Hezbollah delivers remains of two Israeli soldiers

By Ayat Basma and Avida Landau
51 minutes ago

LEBANON/ISRAEL BORDER (Reuters) - Hezbollah handed over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross on Wednesday to be exchanged for Lebanese prisoners held by Israel.

The deal is viewed as a triumph by the Lebanese guerrilla group and as a painful necessity by many Israelis, two years after the soldiers' capture sparked a 34-day war with Hezbollah that killed about 1,200 people in Lebanon and 159 Israelis.

Hezbollah's al-Manar TV showed two black coffins being taken from a vehicle at the Israel-Lebanon border after Hezbollah security official Wafik Safa disclosed for the first time that army reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were dead.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) took the coffins and drove them into Israel. Safa later said DNA tests conducted by the ICRC had verified the identity of the soldiers. There was no immediate confirmation from the ICRC or Israel.

"We are now handing over the two imprisoned Israeli soldiers, who were captured by the Islamic resistance on July 12, 2006, to the ICRC," Safa said at the border. "The Israeli side will now hand over the great Arab mujahid (holy warrior) ... Samir Qantar and his companions to the ICRC."

In a deal mediated by a U.N.-appointed German intelligence officer, Israel was to free Qantar and four other prisoners.

Qantar had been serving a life prison term for the deaths of four Israelis, including a four-year-old girl and her father, in a 1979 Palestinian guerrilla attack on an Israeli town.

Neighbors outside the Regev home wept at the news the two soldiers were dead. Fighting back tears, Shlomo Laniado, who served in their reserve unit, said on Israel's Channel Two television: "It increases the motivation to protect this country and it shows us who we are dealing with."

An ICRC truck later drove into Lebanon with the bodies of eight Hezbollah fighters killed during the 2006 war.

Israel will also hand over the remains of nearly 200 Arabs killed trying to infiltrate northern Israel. Hezbollah will return the remains of Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon.

The deal also calls for Israel to release scores of Palestinian prisoners at a later date as a gesture to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

HEZBOLLAH READY TO CELEBRATE

Hezbollah has dubbed the exchange "Operation Radwan," in honor of "Hajj Radwan," or Imad Moughniyah, the group's military commander who was assassinated in Syria in February.

Yellow Hezbollah flags and banners fluttered across south Lebanon and along the coastal highway from the border village of Naqoura to the capital, Beirut. "Liberation of the captives: a new dawn for Lebanon and Palestine," one banner read.

Israel denounced the planned festivities.

"Samir Qantar is a brutal murderer of children and anybody celebrating him as a hero is trampling on basic human decency," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said.

For some Lebanese, the exchange demonstrated the futility of the devastating conflict with Israel two summers ago.

"There shouldn't have been a war in 2006. A lot of lives were lost," said Rami Nasereddine, an 18-year-old student in downtown Beirut. "It's good that the prisoner exchange is taking place. Israel should have done that two years ago."

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said the prisoner swap would boost its position in demanding the release of hundreds of long-serving prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured two years ago near the Gaza Strip.

"This is a great victory to the resistance and to Hezbollah and it is a festival for the Lebanese prisoners and their families," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Israeli President Shimon Peres set the prisoner swap in motion on Tuesday by pardoning Qantar, reviled in Israel for his role in the 1979 attack. Qantar, aged 17 at the time, has said the father was shot by Israeli soldiers who also wounded him, and that he doesn't remember what happened to the girl.

Peres said he felt "bitter and unbearable pain" at the decision and that it "in no way constitutes forgiveness," but that Israel was obliged to get its soldiers back.

Olmert had described Qantar as the last bargaining chip for word on Israeli airman Ron Arad, missing since he bailed out over Lebanon in 1986. Israel said a report supplied by Hezbollah on Arad as part of the swap had failed to clarify his fate.

Hezbollah has made Qantar's freedom a central demand. Many in Lebanon believe Israel's refusal to free Qantar earlier prompted Hezbollah's cross-border raid that led to the 2006 war.

