Existing laws are sufficient to deal with the massive fraud perpetrated by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a former aide to then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Senate panel concluded Thursday.

In a 373-page report, the Republican-controlled Senate Indian Affairs Committee said that with regard to Abramoff and ex-DeLay aide Michael Scanlon collecting tens of millions of dollars from Indian tribes, "without doubt, the depth and breadth of their misconduct was astonishing."

"Nevertheless, with respect solely to the kickbacks from Scanlon to Abramoff, the committee concludes that existing federal criminal statutes are sufficient to deter and punish such misconduct," the panel said.

The committee report was entitled "Gimme Five," a reference to what Abramoff and Scanlon called their secret fee-splitting arrangement.

The committee did recommend that Indian tribes adopt their own laws "to help prevent a similar tragedy." The tribes hired Abramoff and Scanlon to deal with casino gambling issues. The Senate report said tribal contracting should adopt the principles of openness and competition.

Abramoff and Scanlon have pleaded guilty in the extensive influence peddling probe and are cooperating with the Justice Department.

The report said that in some cases, Abramoff and Scanlon obtained lobbying and grassroots contracts "by insinuating themselves into tribal council elections and assisting with the campaigns of candidates who were calculated to support their proposals."

The report concluded that in other cases, Abramoff and Scanlon "were even more aggressive, for example, helping to shut down the casino of one tribe, only to pitch their services for millions of dollars to help that same, now desperate Tribe reopen its casino."

The switch centres on concerns about the viability of Ford's Way Forward plan, which aims to return its North American operations to profit by 2008. Analysts and others have doubts about Ford's ability to staunch recent losses in market share and have questioned the quality of management at the family-controlled carmaker.

The annual cost of five-year protection against a Ford default climbed to 9.39 per cent on Wednesday, according to data and valuation group Markit, while the cost of equivalent protection for GM stood at 9.26 per cent. A trader said the costs were about equal yesterday.

Default protection rates for GM in the credit default swap market had jumped to more than 13 per cent in January.

The cost of default insurance for Ford has been more stable at 8 to 10 per cent over the past six months, but the rate has risen markedly in recent weeks.

GM's stock price has risen by 42 per cent since the start of the year as fears have subsided that the world's biggest carmaker was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy protection. On the other hand, Ford stock touched a 52-week low of $6.38 this week.

Rating agencies have cut debt ratings on both companies deep into junk territory in the past year, reflecting concerns about their shrinking market shares and high healthcare and other labour costs.

GM's share of the US market fell to 22.5 per cent in May, its lowest level in decades, while Ford's dropped to 17.5 per cent, compared with about 25 per cent in the 1990s.

Each GM and Ford vehicle has a cost disadvantage of more than $1,000 compared with Japanese models.

At the current cost of default protection, market traders are still implying a greater-than-even chance of bankruptcy for both carmakers within five years.

GM, which is about a third bigger than Ford, has racked up the larger financial losses in recent years. But Stefano Aversa, managing director of Alix Partners, a restructuring consultancy, said: "Ford started [its recovery plan] a little bit later, they have been a little bit slower and a little bit less transparent.''

Both carmakers are in the process of cutting a total of 60,000 jobs as part of drastic cost reduction programmes.

Another automotive consultant questioned Ford's stomach for tough cost-cutting decisions, noting that the company had yet to identify all the plants to close under its recovery plan.

These days Australia likes to present itself as a helpful, generous neighbour of East Timor, after public opinion forced the government of John Howard to lead a UN peacekeeping force six years ago. East Timor is now an independent state, thanks to the courage of its people and a tenacious resistance led by the liberation movement Fretilin, which in 2001 swept to political power in the first democratic elections. In regional elections last year, 80 per cent of votes went to Fretilin, led by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, a convinced "economic nationalist", who opposes privatisation and interference by the World Bank. A secular Muslim in a largely Roman Catholic country, he is, above all, an anti-imperialist who has stood up to the bullying demands of the Howard government for an undue share of the oil and gas spoils of the Timor Gap.

