political news

The US military is to hand over control of its last remaining detention centre in Iraq, as it increases the pace of its withdrawal from the country.

The Iraqi authorities will take charge of 1,600 of the 1,800 detainees at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad's airport.

The US military has been asked to hold the remainder, some of them alleged members of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Earlier this week, 26 former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, including his deputy PM Tariq Aziz, were transferred.

Mr Aziz gave himself up in April 2003, about a month after the US-led invasion, and had been housed at Camp Cropper in special quarters.

The 74-year-old was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the 1992 execution of 42 merchants found guilty of profiteering.

Another 29 former regime figures were handed over to Iraq last year. Only one, Abdul Ghani Abdul Ghafour, faces the death penalty.

The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad says the handover of Camp Cropper will be met with a mixed reaction.

On the one hand it falls in line with the ever-increasing pace of the US military withdrawal and the full transfer of sovereignty, our correspondent says.

But if the US has a chequered history of care for its detainees in Iraq - most notably the photographed abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in 2004 - so the record of post-Saddam Iraqi administrations is little better, he adds.

Persistent cases have come to light of detainees being held without charge, sometimes in secret prisons, suffering excruciating torture.

Prisoners have also complained about overcrowding and poor conditions.

However, Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim insisted the Iraqi authorities were ready to assume take control of Camp Cropper.

"We have been running dozens of prisons, and we are confident of our ability to run all prisons," he told the Associated Press.

Eight members of the former regime, including ex-defence minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie, are among the 200 detainees who will remain in US custody.

They will be handed over before US forces withdraw in December 2011. Some 50,000 combat troops are scheduled to leave by the end of August.

Gen Petraeus has made clear Nato and the Afghan government must work hand in hand, a BBC correspondent says.

His anti-insurgency strategy in Iraq won praise and he hopes to repeat it.

His predecessor, Gen Stanley McChrystal, was sacked after he and his aides mocked and criticized political leaders in Washington and Kabul.

Gen Petraeus has already warned the Taliban militants are confident and resilient but he has overcome unwinnable situations before, the BBC's Quentin Somerville reports from Kabul.

He arrived in Afghanistan on Friday night and spent Saturday meeting US, Afghan and other officials, delivering a speech to some 1,700 invited guests on the lawn of the US embassy in Kabul.

"Civilian and military, Afghan and international, we are part of one team with one mission," Gen Petraeus said.

"On this important endeavour, co-operation is not optional"

Gen Petraeus has already warned that the conflict may become more difficult before major improvements are won.

He and US President Barack Obama have both insisted a change of personnel at the top does not mean a change in strategy.

"This is a tough mission, there is nothing easy about it," the general said on Saturday.

"But working together we can achieve progress and we can achieve our mutual objective."

The gathering on the lawn was upbeat with a rock band playing while dignitaries sat in tents eating popcorn, hamburgers and ice cream, the Associated Press reports.

But the positive tone was dampened by talk of Friday's deadly attack on a house used by an American aid organisation in the northern city of Kunduz, and the accidental killing of two Afghan civilians during a raid in the south, the news agency adds.

US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry welcomed Gen Petraeus at the embassy gathering, saying: "Welcome aboard. You are welcome at this embassy 24-7."

Mr Eikenberry was one of the US officials criticised by Gen McChrystal in the Rolling Stone article that led to his sacking.

Avigdor Lieberman said it was an "insult" that the talks took place in Brussels without his prior knowledge.

It was Israel and Turkey's first meeting since a serious diplomatic rift over the killing of Turkish activists on an aid ship bound for Gaza in May.

The two men met and agreed to fully co-operate in future, officials said.

On Wednesday, Israeli Trade Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer held secret talks with Turkey's Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, in Brussels.

Correspondents say Mr Ben-Eliezer is the most pro-Turkish member of the Israeli cabinet, while Mr Lieberman's hardline approach to Palestinians and Israeli-Arabs has made him unpopular abroad.

Mr Lieberman was not aware of the meeting until it was reported by the Israeli media.

"This is an insult to the norms of accepted behaviour and a heavy blow to the confidence between the foreign minister and the prime minister," he said in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Netanyahu's office later released a statement blaming "technical reasons" for the failure.

No statements were released after Friday's meeting at Mr Netanyahu's residence, but officials said the two agreed that failing to inform Mr Lieberman of the meeting was a "mistake".

Mr Netanyahu also promised better co-ordination with Mr Lieberman in the future, they added.

Ankara curtailed diplomatic relations with Israel in May, after the naval raid in which nine Turks were killed.

