Pakistani police Friday prevented one of the country's top laywers from travelling to join a major anti-government protest due to march on the capital Islamabad.
Ali Ahmed Kurd, the current president of the national Supreme Court bar association, was barred as he tried to enter the southern province of Sindh en route to Lahore, from where marchers plan to head for Islamabad.
He spent the night in the open at a sit-in protest against the block, but said Friday he would return to the southwest city of Quetta to try again.
"We strongly condemn the Sindh government for stopping our peaceful march," Kurd told reporters.
"We are calling off our march for the moment and going back but will try to reach Islamabad by other routes and appeal to all Pakistanis to reach Islamabad in groups or as individuals by any possible means," he added.
"This action of the government has shown to the people of Pakistan and the entire world that lawyers cannot move freely in their own country."
Pakistani police had already Thursday blocked activists from leaving the country's biggest city, Karachi, and manhandled protesters into prison vans.
The march by lawyers and opposition supporters is to demand that Zardari reinstate sacked judges but has mushroomed into a wider protest against the government of Prime Minister Asif Ali Zardari.
Main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, locked in a showdown with his longtime rival, has urged people to rise up against the civilian government which has failed to stem a political crisis, economic meltdown and Islamist violence.
Kamis, 12 Maret 2009
China's premier warns growth target will be tough
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reassured the world on Friday that he would deliver on a promise of 8 percent growth in 2009 and might roll out extra stimulus spending if needed to meet the goal.
Wen also said he was closely monitoring the U.S. economy and was concerned about the safety of Chinese assets there, which he called on Washington to protect.
The premier reaffirmed China's commitment to keeping the yuan broadly steady and noted that the currency, far from having depreciated, had gained in value because of a sharp slide in European and Asian currencies.
This had hurt Chinese exporters, said Wen, who was speaking against a background of fears in the currency markets that Swiss moves on Thursday to weaken the franc could trigger a round of competitive devaluations.
In his annual news conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, China's ceremonial parliament, Wen said it would be a struggle to prevent growth from slipping below 8 percent.
"I believe that there is indeed some difficulty in reaching this goal. But with effort it is possible," Wen said.
Beijing announced a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) plan on November 9 to boost domestic demand and so take up the slack left by a collapse in exports in the wake of the global financial crisis.
But Wen said Beijing had kept some of its powder dry in case the crisis worsened. "We have prepared enough ammunition and we can launch new economic stimulus policies at any time," he said.
The country's years of growth, and tightly managed budget, meant it could now afford to borrow to support the economy.
"We now have more leeway to run a larger fiscal deficit and take on more debt," Wen said. "The most direct, powerful and effective way to deal with the current financial crisis is to increase fiscal spending -- the quicker the better."
JOBLESS WORRIES
Attaining 8 percent growth is the absolute priority of China's ruling Communist Party, which has staked its claim to legitimacy on ensuring ever-rising living standards.
Eight percent is widely thought to be the minimum growth rate needed to hold down the jobless rate at manageable levels -- although the country is already struggling to find jobs for at least 20 million unemployed migrant workers.
Officials fear social unrest could flare if they remain out of work for long, or if many more men and women join their ranks.
"The problem of unemployment is a very serious one," Wen said, adding however that the country was still stable.
"Our government will take this a hundred times more seriously and never become complacent," he said.
SAFE FX RESERVES
Wen said that China had worked to diversify its $2 trillion stockpile of foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, and that they were "safe overall."
But the premier had a stark message to the United States, where most of the reserves are invested. China is the biggest holder of U.S. government debt.
"Of course we are concerned about the security of our assets and, to speak truthfully, I do have some worries," Wen said.
"I would like, through you, to once again request America to maintain their creditworthiness, keep their promise and guarantee the safety of Chinese assets."
A collapse in exports and a slump in factory output growth in February surprised investors who had taken recent manufacturing surveys and electricity output data as signs that China's economy, the world's third largest, had already bottomed out.
But a sustained surge in bank lending since late last year has fueled hope that ample financing is in place for the government's stimulus package to gain traction.
With 10 months to go in 2009, China is already more than half way toward reaching its goal of at least 5 trillion yuan in new bank lending.
(Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison and Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Ken Wills and Dean Yates)
Wen also said he was closely monitoring the U.S. economy and was concerned about the safety of Chinese assets there, which he called on Washington to protect.
The premier reaffirmed China's commitment to keeping the yuan broadly steady and noted that the currency, far from having depreciated, had gained in value because of a sharp slide in European and Asian currencies.
This had hurt Chinese exporters, said Wen, who was speaking against a background of fears in the currency markets that Swiss moves on Thursday to weaken the franc could trigger a round of competitive devaluations.
In his annual news conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, China's ceremonial parliament, Wen said it would be a struggle to prevent growth from slipping below 8 percent.
"I believe that there is indeed some difficulty in reaching this goal. But with effort it is possible," Wen said.
Beijing announced a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) plan on November 9 to boost domestic demand and so take up the slack left by a collapse in exports in the wake of the global financial crisis.
But Wen said Beijing had kept some of its powder dry in case the crisis worsened. "We have prepared enough ammunition and we can launch new economic stimulus policies at any time," he said.
The country's years of growth, and tightly managed budget, meant it could now afford to borrow to support the economy.
"We now have more leeway to run a larger fiscal deficit and take on more debt," Wen said. "The most direct, powerful and effective way to deal with the current financial crisis is to increase fiscal spending -- the quicker the better."
JOBLESS WORRIES
Attaining 8 percent growth is the absolute priority of China's ruling Communist Party, which has staked its claim to legitimacy on ensuring ever-rising living standards.
Eight percent is widely thought to be the minimum growth rate needed to hold down the jobless rate at manageable levels -- although the country is already struggling to find jobs for at least 20 million unemployed migrant workers.
Officials fear social unrest could flare if they remain out of work for long, or if many more men and women join their ranks.
"The problem of unemployment is a very serious one," Wen said, adding however that the country was still stable.
"Our government will take this a hundred times more seriously and never become complacent," he said.
SAFE FX RESERVES
Wen said that China had worked to diversify its $2 trillion stockpile of foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, and that they were "safe overall."
But the premier had a stark message to the United States, where most of the reserves are invested. China is the biggest holder of U.S. government debt.
"Of course we are concerned about the security of our assets and, to speak truthfully, I do have some worries," Wen said.
"I would like, through you, to once again request America to maintain their creditworthiness, keep their promise and guarantee the safety of Chinese assets."