The other Lebanese prisoners being released were identified as Maher Qorani, Mohammad Srour, Hussein Suleiman and Khodr Zeidan. They were to receive a heroes' welcome of fireworks and rallies in Lebanon, which declared a public holiday.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Nadim Ladki in Beirut, Jeffrey Heller and Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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Military surge in Iraq ends; 150,000 troops remain

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 33 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The military surge into Iraq that began more than 18 months ago has ended. But 150,000 U.S. troops remain, as many as 15,000 more than before the buildup began.
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In recent days, the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade, the last of the five additional combat brigades sent in by President Bush last year, left the country.
Its departure marks the end of what the Pentagon calls the "surge." And it starts the 45-day evaluation period that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told Congress he would need to assess the security situation and determine how many more troops he could send home.

In the complex battlefield that is Iraq, it's not that easy.

While there now are technically 13 Army and two Marine combat brigades in Iraq — the same as before the buildup — the force is as much as 10 percent larger than it was in January 2007.

Military officials contend comparisons are not valid because a chunk of the remaining troop bulge is due to units that are overlapping, as two brigades begin moving out of Iraq, while their two replacements move in. The overlap could add up to 6,000 soldiers.

Also, one of the units moving out, the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, is much smaller than the one taking its place — the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.

So, the officials suggested, the military buildup may not really be over until the transitions are complete.

The key cause for the larger force is the change in mission in Iraq, as the U.S. military is using more trainers, security and support troops to back up the growing Iraqi force. Also, the U.S. units there now are bigger, and they are bolstered by more support forces.

When the military buildup began, there were between 132,000 and 135,000 troops in Iraq. Over time, however, the Pentagon poured troops into Baghdad and the belt of communities that surround it, including the volatile areas of Basra and Sadr City.

With more troops, the military needed more support, including military police to guard detainees and National Guard units to provide security for bases, convoys and other operations.

Earlier this year, military leaders acknowledged that the force in Iraq when the buildup ended would be larger than before it began. And they suggested that the post-buildup force would total about 142,000.

Commanders also have talked carefully, but somewhat optimistically, about the prospects for cutting troop levels more later this fall.

In recent months, they have pointed to two significant improvements: Violence is down, and the Iraqi forces are rapidly growing in size and ability.

Last week, Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, commander of the 10th Mountain Division, told Pentagon reporters that the security situation in his area south of Baghdad "is probably the best we've ever seen it."

Oates would not predict any troop cuts, and other military leaders have been reluctant to talk specifics.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has suggested that if security continues to improve in Iraq, the Pentagon may be able to send some units to Afghanistan instead of Baghdad as scheduled early next year. But he has also stressed that he will wait for Petraeus to make his assessment.

For his part, Petraeus remains mum. When questioned by lawmakers in May, he would say only that he is likely to recommend more troop cuts in the fall.

"I do believe there will be certain assets that, as we are already looking at the picture right now, we'll be able to recommend can be either redeployed or not deployed to the theater in the fall," he said.

Asked last week about future troop reductions, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that as the Iraqi security forces get stronger and better, "we will be able to continue drawing down our troops." He added that the transition of control to the Iraqis is well under way, and "based on everything that I'm hearing will be able to continue."

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On the Net:

Defense Department: http://www.defenselink.mil

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Prison overseer tells Calif. gov. he needs $7B

Prison overseer tells Calif. gov. he needs $7B



By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 9, 10:10 PM ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The court-appointed receiver who oversees medical care in California's prisons asked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday to invoke his emergency powers to provide $7 billion to improve inmate care.
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Court-appointed receiver J. Clark Kelso has been given broad authority by federal courts to fix the nation's largest state prison system's medical and mental health care, treatment so poor it has been ruled unconstitutional.

Kelso and the Legislature, however, have been unable to agree on where the funding to fix it should come from. The state Senate has blocked borrowing that Kelso says he needs to fix medical care for the state's more than 170,000 prisoners.

If the receiver doesn't get his way, a judge could order the money taken directly from the state treasury.

To avoid that, Kelso wants the governor's office to bypass the Legislature and sign a contract authorizing up to $7 billion for the medical care expansion. The money would go toward seven health care centers that would house 10,000 inmates in need of medical attention and mental health treatment.

An appellate court decision last week upheld the governor's power to bypass the Legislature when public safety is at risk. The Third District Appellate Court in Sacramento upheld Schwarzenegger's 2006 emergency order to send as many as 8,000 inmates to private prisons in other states.

