Some Zimbabwe government supporters say President Robert Mugabe should form a government without the opposition, following an opposition boycott of talks Monday in Swaziland. Tendai Maphosa asked ordinary Zimbabweans in Harare what they think about this latest threat to the power-sharing deal signed last month and reports for VOA.

After failing to agree on the allocation of Cabinet posts last week, Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change decided to refer the matter to the Southern African Development Community.
They agreed to meet with SADC representatives earlier this week, but that meeting never took place. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he could not travel through South Africa to Swaziland for the meeting because he does not have a passport.

Mr. Tsvangirai surrendered his passport when it ran out of pages earlier this year and it has not been returned.

But President Robert Mugabe's government says Mr. Tsvangirai was issued an emergency travel document that was sufficient to attend Monday's meeting.

VOA sought the opinions of some Zimbabweans on the matter.

For one man, it is simply a matter of respect - if the government can issue Olympic gold medalist Kirsty Coventry a diplomatic passport then the man he described as "our president" should not be denied an ordinary passport.

"It is wrong, Tsvangirai is our president and they give him an emergency passport," he said. "Kirsty Coventry has a diplomatic passport and Tsvangirai is given a document that expires in six months, it does not make sense."

Another man says if he was issued with an emergency travel document Mr. Tsvangirai should have traveled to Swaziland. But he said the prime-minister designate should get a passport.

"He definitely deserves to have that passport," he said. "The talks should have been held with him present, and I think him not having a passport was neither here nor there."

The government claims they could not issue Mr. Tsvangirai with a passport because they have run out of imported paper for passports. Mr. Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba says this is due to sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West.

But this Zimbabwean man scoffed at Charamba's claim, saying the passport office is issuing passports to ordinary Zimbabweans daily, and he says for a high fee they can get their passport in 24 hours.

"They have one-day passport services, they should just give him a passport. They are negotiating in bad faith," he said.

But the government's supporters disagree. Zimbabwe war veterans' organization leader Jabulani Sibanda has urged Mr. Mugabe to appoint a Cabinet without the MDC.

The Herald daily newspaper, a government mouthpiece, quotes Sibanda as saying Mr. Tsvangirai lost the elections and efforts to accommodate him in the inclusive government should not make it appear as if he is important. Sibanda also warned Mr. Tsvangirai of unspecified action should he continue to "behave the way he is behaving".

Indonesia will execute the three Bali bombers early next month, six years after 202 people were killed in the Southeast Asian nations worst terrorist attack.

The three terrorists, Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron, who have been on death row since their conviction five years ago, will be executed in the Nusakambangan prison where they are jailed, said Jasman Panjaitan, spokesman for the Attorney General. He didn't give an exact date for the execution.

All the matters relating to legal procedures have been completed, Panjaitan told reporters in Jakarta today. The decision is final.

Indonesia, which has been hit by bombings annually from 1999 to 2005, increased security across the world's largest archipelago ahead of the expected execution. Police earlier this week foiled a plot to bomb a fuel depot in Jakarta and arrested five suspects. Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, and Australia, which lost 88 of its citizens in the 2002 Bali bombings, blamed the attacks on Jemaah Islamiyah.

Jemaah Islamiyah, which is linked to al-Qaeda and wants to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state, is also blamed for a Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta in 2003 that killed 12 people, a bomb explosion outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in 2004 that killed at least nine, and a second attack in Bali in 2005, when three suicide bombers killed themselves and 20 other people.

Beheading Rejected

Indonesia's constitutional court earlier this week rejected a claim by the three convicted men that the execution by firing squad would violate the constitution and dismissed their request to be beheaded, the Associated Press said.

There is no method of execution without pain, AP cited Presiding Judge Mohammad Mahfud as saying on Oct. 21.

Their execution by firing squad had earlier been planned to take place before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan that started on Sept. 1.

The Attorney Generals office has to notify the lawyers and the families about the execution date three days before it takes place, said Wirawan Adnan, a lawyer for the convicted men.

