Asylum granted to dictator's son-in-law

THE Seychelles have granted a year's asylum to the son-in-law of Tunisia's deposed dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, officials say.

Sakhr El Materi, who was convicted in absentia of corruption by a Tunisian court, appealed for asylum in the Indian Ocean archipelago in February.

Materi and his family "have been granted a 12 month residence permit in Seychelles," a statement from the immigration department read.

The Seychelles said that while the country's law "does not make specific provisions for political asylum", the residence permit was issued because they believed Materi would not receive justice in his home nation.

"The government of Seychelles has not satisfied itself that the conditions exist in Tunisia at this point for a free and fair trial if Mr El Materi were to be repatriated back to face the charges set out against him there," the statement added.

Materi first fled to Qatar just before the overthrow of his father-in-law's regime in 2011, but the Gulf emirate agreed to expel him in September 2012.

In December he travelled briefly to the Seychelles, leaving after he was questioned by police for trying to enter on an expired diplomatic passport, but returned to Victoria in January.

Tunisian officials have said they would do everything to get Materi extradited.

Ben Ali and his close family used to go on holiday to the Seychelles in secret prior to the revolution.

Said to be the ex-dictator's favourite son-in-law and long seen as a possible successor, Materi was sentenced in absentia to 16 years in prison and fined 97 million dinars ($A59.4 million) for corruption and property fraud.

Married to Ben Ali's eldest daughter Nesrine, the businessman owned Princess Holding and was active in virtually every economic sector.

His properties have either been confiscated or placed under state administration.

The north African country has repeatedly asked Saudi Arabia, where Ben Ali took refuge with his wife Leila Trabelsi after they fled Tunisia on in January 2011, to extradite him.

Ben Ali has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison for presiding over the bloody protest crackdown that ignited the Arab Spring, and convicted on other charges that include incitement to murder, embezzlement and abuse of power.

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EU court stops extradition of UK Islamist

THE European Court of Human Rights has ruled against the extradition from Britain of a mentally ill man who is wanted by US authorities for conspiring to establish an Islamist militant training camp in Oregon.

A seven-judge panel which examined the case concluded that extraditing Haroon Aswat was likely to exacerbate his condition of paranoid schizophrenia, for which he has been detained in a secure psychiatric hospital since 2008.

As such, a decision to hand him over to the United States would violate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) provisions on the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, said the judges on Tuesday at the court based in Strasbourg, France.

Their ruling was based on a judgment that Aswat was likely to undergo a lengthy period of pre-trial detention in the United States and, in the event of his conviction, be placed in a high security prison.

The judges stated: "In light of the medical evidence before it, the Court found that there was a real risk that Mr Aswat's extradition to the USA, a country to which he had no ties, and to a different, potentially more hostile prison environment, would result in a significant deterioration in his mental and physical health.

"Such treatment would be capable of amounting to treatment in breach of Article 3 (of the ECHR)."

Aswat was arrested in Britain in 2005 following a request for his extradition from US authorities who suspect him of links to al-Qaeda.

His attempts to contest extradition through the British courts finally failed in 2007, but his transfer across the Atlantic was blocked after he appealed to the European rights court.

His case was subsequently considered, along with that of one-eyed cleric Abu Hamza and four other men facing extradition who had argued that their likely incarceration in the Florence Max federal prison in Colorado would violate their rights under Article 3 of the ECHR.

The court rejected their appeal last year but adjourned Aswat's case to allow for updated medical reports to be submitted. On the basis of those, the judges ruled that the severity of his condition justified opposing extradition.

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At least 16 killed in Ghana mine collapse

A MINE collapse in Ghana's central gold-producing region has killed 16 people who were working illegally and had been told to leave by the operator, police say.

"They retrieved 16 bodies," area police commander William Otu said of Monday's disaster near the town of Kyekyewere.

The operator had completed its work in the area and had returned only to shut down the mine and affirm its claim to the land, Otu added, without identifying the company.

They found several people from the local community mining illegally, who refused when asked to leave.

Not long after, "the operator got information that the mine caved in and covered the people", the police commander told AFP on Tuesday.

The west African nation of about 25 million people is one of the world's top gold exporters.

