BERLIN (AFP) –
German police arrested two top Rwandan militia leaders Tuesday suspected of atrocities committed in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, prosecutors said.

Ignace Murwanashyaka, 46, the leader of Rwanda's Hutu FLDR rebels, was seized in the western city of Karlsruhe on suspicion of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in eastern DR Congo between January 2008 and July this year.

His deputy Straton Musoni, 48, was arrested in Stuttgart on the same charges.

Federal prosecutors said their Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) are suspected of "killing several hundred citizens, raping several women and pillaging and burning several villages" in eastern DR Congo.

They said the arrests follow a year-long investigation.

Human Rights Watch say the FDLR have killed 630 civilians between January and September this year.

"The accused are strongly suspected, as members of the foreign terrorist organisation FDLR, of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes," the prosecutors said in a statement.

The FDLR fled neighbouring Rwanda after the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered.

Its leaders are strongly suspected of taking part in the genocide and have been actively sought by Rwanda.

The movement is almost entirely composed of ethnic Hutus opposed to the government of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, which welcomed the arrests. Hutu rebels in DR Congo: weak but a threat

"The UN and the international community have realised there is no way they can stop what is happening in the DRC without dealing with those (FDLR) who are in Europe," a Rwandan official told AFP in Kigali.

Kigali has long voiced concern over the FDLR's use of Germany as a safe haven despite a UN Security Council resolution imposing travel and financial restrictions on the group's leaders.

The FDLR, whose fighters are thought to number around 5,000, has carried out a brutal campaign of murder, rape and pillage against civilians in eastern Congo despite a joint military operation by Kinshasa and Kigali to clear them out of the region.

In a report in May, UN experts concluded that Murwanashyaka was involved in co-ordinating FDLR operations from February this year.

Recently, the militants have been deliberately targeting civilians to punish them for their government's decision to launch military operations against them, human rights groups said in a report last month.

They say that since the operations began in January, 1,000 civilians have been killed, 7,000 women raped, and more than 6,000 homes have been razed to the ground.

Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that government soldiers had "deliberately killed" more than 500 civilians since March during operations against the FDLR.

The UN mission in DR Congo (MONUC) announced on November 2 that it was immediately withdrawing logistical support for Congolese army units linked to 62 killings.

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
Lazard Ltd (LAZ.N) on Tuesday named insider Kenneth Jacobs as CEO and chairman, succeeding legendary Wall Street dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein, who died last month.

The move was widely expected and signals the investment bank is not seeking to change its focus on businesses such as merger advisory and restructuring, analysts said.

Jacobs, 51, has been with the firm for more than two decades and is an experienced dealmaker. He has worked on transactions for clients including GlaxoSmithKline and IBM, even as he has risen to increasingly senior posts.

"The key to Lazard is you have to be a player-coach," Jacobs said in a 2006 interview with BusinessWeek. "You have to have clients and be involved in big transactions. Otherwise, you get no respect."

Lazard shares drifted down 0.35 percent to $39.51 in morning trading.

Jacobs joined Lazard in 1988 and was named a partner in 1991. He became deputy chairman in 2002.

He was chosen to succeed Wasserstein in large part because he provides a bridge to the days when Lazard was a private partnership, said William Cohan, author of the Lazard history "The Last Tycoons."

Jacobs played a key role in keeping the firm together through tumultuous times, Cohan said. Wasserstein turned Lazard from a partnership legendary for its private fiefdoms and infighting into a public company.

"Jacobs has always been there for Lazard through all the upheavals the firm has had during the last ten years," Cohan said. "He has always been the guy behind the scenes holding the firm together.

POWER STRUGGLES

Lazard's board picked Jacobs unanimously.

In a lengthy announcement that listed several leadership changes, Lazard said Steven Golub, interim chief executive since Wasserstein's death, will continue as Lazard vice chairman and chairman of its financial advisory group. Golub had been considered a candidate for CEO.

Deputy Chairman Gary Parr, also considered a CEO candidate, will become director and vice chairman. There was some doubt about whether Parr, a prolific dealmaker, wanted the job of CEO.

"He is very adept at what he does, but I think he is not someone who would be excited about doing all the administrative stuff and being the CEO running the business," said Michael Holland, president of Holland & Co, noting that Parr is chairman of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York Inc.

Lazard also announced Tuesday that Ashish Bhutani, who is CEO of Lazard Asset Management, will become a director and vice chairman.

