30 June 2004 Wednesday 11 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425 UK watchdog raps security services over terror threat LONDON, June 29: Britain's security services, who underestimated the terrorist threat before the September 11 attacks in 2001, are under-equipped because they took too long to expand, the parliament's security watchdog said on Tuesday. ... Iraqis have lived this lie before LONDON: In Iraq, they have an expression: same donkey, different saddle. Iraq's long-heralded interim government has now formally assumed sovereignty. Official labels and tags have duly changed. ... How the French inspired torture PARIS: The kind of torture inflicted upon Iraqi prisoners by the US army followed methods France used during the Algerian war of independence in the late 1950s, several French historians and journalists say. ... Israel to stay in Gaza, warns Mofaz BEIT HANUN, June 29: Israeli troops will remain in the northern Gaza Strip for "as long as necessary", Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz warned on Tuesday ... US fears one million deaths in Sudan INCIRLIK AIR BASE, June 29: Up to one million displaced Sudanese could die this year in the western Darfur region in a humanitarian crisis blamed on Khartoum, a senior US official said on Tuesday. ... Bush sees Turkey, Iraq as role model for Middle East ISTANBUL, June 29: Using Turkey and the day-old sovereign government in Iraq as models, US President George W. Bush on Tuesday urged people in the Middle East to embrace democracy fashioned in their own image. ... Iran hails Iraq's hand over TEHRAN, June 29: Iran said on Tuesday the US transfer of power to Iraqis was a "positive step" toward the holding of free elections and withdrawal of foreign troops. ... Iran reformists fear women rights face grim future TEHRAN: Activists fear their hard-fought efforts to improve the status of women in Iran's male-dominated society will be brought to a halt following the triumph of conservatives in February's parliamentary elections. ... Indian PM gives up BMW NEW DELHI, June 29: India's new Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, known for his austere ways, has shunned custom-made BMWs ordered by his predecessor and opted to ride in domestically-made Ambassador cars, a report said on Tuesday. ... Aga Khan centre in Mozambique MATOLA, June 29: The Aga Khan, the spiritual head of the Ismaili community, joined President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique on Monday in announcing the creation of Aga Khan Academy, Maputo ... Kuwait, S. Arabia insist on war debt GENEVA, June 29: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, who have lodged claims worth billions of dollars against Iraq for damage from the 1991 Gulf War, insisted on Tuesday that Baghdad must honour its debts to victims. ... US envoy blasts extremists DHAKA, June 29: The US Ambassador in Dhaka, Harry K. Thomas, said on Monday that "fundamentalists" were behind the killing of Khulna Press Club president Humayun Kabir, calling for the arrest of "such extremists" in Bangladesh. ... LTTE slams govt for 'covert' activities COLOMBO, June 29: The Liberation Tigers, who are accusing the government of readying for war, is likely to take up the question of Sri Lanka army backing renegade commander 'Karuna' when the LTTE meets with the special Norwegian peace envoy, Eric Solheim. ... 75pc polio cases in Nigeria: WHO KANO, June 29: Seventy-seven per cent of the world's confirmed cases of polio are in Nigeria, where 257 cases of the wild polio virus have been recorded, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. ...

© The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2004