Twin boys from Egypt successfully separated in 34-hour surgery

DALLAS, Oct 13: Two-year-old Egyptian twins joined at the top of their heads were successfully separated, but face a long recovery after the Marathon surgery that lasted 26 hours and took more than a year of planning.

News of yesterday’s successful separation of Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim overjoyed their parents, surgeons and caregivers.

"At one point when someone came up and said you have two boys, the father jumped to my neck and he hugged me and he fainted and I cared for him. He told me that he never dreamt of such a moment," said Dr. Nasser Abdel Al, who was one of the twins’ doctors in Egypt and with the family in Dallas.

"The mother on the other hand was crying like everybody else. She was there thanking everybody around and thanking her faith that brought her to this great place _ Dallas, Texas."

As surgeons worked to finish closing the boys’ head wounds, part of the medical team at children’s medical center Dallas talked Sunday about the successful completion of the surgery.

Ahmed and Mohamed, who had an intricate connection of blood vessels but separate brains, were physically separated about 26 hours after they entered the operating room. Doctors then went to work covering the head wounds. The entire surgery took 34 hours. The twins were listed in critical but stable condition, and doctors said the surgery went according to plan. Concerns now include risk of infection and how the wounds will heal.

Dr. Kenneth salyer, a craniofacial surgeon who founded the world craniofacial foundation that brought the boys to Dallas, said his feelings had ranged "from moments of ecstasy to moments of anxiety."

Dr Dale Swift, a Pediatric neurosurgeon, said it was too early to tell if the boys would have neurological damage. He said the boys’ post-surgical care will be vital to their recovery.

After leaving the operating room, the boys will be taken to an intensive care unit, where they will remain in a drug-induced coma for three to five days. Both boys will need additional reconstructive surgery in coming years.

The boys were born June 2, 2001, by Caesarean section to Sabah Abu El-Wafa and her husband, Ibrahim Mohammed Ibrahim. Both parents, from El-Homr, some 400 miles south of Cairo, were in Dallas for the surgery.

A team of specialists determined in June 2002 that the boys could be separated, though the risks included possible brain damage and death. The boys’ father told doctors he felt it was worth it to give them a chance at a normal life. (AP)

US picked Iraqi council says it needs US for some time

PUTRAJAYA (MALAYSIA), Oct 13 : Even as the Muslim world today called for an end to US occupation of Iraq within a "specific" timeframe, Washington’s hand-picked interim governing council in Iraq today said American presence was needed and appealed to OIC nations to contribute peacekeeping forces. "Yes, legally under international law there is an occupying power controlling Iraq and this is the feeling of most of the Muslim countries - they want this State of Affairs to be ended as soon as possible, and we share this view, but we believe this needs to be done in a gradual way, in a phased way," said Hoshyar Zebari of the interim governing council who represented Iraq at the Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) here.

"Nobody should question the Iraqi people’s willingness and desire to regain their sovereignty and full independence, but we understand at the same time it’s not easy, it’s a complicated issue," Zebari told reporters.

He also strongly opposed the issue of Turkish Peacekeeping Forces in Iraq saying "the governing council feels it is better not to involve and engage any of Iraq’s neighbouring countries in peacekeeping missions because of the sensitivities of the whole issue".

At the same time he said international peacekeepers were required to strengthen the security situation in Iraq but regretted that not many Muslim nations were forthcoming in pledging their troops for the operations in his country.

"I don’t think there is any desire by the Muslim countries to send troops. That is the feeling I am getting from my initial contacts," Zebari said.

Most Muslim countries, including Malaysia, rejected the idea ofsending peacekeepers to Iraq - desired by Washington to relieve the burden on its 130,000 US troops -without at least a UN stamp of approval.

Earlier inaugurating the OIC foreign ministers’ meet, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said "the occupying powers must work in earnest on a timetable for a democratically elected Government to be installed within a reasonably prompt time frame.

Qatar Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al-Thani said Muslim states needed to push for a specific timetable for ending the US occupation of Iraq.

"It is our duty to provide the necessary support to the Iraqi people, and proclaim our attachment to Iraq’s unity, territorial integrity and the right to self-determination," he said.

