Thursday, January 12, 2012

Harassment: Recharge card sellers pay N200 weekly to stay on Apapa Street



Recharge cards sellers in Apapa Local Government Area of Lagos State, may have found a way round their continued stay on the street, as they now make a weekly contribution of N200 to men overseeing environmental issues in the locality.
Before now, the cards sellers within the vicinity went hell of sought, following constant harassment from men of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) attached and stationed at Waterside and the local government secretariat.
It will be recalled that young secondary school leavers, as well as some people laid off from the recent bank purge and housewives had formed the army of recharge cards sellers, even as they use the proceed from the business to take care of themselves and their families. Speaking with Community News, a mother of two who has her point of sales at Waterside Bus Stop, and who will not want her name in print, said the every day disturbance from the uniformed men has since stopped owning to the weekly payment of N200 to assuage them.
She claimed that although, the payment was affecting the income as most of them, except for few of the cards sellers, make between N1000 and N2000 in a month.
According to her, “I prefer we continue to pay the money to them to allow us to continue to trade our wares on the road, rather than their initial attitude where they will cart away people’s wares which may never be recovered again even if you have to go their office to pay the penalty. A young secondary school leaver, Miss Esther Esoh, who is also a card seller on Ladipo Oluwole road, said the collection of N200 by the KAI men was usually done through a third party who in turn will be given his/her own commission from the total money received in the week.
She explained that as a young lady who can no longer rely on her parents and using the recharge cards sales to fend for herself, “the government must come to their aid to check the overbearing nature of the KAI.
They should be directed to leave the cards sellers alone but should always ensure that their environment is always in a clean state.” Recently, traders on the Lagos Island Business District had called on the state government to intervene in the incessant arrest and raiding of their shops by the men of KIA and Central Business District (CBD).
The traders who included shop owners, especially around CMS Bus Stop, Tinubu Square and Marina on the Island, said the activities of KAI and CBD who were employees of the government was inimical to the wellbeing of business activities on the Island.
A wholesale seller in perishable goods, Mrs. Modinant Awolaja, said the KIA and CBD men were found of carting away their wares to their office adjacent to the Muson Centre on the Island, noting that attempt to retrieve them at the close of office hour always proved abortive.
She said traders on the Island were usually made to contribute huge sum of money to allow them stay in their trading places. According to her, “once the men in uniform stay for a week or two they will come back to demand for another round of fees, which if not met on time, will be visited with the officers coming to cart away goods and property of traders.”


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Angry protesters storm AIT office, Alagbado



As the nationwide strike called by the Labour and civil society groups to protest the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government enters its fourth day, angry protesters, this morning stormed the premises of African Independent Television, AIT, Alagbado, Lagos, demanding to be heard first-hand.
The protesters who came in their thousands carrying placards with various inscriptions accused the TV station of imbalance reportage.
They said they were not satisfied the way AIT was reporting the protest and demanded to be given audience.
The protesters, mostly youths threw stones and pebbles into the compound when they were refused entrance by the security personnel and staff of the station.
However, calm seemed to be returning as the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr Samuel Jinadu….who had come for a television programme at AIT was calming them down




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Nigeria strike hits day four amid oil production threats



