South African military to withdraw troops in CAR

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's military said Thursday it will withdraw its troops from Central African Republic, where 13 South African soldiers died in a battle with rebels in March.

Brig. Gen. Xolani Mabanga, a military spokesman, said the troops will pull out in line with a decision by South Africa's political leadership. He declined to say how many South African soldiers remained in Central African Republic and did not give a departure date.

South Africa's military union said earlier this week that most of the 200 South African troops who were there have already been withdrawn.

Meanwhile, a South African parliamentary committee on Thursday debated the military mission in Central African Republic amid questions about its role and the constitutional legality of the deployment.

Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula acknowledged in remarks to the committee that South African troops were not prepared to deal with an attack, the South African Press Association reported.

"We were not equipped in a way that would be able to repel that kind of battle," she said.

Last month, about 200 South African soldiers fought a much larger group of rebels as they swept into the capital of Bangui and overthrew the president, Francois Bozize.

South African officials have said soldiers were sent to help train the army of Central African Republic as part of a bilateral defense agreement signed in 2007, and that additional troops were sent when the security situation deteriorated at the end of last year.

The government has denied allegations that troops were sent to protect the business interests of a company allied to South Africa's governing party, the African National Congress.

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Australia to withdraw most troops from Afghanistan by year-end

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia will withdraw most troops from Afghanistan's south at the end of this year and shut down a major base for NATO-led forces, handing security to Afghan soldiers and police, Defense Minister Stephen Smith said on Tuesday.

Western and Afghan commanders, Smith said, had agreed that the major multinational coalition base at Tarin Kowt and its NATO airbase in Uruzgan province would close at the end of 2013.

Most foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 under a planned security transition from foreign forces to Afghans.

"It is a necessary and logical and natural consequence of transition being effective," Smith said.

"The effect of that closure will be that Australia will no longer have a permanent presence in Uruzgan province, and the majority of Australian defense force personnel will return."

Australia has around 1,650 troops in Afghanistan, including special forces, based mainly in volatile Uruzgan, and was an original member of the U.S.-led coalition that helped oust the former Taliban government in late 2001.

It has lost 39 troops in the war, with 242 wounded.

The United States and NATO allies are racing against the clock to train a 350,000-strong force of Afghan soldiers to meet the 2014 deadline, although there is widespread skepticism that target can be met.

"A lot of people are worried about the military side and how are we going to get to 2014," Washington-based Australian counter-insurgency expert David Kilcullen told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television.

"How are we going to hand over to the Afghans effectively and prevent the Taliban coming back?" he said on the ABC's "Four Corners" program late on Monday.

Australia had not yet decided whether special forces troops would remain in Afghanistan next year or after 2014, Smith said, with negotiations still underway with the Afghan government.

(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Paul Tait)

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Pakistani Taliban withdraw peace talk offer

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The Pakistani Taliban have withdrawn their offer of holding peace talks with the government.

Spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan says in a video sent to reporters on Monday that the group "temporarily postponed" its offer because the government had not shown a serious effort to follow through with negotiations.

He called on Pakistanis to boycott the upcoming national election expected in May, saying Islamic law should be enforced instead.

He advised people to avoid rallies held by several major parties, including the Pakistan People's Party that led the latest government.

At the end of last year, the Pakistani Taliban leadership said they were open to peace talks.

The government responded positively, but apparently little progress has been made.

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