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| May 13, 2005 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 4, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Washington urges Italy to keep troops in Iraq ROME, May 13 (AFP) - Italy's role in Iraq was praised Friday by a senior US official who urged Rome to maintain its force of 3,000 troops based in the south of the country. "Italy has had a very important role given troop numbers and given the location of Italian forces and we hope very much that we can continue to rely on Italian support," Nicholas Burns, US State Department undersecretary for political affairs, told reporters in Rome. (Posted @ 01:15 PST)
US shrugs off China's criticism on North Korea policy WASHINGTON, May 13 (AFP) - The White House on Friday shrugged off China's veiled criticism of US policy toward North Korea, noting that the most important issue was to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. "All our partners, including China, have made it clear that they're opposed to North Korea developing nuclear weapons. They all want to see a nuclear-free peninsula," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "We're all saying to North Korea that they need to come back to the six-party talks so that we can talk about how to move forward on the proposal that was outlined at the last round of talks," he said.(Posted @ 01:15 PST)
Telenor to invest $900 mln by 2007; No compromise on quality: CEO ISLAMABAD, May 13 (APP): Telenor, a cellular phone operator in Pakistan would continue to provide quality and competitive GSM services to its subscribers and bring in total investment of US $ 900 million by 2007. "The company will never compromise on quality, as better and affordable services will be our top priority to the best of subscribers' satisfaction," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company, Tore Johnsen told APP in an exclusive interview here on Friday. He said the mobile market in Pakistan is growing rapidly and the company is prepared to meet the growing demand of customers by bringing more cities and areas into its network. (Posted @ 01:15 PST)
Annan urges North Korea to trade nuclear plan for economic gains New York (dpa) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday urged North Korea to return to the six-nation nuclear talks because it would gain economic development in dropping its nuclear weapons programme. Annan said the U.N. has been providing humanitarian aid to North Koreans and encouraging them at the same time to cooperate with the international community on nuclear disarmament.(Posted @ 01:00 PST)
UAE, Punjab Govt sign MoUs for Zayed Trade Centre, Lake View Housing Project LAHORE May 13-(PPI): Memorandums of Understanding were signed here on Friday between the United Arab Emirates and Punjab government at Chief Minister's House regarding Sheikh Zayed Trade Centre and Lake View Housing Project. Later, Chief Secretary Punjab, Kamran Rasool along with Principal Secretary Finance and Taxation, Salman Siddique, while addressing a joint Press briefing said that a new Lake View Housing Project would be set up over an area of 30,000 acres near Shahdara, Lahore and a foreign investment of as many as 30 billion rupees is expected in this project.(Posted @ 01:00 PST)
NA condemns desecration of Holy Quran ISLAMABAD, May 13 (PPI):The National Assembly on Friday adopted a unanimous resolution condemning the desecration of Holy Quran reportedly by the American soldiers at Guantanamo Bay prison.It demanded of the US government to conduct a thorough inquiry into the incident to bring to justice the perpetrators of this shameful act.(Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Pakistan defends nuclear policy Sydney, May 13 PPI: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri urged Australia and the rest of the world to accept Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, saying it was "indispensible" to security of the country. Wrapping up first high-level visit of its kind to Australia, Kasuri said the decision by India to go nuclear left Pakistan with "no other option" but to follow suit. "Nuclear deterrence now forms an indispensable part of our security calculus and Pakistan cannot be expected to join the NPT as a non-nuclear weapons state," he said.(Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Arabs angry at impotence in face of Guantanamo 'desecration' DUBAI, May 13 (AFP) - Arabs on Friday expressed anger, both with Washington and their own leaders, over the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by Americans at Guantanamo Bay as Palestinians took to the streets in protest at the Jabaliya refugee camp, held aloft copies of the Holy Quran and Hamas flags as they marched through the streets. Egypt's opposition condemned the reports and blamed Arab leaders. Libya condemned the "irresponsible and immoral acts", and in Iraq, Sunni and Shiite imams alike spoke out against the alleged desecration in their sermons. Saudi Arabia urged Washington to carry out a speedy investigation and punish those responsible.(Posted @ 21:00 PST)