"The federal court clearly wants me to try everything I can think of under state law before coming to the court for more direct intervention," Kelso said in a telephone interview.

Kelso did not specify where the money should come from, but says he needs it in installments through 2015.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor doesn't want to sidestep lawmakers. The governor believes borrowing is needed, but wants to work with the Legislature, McLear said.

Schwarzenegger and legislative Democrats say the only alternative to borrowing is to take the money from the state's general fund, which pays for most state programs and services. The state is facing a $15.2 billion deficit in the fiscal year that begins July 1, effectively eliminating that alternative.

Borrowing requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature, giving minority Republicans veto power over the bonds — unless Schwarzenegger issues them unilaterally.

Republicans said Schwarzenegger would be overstepping his authority if he chose to do so, despite last week's appellate court ruling. Assembly minority Leader Mike Villines, R-Clovis, predicted a legal challenge if Schwarzenegger agrees to use his emergency powers.

"That's not emergency power. That's a complete usurpation of the legislative process," said Assemblyman Todd Spitzer of Orange, chairman of a prison oversight committee.

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Commander: Al-Qaida in Iraq is at its weakest

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

1 hour, 10 minutes ago

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The al-Qaida terror group in Iraq appears to be at its weakest state since it gained an initial foothold in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion five years ago, the acting commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Wednesday in an Associated Press interview

Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who assumed interim command of U.S. Central Command on March 28, acknowledged that al-Qaida remains a relentless foe and has not disappeared as a serious threat to stability. But he said an accelerated U.S. and Iraq campaign to pressure al-Qaida has paid big dividends.

"Our forces and the Iraqi forces have certainly disrupted al-Qaida, probably to a level that we haven't seen at any time in my experience," said Dempsey, who served in Iraq in the initial stages as a division commander and later as head of the military organization in charge of training Iraqi security forces.

"They can regenerate, and do from time to time," he added in the interview in his office at Central Command headquarters.

Dempsey was in Iraq last week on a journey that also took him to Lebanon, where he consulted with the government and military commanders on their approach to dealing with Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters.

In separate remarks at a military conference just a few miles from Dempsey's headquarters in Tampa, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Islamic extremist movements like al-Qaida have been "built on an illusion of success" yet in some ways pose a more daunting challenge today than on Sept. 11, 2001.

Gates described these extremist groups as more diffuse and less reliant on a single figure like Osama bin Laden.

"It has become an independent force of its own, capable of animating a corps of devoted followers without direct contact," Gates told an international conference sponsored by U.S. Special Operations Command. He said this adversary is now "capable of inspiring violence without direct orders."

Dempsey, who was the Central Command deputy until Adm. William Fallon abruptly resigned amid reports that his views on Iran differed with those of the White House, is expected to remain as the acting commander until Gen. David Petraeus shifts from his post as top commander in Iraq, probably in September. Petraeus's Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Earlier Wednesday, the Army general who oversees U.S. commando operations in the Middle East said that al-Qaida in Iraq has yet to be vanquished but is increasingly running out of places where local Iraqis will accommodate the group's extremist ideology.

"Is he still a lethal and dangerous threat to us? Absolutely," Maj. Gen. John Mulholland said in an interview with reporters at the headquarters of U.S. Special Operations Command, the organization with global responsibility for providing Army Green Berets, Navy SEALs and other commandos to combat terrorism.

Of the approximately 155,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 5,000 are special operations forces, who not only hunt and attack terrorist targets but also help train Iraqi security forces and work with local Iraqi governments.

Mulholland acknowledged that al-Qaida, which U.S. intelligence says is led by foreign terrorists but is populated mainly by local Iraqis seeking to establish a radical Islamic state, still poses a major challenge in the Mosul area of northern Iraq and has occasionally slipped back into areas like Anbar province in western Iraq.

"Do we think he can at least try to regain a foothold in Anbar province? Yes, we do think he's trying to do that," Mulholland said.

While U.S. officials do not believe al-Qaida is succeeding in re-establishing a significant presence in Anbar — which the group was forced to abandon a year ago as local Sunni Arabs turned violently against it — it does appear that small al-Qaida cells can still slip into isolated areas and make trouble, he said.

