Himachal: 2 brothers of murder-accused MLA booked for harbouring him


PANCHKULA: Himachal police on Friday booked two brothers of HP Congress MLA, Ram Kumar Chaudhary, a suspect in the murder case of 24-year-old Jyoti, for allegedly harboring him with the motive of avoiding his arrest.

Panchkula police have failed to arrest Chaudhary and 3 others during the 14-day validity of arrest warrant against them. The warrants were issued on December 20.

The case was registered under section 216 (harbouring offender who has escaped or whose apprehension has been ordered) of IPC in Baddi police station.

Baddi SP Arul Kumar said, "Madan Chaudhary and Harbhjan Chaudhary were harbouring MLA Chaudhary for a long time. Whenever police questioned them, they negatively replied, despite having full knowledge about the suspect's whereabouts."

Meanwhile, Baddi police have also informed Kangra police about the absconding status of Chaudhary and requested them to inform if he appears during the oath-taking ceremony of new MLAs to be held in Dharamshala on January 8.

Doon MLA Chaudhary is absconding ever since 24-year old Jyoti Devi of Hoshiarpur was found murdered in Sector 21, Panchkula, on November 22. Arrest warrants were issued against him along with three others by a local court here on December 20.

Haryana police have failed to arrest Chaudhary and his four accomplices even as a Panchkula court had rejected the anticipatory bail application of Chaudhary last month.

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FDA proposes sweeping new food safety rules


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens.


The long-overdue regulations could cost businesses close to half a billion dollars a year to implement, but are expected to reduce the estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illness. Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria in cheese and salmonella in peanut butter, mangoes and cantaloupe have been linked to more than 400 illnesses and as many as seven deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The actual number of those sickened is likely much higher.


The FDA's proposed rules would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean, and that animals stay out of fields. Food manufacturers will have to submit food safety plans to the government to show they are keeping their operations clean.


Many responsible food companies and farmers are already following the steps that the FDA would now require them to take. But officials say the requirements could have saved lives and prevented illnesses in several of the large-scale outbreaks that have hit the country in recent years.


In a 2011 outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe that claimed 33 lives, for example, FDA inspectors found pools of dirty water on the floor and old, dirty processing equipment at Jensen Farms in Colorado where the cantaloupes were grown. In a peanut butter outbreak this year linked to 42 salmonella illnesses, inspectors found samples of salmonella throughout Sunland Inc.'s peanut processing plant in New Mexico and multiple obvious safety problems, such as birds flying over uncovered trailers of peanuts and employees not washing their hands.


Under the new rules, companies would have to lay out plans for preventing those sorts of problems, monitor their own progress and explain to the FDA how they would correct them.


"The rules go very directly to preventing the types of outbreaks we have seen," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for foods.


The FDA estimates the new rules could prevent almost 2 million illnesses annually, but it could be several years before the rules are actually preventing outbreaks. Taylor said it could take the agency another year to craft the rules after a four-month comment period, and farms would have at least two years to comply — meaning the farm rules are at least three years away from taking effect. Smaller farms would have even longer to comply.


The new rules, which come exactly two years to the day President Barack Obama's signed food safety legislation passed by Congress, were already delayed. The 2011 law required the agency to propose a first installment of the rules a year ago, but the Obama administration held them until after the election. Food safety advocates sued the administration to win their release.


The produce rule would mark the first time the FDA has had real authority to regulate food on farms. In an effort to stave off protests from farmers, the farm rules are tailored to apply only to certain fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest risk, like berries, melons, leafy greens and other foods that are usually eaten raw. A farm that produces green beans that will be canned and cooked, for example, would not be regulated.


Such flexibility, along with the growing realization that outbreaks are bad for business, has brought the produce industry and much of the rest of the food industry on board as Congress and FDA has worked to make food safer.


In a statement Friday, Pamela Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the country's biggest food companies, said the food safety law "can serve as a role model for what can be achieved when the private and public sectors work together to achieve a common goal."


The new rules could cost large farms $30,000 a year, according to the FDA. The agency did not break down the costs for individual processing plants, but said the rules could cost manufacturers up to $475 million annually.


FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the success of the rules will also depend on how much money Congress gives the chronically underfunded agency to put them in place. "Resources remain an ongoing concern," she said.


The farm and manufacturing rules are only one part of the food safety law. The bill also authorized more surprise inspections by the FDA and gave the agency additional powers to shut down food facilities. In addition, the law required stricter standards on imported foods. The agency said it will soon propose other overdue rules to ensure that importers verify overseas food is safe and to improve food safety audits overseas.


Food safety advocates frustrated over the last year as the rules stalled praised the proposed action.


"The new law should transform the FDA from an agency that tracks down outbreaks after the fact, to an agency focused on preventing food contamination in the first place," said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.


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Inter-agency group to look into family justice reforms






SINGAPORE: An inter-agency group is being set up to consider reforms when it come to dealing with family justice.

The group will made up of Supreme Court judges and representatives from the Law Ministry and Social and Family Development Ministry.

Singapore Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said the reforms should be aimed at reducing acrimony which is inherent in family disputes.

He was speaking at the opening of the 2013 legal year.

CJ Menon said family justice is just one of the areas that the Subordinate Courts will look into this year.

Another is opportunities for the legal profession outside of Singapore. This includes international arbitration

CJ Menon said, Judge of Appeal Justice VK Rajah, together with Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah, will study the viability of setting up the Singapore International Commercial Court.

Also speaking at the ceremony was the new President of the Law Society, Mr Lok Vi Ming. He said the number of local lawyers holding practising certificates for the first time exceeded 4,000 in 2012. However, between 2007 and 2012, the growth of foreign lawyer numbers have been faster.

Mr Lok said this suggests that the profession is growing steadily in terms of numbers and that the number of foreign lawyers is expanding faster than that of locals. He said these trends are not likely to be reversed in the short term.

Two Senior Counsel were also appointed at this year's ceremony. They are Mr Lionel Yee, the second Solicitor General, and Mr N Sreenivasan, a lawyer in private practice. This brings the number of senior counsel in Singapore to 40.

-CNA/ac



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Italian naval guards return to Kerala

KOCHI: Italian naval guards, who were allowed to go to their native country to celebrate Christmas with their family, returned to Kochi on Friday. Naval guards Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Gironi arrived at Cochin International Airport in a special flight.

According to officials, they will proceed to Kollam magistrate court where they will surrender their passports.

"We have kept our word and have full faith in the Indian judicial system. I'm sure the people of Kerala and the country will look upon this as an act that shows the good relations the two countries have," Italy's consular general told reporters.

The guards, accused of shooting down two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast on February 15, were staying in Kochi on conditional bail and they were given permission to go to Italy by Kerala high court on a plea submitted by them.

The Kerala high court allowed the two Italian to visit their homes for Christmas after Italy gave an undertaking that the guards would return to India after their short stay in Italy. The high court modified the bail condition and directed that they should return to India on or before 3 pm on January 10. They should also furnish a bank guarantee for Rs 6 crore before the court.

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CDC: 1 in 24 admit nodding off while driving


NEW YORK (AP) — This could give you nightmares: 1 in 24 U.S. adults say they recently fell asleep while driving.


And health officials behind the study think the number is probably higher. That's because some people don't realize it when they nod off for a second or two behind the wheel.


"If I'm on the road, I'd be a little worried about the other drivers," said the study's lead author, Anne Wheaton of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


In the CDC study released Thursday, about 4 percent of U.S. adults said they nodded off or fell asleep at least once while driving in the previous month. Some earlier studies reached a similar conclusion, but the CDC telephone survey of 147,000 adults was far larger. It was conducted in 19 states and the District of Columbia in 2009 and 2010.


CDC researchers found drowsy driving was more common in men, people ages 25 to 34, those who averaged less than six hours of sleep each night, and — for some unexplained reason — Texans.


Wheaton said it's possible the Texas survey sample included larger numbers of sleep-deprived young adults or apnea-suffering overweight people.


Most of the CDC findings are not surprising to those who study this problem.


"A lot of people are getting insufficient sleep," said Dr. Gregory Belenky, director of Washington State University's Sleep and Performance Research Center in Spokane.