Even as they stressed on the Americans leaving Iraq as soon as possible, Jordanian representative Musa Braiza, said the OIC leaders would not discuss the divisive issue of peacekeeping forces this week.

"The sentiment of this meeting is that stability should come as soon as possible in Iraq," Braiza said. The countries "will do anything possible and everything positive. But the question of forces is now not on the agenda." (PTI)

Newsmaker-S Korea’s Roh in biggest gamble of his life

SEOUL, Oct 13: As if uncertainty about the economy and North Korea’s nuclear arms ambitions were not enough, President Roh Moo-Hyun has taken South Korea into uncharted territory with his call for a referendum on his rule.

Roh told Parliament today he wanted to renew his mandate after a series of scandals by holding a referendum in December — just a year after he was elected for a single five-year term.

The 57-year-old former lawyer said that if he lost, he would step down in February and hold a Presidential election in April.

Although Roh insisted his decision was not imprudent, the drastic move baffled many of South Korea’s 48 million people and united admirers and critics in condemnation of his "brinkmanship" — a term normally associated with the mercurial North Koreans.

Overshadowing the quest for constitutional guidance on what to do when a leader in effect launches a no-confidence motion against himself was the search for a method behind the apparent madness.

Roh’s decision to put his future in the hands of voters —unveiled last Friday in an unscripted news conference — was triggered by prosecution allegations that a close aide of 20 years was involved in a widening political funding scandal.

But he said ttday he wanted the poll to restore "moral standards among the country’s leaders", adding that he would "abandon the Presidency with pleasure" if that brought reform.

If there was some admiration in Seoul for his candour and detachment, there was far more criticism that he had forgotten the gravity of his job in resorting to populism.

Roh is a self-educated lawyer from a farming family who ould not afford college and took low-paying odd jobs in between self-study, finally passing the bar examination in 1975. He spent the early 1980s defending student and labour activists, joining the pro-Democracy movement himself in 1987.

Roh has been an outsider from the time he led a student boycott in 1960 against mandatory essays praising Seoul’s autocratic first President. Teachers said that he was stubborn, with a special talent for forcefully expressing his opinion.

A decade ago, he quit his mentor’s party over a merger that enabled that man to become President. Last month, Roh quit his ruling party, decimating his already weak support in Parliament.

"If we look at his political history, every time he was in a critical moment he would either charge ahead or use risky strategies with his political career at stake," said the Joongang Ilbo Daily, a staunch critic of Roh.

"Every radical step that he has taken has succeeded," the daily acknowledged. "If the recent request for a vote of public confidence came from the same chain of thinking in the past, he is overlooking the weight of his office," it said.

In contrast to the negative reaction among the establishment to his gambit, public opinion polls have indicated that voters would return Roh by a margin of about 10 percent — far greater than the two percent cushion by which he won office in 2002. (AGENCIES)

Fitch upgrades China outlook ahead of bond issue

HONG KONG, Oct 13: Fitch ratings upgraded China’s long-term foreign currency rating outlook to positive from stable on Monday ahead of roadshows to market the country’s first bond issue in more than two years later this week.

Fitch’s long-term foreign currency rating for China is a-minus, while the long-term local currency rating is A.

"Exceptionally strong external finances support the positive outlook, but the ratings remain constrained by domestic weakness, notably in the banking sector," Fitch said in a statement.

China will launch investor presentations for its global bond sale on Thursday, a banking source said.

China plans to sell US 1 billion of dollar-denominated debt and another 500 million of euro bonds, with pricing expected around October 22 or 23.

Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have been selected as joint bookrunners to sell the dollar-denominated debt, while ubs, Deutsche bank and BNP paribas have been mandated to sell the euro portion of the offering.

China last sold a global bond in May 2001, raising US 1 billion through a 10-year tranche and 550 million euro through a five-year offering.

Asian dollar bond spreads were little changed on Monday morning, with holidays in the United States and Japan ensuring trade was muted as traders await the fresh issuance.

The head of credit trading at a European bank in Hong Kong said that sentiment remained firm and that he expected spreads to continue their tightening trend.

"I think spreads are likely to trade tighter given the hopes for economic recovery," he said.

Other traders also reported little market activity, although prices were marked slightly tighter than their Friday close.

