Russia summons UK envoy over row

The Russian foreign ministry has summoned the UK ambassador amid an escalating row over the reopening of two British Council offices.

The Council's branches reopened on Monday despite a government ban.

Russia called the move a "provocation" and said it would not issue new visas to British Council staff.

The offices were ordered to shut last month in the latest clash over the fatal poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London.

The branches which reopened are in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The ban does not apply to the British Council's Moscow office.

'Inflaming tensions'

A statement on the Russian foreign ministry's website said: "Russia views such actions as an intentional provocation aimed at inflaming tensions in Russian-British relations.

UK-RUSSIA ROW Nov 2006: Alexander Litvinenko dies in London May 2007: UK accuses ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi of murder July: Russia refuses UK request to extradite Mr Lugovoi July: UK expels four Russian diplomats July: Russia expels four British embassy staff December: Russia tells British Council to shut two offices Jan 2008: British Council re-opens both offices

"The Russian side will not issue visas to new employees sent to work in the (British) consular offices of St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg to carry out British Council work."

The UK embassy in the Russian capital declined to comment on the schedule of the ambassador, Sir Tony Brenton.

But BBC Moscow correspondent Richard Galpin says the envoy will appear at the Russian foreign ministry on Monday afternoon.

He says the escalating diplomatic crisis between the two countries is now coming to a head and it is not clear if either side is willing to back down.

The British Council, which aims to promote cultural and educational ties, was accused of violating Russian tax rules.

A spokesman for the Council insisted on Monday that its activities were "fully compliant with Russian and international law".

"We believe we're caught up in a political matter," the spokesman told the BBC News website.

'Valuable work'

The British Council's chief executive, Martin Davidson, said they would continue talking to the Russians in the hope of continuing their work.

He told the BBC: "We have to understand the issues, the problems they have with our work, but we believe [our work] is enormously valuable.

Russia has linked its action to wider British-Russian tensions

"We know ordinary Russian people believe it is of real value to them, as well of course to us here in the UK, to have that relationship with Russia."

The offices in Yekaterinburg are on the premises of the UK consulate-general.

The row came on top of continuing tensions over the death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006. He had been given a fatal dose of radioactive polonium 210.

The UK wants Russia to hand over businessman Andrei Lugovoi, whom UK investigators suspect of murdering Mr Litvinenko.

When Russia refused to extradite Mr Lugovoi, Britain expelled four Russian diplomats and Moscow followed suit.

Russian officials have described the action against the British Council as a retaliatory measure.

British team joins Pakistan Bhutto probe

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - British anti-terror officers came to Pakistan Friday to join the investigation into Benazir Bhutto's assassination, a day after President Pervez Musharraf dismissed allegations his government may have had a hand in the slaying.

The Scotland Yard team will provide forensic and technical expertise but will not be allowed to go on a

"wild goose chase and create a political disturbance,"

Musharraf told a news conference late Thursday.

Bhutto's killing on Dec. 27 plunged an already volatile Pakistan deeper into crisis as it battled a surge in violence by al-Qaida and Taliban extremists. It also forced a six-week delay in parliamentary elections, now set for Feb. 18, which were seen as crucial to restoring stability and democracy to this U.S. ally.

Musharraf, a former army chief who seized power in a 1999 coup, rejected accusations that a security lapse led to Bhutto's killing and suggested she was partly at fault because she poked her head out of her bombproof vehicle's sunroof after an election rally despite threats by Islamic extremists.

He acknowledged his decision to seek outside help to investigate the killing was partly to allay suspicions of government complicity. Bhutto had accused elements in the ruling party of plotting to kill her.

"Here's a situation where maybe we need to go beyond ourselves to prove to the world and our people here, who are emotionally charged, that we don't mind going to any extent, as nobody is involved from the government side or the agencies,"

Musharraf said.

The British officers declined to comment to reporters as they arrived at Islamabad airport Friday morning.

Rioting following Bhutto's death killed nearly 60 people and caused about $1.3 billion in damage in the worst-hit province of Sindh, authorities say.

The government quickly accused an Islamic militant of orchestrating the shooting and bombing attack on Bhutto and said she died from the force of the blast and not a gunshot wound. Many in this country of 160 million people, already skeptical of their government, questioned that account and Bhutto's party has demanded a U.N. probe.

