LONDON (Reuters) - The Commonwealth must do more to promote democracy and get tough on autocratic regimes, even if that means publicly "shaming" some of its members, said a report to be presented to its political leaders on Monday.

Many Commonwealth governments fail to "encourage, or even countenance, open political competition" and instead use state apparatus to repress dissent, said the report, commissioned by the club's policy think-tank and an electoral reform group.

In September, the 53-nation Commonwealth suspended Fiji after the leaders of a 2006 coup failed to make steps to return the country to democracy -- a rare sanction from the group which generally uses back-door diplomacy to persuade members to behave.

This subtle approach meant it was easier for "wily autocrats manoeuvre to deflect demands for reform", said the report, written by democracy experts from Britain, Ghana and Pakistan.

The Commonwealth -- mostly made up of former British colonies -- should publish regular democracy "health checks" for each member state, inviting the judiciary, media and non-governmental groups to contribute, it recommended.

Rather than just acting against countries that have undergone coups or obviously rigged elections, the Commonwealth should speak out against regimes which are more subtle in their repression.

"The Commonwealth can play an important role in monitoring such processes and shaming those governments who fail to respect the association's basic political values," said the report.

Promoting democracy "should not be just one among a number of Commonwealth objectives", it said. "It must become, and be recognised as, the defining characteristic of the association."

Commonwealth heads of state and government meet in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, from November 27 to November 29.

(Xinhua) -- South Africa plans to create special courts dedicated to handling crimes committed during the World Cup, aiming to speed up the judicial process, especially for cases involving foreigners, the Tribune newspaper reported on Sunday.

The South African government hopes the promise of swift justice will help stamp out crime during the event and ease worries of fans visiting one of the world's most violent countries.

"The courts are here to speed the process. There is not going to be any leniency," said Justice Department spokesman Tlali Tlali.

"We're going to deal with all cases that have to do with the tournament," he said.

An average of 50 people die violently every day in South Africa, while 250, 000 homes are burgled every year.

The Justice Ministry is concerned that the influx of 450, 000 tourists will bring with it a surge in crime.

"The experience from previous host countries has shown that the influx of foreign nationals in World Cups also potentially increases criminal activities," the Justice Ministry said.

"Therefore, special measures do need to be put in place in order to process any criminal matters that may arise from big events such as the World Cup."

If any foreigners are involved in crimes - either as victims or perpetrators - their cases will receive priority at the special courts.

"The scheme obviously hopes to see justice done to foreigners who are the victims of crime, while the foreigners are available in South Africa to give evidence," said lawyer Peter Jordi, a professor at the University of the Witwaters-rand.

"This will also act as a disincentive to commit crimes against foreigners," he added.

The scheme, will cost about R1 million for 54 courts to operate in all nine host cities, 15 hours a day from May 28 to July 25. Judges, lawyers, prosecutors and interpreters, as well as volunteers to help with administrative issues, will also receive special training for the World Cup courts.

South Africa has already used a similar system during school holidays to allow traffic offenders to settle their cases in just one day.

"The South African authorities are obviously aware the crime may be an issue for foreign visitors," Jordi said.

"This scheme is another indication that the authorities will be harsh on those who commit crimes during the World Cup." Since President Jacob Zuma took office in May, the government has stepped up efforts to fight crime, with the deputy police minister last week telling police to "shoot the bastards" when dealing with violent criminals.

Jordi said the speed of the special courts could also limit the ability to follow up on any such cases of abuse.

"Speedy justice can be problematic because accused persons are not given an adequate opportunity to consider how best to defend themselves," he said.

(Xinhua) -- A UN official Sunday said the United Nations inked a plan of action with the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) to demobilize and reintegrate children recruited among its troops.

"We signed a plan of action with the SPLA on Friday. The plan of action calls for release of children for verification by the UN agencies and the reintegration of children according to that," Radhika Coomarswamy, special representative of the UN secretary general for children and armed conflict, told a press conference in Khartoum Sunday.

"We are happy about this on the 20th anniversary of the Child Rights Convention," she said, adding that "this commitment is a milestone in the efforts to end association of children with the SPLA."

"I shall continue to appeal to the SPLA leadership to spare no effort to release and prevent re-association of these children with their armed elements," said Coomarswamy.