The government estimates that about 3 percent of fatal traffic crashes involve drowsy drivers, but other estimates have put that number as high as 33 percent.


Warning signs of drowsy driving: Feeling very tired, not remembering the last mile or two, or drifting onto rumble strips on the side of the road. That signals a driver should get off the road and rest, Wheaton said.


Even a brief moment nodding off can be extremely dangerous, she noted. At 60 mph, a single second translates to speeding along for 88 feet — the length of two school buses.


To prevent drowsy driving, health officials recommend getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, treating any sleep disorders and not drinking alcohol before getting behind the wheel.


__


Online:


CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr


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Ex-USC Player: Painkiller Injections Caused Heart Attack













Despite stated label risks of possible fatal heart attack, stroke or organ failure, college football players across the country are still being given injections of a powerful painkiller on game days so they can play while injured, an ABC News investigation has found.


The drug, a generic version of Toradol, is recommended for the short-term treatment of post-operative pain in hospitals but has increasingly been used in college and professional sports, and its use is not monitored by the NCAA, the governing body of college sports.


Only two of the country's top football programs, Oklahoma and the University of Nebraska, reported to ABC News that they have limited or stopped the use of the drug in the wake of growing concern about its risks.


Which Top-Ranked College Football Teams Use Toradol?


Oklahoma said it stopped using the painkillers in 2012 after using them repeatedly in 2010 and 2011.


Nebraska said its doctors now restrict its use.


SEND TIPS About Painkiller Use in College Sports to Our Tipline


"While team physicians reserve the option to use injectable Toradol, it is rarely prescribed, and its use has been avoided this season following reports of heightened concern of potential adverse effects," Nebraska said in a statement to ABC News.






Stephen Dunn/Getty Images











Despite Risks, College Football Still Uses Powerful Painkiller Watch Video





The top two college football programs, Notre Dame and Alabama, refused to answer questions from ABC News about the painkiller. They play for the national college championship on Jan. 7.


Controversy surrounding the drug has grown this year following claims by former USC lineman Armond Armstead that he suffered a heart attack after the 2010 season, at age 20, following shots of generic Toradol administered over the course of the season by the team doctor and USC personnel.


"I thought, you know, can't be me, you know? This doesn't happen to kids like me," Armstead told ABC News.


The manufacturers' warning label for generic Toradol (ketorolac tromethamine) says the drug is not intended for prolonged periods or for chronic pain and cites gastrointestinal bleeding and kidney failure as possible side effects of the drug.


In addition, like other drugs in its class, the generic Toradol label warns "may cause an increased risk of serious cardiovascular thrombotic events, myocardial infarction (heart attack), and stroke, which can be fatal."


"This risk may increase with duration of use," the so-called black box warning reads.


In a lawsuit against the school and the doctor, Dr. James Tibone, Armstead claims the school ignored the stated risks of the drug and never told him about them.


"He was a race horse, a prize race horse that needed to be on that field no matter what," said Armstead's mother Christa. "Whether that was a risk to him or not."


Armstead says he and many other USC players would receive injections of what was known only as "the shot" in a specific training room before big games and again at half-time.


"No discussion, just go in. He would give the shot and I would be on my way," Armstead told ABC News.


Armstead said the shot made him feel "super human" despite severe ankle, and later shoulder pain, and that without it, he never could have played in big USC games against Notre Dame and UCLA.


"You can't feel any pain, you just feel amazing," the former star player said.


USC declined to comment on Armstead's claims, or the use of Toradol to treat Trojan players.


An ABC News crew and reporter were ordered off the practice field when they tried to question USC coach Lane Kiffin about the use of the painkiller. USC says the ABC News crew was told to leave because they had not submitted the appropriate paperwork in advance to attend the practice session.






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Republican leader vows to hold vote on stalled storm aid






WASHINGTON: A chastened US House Republican leadership scrambled Wednesday to tamp down seething bipartisan fury over a failure to approve emergency relief for victims of superstorm Sandy, saying a vote will now occur Friday.

The Senate has already passed a $60.4 billion aid package put forward by the White House to help northeast US states still reeling in the wake of the killer late October storm, which destroyed tens of thousands of homes and businesses and pummeled critical infrastructure.

