explosive devices were more advanced than normal, a possible indication of greater involvement by al-Qaida.

Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said the presence of foreign fighters during Sunday's two-hour assault on the Supreme Court complex showed that the attack was international in nature. He ordered an investigation into the attack, which included six suicide bombings and two car bombs.

The Somali militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the two-hour barrage. Al-Qaida announced a merger with al-Shabab early last year, but the group has been plagued by internal tensions between nationalist Somali fighters and foreign fighters.

Most of al-Shabab's recent bomb attacks have been small and ineffective. Sunday's was far deadlier than normal.

"We are concerned about the foreign involvement in this attack and this is why we are working so hard with our international partners on security and intelligence sharing. Once again we see that terrorism is an international problem," Shirdon said in a statement. He did not specify the nationalities of the foreign fighters.

The U.N. Security Council on Monday condemned the attacked, and in a statement said they "underline their willingness to take action against those whose behavior threatens the peace, stability or security of Somalia."

The death toll has risen to 35, including the nine attackers, according to a member of parliament. The prime minister said 29 died; it wasn't clear if that total included the attackers.

Al-Shabab boasts several hundred foreign fighters, including those with from the Middle East with experience in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Al-Shabab also recruits fighters from Somali communities in the United States and Europe.

Two Western officials who spoke to The Associated Press suggested that Sunday's attack may have had broader participation by al-Qaida fighters than more recent suicide bombings in Mogadishu.

One official said the explosive devices were more sophisticated — and numerous — than normal, while a second official said there are signs that al-Qaida is trying to assert itself in Somalia more than in the past. Both officials work on Somalia issues but both demanded anonymity because neither was authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Dahir Amin Jesow, a Somali legislator who heads a security committee in parliament, said Monday that the death toll stood at 35 and that it could rise even further because of the number of wounded. The interior minister said Sunday that nine attackers died, including six who detonated suicide vests.

Shirdon said the victims would be honored with a state funeral.

Al-Shabab once controlled almost all of Mogadishu. African Union and Somali forces pushed the militants out of the city in 2011, but the fighters have continued to carry out bomb attacks.

Inside Madina Hospital on Monday, bleary-eyed nurses walked from room to room to assist the wounded. Nurse Amal Abdi said he has been up since Sunday to attend to victims.

"There are many horrific wounds in the hospital, so there's no time for rest for us," Abdi said as she pushed a wounded man on a stretcher into an operating room.

One of the survivors from Sunday's barrage was the country's chief justice, who stepped out of the besieged court complex and angrily yelled at soldiers, according to an AP reporter who witnessed the exchange. The country's deputy attorney general was not so lucky.

"I was sitting in my office when the men entered and started fighting and killing," said Sheikh Hassan Abdinur, the deputy attorney general, who lay in a hospital bed Monday with bandages on his stomach and hands and a tube connected to his nose. "It was beyond my imagination. There is no safe place."

Abdirashid Hashi, the deputy director of the Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, said the attack shows that al-Shabab can strike the government at will and that the group can come quite close to "decapitating" a vital government arm. The Supreme Court was in session when the attack occurred.

The attack "will force the government to revisit its priorities," Hashi said by email. "Because if it fails to provide security to the citizens in the capital, it will have difficulties justifying its demands in extending its writ to other parts of the country."

Hashi noted that Somalia's intelligence agency and foreign governments had predicted a major al-Shabab attack. Britain's Foreign Office released a statement on Friday saying it believed a terror attack was imminent.

Mogadishu, a seaside capital with whitewashed buildings and pristine beaches, is recovering from decades of war that left the city largely in ruins. Government troops — former militia members — have played a key part in ousting militants from towns near Mogadishu.

But the militants continue to carry out a steady stream of insurgent attacks. In mid-March an al-Shabab suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into a civilian bus near a convoy carrying Mogadishu's intelligence chief. Seven people died; the intelligence chief was wounded.

Earlier in March a suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a seaside restaurant, killing himself and one diner. A similar attack in February killed only the bomber.

"They are inhumane," Nurto Abdi, a mother whose son's legs were seriously wounded by shrapnel in Sunday's attack, said as she sat close by him. "The so-called national army always gives them the chance. They must declare it publicly if they cannot protect us, because even civilians are legitimate targets now."