A collapse in exports and a slump in factory output growth in February surprised investors who had taken recent manufacturing surveys and electricity output data as signs that China's economy, the world's third largest, had already bottomed out.
But a sustained surge in bank lending since late last year has fueled hope that ample financing is in place for the government's stimulus package to gain traction.
With 10 months to go in 2009, China is already more than half way toward reaching its goal of at least 5 trillion yuan in new bank lending.
(Writing by Emma Graham-Harrison and Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Ken Wills and Dean Yates)
Pakistan blocks anti-government demonstrators
Pakistan's opposition leader predicted President Asif Ali Zardari would not last his full five-year term in office as police Friday turned away another convoy of protesters trying to reach the capital for a major anti-government demonstration.
Authorities have detained several hundred political activists and lawyers in recent days, seeking to thwart a protest movement that is challenging the government's shaky one-year rule just as the West wants to see Pakistan unite and fight against al-Qaida and Taliban extremists.
Activist lawyers are demanding Zardari fulfill a pledge to reinstate judges fired by former President Pervez Musharraf, a general who ousted opposition leader Nawaz Sharif as prime minister in a 1999 coup. The protest movement heated up last month when the Supreme Court banned Sharif and his brother from elected office.
After the ruling, the federal government dismissed the Punjab provincial administration led by Sharif's brother, stoking anger in Pakistan's most populous region and putting the pair and their supporters on a collision course with Zardari.
Sharif — a seasoned political campaigner who is seen as closer to Pakistan's conservative Islamist forces than Zardari — told a local TV station late Thursday he did not want to destabilize the government, but again appealed for Zardari to reinstate the judges.
By resisting that demand, Zardari was "shortening his political life", he said, adding, "I don't think he will be able to complete his five years."
The lawyers' movement, Sharif's party and other small political groupings called a "long march" to begin Thursday across the country, with groups of protesters planning to converge on the parliament building in Islamabad on Monday and begin a sit-in.
Early Friday, police stopped about 200 lawyers in a convoy of cars and buses from entering Sindh province en route to Islamabad, witnesses and participants in the convoy said. No arrests were made, but the protesters vowed to find another way to get to the capital.
On Thursday, several hundred protesters in Karachi, the country's largest city, set off for Islamabad in a convoy or cars, buses and motorbikes. They were stopped by police trucks blocking the highway out of the city, and officers with clubs moved in to arrest the leaders, engaging in brief scuffles.
While some protesters sped back into Karachi, several people sat on the road chanting "Zardari is a traitor! Zardari is a dog!" before being arrested. After clearing the highway, police dragged several protesters from a nearby restaurant and a mosque.
"Why is a democratic government crushing a peaceful protest?" asked Naeem Qureshi, secretary-general of Karachi Bar Association. "There is no difference between it and a martial law regime."
Government officials said they would allow protesters only to gather in a park close to the capital, vowing to keep them from massing outside parliament or in other downtown areas. Officials have banned protests in much of the country.
The U.S. has stepped up efforts to mediate a solution to the crisis, which threatens to undermine its goal of getting nuclear-armed Pakistan to do more in fighting militants along the border with Afghanistan.
Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration's envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, spoke by phone to Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, while U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson met with Sharif.
But there were no signs of any breakthrough to calm political squabbling that is looking a lot like the unrest that preceded the removal of Musharraf last year.
There were signs the crisis was causing cracks in the ruling party, which rose to power on a wave of sympathy votes following the assassination of Zardari's wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, by suspected Islamic militants before the 2008 elections.
Most of the judges fired by Musharraf have been restored to their posts, but the government has ignored a few, including a former Supreme Court chief justice. Zardari is believed to fear that those judges could move to limit his power or reopen corruption cases against him. His supporters say the old chief justice has now becoming a political figure and will no longer be neutral.
___
Associated Press writers Zarar Khan and Chris Brummitt in Islamabad, Babar Dogar in Lahore and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Authorities have detained several hundred political activists and lawyers in recent days, seeking to thwart a protest movement that is challenging the government's shaky one-year rule just as the West wants to see Pakistan unite and fight against al-Qaida and Taliban extremists.
Activist lawyers are demanding Zardari fulfill a pledge to reinstate judges fired by former President Pervez Musharraf, a general who ousted opposition leader Nawaz Sharif as prime minister in a 1999 coup. The protest movement heated up last month when the Supreme Court banned Sharif and his brother from elected office.
After the ruling, the federal government dismissed the Punjab provincial administration led by Sharif's brother, stoking anger in Pakistan's most populous region and putting the pair and their supporters on a collision course with Zardari.
Sharif — a seasoned political campaigner who is seen as closer to Pakistan's conservative Islamist forces than Zardari — told a local TV station late Thursday he did not want to destabilize the government, but again appealed for Zardari to reinstate the judges.
By resisting that demand, Zardari was "shortening his political life", he said, adding, "I don't think he will be able to complete his five years."
The lawyers' movement, Sharif's party and other small political groupings called a "long march" to begin Thursday across the country, with groups of protesters planning to converge on the parliament building in Islamabad on Monday and begin a sit-in.
Early Friday, police stopped about 200 lawyers in a convoy of cars and buses from entering Sindh province en route to Islamabad, witnesses and participants in the convoy said. No arrests were made, but the protesters vowed to find another way to get to the capital.
On Thursday, several hundred protesters in Karachi, the country's largest city, set off for Islamabad in a convoy or cars, buses and motorbikes. They were stopped by police trucks blocking the highway out of the city, and officers with clubs moved in to arrest the leaders, engaging in brief scuffles.
While some protesters sped back into Karachi, several people sat on the road chanting "Zardari is a traitor! Zardari is a dog!" before being arrested. After clearing the highway, police dragged several protesters from a nearby restaurant and a mosque.
"Why is a democratic government crushing a peaceful protest?" asked Naeem Qureshi, secretary-general of Karachi Bar Association. "There is no difference between it and a martial law regime."
Government officials said they would allow protesters only to gather in a park close to the capital, vowing to keep them from massing outside parliament or in other downtown areas. Officials have banned protests in much of the country.
The U.S. has stepped up efforts to mediate a solution to the crisis, which threatens to undermine its goal of getting nuclear-armed Pakistan to do more in fighting militants along the border with Afghanistan.
Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration's envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, spoke by phone to Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, while U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson met with Sharif.
But there were no signs of any breakthrough to calm political squabbling that is looking a lot like the unrest that preceded the removal of Musharraf last year.
There were signs the crisis was causing cracks in the ruling party, which rose to power on a wave of sympathy votes following the assassination of Zardari's wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, by suspected Islamic militants before the 2008 elections.
