'Top UK ex-diplomat sharply criticises US invasion of Iraq'

LONDON, July 17: One of the most senior former diplomats of Britain has described the US invasion of Iraq as "politically illegitimate" in a new book that the Government has blocked, a media report today said.

Sir Jereme Greenstock, who was UK ambassador to the UN during the build-up to the 2003 war and the Prime Minister's special envoy to Iraq in its aftermath, charged in his book, entittled 'The Costs of War', that UN negotiations 'never rose over the level of awkward diversion for the US administration,' The Observer reported.

Although 'honourable decisions' were made to remove the threat of Saddam, the opportunities of the post-conflict period were 'dissipated in poor policy analysis and narrow-minded execution', Greenstock charged.

"The decision to block the book until Greenstock removes substantial passages will be interpreted as an attempt by ministers to avoid further embarrassing disclosures over the conduct of the war and its aftermath from a highly credible source," the report said.

"Officials who have seen the book are understood to have been 'deeply shocked' over the way in which Greenstock has quoted widely from 'privileged' private conversations with Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and from the private deliberations of the UN Security Council," it said.

Greenstock has been asked to remove all these sections before the book can be cleared for publication, the paper claimed. Greenstock is also thought to be scathing about Bremer and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. (PTI)

Israel threatens Gaza offensive 'within hours'

JERUSALEM, July 17: Israel could launch a ground offensive in the occupied Gaza Strip ''within hours'' unless the Palestinian Authority cracks down on Islamic militants there, a senior government official was quoted as saying today.

Israel Radio quoted Deputy Defence Minister Zeev Boim as saying tanks and troops that massed near Gaza over the weekend would begin a sweep of the coastal strip ''within hours'' if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas failed to meet the crackdown demand.

Abbas urged Hamas and kindred Islamic militants yesterday to halt attacks on Israel and return to a ceasefire seen as key to securing an orderly Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as planned next month. He also blamed Israel for the truce's near collapse.

The Palestinian president's appeals came amid escalating violence and vows of revenge by Hamas over the killing of seven of its gunmen in Israeli strikes.

Calm in Gaza is seen as key to securing an orderly Israeli withdrawal from the territory next month as planned.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who ordered military actions against militants stepped up after a Palestinian suicide bombing and a rocket attack killed six Israelis last week, has vowed not to withdraw from Gaza under fire.

Israeli officials have said the army might carry out wide-scale raids and reoccupy Palestinian areas near the 21 Jewish settlements to be evacuated. (AGENCIES)

6 dead as small plane crashes off Pacific coast of Costa Rica

SAN JOSE (COSTA RICA), July 17: Costa Rican authorities reported six people dead in a small-plane wreck off the Pacific coast, about 260 kilometers northeast of San Jose. No survivors were reported.

The plane was piloted by Greg Gund, 32, said Miguel Corrales, an official with the Costa Rica Coast Guard. Acquaintances said Gund came from a prominent Cleveland family and had lived for about five years in a village about 10 kilometers south of the crash site, where he operated a gym.

George Gund, former owner of the San Jose Sharks hockey team, said his son, Greg, was aboard a plane that crashed in Costa Rica yesterday. Speaking from a telephone number listed in Nantucket, Massachusetts, he told The Associated Press last night that his son's body had not been recovered.

Asked whether his son had died in the crash, George Gund said: "It's hard to say ... That's the feeling I have."

He declined further comment.

U.S. Embassy officials in San Jose refused to comment on the crash.

Divers alerted authorities yesterday morning after discovering three bodies - a man, woman and a child - floating near Flamingo Beach.

Three more bodies were spotted inside the twisted wreckage of a seaplane underwater near Plata Island, off Flamingo Beach, authorities said.

The wreckage was located about 40 meters below the surface. Divers suspended effort to recover the bodies inside until today. (AP)

Hu congratulates Taiwan's new oppn leader on election victory

BEIJING, July 17 : In an unprecedented goodwill gesture, Chinese President Hu Jintao today congratulated Taiwan's new opposition party leader, Ma Ying-jeou on his election as Chairman of the Kuomintang Party (KMT), hoping that he would promote better cross-Straits relations and create a "bright future" for the Chinese nation.

"I sincerely hope that the KMT and the Communist Party of China (CPC), together with compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, will continue to promote the peaceful and steady development of cross-Straits relations, and join hands to create a bright future for the Chinese nation," Hu said in a message to Ma.

Ma, 55, an incumbent KMT vice chairman and Mayor of Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, was elected new chairman of the KMT yesterday.

Ma defeated Wang Jyn-pyng, another KMT vice chairman, by winning 72.36 per cent of votes in the election to take over as the party chief from Lien Chan, who made a historic trip to the Chinese mainland in April this year at the invitation of Hu, who is also General Secretary of the ruling CPC.

It is apparently the first time that the CPC General Secretary is personally sending a congratulatory message to a Taiwanese leader since the two sides split in 1949.

Reports from Taipei said that Ma and Wang campaigned on similar platforms, including advocating better relations with China, Taiwan's biggest trade partner, and promising a presidential victory in 2008. (PTI)