"I don't want to paint a picture — or to convey to you in any way — that al-Qaida in Iraq is being completely destroyed or rendered irrelevant, because that's not the case," he said. "They are still potentially a threat capable of death and destruction against the Iraqi people and our own forces there. But it is not something he can do easily any more."

Separately, Adm. Eric Olson, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, told a group of reporters that "the nature of the threat" posed by Iran's support for anti-U.S. forces in Iraq is unclear.

He made the remark in response to a question about the ability of U.S. special operations forces to meet the Iranian challenge.

"It's clear that there is some lethal aid originating from across the Iranian border," Olson said. "We can't say what the origin or the source of that is. So we are uncertain about our overall ability because we are uncertain of the nature of the threat. But I would say in general that special operations forces are well prepared and well equipped to meet the nation's expectations in that regard."

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By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer Wed May 21, 4:46 PM ET

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer

Wed May 21, 4:46 PM ET

NEW YORK - Two weeks before the final primary in their marathon battle, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton were campaigning hard Wednesday. Both were in Florida, but their goals could hardly have been more different — or said more about how each one hopes to bring their historic race to a close.

Obama, feeling sure of the Democratic nomination, was trying to stake an early claim to a state that could be crucial in the general election against Republican John McCain. Clinton, insisting she can still be her party's nominee, was making an impassioned plea for the state's disputed primary results to be counted.

Obama plans to contest the final three primaries in Puerto Rico, South Dakota and Montana, but he is already moving on, well into the early stages of a general election plan that will take him to other critical swing states in the coming weeks.

His campaign was offering some new delegate math — before the last votes were cast.

Because of how the party allocates its delegates, Obama almost certainly cannot win the nomination based on the 86 pledged delegates yet to be claimed in the final three contests. But his advisers project that he needs just 25 to 28 more superdelegates to come aboard by the end of the primaries to put him over the top.

The campaign's estimate were confirmed through a separate tabulation by The Associated Press.

As for Clinton, aides said she has two immediate goals: to see the results of the Florida and Michigan primaries restored, and to persuade the remaining uncommitted superdelegates that she would be the better candidate in November against McCain.

While she has signaled that the race will soon end after the final primaries June 3, Clinton is also counting on a meeting of the Democratic Party's rules committee May 31 to bring an end to the dispute over Michigan and Florida, whose delegates were striped after they violated party rules by moving up their contests.

If the committee does not satisfactorily resolve the matter, the New York senator hinted Wednesday she would support a drawn-out battle that could go to the party's convention in August.

"Yes I will. I will, because I feel very strongly about this," Clinton said in an interview with The Associated Press when asked whether her campaign would support Michigan and Florida if they pressed the issue into the summer.

Still, all signs overwhelmingly indicate that Obama will emerge as the Democratic standard-bearer.

A handful of superdelegate endorsements Wednesday on top of primary results in Kentucky and Oregon have brought him within striking distance of claiming the nomination — the Illinois senator is 64 delegates from the 2,026 needed under Democratic Party rules as well as close to becoming the first black nominee of a major party.

In the past, primary results have touched off a wave of superdelegates. It was just a few Wednesday. Privately, Obama strategists said they believed a number were still inclined to wait until after the primaries are over out of respect for the Clintons, who remain major figures within the party.

Joe Andrew, a former DNC chairman and superdelegate who switched allegiance from Clinton to Obama, said that while Obama reaching the majority of pledged delegates was a symbolic moment, "delegates aren't just looking for moments. They are looking for reasons to make a decision that many of them know that is probably inevitable."

He added that until the race ends, "I think they will portray themselves as genuinely torn. I don't mean to say they are play acting. I think most of them in their gut have made their decision. I think they are torn about how to explain that decision and when they should announce."

With Obama's near-certain victory in sight, both sides are now urging unity with the hope of putting the often rancorous primary season behind them.

While little formal outreach has gone on between the two camps — Obama's out of caution for appearing disrespectful, Clinton's because she is still campaigning — advisers on both sides said they will be ready to talk when the time comes.

"I don't know anyone in either the Hillary Clinton or the Obama worlds who has not publicly said and privately believed that we will all come together for the sake of the Democratic nominee," Clinton national finance co-chairman Hassan Nemazee said.

