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Zimbabwe blocks Annan, Carter visit

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and ex-U.S. President Jimmy Carter say they have been refused entry to Zimbabwe, thwarting a humanitarian mission.

Annan, Carter and Graca Machel, the wife of former South African President Nelson Mandala, were refused visas to enter the country for a two-day visit as part of a group called the Elders set up to address international conflicts, the BBC reported Saturday.

"We had to cancel our visit because the government made it very clear that it will not cooperate," Annan told reporters in Johannesburg. Carter added that the Harare government seemed "determined to prevent our entering Zimbabwe."

The three said they had no intention of getting involved in the power struggle between Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opponents of the Movement for Democratic Change, who are locked in negotiations to share power. Instead, they said the trip had been to help people in Zimbabwe, who are facing the prospect of widespread food shortages and disease outbreaks.

Zimbabwe had earlier denied a report that it was blocking the group's visit and had no comment for the BBC after the Johannesburg news conference.

Somali factions seek to claim pirate loot

HARADHERE, Somalia, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Islamic militants and other factions are pouring into a lawless region of Somalia to grab shares of ransom being demanded by seaborne pirates, observers say.

With Somali hijackers demanding $25 million for the release of the Saudi Arabian oil supertanker Sirius Star, an array of Somali militiamen ranging from the hard-line Islamic militants of the al-Shabaab movement to tribesmen linked to the pirates themselves have descended on the town of Haradhere, the BBC reported Saturday.

"There are many militiamen who have arrived in the town and they want to get a share from the pirates if the ransom is paid," Ahmed Abdullahi, a local elder, told the BBC. "They believe this ship is huge and the owner will pay a lot of money."

The Islamic hard-liners, who are fighting against the weak Western-backed transitional government in Mogadishu, say they want to stamp out Somali piracy, especially against Muslim-owned ships such as the Sirius Star.

But others doubt their motives and say al-Shabaab is looking for a share of the pirate booty to aid the cause of international terrorism, the British broadcaster reported.

Accused Briton terrorist slain in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Fugitive British-Pakistani terrorism suspect Rashid Rauf has been killed in Pakistan by a U.S. missile strike, sources say.

Citing an unnamed senior security official, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday that Rauf, whose alleged plot to smuggle "liquid bombs" aboard international jetliners triggered stringent new security measures two years ago, was slain by a missile launched from a U.S. drone in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Rauf, 27, who grew up in Birmingham, England, and held dual Pakistani-British citizenship, had been on the run since escaping from Pakistan captors last year. The newspaper reported that the missile struck a home in the North Waziristan village of Alikhel, in a district known as a stronghold for al-Qaida and the Taliban, killing Rauf and at least three other militants.

"The transatlantic bombing plot alleged mastermind Rashid Rauf was killed along with an Egyptian al-Qaida operative in the U.S. missile strike in North Waziristan," a senior security official told the Telegraph.

Rauf's escape from police custody last year led to the questioning of 12 Pakistani police officers accused of assisting his escape or of negligence, the newspaper said.

Aubry wins French Socialist leadership

PARIS, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A razor-thin victory by Martine Aubry for the leadership of the French Socialist Party has set the stage for more factionalism on the Left, analysts say.

Aubry, the mayor of Lille and a former labor minister, defeated former French presidential candidate Segolene Royal by only 42 votes out of more than 130,000 cast Saturday, prompting Royal and her supporters to call for a new election, the International Herald Tribune reported.

Aubry, however, responded negatively, saying that there was "no reason" a new vote should be held and dashing hopes that the balloting would end squabbling and produce a unified Socialist Party.

Analysts told the newspaper that Aubry, who ran on a platform of rejecting alliances with centrists and creating a shadow Cabinet to challenge President Nicolas Sarkozy, will have a tough time convincing the general electorate to back her. Many voters, they say, disagreed with her move as part of the government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to cut the French workweek from 39 to 35 hours.

"If we are not able to get our act together, it is perhaps the end of the Socialist Party," the Herald Tribune reported Aubry as saying this month.

Bush raps Congress on carmaker aid

LIMA, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. President George W. Bush Friday criticized Congress for not voting on a compromise measure to allow automakers access to $25 billion in federal loans.

In his weekly radio address, released one day early by the White House, Bush said the big three automakers should be able to use loans authorized this year to meet their cash needs, even though the funds are meant to promote improved fuel efficiency.

The automakers have been pressing Congress for additional loans as they face a cash crisis in a slumping economy and a global financial crisis. Three U.S. senators -- Michigan Democrat Carl Levin and Republicans Christopher Bond of Missouri and George Voinovich of Ohio -- proposed a compromise but Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill delayed a vote on the measure until the carmakers present specific proposals on how they would use the funds.

"Under the law, this money is not available to help auto companies with their immediate funding challenges," Bush said. "So this past week, Senators Bond, Levin, and Voinovich came forward with a new proposal that would allow auto companies to access the loans they need -- as long as they're willing to restructure to become financially viable.

"This proposal earned support from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill," said Bush, who is in Lima for a summit meeting with leaders from nations in the Asia Pacific region. "Unfortunately, the leadership in Congress adjourned without even allowing this measure to come up for a vote."