LAGOS — A national strike that has paralysed Nigeria and brought tens of thousands into the streets entered its fourth day on Thursday with oil workers threatening to halt production.
The strike and protests in Africa's largest crude producer has put the government under mounting pressure as it also seeks to stop spiralling attacks blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram.
Boko Haram's killing of Christians and retaliatory violence targeting Muslims in the country's south have sparked fears of a wider conflict -- with some evoking the possibility of civil war in Africa's most populous nation.
Two police officers were killed on Wednesday when a mob rampaged in the central city of Minna, burning political offices and prompting an all-day curfew, while gunmen attacked a police station in the northeastern city of Yola.
The northeast was also hit by fresh religious violence, with four Christians gunned down on the outskirts of the city of Potiskum by suspected Boko Haram members.
A nighttime curfew was imposed in Yobe state, where Potiskum is located.
Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria with some 15 million people, saw a peaceful crowd of about 10,000 gather at the main protest site on Wednesday.
Pockets of the city, however, descended into chaos with youth gangs burning tyres, attacking police and vandalising neighbourhoods.
A few hundred people began gathering at the main protest site on Thursday morning.
"I have been taking part in the protests since Monday and will continue until the government goes back to 65 naira ($0.40, 0.30 euros) a litre," said Dele Olaniyi, a 54-year-old taxi driver.
"The majority of our people are too poor to afford the new price."
He was referring to the petrol price before January 1, when the government ended fuel subsidies, causing the pump price to more than double.
Nigeria's oil workers' unions have upped the ante by threatening to shut down crude production. One of the unions said "we hereby direct all production platforms to be on red alert in preparation for total production shutdown."
Members of Nigeria's senate and house of representatives have sought to broker a way out of the crisis, but no progress has been reported so far. Another meeting was set for later Thursday.
An official with one of Nigeria's main trade unions said they would not negotiate with President Goodluck Jonathan's administration until it reinstated fuel subsidies, which many Nigerians view as their only benefit from the nation's oil wealth.
"For us to negotiate, the price of fuel must revert to 65 naira," said Denja Yaqub, secretary general of the Nigerian Labour Congress.
Government officials and economists say removing subsidies was essential and will allow the $8 billion per year in savings to be plowed into projects to improve the country's woefully inadequate infrastructure.
Spiralling ethnic and religious violence in various parts of the country has fuelled further chaos in a country roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.
Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of attacks, and in recent weeks has claimed responsibility for violence targeting Christians, who have vowed to defend themselves.




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Enugu NLC condemns govt action



State chairman of  Trade Union Congress, TUC, Comrade Igbokwe Chukwuma, who confirmed the arrest and incarceration of Ozoeze, condemned the action, saying the information got to them very late on Tuesday.
Chukwuma said: “However, we discussed it in our meeting and we are going to follow it up; we learnt he was arrested and tried within the state police CID and sent to prison; this is something we cannot take.
“We have met and decided to see the Attorney-General to register our protest; we are also in touch with the labour headquarters. So immediately after meeting with the Attorney-General we will take a position on that,” Igbokwe said.
Giving reasons organised labour in the state failed to hold the planned anti-fuel subsidy removal protest since Monday, Comrade Igbokwe said: “Since Monday, we’ve been on it; we woke up Monday morning to see that government had issued a proclamation banning gathering and protest in Enugu State.
“We looked at it as something very unfair; we tried to move like other states but policemen had been stationed in front of our secretariat, which is our meeting point and you see they have remained here all these days.
“Actually today we wanted to go to the streets again but we were restricted, we were even pushed; so we are saying that this is very unfair; what is happening in other states should happen in Enugu State.
This is a national issue it is not a State issue and Enugu State workers have not been associated with violence of any kind in all our demonstrations.”
Also speaking, state chairman of the NLC, Comrade Nze Chumaife, said the strike was still on in the state but lamented that “the police again tried to stop us and we challenged them and we have refused to be intimidated. We did what we can to show Nigerians that we are against removal of oil subsidy.”
“The civil society, students, unemployed youths, okada riders were all with us, and we thank God we were able to demonstrate our protest a little today. Prices of good have gone up, people are suffering, price of fuel has gone up to N200; and we have told our workers to disregard the propaganda by government that they should come to work; we can’t go to work, we are sCivil servants shun strike
Meanwhile, some civil servants have continued to report in their offices daily for fear of being sanctioned by the government.
A staff of Ministry of Education told Vanguard yesterday that workers’ salary was withheld last September when they went on strike over minimum wage and that labour never helped them to retrieve it till date hence their decision to shun the current strike.
”In Enugu, we don’t believe in the Labour,” he said, defending while they ignored calls for the national strike.
Apart from the banks, federal government agencies and some State Ministries that shut their offices, the subsidy strike in Enugu could be said to have flopped.
The Ogbete main market, New Market, Kenyatta and Artisan markets remained open since Monday while the traders continued to transact their businesses without molestation.
It would be recalled that the Chairman of Enugu Workers Forum, Comrade Osmond Ugwu, was imprisoned by the state government last year for leading workers in the state to protest the non-implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage by the government.
Ugwu was charged for attempted murder and subsequently remanded in Enugu Prison while his trial has continued to suffer setbacks” the NLC Chairman said.