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Straziuso reported from Nairobi, Kenya.

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Sudan leader to make first visit to South Sudan

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — A government official says Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will travel to South Sudan on Friday.

The visit will be al-Bashir's first to South Sudan since the country peacefully broke away from Sudan in 2011.

South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said Thursday that the two heads of state want to prove to the world that the two countries plan to live peacefully together. Al-Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir will discuss how to implement security agreements the two countries signed in September and the status of the contested region of Abyei.

Bashir had planned to travel to South Sudan in April 2012 but cancelled the visit after South Sudan's military seized the disputed oil-producing town of Heglig. The two leaders are likely to discuss their co-dependent oil industries.

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C. African Republic council to pick interim leader

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Central African Republic's self-appointed leader says he's created a new council that now will choose a president to lead the country until elections can be held.

Michel Djotodia, whose fighters moved into the capital on March 23 and eventually overthrew the president of a decade, issued the order on Saturday.

Under the arrangement, the interim president will serve until elections can be held. Djotodia says a vote will take place within 18 months after initially saying he would hold power until 2016.

The shortened timeframe follows pressure from regional neighbors, who held a summit in Chad several days ago on the political crisis.

Djotodia's advisers have said he is not excluded from being considered for the interim presidential position.

Former President Francois Bozize fled to neighboring Cameroon after being overthrown.

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C. African Republic leader OKs faster elections

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Central African Republic's self-declared president will hold elections within 18 months despite initially saying that he would rule until 2016, a spokesman said Thursday.

Michel Djotodia's overthrow of the government nearly two weeks ago forced Francois Bozize, the country's president of a decade, into exile and prompted fierce criticism from the United States, African Union and others.

A regional summit on Wednesday in neighboring Chad urged Djotodia to organize democratic elections within 18 months, and to establish a council that would lead the turbulent country during a transitional period until elections can be held.

"Djotodia has accepted the recommendations," government spokesman Crepin Mboli-Goumba said Thursday, following meetings between Djotodia and the foreign ministers from other countries in the region.

Djotodia had dispatched his prime minister Nicolas Tiangaye to attend this week's summit in Chad. The African Union has suspended Central African Republic's membership following the seizure of power and Djotodia faces AU travel restrictions.

He has now agreed to the establishment of an interim leadership council, Mboli-Goumba said, though Djotodia himself could still seek the presidency under that arrangement. The process of setting up the transitional body is now underway, Mboli-Goumba said.

Djotodia's rebel fighters seized control of the capital of Bangui on March 24, overthrowing Bozize, who had himself taken power after a rebellion a decade ago.

Djotodia first rose to prominence as a rebel leader in 2006 and was an integral part of the formation of Seleka, an alliance of several groups that joined together last December in an effort to oust Bozize.

The rebels first threatened to attack the capital back in January but later signed a peace agreement that created a government of national unity. Under that deal, Bozize was to finish his term in 2016 and Djotodia was to serve as defense minister. Tiangaye, a longtime opposition figure, became prime minister.

However, the deal swiftly unraveled amid allegations of broken promises by Bozize, and thousands of armed fighters invaded Bangui in an assault that also left 13 South African soldiers dead.

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C. African Republic rebel leader faces challenges

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Michel Djotodia showed up for peace talks a few months ago in camouflage and a turban as the face of Central African Republic's rebel movement. Now he has traded those fatigues for a suit as the country's new self-declared leader after overthrowing the president of a decade.

Djotodia, whose diverse resume includes studying in the former Soviet Union and working as a consul in Sudan's region of Darfur, initially signed on in January to serve as the defense minister in a unity government with his longtime nemesis, then President Francois Bozize.

But that power-sharing deal quickly fell apart. Only two months later, Djotodia's forces invaded the capital, and he declared himself president of the impoverished but mineral-rich country for at least the next three years.

Although Djotodia (pronounced joe-toe-DEE-uh) emerged as the dominant leader of the alliance of rag-tag fighters known as Seleka, which means alliance in the local Sango language, some of his colleagues are already saying they never intended for him to single-handedly lead the country after Bozize's ouster.

