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| 08 August 2004 | Sunday | 21 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425 |
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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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Imran Khan casts doubt on Pakistan's Al-Qaeda crackdown: LONDON, Aug 08: Imran Khan reacted sceptically to Islamabad's apparent crackdown on Al-Qaeda, saying the government was desperate for the support of the United States. "Just because the government calls someone Al-Qaeda, doesn't mean they are Al-Qaeda, because the government is desperate for American support," Khan told BBC radio. "We don't know who is Al-Qaeda or who is who," said the former Pakistani cricket captain, now head of the Tehrik-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party. "The problem is that people are abducted in Pakistan, they are not presented in a court of law, they are not allowed to prove their innocence, there are so many people that have disappeared," he said. Khan warned that President Pervez Musharraf's administration was too dependent on US support. "Our government is no different to the Iraqi governing council," he said. He also said political power in Pakistan was dangerously concentrated in one person, the president. "The real power is with General Musharraf," Khan said. "The whole system depends on one man. And he has narrowly escaped a suicide attack against him. If anything happens to him, there is chaos ahead. (AFP) (Posted @ 14:15 PST) 
Intelligence Claims Another Al Qaeda Scalp: ISLAMABAD, Aug 08: A senior al Qaeda operative who knew Osama bin Laden and was linked to assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf has been arrested in Dubai and handed over to Islamabad, Pakistani intelligence sources said . Qari Saifullah Akhtar, a leader of the radical Islamic group Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, was arrested by authorities in Dubai after Pakistan had requested his detention, and handed over to Islamabad . In a separate development, Pakistani sources said that authorities had arrested Fazal-ur Rehman Khalil, head of the banned Harkat-ul-Mujahideen group linked to an insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir, the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda. His arrest will be seen as a warning to other leaders of banned radical Islamic outfits that have re-emerged under new names. Some are sectarian, but several have links to al Qaeda. (Reuters) (Posted @ 05:50 PST)
Pakistani Linked to Al Qaeda, U.S. Election Threat: NEW YORK, Aug 08: The Pakistani whose arrest last month provided information about threats to U.S. financial institutions was in communication with al Qaeda operatives intent upon disrupting U.S. elections this fall, The New York Times reported today. The July arrest of Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan prompted an alert from the Department of Homeland Security last week on threats to buildings housing financial institutions in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Citing a senior intelligence official in a Washington datelined story, the newspaper said Khan had revealed he was in communication with al Qaeda operatives who the Bush administration believes are plotting an attack aimed at disrupting U.S. elections this fall. Senior intelligence and counterterrorism officials were unclear whether the people behind the surveillance of financial institutions, which led to the increased alerts, and those involved in the election threat were part of the same group or belonged to overlapping or separate groups, it reported. While uncertainty remains over whether the surveillance in 2000 and 2001 was part of an ongoing plot, the Times said, officials say no clear evidence has yet been obtained to indicate the plot was ever abandoned. And authorities increasingly suspect the al Qaeda figures believed to have been involved in the surveillance remain active members of the network, it said. (Reuters) (Posted @ 13:55 PST)
15 suspected Taliban fighters arrested in southern Afghanistan: KABUL, Aug 08: Afghan Defence Ministry today said that its troops arrested 15 suspected Taliban fighters, including three senior members in southern province of Helmand. General Zahir Azimy, the spokesman for Afghan Defence Minister told Deutsche Press Agent dpa that the arrests were made today when a group of Taliban fighters attempted to assassinate the provincial governor of Helmand by exploding a truck full of explosive devices. "Three senior members of Taliban are also among the captives," Azimy said. Both Azimy and Wali declined to disclose the names of the senior Taliban members who have been arrested. (DPA) (Posted @ 23:55 PST)
Iraq Orders Militia from Najaf; Iranian Diplomat Taken: NAJAF, Aug 08: Iraq's interim prime minister ordered Shi'ite fighters to lay down their weapons and leave the holy city of Najaf today, but fighting raged on with U.S. helicopter gunships pounding guerrilla positions. A Reuters witness said two gunships fired missiles at defenses near Najaf's ancient cemetery manned by Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Clashes also erupted again in a Baghdad slum district, pushing up the death toll from four days of countrywide fighting between U.S. forces and Sadr's loyalists. Iran's embassy in Iraq said its consul to the city of Kerbala had been kidnapped by militants. He is the second foreign diplomat seized in a wave of kidnappings, mostly aimed at forcing foreign troops and companies to leave Iraq. (Reuters) (Posted @ 21:25 PST)
43 people have been killed in fighting between U.S. forces and Shi'ite militiamen: BAGHDAD, Aug 08: At least 43 people have been killed in fighting between U.S. forces and Shi'ite militiamen in Baghdad and the holy city of Najaf over the past 24 hours, the Iraqi Health Ministry said today. The ministry said 22 people died in clashes in Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite suburb Sadr City and other parts of the capital from 9 a.m. (0500 GMT) Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday. At least 21 people were killed in similar clashes in Najaf during the same period. "The figures from Najaf is initial because there are still bodies that could not be collected due to the ongoing fighting," an official said. (Reuters) (Posted @ 16:40 PST)
Labor Moves Nearer to Sharon Government : JERUSALEM, Aug 08: The moderate Labor Party moved closer to joining Ariel Sharon's hardline government after coalition talks yielded written agreement on key peacemaking issues, including a more detailed timetable for a Gaza withdrawal, Labor leader Shimon Peres said today. However, Labor legislators cautioned that sharp disagreements remain over economic issues, including what one party official called the ``piggish capitalism'' of the Sharon government. Sharon and Peres were to meet later today, Israel Army Radio reported. Sharon needs the alliance with Labor to forge ahead with a withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements by the end of 2005. He lost his majority in parliament earlier this summer, with coalition hard-liners quitting in protest. Peres confirmed today that negotiators from Labor and Sharon's Likud Party have reached agreement on the terms of the Gaza pullback and on general policy toward the Palestinians. Sharon's aides were not available for comment. (Guardian) (Posted @ 16:40 PST)
At least 27 African immigrants die in attempt to reach Italy: Police - ROME, Aug 08: At least 27 refugees died attempting to reach Italy by boat from north Africa, Italian police said today, updating an earlier toll after gathering accounts from some of the dozens of survivors rescued by a freighter off the Sicilian coast. Police said 73 survivors were picked up from their drifting boat by the crew of the Gilbraltar-registered container ship Zuiderdiep some 130 nautical miles southeast of Sicily. Another of the survivors was discovered to have died after the ship landed the would-be immigrants at the port of Syracuse in today. Some of the survivors told police 100 people had been packed on board their vessel when it set out on a nine-day voyage from the Libyan coast. (AFP) (Posted @ 23:55 PST)
Bus Crash in Pakistan Leaves Three Dead: ISLAMABAD, Aug 08: A passenger bus tumbled off a mountain highway in Kohistan today, leaving three people dead and at least 20 others missing and feared killed, police said. About 17 people, who were injured, were pulled out of the bus which fell into a fast flowing stream in Kohistan, said Waheed-ur Rahman, an official at the police control room in Kohistan. At least 20 other passengers were missing and believed trapped in the debris of the bus or their bodies washed away, Rahman said. Army troops in the area have been called to help and speed up the rescue work. "The water is deep and we fear those missing may have been killed," Rahman. A cause for the crash was not immediately known. The bus with some 42 people on board was heading from Skardu, to Rawalpindi. (AP/AFP) (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
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