CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt remanded an Israeli spy suspect in custody for 15 days on Saturday despite Israel's insistence he was innocent of espionage, judicial sources said.

Ilan Grapel, a US-Israeli joint citizen who was arrested in a Cairo hotel on June 12, is to remain in detention for the “needs of the investigation,” the two sources said.

His initial remand had been due to expire on Monday.

Two days after Grapel's arrest, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman strongly denied he was spy.

“I can say categorically that this student, who may have behaved bizarrely and irresponsibly, has no ties with Israeli, American or even lunar intelligence services,” Lieberman told Israeli army radio.

“This is a mistake or bizarre behaviour on the part of the Egyptian authorities, who have received full explanations from us,” he added.

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CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt must “scrap” the most reviled laws of former president Hosni Mubarak's era if it wants to ensure free and fair parliamentary elections in September, the secretary general of Amnesty International said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters in Cairo, Salil Shetty expressed concern over the use of military courts to try civilians and the failure to lift a state of emergency after the ouster of Mubarak's regime in February.

These mechanisms alongside laws restricting freedom of the press and assembly could “distort the elections” and do not allow “a free and fair platform for the elections,” Shetty said.

“We feel that all of these laws should be scrapped in order to have a proper election which allows all voices to be able to surface in an equal manner.”

Amnesty International's secretary general said military courts had tried between 7,000-10,000 civilians since Egypt's Supreme Military Council took over power after Mubarak quit on February 11.

Military trials for civilians “are not in line with international fair trial standards,” he said because they are not independent, provide no transparency and the system of defence is limited.

Emergency law, particularly provisions which for decades provided security forces and police great leeway to conduct arrests, “is simply not required,” he said, adding that the existing penal code was enough to guarantee public order.

During his visit to Egypt, Shetty met representatives of the interior ministry and the foreign ministry as well as rights activists and relatives of those who died in the 18-day popular that toppled the Mubarak regime.

Later on Saturday he was due to meet Deputy Prime Minister Yehia al-Gamal and Arab League chief and presidential hopeful Amr Mussa.

Shetty said the toppling of Mubarak's authoritarian regime had paved the way for “significant changes” in Egypt including the release of the majority of political prisoners.

“If you talk to people there is no question it's much freer now to move, there is more media freedom. There is a big change and we have to acknowledge that.”

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Nato's secretary general said its air campaign was protecting civilians and would continue

The devil, he added, would be ashamed of the lies and allegations being made by Libya's enemies.

Col Gaddafi said he had his “back to the wall”, but that the battle would “continue to the beyond, until you are wiped out”.

Our correspondent says Col Gaddafi dwelt on the Nato air strike that destroyed the house of his close ally and adviser, al-Khuwailidi al-Humaidi, in Sorman on Monday.

Among the dead, who were buried a few hours before the speech, were three of Mr Humaidi's grandchildren and his daughter-in-law.

Nato said the attack was on a legitimate military target, as the house was a command centre. The Libyan government rejected the allegation.

Col Gaddafi referred to Nato's statement that its surveillance had provided conclusive proof. If the intelligence had been so good, he said, surely Nato would have known that children were living there.

“You said: 'We hit our targets with precision.' You murderers!” he said. “One day we will respond to you likewise and your homes, sons and children may become one day legitimate targets.”

He called on the UN Security Council other than “the three criminals” – the US, UK and France – to send a mission to investigate the deaths of civilians in air strikes.

Nato's mission – to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians using “all necessary measures” short of a ground invasion – began in March in response to Col Gaddafi's violent response to an uprising.

The intervention was mandated by the UN Security Council, and led by France, Britain and the US until the end of March, when Nato took over.

Having initially been given 90 days – which would have run out on 27 June – the mission has been extended for a further 90 days.

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PARIANG, Sudan (AFP) – Families recall fleeing for their lives when the remote town of Jau, on the border of north and south Sudan, was targeted by army bombings that destroyed the market and scattered the terrified population.

The army air strikes began just days after heavy fighting erupted across the border in South Kordofan, on June 5, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (northern army — SAF) and militia aligned to the soon-to-be-independent south.

“Antonovs bombed the area and killed my son” says Thrab Deng Nading, a woman from Jau. So she hurriedly left on foot with her remaining four children and came to Pariang, the county capital, a day's walk across the vast plain.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says that 3,700 people have fled Jau since the attacks, with many ending up in Pariang and the nearby towns of Faring and Aliab.