Steven Heyer, a director since Lazard's initial public offering in 2005, will become lead director, a new board position.

Antonio Weiss was named global head of investment banking.

(Reporting by Steve Eder; editing by John Wallace)

LOS ANGELES – Mya is tops among semifinalists on "Dancing with the Stars."
The singer topped the judges' leaderboard on Monday with 87 points out of a possible 90 for the three dances she performed with her professional partner, Dmitry Chaplin.
Model Joanna Krupa and partner Derek Hough finished in second place with 81 points. Reality star Kelly Osbourne and her partner, Louis Van Amstel, are in third place with 78 points; while entertainer Donny Osmond and his partner, Kym Johnson, landed in last place with 74 points.
One couple will be eliminated from the ABC dance competition during Tuesday's episode. The new "Dancing" champ will be crowned next week.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Sarah Palin's book is highly anticipated in her home state — but she's no Harry Potter.
David Cheezem, co-owner of Fireside Books in Palmer, said people have been calling to make sure they'll be able to get the former GOP vice presidential candidate's memoir, "Going Rogue." He's opening early with coffee and doughnuts to celebrate the Tuesday release.
"I'm excited about the event," he said. "Am I as excited as I was for Harry Potter? No. That was huge."
When the last three Potter books were released, the entire downtown area became a virtual Hogwarts, the boarding school for witches and wizards attended by the boy wizard. Merchants, including Cheezem, held trivia contests, and shoppers dressed up in character.
Palmer is adjacent to Wasilla, the hometown of Palin, who resigned as Alaska governor in July. Cheezem said he's hoping some of that regional connection spills over to people buying the book from his store — at the full $28.99 price. So far, 23 of his 100-book shipment are spoken for.
"People are not just buying the book for political affiliations," he said. "They're buying it because Sarah Palin grew up here and they know her children and they know her."
Other sellers are offering discounts on the 413-page book, with some national retailers marking the book at about $9.
Pandemonium Booksellers in Wasilla will knock off at least 20 percent, said storeowner Shannon Cullip. Her store has 100 copies available and has another 100 sold through pre-order, including 25 from just one customer.
But there are a few non-fans among the loving hometown crowd, too.
"It's always mixed," Cullip said. "People either love her or they hate her. They either would rather die than read her book or they can't wait to read it and they think everything needs to read it, too."
The Borders store in Anchorage is slashing the price by 30 percent for general customers and 40 percent for members of its Borders rewards program.
Rob Jack, the store's sales manager, said "Going Rogue" will be the first thing customers see when they walk in the door. But he declined to discuss how many books are available or how fast they're selling, only that pre-orders are in the triple digits.
"It's an anticipated book all right," he said. "There's a buzz all right."
The same discounts apply at Borders' Waldenbooks store in Wasilla. The books are going briskly, with half of the 300 copies already claimed, according to employee Crystal Dietz. The store was getting more and more calls leading up to the release date, with some asking if any signings are scheduled for Palin, who is launching a national book tour this week. There's been no word yet on any Alaska appearances.
"A lot of people calling from out-of-state to order from us," Dietz said. "They want the book sent from Wasilla just, I guess, because she's from here and everyone wants to be a part of that."
At Gulliver's Books in Fairbanks, tins of candies packaged as "Sarah's Embarrassmints" are a hot item, far outselling Palin's book.
Store owner David Hollingsworth said he has received 10 pre-orders out of his 100 copies. It's nothing like the frenzy he saw for the 2,000 copies he ordered with the last installment of the Potter series.
The July 2007 release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" prompted two young sisters to wait in line outside his store for 11 days, living out in their parents' camper. Hollingsworth also had a midnight release for Potter fans but didn't plan to repeat those hours for "Going Rogue."

"Yes, it's a big deal, but we've had bigger deals," he said.

Coinciding with Palin's national book tour, the Alaska Democratic Party announced Monday it was launching a Web site to hold Palin accountable on some issues. It's called "Say nO to Sarah," or SOS.

"It's a response to all the calls we've gotten from outside of Alaska from people wanting to know what's fact and what's fiction regarding Sarah Palin's record," party spokesman Kevin Harun said.

___

On the Net:

"Going Rogue": http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061939891/Going(underscore)Rogue/index.aspx

Alaska Democratic Party: http://www.sarahwatch.org/