Oil prices have risen above $140 a barrel on the New York stock exchange for the first time amid new warnings of future price rises and a Libyan threat to cut production.

US crude oil rose $5.50 to $140.05 a barrel in New York on Thursday afternoon, passing the record of $139.89 a barrel reached on June 16.

Earlier, Chakib Khelil, president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), had said oil prices could rise as high as $170 a barrel this year before declining later in the year.

Oil prices also rose on the London markets on Thursday, with crude oil rising $5.33 to $139.66 a barrel.

US stocks were down more than 350 points on Thursday following the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at 11,457.41, its lowest level in two years

Libya warning

Shokri Ghanem, Libya's most senior oil official, said the country was studying options to cut its output in response to a possible US legal action against Opec.

Ghanem said he was considering cutting production in response to a bill before the US Congress that would empower the justice department to sue Opec members for limiting oil supplies.

"We are studying all the options," Ghanem told Reuters.

"There are threats from the Congress and they are taking Opec to court, extending the jurisdiction of the US outside the US," he said.

George Bush, the US president, has said he would veto the legislation if it were passed by Congress.

The House of Representatives passed the bill in May, but the Senate has yet to schedule a vote on the measure.

Oil prices have risen rapidly over the past six-years, driven by increasing demand from fast-growing economies like China and India.

Rising fuel costs have strained economies and spurred protests around the world, prompting Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil producer, to pledge to increase output at a meeting between producer and consumer nations over the weekend.

Oil prices had fallen on Wednesday after US government data showed a rise in its crude oil stocks.

Lawyers defending Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and four other Guantanamo detainees have asked for the presiding military judge to dismiss their cases, saying the timing is politically motivated. The men are to stand trial over the attacks on September 15, according to the court filing quoted by AP.
However the men's lawyers say the date for the trials, coming only a few weeks before the US presidential election, is politically motivated. The news comes as three other detainees were charged on Thursday with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism. 'Strategic value' Mohammed and the four other detainees are to be arraigned in a US military court on June 5 on charges including murder and conspiracy.

Strategic value

Mohammed and the four other detainees are to be arraigned in a US military court on June 5 on charges including murder and conspiracy. "It is safe to say that there are senior officials in the military commission process who believe that there would be strategic political value to having these five men sitting in a death chamber on November 4, 2008" Navy Lieutenant-Commander Brian MizerHowever, Navy Lieutenant-Commander Brian Mizer, one of the men's lawyers, said in Thursday's court filing that their trial date could prejudice the outcome of the case. "It is safe to say that there are senior officials in the military commission process who believe that there would be strategic political value to having these five men sitting in a death chamber on November 4, 2008," Mizer is quoted by AP as saying. The other men facing charges include Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, known as Ammar al-Baluchi and a nephew of Mohammed, al-Baluchi's assistant Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, from Saudi Arabia, and Waleed bin Attash, reportedly from Yemen. A sixth man, Mohammed al-Qahtani, whom the Pentagon had alleged was the "20th hijacker" in the September 11 attacks, had charges against him dropped. Controversy over the upcoming trial of Mohammed arose after the US authorities admitted earlier this year that he had been "waterboarded" - an interrogation method designed to simulate the sensation of drowning - by CIA investigators before he reportedly confessed.

Further charges
Also on Thursday, three more Guantanamo Bay detainees were charged with identical counts of conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism. The men are Ghassan Abdullah al-Sharbi, from Saudi Arabia, who is alleged to have visited al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and met Osama bin Laden, Jabran Said bin al-Qahtani, also from Saudi Arabia, and Algerian detainee Sufyian Barhoumi. Al-Qahtani is also accused of attending an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and learning how to make explosives, while Barhoumi is accused of being an explosives trainer for the group. The proposed charges will be reviewed by Susan Crawford, the US defence department official in charge of the military commissions, who must approve them before the men can face trial.

