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Devastating floods prompt outbreak fears in Mexico

VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans fled a flooded region of the Gulf coast Friday, jumping from rooftops into rescue helicopters, scrambling into boats or swimming out through murky brown water.

President Felipe Calderon called the flooding in Tabasco state one of Mexico’s worst recent natural disasters, and pledged to rebuild.

A week of heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, drowning at least 80 percent of the oil-rich state.

Much of the state capital, Villahermosa, looked like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, with water reaching to second-story rooftops and desperate people awaiting rescue. Watch residents swim through flooded streets

At least one death was reported and nearly all services, including drinking water and public transportation, were shut down.

The flood affected more than 900,000 people in the state of 2 million — their homes flooded, damaged or cut off by high water.

A 10-inch natural gas pipeline sprang a leak after flooding apparently washed away soil underneath it, but it was unclear if other facilities operated by the state-run Petroleos Mexicanos were damaged or if oil production was affected.

Workers tried to protect Villahermosa’s famous Olmec statues by placing sandbag collars around their enormous stone heads, and built sandbag walls to hold back the Grijalva River in the state capital.

But the water rose quickly, surprising residents used to annual floods and forcing soldiers to evacuate the historic city center. The dikes failed Thursday night, and water swamped the capital’s bus station and open-air market. See dramatic images of the deluge

Rain gave way to sunshine Friday, but tens of thousands of people were still stranded on rooftops or in the upper floors of their homes.

Rescue workers used tractors, helicopters, jet skis and boats to ferry people to safety, while others swam through water infested by poisonous snakes to reach higher ground.

Calderon met with state officials and flew over the affected areas. See states and river where flooding has hit hardest

The extent of the flooding was clear from the sky — Tabasco state seemed like an inland sea with only rooftops and treetops protruding from the water.

This is not just the worst natural catastrophe in the state’s history but, I would venture to say, one of the worst in the recent history of the country, Calderon said Friday during an emergency meeting with state officials in Villahermosa.

The president ordered the armed forces and federal police to maintain order and prevent looting, and asked residents to remain calm. He canceled a trip to Panama, Colombia and Peru.

Once we have passed the critical stage … we are going to reconstruct Tabasco, whatever it takes, Calderon said.

Mexicans rallied around the disaster, with people across the country contributing money and supplies.

Television stations dedicated entire newscasts to the flooding and morning shows switched from yoga and home improvement to calls for aid. Friday was the Day of the Dead holiday, but banks opened to accept donations for flood victims.

Food and clean drinking water were extremely scarce in Tabasco state, and federal Deputy Health Secretary Mauricio Hernandez warned that there could be outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases.

With so many people packed together there is a chance that infectious diseases could spread, he said.

Officials tested for 600 suspected cases of cholera, but none was positive, he said. The waterborne sickness, which can be fatal, has not been reported in Mexico for at least six years.

The government also sent 20,000 Hepatitis A vaccinations and were giving booster shots to children to prevent outbreaks, Hernandez said.

Medical care was difficult, however, because at least 50 of the state’s hospitals and medical centers were flooded.

Hotels, parking garages and other dry structures were converted into temporary shelters for those forced from their homes.

Guadalupe de la Cruz, a receptionist at the Hotel Calinda Viva Villahermosa, said the hotel’s meeting rooms were being used as shelters for employees’ families. She said the 240-room hotel was completely booked, mostly by people who had fled their homes.

Many people were headed to nearby cities unaffected by the floods. Highways that weren’t covered with water were packed with residents fleeing in cars and on foot. The exodus appeared to be orderly with no reports of violence.

Villahermosa resident Mauricio Hernandez, 27, who is not related to the federal official, paid a taxi to go to Cardenas, 30 miles away. From there, he planned to hop a bus to the port city of Coatzacoalcos.

We are leaving because we cannot live like this, he said. We don’t have any water, and the shelters are full. Where are we going to go?

State officials sent 50 buses to a museum in the capital where hundreds of people gathered.

We wanted to stay in the city but it is no longer possible, said Jorge Rodriguez, 43. We have lost everything.
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Scientist: No Indonesia eruption

MOUNT KELUD, Indonesia (AP) — Villagers fled the slopes of one of Indonesia’s deadliest volcanos Saturday after seismic readings indicated that an eruption had started after weeks of heightened activity.

But Surono, a senior government volcanologist who goes by a single name, told el-Shinta radio station late Saturday that monitoring equipment close to the crater of Mount Kelud was still working, indicating that there had been no eruption.

In reality Kelud did not erupt, Surono said.

The volcano in the heart of densely populated Java island was shrouded in fog and no visual confirmation of the eruption reports was possible before night fell, government seismologist Umar Rosadi said.

Scores of people, including women hauling babies in slings, descended from the mountain in police trucks and on bicycles and motorcycles. Some were in tears, and many wore masks to protect against volcanic ash.