"We didn't battle to get rid of one dictator only to have another," says Nelson N'Djadder, a Paris-based rebel leader who is now threatening to fight Djotodia for leadership of a nation long plagued by coups and rebellions.

Djotodia, a 60-something longtime rebel, was once a civil servant under Bozize's predecessor and worked at the Central African Republic's consulate in Nyala, located in Sudan's South Darfur state. Recent developments come as little surprise to some observers.

"He has single-mindedly always wanted to be president of Central African Republic. He has been a tremendously ambitious man," said Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at Chatham House, a London-based institute on international affairs.

"In the end he had one vision, which was to take power and he has done that unconstitutionally now," Vines added.

Among a wide field of potential rebel leaders, he managed to position himself front and center, said Louisa Lombard, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley who has been traveling to Central African Republic for the past 10 years for research.

"I think he's mostly been successful through his diplomacy and negotiating alliances with different people and getting them on his side," she said. "It's a combination of being in the right place and having the right ambitions."

Djotodia hails from the country's northeastern Vakaga area, the poorest region of one of the world's most deeply impoverished countries. Analysts say he married and had children while living in the Soviet Union, and speaks fluent Russian and French.

By 2006 he had helped form the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity, known by its French acronym UFDR. His rebels sparked alarm when they seized the capitals of two northern provinces that year.

While the UFDR at the time "claimed to be fighting for greater government investment in the neglected northeast," its leaders seemed more interested in getting well-paying jobs within Bozize's government as part of a cease-fire agreement, according to a report by the International Crisis Group.

Djotodia later fled into exile in Benin in 2006 along with his colleague Abakar Saboune, where they were ultimately arrested and thrown into prison on international arrest warrants. He was released in 2008 at the request of the Central African Republic government, according to human rights groups.

It's not exactly clear where he was or what he was doing immediately after his release in Benin but after returning home, Djotodia spearheaded a rebel alliance that made partners out of sworn enemies.

His return to Central African Republic appears to have been a key factor in sparking the Seleka rebellion in December, say analysts and observers.

In an interview with Jeune Afrique magazine published the same week Bozize was overthrown, Bozize said he suspected foreign involvement in the rebellion.

"Six months before the launching of this rebellion, I sent a delegation to meet with (Djotodia) in his home city of Gordil," Bozize recalled. "He declared that he was in favor of peace and respecting the demobilization agreements. So I was quite surprised to see him launch this regrettable venture. Was he activated by external forces? It's probable."

Djotodia is believed to have cultivated ties with Chadian rebels while working in Sudan a decade ago. Those possible ties to elements in other countries and the shaky alliance between other fighters in the Seleka coalition could prove challenging, said Berkeley analyst Lombard: "I think it's likely that we'll see some struggles for control and power in the weeks to come."

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Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

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Stumbles of SKorean leader distract month into job

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Park Geun-hye's honeymoon was over before it even began.

Only a month on the job, Park has stumbled repeatedly in the face of bitter opposition to policy proposals and her choices for top government posts.

Half a dozen Cabinet appointees have quit under clouds. The latest is Han Man-soo, who withdrew his nomination for antitrust chief Monday amid allegations he stashed millions of dollars overseas to avoid taxes. Other claims that have brought down Park appointees include real estate speculation, a sex-for-influence scandal, bribery and links to an arms broker.

"A couple of flops would've been acceptable, but having a total of six failures in the first few months means that the problem lies with her style," said Lee Cheol-hee, head of the Dumon Political Strategy Institute think tank. "She seems to think she can just hand down a list of people she prefers, without thinking hard about whether those people's credentials and ethical records fit the jobs they will be handling."

Critics also complain that she's still short on specifics about how to deal with pressing issues including an increasingly belligerent North Korea and serious domestic anxiety about fewer stable jobs, heavy household debt and a wide income gap. Compounding her trouble was a long deadlock that ended just last week over her ambitious proposal to overhaul government structure.

"Because the launch of the new government has been delayed by one month, we should work harder to fulfill our vision," Park said Monday.

Presidential spokeswoman Lee Mi-yeon defended Park's candidates as fresh and different choices, highlighting nominee Jeong H. Kim, a Korean American who was the former head of Bell Labs in the United States, for head of a new science and technology ministry.

