US lawmakers publish rescue deal

US politicians have announced a $700bn deal to rescue America's financial system and end the credit crunch.

The move, backed by both Republican and Democratic leaders, allows the Treasury to spend up to $700bn (£380bn) buying bad debts from ailing banks in the US.

President George W Bush urged lawmakers to support the bill, which needs approval by both houses of Congress.

Some Republicans have voiced objections to massive state intervention in the financial sector.

The deal was announced after days of high-level wrangling between Republicans and Democrats in Congress over the content of the bill.

Both parties had vigorous objections to a proposal submitted last week by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that would have given him sweeping powers over how the money was spent.

Every American has an interest in fixing this crisis - inaction would paralyse the economy Harry Reid Senate majority leader Announcement in quotes Santander to buy parts of B&B Q&A: Bail-out plan

His plan was prompted by a string of failures in large US financial institutions, including the government bail-out of insurance giant AIG.

If approved by the Senate and House, the revised plan will lead to the biggest intervention in the markets since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, said the agreement was "not a bailout of Wall Street", but designed to ensure pensions, savings and jobs would be safe.

Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid said the deal was a big improvement on the initial proposal.

"They wanted a blank cheque and we couldn't give them one... Now we have to get the votes."

'Necessary tools'

The negotiations had lasted all weekend and were so intense that at one point Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson suffered what was described as a "woozy spell".

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After senior members of Congress announced the agreement, President Bush gave his backing to the draft legislation.

He said the bill would send a strong message that the US was serious about restoring confidence in its financial markets.

"This bill provides the necessary tools and funding to help protect our economy against a system-wide breakdown," he said in a statement.

The US administration had wanted a deal to be announced before markets opened in Asia, but Asian investors appear yet to be convinced about the rescue plan's impact.

By Monday afternoon trading in Japan, Tokyo's main Nikkei 225 index was down 118 points or 0.8% to 11,776.

The fall on Hong Kong's Hang Seng was even more pronounced, down 383 points or 2% to 18,230.

No golden parachutes

The deal addresses several of the key concerns raised by both Democrats and Republicans:

• The government will get the money in tranches - $250bn straight away, and $100bn at the request of the White House; Congress can veto the release of the remaining $350bn
• Banks that accept bail-out money will have to hand over shares in return, which allows tax payers to benefit from the banks' recovery
• Top bankers, meanwhile, will see their pay limited, and "golden parachutes" - huge payments when they leave the firm - will be banned
• The banking industry will have to help finance the bail-out if the money can not be recovered from the struggling banks themselves
• Four agencies will monitor the deal, including an independent Inspector General and a bipartisan oversight board
• Banks will be obliged to join an insurance programme to protect them against the losses of mortgage-backed securities

The bill, called the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, faces its first hurdle later on Monday when the House votes on it, says the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington.

It goes before the Senate later in the week.

The proposed legislation was now "frozen", said Ms Pelosi, which means critics can not strike out individual provisions that they do not like.

However, several key critics of the deal called on their fellow legislators to block it.

Financial woes

The Bush administration submitted its initial proposal after several financial institutions got into trouble - unable to free up the money to keep their daily business going.

The liquidity problems have not been limited to the US.

• In the United States' largest bank failure, Washington Mutual was taken over by regulators and sold on to JPMorgan Chase
• Lehman Brothers collapsed, Merrill Lynch sought refuge in a takeover by Bank of America and Morgan Stanley secured a large capital injection from a Japanese rival
• US insurance giant AIG had to be bailed out by the US government, which in effect took an 80% stake in the firm
• In the UK, meanwhile, mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley is set to be nationalised, with the savings part of the business to be sold to Spanish banking group Santander
• The governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands agreed late on Sunday evening to invest 11.2bn euro in huge financial services group Fortis, in effect nationalising it.

Q&A: Nigeria's war against graft

President Yar'Adua has vowed to fight corruption

It has been five years since the Nigerian government set up a new anti-corruption unit aimed at ending the country's reputation as one of the most corrupt on earth.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been both hailed for bringing in some high-profile arrests, and also derided as a tool for attacking the government's political enemies.

