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| 03 March 2004 | Wednesday | 11 Muharram 1425 |
Welcome to DAWN, Pakistan's most widely circulated English language newspaper.
Updated round-the-clock, with a major update before 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT).
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Welcome to DAWN, Pakistan's most widely circulated English language newspaper. Updated round-the-clock, with a major update before 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT). |
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Fazal rules out dissolution of assemblies: LAHORE March 03: MMA Central leader Maulana Fazal-ul-Rehman while ruling out any possibility of dissolution of the parliament has said that President Musharraf has no reason to dissolve the assemblies in the current political scenario of the country. Addressing the journalists at Madina Mosque at Karim Park here today, he said that Quetta incident was a conspiracy to spread sectarianism in the country and the hand of the some government agencies could not be ignored in this regard. " MMA has demanded the government to form Investigation Commission, comprising of high official to probe the matter on the merit and the responsible of the incident should be brought to the book immediately," he maintained. (PPI) (Posted @ 23:55 PST) 
Stampede kills 13 Shi'ites in Para Chinar: KURRAM AGENCY, March 03: At least 13 Shi'ite Muslim worshippers, eight of them women and five children killed and 56 people were injured in a stampede during a religious ceremony. The stampede was triggered by a power failure as hundreds of Shi'ite women and children gathered on Tuesday in Para Chinar to mark Ashura, local Shi'ite leader Haji Nauroz told Reuters. Dr Syed Amjad Hussain said the women panicked when the lights went out, thinking it could be another attack. They tried to rush out of the two-storey building, causing a staircase to collapse. (Reuters) (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
421 Pakistanis released from Oman jails arrive: KARACHI, March 03: A group of four hundred and twenty one Pakistani prisoners, smuggled to Muscat by human smugglers for slave labour, and arrested few months back, arrived today. They had been released from Oman Jails and brought back to Pakistan by human rights activist Ansar Burney. (PPI) (Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Iraqi dies in rocket attack in Baghdad: BAGHDAD, March 03: An Iraqi civilian was killed today when a rocket was fired at Baghdad's central telephone exchange, police said. (AFP) (Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Al Aqsa Brigades militant shot dead in army raid on Tulkarem camp: NABLUS, March 03: A Palestinian militant belonging to the radical Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades was shot dead today by Israeli troops in the northern West Bank, Palestinian medical and security sources said. Qais Oufi, was hit by two bullets during an exchange of fire with Israeli troops who swarmed into Tulkarem refugee camp shortly before dawn, they said. Another six people were also arrested during the raid, but their identity was not immediately clear. (AFP) (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Malaysia parliament to be dissolved for polls: PM - KUALA LUMPUR, March 03: Malaysia paved the way for a snap election in the coming weeks after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said parliament will be dissolved on Thursday. State news agency Bernama said today Abdullah had made the decision to call for early polls, without giving further detail. (Reuters) (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Thirteen workers injured in Indonesian steel mill blast: JAKARTA, March 03: Thirteen people were rushed to hospital after an explosion today at a steel mill in Indonesia's East Java province, police said. (AFP) (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Four killed as Mujahideen attack jail in Kashmir: JAMMU, March 03: Four civilians were killed today when Mujahideen attacked a prison in Kashmir, police said. (AFP) (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 13.47 points: KARACHI, March 03: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 4853.84, up 13.47 points from Friday's close. The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 57.60 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:30 PST)
President, PM order inquiry of Quetta incident: Rashid - ISLAMABAD, Mar 2: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmad today said President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime minister Jamali have ordered inquiry of the Quetta tragedy. "The President and Prime minister were shocked on hearing news of such a heinous crime. They have sympathized with the families of the bereaved and vowed to apprehend the culprits at any cost," he told PTV. Sheikh Rashid said the President and Prime Minister pledged not to spare those spreading hatred in the name of religion among the fellow muslims. "Pakistan ensures religious freedom to all people. The families of those who were killed will be compensated" he added. The President and the Prime Minister have made a passionate appeal to the people to promote harmony, Sheikh Rashid said. (APP) (Posted @ 23:15 PST)
Police seize automatic weapons in Peshawar: PESHAWAR, Mar 2: Police seized automatic rifles being smuggled in a pickup van and arrested its driver in Peshawar an official said. "We have seized some two dozen rifles including Kalashnikovs and Kalakovs from a Suzuki van and arrested the driver," police spokesman Riaz Ahmad told AFP . "There is a possibility that these rifles could be used for terrorist activities and sectarian violence," Ahmad said. Police had stopped a van at Pushta Khara checkpost near Peshawar and found the weapons on board being smuggled into the city from the neighbouring tribal area, he said. A case has been registered against the driver of the van and investigations have been launched, he said. Ahmad said authorities had beefed up security to prevent sectarian violence and terrorist activities during the sacred Islamic month of Muharram. (AFP) (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
