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16 April 2005 Saturday 06 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426 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).

to return to the regular issue please click here. Japan, Russia mark 150 years of ties; Koizumi seeks return of islets TOKYO, April 16 - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Saturday renewed his demand for the return of disputed islands from Russia as the two countries commemorated the 150th anniversary of bilateral relations. A ceremony was held in Shimoda, some 132 kilometers (81 miles) southwest of Tokyo, where the two countries signed the Treaty of Commerce, Navigation and Delimitation in 1855."The Northern territory issue is the only obstacle left unremoved from Japan and Russia," Koizumi told the ceremony, (APP/AFP) (Posted @ 11:00 PST) Bombs rock Baghdad as Sunni cleric calls for amnesty BAGHDAD, April 16 - Two bomb attacks in Baghdad killed one and wounded nine as inmates rioted in Iraq's largest US-run prison and an official warned that a new government was at least a week away from formation. A suicide car bomber blew himself up as a US military convoy drove through a usually-busy commercial road in the western Mansur neighbourhood, wounding five civilians and a US soldier. Just 10 minutes later, a roadside bomb went off in eastern Baghdad, targeting an Iraqi army convoy, killing one civilian and wounding three, an interior ministry source said.In southern Iraq, a prisoner at the US-run Camp Bucca detention center was murdered, triggering a fight between inmates that left 12 wounded late Thursday, the US military said. In other unrest, a Kurdish television journalist was shot dead in the northern ethnically divided oil city of Kirkuk, police said. (APP/AFP) (Posted @ 11:00 PST) Ecuador fires Supreme Court, Quito in emergency QUITO, Ecuador, April 15 - Ecuadorean President Lucio Gutierrez fired the entire Supreme Court on Friday in an attempt to end a political crisis and declared a state of emergency in the capital, Quito, to quell protests. "The magistrates of the current Supreme Court are declared dismissed," former army colonel Gutierrez said in a surprise television address to the nation. It was the second time Ecuador's Supreme Court has been fired in four months. (Reuters) (Posted @ 11:00 PST) Pakistan police detain Zardari after plane lands LAHORE, Pakistan, April 16 - Pakistani police boarded an airliner bringing home the husband of opposition-leader-in-exile Benazir Bhutto on Saturday, detaining him and several aides to prevent them holding a rally. Police said he would be taken to his residence in the city and then freed."He has not been arrested. We have just shifted him to his house," Superintendent of Police Mohammad Usman said. "He will be free there."A private TV channel, which had a correspondent travelling on the plane from Dubai with Zardari said police boarded the plane after it landed, detained Makhdoom Amin Fahim , and former Foreign Minister Sardar Asseff Ahmed Ali.Hundreds of police officers were deployed to block roads leading to Lahore airport butabout 50 party activists managed to enter the airport and chanted: "Long Live Benazir!" and "Welcome, Zardari welcome". (Reuters) (Posted @ 09:20 PST) Saudi crown prince visits Morocco RABAT, April 15 - Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah arrived in Morocco on Friday for talks with King Mohammed. (Reuters) (Posted @ 09:20 PST) Haiti police, UN peacekeepers kill up to 10 gunmen PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, April 15 - Haitian police and U.N. peacekeepers killed as many as 10 gunmen in a joint crackdown on lawlessness in Port-au-Prince's volatile Cite Soleil slum on Friday, a senior U.N. peacekeeper said.The operation, involving 160 Jordanian peacekeepers and several dozen Haitian police, came a day after bandits shot dead a U.N. soldier from the Philippines, the third peacekeeper to die in action in Haiti since the mission was launched in June 2004. (Reuters) (Posted @ 09:20 PST) Pakistan police detain aides as Zardari plane lands LAHORE, Pakistan, April 16 - Pakistani police boarded an airliner bringing home the husband of opposition-leader-in-exile Benazir Bhutto on Saturday and detained several aides travelling with him, a private television channel reported.The TV channel, which had a correspondent travelling on the plane from Dubai with Asif Ali Zardari, which landed in the eastern city of Lahore early in the morning, said it was not immediately clear whether Zardari himself had been detained.It said police detained Makhdoom Amin Fahim and former Foreign Minister Sardar Asseff Ahmed Ali. (Reuters) (Posted @ 09:20 PST) Founder: Quaid-I-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah 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) 569-3995 webmaster@dawn.com Note: Make sure to reload these pages so you're viewing the current version.

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