What has the EFCC done since its inception?

The EFCC say they have secured 250 convictions, and recovered 500bn naira ($4.2bn) in assets from fraudsters.

Their two highest profile convictions are the former Police Inspector General Tafa Balogun, found guilty of stealing police funds while in office, and the former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who jumped bail in the UK to avoid a money laundering charge.

The EFCC also convicted several advance-fee fraudsters known as "419ers". They say they have made it almost impossible for cyber criminals to operate in Nigeria. They believe that many are setting up shop in other West African countries.

Since the administration of President Umaru Yar'Adua was sworn in May last year the EFCC has arrested and charged eight former state governors after their immunity from prosecution ran out.

The daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo has also been charged with corruption.

President Yar'Adua has often said there would be no "sacred cows" in the war against corruption.

Is Nigeria any less of a corrupt place now than it was?

While supporters of the EFCC say an unequivocal "yes", other commentators have a less positive view.

Many say the EFCC is a tool of the government to deal with enemies who have opposed them, rather than changing the system that allows corrupt politicians access to vast budgets from oil revenues.

The politicians and public servants they successfully convicted had angered former President Obasanjo, commentators say, and some of the pending cases are also politically motivated.

While prosecuting corruption in a place like Nigeria will always be difficult because of the myriad of competing political interests at work, money is still being drawn out of local, state and federal treasuries and shared between a political elite.

How serious is Nigeria's government about political reform?

At every stage President Yar'Adua has stressed his commitment to anti-corruption and the rule of law.

But some commentators have questioned the government's resolve.

As soon as the EFCC arrested and began a prosecution of former Delta State Governor James Ibori, a key ruling party donor, the head of the agency, Nuhu Ribadu, was transferred out of his job.

Other people have a bleak view of the prosecutions of the eight former governors.

It could go one of two ways, they say.

The first would follow the course of the other EFCC prosecutions: the accused if found guilty would serve short jail sentences and have some assets seized.

In the past the EFCC's lawyers have said they will not rule out "plea bargains" for corruption cases, where the accused can give back money they have taken to avoid jail.

The second scenario is that the cases could well be dismissed on technicalities, before the evidence ever comes to court.

What is in the future for the war against corruption?

After Mr Ribadu was sent on study leave, there has been much speculation in the Nigerian media about the EFCC's future.

Some commentators have suggested that the EFCC might be merged with the country's other anti-corruption agency the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).

This unit would then be lead by a former inspector general or judge.

But sociologist and criminologist Professor Epannibi Alemika of the University of Jos, says that there will be no progress until the incentive for political elites to steal is removed.

The trouble is, he says, that there is no other way of making money in Nigeria other than stealing money from oil revenues.

And unless the elite is placed under a tax system where they must justify their earnings, they will continue to steal.

"Law enforcement will always be one step behind them in their schemes," he says.

Profile: President Umaru Yar'Adua

Yar'Adua: Taciturn, down-to-earth and not to be underestimated

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is the first civilian leader in Nigeria to have taken over from another after winning controversial polls in April.

The former chemistry teacher is also the first Nigerian leader for 40 years to be university educated, but little is known about him - even in his home state.

The reclusive Muslim governor comes from the northern state of Katsina and is not a major political mover or shaker.

But at 56, he boasts a political pedigree that dates back to the 1960s when his father was appointed as a minister in the post-independence administration.

His late elder brother who was an army general served as Olusegun Obasanjo's deputy when the former president was Nigeria's military ruler during the 1970s.

They were both imprisoned together after they were accused of plotting a coup against late military strongman Gen Sani Abacha.

Backing

Mr Yar'Adua's emergence as the ruling People's Democratic Party's candidate in the presidential election in April 2007 rests almost exclusively on the support of Mr Obasanjo.

Nigerian presidency sources say Mr Obasanjo used a mixture of inducements and threats of investigation by the anti-graft agency to persuade 10 influential state governors to withdraw from the race and back Mr Yar'Adua.