Witnesses say Jau's market was completely destroyed in the second bombing raid, and the remaining population fled as the deadly attacks continued.

Many southern-aligned fighters from South Kordofan had regrouped at the lakeside town, on the south side of the border in Unity state, which has now become a possible new frontline between the south's, Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), and the SAF, its former civil war enemy.

“We can sometimes hear the sound of the bombing,” says John Miakol, the Pariang secretary for the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC), a government organisation charged with helping the displaced.

Army planes have also been seen flying over Panyang, 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of Pariang.

“I am worried that Antonovs will follow us here and bomb Pariang town,” says Ayak, another woman who fled Jau 10 days ago.

Leaving their homes and belongings behind, families such as hers are left with little to survive on, and rely on the generosity of the already-stretched local population.

The closure of the roads between north and south Sudan has led to skyrocketing food prices and severe shortages of basic supplies in recent weeks.

The price of sorghum, a local staple, has doubled in the state capital Bentiu, according to the World Food Programme, and fuel prices have shot up too, ironically in an area criss-crossed by pipelines from the state's oil fields.

The supply disruptions and influx of people have come in the middle of the so-called “hunger period,” when families cut back on household consumption because last year's produce has been depleted and this year's first crop has yet to be harvested.

The rainy season is also in full swing, so that many of the fugitives, as well as having to beg from local families to feed their own, have no shelter.

In a lone building on the outskirts of town, around 40 families have taken refuge from the torrential rains that render many of the roads to Pariang impassable.

The county commissioner, Mabek Lang Mading, fears the lack of adequate shelter could cause disease, saying that hygiene and sanitation are not being maintained.

“The IDPs (internally displaced persons) are in urgent need of assistance,” Mading says.

Compounding their woes, there appears to be no resolution to the conflict across the border, which has already forced more than 70,000 people to flee, according to UN estimates.

“I don't see any progress by the warring sides in South Kordofan,” Mading adds.

Whether or not the bombing continues after July 9, when south Sudan will formally declare its independence from the north, is becoming an ever more pressing issue.

Until now, the SPLA has shown restraint in not responding to the attacks, with southern officials insisting that nothing will jeopardise their hard-fought and long-awaited independence. But this may change.

“If they are still bombing Jau after July 9, then we will definitely respond,” Mading warns.

Some families in Pariang hope to return home once the bombing has stopped.

“When there is no more fighting, I can go back to Jau to see if my husband is still alive” says Ayak.

But others who have already lost family to the violence expect to start a new life from scratch.

“My son who was killed was the only one supporting me,” says Thrab. “I will not go back, no way.”

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HARARE (AFP) – Teachers at Zimbabwe's state-run schools will begin a strike on Wednesday to demand a 150 percent salary increase and an end to political attacks against them, union officials said.

“We will be starting our strike tomorrow to press for salary review, and for the security of members who are victims of political violence, especially in the rural areas,” Takavafira Zhou, president of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, told AFP on Tuesday.

“So far most members have confirmed that they will be on strike starting tomorrow.”

Teachers earn $200 (140 euros) a month, but they are demanding a raise to $500.

The teachers also want a review of their housing and transport allowance and the removal of “ghost workers” on the government payroll.

Zimbabwe has 105,000 teachers on the payroll, but Zhou said his union estimates only 77,000 are actually working.

Inflated payroll numbers are a problem throughout the civil service, with Finance Minister Tendai Biti estimating that about one-third of government's 230,000 employees don't actually exist.

He insists that the cash-strapped government cannot afford salary increases.

Biti is an ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a one-time union leader who joined President Robert Mugabe in a rocky unity government two years ago.

Mugabe accuses Biti of deliberately sabotaging the government by refusing the increases.

The country's civil servants, particularly teachers, nurses and doctors, have been striking on and off over better salaries since 2008.

Teachers, especially in rural areas, have born the brunt of political attacks by pro-Mugabe militants who accuse them of supporting Tsvangirai.

Teachers are often used to staff rural polling stations, and Mugabe supporters blamed them for his party's poor showing in 2008, when his ZANU-PF lost control of parliament and he was forced into an inconclusive run-off with Tsvangirai.

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