She said there were great difficulties on reality of children in South Sudan, particularly the children recruited by the Ugandan Lord Resistance Army (LRA), which launches its operations from South Sudan.

"There is still a large number of children associated with armed groups. We met LRA children and saw their years of suffering," she said

Coomarswamy started the visit to Sudan on Nov. 15 at an invitation of the Sudanese authorities.

Her talks with the officials of the Sudanese government, South Sudan government and the local governments in the Darfur region focused on the issue of recruitment of children and their involvement in the armed conflicts together with their demobilization and reintegration in the local communities.

(Xinhua) -- A UN official Sunday urged parties in the western Sudanese region of Darfur to ensure better protection for children.

"We have reports on organized recruitment of children in Darfur," Radhika Coomarswamy, special representative of the UN Secretary General for children and armed conflict, told a press conference in Khartoum.

She said the United Nations would work to end recruitment of children by Darfur armed movements and other parties, and ensure that all parties provide better protection for the children.

"We have an action plan with the Sudanese government, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN to follow up conditions of the recruited children and work to demobilize and reintegrate them in local communities," she added.

The UN official, meanwhile, said they had agreed with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which governs South Sudan, to demobilize children within its forces.

Coomarswamy started her visit to Sudan at the invitation of the Sudanese authorities.

Her talks with the Sudanese government, South Sudan government and local governments in the Darfur region focused on issues of recruitment of children and their involvement in the armed conflicts.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan sentenced six children to death for taking part in a Darfur rebel attack on Khartoum but has since promised not to execute them, a top United Nations official said on Sunday.

A Sudanese government official said he could not comment on the case but added child executions were not allowed under the law and there were checks to keep youngsters off death row.

"We have six from the attack on death row," said Radhika Coomaraswamy, the U.N. Secretary-General's special representative for children and armed conflict.

"The government claims that a military panel has found that these were not children. But the assessment of the international agencies is that they are children."

"I was assured today by the minister of justice that they will not be executed," she told reporters at the end of a trip to Sudan.

The United Nations defines a child as anyone under 18.

More than 100 people were sentenced to death after being convicted of taking part in an attack by Darfur's rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman in May last year.

Sudan's president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir pardoned and freed scores of children he said had been detained after taking part in the unprecedented raid, which stopped just short of the country's parliament.

Coomaraswamy said U.N. staff had identified another six children among the remaining convicts, but Sudan's government had said some of them were over 18 at the time of the attack.

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices hit record highs at $1,166.45 an ounce in Europe on Monday as dollar weakness fuelled momentum buying of the precious metal.

Spot gold was bid at $1,166.25 an ounce by 0723 GMT, against $1,148.20 late in New York on Friday.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed sharply against the dollar on Monday as gold climbed to another record high, while local stock futures pointed to a positive open on the bourse.

The JSE's blue-chip Top-40 December futures contract was up 1.12 percent ahead of the 0700 GMT start of trade after stocks fell on Friday.

The rand was trading at 7.54 against the dollar, 1.02 percent firmer than Friday's New York close of 7.6175. It briefly touched 7.5320 earlier, recouping some of its losses from late last week.

"We are probably going to be in the 7.48 to 7.62/dollar range. Gold is obviously the reason the rand is back from the 7.60 levels. It seems to be fairly good for emerging markets and commodity currencies," said a local trader.

Gold, a major South African export, powered to a record above $1,160 an ounce on Monday after a rally in the dollar ran out of steam.

South African government bonds were mixed, with the yield on the 2015 issue steady at 8.355 percent and that on the 2036 note down 0.5 basis points to 8.775 percent.

Investors are focusing on a slew of data this week, which commences with third quarter GDP data on Tuesday.

A Reuters poll last week showed the local economy is expected to have exited its first recession in 17 years with a 0.2 percent annualised growth in the September quarter after three consecutive quarters of contraction.

(Xinhua) -- Two former Guantanamo prisoners on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist group were acquitted on Sunday in an Algerian criminal court, state APS news agency said.

The two men alleged that they were "brutally tortured" during their imprisonment in Guantanamo Bay, the report said.

According to the APS, the two accused went to Germany in the early 1990s when they were engaged in drug trafficking and theft before traveling to Afghanistan.