Most of the judges fired by Musharraf have been restored to their posts, but the government has ignored a few, including a former Supreme Court chief justice. Zardari is believed to fear that those judges could move to limit his power or reopen corruption cases against him. His supporters say the old chief justice has now becoming a political figure and will no longer be neutral.
___
Associated Press writers Zarar Khan and Chris Brummitt in Islamabad, Babar Dogar in Lahore and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
China's premier vows to save economy, defend Tibet
China's premier defended his government's policies in Tibet and its handling of the economic crisis Friday, promising more stimulus measures if needed to boost growth and maintain public confidence.
In his sole news conference of the year, Premier Wen Jiabao stressed that a half-trillion-dollar stimulus program would revive the buoyant growth dragged down by the global downturn and create jobs and provide social welfare to cope with worsening unemployment. He pointedly called on Washington to protect the value of Chinese holdings of U.S. Treasuries and other debt, estimated to be worth about U$1 trillion.
More than painstakingly explaining policies, the precise, scholarly Wen tried to convey the message that Beijing was confident it could withstand the turmoil. He used the word confidence five times in as many minutes at the start of the nationally televised news conference.
"Confidence is more important than gold and money," Wen told reporters in the Great Hall of the People. "First and foremost, we have to have very strong confidence. Only when we have strong confidence can we have more courage and strength and only when we have courage and strength can we overcome the difficulties."
Wen is the most popular figure in the usually remote communist leadership. Sometimes referred to as "grandpa Wen," he is frequently shown on state television touring the country, talking with farmers in the countryside. As such, his popularity is a boon for an authoritarian government that in part relies on its popularity to impress sometimes recalcitrant local officials to carry out Beijing's policies.
Though largely focused on the domestic economy, Wen also twice defended its record in Tibet, including ramped-up security intended to prevent a repeat of the massive anti-government uprising that swept Tibetan communities in western China a year ago.
"Tibet's peace and stability and Tibet's continuous progress have proven the policies we have adopted are right," said Wen. He said Beijing has hugely increased subsidies to Tibet in recent years to spur growth and raise incomes in a chronically poor region.
The news conference, an annual fixture, was the first for Wen since he began confronting the collective leadership's first economic crisis. Since coming to power six years ago, Wen, President Hu Jintao and other leaders have mostly faced the opposite situation, trying to slow breakneck economic growth.
The turnaround for the economy has been swift. Growth has halved in a year. Exports have cratered. Jobs are disappearing by the tens of millions, raising the prospects of heightened unrest in a society that has gotten used to steadily rising standards of living.
The centerpiece of the government's effort is the 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus plan to be spent on infrastructure projects and social programs. Before Wen's news conference, deputies to the Communist Party-dominated national legislature overwhelmingly approved the stimulus and the rest of a budget that will increase spending nearly 25 percent from last year's level to cope with the downturn.
Wen said the government stood ready to unveil additional stimulus measures should the current ones prove insufficient to raising growth to about 8 percent.
"We already have our plans ready to tackle even more difficult times, and to do that we have reserved adequate ammunition," he said. "At any time we can introduce new stimulus policies."
Unlike previous years, Wen struck a businesslike tone and shied away from revealing personal details or quoting poetry — displays that have made him popular but are unusual for Chinese leaders. One exception: He voiced his desire to visit Taiwan, Beijing's long-standing rival in a half-century civil war but with whom ties are warming.
"Taiwan is China's treasured island," Wen said. If allowed, he would visit the popular scenic spots of Mount Ali and Sun Moon Lake. "Although I am 67 years old, if there's a chance for me to go to Taiwan, even if I can no longer walk, I will crawl to the island."
In his sole news conference of the year, Premier Wen Jiabao stressed that a half-trillion-dollar stimulus program would revive the buoyant growth dragged down by the global downturn and create jobs and provide social welfare to cope with worsening unemployment. He pointedly called on Washington to protect the value of Chinese holdings of U.S. Treasuries and other debt, estimated to be worth about U$1 trillion.
More than painstakingly explaining policies, the precise, scholarly Wen tried to convey the message that Beijing was confident it could withstand the turmoil. He used the word confidence five times in as many minutes at the start of the nationally televised news conference.
"Confidence is more important than gold and money," Wen told reporters in the Great Hall of the People. "First and foremost, we have to have very strong confidence. Only when we have strong confidence can we have more courage and strength and only when we have courage and strength can we overcome the difficulties."
Wen is the most popular figure in the usually remote communist leadership. Sometimes referred to as "grandpa Wen," he is frequently shown on state television touring the country, talking with farmers in the countryside. As such, his popularity is a boon for an authoritarian government that in part relies on its popularity to impress sometimes recalcitrant local officials to carry out Beijing's policies.
Though largely focused on the domestic economy, Wen also twice defended its record in Tibet, including ramped-up security intended to prevent a repeat of the massive anti-government uprising that swept Tibetan communities in western China a year ago.
"Tibet's peace and stability and Tibet's continuous progress have proven the policies we have adopted are right," said Wen. He said Beijing has hugely increased subsidies to Tibet in recent years to spur growth and raise incomes in a chronically poor region.
The news conference, an annual fixture, was the first for Wen since he began confronting the collective leadership's first economic crisis. Since coming to power six years ago, Wen, President Hu Jintao and other leaders have mostly faced the opposite situation, trying to slow breakneck economic growth.
The turnaround for the economy has been swift. Growth has halved in a year. Exports have cratered. Jobs are disappearing by the tens of millions, raising the prospects of heightened unrest in a society that has gotten used to steadily rising standards of living.
The centerpiece of the government's effort is the 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus plan to be spent on infrastructure projects and social programs. Before Wen's news conference, deputies to the Communist Party-dominated national legislature overwhelmingly approved the stimulus and the rest of a budget that will increase spending nearly 25 percent from last year's level to cope with the downturn.
Wen said the government stood ready to unveil additional stimulus measures should the current ones prove insufficient to raising growth to about 8 percent.
"We already have our plans ready to tackle even more difficult times, and to do that we have reserved adequate ammunition," he said. "At any time we can introduce new stimulus policies."
Unlike previous years, Wen struck a businesslike tone and shied away from revealing personal details or quoting poetry — displays that have made him popular but are unusual for Chinese leaders. One exception: He voiced his desire to visit Taiwan, Beijing's long-standing rival in a half-century civil war but with whom ties are warming.