Thousands of protesters from one of India's lowest castes have burned tyres and blocked roads leading to New Delhi, as they step up demands for greater welfare benefits and access to jobs. Protests by India's Gujjars started in the north and west of the country two weeks ago, killing almost 40 people. The demonstrators have now headed to the capital creating huge traffic jams on major roads. Avatar Singh Bhadana, a senior Gujjar leader, said on Thursday: "The Rajasthan government must realize the mood of the people and not delay the implementation of quotas for Gujjars. The Gujjars, who threw stones at police and in places broke windshields of cars and buses, want to be reclassified further down India's complex Hindu caste and status system to qualify for government jobs and university places reserved for such groups. During Thursday's protests, Subodh Singh, from the Delhi Gujjar Federation, said: "We are here for the people of Rajasthan who have died. Who do not have food to eat. We won't settle for anything less than this scheduled tribe status, that is our least demand."

Constitutional fight

Police cleared most blockades after hours of scuffles. Some train services to towns outside Delhi, including several tourist destinations, remained suspended.

Sachin Pilot, a representative from the Gujjar community and member of the Indian National Congress party told Al Jazeera that the Gujjars, present in nine of the 25 states of India, are fighting for something they believe is constitutionally theirs.

"There has been violence and state-sponsored terrorism which has claimed 66 lives in the past 12 months, and that has activated this movement.

"India is growing at nine per cent a year - economically it is becoming a superpower," he said. "I think it's important that the backward communities have an equitable stakeholding in that process.

"It's not just a question of status, it's about having equal distribution in terms of opportunities for jobs and education."

"It is important that a country grows at an equitable pace, and every community, no matter how backward or forward it is, educationally or financially, has a say in India's growth story."

Policeman attacked

Demonstrations turned violent last week after protesters lynched a policeman and police fired on protesters, killing 36 of them in just a few days.

On Thursday morning, the protesters turned vehicles away from the towns of Noida and Gurgaon, home to scores of outsourcing and computer software firms.

Some telecom firms such as BlackBerry closed their service centres in these suburbs.

"The truth is that our politics is driving us into an explosive cul de sac," wrote Pratap Bhanu Mehta, head of the Centre for Policy Research, in The Indian Express.

"The recent, terrible violence is a reminder of what happens to societies when they can neither endure their current social condition, nor the means to overcome it."

'Exclusory system'

Javeed Alam, chairman of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, and expert on the Indian caste system, told Al Jazeera that the problem was a consequence of the Indian caste system being based on exclusion.

"These people [Gujjars] still have not been able to make headway in the same way that the Indian economy has made way for others. So they are fighting now to gain some kind of position in society.

"The Gujjars have a long history of violent protest. These were the people who were at the forefront of the revolt against the British rule in 1857. After that, the British classified them as criminal tribes.

"They have lived a life of complete exclusion and repression," he said.

Systemic issue

The Indian government reserves about half of all seats in state colleges and universities for lower castes and tribal groups to even out centuries-old social hierarchies, in what was called the world's biggest affirmative action scheme.

However, the Gujjars fall into a different grouping and seek to be reclassified under the lower "scheduled tribes and castes" grouping.

The scheme has been criticised for accentuating caste identities in India, where discrimination on caste is banned in the constitution.

Some critics say the quota system hides India's failure to provide good universal education and social equality.

Corpses used

In Rajasthan's towns of Bayana and Sikandra, where Gujjars are a majority, protesters blocked roads with bodies of some of those killed in the police firing a week ago, saying the bodies would not be cremated until the government relented.

The army and federal police forces surrounded both towns.

A year ago, Gujjars in Rajasthan fought police and members of another caste that already qualifies for job quotas. At least 26 people were killed in that violence.

After these protests, a state government committee said it would spend 2.8 billion rupees ($67 million) improving schools, clinics, roads and other infrastructure in Gujjar areas.

The Gujjars, however, rejected this option.

Saudi Arabia has donated a half-billion dollars to the UN’s World Food Program to help alleviate the current global food crisis, AP reports. By giving the money to the UN, the Saudis avoid criticism for trying to buy favor on the bodies of starving people, or any other negative cast some would like to give. The money, an unprecedented donation, will be used both for operational expenses and to procure foodstuffs.

