MOROCCO: AQIM denies his involvement in the fatal attack Marrakech

AFP - Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has denied any involvement in the fatal attack April 28 in Marrakech, Morocco, in a statement broadcast by a private agency Mauritanian information online, Nouakchott Information Agency ( ANI).

In this text, dated Friday published in Arabic, AQIM recalls the attack that killed 17 people, including 8 French and then the information released by the Moroccan authorities describing the main suspect as "an admirer of al-Qaida."

"We deny any connection with the explosion and say no way being involved in this operation," says the regional branch of the Islamist network.

This statement could not immediately be authenticated but the NIA has regularly published in the past releases or statements from members of AQIM have never been disproved.

FRANCE: An employee of France Telecom himself on fire

AFP - An employee of France Telecom-Orange 57 years committed suicide Tuesday morning by burning themselves to death in the parking lot of a site near Bordeaux, has announced the leadership of the group told AFP.

"We are shocked to learn of the death of an employee of the professional agency of Bordeaux that ended his day by burning themselves to death this morning in the parking lot of the agency business Merignac," said group management.

"Rescuers arrived on the scene could only see the death of the employee aged 57 years," said the executive, adding that he mounted a psychological, and announcing the move "immediately" on the premises of the Executive Director of Orange France, Delphine Ernotte and human resources director Bruno Metling.

The communications manager of France Telecom in Aquitaine, Jean-Maurice Bentolila, said the tragedy had taken place without prior witnesses.

The man who committed suicide on the site Pichey Mérignac (Gironde) was the father of four children, told AFP Sebastian Crozier (CFE-CGC/Unsa), adding his voice trembling, that "the All the staff is completely overwhelmed with emotion "and that" all Bordeaux is in tears. "

The employee was a staff representative for the CFDT, and was "prevention specialist", that is to say, responsible for working conditions, hygiene and safety for several years, union sources said.

"This is a tragedy," he told AFP Pierre Dubois (CFDT), indicating that the employee, "a guy at home," committed suicide "to his duty assignment."

The CGT said his side that this suicide is "proof that all is not settled at France Telecom, despite what some have said."

The company had been marked by a social crisis of magnitude after a wave of suicides of more than thirty employees between January 2008 and late 2009, the group of some 100,000 employees in France. The management system in place from 2004 to encourage departing employees 22,000 in three years has been particularly implicated.

According to a statement from the Observatory of stress and mobility forced, created at the initiative of both unions Group (SOUTH and CFE-CGC/Unsa), there was a suicide in 2011, which occurred in January at the home of an employee, and 27 suicides and 16 attempts in 2010.Management does not keep count.

NIGERIA - PRESIDENTIAL: Victory Goodluck Jonathan backdrop of riots in the North

The outgoing leader Goodluck Jonathan, won the presidential election in Nigeria, shaken Monday by rioting in the predominantly Muslim north, where the dead were enrgistrées.

Result of the 36 states of the Nigerian federation, the federal capital Abuja over, give 22 million votes out against 12 million in the second, a former military junta leader, Muhammadu Buhari, according to full results released Monday by the Electoral Commission National.

Jonathan also won over 25 per cent of the votes in more than two-thirds of the 36 states, a necessary condition for being declared the winner in the first round.

But the victory of Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian South, led to riots in the Muslim north.

"Deaths have been reported," particularly in Kano and in the neighboring state of Kaduna, said a security official, Yushau Shuaib, unable to give a more accurate assessment.

In a country marked by deep divisions and regional community, the rioters burned the house of Vice President Namadi Sambo in Zaria, Kaduna State, and that of the emir of the city, according to one resident.They also released many detainees.

"The protesters burned the residence of the Vice-President, the palace of the emir, before attacking the jail," said Mahmud Aliyu by telephone.

The first violence erupted Sunday after the vote, provoked by accusations of fraud against the camp of Mr. Jonathan.

Monday, they were still burning in Kano, the second largest city, and had won Jos in the Centre, and other cities.

In Kano, mobs armed with clubs, knives and boards faced soldiers, a shopping center was burned and shops and schools were closed.A curfew twenty-four hours was imposed in the neighboring state of Kaduna.

The crowd supported Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim North unsuccessful rival for the presidency of Jonathan, also attacked two suspected Christians.