They were arrested in Pakistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and transferred to Guantanamo Bay where they were held without trial before being sent home to Algeria last year.

During the trial, both defendants admitted drug trafficking in Germany but denied being members in a terrorist group in Afghanistan, said the report.

The court in Algiers acquitted the two men, Faghoul Abdelli and Mohamed Terari, after rejected their prosecution argument of being members of a terrorist group, the agency said. ?

(Xinhua) -- Sudan's National Elections Commission (NEC) on Sunday decided to delay the voting date from April 5 to April 11, 2010, the official Sudan News Agency reported.

According to the report, the delay is to give another week to the voters' registration period, which will end on Dec. 7, and by ruling that registration offices should remain open during the Eidal-Adha holiday from next Thursday to Sunday.

The report said that the NEC reviewed in its meeting remarks of the Sudanese political parties regarding the declared time table for the voters' registration, and after evaluating the registration results together with the difficulties some areas faced, the NEC decided to extend the registration period.

"The extension of the registration period necessitated the delay of the voting date," the report said.

The NEC hoped that after that procedure, the citizens would rush to exercise their rights of registration, and called on political parties and civil society forces to urge citizens to register, according to the report.

Some Sudanese political parties, including the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, demanded extension of the voters' registration period, arguing that the period was not enough for the registration of the voters.

The staging of a general election in 2010 was one of the key chapters of a peace deal struck in 2005 to end a 22-year civil war between Sudan's southern region and the Khartoum government in which two million people died.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan on Sunday announced a six-day delay to long-awaited elections to make up for hold-ups in registering millions of voters in the oil-producing country.

Election officials have faced huge logistical challenges in rolling out the first multi-party polls in 24 years in Sudan, Africa's largest country.

Sudan's National Elections Commission said it was extending voter registration across the country by seven days to December 7 because of a late start in some areas and appeals for an extension from some political parties.

As a result, the start of the ballot would be pushed to April 11, 2010 from April 5, said a statement from the Commission on state news agency Suna.

The elections -- parliamentary, presidential and local -- have been delayed twice before from their original date of July this year, set under the terms of a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war between north and south Sudan.

The timing of the poll has been a sensitive issue as any significant delay would push the vote into the start of the rainy season in May when large parts of Sudan are inaccessible.

Some southerners fear a long delay could encroach on a referendum on southern independence promised in January 2011 under the same peace accord.

North Sudan's dominant National Congress Party (NCP) on Sunday said it supported the latest small delay, which would give voters more time to sign up.

"We are afraid that a large extension of the elections will take us to the rainy season. But six days will not do that ... Most of the parties have asked for an extension. This is not going to be controversial," senior NCP official Ibrahim Ghandour told Reuters

HARARE, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Negotiators of Zimbabwe's major political parties are expected to meet in Harare on Sunday for formal discussions aimed at ironing out sticking points around the implementation of the Global Political Agreement, The Sunday Mail reported.

The meeting follows the lapse of the 15-day timeframe set by the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Co-operation for commencement of the talks.

Mugabe's Zanu-PF co-negotiator Nicholas Goche said his party and the two MDC formations failed to meet within the stipulated time-frame because MDC negotiators, Professor Welsham Ncube and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, were out of the country on ministerial business.

Earlier this month, the SADC Troika, comprising Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Swaziland's King Mswati III and President Rupiah Banda of Zambia, held an ordinary summit in Maputo, Mozambique, to review progress made in the implementation of the GPA and told Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC to immediately engage in dialogue.

The deliberations were to be held within 15 days of the summit and not exceed 30 days. On the first Wednesday after the summit, the negotiators, Patrick Chinamasa (Zanu-PF), Tendai Biti (MDC-T) and Prof Ncube (MDC), met informally before scheduling another meeting for last Monday.

This followed prior discussion among the principals to the inclusive Government, which outlined the issues the negotiators were to adhere to during their formal engagement.

According to a communiqué issued after the summit, the deliberations were to include all outstanding issues arising from the implementation of the country's GPA and the January 27 SADC Communiqué.

South Africa, which is the facilitator, was tasked to evaluate progress and report back to the Organ chairman President Guebuza. MDC-T's demands include the swearing in of its treasurer-general Roy Bennett as Deputy Agriculture Minister, the repeal of the appointment of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor and the Attorney-General as well as the parceling out of provincial governorship and ambassadorial posts.