Saudi Arabia makes unprecedented US$ 500M contribution to UN for food crisis
EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS - Saudi Arabia has made an unprecedented contribution of US$500 million to the U.N. World Food Program to respond to rising food and fuel prices that threatened emergency aid to millions of needy people, the United Nations announced Friday.

The contribution was by far the largest response to the U.N. food agency’s emergency appeal for US$755 million to cover its increased costs.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “warmly welcomes the offer of the landmark contribution” from Saudi Arabia, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. “The secretary-general notes that this contribution of an unprecedented size and generosity comes not a moment too soon, given the needs of millions of people dependent on food rations.”
Source : xrdarabia.org

Fresh clashes have broken out in the Sudanese region of Abyei, an oil-rich border area between north and south Sudan. Fierce clashes between the Sudanese army and armed men of the Sudan People's Liberation movement (SPLM) erupted on Tuesday despite earlier talks to find an end to the violence. The status of the area remains contested between north and south Sudan three years after the end of the country's civil war. Usama Sayyid Ahmed, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Abyei, said a large number of civilians, including women carrying children, were fleeing the fighting. He also said injured Sudanese soldiers were unable to receive medical treatment because of the fighting. Clashes in the area were sporadic, with the AFP news agency reporting one aid worker as saying: "Fighting started this morning at 4am [01:00 GMT]. The SPLA attacked. There's a lull at the moment, but I don't think anybody thinks it's over." The Sudanese army has issued a statement holding the SPLM responsible for the deteriorating situation in Abyei. But Edward Nino, political supervisor of the SPLM, denied the group had given up its commitment to the peace deal. "It has been reported that the SPLM was not committed to the comprehensive peace agreement," Nino told Al Jazeera. "However, I say that if it was not for the SPLM stance, we would have returned to war a long time ago." Talks fail The two sides had met for talks several times in the last few days to try and reach an agreement to end the fighting, but each agreement has been broken by further clashes. Mohamed Vall, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Sudan, said the situation in Abyei was deteriorating. "After a day of calm yesterday fighting broke out again today - this is the fiercest flare up of violence since the fighting started a week ago ... The situation is still very volatile," he reported. He said thousands of people had fled the clashes. "The overall situation is that they [those who fled] are in a very precarious situation - they don't have food and they don't have water."
UN evacuation
Tuesday's violence erupted one day after UN agencies and aid workers began distributing food to some of the 30,000 to 50,000 people displaced by fighting last week that levelled the marketplace in Abyei. The UN warned on Monday that continued insecurity posed challenges to humanitarian relief efforts in the area. The organisation last week evacuated its entire civilian staff from the town following days of fighting between government forces and the SPLA. While the north currently holds special administrative rights over Abyei, a referendum in 2011 will decide whether it retains its special administrative status in north Sudan or is incorporated into the south. The clashes began on Wednesday and have exacerbated tensions between north and south Sudan, which fought a 21-year civil war that ended with a peace agreement in 2005. But the impasse over the Abyei area, whose oil wealth is contested by both north and south Sudan, is one of the stumbling blocks delaying implementation of the peace deal.
Source : aljazeera.net

Clinton's campaign says the New York senator is determined to fight on [AFP]

Barack Obama, the US Democratic presidential hopeful, is aiming to increase his lead in the party's presidential contest after polls opened in the states of Kentucky and Oregon. Obama is widely favoured to win the western state of Oregon while his rival for the candidacy, Hillary Clinton, is expected to clinch the southern state of Kentucky.
While Obama will still not have enough of the 2,026 delegates overall needed to win the nomination, after Tuesday's polls he is likely to secure enough pledged delegates and it is almost impossible for Clinton to overcome his lead, analysts say.
Obama also leads in the so-called "superdelegate" race - senior Democratic party members who vote on the nomination at the party's August convention.
Voting ends in Kentucky at 7pm local time (2300 GMT) and Oregon's mail balloting will end at 8pm local time (0300 GMT).
Results are expected shortly afterwards. Kentucky and Oregon hold a combined total of 103 delegates, according to the Associated Press news agency. Obama currently holds 1,602 delegates and 299 superdelegates, while Clinton has 1,444 delegates and 280 superdelegates, NBC reports.
Al Jazeera's Mike Kirsch in Kentucky says that even if Obama clinches enough pledged delegates, he will not make any "victory" speech out of respect for Clinton and because there are still three more primaries to be held in the semi-autonomous territory of Puerto Rico, South Dakota and Montana.