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Tight security for Thatcher funeral

Margaret Thatcher's funeral will have tight security as police fear protesters could disrupt it. Source: AAP

MARGARET Thatcher's funeral will be surrounded by tight security as police fear protesters opposed to her political legacy and anarchists could try to disrupt the ceremonial occasion.

The British former prime minister has been as divisive in death as she was in life and police are taking no chances that Wednesday's funeral procession through central London to St Paul's Cathedral will be targeted by the same protesters who staged celebrations of her death.

A major security operation has been planned, amid fears it could be disrupted by far-left groups, Irish republicans or individuals obsessed with the Iron Lady.

The high-profile guest list, headed by Queen Elizabeth II and set to include a host of international political figures and celebrities, has also increased the pressure on Scotland Yard.

Hundreds of people joined a "party" in London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday, and several said they would return to demonstrate when her flag-draped coffin is carried through the streets of the capital with full military honours.

"I plan to go there and turn my back when she comes," said Sigrid Holmwood, a 34-year-old artist, saying she objected to the estimated STG10 million ($A14.7 million) cost of the send-off.

Police are scanning social networking sites for information about possible protests, after the events last week were advertised on Twitter and Facebook.

They have also urged people planning to disrupt the funeral to contact them so that lawful protests can be organised, a pro-active tactic used successfully during last year's Olympic Games in London.

"The right to protest is one that must be upheld. However, we will work to do that while balancing the rights of those who wish to pay their respects," said Commander Christine Jones, who is leading the security operation.

Jones was also in charge of security at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011, which passed off peacefully.

"We are hugely experienced in safely delivering high-profile and ceremonial events in the capital," Jones said.

Police officers will be deployed at strategic points along the route that the funeral cortege will take from parliament to the cathedral and a mobile team will be on hand to deploy to trouble spots.

Fears of violent protests were sparked by impromptu parties by left-wing activists celebrating Thatcher's death on May 8, which flared up in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Scotland Yard is also bracing for potential threats from individuals fixated with Britain's first female prime minister, who was in office for 11 years from 1979 to 1990.

Dai Davies, a former head of royal protection at the London police force, told The Times newspaper that police chiefs were most likely to be concerned "about a fixated person with a psychological hatred of Margaret Thatcher".

Another potential threat could come from Irish republican dissidents who have never forgiven Thatcher for her hardline approach to hunger strikers during the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA), the main paramilitary group fighting British rule in the province, tried to kill her by bombing the hotel where she and her cabinet were staying for the 1984 Conservative Party conference.

The IRA gave up its armed struggle a decade ago, but dissident groups are still active in Northern Ireland.

"Baroness Thatcher's funeral is bound to excite dissident MP ambitions. It is something I know the security services are taking very seriously," Conservative MP and security expert Patrick Mercer told The Guardian newspaper.

A large section of central London will be closed off for the funeral, including roads around Buckingham Palace and Parliament Square, home to parliament and Westminster Abbey.

Several London Underground stations will also be closed along the route as part of the lock-down.

A full military rehearsal of the procession took place in the early hours of Monday.

Some police leave has been cancelled. In the worst case scenario, the police will be able to call on the armed forces, 700 of whom are taking part in the funeral procession.

Army Major Andrew Chatburn, the man in charge of choreographing the parade, said protests were a matter for the police.

But he added: "Many of these (military personnel) have served in Afghanistan and if there is anything that they have to adapt to, they will adapt to it within the confines of their responsibility."

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Wave of bombs kills 19 ahead of Iraq polls

MORE than a dozen bombings across Iraq have killed at least 19 people in the latest in a spike in violence just days before the country's first elections since US troops withdrew.

The violence, which struck during morning rush hour amid tightened security ahead of the polls, also wounded almost 200 people and raises further questions about the credibility of the April 20 vote, seen as a key test of Iraq's stability and its security forces' capabilities.

A total of 14 election hopefuls have already been murdered and just 12 of the country's 18 provinces will be taking part.

Officials said 18 car bombs exploded on Monday in Baghdad, the northern cities of Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu and Tikrit, the central city of Samarra, and Hilla and Nasiriyah south of Baghdad.