Analysts say that by backing Mr Yar'Adua to succeed him, Mr Obasanjo will hope to continue pulling strings now that he has stepped down as president.

Shortly after he won his party's nomination, Mr Yar'Adua paid tribute to former President Obasanjo whom he described as "the father of democracy and good governance in Nigeria".

He pledged to continue with Mr Obasanjo's economic reforms and fight against corruption.

Independence

But analysts say that Mr Obasanjo might have difficulty trying to control Mr Yar'Adua who is said to be quite independent-minded.

"He differed with his own brother on many occasions and criticised him on many issues and so I don't expect him to be easily controlled by Obasanjo," says the BBC's Mansur Liman in Abuja.

Although he is reputed to be prudent in managing funds in Katsina State where he had been governor for the past seven years, critics say contracts have gone to companies with links to his family's vast businesses.

He was among only a few Nigerian governors that publicly declared their assets before he was sworn-in as governor in 1999 and in 2003 - when he won a second term. He is also one of the few serving governors not being investigated for corruption.

As an undergraduate student in Nigeria's Ahmadu Bello University, Mr Yar'Adua was a self-confessed Marxist and criticised his elder brother's 'capitalist' leanings.

A man of few airs and graces, he is also known to have ignored the advice of aides and bodyguards to walk alone to tobacco kiosks to buy a single cigarette.

Described by his critics as taciturn and not known for his tolerance of opposition, Mr Yar'Adua has sometimes been underestimated.

As one commentator put it, "because he's quiet, people mistake him for a weakling. But he's someone who knows his own mind".

After his controversial election, Nigeria's new president will need all these skills to lead one of the continent's most testing countries.

Mauritania soldiers' bodies found

auritania's army says it has found the bodies of 12 soldiers who were abducted earlier this week in an ambush by a suspected al-Qaeda branch.

A government spokesman said the men's bodies were found in the open desert and their throats had been cut.

They were found about 30 km (20 miles) north of the town of Tourine - the site of the ambush.

The west Saharan Islamic state pleaded for international help in battling its growing al-Qaeda presence.

Three days of national mourning for the dead have been declared from Sunday.

Mauritania, which became a modest oil producer in 2006, says the Islamic Maghreb branch of al-Qaeda is a growing problem in the region.

Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing, which is considered active in neighbouring Algeria, had claimed responsibility for the ambush and said it was holding the soldiers.

The government initially reported that the soldiers had been shot dead in the ambush, but later said they believed they had been abducted.

The group had threatened action after a coup in August that toppled Mauritania's first democratically elected president.

Despite concerns over the growing terrorist threat in the country, the US suspended more than $20m (£11m) in non-humanitarian aid in protest over the coup.

A member of the country's Higher State Council, Colonel Ahmed Bemba Ould Baya, said the latest attack showed the country needed international help to fight extremism.

"This tragic episode puts the international community face to face with its responsibilities," he said.

Spain in Gambian migrant mix-up

A Spanish plane deporting more than 100 illegal immigrants to The Gambia has been forced to return to Spain with the migrants on board.

Gambian authorities refused to let the deportees disembark, saying Madrid had not given them enough time to prepare.

Spanish officials expressed surprise, saying The Gambia had approved the repatriation.

The migrants were being returned under an immigration accord signed between the two countries in 2006.

The plane was left stranded at Banjul airport for seven hours before being cleared to return.

It landed back in the Canary Islands late on Friday.

"The Gambian authorities were not ready to receive the migrants in that short time," Gambian ambassador to Spain, Kebba Touray, said.

He told Reuters the two governments were now thrashing out a new date for the migrants to be sent home to Gambia.

Spanish news agency Efe reported that many of the migrants would exceed the maximum time in detention this week, and may be set free.

Rise and fall of Thabo Mbeki

Thabo Mbeki was born into one of the leading families of the African National Congress.

His father - Govan - was a stalwart of both the ANC and the Communist Party.

Thabo spent his early years in the rural Transkei. His father was often away on party business and he worked in the family store while he went to school.