Thousands protest against Occupied Kashmir attack as 10 more die in violence SRINAGAR, India, May 13 (AFP) - Thousands of demonstrators joined grieving relatives carrying coffins Friday to protest against a grenade attack that killed two people and hurt 50 outside a school in revolt-hit Indian Occupied Kashmir. Police hurled teargas to quell stone-throwing demonstrators in the busy commercial centre of Lal Chowk in Srinagar where Thursday's blast occurred. Meanwhile, 10 more people died Friday in fresh violence in the region. The victims included a Muslim man and his two children killed when a "gift" bomb exploded in their faces.(Posted @ 20:45 PST)
Israel shells oustkirts of Lebanese border town TYRE, Lebanon, May 13 (Reuters) - Israeli forces shelled the fringes of a town near the Lebanese-Israeli border on Friday,security sources said. Hizbollah guerrilla group has outposts in the area, west of the disputed Shebaa Farms strip where clashes raged on Friday between Hizbollah and Israeli forces.(Posted @ 20:30 PST)
Nine killed as Afghan protests spread KABUL, May 13 (Reuters) - Anger spread in Afghanistan on Friday over a report that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Holy Quran, and nine people were killed and about 30 wounded in protests, police and residents said. Four policemen and national army soldiers were killed in a gun battle with anti-U.S. protesters in Ghazni province.Three were killed in the remote northeastern province of Badakhshan., besides 21 people including two police,who were wounded.". One person was killed in a protest in Badghis province in the northwest and one in Paktia in the southeast, police said.(Posted @ 20:15 PST)
Kashmir parcel bomb kills Muslim father, daughter and son SRINAGAR, , May 13 (APP/AFP) - A Muslim man, his daughter and son were killed in an overnight bomb explosion after they received a "gift" parcel at their home in Indian Occupied Kashmir, a police spokesman said Friday. An unidentified person had delivered a wrapped gift to the family earlier in the day. "Late in the evening when they started opening it there was an explosion," the police official said.All three were killed(Posted @ 20:00 PST)
Four political activists killed in police firing in south Indian state HYDERABAD, India, May 13 (AFP) - At least four opposition party political activists were killed and seven injured when police opened fire Friday on a rampaging mob in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, police said. The incident took place in Ananthapur, 360 kilometres (232 miles) from the state capital Hyderabad, when members of the ruling Congress party clashed with rival Telugu Desam Party activists. Police opened fire to disperse the unruly mob. The trouble began when opposition leader P. Sunitha went to file her nomination papers for a byelection due to be held there June 2,(Posted @ 18:50 PST)
Three killed in Iraq blast as US forces battle rebels BAQUBAQ, Iraq, May 13 (AFP) - A suicide bomber struck at a truck carrying about 40 soldiers in Baquba, 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of the capital, killing two soldiers and a civilian and wounding six others, security officials said.In other acts of violence, one policeman was shot dead and three were wounded when gunmen opened fire on their patrol in western Baghdad. Two civilians were also hurt. Gunmen kidnapped a border guard colonel from his home in Abi al-Khasib near the southern city of Basra, army officials said.(Posted @18:45 PST)
Pakistanis protest Holy Quran desecration ISLAMABAD, May 13 (AFP) - Hundreds of Pakistanis here burned US flags and effigies of President Bush on Friday to condemn alleged desecration of the Holy Quran at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, witnesses said. The protests after Friday afternoon prayers took place in the capital Islamabad,besides Pakistan's biggest city Karachi, Lahore ,Peshawar, Multan , Quetta and other towns all over the country. About 6,000 Afghan refugees also staged a demonstration in a camp near Peshawar, before dispersing peacefully.(Posted @ 18:30 PST)
One dead as soldiers shoot at protest site in Uzbek town ANDIJAN, Uzbekistan, May 13 (AFP) - At least one person was killed and five were wounded Friday when Uzbek soldiers opened fire in a square full of demonstrators in the city of Andijan, an AFP correspondent at the scene saw. (Posted @ 18:15 PST)
Cricket Pakistan cricketers arrive St. John's, Antigua, May 13 PPI: The Pakistan team arrived in Antigua early Friday and will play three One-Day Internationals - first in St Vincent on Wednesday followed by back-to-back matches in St. Lucia next weekend. Skipper Inzamam, the team's top batsman, said they were confident of success against the Windies. "This time we have a chance to win the series because they boys are looking in pretty good shape and they performed well in last series.," Inzamam said.(Posted @ 18:00 PST)