East Asian leaders pledged on Friday to create an 80-billion-dollar fund to help combat the financial crisis, amid a hectic round of diplomacy with their European colleagues on day one of a summit.

The agreement, between South Korea, China, Japan and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, was the first major coordinated regional action since the financial turmoil reached full force last month.

"They expressed their willingness to enhance coordination and cooperation and to make joint efforts to prevent and withstand the crisis," said a statement released by China on the official website of the Asia Europe Meeting.

The two-day ASEM summit, bringing together 43 leaders from the two regions, opened amid heavy security at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing with the economic turmoil the top item on the agenda.

But the leaders engaged in a flurry of one-on-one and group meetings, such as the one by the leaders of the 13 East Asian nations, ahead of the official proceedings in which a vast array of issues aside from economics were covered.

Chinese President Hu Jintao had a host of meetings with world leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso.

The encounter with Aso had immediate benefits for the Asian nations, which have endured decades of tensions, with the leaders agreeing to set up a direct hotline between them, a Japanese official said.

Ties between China and Germany also appeared to have emerged stronger from the Hu-Merkel meeting, after the German chancellor deeply angered the Chinese government by meeting Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama last year.

"At the present time, the overall development of Chinese-German relations is good," state-run TV quoted Hu as telling Merkel.

But the agreement by China, Japan, South Korea and the 10 Southeast Asian nations on the Asian pool of foreign exchange reserves was the major development of the ASEM build-up.

The 80-billion-dollar fund would be created by the end of June next year, and be accompanied by an independent regional financial market surveillance organisation, according to South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak's spokesman.

However, no other party involved gave a firm timeline for when the fund would definitely be created, with officials pointing to further meetings between the so-called "ASEAN Plus Three" nations.

The "ASEAN Plus Three" fund would supersede the Chiang Mai Initiative, which came into being in 2000 in the wake of the 1997/98 East Asian financial crisis to ease mainly bilateral currency swaps.

The East Asian countries began talks in 2006 on transforming the Chiang Mai Initiative into a more powerful and multilateral reserve pooling mechanism.

Ahead of the forum, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called for more help from Asian nations in fighting the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"We swim together or we sink together," Barroso said after arriving in Beijing.

"We need Asia to be on board, and more particularly countries like China, India (and) Japan."

Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, had also said he would use the summit to seek Asian backing for his bid to rebuild the world's financial system.

European governments have already committed more than two trillion dollars to banks and the money markets in a largely coordinated move to shore up their plummeting stock markets.

Before Friday, Asian governments had mostly limited their intervention to cutting interest rates, guaranteeing bank deposits and injecting money into the credit markets -- without the kind of coordinated action taken by Europe.

Iraq warned on Wednesday it would not be bullied into signing a security pact with the United States despite US leaders warning of potentially dire consequences if it failed to approve the deal.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Washington had now agreed to listen to requested changes to the controversial deal, which aims to govern the long-term presence of US troops in Iraq beyond 2008.

But the White House said the agreement, which has been the subject of months of tough negotiations, was more or less done, and any amendments would be merely fine-tuning.

To the apparent frustration of the Americans, the Iraqi cabinet decided on Tuesday to seek revisions to a deal that was originally supposed to have been sealed by the end of July.

But Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh lashed out at remarks by US military chief Michael Mullen who had said Baghdad risked significant security losses if an agreement is not concluded.

"It is not correct to force Iraqis into making a choice and it is not appropriate to talk with the Iraqis in this way," Dabbagh said.

The draft deal calls for a withdrawal of US combat forces by the end of 2011 -- more than eight years after the invasion -- and includes US concessions on jurisdiction over its troops accused of "serious crimes" while off duty or off base.

But the draft has ignited fierce debate in Iraq, with radical anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr leading a wave of protests and even Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's aides voicing dissent.

"Yes, they are going to listen to the changes," Zebari told AFP. "We will give the amendments in writing. They will study it and get back to us."

But he added: "I don't think they are in the mood for renegotiating the deal altogether. We will see in the next few days."