In the city of Potiskum in Yobe State, north-east, witnesses reported that the crowd had tried to sacrifice a Christian passing a flaming tire around the neck but she was saved by residents.

"Young people set fires in the streets and burning the houses of supporters of the ruling party. Soldiers were called.The streets are deserted except for the demonstrators, "said one resident, Kabiru Usman.

Violence has also been reported in the cities of Kaduna, Zaria and Sokoto in the north, and Jos in the Centre, which marks the frontier between Christian and Muslim majorities and scene of frequent sectarian violence.

The main opposition party, Congress for Democratic Change which Mr.Buhari was the candidate has formally objected to the irregularities of the presidential result.

These accusations are contained in a complaint sent to the electoral commission said the party chairman, Tony Momoh.

Before the end of the count, the commission on Monday gave an advance Goodluck Jonathan as he is assured of winning. He came first in 22 of the 36 states of the federation with more than 21 million votes against 9,000,000 for Mr. Buhari, former head of a military junta in 1984-1985.

Although in general, observers judged the election on Saturday more honest than previous results in abnormally high for Mr.Jonathan, in its strongholds of South Christian, have cast doubt: the state of Akwa Ibom State gave him 95% of the vote and that of Bayelsa, his home state, 99.63%.

"Such figures above 95% seem invented and raise serious questions about the credibility of the election," said Jibrin Ibrahim of the NGO Centre for Democracy and Development.

These results confirmed a clear division between the pro-Muslim north and Christian south Buhari pro-Jonathan.

In the North, many hoped a victory by Mr.Buhari, 69, to revive a North economically marginalized by the oil rich south of the country's most populous country.

Goodluck Jonathan, 53, is a candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) won the first round every presidential since the end of military rule in 1999.

ITALY: Judge orders an "immediate trial" against Berlusconi in Ruby

AFP - The Judge Cristina Di Censo decided Tuesday an "immediate trial" for the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi for use in prostitution of a minor and abuse of office in a sex scandal Rubygate, according to judicial sources quoted by Italian media.

The magistrate set the first hearing of this accelerated procedure under the Italian Penal Code in cases of "clear evidence" to 6 April at 0830 GMT.

"We do not expect anything," responded the lawyer of Berlusconi.

The billionaire is thought to have paid for sexual services of Ruby, a young Moroccan Karim El Mahroug when she was a minor between February and May 2010 and to be reached with the police in Milan to secure the release after his arrest the night of 27 May 28 robbery.

Both Mr Berlusconi has denied that Ruby had sex, the girl who turned 18 in November, admitting only to have participated in dinners "perfectly normal and wise."

In addition, the defense of Mr.Berlusconi says he intervened to free the girl because he believed it was "the niece of President Hosni Mubarak" and wanted to preserve good relations with his country.

The Rubygate is the third sex scandal involving Mr. Berlusconi, after business Noemi (May 2009), a minor whose attendance had reached a divorce from his wife, and D'Addario (June 2009), a prostitute who had told a torrid night with Berlusconi.

But this is the case the most serious because it is punishable by three years in prison for engaging in prostitution and twelve years in prison for abuse of office.

RUSSIA: An Islamist group claims responsibility of the Caucasus in Moscow

The leader of the rebel Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, Chechen, Doku Umarov, claimed Monday night's suicide bombing in Moscow-Domodedovo airport, which killed 36 people on January 24, in a video posted on the site Kavkazcenter. com.

"This special operation (at the airport on January 24) was done on my orders," he said in this video, where he threatened to carry out further attacks.

Saturday, Doku Umarov had already promised to make 2011 a year "blood and tears" to Russia in another video posted on the internet.

In the latest video, made, he said, the day of the attack at the airport, January 24, Doku Umarov said it had acted on behalf of Allah and in order to create a free Islamic state in the North Caucasus .

The operation is a response to crimes of Russia in the Caucasus, says it in this video where he appears alone wearing camouflage.

This is the second attack in the capital Moscow in less than a year. In March 2010, a double suicide bombing in Moscow metro has already killed 40 people.

And Doku Umarov, alias Abu Oussman, had also claimed responsibility for deadly attacks and said it was an act of "revenge" operations of Russian forces in the Caucasus, in another video posted on the site.

