Peru

President declares state of emergency

President Alejandro Toledo declared a state of emergency in a remote highland province late Saturday after gunmen demanding his resignation seized control of a police station there and took several officers hostage, authorities said.

The attackers, led by a former retired army major who’s gained a reputation as a firebrand nationalist, vowed to remain inside the station in Andahuaylas, 275 miles southeast of Lima, until the unpopular Toledo steps down.

“This is a military protest and we are willing to lay down our arms and surrender when Toledo resigns,” Antauro Humala told Radioprogramas Radio from the captured police station.

He said dozens of his gunmen attacked the station early Saturday, wresting control of the building after a shootout with police.

Hospital officials told the Radioprogramas that they treated five police officers and two men suspected of being Humala followers, for gunshot wounds.

National Police chief Felix Murazo said attackers were holding 10 officers hostage and that he has sent reinforcements to restore order.

Uganda

Army to resume war on northern rebels

President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday said the army will resume all-out war on rebels in northern Uganda, charging that the insurgents rejected a cease-fire deal that had been expected to open the way for political talks on ending the 18-year civil war.

The government, however, will continue negotiating with the rebels in an effort to find a political solution to the conflict in which thousands have been killed and more than a million forced from their homes, Museveni said during New Year’s celebrations.

The Lord’s Resistance Army rebels have waged a campaign of murder, rape and abductions in northern Uganda. Led by the elusive Joseph Kony, they replenish their ranks by abducting children and forcing them to become fighters, porters or concubines.

Rebels broke the truce first early Saturday, according to a government spokesman, ambushing an army supply truck in Alero, a village 2 miles west of Gulu, injuring four soldiers.

Ugandan military “operations will not cease ever again until the Kony group irreversibly commit themselves to come out of the bush,” Museveni said Saturday.

Sudan

President suggests talks on power-sharing

Encouraged by the signing of a peace deal with southern rebels, Sudan’s president suggested Saturday that he may hold power and wealth sharing talks with rebels fighting army forces in the western region of Darfur.

Thousands of Sudanese turned out in the capital, Khartoum, to welcome the return of the government delegation that negotiated the deal in the Kenyan city of Naivasha on Friday to end the 21-year southern civil war.

Opposition groups also embraced the peace accords and cease-fire agreement signed by government officials and southern rebels.

The agreements cleared the way for warring sides to sign a comprehensive peace deal next month in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

President Omar el-Bashir urged all Sudanese — particularly opposition groups — to engage in a comprehensive reconciliation and work to end the Darfur crisis.

Pakistan

Opposition supporters rally against Musharraf

Hundreds of opposition supporters protested Saturday across Pakistan, denouncing President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s decision to retain the powerful post of army chief.

Holding black flags, about 1,500 protesters marched on a main city road in the southern city of Karachi, while nearly 600 people gathered in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Hundreds also marched in the cities of Multan and Lahore, with smaller rallies in the capital, Islamabad, and elsewhere.

But the demonstrations did not attract the thousands of protesters that organizers had hoped for, and none of the country’s top opposition leaders attended.

The rallies came two days after Musharraf went on national television to explain why he was keeping the army chief post, saying it would be “extremely dangerous” for Pakistan to change track as it fights terrorism.

The opposition rejected his claim, saying the army general had not honored his promise to become a civilian president after Dec. 31, 2004.

Turkey

New currency signals progress on inflation

Turkey launched a new currency Saturday by dropping six zeros from the old one, in a sign of progress in its decades-long struggle with inflation. But getting rid of old habits in a country where even a loaf of bread costs hundreds of thousands isn’t likely to be easy.

No major problems were reported after the new Turkish lira went into circulation for the New Year, although credit cards were unusable for about five minutes while the transition was made.

Bank machines were also distributing the new currency, but few on the street appeared to have made the switch. The old notes will remain usable for a year, but the Central Bank predicts they will largely be out of circulation by the end of February.

Under the new system, 1,000,000 Turkish lira, about 75 cents, is equivalent to 1 new Turkish lira — the price of about three loaves of bread.

The jackpot in Turkey’s New Year lottery was announced Friday night in old lira — 15 trillion lira , the equivalent to $11.1 million.

The old currency boasted the world’s largest bank note — 20,000,000 lira, which was worth only about $15.