The country, which had been Israel's most important Muslim ally, has demanded an apology and compensation for the victims' families.

Israel has so far refused, saying its commandos acted in self-defence after being attacked by a group of passengers on the ship, which was part of a flotilla trying to break its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israel has also rejected Ankara's demands for an international inquiry, agreeing only to an internal investigation involving two foreign observers.

President Obama says he has had what he called blunt talks with President Hu Jintao of China on the issue of the sinking - allegedly by North Korea - of a South Korean warship in March.

Mr Obama said he understood China's position of restraint as regards its neighbour.

But, he said, restraint was different to what he called "willful blindness".

North Korea has denied it was responsible for the sinking of the warship, the Cheonan.

Its foreign ministry has instead issued a statement saying the country would be preparing a new level of nuclear deterrent in response to US "hostility".

The United States wants China to support a resolution in the United Nations Security Council condemning North Korea.

Speaking at a press conference after the G20 meeting Mr Obama said he hoped President Hu would recognise the incident was an example of North Korea overstepping the line.

International investigators said the South Korean warship had been hit by a North Korean torpedo.

The Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told reporters he has also asked China to issue a "necessary" condemnation of the sinking.

On Saturday, the US president had said North Korea must be "held to account" for the sinking of a South Korean warship.

He said he stood with South Korean leader Lee Myung-Bak, and condemned Pyongyang's "irresponsible behaviour".

The G8 leaders had issued a statement condemning the attack on 26 March that caused the loss of 46 lives.

The statement also expressed the G8 leaders' "gravest concern that the nuclear test and missile activities carried out by the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea have further generated increased tension in the region and beyond, and that there continues to exist a clear threat to international peace and security."

North Korea said on Sunday that the investigation which blamed it for the ship attack was all "fabrication and lies".

US President Barack Obama has said North Korea must be "held to account" for the sinking of a South Korean warship.

He said he stood with South Korean leader Lee Myung-Bak, and condemned Pyongyang's "irresponsible behaviour".

His comments came shortly after the G8 group of industrialised nations meeting in Toronto condemned the sinking of the corvette Cheonan earlier this year.

North Korea has denied attacking the ship.

An international investigation concluded that it was sunk by a North Korean torpedo.

After meeting the South Korean leader on the sidelines of the summit, Mr Obama said: "There has to be consequences for such irresponsible behaviour."

The G8 leaders also criticised of North Korea - and Iran - over their nuclear activities, and they described the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip as "not sustainable".

And they admitted that the global financial crisis had compromised efforts to meet UN targets for reducing world poverty.

Canada is also hosting a summit of the wider G20 group of industrial and developing powers, which will will discuss the global economy and financial reform.

Thousands of demonstrators marched on the G20 summit on Saturday in what is being reported to have been a largely peacefully rally that saw outbreaks of violence on its edges. These saw groups of young men scuffle with riot police and set fire to at least two patrol cars.

In their final summit statement, the G8 - the US, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Japan - said: "We deplore the attack on 26 March that caused the sinking of the Republic of Korea's naval vessel, the Cheonan, resulting in tragic loss of 46 lives."

Noting that an international investigation had found that, despite its denials, Pyongyang was to blame for the attack that sank the warship, the statement adds: "We condemn, in this context, the attack which led to the sinking of the Cheonan.

"We demand that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea refrain from committing any attacks or threatening hostilities against the Republic of Korea."

Reuters news agency says the statement was not as strongly worded as some nations, including the United States, had hoped. It says Russia was said to have held out against stronger language.

The statement also expresses the G8 leaders' "gravest concern that the nuclear test and missile activities carried out by the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea have further generated increased tension in the region and beyond, and that there continues to exist a clear threat to international peace and security."

The document calls on Iran to carry out a "transparent dialogue" over its controversial nuclear programme.

"We are profoundly concerned by Iran's continued lack of transparency regarding its nuclear activities and its stated intention to continue and expand enriching uranium," it says.

The UN Security Council earlier this month approved a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran for failing to halt nuclear enrichment. The measures include tighter finance curbs and an expanded arms embargo, but not the crippling sanctions the US had wanted.

On Gaza, the communique says the G8 leaders "deeply regret" the loss of life and injuries in the aid flotilla that was stormed by Israeli commandos last month as it was approaching the Palestinian territory. Nine Turkish activists died on board the flotilla's main ship.

In a reference to the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory, which is controlled by Islamist group Hamas, it says: "We urge all parties to work together... to ensure the flow of humanitarian and commercial goods and persons, to and from Gaza. The current arrangements are not sustainable and must be changed."