Afghan clerics warn US over 'occupation'

AFGHANISTAN'S leading religious body has warned the presence of US troops in the country would soon be treated as an "occupation" unless the United States hands over detainees.

The fate of prisoners held in Bagram jail has been one cause of a sharp deterioration in US-Afghan ties, with President Hamid Karzai repeatedly pushing to be given full control of the facility north of Kabul.

"If the Americans do not act on their promises (to hand over Bagram)... then that means occupation and they might like to see the reaction to that," the National Ulema Council said in a statement on Saturday.

The government-funded council, which is the highest Islamic authority in Afghanistan, added that a series of recent anti-US remarks by Karzai were "the true voice of the Muslim people of Afghanistan".

Karzai has ordered US special forces out of the key province of Wardak, banned international troops from university campuses over alleged harassment and stopped the Afghan military calling in US airstrikes.

He also triggered outrage by accusing the US of acting in concert with Taliban insurgents to justify foreign troops being in Afghanistan.

The hand-over of the Bagram jail has been repeatedly delayed as Afghan and US officials clash over whether the suspected militants will continue to be held or released.

US General Joseph Dunford, the commander of NATO coalition force in Afghanistan, this week said that some of the detainees posed "real threats" if they returned to the battlefield.

He has also warned that coalition troops face increased attacks from militants and rogue Afghan forces due to Karzai's anti-US rhetoric.

In one sign of heightened tensions, hundreds of demonstrators on Saturday marched to the parliament complex in Kabul demanding US special forces withdraw from Wardak after allegations of abuse.

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Football codes urged to tackle concussion

AUSTRALIA'S football bosses have been urged to review their concussion management guidelines to protect players from long-term damage.

Alzheimer's Australia NSW released a series of recommendations in a discussion paper on Sunday, asking the four major football codes to take a serious look at the way they manage head injuries.

The paper asks the codes to consider changing the rules of their game to better protect junior players.

Alzheimer's Australia NSW chief executive John Watkins said there was growing evidence of links between concussion and the development of brain injuries and dementia.

Players must be aware of the potential risks of later-life cognitive impairment and dementia from multiple concussive injuries, he said.

It was also critical to ensure younger players were adequately protected.

The paper called for Australian research into a degenerative brain illness known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which had affected dozens of former American football players.

Australian Medical Association NSW president Professor Brian Owler said he was pleased with the progress made by football codes.

"Encouraging the football codes to do more to minimise the risks and allow players with suspected concussions sufficient recovery time is only sensible," he said.

Former AFL star Greg Williams said last month he had significant gaps in his memory of his playing days, which he attributed to the heavy knocks he copped.

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Cyprus shellshocked over eurozone bailout

RESIDENTS of Cyprus have reacted with shock after the government agreed to a 10 billion euros ($A12.62 billion) bailout that includes an unprecedented levy on all bank deposits.

The debt rescue package, agreed with the eurozone and International Monetary Fund early on Saturday morning after around 10 hours of talks in Brussels, is significantly less than the 17 billion euros Cyprus had initially sought.

It includes 5.8 billion euros to be raised through the bank deposit levy of up to 9.9 per cent, which will apply to everyone from pensioners to Russian oligarchs and tens of thousands of British expats.

At the same time, a "withholding tax" would be imposed on interest on bank deposits, and Cyprus will have to hike corporate tax to 12.5 per cent from 10 per cent and sell off state assets to help balance the public finances.

Though it was reached too late for Cyprus newspapers the bailout deal prompted some to queue up outside banks to withdraw cash from ATMs.

But analyst Sony Kapoor cautioned that there was no point, tweeting: "Dear Cyprus bank depositors, the time to line outside ur banks was last week, no point now."

A flood of angry comments flowed on the internet.

"The Cyprus deal is exactly why I don't keep money in the bank anymore. Brussels can commandeer your cash. Just like that," one person wrote on Twitter.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides tried to calm shell-shocked Cypriots saying: "The situation is serious but not tragic, there is no reason to panic."

The levy will see deposits of more than 100,000 euros hit with a 9.9 per cent charge when lenders reopen their doors after a scheduled public holiday on Monday. Under that threshold and the levy drops to 6.75 per cent.

Co-operative bank branches, which, unlike the main lenders, usually open for business on Saturdays, kept their doors closed as their systems were shut down, officials said.

One furious customer reportedly parked his digger outside one such branch in the seaside resort of Limassol, claiming the government had "tricked" him into believing deposits were safe.