But, he added, "There's a dance that goes on in this. The Obama people in recent weeks have become far more careful in what they say and do in a way that is not overly presumptive."

Several major fundraisers for both campaigns have already joined forces to raise money for the Democratic National Committee that will go toward promoting the eventual nominee. An event in New York honoring former Vice President Al Gore will take place May 31 co-chaired by prominent Obama and Clinton backers, with all proceeds going to the DNC.

At least one committed Clinton hand — her former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle — has spoken to the Obama campaign about coming aboard after he secures the nomination. But most of her staff and close advisers remain deeply loyal to the New York senator and say they plan to stay with her as long as she is in the race.

As is traditional for the presidential nominee of each party, Obama has already moved to put his own staff in place at the Democratic National Committee. His advisers said Paul Tewes, who planned and ran Obama's victorious Iowa caucus strategy, is Obama's choice to take the reins at the committee once the Illinois senator wins the nomination.

He's also brought aboard a couple of notable staff hires, including Linda Douglass, a former ABC news correspondent who will serve as a message strategist and spokeswoman. Her appointment was seen as a smart move for a campaign with few women in visible roles.

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China declares 3 days' mourning for quake victims

By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 3 minutes ago

BEICHUAN, China - China declared three days of national mourning for earthquake victims and ordered a suspension of the Olympic torch relay, as the search for survivors of the disaster grew bleak Sunday.

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The State Council said the mourning period would start Monday and include three minutes of silence observed nationwide at 2:28 p.m., the time the quake struck.

Beijing Olympic organizers said in a statement that the torch relay would be suspended "to express our deep mourning to the victims of the earthquake."

The relay already had resumed last week after the quake on a more somber note, with runners starting with a minute of silence and asking for donations along the route. Organizers have said the relay would go on as planned in quake-hit Sichuan province next month.

In the disaster zone, efforts appeared to shift Sunday from searching for buried survivors to clearing corpses from shattered buildings as the government said the confirmed death toll rose to 32,476.

Another 220,109 people suffered injuries, according to a statement from the State Council, China's Cabinet. The government has said it expects the final death toll will surpass 50,000.

Near the quake's epicenter, few hopeful relatives were seen in Beichuan, where several dozen corpses in blue body bags lay in a street. Soldiers regularly pulled more dead from the wreckage.

"It will soon be too late" to find trapped survivors, said Koji Fujiya, deputy leader of a Japanese rescue team that pulled 10 bodies from a flattened school Sunday. "We hope with our hard work we will find more people alive."

A "slightly bruised" man was pulled out alive from a collapsed hospital Sunday after being trapped for 139 hours, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Experts say buried earthquake survivors can live a week or more, depending on factors including the temperature and whether they have water to drink.

A Malaysian rescue team in the town of Muyu, further north, sifted slowly and methodically through the wreckage. However, they were not tapping on the debris in hopes that survivors would hear and respond as other crews had done earlier — instead using giant cutters to split steel girders.

Dozens of students were buried in new graves dotting a green hillside overlooking the rubble, the small mounds of dirt failing to block the pungent smell of decay wafting from the ground. Most graves were unmarked, though several had wooden markers with names scribbled on them.

Zhou Bencen, 36, said he raced to the town's middle school after the earthquake, where relatives who arrived earlier had dug out the body of his 13-year-old daughter, Zhou Xiao, crushed on the first floor.

Zhou cradled his wife in his arms, holding her hand and stroking her back while she sobbed hysterically. "Oh God, oh God, why is life so bitter?" Liao Jinju wailed, over and over. The couple's 9-year-old son survived.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has urged rescue teams to reach remote villages battered by the earthquake where the level of damage remained unknown, according to Xinhua.

That was reinforced by a group of about 15 people who surrounded an Associated Press reporter at a gasoline station in Mianyang city Sunday, appealing for help for their village, Xiushui.

"The government is doing nothing to help us," said one man, who identified himself only by his surname, Chen. "If I gave you my complete name the government would track me down."

Chen did not say how many people lived there. He handed over a note signed "by the people of Xiushui," reading: "Please go to our village of Xiushui to cover the situation. The government is doing nothing to help us get water or housing."