Kim resigned earlier this month, citing political wrangling over the responsibilities of the science and technology ministry. Opponents questioned Kim's links to the Central Intelligence Agency as an external advisory board member for four years until 2011.

"The president has chosen people based on their expertise and competence, and she has acquainted herself with them through various activities," Park's spokeswoman said. Lee said the failed appointments have to do with each nominee's credentials rather than with Park's style. Lee also said many key appointments have now been made and the government believes it has turned a corner.

The troubles of the country's first female president have a lot to do with the fiercely divided political and social landscape in this still relatively young and rambunctious democracy. She also carries the heavy historical baggage of being the daughter of a dictator whose legacy still divides South Koreans.

The 61-year-old president, who was elected in December and inaugurated Feb. 25, has long faced claims of being aloof and an "imperial" decision-maker. The genesis of this criticism comes from her upbringing.

She is the eldest child of late President Park Chung-hee, who led South Korea for 18 years in the 1960s and '70s and is both denounced for human rights abuses and praised as a strong leader. She grew up in the Blue House and served as her father's first lady for the last five years of his rule, after her mother was killed in 1974 by an assassin who said he was sent by North Korea.

"When her father ruled, no one questioned the president's picks," Lee, the analyst, said. "But things have changed since. ... It's like Park is driving a car with a navigator system that has only decades-old maps."

Even Park's own ruling Saenuri Party has been critical. A spokesman called for a better system of screening appointees, and said whoever vetted the failed candidates should be held responsible.

Park spent much of her first month in office negotiating with opposition lawmakers over an ambitious government reorganization plan that aims to focus on science and economic growth. An agreement was reached only last week, more than 50 days after Park's party floated the proposal.

Her economic team met for the first time since her inauguration only on Monday, and critics said there was little other than promises of major policy goals and specific plans in coming days and weeks. Her economic policies include buzzwords like "economic democratization" and "creative economy."

"These are slogans more rhetorical than real, and few seem to know exactly what they mean, let alone how to realize them," the Korea Times said in an editorial Wednesday.

Park has made some progress, including an announcement this week of the start of a $1.35 billion fund to provide debt relief for more than half a million people unable to repay loans. The fund, however, is less than one-tenth the size of the one she promised during her campaign.

Despite North Korean threats that have followed new U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang's recent nuclear test, Park has pressed forward with a vow to create trust and renew dialogue after five years of tension and animosity under her hard-line predecessor. She approved a shipment of anti-tuberculosis medicine to North Korea last week.

Things, however, may get worse if political gridlock and bickering continues.

Park faces an opposition with a strengthened veto power, and the possibility of organized resistance to her foreign policy initiatives by prominent liberal groups, Park Ihn-hwi, a professor at Ewha Womans University in South Korea, wrote on the Council on Foreign Relations' website.

Some also see growing cynicism with Park among young South Koreans, many of whom voted for her liberal opponent.

"If a political issue emerges to turn apathy into opposition, there is a real possibility that street demonstrations similar to those that occurred in the early days of the Lee Myung-bak administration could further hamper Park's ability to get things done," Scott Snyder, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a blog posting Wednesday.

Lee, Park's conservative predecessor, saw tens of thousands take to the streets in 2008 to protest what opponents called a hasty government decision to allow U.S. beef imports to resume.

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Mali extremist group says fighters, leader OK

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — One of the three extremist groups being driven back in northern Mali by French-led forces says its fighters and leader, Iyad Ag Ghali, are fine and determined to keep attacking.

In its statement published this week on Mauritanian website Sahara Media, Ansar Dine said: "Even if only sticks remain with us, we will fight you with them."

For 10 months, Ansar Dine ruled a large swathe of northern Mali. In January, France launched a military intervention and removed the group from the main cities in the north, including Kidal, where Ag Ghali was based.

The French have since killed Abou Zeid, a major commander of the local al-Qaida affiliate, raising questions about the whereabouts of other leaders, including Ag Ghali.

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Venezuelan leader warns of sabotage plans

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro claims government opponents are planning to sabotage the country's power grid and interrupt food distribution ahead of the April 14 presidential election.

Maduro's comments come amid growing concerns about sporadic shortages of some basic foods and occasional power outages in several regions of Venezuela.