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Boko Haram: Army intensifies training in counterterrorism and counter-insurgency



The Nigerian Army has intensified training in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations and troops are now being deployed to confront the Boko Haram sect in their areas of operation.
Towards this end, troops are now patrolling major highways and towns complementing the efforts of existing task forces.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Major General R.I.D Isa, who disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing newsmen on the current security situation in the country, said that Nigerian Army troops on Operation Restore Order III recently raided a suspected terrorists hideout in Pompomari area of Damaturu in Yobe State, and discovered an ammunition dump and a number of AK47 rifles and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) while troops have continued to dominate the area with joint patrols.
The army spokesman said that major challenges posed by the Boko Haram sect had been reported mainly in Borno and Yobe states, adding that their targets had been mainly isolated offices of security agencies, a few army patrol vehicles and some places of worship.
According to him, Operation Restore Order I in Maiduguri, based on information obtained from arrested members of Boko Haram hadconducted series of search operations in conjunction with other security agencies leading to the discovery of about 40 small arms and subsequent arrest of suspected members of the sect.
He disclosed that in Yobe, some members of Boko Haram sect were making Improvised Explosive Devices (I.E.Ds) which exploded in the process and attracted troops who moved to the scene and recovered 32 assorted arms and 339 ammunition of different calibers among other items while those arrested were cooperating and making useful statements which would provide the basis for future operations.



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Fed Govt begs labour to drop strike option






The Federal Government has appealed to labour and civil society organizations (CSO) to end the nationwide strike over removal of petrol subsidy.

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku who spoke yesterday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting said State Governments have been advised to engage in negotiations with labour.

He said: “The Federal government remains engaged in the process of dialogue with labour, we have never dismissed the process of dialogue. Even before the full deregulation was announced, Mr. President discussed with labour leaders, we discussed with the NLC, TUC, and we discussed with other stakeholders outside labour knowing that this key economic policy will affect the general population.

“We have never closed our doors to negotiations or discussions with labour or any other social group that is involved in the current protest, what is very clear to us is that government is taking up its responsibilities at the Federal level. State governments are engaged in direct discussions with trade unions as well as civil society groups.

“In some states we have noticed some progress in the ongoing dialogue between the state governments’ and labour and civil society groups. So the federal government as far as we are concerned the process of dialogue is continuous.

“But we will continue to appeal because this protest is only adding more pain to the people of Nigeria and in some places we are also beginning to see that elements outside labour are already virtually in the forefront and this is creating a lot of security problems in some states. You saw the situation in Kaduna, Edo state, etc.

“We are appealing to labour to drop this option of protest which is increasing the pains out there for the people. It is our believe that anything that cannot be achieved through discussion will not really be useful when you call the general population to the streets.

“So we are appealing to Nigerians, civil society organisations, and labour to understand that we believe that this option that has been taken is adding more pains to our people and we hope that in the days ahead, they will see reason and drop the protest and continue the process of dialogue.

“This issue of deregulation is not an option that the government arrived at in comfort or happiness. It is something that has been reviewed over a year and a half”, he said.

The Minister explained that the FEC meeting discussed the fundamental issue of performance, as it relates to government agencies and their leadership.

“The meeting focused essentially on the presentation by the minister of National Planning relating to the implementation of our projects and the results expected for 2012. Project implementation strategy and the transformation programme and what we must do from this year to ensure we begin to mark down goals and get the results as planned.

“This is the year that we expect every Minister; every MDA to give account of themselves in terms of what our various MDAs intends to put out”.








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Strike: Reps decry revenue loss



The House of Representatives on Wednesday, decried the loss of revenue to the coffers of the Federal Government as a result of the ongoing nationwide action by the organised labour. The House assured Nigerians that it would resolve the impasse between the Federal Government and the organised labour over the removal of fuel subsidy in the next 24 hours.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the chairman of the House committee on Labour, Honourable Essien Ekpenyong Ayi“ said that, "today is the third day of the ongoing strike and you will agree with me that government has lost a lot of resources running into billions of naira as a result of the ongoing strike. I am made to understand that Nigeria has lost as much as N158.9 billion on a daily basis from the ongoing strike. What is accrued to the Federal Government from her own share of the deregulation for 2012 is about N500billion from the N1.3trillion.
"Then if the strike is sustained for about five days, the government shall lose more than expected income and it shall thereafter become a wasted venture”, he said.
Ayi also disclosed that his conviction on resolving the impasse with the organised labour  was based on positive responses from their representatives and those of the federal government at the ongoing parley with the two parties on the matter.