Musharraf maintained Pakistan was capable of conducting its own investigation — saying it was no "banana republic" — but acknowledged the government may have erred in giving a precise cause of death just a day after Bhutto's killing although no autopsy was conducted.

"One should not give a statement that's 100 percent final. That's the flaw that we suffer from,"

Musharraf said, noting that more evidence was emerging into the attack.

"We needed more experience, maybe more forensic and technical experience that our people don't have. Therefore, I thought Scotland Yard may be more helpful."

He further conceded shortcomings in Pakistan's handling of the case, including the hosing down of the bomb site hours after the attack, widely seen as undermining a detailed forensic examination. But he dismissed any suggestion there was a plan to conceal evidence.

"I'm not fully satisfied. I will accept that: cleaning the area. Why did they do that? If you are meaning they did that by design I would say no. It's just inefficiency, people thinking things have to be cleared, traffic has to go through,"

he said.

Musharraf blamed Taliban militant leaders Baitullah Mehsud and Maulana Fazlullah, also believed linked to al-Qaida, for a wave of suicide attacks. The government has already accused Mehsud of orchestrating the Bhutto attack, which a Mehsud spokesman has denied. The government published what it said was a communications intercept in which Mehsud allegedly congratulated some of his henchmen.

The president, a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, said killing Mehsud — who in the intercept gave his location as a town in the lawless tribal region of South Waziristan — was no easy matter. It would require a division of troops and cause major civilian casualties, he said.

Still, Musharraf denied al-Qaida was getting stronger in Pakistan.

He said Pakistan needed political reconciliation to fight terror, and he hoped the elections would haul the country out of its current crisis.

"This is the greatest threat Pakistan has and we have to have political reconciliation to fight it together,"

he said.

Pakistan polls set for delay

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Parliamentary elections seen as key to restoring democracy are set to be postponed for weeks in the wake of Benazir Bhutto's assassination, Pakistani officials said Monday.

A senior government official said that he expected a six-week delay in the elections now slated for Jan. 8, despite calls from Bhutto's party, other opposition politicians and world leaders for the polls to be held on time. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.

Election Commission Secretary Kanwar Dilashad told reporters that a decision on the timing would be announced on Tuesday, but a recommendation

"has been sent to the government for a delay."

The opposition has accused the commission of favoring President Pervez Musharraf's backers.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the country's most prominent opposition leader, threatened street protests if the vote was delayed.

"We will agitate,"

he told The Associated Press in an interview.

"We will not accept this postponement."

With newly released video footage of Bhutto's killing raising fresh questions about the government's version of how the former prime minister died, accusations of official complicity in the assassination could lead to major electoral gains for her backers and Sharif's. The government has rejected charges of involvement in Bhutto's death.

Western governments are also urging the government not to delay the polls, which they see as a key step in U.S.-backed plans to restore democracy to the nation as it battles Taliban and al-Qaida militants.

Foreign election monitors cautioned, however, that a full observation mission would be impossible if the polls went ahead next week because the unrest had caused them to delay preparations.

"We cannot follow our standard methods if the date stays Jan. 8,"

said Mathias Eick, a spokesman for the European Union-led mission, saying the best it could manage was a limited assessment.

Sharif urged Musharraf to step down immediately and be replaced by a national unity government.

"He is a one-man calamity,"

Sharif told reporters.

"The United States should see that Musharraf has not limited or curbed terrorism. In fact terrorism is now stronger than ever before with more sinister aspects."

Bhutto was killed in a suicide bomb and gun attack on Thursday, but disagreements between her supporters and the government over the precise cause of death are undermining confidence in Musharraf and adding to calls for international investigators to probe the killing.

The new video footage, obtained by Britain's Channel 4, shows a man firing a handgun at Bhutto from close range as she stands up in an open-topped vehicle. Her hair and shawl then move upward, suggesting she may have been shot. She then falls into the vehicle just before an explosion rocks the car.

The government has insisted Bhutto was not hit by any of the bullets and died after the force of the blast slammed her head against the sunroof. Bhutto's family and supporters say she died from gunshot wounds to her head and neck.

Bhutto's husband said late Sunday he refused permission for doctors to perform an autopsy, meaning that short of exhuming her body — something her supporters have already ruled out — the cause of her death will be difficult to establish.