Government foes have rejected similar allegations about planned sabotage in the past.

Opposition politicians argue that the government is to blame for shortages because it has not allotted sufficient U.S. dollars to businesses that import food. They also say the government is responsible for the blackouts because it has not made investments required to maintain the power grid.

Maduro made the allegations during a televised speech on Monday.

He did not provide details of the alleged plans.

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Notorious Ivory Coast militia leader killed

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A regional official says a notorious militia leader accused of enlisting child soldiers for cross-border raids from Liberia into western Ivory Coast was killed during fighting Saturday.

Claude Koffi Yao Kan, sub-prefect for the western town of Blolequin, said Sunday that Oulaï Tako, known as "Tarzan of the West," was among three assailants killed by soldiers responding to the attack. Ivory Coast's United Nations mission says two civilians and a traditional hunter were also killed in the attack on a village 15 miles (25 kilometers) outside Blolequin.

A report last year from Human Rights Watch implicated Tako in a series of raids on villages in western Ivory Coast dating back to July 2011, with witnesses saying he had been involved in the recruitment and training of child soldiers.

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Argentine leader wishes pope well despite clashes

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — President Cristina Fernandez will travel to the Vatican to attend her fellow Argentine Jorge Bergoglio's first Mass as Pope Francis on March 19, and she sent him a warm congratulations letter despite their profound differences over politics.

Bergoglio and Fernandez clashed so often that his official biographer, Sergio Rubin, compared them to "oil and water." When Bergoglio urged parishioners to join a campaign he called "God's war" against gay marriage, she compared the Argentine church leader's tone to the Middle Ages and the Inquisition. In 2010, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize gay marriage.

But Wednesday night, her spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro announced that "she's going to the assumption, let there be no doubt."

In her open letter, she expressed to "your Holiness my consideration and respect."

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SAfrica: apartheid hit squad leader dies

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African hospital says a former commander of an apartheid-era police unit that killed black activists has died of kidney failure.

Dirk Coetzee died Wednesday, said Ineke Jonker, spokeswoman for the Life Wilgers Hospital in Pretoria. He was 57.

Coetzee fled South Africa and switched his allegiance to the anti-apartheid African National Congress in 1989 after confessing he had belonged to a covert group known as Vlakplaas that murdered ANC members.

He returned in 1993 and was a witness at the trial of former police Col. Eugene de Kock, the highest-ranking police official convicted of crimes during the white minority rule that ended with democratic elections in 1994.

Coetzee was granted amnesty in 1997 by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a panel that heard testimony about human rights violations under apartheid.

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Source: Venezuelan opposition leader to run

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles is set to announce he will run in elections to replace Hugo Chavez, setting up a make-or-break encounter against the dead president's hand-picked successor, a close adviser to the candidate says.

"He will accept" the nomination, the adviser told The Associated Press. He spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the decision publicly ahead of a formal announcement scheduled for later in the day.

Other opposition sources refused to comment, but a political consultant at ORC Consultores, which advises Capriles, also said he would run.

"He will put himself forward," said Oswaldo Ramirez. "History is giving Capriles Radonski an important role."

Venezuela's election commission has set April 14 as the date of the vote, with formal campaigning to start just 12 days earlier. Ramirez said the 40-year-old opposition leader would demand that officials extend the campaign period by moving up the start date by more than a week, and that acting president Nicolas Maduro not be allowed to abuse state resources to boost his chances during the campaign.

Maduro has already announced his intention to run as the candidate of Chavez's socialist party. On Sunday he picked up the support of Venezuela's small communist party as well.

Capriles faced a stark choice in deciding whether to compete in the vote, which most analysts say he is sure to lose amid a frenzy of sympathy and mourning for the dead president.

Some say a second defeat for Capriles just six months after he lost last year's presidential vote to Chavez could derail his political career. If he waits, a Chavista government led by Nicolas Maduro, the acting president, might prove inept and give him a better shot down the road. But staying on the sidelines also would have put his leadership of the opposition.

"If he says he doesn't want to run I could totally understand that," said David Smilde, an analyst with the U.S.-based think tank the Washington Office on Latin America. "He is likely going to lose and if he loses this election he's probably going to be done."