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Bayelsa: Protesting councillors block Govt House over N918m allowance



Violence broke out in Yenagoa, the state capital of Bayelsa, on Wednesday, as former councillors, demonstrating against the non-payment of their allowance, amounting to N918 million engaged political thugs in a free-for-all after they had blocked the main gate of Creek Haven Government House.
The protesting councillors, who halted traffic within the metropolis, for some hours, thus causing gridlock, stormed the frontage of the government house, around 11.45am, preventing vehicular entry in and out of the premises, just as security agencies prevailed on them to maintain peace, so that their grouses would be addressed.
Not quite 35 minutes after the siege at the main gate, suspected political thugs, armed with dangerous weapons, in buses stormed the scene and swiftly engaged the demonstrating councillors in a fight, while some expensive cars, belonging to them were vandalized.
Some of them, who sustained serious injuries, were immediately rushed to undisclosed hospitals for treatment, after the ensued melee subsided.
The former chairman of Bayelsa Councillors’ Forum, Honourable Ebiks Lokpobiri, from Ekeremor Local Government Area, who led the protest, in an interview with journalists before the suspected thugs invaded the scene said that “  We are councillors that have served this state for three years while in office allowances that were owned to us were not paid.”
“Immediately after leaving office, we approach the government and explained our dilemma to them. The government assured us and pleaded with us that he was going to pay the money. We went to court and the government pleaded with us to withdraw the matter for us to settle it”, he lamented.
Continuing, “Even the deputy governor, Chief Wereninpre Seibarugu pleaded with us and we agreed. After withdrawing the matter, we kept going to the Commissioner for Local Government and he has been dribbling us. We are 105 across the state. The least person is owned about N8 million. and so everything the government owes us is about N918 million. We served as elected officials between 2004 and 2007. We have had series of meetings with the governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, the deputy governor, the commissioner and local government chairmen. Recently we held a meeting with the governor and our lawyer, Mr Femi Falana. We met in deputy governor’s office and the government promised to pay the money.”
When the Nigerian Tribune contacted the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Strategy and Communication, Chief Nathan Egba-Ologo, he promised to send his reaction on the issue through phone.
Reacting later over the violence that broke out at the Government House, Chief Nathan Egba-Ologo, described the action of the protesting former councillors as mark of insensitivity and sinister agenda at a time the nation was battling with national strike.
"They are clearly on a mission different from what they are claiming, Governor Timipre Sylva and other leaders are currently engaged in finding durable solution to burning national problems and therefore ought not be distracted with issues affecting few individuals. They should be ignored," he submitted.


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Ekiti labour leaders, protesters blast Oshiomhole over subsidy removal



Chairman of Ekiti State chapter of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Kolawole Olaiya, has lambasted the governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, saying his acceptance to serve in the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme Board (SURE) meant he was against the masses.
Olaiya, who stated this while addressing newsmen in Ado Ekiti, during the third day of the ongoing protest against removal of subsidy on petrol, pointed out that “Oshiomhole’s acceptance of the appointment and issuance of a statement in support of subsidy removal was an indication that the former labour leader is no longer on the side of Nigerian masses.”
The march recorded large turnout of people who sang anti-Oshiomhole songs, describing him as “one of those who inflicted pains on Nigerians.”
Wednesday’s march started from Basiri area of Ado Ekiti and marched through Fajuyi Square, Irona to Ijigbo Roundabout.
Olaiya said “we expect him (Oshiomhole) as a former labour leader not to support the removal of subsidy and to be on the side of workers. Issuing a statement that he supports the removal of subsidy means that he supports them.
It means that he has abdicated his former status as a labour leader; he has joined the political leaders to rob workers of their welfare.”
According to Olaiya, “the Edo governor’s table is one of the worst in the country when Labour was agitating for N18,000 minimum wage for workers,” and challenged “Governor Oshiomhole to turn down the appointment if he is a reasonable labour leader as he claims.”
Chairman of NLC in the state, Mr. Ayodeji Aluko, commended the participants for their courage and urged them not to lose hope.
Representative of Bishop Felix Ajakaye of Ekiti Catholic Diocese, Rev. Fr. Raphael Borisade, reiterated that Nigerian leaders were “insincere and not transparent,” adding “they have disappointed us in every sphere of life.”