"Based on how we closed on Friday it looks like the rest of the week is going to be fairly positive," said another trader. "There’s obviously a few important deals coming out of Asia fairly soon, so obviously all eyes are on them."

Singapore power is roadshowing its US 2.2 billion bond issue, set to be emerging Asia’s single biggest transaction this year. Investor presentations began in Singapore on Thursday and have now moved on to London and New York. Pricing is expected later this week.

Indian issuers are also returning to the dollar bond market after a long absence.

ICICI Bank Ltd ICBK.Bo , India’s second-largest bank, has set initial price guidance on its planned US 300 million, five-year bond at 120 basis points over libor, a banking source said on Monday.

The bond, which is being led by Deutsche Bank and Merrill lynch, is India’s first dollar-denominated debt offering in nearly six years. Pricing is expected on thursday.

In Hong Kong, traders said spreads on Hutchison Whampoa Ltd 0013.HK paper continued to contract, despite rumours that banks have been pitching proposals to the company to issue new bonds.

Hutchison, controlled by Asia’s richest businessman Li Ka-Shing, has raised more than US 4.5 billion in dollar- and euro-denominated debt this year.

Spreads on Hutchison’s bonds due in 2013 HK016317632= were quoted at 180/173 BPs over comparable US treasuries, two to three bps tighter than the New York close. (AGENCIES)

No end to Japan deflation seen yet - Boj’s Hirano

SINGAPORE, Oct 13: Bank of Japan Assistant Governor Eiji Hirano said on Monday Japan’s deflation problem was not going to be solved in the foreseeable future despite signs of stronger economic growth.

Speaking to a lunch at the world economic forum east Asia summit in Singapore, Hirano noted signs of economic improvement in Japan such as increasing capital spending by business, increasing profitability and early signs of a lift in household spending.

"Do these signs mean that the deflationary pressures are going to go away? The answer is no, not yet, not in the foreseeable future," Hirano said. (AGENCIES)

US soldier dies in Iraq landmine attack

BAGHDAD, Oct 13: A US soldier was killed and one wounded when their bradley fighting vehicle struck a landmine near the town of Bayji in northern Iraq last night, a US military spokesman said.

"The Bbradley struck a landmine. It could have been put there minutes before or hours before," Major Gordon Tate told in fugitive Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s home town of Tikrit.

Yesteday’s attack brought to 95 the number of US soldiers killed in action in Iraq since President George W Bush declared major combat over on May 1.

Occupying forces have been constant targets for guerrillas that Washington says are Saddam loyalists.

Earlier yesterday, a two-car suicide bomb attack aimed at a hotel used by US officials on central Baghdad’s main street killed six Iraqis and wounded dozens.

The attacks dealt a further blow to Bush, who is trying to bolster support for his invasion of Iraq by highlighting postwar successes. Polls show his popularity tumbling as the cost of the war in lives and money mounts.

Washington is pushing for a new UN Security Council resolution giving the United Nations a broader mandate to try to persuade reluctant countries tohelp in stabilising Iraq. (AGENCIES)

Schroeder returns home to twist party rebels’ arms

BERLIN, Oct 13: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder today returns to domestic troubles as he bids to quell a rebellion in his party over labour market reforms that threaten to bring down his Government.

Schroeder, who visited the west Asia and Russia last week and attended a Franco-German summit in Paris yesterday, is expected to redouble the pressure on waverers within his social democratic party during a special meeting beginning today. Schroeder will put key parts of his "agenda 2010" social welfare reforms to the bundestag lower house of Parliament on Friday, including plans to cut unemployment benefit and to pull the economy out of stagnation with tax cuts.

Markets will be watching Schroeder closely this week.

"If the Government wins the vote on Friday, we won’t see much reaction, but if it doesn’t it becomes very big news," said Elga Bartsch, economist at Morgan Stanley in London.

"The reforms are not enough in themselves, but at least they go in the right direction."

He has threatened to resign if his SPD-greens coalition does not back him, but he knows his majority of just nine seats over the combined opposition is precarious.

The Government is likely to find many of their plans blocked by the opposition which controls the upper house of Parliament, but before then, Schroeder must convince waverers within his own ranks to accept the changes.

Six members of Schroeder’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) have threatened to derail plans to force the unemployed to accept jobs offered to them but are coming under fierce pressure to yield.