On a personal Twitter page that bore all the rah-rah adornments of a campaign site, Capriles wrote Saturday afternoon: "I am analyzing the declaration of the (electoral commission setting the date) and in the next hours I will talk to the country about my decision." A spokesman said Capriles would make an announcement in the early evening.

Analysts predict the next five weeks will increase the nasty, heated rhetoric that began even before Chavez's death Tuesday after a nearly two-year fight with cancer.

Maduro, who was named Chavez's vice president after the October election, was sworn in as this oil-rich country's acting leader Friday night. He is expected to file election papers on Monday

Opposition critics have called Maduro's ascension unconstitutional, noting the charter designates the National Assembly president as acting leader if a president-elect cannot be sworn in.

On the streets of Caracas on Sunday, opinion was as divided as always in a country that became dramatically more polarized during Chavez's 14-year rule.

"It's not fair," said Jose Mendez, a 54-year-old businessman of the choice the opposition leader faces. "(Maduro) has an advantage, because of everything they have done since Chavez's death, all the sentiment they've created ... But the guy has nothing. He can't hold a candle to Chavez."

But Ramon Romero said the opposition was just making excuses, and had no chance of victory in any case.

"Now their odds are even worse," said the 64-year-old waiter and staunch Chavez supporter. "They don't care about anyone, and we (the voters) have been lifted out of darkness."

___

Associated Press writers Paul Haven, E. Eduardo Castillo and Jack Chang contributed to this report.

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Afghan leader alleges US, Taliban are colluding

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused the Taliban and the U.S. of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave as planned by the end of next year.

Karzai said two suicide bombings that killed 19 people on Saturday — one outside the Afghan Defense Ministry and the other near a police checkpoint in eastern Khost province — show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to help show that international forces will still be needed to keep the peace after their current combat mission ends in 2014.

"The explosions in Kabul and Khost yesterday showed that they are at the service of America and at the service of this phrase: 2014. They are trying to frighten us into thinking that if the foreigners are not in Afghanistan, we would be facing these sorts of incidents," he said during a nationally televised speech about the state of Afghan women.

There was no immediate response from the U.S.-led military coalition, which is gradually handing over responsibility for securing the country to Afghan forces.

Karzai is known for making incendiary comments in his public speeches, a move that is often attributed to him trying to appeal to those who sympathize with the Taliban or as a way to gain leverage when he feels his international allies are ignoring his country's sovereignty. In previous speeches he has threatened to join the Taliban and called his NATO allies occupiers who want to plunder Afghanistan's resources.

His latest remarks come as his government is negotiating a pact with the U.S. for the long-term presence of American forces in Afghanistan and just days after an agreement to transfer the U.S. prison outside of Kabul to Afghan authority fell through. His comments also came while U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is making his first visit to Afghanistan since becoming the Pentagon chief.

Karzai said in his speech that any foreign powers that want to keep troops in Afghanistan need to do so under conditions set forward by Afghanistan.

"We will tell them where we need them, and under which conditions. They must respect our laws. They must respect the national sovereignty of our country and must respect all our customs," Karzai said.

Karzai offered no proof of coordination, but said the Taliban and the United States were in "daily negotiations" in various foreign countries and noted that the United States has said that it no longer considers the insurgent group its enemy. The U.S. continues to fight against the Taliban and other militant groups, but has expressed its backing for formal peace talks with the Taliban to find a political resolution to the war.

Karzai said he did not believe the Taliban's claim that they launched Saturday's attacks to show they are still a potent force fighting the United States. "Yesterday's explosions, which the Taliban claimed, show that in reality they are saying they want the presence of foreigners in Afghanistan," Karzai said.

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Ethiopian leader very present 6 months after death

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's long-ruling leader died half a year ago, but it seems Meles Zenawi still holds on to power. In the capital, his face looks down from hundreds of posters plastered on walls, and government representatives vow to implement the late Meles' vision without alteration.

Meles, who held tight control of the country since 1991, died Aug. 20 at the age of 57. A major U.S. counter-terrorism ally, Meles was credited with uplifting the country's poor, but he was condemned for human rights abuses and crushing the opposition.

Since his sudden death, Meles' pictures and past statements have become commonplace throughout Addis Ababa, the capital, and smaller cities and towns.

