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[World Sport]
January 9, 2010 -- Updated 1258 GMT (2058 HKT)
African Cup of Nations to go ahead after Togo attack

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
> African football body says Cup of Nations will go ahead despite attack on Togo team
> Angolan prime minister, football chiefs to meet Saturday to discuss security
> Bus carrying Togolese national team fired on with machine guns
> Togo players to decide if they will take part in tournament, coach says it should be called off

CNN) -- The organizers of the Africa Cup of Nations say the tournament will go ahead in Angola despite a machine gun attack on a bus carrying Togo's national football team, including star striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

However, Togo coach Hubert Velud believes they should consider calling off the 16-team event.

Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou will meet Saturday with Angolan Prime Minister Antonio Paulo Kassoma "to take decisions to guarantee the smooth running of the competition," a statement on the organization's Web site said.

"The Confederation of African Football is terribly saddened by these events and expresses its total support as well as sympathy to the entire Togolese delegation," the statement said.

Velud told French radio station RMC that the staging tournament must now be in doubt, with his players still to decide whether to take part.

"We can at least pose ourselves that question," he said on Saturday. "It's an act of barbarism while we are here to celebrate African football.

"We left the hospital a short time ago to come to the center for the teams in the competition. We stayed in the hospital a long time so that we could be very united.

"In these situations you become a bit paranoid, you doubt everything. We don't feel that the authorities are taking this very seriously. I don't mean that they want to hush up the matter, but almost.

"What will happen I don't know. We will have a meeting with the players and technical staff to take a decision."

Football's world governing body FIFA said it was "deeply moved" by the incident and expressed "utmost sympathy with the Togolese players. It said it expected a full report from the CAF on the situation.

Hosts Angola are due to kick off the tournament against Mali on Sunday in Luanda. The competition is Angola's first major sporting event since a 2002 peace deal brought the southern African country's decades-old civil war to an end.

It also marks the beginning of a year in the spotlight for African football with South Africa set to become the continent's first country to host the FIFA World Cup, football's showpiece event, in June.

There were conflicting reports over the casualties caused by Friday's attack which occurred in Cabinda, a disputed oil-rich enclave separated from the rest of Angola by Democratic Republic of Congo territory, shortly after the team bus had crossed the border.

Togolese striker Thomas Dossevi, who was on the bus, said the bus driver was killed in the attack and three others were wounded. But Angola's official press agency, ANGOP, reported nine people were wounded -- eight Togolese and one Angolan.

We are all in shock because it's an act of war. There was a lot of blood and fear in the bus

--Togo coach Hubert Velud
An armed wing of a separatist group, the Forces for Liberation of the State of Cabinda, claimed responsibility for the attack. CNN cannot independently verify the claim.

Velud thanked the Angolan army for averting an even bigger disaster.

"What's sure is that the army saved our lives," he told RMC. "Without them, the rebels would have destroyed us because we didn't have any defense. And I wouldn't be here to speak to you now.

"I was hit in the arm but it's nothing compared to what happened to the assistant coach, who took a bullet in the stomach, as did the press attache.

"Goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale took one in the kidney. My case is minor in comparison to them.

"But we are all in shock because it's an act of war. There was a lot of blood and fear in the bus.

"I'm thinking of people I know, but there is also a huge thought for the driver who was killed."

We were attacked by armed rebels who used Kalashnikovs. We had just passed the border and we were attacked from both sides

--Togo striker Thomas Dossevi
Angola, which was wracked by civil war for nearly three decades, brokered a peace deal in 2006 with separatists seeking an independent republic of Cabinda. The southern African country is one of the world's largest energy producers and a major supplier of petroleum and liquefied natural gas to the U.S. market.

Dossevi, 30, who plays for French side Nantes, told CNN "armed rebels" with AK-47s had opened fire.

"We were attacked by armed rebels who used Kalashnikovs. We had just passed the border and a couple of minutes later we were attacked from both sides.

"We hid below the seats -- we had police protection in front and behind but we were attacked from both sides. As soon as I heard the bullets I went to the floor. ... The attack lasted for 10-15 minutes, " Dossevi said.

Togo are due to play their opening match of the competition on Monday against Ghana but Dossevi said the players didn't want to play in the tournament.

"The players are shocked. They don't want to play in the competition anymore," he said. "We will meet all night long to decide what we are going to do. Right now, we don't even have all our clothes."

Togo's star player Adebayor, who plays for Manchester City, was among those on the bus but the English Premier League club said he was unhurt in the attack.

"Manchester City can confirm that striker Emmanuel Adebayor is uninjured after this afternoon's attack on the Togo team bus in Angola," a statement on the club's Web site said. "Club officials have spoken with Adebayor and though shaken by the terrible events, he is unharmed."

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini expressed condolences for the wounded players and their families.

"Our thoughts are with the Togo team, their football association and the people. We send them our best wishes at this traumatic time," he said.

The Africa Cup of Nations is one of the world's biggest football tournaments, bringing together stars including Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Michael Essien, Inter Milan's Samuel Eto'o and Barcelona's Yaya Toure and watched by television audiences of tens of millions.

This month's tournament has been eagerly anticipated as an early chance to assess the form of African powerhouses such as Drogba's Ivory Coast, Essien's Ghana and Eto'o's Cameroon ahead of the World Cup.


[World]
January 9, 2010 -- Updated 1232 GMT (2032 HKT)
Afghan president nominates new Cabinet list

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
> Afghan President Karzai presents new list of 16 nominees for his cabinet
> Afghan parliament rejected most of Karzai's first choice-list last week
> Karzai under pressure to stamp out corruption and establish legitimacy
> No date announced for a parliamentary vote

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai attempted once again to solidify his administration by presenting a new batch of Cabinet nominees Saturday, a week after parliament rejected a majority of his first choices.

Included are three women to lead the ministries of public health, women's affairs and public and social affairs.

Karzai offered 16 new names, one less than the 17 rejected by parliament last weekend.

Cabinet selection comes at a critical stage for Karzai. He is under pressure to stamp out widespread corruption in Afghanistan and establish legitimacy for his administration -- tainted by allegations of vote fraud last August -- both at home and abroad.

Members of parliament did not approve of nominees on the initial list who were viewed as corrupt or unqualified. Among them was Ismail Khan, a powerful warlord who was tapped to lead the ministry of water and energy.

Vice President Abdul Karim Khalili read out the names on the second list and lawmakers will be briefed by the president's office on the nominees.

No date has been announced for a parliament vote.