"Taiwan is China's treasured island," Wen said. If allowed, he would visit the popular scenic spots of Mount Ali and Sun Moon Lake. "Although I am 67 years old, if there's a chance for me to go to Taiwan, even if I can no longer walk, I will crawl to the island."
SKorea, Obama seek halt to NKorea rocket launch
South Korea warned of United Nations "countermeasures" after North Korea set dates for a satellite launch seen by Seoul and Washington as a disguised test of a missile which could reach Alaska.
US President Barack Obama spoke of the "risks" posed by Pyongyang's missile plans while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the planned launch "will threaten peace and security in the region."
The communist state has told the International Maritime Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) it will launch a communications satellite between April 4-8.
The nuclear-armed nation insists on its right to "peaceful" space research and has said any attempt to shoot down its rocket will be an act of war.
The US and South Korea say its real aim is to test a Taepodong-2 missile, and a launch for any purpose would violate UN resolutions passed after the North's missile and nuclear tests in 2006.
"Regardless of whether North Korea fires a missile or launches a satellite, I believe this issue will be raised at the UN Security Council," Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan told reporters.
A statement from his ministry predicted "consultation and countermeasures" at the council.
It said South Korea is talking with the US, Japan, China and Russia to try to deter the launch. The five states are part of a forum involved in tortuous nuclear disarmament negotiations with the North.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also raised the prospect of a UN response, but analysts believe permanent Security Council members China and Russia will shy away from further sanctions.
Russia's chief nuclear negotiator Alexei Borodavkin was equivocal when asked in Seoul Thursday if a launch would violate UN resolutions. "Let us wait and see what will be the real technical parameters of this launch," he said.
US State Department spokesman Robert Wood repeated warnings against what he said would be a "provocative act," but would not elaborate on a US response.
Yonhap news agency, quoting an intelligence source, has said preparations could be completed in two weeks at the North's Musudan-ri base on its northeast coast.
The only previous Taepodong-2 test, in July 2006, ended in failure after just 40 seconds of flight. But the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for a halt to the programme.
Three months later a defiant Pyongyang staged an atomic weapons test. It is unclear whether it has the capability to manufacture a nuclear warhead.
The ICAO said Pyongyang had notified it of a launch sometime between 0200-0700 GMT on one of the four days in April.
It released a map of two potential danger areas, one off Japan's northwest coast and the other in the Pacific, indicating that a multi-stage rocket would overfly Japan after shedding its first booster.
The main body of the rocket would plunge into the Pacific.
Regional tensions are already high, after Pyongyang in late January cancelled all peace accords with Seoul in protest at its conservative government's tougher cross-border policy.
Since last week it has ordered its military on combat alert and warned South Korean airlines to stay clear of its airspace, in protest at an ongoing US-South Korean military exercise which it sees as a rehearsal for invasion.
US intelligence chief Dennis Blair said Tuesday the North does indeed appear to be planning a space launch. But the technology involved is indistinguishable from a missile test, he added.
The North's official media Friday took note of his first comment but not the qualifier.
"US National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair has recognised our preparations to launch a satellite," web newspaper Uriminzokkiri reported.
US President Barack Obama spoke of the "risks" posed by Pyongyang's missile plans while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the planned launch "will threaten peace and security in the region."
The communist state has told the International Maritime Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) it will launch a communications satellite between April 4-8.
The nuclear-armed nation insists on its right to "peaceful" space research and has said any attempt to shoot down its rocket will be an act of war.
The US and South Korea say its real aim is to test a Taepodong-2 missile, and a launch for any purpose would violate UN resolutions passed after the North's missile and nuclear tests in 2006.
"Regardless of whether North Korea fires a missile or launches a satellite, I believe this issue will be raised at the UN Security Council," Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan told reporters.
A statement from his ministry predicted "consultation and countermeasures" at the council.
It said South Korea is talking with the US, Japan, China and Russia to try to deter the launch. The five states are part of a forum involved in tortuous nuclear disarmament negotiations with the North.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also raised the prospect of a UN response, but analysts believe permanent Security Council members China and Russia will shy away from further sanctions.
Russia's chief nuclear negotiator Alexei Borodavkin was equivocal when asked in Seoul Thursday if a launch would violate UN resolutions. "Let us wait and see what will be the real technical parameters of this launch," he said.
US State Department spokesman Robert Wood repeated warnings against what he said would be a "provocative act," but would not elaborate on a US response.
Yonhap news agency, quoting an intelligence source, has said preparations could be completed in two weeks at the North's Musudan-ri base on its northeast coast.
The only previous Taepodong-2 test, in July 2006, ended in failure after just 40 seconds of flight. But the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for a halt to the programme.
Three months later a defiant Pyongyang staged an atomic weapons test. It is unclear whether it has the capability to manufacture a nuclear warhead.
The ICAO said Pyongyang had notified it of a launch sometime between 0200-0700 GMT on one of the four days in April.
It released a map of two potential danger areas, one off Japan's northwest coast and the other in the Pacific, indicating that a multi-stage rocket would overfly Japan after shedding its first booster.
The main body of the rocket would plunge into the Pacific.
Regional tensions are already high, after Pyongyang in late January cancelled all peace accords with Seoul in protest at its conservative government's tougher cross-border policy.
Since last week it has ordered its military on combat alert and warned South Korean airlines to stay clear of its airspace, in protest at an ongoing US-South Korean military exercise which it sees as a rehearsal for invasion.
US intelligence chief Dennis Blair said Tuesday the North does indeed appear to be planning a space launch. But the technology involved is indistinguishable from a missile test, he added.
The North's official media Friday took note of his first comment but not the qualifier.
"US National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair has recognised our preparations to launch a satellite," web newspaper Uriminzokkiri reported.
Japan orders warships to Somalia anti-piracy mission
Japan on Friday ordered two warships to join an anti-piracy mission off Somalia, one of the most active deployments yet for a military restrained by the country's post-war pacifist constitution.
US, European and Chinese naval vessels are already deployed in the Gulf of Aden to fend off pirates behind more than 100 attacks on ships last year.
The two Japanese destroyers with 400 crew were to set sail Saturday for the Gulf to protect cargo ships in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes near the Suez canal that links Europe with Asia, the defence ministry said.
"Piracy off Somalia is a threat to Japan and the international community," Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.
"It is an important duty for the Self-Defence Forces to protect Japanese lives and assets."
The maritime mission has divided public opinion in Japan, which under the post-World War II constitution permits its soldiers in international disputes to use force only for self-defence and to protect Japanese nationals.
The government planned to submit a bill later Friday that would widen the scope of force that its military personnel can use against pirates and allow them to protect foreign vessels and nationals as well as Japanese.
