Ex-Libyan official urges West to act

Several members of Moammar Gadhafi's inner circle want to defect but are too scared about the safety of their families and friends to do so, Libya's former energy minister said Wednesday.

Omar Fathi bin Shatwan, who also served as Libya's industry minister, told The Associated Press that he had fled by fishing boat to Malta on Friday from the western Libyan city of Misrata.

Shatwan, who left the government in 2007, said he still was in contact with some top government figures. He explained that many feared for their safety if they flee — in some cases, their families are under siege, he said.

"Those whose families are outside Libya will flee if they get a chance," Shatwan said in a telephone interview from Malta. "But many can't leave, and all the families of ministers are under siege."

Shatwan said he last had contact with Gadhafi in 2006, and had not spoken with the tyrant's sons. "Ministers who are friends of mine, I have spoken to them," he said.

He said he spent 40 days bunkered down at his home in the central port of Misrata before escaping from Libya, and witnessed Gadhafi's forces pounding the city with heavy artillery and relentlessly shooting civilians.

US lawmakers tell Obama, dump Pakistan and go with India

WASHINGTON: Expressing apprehension that the United States is being "taken for suckers" and "looked at as patsies" by Pakistan, two American lawmakers on Tuesday called for strengthening ties with India even as a White House report gave a harshly critical assessment of Islamabad's effort to defeat extremism.

While administration officials defended Washington's support for Pakistan using the same logic as London is doing on UK Prime Minister David Cameron's ongoing visit to Islamabad ("a difficult partnership with Pakistan is far better than having a hostile Pakistan," one U.S official testified), lawmakers wanted a major reappraisal of U.S outlook for the region. They expressed doubts if any good would come out of the current U.S policy of coddling Islamabad in the face of Pakistani duplicity in combating extremism. Instead, they pushed for even closer ties with India.

"After 10 years of hearing the same sales pitch I tend to doubt it. I doubt that our money is buying anything that's deep or durable," New York Congressman Gary Ackerman said at a hearing. "I doubt the leaders in the Afghan government and the Pakistani government are going to do anything except pursue their own narrow, venal self interests. I doubt the ISI will ever stop working with us during the day and going to see their not-so-secret friends in the Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e Mohammed and other terrorist groups at night."

EXCLUSIVE-Gulf states seek to broker Yemen's Saleh exit

•  Saudi, Gulf allies stepping in with deal for Saleh to go
•   Proposal would hand power to interim council
•   Several leading figures proposed to chair caretaker body
•   Saleh wrangles, no certainty of striking deal

LONDON/DUBAI, April 6 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are trying to broker a deal to have Yemen's president step down and hand over power, possibly to an interim council of tribal and political leaders, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Ali Abdullah's Saleh's at times bloody response to protests, inspired by those in Egypt and Tunisia, against his 32-year rule has tried the patience of his U.S. and Saudi backers.

A variety of official sources say they are now ready to push aside a long-time ally against Yemen-based al Qaeda in the hope of staving off a chaotic collapse of the poorest Arab state.

 Though diplomats familiar with the negotiations question whether a deal is anywhere close to being struck, the proposal by the Gulf Arabs involves Saleh finally agreeing to stand down and handing his powers for a short time to a national council.

Ivorian eyewitness: Bodies on Abidjan's streets

For nearly a week residents of Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan have been sheltering indoors as forces battle each other in the city.

Troops opposed to incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo have launched a final assault on his presidential residence.

Mr Gbagbo insists he won November's run-off vote, but election officials found that his rival Alassane Ouattara was the winner.

A man living in the centre of Abidjan told the BBC's Focus on Africa about events on Wednesday as he went out to look for supplies.

I took a walk and we found three dead bodies on the floor.

A couple of minutes later there was a convoy of armed men, some of them had AK-47s, bazookas, double barrels, knives, swords; others had Uzis.

The dead bodies were men with lots of bizarre things on them - like juju and charms”

There were 25 cars - four-by-fours - with about seven men per car. It [the convoy] kept on surveying the area.

Afridi should captain Pakistan in Tests, says Imran

Pakistan's limited overs captain Shahid Afridi should return to Test cricket and skipper the national team in all three formats of the sport, former captain Imran Khan said.

Afridi pulled out of a Test series against Australia last year in England after losing the first Test at Lord's as captain.

Since then he has only captained Pakistan in one-day internationals and T20 matches. Senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq led Pakistan in their last two Test series against South Africa and New Zealand.

Afridi, who led Pakistan to the semifinals of the World Cup that ended on Saturday, has made himself available for this month's tour to the West Indies after previously planning on missing the series.

"There should be just one captain for all three formats of the game," Imran told reporters at a function held in Lahore to honour Pakistan's World Cup umpire Aleem Dar.

"The main reason for India winning the World Cup is that their captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads them in Tests, ODIs and T20 cricket," the cricketer turned politician said.

Imran, who led Pakistan to their only World Cup title in 1992, said that Dhoni had matured quicker as a captain because he had developed the temperament to handle the different pressures of the three formats.

"Afridi must also be captain in all three formats of the sport. My belief is that unless you captain in Test cricket you can't really be at the top of your game," he said.

Afridi withdrew from Test cricket after claiming he wanted to spend more time with his family and focus on the limited overs game.