All ministers to give up pay rises

The Press Association

All Government ministers are to forgo their pay rises for 2008/9 to reflect the importance of public sector wage restraint at a time of economic uncertainty.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown rejected a recommendation from a review into Westminster pay that would have seen MPs receive an additional £650 "catch-up" payment on top of their annual pay rises for each of the next three years.

Ahead of a vote on MPs salaries in the Commons on July 3, he also rejected a proposal from Sir John Baker's review that their pay should be linked to the three-month average public sector earnings index, and said that they should instead rise in line with the mid-point of a basket of public sector settlements.

With some settlements yet to be negotiated, it is not clear exactly what rise this would produce for MPs in 2008/09, but it is thought likely to be in the order of 2%.

Mr Brown accepted recommendations from the Senior Salaries Review Body for pay rises next year of 1.5% for senior civil servants, 2.2% for senior military officers and very senior NHS managers, and slightly over 2.5% for judges.

Mr Brown's spokesman said that the decision to give up ministerial pay rises for one year was made by the Prime Minister at their Cabinet meeting and agreed by all those round the table.

Secretaries of State approved the decision on behalf of their departmental ministers, who will also be affected.

Ministers' pay is normally linked to the rise in average increases in senior civil service salaries. A 1.5% rise next year would have meant approximately £1,900 more for Mr Brown, £1,200 for Cabinet ministers and £500-£600 for lower-ranking ministers.

The pay restraint applies only to the portion of salaries related to their ministerial jobs.

They will receive the same rise as other MPs in their £61,181 salary for being a constituency MP.

Kenyan rivals meet for first time since elections

By KATY POWNALL, Associated Press Writer

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya's president and its main opposition leader met Thursday for the first time since the disputed Dec. 27 presidential vote sparked nationwide violence that left hundreds dead.

President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga arrived at the president's office in downtown Nairobi for the meeting. They were accompanied by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who brokered their talks and is mediating.

Kibaki had insisted on direct talks with Odinga, who refused to meet without a mediator. Annan is leading a mediation mission of the African Union that began work Wednesday.

Some 700 people have been killed in violence that erupted after Kibaki was declared winner of the elections despite a deeply flawed vote tally.

International allies have urged Kibaki and Odinga to negotiate a power-sharing agreement that might create a new position of prime minister for Odinga.

Kibaki told Annan that he wants to resolve the political crisis, a government statement said.

"President Kibaki also informed Mr. Annan ... on steps his government was taking to open political dialogue and ensure national reconciliation and healing," the statement said.

In another encouraging sign, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni won an agreement from both sides to set up a judicial commission to investigate vote rigging. Museveni met separately with Kibaki and Odinga on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Annan persuaded Odinga to call off protests that had been planned for Thursday in defiance of a government ban. Scores of Odinga's supporters have been gunned down by riot police in earlier demonstrations.

New York-based Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, said Thursday it has evidence that opposition party leaders "actively fomented," organized and directed ethnic attacks in Kenya's western Rift Valley, where some of the worst violence has been perpetrated in the aftermath of the disputed election.

Human Rights Watch said more attacks are being planned on members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe. An opposition legislator from the region denied the charges.

Brazil offers drug factory to AIDS-ravaged Mozambique

By Charles Mangwiro

Brazil has offered to build a $23 million pharmaceutical plant in Mozambique that will provide drugs to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, Mozambique's national newspaper said on Tuesday.

Brazil, a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer, will monitor quality and transfer technology to the proposed plant, which would produce a range of drugs, including generic antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to fight HIV/AIDS, Noticias reported.

The plan was presented to the Mozambique government by Brazil's ambassador in the southern African nation.

Mozambique, one of the poorest nations on the continent, is struggling to find the money to rebuild its dilapidated health-care system, which was neglected during a 17-year civil war that ended in 1992.

The former Portuguese colony has been hard hit by the AIDS epidemic, with an estimated 1.6 million of its 18 million people infected with HIV. Only a fraction of those requiring ARVs are on treatment, with most of the drugs imported from India.

The offer to build the pharmaceutical plant was first raised by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during his 2004 official visit to Mozambique. Lula said he wanted drugs from the plant to be available to other African nations as well.

Brazil claims the use of generic anti-retrovirals has cut its AIDS mortality rate in half.

Mozambican Health Minister Ivo Garrido said the government would decide next month whether to approve the Brazilian proposal. "We will have to study it very carefully," he was quoted as saying by Noticias.