The two destroyers -- the 4,650-ton Sazanami and 4,550-ton Samidare -- will each carry two patrol helicopters and two speedboats, to be used by members of the navy's commando-style Special Boarding Unit.
The ships are expected to arrive in waters near the Suez canal in around three weeks. The period of deployment has not been fixed, Hamada said, but he told reporters that "six months could be an idea."
Japan's major overseas missions in the past -- including in Iraq, near Afghanistan, and as UN peacekeepers -- have so far been largely for logistical and rear-area support, such as refuelling, transport and reconstruction.
Critics argue this mission could set a new precedent for Japanese military missions overseas and could see the country's servicemen use lethal force for the first time since WWII.
However, recent newspaper polls have shown growing public support for the anti-piracy mission, with a survey this week by the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun showing 61 percent of respondents in favour and 27 percent against.
Under the current rules of engagement, the two Maritime Self-Defence Force ships, carrying a combined total of about 400 sailors and coast guard officers, would protect only Japanese ships, nationals and cargo.
Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party has proposed legislation to allow Japanese troops to fire on the hulls of approaching pirate boats that refuse repeated orders to stop.
It would also allow them to protect non-Japanese ships and citizens.
A cabinet meeting Friday approved the bill, Hamada said, and it was due to be submitted to parliament in the evening, a parliament official said.
"I hope the legislation will be approved as soon as possible," Hamada said, to allow Japan to "assume our responsibility in the international community."
Around 2,000 Japanese ships sail through Somali waters to pass through the Suez canal every year and the nation's shipping industry has voiced alarm over the cost should they have to opt for a safer but longer route.
The spate of pirate attacks have led some shipping companies to avoid the Suez canal and sail around Africa at greater cost.
US, European and Chinese naval vessels are already deployed in the Gulf of Aden to fend off pirates behind more than 100 attacks on ships last year.
The two Japanese destroyers with 400 crew were to set sail Saturday for the Gulf to protect cargo ships in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes near the Suez canal that links Europe with Asia, the defence ministry said.
"Piracy off Somalia is a threat to Japan and the international community," Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.
"It is an important duty for the Self-Defence Forces to protect Japanese lives and assets."
The maritime mission has divided public opinion in Japan, which under the post-World War II constitution permits its soldiers in international disputes to use force only for self-defence and to protect Japanese nationals.
The government planned to submit a bill later Friday that would widen the scope of force that its military personnel can use against pirates and allow them to protect foreign vessels and nationals as well as Japanese.
The two destroyers -- the 4,650-ton Sazanami and 4,550-ton Samidare -- will each carry two patrol helicopters and two speedboats, to be used by members of the navy's commando-style Special Boarding Unit.
The ships are expected to arrive in waters near the Suez canal in around three weeks. The period of deployment has not been fixed, Hamada said, but he told reporters that "six months could be an idea."
Japan's major overseas missions in the past -- including in Iraq, near Afghanistan, and as UN peacekeepers -- have so far been largely for logistical and rear-area support, such as refuelling, transport and reconstruction.
Critics argue this mission could set a new precedent for Japanese military missions overseas and could see the country's servicemen use lethal force for the first time since WWII.
However, recent newspaper polls have shown growing public support for the anti-piracy mission, with a survey this week by the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun showing 61 percent of respondents in favour and 27 percent against.
Under the current rules of engagement, the two Maritime Self-Defence Force ships, carrying a combined total of about 400 sailors and coast guard officers, would protect only Japanese ships, nationals and cargo.
Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party has proposed legislation to allow Japanese troops to fire on the hulls of approaching pirate boats that refuse repeated orders to stop.
It would also allow them to protect non-Japanese ships and citizens.
A cabinet meeting Friday approved the bill, Hamada said, and it was due to be submitted to parliament in the evening, a parliament official said.
"I hope the legislation will be approved as soon as possible," Hamada said, to allow Japan to "assume our responsibility in the international community."
Around 2,000 Japanese ships sail through Somali waters to pass through the Suez canal every year and the nation's shipping industry has voiced alarm over the cost should they have to opt for a safer but longer route.
The spate of pirate attacks have led some shipping companies to avoid the Suez canal and sail around Africa at greater cost.
Pakistani lawyers to intensify campaign: leader
Pakistani lawyers challenging the government will step up their cross-country protest campaign despite beatings and arrests by the police, a rally leader said on Friday.
The protest by lawyers and opposition parties for an independent judiciary threatens to bring chaos as President Asif Ali Zardari's government struggles to control spreading Islamist militancy and to revive a sinking economy.
"The way our lawyers were beaten up and arrested, we've decided that we need to intensify our struggle," Ali Ahmed Kurd, president of the Supreme Court bar association and a protest organizer, told reporters in Baluchistan province.
Black-suited lawyers and flag-waving opposition activists launched their so-called long march protest in the cities of Karachi and Quetta on Thursday, despite a ban on rallies and the detention of hundreds of activists.
Baton-wielding police clashed with protesters in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, and arrested several of their leaders as they tried to stop a convoy of cars and buses leaving the city.
While trying to thwart the protest, the year-old civilian coalition government is also scrambling for a way to avert a showdown that could easily flare into street violence.
Pakistan's efforts to eliminate Taliban and al Qaeda enclaves on the Afghan border are vital to U.S. plans to stabilize Afghanistan and defeat al Qaeda.
The last thing the United States wants is to see Pakistan consumed by political turmoil. If the crisis gets out of hand, the army, which has ruled for more than half the country's 61 years of history, could feel compelled to intervene.
MORE DETENTIONS
President Zardari spoke by telephone with the U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, and Ambassador Anne Patterson for 30 minutes on Thursday, the president's office said.
U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the reason for the call -- and a separate conversation between Patterson and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif -- was to stress the U.S. desire that violence be avoided, the rule of law respected and there be no impediments to peaceful, democratic activities.
Zardari also spoke with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
Sharif, a former prime minister, has thrown his weight behind the lawyers, putting him into open confrontation with Zardari.
Infuriated by a Supreme Court ruling barring him and his brother from elected office, and by Zardari ejecting his party from power in Punjab province and imposing central rule, Sharif has called the protest a defining moment for Pakistan.
The secretary general of Sharif's party, Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, said dozens of second-tier party leaders were detained in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday.
Police also stopped Kurd and his colleagues in a convoy of dozens of cars in the town of Dera Allah Yar on the border of Baluchistan and Sindh provinces.