After days of rioting that left at least 44 dead, life in many Pakistani cities began returning to normal, though soldiers and police patrolled many areas. The streets were still quiet in the southern city of Karachi, the scene of some of the worst violence, witnesses said.

The political uncertainty caused the stock markets to tumble on the first day of trading since the killing. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange's 100-share index plunged 694.92 points, or 4.7 percent, to 14,077.16 in its biggest single-day loss in points and percentage.

On Sunday, Bhutto's political party named her 19-year-old son, Bilawal Zardari, as its symbolic leader and left day-to-day control to her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, extending Pakistan's most enduring political dynasty. It also appealed to the party of former Prime Minister Sharif to reverse an earlier decision to boycott the polls. Sharif's party later agreed.

The two parties share a common cause now about restoring democracy in Pakistan, but while Sharif is demanding Musharraf's resignation, Zardari left open the possibility of working with the retired general if his party formed the next government.

"We will come to that position when we win the election,"

he told reporters.

The appointment of Zardari as effective leader was not without complications. A former Cabinet minister who spent eight years in prison on corruption accusations, he is known as "Mr. 10 Percent" for allegedly taking kickbacks and is viewed with suspicion by many Pakistanis.

Zardari said the opposition party had no confidence in the government's ability to bring his wife's killers to justice and urged the United Nations to establish a committee like the one investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Several leading U.S. politicians have made similar calls.

The British and U.S. governments had been pushing Bhutto, a moderate Muslim seen as friendly to the West, to form a power-sharing agreement with Musharraf after the election — a combination seen as the most effective in the fight against al-Qaida, which is believed to be regrouping in the country's lawless tribal areas.

Clock running on Bush presidency

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush's final-year agenda is a stripped down list of what he can realistically hope to get done, since the clout he once touted is fading away.

Bush will venture to four other continents, get more involved than ever in trying to forge Middle East peace, and continue to command two wars that assure his relevancy to the end. As Iraq improves, he must now deal with renewed violence in Afghanistan and upheaval in Pakistan.

At home, Bush will try to extend two domestic achievements that are dear to his legacy — the No Child Left Behind education law, and tax cuts that otherwise expire in 2010.

Long gone are the big ideas of Social Security and immigration reform, which collapsed on Capitol Hill. His final State of the Union speech in late January is expected to reflect today's policy reality, eschewing new initiatives in favor of unfinished proposals.

As at any time, Bush has forces pushing against him. But the ones in 2008 are stronger.

A hostile Congress awaits the president as he returns from fishing, cutting brush and clearing trails at his secluded Texas ranch. Bush and the Democratic Congress clashed all year on the war, spending, health care and tactics for interrogating terror suspects.

"It's going to be a year of angst and struggle — more of '07,"

said James Thurber, an American University political scientist who researches relations between the two branches.

In political terms, Bush's last year in office is really less than 12 months.

The attention of the nation and much of the world has shifted to those who want his seat in the Oval Office. The Republican nominee for president could be settled by the multistate primaries on Feb. 5, meaning someone else will be unofficial head of the party.

The opportunity for legislation in the election-year will be short, too, as little is expected to get done after Congress adjourns for a summer break. Democrats are gunning for the White House and the bigger majorities they need to govern Congress as they want.

Bush's year begins with a nine-day trip to the Middle East, a hands-on peacemaking venture that could shape his legacy — a word that Bush and his senior aides don't use.

Starting Jan. 8, the president is scheduled to travel to Israel, the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The trip is exactly the kind of process-driving diplomacy that Bush has avoided in the past, said Jon Alterman, a Mideast expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. It reflects how his presidency has gone, Alterman said, as Bush once talked of bold transformation but now tries to shepherd more incremental progress on site.

The latter approach is favored in the Middle East, but Bush's waning power will follow him, Alterman said. Some leaders don't want to give concessions to a short-term president.

"Friends and foes in the Middle East at a senior level have almost no curiosity about what the last year of this presidency holds,"

Alterman said.

The Mideast trip sets the tone for a busy year of foreign travel.

In February, Bush is expected to visit Africa to promote the global fight against AIDS, and highlight the United States' role in that effort.