On the other hand, Zanu-PF's key concerns are that MDC-T should participate in the implementation of the GPA by calling for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West.

The party is also advocating a progressive stance against external interference and has raised concerns over the setting up of parallel Government structures by the Prime Minister's Office.

At the Maputo summit, the Troika noted the inclusive Government's achievements, among them peace and stability as well as "positive progress on economic recovery".

The Troika said the parties should fully comply with the spirit and letter of the GPA and SADC Summit decisions of Jan. 27, 2009 and to engage in dialogue in order to find a lasting solution to the outstanding issues towards the full implementation of the GPA.

NAIROBI, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Pirates have hijacked a Greek-owned bulk carrier in the latest spate of piracy incidents in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen, a regional maritime official said on Sunday.

Andrew Mwangura, East Africa Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program (SAP) said he has not established the composition of the crewmembers onboard the Panama-flagged vessel.

“The Red Sea Spirit was hijacked on Thursday but we received reports late on Saturday. I am yet to establish the nationalities and the number of the crew members on board and the destination of the vessel,” Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone from Mombasa.

The Gulf of Aden, off the northern coast of Somalia, has the highest risk of piracy in the world. About 25,000 ships use the channel south of Yemen, between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.

Piracy has become rampant off the coast of Africa, especially in the waters near Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991.

Ransoms started out in the tens of thousands of dollars and have since climbed into the millions. Somalia is at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden, which leads to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important shipping channels.

The country has been plagued by factional fighting between warlords and hasn't had a functioning central administration since the 1991 ouster of former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.

2009-11-22
(Xinhua) -- Nigeria on Saturday condemned Kosovo for its unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia. The declaration of independence was made by members of parliament in Pristina, its capital in the Southern Province of Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008. It was approved by a unanimous quorum, numbering 109 members.

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ojo Maduekwe, made the condemnation in Abuja at a joint news briefing with his Serbian counterpart, Vuk Jeremic, at the end of one-day bilateral talks.

“Nigeria's tragic experience of civil war leaves us with no choice than to condemn the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Maduekwe as saying.

“With the country's experience, history has equipped us in many ways to always be on the side of countries that are challenged by secessionist moves,” he said.

“We want to commend the Republic of Serbia that they did not use force, they did not place embargo on Kosovo, they have used very peaceful means to address this matter and I think that is the way to go,” he added.

“The least that should be done is to encourage Serbia as they enter into discussions with their brothers in Kosovo to see how this issue could be resolved,” the minister said.

On Nigeria-Serbia bilateral relations, Maduekwe said there was need to move the relations from being adequately cordial to becoming progressively strategic.

He expressed gratitude to the Serbian government for voting Nigeria as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council at the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

He said the joint commission between the two countries which had been dormant since 1990 is going to be strongly revived.

“The capacity to get this started is inherent and there will not be any difficulties,” he added.

Maduekwe expressed the hope that as the commission commenced, various agreements put together in draft form would not just end at the signing stage.

“We will not just end at signing; the capacity for hard work for both countries will be brought to bear on these agreements by making sure that these documents will be implemented to the letter,” the minister said.

He listed the agreements to include trade relations, cultural and education agreement, consular and air transport agreements.

Earlier, Jeremic, who expressed gratitude to Nigeria for its support, said: “We will never forget the support from Nigeria to Serbia at our difficult time. “We know how difficult it was to take such decision,” he added.

He said the Serbian authority was determined to come to a solution with Kosovo through peaceful dialogue.

“That is why we have not gone to war with Kosovo, and that is why we will not go to war with Kosovo, that is why we have not put on any sanctions on them and we will not do that, he said.

“But we will continue to work with our allies like Nigeria to ensure that both parties return to the negotiation table because it is only through negotiation that solution can be found to international problems,” Jeremic said.

The minister said the signing of agreements to facilitate political dialogue between the two countries would give a rebirth to the dormant commission.

He disclosed that on the Serbian side, the leader of the commission would be the deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy. The minister added that the two countries also discussed cooperation at multilateral for a and within multilateral organizations.

Jeremic also disclosed that the Serbian government would be willing to award scholarships to Nigerian students who were willing to study in the country in 2010.