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Labour leaders may go underground from Monday if...



There are strong indications that the leaders of the labour unions and civil society groups across the 36 states may have to work from secret locations, if the three-day-old strike continues beyond Friday.
The decision to go underground from next Monday, the Nigerian Tribune has been reliably informed, is to ward off the threats being received from “high places” on daily basis over the belligerent posture of various groups being coordinated by the labour leadership against subsidy removal.
At a meeting held in Ibadan on Wednesday, before the commencement of the day’s rally, a review of the protest was carried out and the action adjudged one of the most effective civil mass action in the history of the nation and the state.
“In view of the insistence of the Federal Government over the subsidy palaver as well as death threats being received almost on daily basis since the beginning of the strike on Monday, labour leader across the country are contemplating going underground to avoid being arrested by agents of the authorities.
“They are also going into hiding so as to implement strategies currently being put together to sustain the strike and its momentum until President Goodluck Jonathan caves in, bows to the resolve of the masses and revert petrol price to N65,” a source in the meeting said.
Meanwhile, there appears to be no let-up in the Ibadan episode of the protests and agitations spearheaded by labour unions and civil society organisations against the removal of subsidy on petrol, as social and economic activities remained paralysed in the metropolis on Wednesday, the third day of the general strike.
As they had been doing since Monday, when the nationwide strike action began, the leadership of the labour and other interest groups as well as tens of thousands of protesters converged on the secretariat of the state chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) as early as 7:30am to intimate the crowd with the itinerary for the day.
The mammoth crowd of demonstrators processed through major roads and streets before stopping at Idi Odo junction at Challenge, Ibadan, for the leaders of the protest to address them on the latest developments on the matter.
First was the state chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Bayo Ajayi, who addressed the tumultuous gathering in Yoruba Language, in a message that resonated with the people.
Comrade Ajayi said there was nothing like subsidy, except what he called “fraud subsidy” and that the landing cost of petrol was N40, adding that Nigerians, rather than the government, had been subsidising the product to the tune of N25 a litre.
In his own address, the coordinator of the Joint Action Front and president of the University of Ibadan chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr Aremu Olanrewaju, debunked the claim by the Federal Government that about 35million of petrol was being used daily in the country and explained that only 12.1million was being used.
Labour rights activists, Comrade Femi Aborisade, in a remark, went down memory lane of the history of countries worldwide and submitted that no government had been able to subdue the resolve and will power of the citizens, adding that it would be in the


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Bomb kills Iran nuclear scientist as crisis mounts