The protesters hope to converge on Islamabad on Monday to demand the reinstatement of former Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. He was dismissed by former president and army chief Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
Zardari has refused to reinstate Chaudhry. Analysts say he fears the judge could nullify an amnesty Musharraf granted Zardari and his late wife Benazir Bhutto.
But Kurd said the protesters would not be deterred.
"I appeal to every lawyer, political activist, members of civil society and those who want democracy and the rule of law to try to enter Islamabad, either individually or in groups, by whatever means they can," he said.
The government has said the rally will not be allowed into central Islamabad.
(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Paul Tait)
The protest by lawyers and opposition parties for an independent judiciary threatens to bring chaos as President Asif Ali Zardari's government struggles to control spreading Islamist militancy and to revive a sinking economy.
"The way our lawyers were beaten up and arrested, we've decided that we need to intensify our struggle," Ali Ahmed Kurd, president of the Supreme Court bar association and a protest organizer, told reporters in Baluchistan province.
Black-suited lawyers and flag-waving opposition activists launched their so-called long march protest in the cities of Karachi and Quetta on Thursday, despite a ban on rallies and the detention of hundreds of activists.
Baton-wielding police clashed with protesters in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, and arrested several of their leaders as they tried to stop a convoy of cars and buses leaving the city.
While trying to thwart the protest, the year-old civilian coalition government is also scrambling for a way to avert a showdown that could easily flare into street violence.
Pakistan's efforts to eliminate Taliban and al Qaeda enclaves on the Afghan border are vital to U.S. plans to stabilize Afghanistan and defeat al Qaeda.
The last thing the United States wants is to see Pakistan consumed by political turmoil. If the crisis gets out of hand, the army, which has ruled for more than half the country's 61 years of history, could feel compelled to intervene.
MORE DETENTIONS
President Zardari spoke by telephone with the U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, and Ambassador Anne Patterson for 30 minutes on Thursday, the president's office said.
U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the reason for the call -- and a separate conversation between Patterson and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif -- was to stress the U.S. desire that violence be avoided, the rule of law respected and there be no impediments to peaceful, democratic activities.
Zardari also spoke with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
Sharif, a former prime minister, has thrown his weight behind the lawyers, putting him into open confrontation with Zardari.
Infuriated by a Supreme Court ruling barring him and his brother from elected office, and by Zardari ejecting his party from power in Punjab province and imposing central rule, Sharif has called the protest a defining moment for Pakistan.
The secretary general of Sharif's party, Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, said dozens of second-tier party leaders were detained in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday.
Police also stopped Kurd and his colleagues in a convoy of dozens of cars in the town of Dera Allah Yar on the border of Baluchistan and Sindh provinces.
The protesters hope to converge on Islamabad on Monday to demand the reinstatement of former Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. He was dismissed by former president and army chief Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
Zardari has refused to reinstate Chaudhry. Analysts say he fears the judge could nullify an amnesty Musharraf granted Zardari and his late wife Benazir Bhutto.
But Kurd said the protesters would not be deterred.
"I appeal to every lawyer, political activist, members of civil society and those who want democracy and the rule of law to try to enter Islamabad, either individually or in groups, by whatever means they can," he said.
The government has said the rally will not be allowed into central Islamabad.
(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Paul Tait)
Australian beaches a 'disaster zone' after oil spill
Authorities in Australia declared dozens of popular tourist beaches on the northeast coast as disaster zones Friday, their once-pristine sands now fouled by a massive oil and chemical slick.
Queensland state's marine safety authority said up to 100 tonnes of fuel were now believed to have spilled from the Hong Kong-flagged ship Pacific Adventurer amid cyclonic conditions early Wednesday.
Moreton and Bribie Islands, and parts of the popular Sunshine Coast, were declared disaster zones.
"This may well be the worst environmental disaster we have seen in southeast Queensland," the state's leader Anna Bligh said.
Initial estimates put the spill at 30 tonnes, but authority spokesman John Watkinson said up to 100,000 litres could be washing up along a 60-kilometre (40-mile) stretch of the region's beaches, sickening local wildlife.
"We really want to know what amount is out there," said Wilkinson. "It's a hell of a lot more than 30 tonnes."
Describing it as a "potential environmental tragedy", Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged full government support for the clean-up effort, which could cost millions of dollars.
The oil flooded Moreton Bay, near the state capital Brisbane, after wild seas whipped up by tropical cyclone Hamish toppled 31 containers of ammonium nitrate fertiliser from the ship's deck.
As they fell the containers punctured the hull, before taking 620 tonnes of the explosive chemical to the ocean floor.
The vessel's owners, Swire Shipping, face 1.5 million dollars (977,000 US dollars) in fines if found guilty of environmental or maritime breaches, and have indicated they will meet the clean-up costs, estimated at 100,000 dollars per day.
"The company very much regrets the environmental impact caused as a consequence of the vessel being caught in Cyclone Hamish," Swire said in a statement.
"The company and its insurers will meet all their responsibilities."
Experts fear the fertiliser, a nutrient-rich chemical, could cause damaging algal blooms, suffocate fish and kill natural habitats.
Moreton Bay, a marine sanctuary, is home to a range of sea birds and other creatures, including turtles, dolphins and pelicans.
"The flow-on effects of oil spills can be substantive," an environmental protection authority spokesman said. "The longer-term impacts are yet to be realised."
Queensland state's marine safety authority said up to 100 tonnes of fuel were now believed to have spilled from the Hong Kong-flagged ship Pacific Adventurer amid cyclonic conditions early Wednesday.
Moreton and Bribie Islands, and parts of the popular Sunshine Coast, were declared disaster zones.
"This may well be the worst environmental disaster we have seen in southeast Queensland," the state's leader Anna Bligh said.
Initial estimates put the spill at 30 tonnes, but authority spokesman John Watkinson said up to 100,000 litres could be washing up along a 60-kilometre (40-mile) stretch of the region's beaches, sickening local wildlife.
"We really want to know what amount is out there," said Wilkinson. "It's a hell of a lot more than 30 tonnes."
Describing it as a "potential environmental tragedy", Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged full government support for the clean-up effort, which could cost millions of dollars.
The oil flooded Moreton Bay, near the state capital Brisbane, after wild seas whipped up by tropical cyclone Hamish toppled 31 containers of ammonium nitrate fertiliser from the ship's deck.
As they fell the containers punctured the hull, before taking 620 tonnes of the explosive chemical to the ocean floor.
The vessel's owners, Swire Shipping, face 1.5 million dollars (977,000 US dollars) in fines if found guilty of environmental or maritime breaches, and have indicated they will meet the clean-up costs, estimated at 100,000 dollars per day.