“Decades ago, we had students who came from Nigeria studying in Serbia, but today, we are eager to build the next generation of individuals who will be serving as a vibrant bridge between our two nations,” he said.

“We are very proud of the legacies we have had between our two nations in the past and we want to build on those legacies for the next generation,” he added.

“We look forward to receiving scholars from Nigeria to study in the University of Serbia,” the minister said.

He congratulated Nigeria on its elections at the UN, noting that the next two years is going to be the year the voice of Africa is going to be heard loud and clear and in a resolute fashion because Nigeria is going to speak for the rest of Africa.

2009-11-22
(Xinhua) -- Sudan's First Vice-President and President of southern Sudan government Salva Kiir Mayardit said Saturday that Sudan's general elections would be held on its fixed time in April 2010.

"The elections will be held as scheduled in April next year, but regarding the referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan and its governing law, the matter is still under consultation between the two government partners, the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)," said Kiir in press statements following his meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum.

He said he acquainted al-Bashir with outcomes of his European tour, which took him to Belgium, Netherlands and France.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese official said the government of southern Sudan was working to end the tribal conflicts in the region and accused parties, which he did not name, of igniting the tribal tension in the south.

"We are working to end these tribal conflicts. They are simple and normal conflicts that should not be exaggerated. They occur in all areas of the world," he said.

The NCP and the SPLM differ over some bills concerning the general elections and the referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan which is scheduled for 2011.

However, the bill on the referendum constitutes the major point of difference between the two sides. A joint political committee between them is embarked on discussions to reach a consensus on the bill.

Nov 22, 2009
CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel's president said on Sunday expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank was a "marginal" issue blocking resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

But Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, speaking at a joint news conference with Shimon Peres, said Israeli construction work on land captured in a 1967 war should stop and that Israel should take "courageous decisions" to push forward peace.

Egypt and other Arabs have blamed the United States for not doing enough to press Israel to stop settlement building work. Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu says Israel must accommodate the "natural growth" of Jewish families in settlements.

"The minute we shall start to negotiate there won't be new settlements, there won't be confiscation of land," Peres said on a visit to Egypt, the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel and which plays a mediation role in the conflict.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he would not renew negotiations with Israel unless it agreed to freeze settlement expansion. He has urged Washington to do more.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said Israel's approval of new construction was "very dangerous" because it would fuel Palestinian anger and threatened peace. But he has backed Israel's position that stopping should not be a condition for talks.

Peres, whose post is largely ceremonial, said the settlements issue was being blown out of proportion.

"Unfortunately, it's a marginal issue, it is some building of houses that became a central issue for the wrong reasons. My answer is even this issue can be settled by negotiations and agreement," Peres said, calling for a swift restart to talks.

Nov 22, 2009
LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Saturday urged his party to implement a zero tolerance policy on government corruption, as Africa's biggest oil producer struggles to improve its image abroad.

Dos Santos, who has ruled the African nation for more than 30 years, said members of his MPLA party had so far been timid in supervising government spending, enabling some to commit fraud and squander public money.

"Irresponsible people, people of bad faith, have taken advantage of this circumstance to squander resources and to carry out illicit and even damaging and fraudulent acts of management," dos Santos said in a speech to his party.

Angola's government says it is trying hard to increase transparency by publishing its budget and oil revenues online, but it recently lost ground in a Transparency International Index and now ranks among the world's 18 most corrupt nations.

"Transparency in acts of management and good government are a front where there is still a lot of work to be done. The best thing is to agree to a sort of zero tolerance after the sixth congress," dos Santos said.

The MPLA party will hold a national congress next month. It holds 82 percent of the seats in parliament after winning a landslide election last year.

MORE ACTION

Billions in oil revenues and loans from China to help rebuild infrastructure destroyed by a 27-year civil war have turned Angola into one of the world's fastest growing economies.

Nov 22, 2009
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Pirates hijacked a Greek-owned bulk carrier on Thursday in the Gulf of Aden near Yemen, a Kenyan maritime official said on Sunday, but Greek officials said the attack may have been unsuccessful.

The vessel was taken 36 nautical miles off the Yemeni port of Balhaf and news of the seizure only emerged on Saturday, said Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme.