I am afraid because the authorities say this eruption will be worse than the ones that have come before, said Marsini, resident of a village three miles from the crater. They say there may be poisonous gas. I am leaving now.

Rosadi and another government scientist said official monitors had left their posts after detecting continuous tremors.

For weeks, authorities have warned of an impending eruption and pleaded with villagers to move to tent camps or government buildings.

Thousands have evacuated villages closest to the crater but many people have insisted on staying behind to tend to crops or look after their houses.

Some apparently believe a local myth stating if they stayed at home without switching indoor lights on or speaking in a loud voice then the mountain would not erupt.

In 1990, Mount Kelud killed more than 30 people and injured hundreds. In 1919, a powerful explosion that could be heard hundreds of miles away destroyed dozens of villages and killed at least 5,160.

Scientists fear a buildup of magma under Kelud’s crater lake could trigger a violent blast, sending a torrent of mud, ash and rock careering down the side of the 5,679-foot mountain.

The mountain has been on its highest alert status for more than two weeks, but in the last 48 hours the intensity of the quakes and the temperature of its lake have exceeding those in the days preceding the 1990 blast, scientists say.

Indonesia has about 100 active volcanos, more than any nation.

The country is spread across 17,500 islands and is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the so-called Ring of Fire — a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.

At least three are currently erupting elsewhere in the country, including Mount Anak Krakatau, which lies of the northern tip of Java island. The mountain was formed after the famous Krakatau volcano erupted in 1883 killing thousands, but it is not seen as at risk of a major blast.
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Lyon retain four-point advantage

PARIS, France — Goals from Juninho and Sidney Govou gave Lyon a 2-0 home win over Valenciennes and enabled the six-time champions to stay four points ahead at the top of the French league.

Brazilian midfielder Juninho nudged in a Karim Benzema cross five minutes before the break and Govou lobbed in the second three minutes from time.

Lyon, who are at home to German champions VfB Stuttgart in the Champions League group stage on Wednesday, have 31 points from 13 matches.

Second-placed Nancy celebrated their 40th anniversary with a 1-0 win over Girondins Bordeaux.

Nancy, who have a game in hand, scored in the 29th minute when midfielder Chris Malonga headed in a cross from Youssouf Hadji.

Bordeaux stay fourth with 22 points from 13 games after their first away defeat of the season.

Third-placed Stade Rennes slumped to a 1-0 home defeat against Monaco, who had only picked up a point from their six previous league outings.

Frederic Piquionne headed home from a Nene corner kick for the visitors two minutes into the second half.

Troubled Paris St Germain clinched a 2-1 victory at Racing Strasbourg thanks to a Rodrigo own goal and 20-year-old midfielder Loris Arnaud’s effort after 19 minutes.

Olympique Marseille were held to an embarrassing goalless draw by Lorient and remain third from bottom.

Coach Eric Gerets said:The public have a right to be unhappy as the level of play in the second half wasn’t worthy of Marseille.

Taking the match as a whole you can have a harsh judgement. We made a few chances in the first half but we had a problem constructing moves from the back.

In the second half we should have lost the match with the counter-attacks.

We have to look at ourselves in the mirror, fight and work. E-mail to a friend

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Iraq to take action against PKK

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki promised Saturday to smoke out Kurdish separatist rebels using Iraq as a base to launch attacks into neighboring Turkey.

The Iraqi leader spoke at a gathering of Iraq’s neighbors and other Arab countries held to discuss the future of the war-torn country. The meeting, however, has been overshadowed by the crisis along the Turkish-Iraq border.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met on the conference sidelines with the foreign ministers of Turkey and Iraq to discuss joint cooperation between the three countries to tackle the activities of the Kurdish rebel group, Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which al-Maliki called a terrorist group.

The terrorism that targeted our infrastructure and our public facilities and universities and shed the bloods of the innocent civilians in Iraq is the same terrorism that is targeting your countries and here in our brethren Turkey, the Iraqi leader said.

Turkey is facing criminal threats by the terrorist PKK, and our relationship with our neighbor Turkey will not be affected by the current crisis, and we will work on defeating the terror that is targeting both the Iraqi and Turkish people.

Al-Maliki said Iraqi authorities would close businesses thought to be fronts for the Kurdish separatists and controls at borders and airports will be tightened to check the group’s movements.

The Iraqi leader said greater efforts would be made to isolate the PKK by cutting off aid to the group. Suspected PKK members caught by the authorities would be tried in Iraqi courts on terrorist charges, al-Maliki said.

Following al-Maliki’s comments, Iraq’s state-run al-Iraqiya television network reported that the office of the Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party, a local political group, was shut down because of its ties with the PKK. No additional information was immediately available.

The PKK has been launching attacks into southeastern Turkey in recent weeks, and some of the violence has spilled over into northern Iraq. The group is pushing for an autonomous Kurdish state in the region.