But, in the lower House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner, still smarting from battle with Democratic President Barack Obama over "fiscal cliff" budget negotiations, signaled there would be no vote in the closing days of the outgoing Congress.

Boehner's move sparked rage and indignation from figures in both parties, prompting the Republican speaker to announce a two-stage vote on Sandy relief -- on Friday and again on January 15.

"Getting critical aid to the victims of Hurricane Sandy should be the first priority in the new Congress," Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor said in a joint statement.

Earlier, Obama and New Jersey's outspoken Republican Governor Chris Christie led the charge against Boehner's refusal to act more quickly.

Our "citizens are still trying to put their lives back together. Our states are still trying to rebuild vital infrastructure," Obama said in a statement.

"The House of Representatives has refused to act, even as there are families and communities who still need our help," Obama said, urging Republicans to swiftly bring the aid package to a vote.

Christie and Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo of neighboring New York issued a harsh joint statement, calling the House's failure to come to the aid of devastated Americans "inexcusable."

"When American citizens are in need we come to their aid," they said.

"That tradition was abandoned in the House last night."

Hours later, in front of the television cameras, Christie went nuclear.

"It's absolutely disgraceful," he boomed.

"In this current atmosphere everything is the subject of one-upmanship, everything is... a potential piece of bait for the political game," Christie said.

"It is why the American people hate Congress."

Republicans who postpone the disaster aid should prepare to feel the wrath of politicians in the storm-battered northeast, Christie continued.

"Governor Cuomo and I are not wallflowers. We are not shrinking violets."

Since the relief bill will now come to the floor after Thursday, when the incoming Congress is sworn in, new legislation will have to be crafted and voted on in both chambers.

Fuming Republican congressman Peter King of New York tore into his own leadership, saying New Yorkers would be "out of their minds" if they contributed any money to congressional Republicans now.

"What they did last night was put a knife in the back of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans," he told Fox News.

Later Wednesday, he and other members met with Boehner, and a calmer King explained that the House would vote Friday on $9 billion in flood insurance for storm-hit states -- plans confirmed by Boehner.

"On January 15th, which is the first legislative day, we will vote on the remaining $51 billion, which is required, we believe, for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut," King said.

Some senators including Marco Rubio from Florida, a hurricane-prone state which has received billions in federal disaster aid, voted against the Sandy bill, claiming it was stuffed with "pork" -- funding for projects or elements unrelated to Sandy relief. But it eventually passed 62-32.

Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York said he was "infuriated" with comments by Republicans like California's Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who said pork is what delayed the House bill.

"I'd like Darrell Issa to sit eye to eye with a homeowner who has lost their home and their life, and tell that homeowner to his face that that's pork," Schumer told a news conference in New York.

He described the delay as the "Boehner betrayal," but later said he was pleased that the speaker was bringing the two votes to the floor.

"We gave relief to Katrina within a week," Schumer said in reference to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005.

"We are now two and a half months away from when Sandy hit and there is still no relief for New York."

-AFP/ac



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Brain image study: Fructose may spur overeating


This is your brain on sugar — for real. Scientists have used imaging tests to show for the first time that fructose, a sugar that saturates the American diet, can trigger brain changes that may lead to overeating.


After drinking a fructose beverage, the brain doesn't register the feeling of being full as it does when simple glucose is consumed, researchers found.


It's a small study and does not prove that fructose or its relative, high-fructose corn syrup, can cause obesity, but experts say it adds evidence they may play a role. These sugars often are added to processed foods and beverages, and consumption has risen dramatically since the 1970s along with obesity. A third of U.S. children and teens and more than two-thirds of adults are obese or overweight.


All sugars are not equal — even though they contain the same amount of calories — because they are metabolized differently in the body. Table sugar is sucrose, which is half fructose, half glucose. High-fructose corn syrup is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. Some nutrition experts say this sweetener may pose special risks, but others and the industry reject that claim. And doctors say we eat too much sugar in all forms.


For the study, scientists used magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scans to track blood flow in the brain in 20 young, normal-weight people before and after they had drinks containing glucose or fructose in two sessions several weeks apart.