He warned it would be "difficult" to sign before the US presidential vote on November 4, given that the pact still has to go before parliament which can ratify or reject it.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said "the door wasn't slammed shut but it's pretty much closed in our opinion."

And the Pentagon again accused US archfoe Iran of seeking to derail the accord.

"Iranian meddling in Iraq takes on all forms" including "an attempt by the Iranians to undermine, undercut, derail the SOFA (status of forces) agreement," spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

US commanders have long accused Shiite Iran of meddling in the affairs of neighbouring Iraq by aiding militia groups in the country, charges denied by Tehran.

But Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani, speaking on a visit to Bahrain, said the deal "encroaches on the sovereignty (of Iraq), and does not allow the creation of a strong government."

Mullen had said that if Baghdad delayed signing the deal beyond the December 31 expiry of the current UN mandate, its forces "will not be ready to provide for their security."

"And in that regard there is great potential for losses of significant consequence."

Dabbagh said such a statement was unwelcome.

"All Iraqis and their political entities are aware of their responsibilities and are assessing whether to sign the deal or not in a way that it is suitable to them."

Iraqi military spokesman Brigadier General Qassim Atta also insisted that domestic forces were ready to handle security nationwide, saying their numbers had increased and that they were already controlling 11 provinces.

Iraq is also due on Thursday to take over security in the southern province of Babil, the 12th of 18 in the country.

"Mullen's remark is an attempt to pressure the Iraqi side, but we will not be subjected to such tactics because our reservations are linked to the sovereignty and national interest of Iraq," senior Shiite MP Abbas al-Bayati said.

"The American side should be more flexible because if they really want to pass this agreement, they should first stop launching such warnings which provoke Iraqis."

Some cabinet ministers oppose a clause that allows Iraq to ask US forces to stay beyond 2011 if required for training local troops, raising fears that this could lead to a long-term presence.

Science and Technology Minister Raed Jahed Fahmi also said there were concerns over what would constitute "serious crimes" committed by American personnel for which they could be prosecuted under Iraqi law.

An air strike by international forces mistakenly killed nine Afghan soldiers on Wednesday, the defence ministry said, in the latest in a string of errors to hit the campaign against Taliban militants.

Separately, three soldiers with US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan were killed and a fourth wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the west of the country, the headquarters of US forces in the country said Wednesday.

The US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai condemned the killing of the Afghan soldiers by foreign forces and said such incidents could sap the morale of security forces who are fighting a resurgent Taliban movement.

The US military admitted that coalition forces "may have mistakenly killed and injured" Afghan soldiers in the eastern province of Khost and said it was investigating.

Foreign helicopters accidentally targeted the soldiers as they manned a checkpost in an operation to provide security for voters registering for elections, said Colonel Mohammad Gul, a local spokesman for the Afghan army.

"In an international military air strike at 2:00 am... nine members of the Afghan National Army (ANA) were martyred and three others were injured," a defence ministry statement said.

A spokesman for the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, Colonel Greg Julian, announced a joint investigation.

"Initial reports from troops on the ground indicate that this may be a case of mistaken identity on both sides," a statement from his office said.

Afghanistan's defence ministry condemned the incident and pledged to bring the "culprits" to justice.

"Such tragic and painful incidents would weaken the morale of the national security forces and could hamper the national army development," it said.

There are about 60,000 international soldiers deployed under NATO and a separate coalition led by the United States in Afghanistan to help defeat an insurgency waged by Taliban and other militants.

The soldiers' deaths are the latest in a series of wayward air attacks which have also killed scores of civilians and police and inflamed public opinion.

In July nine Afghan policemen were killed in strikes called in after troops clashed with police in the southwestern province of Farah, with both sides mistaking the other for Taliban fighters.

Karzai called for a review of regulations for international forces in the country after 90 civilians were killed in US strikes in a western village in August, according to tolls from Afghan and UN investigations.

A US military investigation concluded that at least 33 civilians, including a dozen children, were killed in the strike along with 22 fighters.

The Taliban were in government between 1996 and 2001 and are fighting to take back power in an insurgency that has picked up pace in the past three years.

