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| 02 January 2005 | Sunday | 20 Ziqa'ad 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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No compromise with Musharraf: PML-N - LAHORE, Jan 02: PML-N leaders have ruled out any deal with the government and vowed that the party would continue its struggle for the restoration of the 1973 Constitution and revival of true democracy in the country. "General elections will be held this year and Nawaz Sharif will be the next prime minister," they claimed. The leaders including Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, Tehmina Doultana, Pervez Malik, and Saad Rafiq while addressing party workers here today, said the party would not accept President Gen. Pervez Musharraf as constitutional president of the country even if he (Gen Musharraf) shed his uniform. PML-N leaders said the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal had committed a political suicide by supporting the 17th amendment, adding that other political parties should learn a lesson from the religious parties' alliance. (PPI) (Posted @ 23:35 PST) 
Pakistan crumble after Salman debut Test century: SYDNEY, Jan 02: Pakistan squandered a Salman Butt century with another middle-order batting collapse as Stuart MacGill captured five wickets to put Australia on top after the opening day of the third and final cricket Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Pakistani team imploded after Salman cracked his maiden Test century to have 241 for three to be 292 for nine when bad light stopped play with eight overs left in the day today. Recalled leg-spinner MacGill did the damage, relishing his Test return after nine months in limbo to snare 5-87 while leading paceman Glenn McGrath claimed 3-38 as Pakistani players disintegrated. Salman kissed the ground as he reached his debut century and was out shortly after for a determined 108 in over four and a half hours with 16 boundaries. The 20-year-old left-hander had a hundred at his mercy before he was needlessly run out for 70 in the first innings of last week's second Melbourne Test defeat. But he made sure of the three-figures on Sunday as he defied Australia's stellar bowling attack, strengthened by SCG spin specialist MacGill. McGrath, who was curiously held back from bowling by skipper Ricky Ponting for four hours after his initial morning spell, claimed Salman's wicket with the third ball of his second spell, caught behind by Adam Gilchrist in the 67th over of the innings. Yet again Pakistan disintegrated losing eight wickets for 99 runs after they were looking in good shape at 193 for one. (AFP) (Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Former Iraqi foreign minister calls for elections to be postponed: BAGHDAD, Jan 02: Former Iraqi foreign minister Adnan Pachachi, writing in today Washington Post, has called for Iraqi elections scheduled for January 30 to be postponed for a number of months due to the unstable security situation in the country. Pachachi, head of the U.S.-backed Iraqi Independent Democratic Movement, said that in the current security climate, campaign rallies would be an "open invitation for terrorists to attack". Referring to the argument that a postponement of the elections would be a "victory" for the insurgent groups, Pachachi wrote that forcing large numbers of Iraqis to stay away from the polls on election day through fear of attack would also be a way "for the terrorists to win in Iraq". He said a delay for a number of months would allow "national reconciliation" to take place and enable all political groups to take part. (DPA) (Posted @ 23:45 PST)
Suicide Car Bomber Kills 25 Iraqi National Guards: BAGHDAD, Jan 02: A suicide car bomber killed 25 Iraqi National Guards and a civilian riding in a bus outside a U.S. military base north of Baghdad today, a U.S. army spokesman said. A four-wheel drive vehicle packed with explosives blew up next to the bus in the latest in a series of deadly attacks on Iraq's fledgling security forces aimed at disrupting a Jan. 30 election. A further six Guards were wounded in the attack near Balad, 36 miles north of Baghdad, Master Sergeant Robert Powell said from Tikrit. "We have 25 Iraqi National Guards, one Iraqi civilian and the driver of the vehicle dead," he said. "We don't know if the vehicle with the bomb was stationary or moving at the time." (Reuters) (Updated @ 20:20 PST)
Israeli Forces Launch New Gaza Operation: GAZA, Jan 02: Israeli tanks rumbled into the northern Gaza Strip today to try to stop cross-border rocket attacks described by front-running Palestinian presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas as useless. The offensive into the town of Beit Hanoun began just hours after Israeli forces ended a three-day-long incursion into Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza aimed at halting mortar and rocket attacks by militants against nearby Jewish settlements. The violence, a week before Palestinians elect a successor to Yasser Arafat, posed a particular challenge to Abbas, who has called for a resumption of peace talks with Israel under a U.S.-backed "road map" and an end to bloodshed. In a Reuters interview on Saturday, Abbas said rocket attacks against Israelis were counterproductive because they drew strong retaliation. Militants vowed to continue them. Witnesses said about 50 Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers moved into the northern Gaza Strip. The raid began after two rockets hit the southern Israeli town of Sderot, wounding a woman. (Reuters) (Posted @ 15:10 PST)