Scans showed that drinking glucose "turns off or suppresses the activity of areas of the brain that are critical for reward and desire for food," said one study leader, Yale University endocrinologist Dr. Robert Sherwin. With fructose, "we don't see those changes," he said. "As a result, the desire to eat continues — it isn't turned off."


What's convincing, said Dr. Jonathan Purnell, an endocrinologist at Oregon Health & Science University, is that the imaging results mirrored how hungry the people said they felt, as well as what earlier studies found in animals.


"It implies that fructose, at least with regards to promoting food intake and weight gain, is a bad actor compared to glucose," said Purnell. He wrote a commentary that appears with the federally funded study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.


Researchers now are testing obese people to see if they react the same way to fructose and glucose as the normal-weight people in this study did.


What to do? Cook more at home and limit processed foods containing fructose and high-fructose corn syrup, Purnell suggested. "Try to avoid the sugar-sweetened beverages. It doesn't mean you can't ever have them," but control their size and how often they are consumed, he said.


A second study in the journal suggests that only severe obesity carries a high death risk — and that a few extra pounds might even provide a survival advantage. However, independent experts say the methods are too flawed to make those claims.


The study comes from a federal researcher who drew controversy in 2005 with a report that found thin and normal-weight people had a slightly higher risk of death than those who were overweight. Many experts criticized that work, saying the researcher — Katherine Flegal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — painted a misleading picture by including smokers and people with health problems ranging from cancer to heart disease. Those people tend to weigh less and therefore make pudgy people look healthy by comparison.


Flegal's new analysis bolsters her original one, by assessing nearly 100 other studies covering almost 2.9 million people around the world. She again concludes that very obese people had the highest risk of death but that overweight people had a 6 percent lower mortality rate than thinner people. She also concludes that mildly obese people had a death risk similar to that of normal-weight people.


Critics again have focused on her methods. This time, she included people too thin to fit what some consider to be normal weight, which could have taken in people emaciated by cancer or other diseases, as well as smokers with elevated risks of heart disease and cancer.


"Some portion of those thin people are actually sick, and sick people tend to die sooner," said Donald Berry, a biostatistician at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.


The problems created by the study's inclusion of smokers and people with pre-existing illness "cannot be ignored," said Susan Gapstur, vice president of epidemiology for the American Cancer Society.


A third critic, Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, was blunter: "This is an even greater pile of rubbish" than the 2005 study, he said. Willett and others have done research since the 2005 study that found higher death risks from being overweight or obese.


Flegal defended her work. She noted that she used standard categories for weight classes. She said statistical adjustments were made for smokers, who were included to give a more real-world sample. She also said study participants were not in hospitals or hospices, making it unlikely that large numbers of sick people skewed the results.


"We still have to learn about obesity, including how best to measure it," Flegal's boss, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden, said in a written statement. "However, it's clear that being obese is not healthy - it increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and many other health problems. Small, sustainable increases in physical activity and improvements in nutrition can lead to significant health improvements."


___


Online:


Obesity info: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html


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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP


Mike Stobbe can be followed at http://twitter.com/MikeStobbe


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Hillary Clinton Discharged From Hospital


Jan 2, 2013 7:18pm







ap hillary clinton ll 130102 wblog Hillary Clinton Discharged From Hospital

Hillary Clinton, rear center, leaving hospital. Frank Franklin II/AP Photo.


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been released from the hospital following treatment for a blood clot in her head, the State Department confirmed on Wednesday.


In a statement, Deputy Assistant Secretary Philippe Reines said Clinton’s medical team “advised her that she is making good progress on all fronts, and they are confident she will make a full recovery.  She’s eager to get back to the office.”


Clinton’s daughter Chelsea tweeted, “Thank you to the doctors, nurses & staff at New York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia University Medical Center for taking great care of my Mom.’


State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters on Wednesday that the secretary has been “quite active on the phone,” working from the hospital, regularly speaking to State Department staff.


Last Sunday, Secretary Clinton was admitted for treatment of a blood clot in her head that developed following a concussion she sustained earlier this month after fainting from illness. The  pictures of Clinton, smiling and wearing sunglasses,  are the first time she has been seen in public since Dec. 7.