"The company very much regrets the environmental impact caused as a consequence of the vessel being caught in Cyclone Hamish," Swire said in a statement.
"The company and its insurers will meet all their responsibilities."
Experts fear the fertiliser, a nutrient-rich chemical, could cause damaging algal blooms, suffocate fish and kill natural habitats.
Moreton Bay, a marine sanctuary, is home to a range of sea birds and other creatures, including turtles, dolphins and pelicans.
"The flow-on effects of oil spills can be substantive," an environmental protection authority spokesman said. "The longer-term impacts are yet to be realised."
Healthcare remote for most Pakistani women
Razia was 15 years old, partially blind but happy when her parents married her off to a young labourer called Zahid, oblivious to the tragedy and heartache that would scar the next three years.
The daughter of a poor farmer from Rahimyarkhan in Pakistan's populous central Punjab province, Razia was born with cataracts that could have been rectified with a simple operation.
But lack of healthcare in rural Pakistan condemned her to a life of shadows.
Today, as she props herself up in bed at the Koohi Goth Women?s Hospital, a charity-run clinic on the outskirts of Karachi, her eyes brim with tears at the memory of her short marriage to 23-year-old Zahid -- and what followed.
"Just a few months after our wedding, he was out riding a motorcycle when a truck hit him. He was killed instantly," Razia said through her tears.
After he died, Razia discovered she was pregnant, and hoped the baby would give meaning to her grief.
But the child was still-born after a horrific two-day labour supervised by a dai, or traditional midwife, whose lack of skills left Razia debilitated and outcast.
Shershah Syed, the doctor in charge of the Koohi Goth clinic, said: "The unskilled attendant caused complications during labour and in the end (Razia) delivered a dead baby after suffering huge damage to herself."
As a result of her experience in labour, Razia developed fistula, among the most crippling and humiliating health problems for women in the developing world.
"Fistula is caused by prolonged labour -- as the baby?s head presses against the lining of the birth canal, it perforates the wall of the rectum and bladder leaving the mother unable to control her excretory functions," Syed said.
The teenager became a social pariah.
"I was put in a secluded hut in the village where my ailing mother took care of me," Razia said.
With her fellow villagers believing her injuries and discomfort were God?s will, Razia spent the next 18 months in embarrassed agony, unaware that her condition was preventable and treatable.
Then one morning she heard about the clinic and began believing she could be cured.
Leaving her infirm mother and brother at home, Razia took a train to Karachi, 634 kilometres (400 miles) to the south, and found her way to the Koohi Goth Women's Hospital where she has spent the last six months.
-- Bad for all, but worse for women --
Now she needs just one final operation before she can resume a normal life.
"She will be a normal woman," said Syed, adding that once Razia returns home she will "set a precedent for millions of poor and downtrodden Pakistani females, who have little access to proper health facilities".
According to the doctor, Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan have the highest rates of fistula in Asia.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) blames the high rates on a lack of skilled midwifes and emergency obstetric care, as well as early marriage and teenage pregnancy, high fertility and restricted mobility for women.
In Pakistan alone, fistula cases average 6,000 deaths a year, said Syed, adding that a woman dies in childbirth every 18 minutes.
The UNFPA puts Pakistan's maternal mortality ratio at 553 per 100,000 live births.
"The health facilities in Pakistan are below standard for everyone, but for women the situation is far more difficult mainly because of increasing poverty and inaccessibility to proper health facilities," Syed said.
Ashrafi Begum, 25, comes from Gilgit, near Kashmir in northern Pakistan. She was married to Mohammad Akbar, a trader, 12 years ago.
She became pregnant five years after the wedding but lost the baby and developed fistula. like Razia, thanks to an unskilled midwife.
"My in-laws shut me away as if I was a leper for a year or so, and then my husband divorced me," she said.
Her brother took her to Karachi, 2,100 kilometres (1,313 miles) away, and put her in hospital where she has received treatment and looks forward to resuming a normal, healthy life.
"I am happy to see myself getting rid of the disease. But people like my ex-husband are totally unaware of this and punish women without realising that we have committed no crime."
Officials at the clinic said they do a double job, complimenting the medical treatment with psychological counselling.
"These victims come to us in extremely bad shape, depressed and have very low self-esteem, so it takes time to get them back to life through medical and psychological care," said Sarwan Kumar, a resident doctor.
Razia said she would return home after doctors declare her healthy, but first she has another task to complete.
"I'm now going to try and find another charity that can treat my eyes too," she said.
The daughter of a poor farmer from Rahimyarkhan in Pakistan's populous central Punjab province, Razia was born with cataracts that could have been rectified with a simple operation.
But lack of healthcare in rural Pakistan condemned her to a life of shadows.
Today, as she props herself up in bed at the Koohi Goth Women?s Hospital, a charity-run clinic on the outskirts of Karachi, her eyes brim with tears at the memory of her short marriage to 23-year-old Zahid -- and what followed.
"Just a few months after our wedding, he was out riding a motorcycle when a truck hit him. He was killed instantly," Razia said through her tears.
After he died, Razia discovered she was pregnant, and hoped the baby would give meaning to her grief.
But the child was still-born after a horrific two-day labour supervised by a dai, or traditional midwife, whose lack of skills left Razia debilitated and outcast.
Shershah Syed, the doctor in charge of the Koohi Goth clinic, said: "The unskilled attendant caused complications during labour and in the end (Razia) delivered a dead baby after suffering huge damage to herself."
As a result of her experience in labour, Razia developed fistula, among the most crippling and humiliating health problems for women in the developing world.
"Fistula is caused by prolonged labour -- as the baby?s head presses against the lining of the birth canal, it perforates the wall of the rectum and bladder leaving the mother unable to control her excretory functions," Syed said.
The teenager became a social pariah.
"I was put in a secluded hut in the village where my ailing mother took care of me," Razia said.
With her fellow villagers believing her injuries and discomfort were God?s will, Razia spent the next 18 months in embarrassed agony, unaware that her condition was preventable and treatable.
Then one morning she heard about the clinic and began believing she could be cured.
Leaving her infirm mother and brother at home, Razia took a train to Karachi, 634 kilometres (400 miles) to the south, and found her way to the Koohi Goth Women's Hospital where she has spent the last six months.
-- Bad for all, but worse for women --
Now she needs just one final operation before she can resume a normal life.
"She will be a normal woman," said Syed, adding that once Razia returns home she will "set a precedent for millions of poor and downtrodden Pakistani females, who have little access to proper health facilities".