McCain has criticised Obama for "reckless
judgment" on foreign policy [GALLO/GETTY]

McCain targeted

Many in Obama's campaign are already looking ahead to the presidential election in November, where the Democratic victor will face John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate. "A clear majority of elected delegates will send an unmistakable message - the people have spoken and they are ready for change," David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager said in a message to supporters.
Obama has targeted McCain during campaigning in recent weeks, condemning the Arizona senator for the influence of lobbyists in his campaign and defending McCain's criticism of his willingness to talk to leaders of hostile governments such as Iran without preconditions. McCain on Monday condemned what he called Obama's "inexperience and
reckless judgment" after Obama said Iran did not pose the same global threat as the former Soviet Union had. Obama, campaigning in the state of Montana on Monday, countered swiftly that if McCain was elected "we'll keep talking tough in Washington, while countries like Iran ignore our tough talk".

'Stronger' candidate

However, at a rally in Kentucky on Monday, Clinton told supporters that there was "no way" the race was going to end "any time soon". The New York senator said that the party's superdelegates should reconsider her chances as she is the stronger candidate against McCain and has clinched primary victories in all the major US states, such as California, Pennsylvania and Ohio. "There has been a lot of analysis about which of us is stronger to win against Senator McCain, and I believe I am the stronger candidate," she said. Obama now holds his largest lead yet over Clinton, according to a Gallup poll released on Monday, with 55 per cent to her 39 per cent and a three per cent margin of error.
Clinton had held a 20 percentage point lead in the poll in mid-January.
Source : aljazeera.net

US Democrats have accused the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, of hypocrisy after interview footage emerged of him expressing a willingness to negotiate with the Palestinian group Hamas. In an interview with Sky News in 2006, McCain said of Hamas that as "sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them".

However, on Thursday, McCain had suggested that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was naive and inexperienced for expressing a willingness to meet leaders of countries viewed as against the US such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran.

"Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is a head of a government who is a state sponsor of terrorism that kills young Americans," he said on Thursday.

McCain's own comments followed a speech by George Bush, the US president, in Israel on Thursday in which he compared negotiating with "terrorists" to "appeasement" - the UK's strategy of seeking to negotiate with the Nazis in the 1930s in an attempt to avert conflict. Bush's remark was seen by Obama's campaign as directed at the Illinois senator, and Obama himself said on Friday the comments by both Bush and McCain were "dishonest and divisive''.
'Smear' allegation In the 2006 interview McCain said he understood "why this [Bush] administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas ... because of their dedication to violence and the things they not only espouse but practice". "I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that," he said. In an article for the Washington Post newspaper James Rubin, a former state department official in the Bill Clinton administration who conducted the 2006 interview, pointed out McCain's comments and accused the Arizona senator of hypocrisy and of "smearing" Obama. "Given his stated position then, it is either the height of hypocrisy or a case of political amnesia for McCain to inject Hamas into the American election," he wrote. However a spokesman for McCain on Friday said that the presidential hopeful believed any talks with Hamas would "require mandatory conditions'' and Hamas would have to renounce violence and "abandon its goal of eradicating Israel". Obama previously said in a debate last July that, if elected, he would hold unconditional talks with the leaders of Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba. However in April he denounced Hamas as a "terrorist organisation" and said the US should only negotiate with Hamas "if they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements".
Source : Aljazeera.net