Late Tuesday, about 100 militants attacked Dih Rahwud district centre in the southern province of Uruzgan sparking a battle that lasted into early Wednesday, police said.

"Our police bravely resisted and killed 35 Taliban whose bodies are left in the area," provincial police chief Juma Gul Hemat told AFP. "Three of our policemen were also martyred and nine others were injured."

The US military later issued a statement saying 55 militants were killed in the battle.

Troops also killed and wounded dozens of "enemies of the people" Tuesday in the southern province of Helmand, the Afghan defence ministry said.

And in the western province of Herat, five police officers were captured by Taliban in an overnight raid on their post, a local official said.

A local Taliban commander claimed the men had surrendered to the rebels but this could not be independently verified.

A global donors meeting on Wednesday pledged 4.55 billion dollars (3.5 billion euros) in aid to conflict-stricken Georgia, much higher than anticipated, the EU commission announced.

The sum included 2.8 billion euros of public funding to meet Georgia's urgent post-conflict "and priority investment needs."

The amount raised at the one-day conference "is more than we had thought and therefore I think it is a day of joy," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told a news conference.

The meeting, attended by 67 nations and financial institutions, was co-hosted by the EU and the World Bank.

The pledged grants and loans, some of which had been made previously, beat most of the predictions amid a global financial crisis.

Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze, who attended the conference, told reporters that his country was "deeply moved and humbled by the demonstration of solidarity that we have received."

The United States, pledging a billion dollars over three years, was the biggest benefactor, followed by substantial donations from the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and Japan.

"We share a commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity, to its economic and democratic development, and to its integration with neighbouring countries and international institutions," said Henrietta Fore, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The aim had been to secure pledges of at least 3.25 billion dollars (2.38 billion euros) in aid over the next three years, the sum which a "joint needs assessment" study deemed necessary to rebuild Georgia and boost its economic growth.

The funding will be used firstly for urgent social needs, including dealing with the 65,000 people displaced within Georgia by the conflict and repairing infrastructure.

Secondly there will be funding to deal with Georgia's budgetary shortfall, for paying wages, pensions and other government services.

Donors also pledged funds to prop up Georgia's commercial banks, through loans, equity and guarantees.

EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said the global community had a "moral imperative" to help conflict-hit Georgia, as he spoke of the commission's pledge of 500 million euros over three years for reconstruction.

Behind the pledges of help, some delegates stressed the need to pull Georgia further towards full democracy and a fully-functioning market economy.

"We must not let the crisis distract Georgia from its political and economic reform efforts," said Barroso.

"We want to ask the Georgian government to put more efforts towards democratisation and to shift towards a market economy," Japan's Deputy Foreign Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told AFP.

Japan pledged 200 million dollars (151 million euros) in aid over three years, while the International Monetary Fund has promised a 750 million euro financial package.

Germany's deputy foreign minister Gernot Elner announced 33.7 million euros while Sweden, according to a Japanese aide, pledged 40 million euros.

France offered seven million euros and Britain nine million pounds plus other support.

Russian troops and tanks rolled into Georgia on August 8 to push back a Georgian offensive to retake South Ossetia from Moscow-backed separatists.

Russia has since withdrawn from most of Georgia in line with an EU-brokered ceasefire, but Tbilisi is furious at the continued presence of 7,600 Russian troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Georgia accuses Russia of effectively annexing the territories.

While Georgia has received heavy backing from the West, there was a further reminder Wednesday of opposition it faces in seeking to join NATO, with France's European affairs minister saying he was against Tbilisi's membership for now.

"I think that it is not the right time for membership for Georgia and Ukraine," Jean-Pierre Jouyet said on the sidelines of a European Parliament session in Strasbourg. "It is not in the interests of Europe or its relations with Russia."

The United States has pushed for NATO membership for Georgia as well as for Ukraine, both former Soviet republics.

Russia has made it clear it would regard NATO membership for Georgia or Ukraine as something close to a hostile action by the trans-Atlantic alliance.

France and Germany have opposed NATO membership for the two countries for the time being, not wanting to draw Russia's wrath.