Nigeria sect violence victims 'mostly children'

The Red Cross in Nigeria says many of those who were killed in clashes on Monday between troops and members of an Islamist sect in Bauchi were children.

Adamu Abubakar, its representative in the northern state, told the BBC 39 people had died - some 60% of them students aged between nine and 15.

Local officials said if any children had died, it would have been because they were hit by vehicles or trampled.

Twenty members of the Kala Kato sect had been arrested, Mr Abubakar said.

The fighting started when locals called in the authorities after members of the sect broke a ban on open-air preaching, which was introduced after an uprising earlier this year by the Boko Haram sect.

Hundreds died in the subsequent fighting across northern Nigeria.

'Result of preaching'

Mr Abubakar told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme the death toll from Monday's violence was 39. Sixteen people were also admitted to hospital, among them a seven-year-old who died on Tuesday morning, he added.

He said some of the victims had been shot, but most had been attacked with machetes and knives.

The Red Cross representative said the crisis "was the result of preaching" at an open-air gathering, after which members of the Kala Kato sect threatened to kill locals who would not join them or leave the area.

An army officer who was sent from a nearby base to speak to the sect's leaders was killed with a machete, he added.

Mr Abubakar said most of the dead were children from outside Bauchi who had been sent to study Arabic and the Koran with local clerics.

But a spokesman for the government of Bauchi, Alhaji Sanusi Mohammed, told the BBC that 32 people had died in the violence, and that most of the people killed were adult members of the sect who had attacked the security forces.

"Most likely, those children that might have been killed were probably crushed when running away from the scene, or they were victims of head-on collisions with cars," he said.

"But I definitely don't think it was security officers that went to quell the rioting who shot them down."

It was impossible that the troops had used machetes, he added.

Mr Mohammed said the clashes had been a result of a "misunderstanding within the religious sect" about its leadership, and that it had quickly escalated.

Correspondents say Kala Kato is a non-conformist sect made up of poor tradesmen, labourers and other working people.

Greece votes for big budget cuts to reduce debt

The Greek parliament has voted to adopt big budget cuts designed to lower the country's high levels of debt.

Greece aims to shrink public debt to 9.1% of overall economic output next year, down from 12.7% this year.

To do this, it has outlined measures to cut public spending and boost revenue by cutting back on red tape.

Concerns about Greece's high level of debt have led the three main international credit ratings agencies to downgrade Greek government bonds.

Greece's public debt currently stands at 300bn euros ($428bn; £268bn).

The single-chamber parliament adopted the budget by a large majority, with the 160 Socialist Pasok deputies voting for, and 139 opposition members against.

One opposition member was absent.

Speaking after the vote, Prime Minister George Papandreou said the budget was "a contract to reconquer our credibility".

"We shall prove our capacity and determination to change this country, to ourselves and to any foreigner who puts in doubt our will," he continued.

Spending cuts

Last week, Mr Papandreou warned that the country was at risk of "sinking under its debts", unless it introduced spending cuts.

He outlined a number of measures to reduce debt levels, including a 10% cut in social security spending.

He also announced a 90% tax on the bonuses of senior bank workers.

Other proposals included a cut in defence spending, pay and hiring freezes for public sector workers, and the closure of a third of Greece's overseas tourism offices.