He will also go to Romania in April for a NATO summit; to Japan's Lake Toya in July to meet with leaders of industrialized countries; to China in August for the Summer Olympics; and to Peru in November for the annual summit of leaders of Pacific Rim nations.

It is common for presidents to head abroad in their final year as the domestic consumption of their message diminishes. But Bush's aides say most of his trips would have happened in any year, and the narrative that Bush is escaping overseas is overstated.

Bush's State of the Union will be one of his final times in command of a prime-time audience. He is expected to use it to rally support for unfinished items, such as expanding the domestic energy supply and health care options, as opposed to last-minute policy ideas.

"We understood after immigration reform failed that this is not a Congress that's likely to pass big things,"

said Ed Gillespie, the president's counselor.

"Once they adjourn for the Fourth of July, it's hard to imagine they'll do much beyond appropriations bills. That's a realistic assessment, and the State of the Union will likely reflect that."

Bush invoked his veto power like never before in 2007, with effectiveness. But it may have erased what little chance was left of broad, meaningful compromise with lawmakers.

Lots of key items remain to be done, including terrorist surveillance legislation.

The president is also likely to stick to economic themes in 2008. He is aware that the public is frustrated and restless, which could sink Republicans in the next election. Bush's message is, the underlying economy is sound but the government must help people deal with mortgage crises, energy bills and education concerns.

Still looming, as always, is the fate of the war in Iraq.

Another key milestone comes in March with an update to Congress by Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador there.

Bush remains the decider on when, and whether, U.S. troops will return home.

"It may be the tone for the entire year is set by events he cannot control,"

Thurber said.

"The biggest unknown, of course, is what's going to happen politically in Iraq, and he can't control that, even though they have pushed and cajoled. It is a tricky situation."

Benazir Bhutto killed in attack

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated in a suicide attack.

Ms Bhutto had just addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi when she was shot in the neck by a gunman who then reportedly set off a bomb.

At least 15 other people died in the attack and several more were injured.

President Pervez Musharraf and his government called on people to remain calm so that the

"nefarious designs of terrorists can be defeated."

Ms Bhutto had twice been the country's prime minister and had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January.

Nawaz Sharif, also a former prime minister and a political rival, told media her death was a tragedy for "the entire nation".

"I can't tell you what the feelings of the people of Pakistan are today,"

he told News 24 after returning from the hospital where she was brought.

It was the second suicide attack against Benazir Bhutto in recent months and comes amid a wave of bombings targeting security and government officials.

Ms Bhutto's death has plunged her party into confusion and raised questions about whether January elections will go ahead as planned, the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says.

The PPP has the largest support of any party in the country.

Analysts note that Rawalpindi, the nerve centre of Pakistan's military, is seen as one of the country's most secure cities, making the attack even more embarrassing for the government of Gen Musharraf.

Scene of grief

The explosion occurred close to an entrance gate of the park in Rawalpindi where Ms Bhutto had been speaking.

Wasif Ali Khan, a member of the PPP who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital, said she died at 1816 (1316 GMT).

Supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog", the Associated Press (AP) reports.

Some supporters wept while others exploded in anger, throwing stones at cars and breaking windows.

Police confirmed reports Ms Bhutto had been shot in the neck and chest before the gunman blew himself up.

Mr Sharif said there had been a "serious lapse in security" by the government.

Earlier on Thursday, at least four people were killed ahead of an election rally he himself had been preparing to attend close to Rawalpindi.

Return from exile

The killing was condemned by the US, the UK, Russia and France.

"The attack shows that there are still those in Pakistan trying to undermine reconciliation and democratic development in Pakistan,"

a US state department official said.

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was "deeply shocked" by Ms Bhutto's death and called for "restraint but also unity".

"Extremist groups... cannot and must not succeed,"

he added.

Russia called on Pakistan's leaders to ensure stability while France spoke of an "odious" act and said it was deeply concerned.

Ms Bhutto returned from self-imposed exile in October after years out of Pakistan where she had faced corruption charges.

Her return was the result of a power-sharing agreement with President Musharraf in which he granted an amnesty that covered the court cases she was facing.

Since her return relations with Mr Musharraf had broken down.

On the day of her return she led a motor cavalcade through the city of Karachi. It was hit by a double suicide attack that left some 130 dead.