According to the doctor, Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan have the highest rates of fistula in Asia.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) blames the high rates on a lack of skilled midwifes and emergency obstetric care, as well as early marriage and teenage pregnancy, high fertility and restricted mobility for women.
In Pakistan alone, fistula cases average 6,000 deaths a year, said Syed, adding that a woman dies in childbirth every 18 minutes.
The UNFPA puts Pakistan's maternal mortality ratio at 553 per 100,000 live births.
"The health facilities in Pakistan are below standard for everyone, but for women the situation is far more difficult mainly because of increasing poverty and inaccessibility to proper health facilities," Syed said.
Ashrafi Begum, 25, comes from Gilgit, near Kashmir in northern Pakistan. She was married to Mohammad Akbar, a trader, 12 years ago.
She became pregnant five years after the wedding but lost the baby and developed fistula. like Razia, thanks to an unskilled midwife.
"My in-laws shut me away as if I was a leper for a year or so, and then my husband divorced me," she said.
Her brother took her to Karachi, 2,100 kilometres (1,313 miles) away, and put her in hospital where she has received treatment and looks forward to resuming a normal, healthy life.
"I am happy to see myself getting rid of the disease. But people like my ex-husband are totally unaware of this and punish women without realising that we have committed no crime."
Officials at the clinic said they do a double job, complimenting the medical treatment with psychological counselling.
"These victims come to us in extremely bad shape, depressed and have very low self-esteem, so it takes time to get them back to life through medical and psychological care," said Sarwan Kumar, a resident doctor.
Razia said she would return home after doctors declare her healthy, but first she has another task to complete.
"I'm now going to try and find another charity that can treat my eyes too," she said.
Japan protests NKorea's satellite launch plan
Japan sharply protested North Korea's planned satellite launch, warning Friday it could shoot down the rocket after Pyongyang said it would fly over Japan and designated a "danger" zone off the country's coast.
North Korea has given U.N. agencies coordinates forming two zones where parts of its multiple-stage rocket would fall, unveiling its plan to fire the projectile over Japan toward the Pacific Ocean in the launch set for sometime between April 4-8.
One of the "danger" zones where the rocket's first stage is expected to fall lies in waters less than 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Japan's northwestern shore, according to coordinates released by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization on Thursday.
The other zone lies in the middle of the Pacific between Japan and Hawaii.
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told North Korea to abandon the rocket plan and said Japan was ready to defend itself.
"We can legally shoot down one for safety in case an object falls toward Japan," he said.
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Japan would "deal with anything that is flying toward us. We are preparing for any kind of emergency."
Japan's prime minister also expressed anger.
"They can call it a satellite or whatever, but it would be a violation" of a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution banning Pyongyang from ballistic missile activity, Taro Aso said. "We protest a launch, and strongly demand it be canceled."
Japan's Coast Guard and Transport Ministry issued maritime and aviation warnings, urging ships and aircraft to stay away from the affected regions.
South Korea also warned Pyongyang.
"If North Korea carries out the launch, we believe there will be discussions and countermeasures from the Security Council," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, referring to possible sanctions.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that a North Korean satellite or missile launch was "undesirable" because it would "threaten the peace and stability in the region."
Though it is an international norm for countries to provide such specifics as a safety warning ahead of a missile or satellite launch, it was the first time the communist North has done so. It did not issue a warning ahead of its purported satellite launch in 1998 over Japan and a failed 2006 test-flight of a long-range missile.
The North's notification to the ICAO and IMO underscores the communist regime is intent on pushing ahead with the launch in an attempt to gain greater leverage in negotiations with the United States, analysts say.
"They want to do the launch openly while minimizing what the international community may find fault with," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University. "The launch will earn North Korea a key political asset that would enlarge its negotiating leverage."
U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood called the North's plan "provocative."
"We think the North needs to desist, or not carry out this type of provocative act, and sit down ... and work on the process of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," Wood said.
President Barack Obama "highlighted the risks posed by North Korea's missile program" during his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, the White House said in a statement.
Analysts, including Kim, say a rocket launch would increase the stakes and, more importantly, the benefits the impoverished nation might get from negotiations with the U.S. and other countries trying to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons program.
___
Associated Press writer Mari Yamguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
North Korea has given U.N. agencies coordinates forming two zones where parts of its multiple-stage rocket would fall, unveiling its plan to fire the projectile over Japan toward the Pacific Ocean in the launch set for sometime between April 4-8.
One of the "danger" zones where the rocket's first stage is expected to fall lies in waters less than 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Japan's northwestern shore, according to coordinates released by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization on Thursday.
The other zone lies in the middle of the Pacific between Japan and Hawaii.
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told North Korea to abandon the rocket plan and said Japan was ready to defend itself.
"We can legally shoot down one for safety in case an object falls toward Japan," he said.
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Japan would "deal with anything that is flying toward us. We are preparing for any kind of emergency."
Japan's prime minister also expressed anger.
"They can call it a satellite or whatever, but it would be a violation" of a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution banning Pyongyang from ballistic missile activity, Taro Aso said. "We protest a launch, and strongly demand it be canceled."
Japan's Coast Guard and Transport Ministry issued maritime and aviation warnings, urging ships and aircraft to stay away from the affected regions.
South Korea also warned Pyongyang.
"If North Korea carries out the launch, we believe there will be discussions and countermeasures from the Security Council," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, referring to possible sanctions.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that a North Korean satellite or missile launch was "undesirable" because it would "threaten the peace and stability in the region."
Though it is an international norm for countries to provide such specifics as a safety warning ahead of a missile or satellite launch, it was the first time the communist North has done so. It did not issue a warning ahead of its purported satellite launch in 1998 over Japan and a failed 2006 test-flight of a long-range missile.
The North's notification to the ICAO and IMO underscores the communist regime is intent on pushing ahead with the launch in an attempt to gain greater leverage in negotiations with the United States, analysts say.
"They want to do the launch openly while minimizing what the international community may find fault with," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University. "The launch will earn North Korea a key political asset that would enlarge its negotiating leverage."
U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood called the North's plan "provocative."
"We think the North needs to desist, or not carry out this type of provocative act, and sit down ... and work on the process of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," Wood said.
President Barack Obama "highlighted the risks posed by North Korea's missile program" during his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, the White House said in a statement.
Analysts, including Kim, say a rocket launch would increase the stakes and, more importantly, the benefits the impoverished nation might get from negotiations with the U.S. and other countries trying to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons program.
___
Associated Press writer Mari Yamguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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