More international aid was arriving, with two U.S. Air Force cargo planes loaded with tents, lanterns and 15,000 meals landing Sunday in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu.

The World Health Organization said conditions for homeless survivors were ripe for outbreaks of disease and called for quick action to supply clean water and proper hygiene facilities. Chinese health officials have not reported any disaster-related outbreaks so far.

Also in the quake area, three giant pandas were missing from the world's most famous reserve for the endangered animals.

All the pandas at the Wolong Nature Reserve were first reported safe Tuesday, but an official with the State Forestry Administration now says three are missing, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.

Panda houses at the reserve were severely damaged and five staff members there were killed, forestry spokesman Cao Qingyao told Xinhua.

The 60 other giant pandas at the Wolong Nature Reserve were safe, according to the agency. The reserve is 18 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake.

Phone calls to the state forestry administration and to the forestry bureau in Sichuan province rang unanswered Sunday night. Fixed phone lines to the reserve remained down. Officials have been able to call the reserve only by satellite phone.

Meanwhile, flood threats from rivers blocked by landslides from the quake appeared to have eased after three waterways near the epicenter overflowed with no problems, Xinhua said. County officials diverted released water as a precaution.

The quake damaged some water projects, such as reservoirs and hydroelectric stations, but no reservoirs had burst, Liu Ning, engineer in chief with the Ministry of Water Resources, told Xinhua.

Nuclear facilities jolted by the quake were confirmed safe and troops were sent to reinforce security there, air force Maj. Gen. Ma Jian, deputy chief of operations for the military's General Staff Headquarters, told reporters in Beijing.

China has a research reactor, two nuclear fuel production sites and two atomic weapons sites in Sichuan province, the French nuclear watchdog has said, all located 40 to 90 miles from the epicenter.

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Associated Press writers Tini Tran in Muyu and William Foreman in Mianyang contributed to this report.

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Top UN official warns of increasing Darfur violence

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

Wed May 14, 8:35 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. peacekeeping chief warned Wednesday of an alarming increase in violence in Darfur that has spread to the Sudanese capital and could escalate further.
Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno urged all actors — the disparate rebel groups and feuding Sudanese and Chadian governments — to "move away from the brink of going into another cycle of violence" and start negotiations to end the Darfur conflict.
In a briefing to the U.N. Security Council, Guehenno said the surprise rebel attack on Khartoum last weekend, which took place "during an alarming increase of violence in Darfur itself," has implications for the operations of the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force.
The attack by rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement, based hundreds of miles to the west in Darfur, also has implications for the efforts to revitalize political negotiations on Darfur, Chad-Sudan relations, and Sudanese national politics, he said.
"This great deterioration of security ... (is) a major challenge for all of us," Guehenno told reporters afterwards. "Our great concern is that it doesn't lead to further escalation."
Guehenno told the council that the U.N.-AU force has received unconfirmed reports that another Darfur rebel group, SLA-Unity, "is gathering forces with over 40 vehicles near Khor Abeche to attack El Fasher," the capital of North Darfur and headquarters for UNAMID.
"In addition, there have been reports of JEM and Chadian armed elements crossing the border and assembling in West Darfur," he said.
Guehenno said he's urging the peacekeepers to be on high alert.
"Unfortunately there is no place in Darfur that can claim to be safe from possible violence," he said.
He expressed concern that the attack on Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman over the weekend took both peacekeepers and the government by surprise.
"The incident underscores the serious shortfalls in the mission's resources, especially aerial reconnaissance capabilities," he said.
The U.N.-AU force took over peacekeeping duties in Darfur in January from a beleaguered AU force. It only has about 7,500 troops and fewer than 2,000 police on the ground, out of a total of 26,000 that have been authorized.
Guehenno laid out the U.N. plan to get 80 percent of the force into Darfur by the end of the year.
Ethnic Africans in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in 2003 to fight discrimination. The U.N. says 2.5 million people have been forced from their homes during the five-year conflict — including 150,000 since the beginning of the year — and the death toll could be as high as 300,000.
The ongoing violence, and the hijacking of 38 commercial trucks with food from the World Food Program, has forced the U.N. agency to halve rations beginning in May, Guehenno said. He added that "malnutrition indicators remain at extremely worrying levels in many areas of the region."

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