At 14 Thabo Mbeki joined the ANC, and the party became his life. He left South Africa in 1962, travelling to Tanzania before going on to Britain where he studied economics at Sussex University.

He was a popular figure, although his contemporaries remarked that he was always somewhat aloof.

In 1970 Thabo Mbeki went to the Soviet Union for military training and then on to the Zambian capital, Lusaka, where he was integrated into the exile structures of the ANC.

He served the movement in Botswana, Swaziland and Nigeria before returning to Lusaka to become political secretary to the party's leader, Oliver Tambo.

In 1985 Mr Mbeki was a member of a delegation that opened secret talks with South African businessmen and leading Afrikaners - paving the way for the unbanning of the ANC and the end of apartheid.

In May 1994 he became deputy president under Nelson Mandela.

It was Mr Mbeki who chaired the key committee that negotiated the controversial $5bn (£2.7bn) deal to modernise the country's defence force.

It was a deal that was to haunt both him and the country - with allegations of corruption against leading ANC members, including its current leader, Jacob Zuma.

African diplomacy

In December 1997 Mr Mbeki succeeded Mr Mandela as ANC leader. He became president two years later - winning a second term in 2004.

As leader of South Africa he has had his fair share of strengths and weaknesses.

He was widely criticised for his unexplained stand on HIV and Aids, when he supported alternative treatments rather than backing medical advice.

Mr Mbeki has been both praised and criticised for his action on Zimbabwe

His stand on Zimbabwe was also attacked, when he resolutely refused to openly pressurise President Robert Mugabe, insisting that quiet diplomacy would yield results.

This week his stand finally paid dividends when a power-sharing deal was agreed.

Mr Mbeki's stand on other African issues won wide support - with his vision of an African Renaissance.

Under his leadership South African troops went into Darfur and supported peace operations in Burundi. He backed efforts to bring peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo and - less successfully - in Ivory Coast.

But it was his role at home that caused Thabo Mbeki's downfall.

Many within the ANC believed he was an inveterate plotter, and many had the scars to prove it.

His alleged role in plotting against Mr Zuma, his former deputy, was the last straw.

Now Thabo Mbeki has been made to pay the price.

SA's Mbeki says he will step down

South African President Thabo Mbeki will accept a call to resign by the governing African National Congress (ANC), his spokesman has said.

Mukoni Ratshitanga said Mr Mbeki would leave his post once "all constitutional requirements have been met".

It comes days after a High Court judge suggested that Mr Mbeki may have interfered in a corruption case against his rival, ANC leader Jacob Zuma.

Mr Zuma was expected to succeed Mr Mbeki in scheduled elections next year.

Mr Mbeki has called for his cabinet to meet on Sunday.

Parliament is expected to meet in the coming days to formalise the resignation, and is likely to appoint the parliamentary speaker as interim leader.

The decision to call for Mr Mbeki's early resignation was taken at a meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC).

[Mr Mbeki] agreed that he is going to participate in the process and the formalities ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe Mbeki left with few choices Rise and fall of Thabo Mbeki Send us your comments

The ANC's Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said the move had followed "a long and difficult discussion".

He said Mr Mbeki, who has ruled for more than a decade, "did not display shock" at the decision and had agreed to participate "in the process and the formalities".

The decision had been taken for "stability and for a peaceful and prosperous South Africa", Mr Mantashe told a news conference.

The ANC secretary general said this was not punishment for Thabo Mbeki, adding that the president would be given the chance to continue his role as mediator in Zimbabwe.

At the same time, ANC cabinet members are being urged to remain in government to ensure continued stability.

Political interference

The BBC's Peter Biles in Pretoria says this dramatic decision will fundamentally change South Africa's political landscape.

Jacob Zuma: Comeback kid

Mr Mbeki fired Jacob Zuma as deputy president in 2005 after his financial adviser was found guilty of soliciting a bribe on his behalf.

But Mr Zuma returned to the political stage to topple his rival as ANC leader in bitterly contested elections last year.

