I'm John Birchard from the VOA news center in Washington.

Iraq's Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki, aiming to form a new government in the next few weeks, has held talks with Iraq's most influential Shiite clerics. In Najaf Thursday, Mr. al-Maliki met with Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who called for dismantling all the country's militias. The Ayatollah said weapons should only be in the hands of government security forces. Following talks with radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the prime minister-designate said the militias should be merged with the(\) Iraq's armed forces, which currently remain outside of the government control. Mr. al-Maliki who has until May 21st to name of(\) his cabinet said he is working to form a national unity government that will include all segments of the Iraqi people.

Courts in Belarus have sentenced the country's opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich and several of his associates to prison terms for taking part in what authorities called an unsanctioned march. Milinkevich and two other men received 15-day terms by a force received a 14-day sentence. Police also detained and severely beat another activist. Authorities had approved Wednesday's rally in Minsk on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. But they did not approve of a march to the downtown rally site. In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the United States is deeply disturbed by what he called the outrageous and reprehensible actions. "Unfortunately, there are only the latest and an ongoing series of of acts which against the citizens of Byelorussia who are only attempting to exercise their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms." Mr. Ereli called on Belarusian authorities to release those detained.


The UN human rights chief has blasted the Ethiopia's human rights situation, saying that she is troubled by the continued detention of political opponents in what she calls rudimentary and harsh prison conditions. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

More than 100 opposition politicians, activists, journalists and others who protested the results of last year's elections and subsequently detained for treason, genocide and other charges, remain behind bars. UN Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour told the French news agency, AFP, that political and civil rights in Ethiopia are declining after years of hope and that the human rights situation is under a lot of strain. Arbour also blasted authorities for not allowing the detainees to apply for bail, and said she was distressed by what she saw during her visit to Kaliti prison. She made her remarks as she wrapped up her four-day visit to Ethiopia, during which time she met with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, representatives of the international community and several detainees. Cathy Majtenyi for VOA news, Nairobi.

President Bush has visited the US southern Gulf Coast states of Louisiana and Mississippi to thank volunteers who were helping to rebuild areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina last year. The president's visit comes as the Senate Committee released a report that says that FEMA, the governmental agency responsible for responding to natural disasters, is crippled beyond repair and should be dismantled. Concerning the city of New Orleans, committee chair Senator Susan Collins had this to say.

"We have listened to 8 months of blame, yet, no one has taken clear responsibility for ensuring that the levee is very strong and safe * dam."

Another member of the committee, Senator Joseph Lieberman saw the situation like this. "Government officials at all levels, federal state and local, neglected their duties to prepare for forewarned catastrophe. " A senior White House aide said now is not the time for moving organizational boxes just weeks ahead of the start of this year's hurricane season, June 1st.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the UN Security Council must be ready to take action against Iran if it fails to end its sensitive nuclear activities. In Bulgaria for a NATO meeting Thursday, Rice said it is highly unlikely that Iran will comply with Council demands to end uranium enrichment by Friday. Rice said the United States believes the Security Council has to act to remain credible. Earlier, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed his country would not give in to pressure to curb its nuclear program.