(Reuters) - An Iranian nuclear scientist was blown up in his car by a motorbike hitman on Wednesday, prompting Tehran to blame Israeli and U.S. agents but insist the killing would not derail a nuclear program that has raised fears of war and threatened world oil supplies.
The fifth daylight attack on technical experts in two years, the magnetic bomb delivered a targeted blast to the door of 32-year-old Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan's silver sedan as he was driven down a busy street near a Tehran university during the morning rush hour. The chemical engineer's driver also died, Iranian media said, and a passer-by was slightly hurt.
Israel, whose military chief said on Tuesday that Iran could expect to suffer more mysterious mishaps, declined comment. The White House, struggling for Chinese and Russian help on economic sanctions, denied any U.S. role and condemned the attack.
While Israeli or Western involvement seemed eminently plausible to independent analysts, a role for local Iranian factions or other regional interests engaged in a deadly shadow war of bluff and sabotage could not be ruled out.
The killing, which left debris hanging in trees and body parts on the road, came in a week of heightened tension:
Iran has started an underground uranium enrichment plant and sentenced an American to death for spying; Washington and Europe have stepped up efforts to cripple Iran's oil exports for its refusal to halt work that the West says betrays an ambition to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful.
Tehran has threatened to choke the West's supply of Gulf oil if its exports are hit by sanctions, drawing a U.S. warning that its navy was ready to open fire to prevent any blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which 35 percent of the world's seaborne traded oil passes.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Iran's threats to close the strait were "provocative and dangerous" and repeated the White House denial of any U.S. involvement in the killing of Ahmadi-Roshan.
Analysts saw the latest assassination, which would have taken no little expertise, as less a reaction to recent events than part of a longer-running, covert effort to thwart Iran's nuclear development program that has also included suspected computer viruses and mystery explosions.
While fears of war have forced up oil prices, the region has seen periods of saber-rattling and limited bloodshed before without reaching all-out conflict. But a willingness in Israel, which sees an imminent Iranian atom bomb as a threat to its existence, to attack Iranian nuclear sites, with or without U.S. backing, has heightened the sense that a crisis is coming.
"HEINOUS ACT"
The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, which has failed to persuade the West that its quest for nuclear power has no hidden military goal, said the killing of Ahmadi-Roshan would not deter it: "We will continue our path without any doubt ... Our path is irreversible," it said in a statement carried on television.
"The heinous acts of America and the criminal Zionist regime will not disrupt our glorious path ... The more you kill us, the more our nation will awake."
First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, quoted by IRNA news agency, said: "Iran's enemies should know they cannot prevent Iran's progress by carrying out such terrorist acts."
Iran's leaders, preparing for the first national election since a disputed presidential vote in 2009 brought street protests against 32 years of clerical rule, are struggling to contain internal tensions. Defiance of Israel and Western powers plays well with many who will vote in March.
In Washington, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said: "The United States had absolutely nothing to do with this ... We strongly condemn all acts of violence, including acts of violence like what is being reported today."
Israel, which has a history of covert killings abroad, declined comment, though army spokesman Yoav Mordechai wrote on Facebook: "I don't know who settled the score with the Iranian scientist, but I am definitely not shedding any tears."
On Tuesday, Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz was quoted as telling members of parliament: "For Iran, 2012 is a critical year in combining the continuation of its nuclearisation, internal changes in the Iranian leadership, continuing and growing pressure from the international community and things which take place in an unnatural manner."
MOTORCYCLE HITMAN
The attack bore some of the hallmarks of sophisticated intelligence agencies capable of circumventing Iran's own extensive security apparatus and apparently taking care to limit the harm to passers-by.
While witnesses spoke of a frighteningly loud explosion at 8:20 a.m. (3:20 am EST) and parts of the Peugeot 405 ended up in the branches of the trees lining Gol Nabi Street, much of the car was left intact. This suggested a charge designed to be sure of both killing the occupants and preventing serious injury to others.
Witnesses said the motorcycle, from which the rear pillion passenger reached out to stick the device to the side of the car, made off into the heavy commuter traffic.
Though the scientist killed -- the fourth in five such attacks since January 2010 -- was only 32, Iranian media described him as having a role overseeing uranium enrichment at Natanz underground site. The semi-official news agency Mehr said Ahmadi-Roshan had recently met officials of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
At the IAEA in Vienna, where a spokeswoman condemned the killing, officials could not confirm knowing of him.
Analysts say that killing scientists -- especially those whose lack of personal protection suggests a relatively junior role -- is unlikely to have much direct impact on Iran's nuclear program, which Western governments allege is seeking to enrich enough uranium highly enough to let it build weapons.
COVERT WAR
Sabotage -- like mysterious reported explosions at military facilities or the Stuxnet computer virus widely suspected to have been deployed by Israel and the United States to disrupt nuclear facilities in 2010 -- may have had more direct effects.
However, assassinations may be intended to discourage Iranians with nuclear expertise from working on the program.
An Israel official said Mossad agents called that "virtual defection": "It's not that we've been seeing mass resignations, but rather a sense of spreading paranoia," the official, who has extensive Iran expertise, told Reuters.
"It means they have to take more precautions, including, perhaps, being a little less keen to stand out for excellence in their nuclear work. That slows things down."
Bruno Tertrais from France's Strategic Research Foundation said: "It certainly has a psychological effect on scientists working on the nuclear program."
He cautioned, however, against assuming that Israel, the United States or both were behind the latest attack.
Trita Parsi, a U.S.-based expert on Iran, said the killing might, along with the heightened rhetoric of recent weeks, be part of a pattern ahead of a possible resumption of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program; some parties may want to improve their bargaining position, others may see violence as a way of thwarting renewed negotiations altogether, Parsi said.
Last month, Iran signaled a willingness to return to a negotiating process which stalled a year ago, though Western officials say a new round of talks is far from certain yet.
SANCTIONS CAMPAIGN
Iran's decision to carry out enrichment work deep underground in the once undeclared plant at Fordow, near the holy Shi'ite city of Qom, could make it harder for U.S. or Israeli forces to carry out veiled threats to use force against Iranian nuclear facilities. The move to Fordow could reduce the time available for diplomacy to avert any attack.
The announcement on Monday that enrichment -- a necessary step to make uranium into nuclear weapons -- had begun at Fordow has given added impetus to Western efforts to impose an oil export embargo intended to pressure Tehran to halt enrichment.
Iran, a signatory to the treaty banning the spread of nuclear weapons, complains it is entitled to conduct peaceful research and denies any military nuclear aims. Its adversaries say its failure to take up their offers of help with civilian technology undermine the credibility of its position.
Oil prices have firmed 5 percent since U.S. President Barack Obama moved on New Year's Eve to block bank payments for oil to Iran. The European Union is expected this month to impose a ban on its states buying oil from Tehran, and other major customers have been looking for alternative supplies.
In Iran, the new U.S. sanctions have started to bite.
The rial currency has lost 20 percent of its value against the dollar in the past week and Iran has threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, visiting Beijing, appealed for Chinese cooperation on nuclear non-proliferation, but Chinese officials made clear that they still opposed the U.S. sanctions and would go on buying Iranian oil.
Russia, too, came out against the U.S.-led oil embargo.