"Red Sea Spirit was taken by gunmen off the Yemeni coast last Thursday. She is flying the Panama flag," Mwangura said. "She is a Greek-owned bulk carrier."

However, a Greek merchant marine ministry spokesman said the managers of the ship, Sekur Holdings, did not confirm the incident. Sekur Holdings were not available for comment.

Meanwhile, pirates said they may release the Chinese De Xin Hai next week.

The Chinese bulk vessel was seized mid-October with 76,000 tonnes of coal and 25 Chinese crew. It is owned by the Qingdao Ocean Shipping Co.

"Negotiations between us and the owners to free the Chinese ship are going on now," a pirate named Mohamed told Reuters from the pirate stronghold of Haradheere. "We agreed on $3.5 million to free the ship."

Somali pirates have continued to defy foreign navies patrolling the waters off the Horn of Africa and are holding at least 13 vessels and more than 200 crew.

There was a pause in hijackings during monsoon rains, but the sea gangs have stepped up attacks in the past two months, extending their range to as far as the Seychelles, to evade the naval vessels.

Nov 22, 2009
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's al Shabaab Islamists said on Sunday they had seized control of a southern town from the rival Hizbul Islam insurgents after clashes that killed at least 12 fighters.

Al Shabaab controls much of southern Somalia and parts of the capital Mogadishu. The group is fighting government troops and African Union peacekeepers to impose its own version of sharia, or Muslim law, throughout Somalia.

Witnesses said hundreds of the group's fighters marched into Afmadow town in the lower Jubba region on Sunday after heavy fighting that started the previous day.

"We are now in the town. We have killed more than 12 of those that fought us and captured others," al Shabaab commander Mohamed Ali Shuqul told Reuters by telephone from Afmadow, which is close to the border with Kenya.

Residents said they saw dead bodies on the streets as they fled the tense town.

The two rebel groups were former allies but broke ranks over who should control the lucrative southern port of Kismayu.

"Al Shabaab's strategy is to stop anyone who can have an influence on the people in the areas it controls. This fighting is mainly about who should control resources and Kismayu port," said Ahmed Ali Noor, a Mogadishu-based political analyst.

(Xinhua) -- Mediterranean states should energize their cooperation to eliminate unemployment, experts said on Saturday.

"I think countries in the region must share expertise to find the best way to counter unemployment," said Taib Hadri, an expert at Tunisian Strategic Studies Institute.

Representatives of research and strategic studies organizations from Mediterranean countries are attending a two-day meeting, with labor market, illegal migration and regional integration top on its agenda.

"We need a common future vision for the Mediterranean. Cooperation between the North and the South is necessary. We need to improve economic partnership, boost trade exchange and upgrade development," added Taib Hadri.

Cecile Jolly, an expert from Mediterranean World Economic Prospect Institute, stressed the need to put the employment issue at the top of Mediterranean states' agenda as a move to create enough jobs.

"Employment file must be included in the priorities of the North-South cooperation in order to identify the best way to reduce the jobless rate," Jolly said.

According to figures published in the meeting, 31 percent of the Mediterranean population are under 15 years old, which requires the creation of 22.5 million new jobs by 2030.

Unemployment rate stands at 13 percent in the southern Mediterranean shore where the ratio of active workforce is at a low level.

(Xinhua) -- Sudan's First Vice-President and President of southern Sudan government Salva Kiir Mayardit said Saturday that Sudan's general elections would be held on its fixed time in April 2010.

"The elections will be held as scheduled in April next year, but regarding the referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan and its governing law, the matter is still under consultation between the two government partners, the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)," said Kiir in press statements following his meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum.

He said he acquainted al-Bashir with outcomes of his European tour, which took him to Belgium, Netherlands and France.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese official said the government of southern Sudan was working to end the tribal conflicts in the region and accused parties, which he did not name, of igniting the tribal tension in the south.

"We are working to end these tribal conflicts. They are simple and normal conflicts that should not be exaggerated. They occur in all areas of the world," he said.

The NCP and the SPLM differ over some bills concerning the general elections and the referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan which is scheduled for 2011.

However, the bill on the referendum constitutes the major point of difference between the two sides. A joint political committee between them is embarked on discussions to reach a consensus on the bill.