Sudanese President Suggests Power Sharing : KHARTOUM, Jan 02: Encouraged by the signing of a peace deal with southern rebels, Sudan's president suggested that he may hold power and wealth sharing talks with rebels fighting army forces in the western region of Darfur. Thousands of Sudanese turned out in the capital, Khartoum, to welcome the return of the government delegation that negotiated the deal in the Kenyan city of Naivasha to end the 21-year southern civil war. Opposition groups also embraced the peace accords and cease-fire agreement signed by government officials and southern rebels. The agreements cleared the way for warring sides to sign a comprehensive peace deal next month in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. South African President Thabo Mbeki, who witnessed the deal signing in Naivasha, also was greeted by 50,000 people in Darfur, the site of a separate conflict in western Sudan that has killed tens of thousands of villagers and displaced nearly 2 million from their homes since fighting started in February 2003. (AP/AFP) (Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Iranian Presidential Election Set for June : TEHRAN, Jan 02: Iran's constitutional watchdog has approved June 17 as the date for presidential elections, state-run television reported, marking the first contest for control of the presidency since ruling clerics barred reformist candidates from last year's parliamentary election. Whoever emerges victorious will face substantial challenges, including the task of convincing the world that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful and responding to President Bush's labeling of Iran as part of the "axis of evil."The Guardian Council has agreed to hold the presidential election on June 17, television quoted council spokesman Gholamhossein Elham as saying. Hard-line conservatives have gained the upper hand over reformists in parliament since the Guardian Council barred reformist candidates from running in the February 2004 parliamentary election. Parliamentary by-elections in several cities will also be held at the same time, Elham said. The Guardian Council, which vets all parliamentary legislation and elections, disqualified more than 2,000 reformist candidates in legislative polls in February, effectively barring reformers from the assembly. Hard-liners are hoping to consolidate their grip on power and further erode the reformists' base of power. Former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, still a powerful force in Iran and a leading hard-liner, has said he will run if most political groups support his candidacy. Former hard-line clerics who now support reforms have expressed support for former speaker of the parliament Mahdi Karroubi. The election will choose a successor to replace Khatami in August, the soft-spoken reformist whose political and social agenda has been stifled by hard-line conservatives. Khatami (AP/AFP) (Posted @ 20:10 PST)
Blast in textile factory leaves 150 injured in Bangladesh: DHAKA, Jan 02:At least 150 people were injured, many critically, in Chittagong today as a boiler in a textile factory exploded, local fire brigade officials said. The blast occurred in the ironing section making ready-made clothes for export to the West. Hospital doctors said many of the injured underwent emergency surgery. More than eight million workers, the great majority women, are employed by over 2000 apparel factories in Bangladesh many operating like sweatshops under poor safety conditions. (DPA) (Posted @ 23:40 PST)
Four Confirmed Dead in Peru Police Shootout: LIMA, Jan 02: Four police officers died today in a shootout with an armed group that took over a police station in a southern Peruvian town on New Year's Day and held 10 hostages, doctors said. Doctors at two hospitals confirmed four police deaths in Andahuaylas, where President Alejandro Toledo declared a state of emergency after the siege began on Saturday. RPP radio earlier reported five police deaths. Few details were available on the early morning gunbattle at the police station more than 24 hours after it was stormed by former army Maj. Antauro Humala and 160 supporters demanding the resignation of Toledo. Police and military reinforcements were dispatched to end the siege in the poor town of 26,000 about 560 miles southeast of Lima. (Reuters) (Posted @ 20:10 PST)   Editor: Tahir Mirza 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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