Leaders will share power

HARARE - On paper - and it's a paper he has yet to sign or even publicly admit exists - President Robert Mugabe appears to be acknowledging at last that he cannot rule Zimbabwe alone.

Mugabe, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, and a leader of a smaller opposition faction were to sign a power-sharing deal today that has resulted from weeks of negotiations mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Mbeki and Morgan Tsvangirai, the main opposition leader, announced a deal late Thursday.

According to Zimbabwean state radio Sunday and the opposition members earlier, the agreement calls for a Cabinet with 31 members; 16 from the opposition and 15 from Mugabe's party.

Mugabe, 84, has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980. He will remain president and is to chair the Cabinet, with Tsvangirai, 56, as vice chair. Tsvangirai is to head a new Council of Ministers that will supervise the work of the Cabinet.

Nigeria

Militants raid, declare war

LAGOS - The main militant group in Nigeria's southern oil region declared a state of war Sunday after two days of clashes with government forces, launching reprisal raids and raising the specter of more conflict in Africa's biggest oil producer.

The group warned international oil companies to avoid the region or take "a foolhardy risk of attack."

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has mostly focused on hobbling Nigeria's oil industry since it emerged nearly three years ago, bombing pipelines in hopes of forcing the federal government to send more money to the impoverished oil-producing south.

But a military task force has stepped up its anti-militant activities in recent weeks. On Sunday, militants said they attacked soldiers protecting sites run by Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell - payback for a rare ground battle Saturday when the armed forces attacked a militant base camp.

The loose alliance of militant and criminal gangs steals Nigerian oil for sale overseas.

Indonesia

Bomb explodes near gold mine

JAKARTA - A bomb exploded Sunday near an airport built by a U.S. gold mining giant in Indonesia's restive Papua province, police said. No one was injured and there was little damage.

The blast half a mile from the runway at Moses Kilangin airport came days after two mortars were detonated on a road leading to the massive mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

Papua is home to separatist rebels who have long denounced the mine operated by PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of the New Orleans-based company. They see it as a symbol of Jakarta's rule over the region.

SNAPSHOT

Plane's engine likely failed: A Russian passenger jet that caught fire as it fell from the sky on Sunday likely suffered engine failure before it crashed, killing all 88 people on board, investigators said.

Originally published by From Our Press Services .

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