Earlier this month a High Court judge dismissed corruption and other charges against Mr Zuma, saying there was evidence of political interference in the investigation.

In his ruling the judge said it appeared that Mr Mbeki had colluded with prosecutors against Jacob Zuma as part of the "titanic power struggle" within the ANC.

The accusation was strongly denied by Mr Mbeki.

Weakened position

Mr Mbeki, who has devoted his life to the ANC, succeeded Nelson Mandela as the party's president in 1997.

He became leader of South Africa in 1999 and won a second term in 2004.

Terror pledge after Pakistan bomb

Pakistan's president has pledged to fight the "cancer" of terrorism after a suicide bomb killed at least 54 people in the capital, Islamabad.

In a televised speech, Asif Ali Zardari appealed to "all democratic forces" to help to save Pakistan.

The bomb, at the Marriott Hotel, left a six metre (20ft) crater. It is believed to have been detonated in a lorry.

The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers reach parts of the hotel they have so far been unable to enter.

Most of those killed were Pakistanis. Two Vietnamese, a German and an American are also known to have died.

At least 270 people, including at least a dozen foreigners, were injured in the blast.

Four Britons and an unknown number of Saudi, German, Moroccan, Afghan and US citizens, were among those hurt.

The BBC's Barbara Plett, at the scene of the blast, says emergency services have not been able to reach the upper floors of the hotel, where more people are feared trapped.

Carnage

The blast destroyed the entire front section of the hotel and brought down the ceiling of the banqueting hall.

In pictures: Islamabad blast Islamabad's 'message from Hell'

Witnesses described a scene of horror as blood-covered bodies were pulled from the wreckage and guests and staff ran for cover from shattered glass.

The police say they suspect it was a suicide attack.

There has been no claim of responsibility so far, but the BBC's Shoaib Hasan, in Islamabad, says the key suspects are the Pakistan Taleban who operate in the north-west of the country.

In a televised address to the nation, President Zardari said he would not be deterred from fighting extremism.

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President Asif Ali Zardari vows to rid Pakistan of Islamic militants

"Terrorism is a cancer in Pakistan, we are determined, God willing, we will rid the country of this cancer," he said.

"I promise you that such actions by these cowards will not lower our resolve."

Pakistan's chief adviser on internal security, Rehman Malik, told the BBC the authorities would fight on until "the last terrorist is cleared".

"We think that the safe Pakistan, safe Afghanistan is safety for the world and therefore we will not let them have easy way."

US President George W Bush condemned the attack and pledged assistance.

He said it was "a reminder of the ongoing threat faced by Pakistan, the United States, and all those who stand against violent extremism".

He said the US would "assist Pakistan in confronting this threat and bringing the perpetrators to justice".

Heavy security

The blast is thought to have been caused by more than a tonne of explosives and police are warning that the hotel could collapse.

A huge area of the 315-room hotel remained on fire hours after the explosion.

There are reports that at least 200 people were in the hotel's restaurants when the explosion hit at about 2000 (1500 GMT).

Many of the diners would have been breaking their daytime Ramadan fast.

The Marriott is the most prestigious hotel in the capital, and is popular with foreigners and the Pakistani elite.

The hotel is located near government buildings and diplomatic missions, so security is tight, with guests and vehicles subject to checks.

The Marriott has previously been the target of militants. Last year a suicide bomber killed himself and one other in an attack at the hotel.

Analysts say the attack is the most serious in the Pakistani capital to date and will spark fears about the country's stability in the face of a growing Islamist insurgency.

Pakistan has been a key ally of the US in its "war on terror", but relations have become strained over tactics.

In recent months Pakistan has voiced growing disquiet over US raids targeting militants in its territory, launched from neighbouring Afghanistan.

The attack came just hours after newly-elected President Zardari gave his first speech to MPs, vowing not to allow Pakistan's territory to be violated by terrorists or foreign powers fighting them.

Al-Qaeda and Taleban militants based in Pakistan's north-west tribal region have repeatedly carried out attacks across the border in Afghanistan.