Turkey is threatening to launch a full-scale military attack against the PKK, and has massed 100,000 troops near the border. The United States fears strikes by its NATO ally against the PKK could destabilize the American-backed government in Baghdad and jeopardize supply lines for its 160,000-plus troops in Iraq.

Rice met Friday with al-Maliki, who pledged to work with Turkey in addressing the matter. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice and al-Maliki met with their aides for about an hour ahead of Saturday’s conference in Istanbul.

Both leaders agreed in the brief meeting that the presence and activities of the PKK were a threat to the Kurds, to Iraq and to Turkey, McCormack said. The Iraqi prime minister said both the Iraqi government and the Kurdish Regional Government would be involved in resolving the conflict with the PKK.

Earlier Friday, senior State Department officials said the United States is offering Turkey a package of measures to dissuade it from launching a ground assault against the Kurdish rebels.

The officials told CNN that Rice met with Turkish officials in Ankara armed with a three-pronged approach, which included concrete plans to increase cooperation among the United States, Turkey and Iraq on the issue; support for limited Turkish action to punish the separatists and prevent further attacks; and a long-term strategy to dissolve the rebels’ group.

The U.S. proposals address demands by the Turkish government to reduce the PKK’s ability to conduct terror attacks, including limiting the movements of PKK fighters; stopping the flow of supplies and oil to the rebels; closing PKK offices in northern Iraq; and arresting those thought to be responsible for the recent attacks in Turkey, State Department officials said.

These are all steps the United States has been pressing the Kurdish government in northern Iraq to take.

In addition, the United States pledged to help increase cooperation among the United States, Turkey and Iraq. The Pentagon has confirmed it is already sharing intelligence with Turkey on PKK hideouts and movements.

Iraqi officials have said they did not want the Turkish conflict with Kurdish rebels to be the centerpiece of the neighbors conference, wanting instead to focus on their proposals for Iraq’s future, including security, energy and refugees.

The first neighbors conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in May addressed Arab concerns about the al-Maliki government and its inability to foster political reconciliation among Iraqis Sunni, Shiia and Kurdish factions.

In the days before the Istanbul meeting, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker toured key Arab countries to urge them to engage with the Iraqi government and use influence with parties in Iraq to get behind the effort and support Iraq, senior State Department officials said.

He is telling them the U.S. made an effort to stabilize Iraq with the surge and is getting ready to draw down, and won’t be there forever, so it is time for the Arabs to think about their long term interest in a stable Iraq. If they want to counter Iranian influence, they need to engage, one aide to Crocker told CNN.

The official said that Crocker senses a keener interest and willingness of Sunni Arab states to help out in Iraq and open embassies in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Crocker has met with the Iranian ambassador three times as part of a working group with Iraq to address Iranian behavior in Iraq, including U.S. charges it is supporting militants and arming insurgents with deadly explosives to kill U.S. soldiers. Although no progress has been made in the meetings, officials say the channel is still open and the two are expected to meet again in the near future.

Rice is not expected to meet the foreign minister of Iran or Syria at the Istanbul conference, although they are both attending. At the May meeting Rice met with the Syrian foreign minister and had a brief exchange with the Iranian minister

Rice will meet with the Saudi foreign minister in Istanbul and attend a ministerial meeting on Lebanon.
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Bhutto: Pakistan is returning to a dictatorship

(CNN) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto described a wave of disappointment Saturday after President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan and suspended the country’s constitution.

The country is going to dictatorship once again, Bhutto said, speaking outside her home in the port city of Karachi.

It is an uncertain situation, and the Pakistani public and I are really very disappointed with this emergency announcement.

Bhutto, who leads the Pakistan People’s Party, hopes to gain a third term as prime minister after January’s parliamentary elections, possibly under a power-sharing deal with Musharraf.

His actions Saturday were likely out of fear that Pakistan’s Supreme Court might dissolve his victory in the October presidential election, Bhutto said.

For weeks, Pakistan has been coasting in a state of political limbo while the Supreme Court worked to tackle legal challenges filed by the opposition that call into question Musharraf’s eligibility to hold office.

The Supreme Court declared the state of emergency illegal and claimed Musharraf had no power to suspend the constitution, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry said.

Shortly afterward, Chaudhry was expelled as chief justice.

In Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, troops entered the Supreme Court and surrounded the judges’ homes, according to CNN’s Syed Mohsin Naqvi.

A decision to arrest the judges will weaken the supremacy of law in the country, Bhutto said.

She arrived in the country earlier Saturday after visiting family in Dubai. Watch crowds surround Bhutto upon her arrival

Bhutto returned to Pakistan last month, despite death threats, after eight years of self-imposed exile.

On October 18, a bombing attack in Karachi intended for Bhutto’s slowly moving motorcade killed 136 people.
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