Earlier on Wednesday the Secretary was seen by journalists leaving a building at New York-Presbyterian Hospital with her husband and daughter. Officials told the Associated Press that Clinton was just having tests done at another location on the sprawling hospital campus.


Hours later, she was released for good, driving away in a black van with her family.



SHOWS: World News







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Central African Republic rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks


DAMARA, Central African Republic (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and agreed to start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally backed troops.


The Seleka rebels had pushed to within striking distance of Bangui after a three-week onslaught and threatened to oust President Francois Bozize, accusing him of reneging on a previous peace deal and cracking down on dissidents.


Their announcement on Wednesday gave the leader only a limited reprieve as the fighters told Reuters they might insist on his removal in the negotiations.


"I have asked our forces not to move their positions starting today because we want to enter talks in (Gabon's capital) Libreville for a political solution," said Seleka spokesman Eric Massi, speaking by telephone from Paris.


"I am in discussion with our partners to come up with proposals to end the crisis, but one solution could be a political transition that excludes Bozize," he said.


Bozize on Wednesday sacked his Army Chief of Staff and took over the defense minister's role from his son, Jean Francis Bozize, according to a decree read on national radio, a day after publicly criticizing the military for failing to repel the rebels.


The advance by Seleka, an alliance of mostly northeastern rebel groups, was the latest in a series of revolts in a country at the heart of one of Africa's most turbulent regions - and the most serious since the Chad-backed insurgency that swept Bozize to power in 2003.


Diplomatic sources have said talks organized by central African regional bloc ECCAS could start on January 10. The United States, the European Union and France have called on both sides to negotiate and spare civilians.


Central African Republic is one of the least developed countries in the world despite its deposits of gold, diamonds and other minerals. French nuclear energy group Areva mines the country's Bakouma uranium deposit - France's biggest commercial interest in its former colony.


RELIEF IN BANGUI


News of the rebel halt eased tension in Bangui, where residents had been stockpiling food and water and staying indoors after dark.


"They say they are no longer going to attack Bangui, and that's great news for us," said Jaqueline Loza in the crumbling riverside city.


ECCAS members Chad, Congo Republic, Gabon and Cameroon have sent hundreds of soldiers to reinforce CAR's army after a string of rebel victories since early December.


Gabonese General Jean Felix Akaga, commander of the regional force, said his troops were defending the town of Damara, 75 km (45 miles) north of Bangui and close to the rebel front.


"Damara is a red line not to be crossed ... Damara is in our control and Bangui is secure," he told Reuters. "If the rebellion decides to approach Damara, they know they will encounter a force that will react."


Soldiers armed with Kalashnikovs, rocket propelled grenade launchers and truck-mounted machineguns had taken up positions across the town, which was otherwise nearly-abandoned.


Some of the fighters wore turbans that covered their faces and had charms strung around their necks and arms meant to protect them against enemy bullets.


Chad's President Idriss Deby, one of Bozize's closest allies, had warned the rebels the regional force would confront them if they approached the town.


Chad provided training and equipment to the rebellion that brought Bozize to power by ousting then-president Ange Felix Patasse, who Chad accused of supporting Chadian dissidents.


Chad is also keen to keep a lid on instability in the territory close to its main oil export pipeline and has stepped in to defend Bozize against insurgents in the past.


A CAR government minister told Reuters the foreign troop presence strengthened Bozize's bargaining position ahead of the Libreville peace talks.


"The rebels are now in a position of weakness," the minister said, asking not to be named. "They should therefore stop imposing conditions like the departure of the president."


Central African Republic is one of a number of countries in the region where U.S. Special Forces are helping local soldiers track down the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group which has killed thousands of civilians across four nations.


France has a 600-strong force in CAR to defend about 1,200 of its citizens who live there.


Paris used air strikes to defend Bozize against a rebellion in 2006. But French President Francois Hollande turned down a request for more help, saying the days of intervening in other countries' affairs were over.


(Additional reporting by Paul-Marin Ngoupana in Bangui and Jon Herskovitz in Johannesburg; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Janet Lawrence)



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