Cyprus - which accounts for just 0.2 per cent of the combined eurozone economy - is the fifth country to secure a debt rescue package from its eurozone partners in the three-year debt crisis.

The price tag is very small compared with two rescues for Greece worth some 380 billion euros, Ireland's 85 billion euros, Portugal's 78 billion and 41 billion for Spanish banks.

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Anglican leader to skip pope inauguration

THE new leader of the world's Anglicans, Justin Welby, will miss the inauguration of Pope Francis next week as he will be on a "pilgrimage of prayer", his residence has announced.

Welby, who became Archbishop of Canterbury last month, will be represented at Tuesday's inauguration mass at the Vatican by Britain's Archbishop of York, John Sentamu.

"Dr Sentamu will travel to Rome on the Archbishop of Canterbury's behalf on Monday in time for the celebrations the following day," Lambeth Palace said on Saturday.

Welby, leader of the world's 80 million Anglicans, will meanwhile be continuing a "journey in prayer" which he started last Thursday.

The tour encompasses five cities and six cathedrals in his province of Canterbury, which covers southern England.

On Saturday the journey took Welby to London, where he stopped to pray at various locations including St Paul's Cathedral.

A statement on his website said anyone was welcome to join the journey.

"Gather in the morning, pray for the whole day, or drop in whenever you have time," it said.

Welby's own official enthronement ceremony takes place next Thursday at Canterbury Cathedral.

Cardinal Kurt Koch will represent the new pope at Welby's enthronement.

Welby, a former oil executive, takes over as Archbishop of Canterbury from Rowan Williams, who led the Anglicans for the last decade.

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Tense Zimbabwe votes on new constitution

ZIMBABWEANS have voted on a new constitution that would pave the way for crucial elections in a country plagued by political violence.

Voters are expected to roundly back the text, which would introduce presidential term limits, beef up parliament's powers and set elections to decide whether 89-year-old Robert Mugabe stays in power.

Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since the country's independence in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.

The new draft constitution is part of a internationally-backed plan to get the country back on track. It is supported by both the veteran president and his political nemesis Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

But that has not prevented incidents of violence as activists keep one eye on the general election slated for July.

Shortly before polls in the constitutional referendum opened on Saturday, gunmen - later identified as plainclothes police detectives - seized a member of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change from his home southeast of Harare.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told AFP Samson Magumura had been arrested on charges of attempted murder in connection with a recent firebomb attack that injured a Mugabe ally.

But MDC Finance Minister Tendai Biti said police could not confirm where Magumura was being held.

As he cast his vote on Saturday, Mugabe, whom many blame for past unrest, urged Zimbabweans to ensure the referendum proceeded peacefully.

"You can't go about beating people on the streets, that's not allowed, we want peace in the country, peace, peace."

Mugabe also used the opportunity to castigate the West, vowing they would not be allowed to monitor the upcoming general election.

"The Europeans and the Americans have imposed sanctions on us and we keep them out in the same way they keep us out," he said.

Casting his ballot, Tsvangirai expressed hope that a positive outcome would help catapult the country out of a crisis that has been marked by bloodshed and economic meltdown.

"I hope it sets in a political culture where we move from a culture of impunity to a culture of constitutionalism," he said.

Official results of the referendum are expected to be released within five days of the vote.

The new constitution would for the first time put a definite, if distant, end date on Mugabe's 33-year rule.

Presidents would be allowed to serve two terms of five years each, meaning that, elections permitting, Mugabe could rule until 2023, by which time he would be 99-years-old.

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Swiss tourist gang-raped in India: police

A SWISS female tourist was gang-raped in central India in front of her husband, police say, renewing the focus on the issue of sexual violence against women in the South Asian nation.

The woman was on a cycling trip with her husband in impoverished Madhya Pradesh state when seven to eight men attacked the couple late on Friday while they were camping, sexually assaulting the woman and robbing the pair, police said.

The attackers "tied up the man and raped the woman in his presence", local police official SM Afzal told AFP, adding that they stole 10,000 rupees ($A179) and a mobile phone from the woman.

The attack comes just months after thousands took to the streets to protest against India's treatment of women following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi in December.

"We are deeply shocked by this tragic incident suffered by a Swiss citizen and her partner in India," the Swiss foreign ministry in Bern said in a statement.

The Swiss ministry said its diplomats in India were in contact with local authorities and that it hoped the attackers would be "swiftly identified and would appear before a court to answer for their actions".