More than 180 killed, hundreds wounded in Iraqi bombings: BAGHDAD, March 03: More than 180 people were killed and hundreds wounded in simultaneous bomb attacks in two Iraqi, with some blaming US forces for lax security. Iraq's leaders declared three days of mourning and postponed the signing of a temporary constitution, scheduled for today, possibly to Friday. The attacks were blamed on suicide bombers, rockets or mortars, or, in Karbala, concealed bombs. (AFP) (Updated @ 09:40 PST, Wednesday)
Arafat Adviser Shot Dead in Gaza, Witnesses Say: GAZA , Mar 2: Gunmen shot dead a veteran Palestinian journalist and prominent adviser to President Yasser Arafat in Gaza City today, witnesses and medics said. They said unknown assailants gunned down Khalil al-Zebin, 59, who ran a Palestinian Authority-funded magazine and advised Arafat on human rights and media issues, outside his office in Palestinian-ruled Gaza.Zebin was shot several times shortly after midnight and died soon after arriving at Gaza's Shifa Hospital, medics said. Police said they were investigating but no arrests had been made. Zebin was a longtime Arafat loyalist whose monthly magazine focused on the rights of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Palestinian journalists have recently staged protests demanding that the Palestinian Authority investigate a recent series of attacks against them in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "We strongly condemn the assassination of veteran journalist Khalil al-Zebin and urge the Palestinian Authority to intervene immediately to find the perpetrators," said Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Journalists Union. (Reuters) (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
Gaza evacuation should be followed by West Bank settlements: Arafat - GAZA CITY, March 2: Israel's plan to evacuate Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip should be extended to all those in the West Bank, the official Palestinian news agency quoted Yasser Arafat as saying late Monday. "This proposal should be followed by a withdrawal of all settlements in the West Bank because the West Bank and Gaza are geographically one," WAFA quoted Arafat as saying after meeting Palestinian security officials in the West Bank town of Ramallah. During the meeting, Arafat stressed the need for the security services to stop, arrest and punish all persons or groups doing anything against the law or that damaged Palestinian interests or the Palestinian Authority, WAFA said. (AFP) (Posted @ 03:25 PST)
Sharon easily survives no-confidence votes: JERUSALEM, Mar 2: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government easily survived five no-confidence votes in parliament today despite a rift with political allies angered by his plan to uproot Jewish settlements in Gaza. Now a weekly ritual, such votes on issues ranging from the economy to construction of a controversial West Bank barrier, have added to a growing feeling in Israel that Sharon's right-wing coalition is living on borrowed time. None of the five opposition motions came close to garnering the 61 votes required to topple the government in the 120-seat parliament. The government beat back each of the motions by a simple majority, the narrowest by a 49-46 margin, but several pro-settler legislators from parties in the right-wing coalition pointedly did not participate in the voting. Sharon has alienated key coalition partners by proposing the unilateral evacuation of 17 of Israel's 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip should a U.S.-backed "road map" charting a course towards Israeli-Palestinian peace fail. Palestinians fear Sharon will follow a Gaza pullout by annexing major settlement blocs in the West Bank and that the "security line" he has threatened to draw would deny them a viable state.The road map, stalled by violence, calls for mutual confidence-building steps and negotiations leading to the creation of an independent Palestinian homeland by 2005. (Reuters) (Posted @ 01:15 PST)
Sharon plans to dismantle at least 10 West Bank settlements: report - JERUSALEM, Mar 2: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is prepared to dismantle at least 10 Jewish settlements in the West Bank as part of a plan to disengage from the Palestinians, Israel public television said late Monday. Details of the plan were revealed after a secret meeting between Sharon and opposition leader, Labour chief Shimon Peres which took place last week, the report said. The television gave no further details or named the settlements in question. (AFP) (Posted @ 01:15 PST)
Lithuania impeachment vote just ahead of EU entry : VILNIUS, March 2 : The final vote to decide whether to impeach Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas will be held just ahead of the Baltic country's entry to the European Union, a deputy speaker of parliament said on Monday. Ceslovas Jursenas said he expected the last leg in the marathon process to impeach Paksas -- over accusations that he broke the law and violated his oath of office -- will start next week and probably finish in the month before Lithuania's scheduled May 1 entry to the European Union. "My opinion is that the impeachment will end somewhere in the middle or end of April," Jursenas told Reuters. Parliament is due to start plenary hearings next Monday, while the Constitutional Court will consider the accusations against Paksas in a parallel review. (Reuters) (Posted @ 03:25 PST)
  Editor: Tahir Mirza Editor-in-Chief: Ahmad Ali Khan The DAWN Group of Newspapers Haroon House, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Karachi 74200, Pakistan. Phone:+92 (21) 111-444-777 Fax: +92 (21) 568-3188 webmaster@dawn.com Make sure to reload these pages so you're viewing the current version.
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