Three roadside bombs also hit Baquba, north of the capital.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militants frequently attack both government targets and civilians in a bid to destabilise the country, and have reportedly sought to intimidate candidates and election officials ahead of polls.

The deadliest attacks were in Baghdad, where six car bombs struck in five neighbourhoods across the capital despite tougher checkpoint searches and heightened security.

Eight people were killed and 48 wounded in the capital, security and medical officials said, and officials in a tow truck were seen checking for suspicious vehicles in central Baghdad after the violence.

In Tuz Khurmatu, which lies 175 kilometres north of Baghdad, six people were killed and 60 wounded by three near-simultaneous car bombs, according to a provincial council member and a doctor.

And in Kirkuk, four people were killed and 19 wounded by another trio of car bombs, provincial health chief Sadiq Omar Rasul said.

Explosions elsewhere in Iraq killed one person and wounded 64 people.

Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu lie at the centre of a tract of disputed territory that stretches from Iraq's eastern border with Iran to its western frontier with Syria.

The swathe of land is claimed by both the mostly-Arab government in Baghdad and the three-province autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

The dispute is often cited by officials and diplomats as the biggest long-term threat to Iraq's stability.

Soldiers and policemen cast their ballots for the provincial elections on Saturday, a week ahead of the main vote, the country's first since March 2010 parliamentary polls.

It is also the first election since US troops withdrew from Iraq in December 2011.

The election also comes amid a long-running crisis between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and several of his erstwhile government partners.

More than 8000 candidates are standing in the elections, with 378 seats on provincial councils up for grabs.

An estimated 16.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, among them about 650,000 members of the security forces.

Although security has markedly improved since the height of Iraq's confessional conflict in 2006-2007, 271 people were killed in March, making it the deadliest month since August, according to Agence France-Presse figures.

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Costa Concordia pre-trial hearings begin

The deadly Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster has returned to court in Italy. Source: AAP

THE deadly Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster has returned to court in Italy with the start of a long series of indictment hearings against six suspects including captain Francesco Schettino.

Thirty-two people lost their lives, including a five-year-old Italian girl, when the giant luxury liner crashed into an Italian island on the night of January 13, 2012.

The chief suspect is Schettino who is accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, misinforming coast guards during the rescue operation and abandoning the ship.

He was present at Monday's hearing.

Among the four other crew members accused by prosecutors is the ship's Indonesian helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin, suspected of contributing to the tragedy by misunderstanding a vital command moments before the crash.

Rusli Bin's whereabouts are not known but he has been assigned a lawyer and the accusations against him will be heard in absentia.

The sixth accused is Roberto Ferrarini, the head of ship owner Costa Crociere's crisis unit who is also suspected of failing to keep the coast guard adequately informed and therefore delaying the rescue.

All six are accused of manslaughter.

Schettino has denied abandoning ship while passengers still had to be evacuated, telling investigators that he fell off the liner when it tilted at a near 90-degree angle.

The Costa Concordia crashed at high speed into the island of Giglio with 4229 people from 70 countries on board as Schettino attempted a risky "salute" manoeuvre to the island.

The giant liner veered sharply and then keeled over in shallow water.

Most of the passengers and crew were evacuated with the ship's lifeboats but hundreds had to jump into the sea and swim ashore in the dark.

The court has scheduled 40 pre-trial hearings lasting into July before it rules on whether a trial should go ahead and when it will take place.

Survivors are allowed to attend the hearings, where prosecutors and defence lawyers will tackle some of the key issues in the expected trial.

The case is being heard in Grosseto, the city nearest to the site of the tragedy where the ship still lies on its side as an unprecedented salvage operation prepares to right it, refloat it and tow it away.

Dozens of survivors in civil courts are suing Costa Crociere, the biggest cruise operator in Europe and a subsidiary of the US-based giant Carnival Corp.

Most of the survivors who did not suffer injuries or lose loved ones have accepted compensation from Costa of around 11,000 ($A13,841) each.

In terms of criminal proceedings, the company negotiated a controversial plea bargain with the court last week in which it accepted some responsibility as the employer of the suspects and paid a one million euro fine.