The couple were on their way to the tourist destination of Agra, home to the iconic Taj Mahal monument, in northern India when they stopped to camp for the night.

Indian media reports said the men were wielding sticks when they attacked the couple around 50 kilometres from Orchha, a popular foreign tourist destination in Madhya Pradesh.

The Swiss woman, aged about 40, was released on Saturday from hospital, authorities said.

Swiss Ambassador Linus von Castelmur has spoken to the victim and assured her "of all possible help", the Press Trust of India reported.

Some 20 people have been detained and were being questioned over the incident, senior local police officer DK Arya told the news agency.

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Syria troop build up on Lebanon border

LEBANON must prevent fighters from crossing into Syria, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman says, after Damascus threatened to respond to cross-border infiltrations.

Shortly after his office announced the comments, made in a meeting with the Lebanese community in the Ivory Coast, witnesses on Saturday reported a Syrian troop build up along parts of the border with Lebanon.

Lebanon's stability depends "on all of us ... not sending militants to Syria and not receiving them," Sleiman said, adding "we must commit ourselves to neutrality."

Sleiman said he had tasked Lebanon's army with "the arrest of any militants intending to fight (in Syria), whether for the opposition or not."

A statement released by Prime Minister Najib Mikati's office said the premier had met the army chief to discuss "the measures being taken by the Lebanese military ... on the border with Syria to prevent the infiltration of militants and arms smuggling operation."

Syria warned on Thursday that its forces would fire into Lebanon if "terrorist gangs" continued to infiltrate the country.

"These past 36 hours, armed terrorist gangs have infiltrated Syrian territory in large numbers from Lebanon," the Syrian foreign ministry said, in a message quoted by official news agency SANA.

"Syrian forces are showing restraint by not striking these gangs inside Lebanese territory to prevent them crossing into Syria, but this will not go on indefinitely."

A Lebanese government source, speaking to AFP on Saturday, said Beirut took the warning "very seriously" and that "intensive consultations are underway to find the best way to control the border".

Beirut has officially pledged neutrality in the violence engulfing its neighbour, but has found itself increasingly embroiled in the civil war.

Lebanon's opposition backs the revolt, while the Shi'ite Hezbollah stands by the Syrian regime.

Violence has already spilled over into Lebanon on several occasions, causing fatalities.

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Sweden bids farewell to Princess Lilian

SWEDEN'S Welsh-born Princess Lilian, who waited three decades to marry her prince, has been buried after thousands of Swedes paid their respects to one of the most popular members of the royal family.

A casket draped in Sweden's blue and yellow flag was placed on a catafalque and topped by a crown once belonging to Sweden's Princess Eugenie at the Stockholm Royal Chapel funeral on Saturday.

Skies were clear and temperatures hovered around zero as the funeral cortege advanced through the Swedish capital, before the princess was laid to rest at the royal burial grounds in Haga Park on the outskirts of the city.

"It was a declaration of love, to be there without being seen," Bishop Emeritus Lars-Goeran Loennermark said at the service, referencing the Welsh-born princess 33-year wait before being able to marry her lifelong love Prince Bertil.

"In this life choice of hers, there must have been a lot of pain," he said.

Apart from the Swedish royal family, Denmark's Queen Margrethe II and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt were among the invited guests.

Sweden's Queen Silvia held the hand of her son Carl Philip as the now-grown children of King Carl XVI Gustaf said farewell to the woman dubbed by Swedish media as "the grandmother they never had."

Born Lilian Davies in the Welsh mining city of Swansea in 1915, Princess Lilian died on Sunday at the age of 97, after suffering from Alzheimer's.

The former factory worker met her Swedish prince during World War II when he was stationed at the Swedish embassy in London. The couple's romance flourished and she moved in to his London flat after hers was damaged in an air raid.

However, the prince's father, King Gustaf VI Adolf, refused to give his blessing to a marriage so as not to jeopardise the future of the monarchy.

When Bertil's eldest brother, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf, died in a plane crash, he left behind an infant son who would one day inherit the throne.

But Bertil's two other brothers had already relinquished their places in the line of succession by marrying commoners, and Lilian was forced to stay in the shadows.

Once the new king married in 1976, one of his first moves was to allow Bertil and Lilian to wed, which they did in December 1976, 33 years after meeting. She was 61, he was 64.

Bertil, who died in 1997, once said that one of his biggest regrets was that the couple had to sacrifice having children in order to protect the throne.

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