The 500 megawatt Garona plant’s operating permit expires on Sunday and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero suggested it will close after completing the 40-year lifespan it was originally designed for, which expires in 2011. (Adds quotes, details, background) MADRID, July 2 (Reuters) – Spain will announce at 1600 GMT on Thursday whether it will allow an ageing nuclear plant to stay open, the Prime Minister said, in its first test of an electoral pledge to phase out nuclear power. Security forces have since raided alleged militant hideouts, seizing arms and bombmaking material and arresting dozens.”We are pledge-bound to the nation to make sure that none of them escape justice,” said state minister for law Oamrul Islam. “That would save lives of the people who are not our enemies,” he said.Whether security force efforts will be enough to crush the militants remains to be seen.Bangladesh has social issues that can make people receptive to anti-government messages and promises of an Islamic utopia.

Now the time has come to track them down and root them out forever,” he told Reuters.A government led by Hasina and the Awami League took office in January and vowed to get tough with the militants. BNP senior leader Nazrul islam Khan says such militancy “is not just a problem of Bangladesh, it exists worldwide”.Suranjit Sengupta, a top lawyer and Awami League leader, says the Islamists are a growing threat to democracy and development.”They thrived in Bangladesh during the BNP-Jamaat rule. Victims included judges, lawyers, police and others.After what was criticised as initial neglect of the issue, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government arrested six JMB leaders in 2006. She narrowly escaped but 23 others died when grenades exploded at a rally she was addressing.Authorities say another group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), was behind deadly bombings in late 2005. ($1=A$1.25) (Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Mark Bendeich). Santos and Malaysian state oil company Petronas plan tobuild a A$7.7 billion ($6.1 billion) liquefied natural gasfacility in Gladstone, in northern Queensland state, with anannual output of 3.5 million tonnes in the first phase usingcoal-seam gas First LNG production is scheduled in 2014. Santos will buy a 20 percent stake in Eastern Star Gas Ltd(ESG.AX) for A$176 million and a 35 percent stake in variousexploration permits operated by Eastern Star for another A$300million, the company added.

SYDNEY, July 2 (Reuters) – Australian oil and gas producerSantos Ltd (STO.AX) will pay A$476 million ($381 million) toboost its coal-seam gas position in Australia’s Gunnedah basin,the company said in a statement on Thursday. (In June 24 item, corrects the second bullet point to clarifythat the company offered to exchange $300 million 9.125 percentnotes due 2011 for $300 million 10.25 percent notes due 2014) Stocks  |  Bonds June 24 (Reuters) – Sino Forest Corp (TRE.TO): * Announces bond exchange offer * Offers $300 million 10.25 percent new guaranteed seniornotes due 2014 in lieu of 9.125 percent guaranteed senior notesdue 2011 Stocks Bonds. Bank of China (601988.SS) rose 0.7 percent to 4.66 yuan,after rising more the 3 percent the day before when CentralHuijin, an arm of the country’s $200 billion sovereign wealthfund, indicated it would not cut its holdings in the bank when alock-up period on its shares expires this weekend (Editing by Edmund Klamann and Chris Lewis) China. PetroChina (601857.SS)(0857.HK), Asia’s top oil and gasproducer and the most heavily weighted stock in the index,advanced 3.3 percent to 15.06 yuan after the South China MorningPost reported that its parent company planned to revive a $17billion bid for the Argentinian unit of Repsol-YPF (REP.MC).[ID:nHKG196724].