The SPD will hold a test vote today and hold another meeting on Tuesday.

The SPD’s Parliamentary floor leader Franz Muentefering indicated on public television on Sunday that the party was ready to discuss some controversial issues, including the provisions obliging the unemployed to take low-paid jobs.

"There’s movement but no decision," he said, adding that he was confident about the outcome in Parliament. "I’m sure we’ll manage it.

Bernhard Wessels, political scientist at Berlin’s free university, said he did not believe the Government would fall.

"The resignation threat will have a strong impact. It’s going to be tight, but I think they’ll just about make it... Some compromises will be found. Nothing big, but just enough to squeeze it through." (AGENCIES)

Iraqi boy orphaned by missile raid gets new arms in London

LONDON, Oct 13: A 13-year-old Iraqi war orphan, who lost both arms and suffered 60 per cent burns in a coalition missile attack on Baghdad before US troops stormed the capital, has been fitted with new artificial arms in London.

The daily mirror reported today that Ali Abbas, pictures of whom were beamed around the world at the time, was pleased with the progress.

"I’m all here now. My arms feel good. I didn’t think they’d look this good," Ali told the tabloid.

"Now I want to hug my sisters and the rest of my family. I also want to brush my teeth by myself and wash my face," he said from Queen Mary’s hospital in southwest London.

Ali lost his parents and 13 other family members in the raid carried out by US forces.

After initial treatment in Iraq, he was taken to Kuwait for further treatment, before being flown to Britain, where his suffering has drawn keen interest and sympathy.

According to the mirror, Ali has been fitted with a cosmetic prosthetic on his left side and an artificial limb on the right with an electrode touching the muscle on his stump to open and close his hand.

He faces months of occupational therapy, and the limbs will need to be replaced at intervals as he grows. (DPA)

Sri Lankan films threatened by Indian movies

NEW DELHI, Oct 13: Sri Lanka’s commercial filmmakers feel threatened by the huge popularity of Indian films in the country, including soft porn films from South India, and the Government has done nothing to address the problem though LTTE chief V Prabhakaran has imposed a ban on the porn films, renowned Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage today said at the 34th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here.

Stressing that "the future of Asian cinema will be affected badly by Hollywood if Asian filmmakers don’t cooperate", Vithanage, who is known as the Satyajit Ray of Sri Lankan cinema, said commercial Indian films and their music are very popular in his country and last year 1250 Indian movies were screened there.

The most popular Hindi film actors are Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. There is also a huge chunk of soft porn films from South India coming into Sri Lanka and actress Shakila is very popular, he told reporters.

"Commercial film makers feel threatened but you can’ t control it. Also, for people benefiting from the soft porn films it is easier to import than produce," he said.

Earlier, upto 1987, there was an unofficial ban on Hindi films. Only about two Hindi films were screened per year. But later with the influx of video cassettes in the markets, people started comparing Sri Lankan artistes with their Indian counterparts and the popularity of commercial Sri Lankan films declined.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supremo V Prabhakaran has banned the soft porn films on the ground that they will have a bad effect on the youth but the Government of Sri Lanka is yet to take a stand, he said.

However, Vithanage also pointed out that he wasn’t complaining about the popularity of Indian cinema in the west as Indian films have created a market for Asian cinema in the West and this also benefits other Asian countries.

"I am able to go behind you," he said, adding that Sri Lankan films also benefit from the technology available to Indian filmmakers. "I’m able to express myself better because of the Chennai laboratory. I am gaining from your success. So thank you," he said.

Vithanage’s film Ira Madiyama (August Sun) is part of the Asian cinema competition at this year s IFFI. One of his earlier movies, made at a time when the Army was facing many casualties in the Wanni areas, was banned by the Government on the ground that it would discourage the youth from joining the Army. But later the country’s Supreme Court had ruled that a movie could only be banned by the Censor Board, which had passed it, and the minister had to pay a compensation to him.

Ira Madiyama has also not yet been released in Sri Lanka. "We have still not submitted it to the Censor Board. Whether or not it is passed will depend on the political agenda of the Government at that moment of time. Some time the Government says we are for peace, sometimes it says we are for war," said Vithanage, adding that he makes films to keep his sanity intact. (UNI)

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