On 28 April last, a section of the East Timorese army mutinied, ostensibly over pay. An eyewitness, Australian radio reporter Maryann Keady, disclosed that American and Australian officials were involved. On 7 May, Alkatiri described the riots as an attempted coup and said that "foreigners and outsiders" were trying to divide the nation. A leaked Australian Defence Force document has since revealed that Australia's "first objective" in East Timor is to "seek access" for the Australian military so that it can exercise "influence over East Timor's decision-making". A Bushite "neo-con" could not have put it better.

The opportunity for "influence" arose on 31 May, when the Howard government accepted an "invitation" by the East Timorese president, Xanana Gusmão, and foreign minister, José Ramos Horta - who oppose Alkatiri's nationalism - to send troops to Dili, the capital. This was accompanied by "our boys to the rescue" reporting in the Australian press, together with a smear campaign against Alkatiri as a "corrupt dictator". Paul Kelly, a former editor-in-chief of Rupert Murdoch's Australian, wrote: "This is a highly political intervention . . . Australia is operating as a regional power or a political hegemon that shapes security and political outcomes." Translation: Australia, like its mentor in Washington, has a divine right to change another country's government. Don Watson, a speechwriter for the former prime minister Paul Keating, the most notorious Suharto apologist, wrote, incredibly: "Life under a murderous occupation might be better than life in a failed state . . ."

Arriving with a force of 2,000, an Australian brigadier flew by helicopter straight to the headquarters of the rebel leader, Major Alfredo Reinado - not to arrest him for attempting to overthrow a democratically elected prime minister but to greet him warmly. Like other rebels, Reinado had been trained in Canberra.

John Howard is said to be pleased with his title of George W Bush's "deputy sheriff" in the South Pacific. He recently sent troops to a rebellion in the Solomon Islands, and imperial opportunities beckon in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and other small island nations. The sheriff will approve.

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"The Chinese government, guided by the principle of sincerity, friendship, equality, mutual benefit and common development, is committed to building a new type of strategic partnership with Africa," Wen told a Sino-South African business forum in Cape Town.

"To accomplish this we will ... enhance political equality and mutual trust, promote win-win economic cooperation, cultural exchanges and maintain close cooperation in international affairs," the Chinese leader said.

Trade between China and Africa reached around 40 billion dollars in 2005, a rise of 35 percent from a year earlier and almost four times higher than in 2001.

Wen's visit -- the third high-level Chinese diplomatic trip to Africa in less than six months -- follows visits earlier this year by Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and President Hu Jintao.

Wen promised steps to expand economic and trade ties and help Africa by offering zero-tariff treatment for some exports and increased aid and debt relief, while at the same time helping to build infrastructure.

China's interests however have attracted concern in the West and it has been accused of fuelling conflict and shoring up regimes in Africa, including in Sudan and Zimbabwe, two countries Wen has not included in his tour.

In many countries, including continental powerhouse South Africa, worries have also been raised over the Chinese juggernaut, including the issue of clothing and textile imports and the huge trade deficit in China's favour.

"We take the concerns of some African countries on trade deficit and textiles seriously and are working to address these issues," said Wen.

South Africa and China on Wednesday penned a landmark trade deal which will restrict Chinese textile imports to South Africa and cushion the blow to an already beleaguered industry.

South Africa's textiles sector has been hit hard by cheap imports and ready-made products from China, and President Thabo Mbeki's government has come under increasing pressure to deal with the problem.

Companies and unions agree that some 25,000 jobs have been lost in the sector in the past two years.

"The fact that we signed a textile agreement is proof in our relations that we are willing to walk an extra mile," South Africa's Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told the forum.

"We hope that we can save some of the jobs and some of the industry," she said.

South Africa and China also signed a peaceful nuclear cooperation pact which local officials said would include closer work on the development of pebble bed modular reactors -- seen by South Africa as the answer to its own growing quest for new energy resources.

While in South Africa, Wen concluded a major deal with the African country's petroleum giant SASOL which will see a second phase study on the mainland to probe the possibility of an 80,000 barrel-per-day chemical plant which turns coal into oil.

A second similar deal was concluded Wednesday.

China's economic interests have been increasingly dominated by its need for oil and Angola -- Africa's second largest oil producer after Nigeria -- in February became the top source of crude imports to China, replacing Saudi Arabia, according to Swiss-based analyst Petromatrix Gmbh.

Wen and his entourage left South Africa for Tanzania on Thursday morning, sources said, after which he will travel to Uganda.