West Bank

Palestinian PM’s visit marred by gunfire

Gunmen in a refugee camp opened fire Wednesday, disrupting a lecture from the Palestinian prime minister about the need to end violence. The brazen shooting highlighted the difficulty of his task.

“This country needs order, needs quiet,” Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia shouted, repeating a theme he has pressed for weeks. But even as he spoke, gunfire rang out, startling Qureia and putting his bodyguards on high alert.

Associated Press Television News footage showed militants angrily waving their weapons as Qureia’s security guards – their rifles trained on the gunmen – stood at the windows of the building where the prime minister was speaking in the Balata camp next to the city of Nablus.

“Don’t listen to them. Don’t be scared, don’t let these gunmen run the show,” Qureia implored his audience.

After Qureia’s speech, gunmen opened fire again and set off an explosive device about 300 yards from his convoy. No one was injured. Qureia was whisked away.

Geneva

U.N.: Fight against AIDS faces funding shortfall

The attempt to reverse the spread of AIDS in the developing world faces a multibillion-dollar funding shortfall over the next three years, the U.N. body coordinating the fight against the disease said Wednesday.

According to latest projections, only $8.9 billion is estimated to be available for 2006, compared with a requirement of $14.7 billion. For 2007, $17.8 billion will be needed, but only $10 billion is currently available, UNAIDS said.

The agency gave no shortfall projection for 2008, but said it would release a full report on estimated funding needs at the end of the month.

“AIDS poses an exceptional threat to humanity and the response needs to be equally exceptional, recognizing the urgency as well as the need for long-term planning and financing,” said UNAIDS chief Dr. Peter Piot. “We have come a long way in mobilizing extra funds for AIDS, moving from millions to billions, but we still fall short of the $22 billion needed in 2008.”

Overall more than $54 billion will be needed between 2006 and 2008 for prevention, treatment and care, as well as support for vulnerable children and other staffing and construction costs, according to UNAIDS.

If the funding needs are met, 75 percent of the 6.6 million people in need of antiretroviral treatment will have access to the drugs by 2008, the agency said.

United Nations

Official urges new focus on protecting civilians

Most of the world’s conflicts are far more dangerous for civilians than for soldiers, the U.N. humanitarian chief said.

At the same time, there is more hope than ever that combatants who target civilians will be held accountable, thanks to the International Criminal Court and a growing consensus that more must be done, Jan Egeland said in a briefing.

“We know more than ever before of how civilians are abused, killed, maimed, raped in nearly all conflicts of today in a catastrophic way and in catastrophic proportions,” Egeland said after U.N. members discussed the issue in the Security Council on Tuesday.

Egeland told the council there had been several worrying developments in recent months, including a rise in xenophobia in Ivory Coast, concerns about protecting refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region and a spike in civilian deaths in Nepal.

The council approved a statement saying it intends to strengthen protection of civilians, possibly with a new resolution, as called for by France’s U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere.

Since 2000, when the last resolution was passed on the issue, the demand for policies to protect civilians has grown stronger. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s proposal to overhaul the United Nations, introduced in March, included the so-called “responsibility to protect.”

Mexico

Terror suspect cleared

Mexico on Wednesday cleared a Lebanese-born British citizen of wrongdoing, after authorities had arrested him because of suspected links to Sept. 11 terror groups.

Amer Haykel was detained in the western state of Baja California Sur on Monday, because U.S. authorities provided information that he was linked to extremist groups believed to be involved with terrorist attacks.

But in a statement released late Wednesday night, Mexico’s National Immigration Institute said it had confirmed that Haykel “doesn’t represent any threat to national security, nor is wanted by authorities in any country.”

South Korea

Koreas open talks to pursue cooperation

The main U.S. envoy on the North Korean nuclear issue said in a message posted Wednesday that he hopes to meet reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Il – an unusual conciliatory gesture toward the leader President Bush has labeled a tyrant.

The statement from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill came as the two Koreas met in high-level reconciliation talks and follows comments from Kim earlier this month that he harbored no ill will toward Bush and would, in fact, find him “interesting to talk to.”

“I’m more than willing to meet Chairman Kim Jong Il and hope to meet him,” Hill said in a message posted on a Web site run by the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.

The two Koreas were set to hold a second day of talks today.