Codacons, a consumer association which is suing Costa Crociere on behalf of some survivors, has published a report that showed key equipment on board apparently malfunctioned including its sealed doors and lifts.

Bruno Neri, a professor called by Codacons to carry out the technical analysis, said: "Schettino has been turned into a scapegoat."

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Roadside bomb kills Pakistan politician

A bomb blast on a bus in Pakistan has killed at least nine people. Source: AAP

A ROADSIDE bomb in restive northwest Pakistan has killed a political party official as he travelled to a campaign meeting, a month before the country votes in a historic general election.

The blast on Sunday in the Swat valley, which was ruled by the Pakistani Taliban during a 2007-2009 insurgency, comes a day after militants blew up the office of an independent candidate in North Waziristan tribal district.

The attacks will fuel concerns that violence will mar the national and regional elections on May 11, which will mark the country's first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has served a full term in office.

Sunday's blast killed a local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), which ruled the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from 2008 until assemblies were dissolved last month for elections.

"Mukarram Shah, a local leader of ANP, was travelling to Mingora when his vehicle was targeted by an IED (improvised explosive device), around 12 kilometres northeast of Mingora city," Gul Afzal Afridi, the district police chief said.

Shah was alone in his car and no-one else was hit by the explosion.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Pakistani Taliban have targeted a number of top ANP figures in recent months, assassinating the number two in the provincial government in December.

The militants claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on an ANP rally on March 31 that killed two people and have warned they will strike again.

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Gunmen attack Somali court complex: report

GUNMEN have stormed the main court complex in Somalia's capital, firing guns and detonating two blasts, witnesses say.

Yusuf Abdi, who was near the court when the attack happened on Sunday morning, said that armed men forced their way inside and immediately set off an explosion.

A government spokesman, Mohamed Yusuf, confirmed the attack and said security forces had responded and were battling the militants.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene reported hearing a second explosion and said gunmen were on top of a court building, firing their weapons.

No casualty toll was immediately available because the fighting was ongoing.

Most militant attacks in Mogadishu are blamed on fighters for the Islamic extremist rebel group al-Shabab.

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14th Iraqi local polls candidate killed

A ROADSIDE bomb has killed an Iraqi provincial elections candidate and three other people north of Baghdad, bringing the number of candidates killed in attacks to 14.

Najm al-Harbi was travelling to Baquba on a highway in Diyala province in his personal vehicle on Sunday when the bomb exploded, killing him, two of his brothers and a bodyguard, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said.

An official from Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak's office confirmed Harbi's death, and said he was the head of the deputy premier's list in Diyala province.

Harbi's killing comes a day after Hatim Mohammed al-Dulaimi, a candidate for Salaheddin provincial council, was shot dead by gunmen near his home in Baiji, north of the Iraqi capital.

Soldiers and policemen cast their ballots for the provincial elections on Saturday, a week ahead of the main vote, the country's first since March 2010 parliamentary polls.

The election comes amid an uptick in violence and a long-running political crisis between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and several of his erstwhile government partners.

The credibility of the elections has been drawn into question following deadly attacks on candidates and a government decision to partly postpone voting that means only 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces will take part.

More than 8000 candidates are standing in the elections, with 378 seats on provincial councils up for grabs.

An estimated 16.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, among them about 650,000 members of the security forces.

Although security has markedly improved since the height of Iraq's sectarian conflict, 271 people were killed in March, making it the deadliest month since August, according to Agence France-Presse figures.

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SA man on child exploitation charges

A South Australian man has been charged with producing child exploitation material. Source: AAP

A SOUTH Australian man has been charged with producing child exploitation material after a tip-off from interstate authorities.

Detectives arrested the 70-year-old man from Adelaide's northern suburbs after receiving information from Queensland police.

The man has been charged with one count each of accessing, producing and possessing child exploitation material of an aggravated nature and one count of basic possession of child exploitation material.

Police will allege that the access and production offences occurred over the internet on December 17 last year and that the possession offences occurred on Saturday at the man's home address.

The aggravated aspect of the offences is due to the age of the children depicted in the material, police say.

The man was granted police bail and will appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court on May 15.

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