"Our great leader ... we will never forget you!" reads one gigantic billboard erected in the capital's main street.

An upcoming meeting of the congress is billed as an opportunity to achieve goals, speed up development and build democracy "based on the vision of Meles." That vision can be boiled down to two things: economic advancement, and a tight hold on political power.

While Meles has many fans in Addis Ababa, some residents feel the six-month lionization has gone on too long.

"During the news of his death and funeral, all the pictures and tributes were understandable and also fitting as a lot of people wanted to celebrate a man's life who had left a clear mark in the nation's history," said resident Adey Derbew.

"But now ... when you see such a sustained campaign spearheaded by the government, you wonder what it is really about. I think it actually hurts the people's confidence in the government as the current leaders are saying that their best one is gone," she said.

State-run media still carry headlines of officials vowing to follow the late leader's visions in all sectors, ranging from pastoralist area development projects to efforts to modernize the country's military.

Meles long insisted he wanted to create a developmental state with his ruling party dictating the country's fate. Meles said the opposition would undermine the country's constitution if they get the chance. An untold number of opposition leaders were jailed during his rule.

"You are allowed, as they say, until you become a 'clear and present danger' to public institutions," Meles said to the lone opposition member of parliament.

A number of projects and activities, including the country's national soccer tournament, have been named after Meles in recent months.

On Jan. 17 the parliament issued legislation to establish The Meles Foundation. The upcoming foundation will include a mausoleum where the body of the late premier will rest and be visited by the public. Officials say the foundation premises will also showcase the late leader's writings and documentary videos done on his life, while promoting research on developing states and green economies.

Ethiopia's new leader, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, also continues to praise Meles in all of his major speeches both at home and abroad.

Following Meles' death, the country saw its first ever peaceful power transfer. Though the power transition went smoothly, Hailemariam has three deputies, each from the other three parties of the ruling coalition. That was not the case for Meles, who was a founding chair of the ruling party and accompanied by a low-profile deputy. Meles was re-elected to the position and premiership several times, always unchallenged.

Hailemariam's leadership is unlikely to be challenged anytime soon. Next month when some 2,500 ruling party elites and supporters meet for a congress in a regional town, Bahir Dar, he is expected to be re-elected as party chairman. Senior officials back in September, however, announced that Hailemariam can serve only two terms as prime minister.

The memory of Meles will also cast its weight on the decision. The head of the secretariat of the ruling party, Redwan Hussein, told journalists on Thursday that the congress will serve "to renew commitment, to achieve the goals, to speed up development and build democracy based on the vision of Meles."

Some observers of Ethiopian politics are concerned that Meles' policies are sticking around too long, such as suppression of the free press.

The country's largest weekly, Feteh, and the opposition paper Finote Netsanet were forced off the market last year after the state-owned Berhanena Selam printing company refused to continue printing them. Charges against the editor of Feteh, Temesgen Desalegn, were dropped during Meles' funeral, but those charges were revived last month.

"Hailemariam has thus far perpetuated the policies of late Meles Zenawi in limiting the growth of independent media in Ethiopia," said Mohamed Keita, Africa Advocacy Coordinator of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "But he still has an opportunity to show strong leadership. He holds the power to remove Ethiopia from the list of nations in Africa with journalists in prison."

Tired of the lack of opportunity to gain political traction, leading opposition parties have decided to boycott local elections due in April.

"Thirty-three opposition parties have demanded the election be carried out properly and for the electoral board to be neutral and independent. We wanted to talk about this . they said no," said Girma Seifu, the lone opposition member of parliament. "So we said in that there is no point of contesting, as these people are determined to have themselves elected by any means. There is no competition; it is only the ruling party's candidates that are contesting the seats, so there is no real election."

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Raul Castro gets new term, younger leader is VP

LONDON (Reuters) - Boy band and talent show alumni One Direction raced to the top of the charts this week with the fastest selling single of 2013 so far, while BRIT Award winner Emili Sande reclaimed the top of the album chart, the Official Charts Company said on Sunday. X-Factor finalists One Direction went in at number one with charity single "One Way Or Another", a cover of the Blondie classic. The single is the five-member group's third number one and sixth top-ten single in less than 18 months. Elsewhere in the top ten, U.S. ...

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