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PENGASSAN threat may make Nigeria govt negotiate



The threat of disruption to Nigerian oil output may force President Goodluck Jonathan's government to negotiate with unions as an indefinite, nationwide strike and protests over fuel subsidy cuts enters its fourth day on Thursday.
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets in cities up and down Africa's most populous nation this week to protest against the Jan. 1 removal of the subsidy, which more than doubled the price of petrol to around 150 naira ($0.93) a litre.
Nigeria's biggest oil union said on Wednesday it was ready to halt oil output if the government did not reinstate the subsidy.
Jonathan has shown no sign of weakening in the face of protests similar to those that have derailed past attempts to scrap the fuel subsidy, but may have to consider a compromise if the strike extends to the vital oil industry.
Any drop in oil revenue, which provides the country with over 90 percent of its foreign currency earnings, would raise the stakes significantly in Africa's second-largest economy and biggest oil producer.
Nigeria exports around 2 million barrels of crude oil per day and is a key supplier to the United States and Europe. Output has been unaffected so far but concerns about Nigerian supply can move global oil prices.
"We believe that a government that is alive to its responsibilities will not allow this strike to degenerate thus far ... we hereby direct all production platforms to be on red alert in preparation for total production shutdown," a statement from oil union PENGASSAN said.
Information Minister Labaran Maku told Reuters the government was "worried about the threat" and asked labour to "dialogue", but industry officials said Nigeria had oil in storage and they doubted unions could shut down crude exports completely.
Nigeria's main union remained defiant, insisting it would continue its strike until fuel price subsidies were reinstated.
"We are certainly continuing with protests (Thursday). We won't surrender until the pump price of petrol is reverted to 65 naira," Owei Lakemfa, general secretary of the National Labour Congress, told Reuters by phone in Abuja.
Economists say the subsidy fuelled corruption and keeping it in place would have forced Nigeria into huge external borrowing, but most Nigerians, who live on less than $2 a day, saw it as their most tangible welfare benefit.
"If there is any disruption to oil production it would be a serious escalation and the government would be likely to use legal or enforcement means to stop it. But I think it is unlikely oil output will be affected," said Kayode Akindele, partner at Lagos-based investment firm 46 Parallels.
"The government will be fairly confident that as long as the security services can keep things under control, then people will have to start going back to work. Most people don't have savings so they can't afford to lose out on days of pay."
Nigeria is one of the world's biggest crude oil exporters, but decades of graft and mismanagement have left it unable to refine its own fuel. The public argue Jonathan and his team should be fighting corruption and investing in repairing and building refineries, not cutting subsidies.
Jonathan is now facing two major security headaches -- opposition to the fuel price spike and an increasingly deadly Islamist sect carrying out almost daily attacks in the north.
The leader of Boko Haram, which wants sharia, Islamic law, more widely applied across Nigeria, appeared in an online video on Tuesday saying Jonathan did not have the capability to stop the sect's insurgency. ($1 = 162.05 Nigerian nairas)


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