Regarding the attack at the airport Domodedovo, Russian investigative committee has so far indicated that the bomber responsible for the suicide bombing, was a 20 year old man originally from the North Caucasus region of southern Russia plagued by Islamist rebellion.

He also said that the attack, which took place in the international arrivals area of the airport, was intended primarily to kill foreigners.

A source within the Russian security forces said last week the Interfax news agency that the suicide bomber was Magomed Yevloyev, 20, son of a schoolteacher and a bus driver originating in the unstable republic of Ingushetia, bordering Chechnya.

In a survey published Friday, the Russian tabloid reported that Tvoya Dien Magomed Yevloyev had left for military service in November 2009 in Vladivostok (Far East), but he returned after three months of being reformed to health reasons.

Shortly after the explosion at the arrival terminal for international flights from Moscow Domodedovo, the family, which also has three daughters and one son, left the village after receiving a visit from members of the Federal Security Service ( FSB), the newspaper said.

Sunday, the Russian police launched a search against two men allegedly involved in the attack at the airport and come from Ingushetia, as the suspected suicide bomber, police said.

"A review of research has been launched against two young men who disappeared from the village of Ali-Yurt (Ingushetia) at about the same time as Magomed Yevloyev, who, according to preliminary data, triggered the explosive device at Domodedovo , "the source said the agency Interfax.

After the first Chechen war (1994-1996) between Russian forces and separatist rebellion has gradually Islamized and has increasingly spilled over the borders Chechnya to become the mid-2000s in an armed Islamist movement active in all the North Caucasus.

"The Emirate of Caucasus", in addition to attacks at Moscow airport Domodedovo in the Moscow metro and in March, claimed the attack in November 2009 against a passenger train from Moscow to Saint Petersburg (28 dead ) and another car bomb in September 2010 at a market in Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia (17 dead).

KAZAKHSTAN: President Nazarbayev to call an early presidential election on April 3

AFP - The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has set Friday to advance a presidential election on April 3, after excluding a few days to extend his term by plebiscite, while promising to stay in power.

"In accordance with paragraph 3-1 of Article 41 of the Constitution of Kazakhstan, an early presidential election is scheduled for April 3, 2011," is it stated in the decree signed by Mr. Nazarbayev.

Kazakh President has been elected for seven years in December 2005, winning the election with over 91% of the vote. Subsequently, a constitutional reform has reduced the presidential term to five years while lifting the ban on Mr.Nazarbayev to run again.

The head of the Kazakh state, 70, said Monday the organization of early elections at an unspecified date, rejecting the holding of a referendum to extend his term until 2020 as desired by the Parliament.

Kazakh President, in office for over twenty years and the Soviet period, however, had promised in a speech to the nation late January that he would remain in power as his health permitted.

On Wednesday, the Parliament, where all seats are controlled by the Nur Otan party, headed by the Head of State, adopted a constitutional reform allowing the president to convene a Presidential Early in this former Soviet republic in Central Asia abounding of hydrocrabures.

This revision of the Basic Law following the rejection by Nazarbayev signed an initiative by five million citizens, validated by Parliament for a referendum abolishing the 2012 presidential and 2017 to maintain the head of State in power until 2020.

Power Kazakhstan said this week that the president would be overwhelming victory at the polls early.

"I'm sure Nursultan Nazarbayev won 95.9% of the votes of the electors of Kazakhstan," said a presidential advisor Ermoukhamet Ertysbaïev, in an interview with pro-government newspaper Liter."Like last time, there will be lots of applications from dwarf (policies) that have absolutely no chance," he said.

No election in Kazakhstan has been recognized as free by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) since independence in 1991.

Mr. Nazarbayev and his counterpart in Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, is the last two leaders of former Soviet republics to have been leading their countries of Soviet times.

In 2010, Kazakh President has been given the title of Elbassy (Leader of the Nation of Kazakhstan), a status it confers lifetime, the power to decide major policy directions of the country and a lifelong immunity .

The decision of Mr.Nazarbayev did not extend his term by referendum came after sharp criticism from Western allies, the United States and the European Union.

The West generally avoids criticizing Kazakhstan, to maintain good relations with this strategic oil power flanked by Russia and China.

According to NGO human rights, opposition and independent media are repressed, while the country is de facto headed by a single party since the 2007 legislative elections, in which Nur Otan won all the seats.