KASHMIR 4 Kashmiri youth martyred SRINAGAR May 13 (PPI)In occupied Kashmir the Indian army in fresh acts of state terrorism martyred four more Kashmiris, two of them in a fake encounter Kashmir Media Service reported that two were martyred by troops of 9-Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operation Group (SOG) in a joint siege and search operation at Katarsa, Parigam Kulgam. Two others were martyred in a fake encounter by 47-Rashtriya Rifles and SOG at Zalora in Kandi, Kupwara. Meanwhile an M.Sc student, Manzoor Ahmad Mir of University of Kashmir has gone missing from the University hostel since May 10. (Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Insurrection in east Uzbekistan, Islamic trial city epicenter of violence TASHKENT, May 13 (AFP) - Insurgents stormed key government buildings and freed more than 2,000 prisoners Friday in the eastern Uzbekistan city of Andijan, site of a controversial trial of alleged Islamic extremists.Authorities said armed clashes there left nine dead and 34 wound and the US embassy in Tashkent reported that a suicide bomber had been shot outside the Israeli embassy. "Insurgents took over the regional administration building and the high security prison, it is not clear who is in charge of the town," Saidjahon Zainobidinov, spokesman of the Appelatsia rights group, told AFP from Andijan. More than 2,000 inmates were released from the prison and a cinema and theater were torched, he said. Key buildings were in the hands of the insurgents, including the regional and city administration buildings A foreign ministry spokesman in Tashkent told AFP that security forces had brought the situation under control. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Pakistan navy rescues 13 fishermen, two still missing KARACHI, May 13 (AFP) - Pakistan's navy Friday rescued 13 fishermen whose boat was reported missing in the Arabian sea, while another two had not been found, officials said.Two other members of the crew of 17 were found alive clinging to driftwood on Thursday, a spokesman for the Pakistan Fishermen's Society told AFP.A search was continuing for the remaining fishermen, the society added. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Indonesian Muslims protest U.S.Holy Quran desecration report JAKARTA, May 13 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people gathered at a mosque in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, on Friday to express outrage over a report that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba had desecrated the Holy Quran. They gathered peacefully at a mosque and read a joint statement condemning Washington The government also voiced its concerns over the report saying the perpetrators must receive a 'deserved punishment' for their 'immoral' action. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Five civilians killed in U.S. air raid in northern Iraq Baghdad (dpa) - Five people were killed and three injured in a U.S. air raid on Shirgat village, in the Albuatha region, north of Baghdad late Thursday, according to a statement by the joint U.S. Coordination Centre Friday..Meanwhile, director of the Criminal Intelligence, Major Baligh Abdul-Jabar, was slightly injured Friday when he was ambushed by gunmen enroute to his office in Amara, 400 kilometres south of Baghdad,but one of his aides was killed and another injured, police added. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Pakistan's FM says US should punish troops if the Holy Quran desecration allegations are true SYDNEY, May 13 (AFP) - Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri Friday called for severe punishment for US soldiers if allegations they desecrated copies of the Holy Quran were proved true. "Yes, it's abominable the reports that emanated from Guantanamo Bay," Kasuri said following a speech to an independent think-tank, the Lowy Institute. "It's unthinkable that someone could be so debased, inhuman, depraved as to provoke the feelings of not just those people there (in Guantanamo) but all over the Muslim world."Even the worst enemy of the United States could not harm the image of the United States in the Muslim world as effectively as they've done if this is correct," he said. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
FY-2005 request includes $698 million for Pakistan: says Secretary Rice WASHINGTON, May 12 (APP)- The U.S. Secretary of State Ms. Condoleezza Rice Thursday said that request for Fiscal Year 2006 budget includes $698 million for Pakistan. In a statement before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, Dr. Rice said "We are requesting $5.8 billion in assistance to our front-line partners in the global war on terror. Through the provision of equipment and training, this assistance will help give military, police and other security forces the tools they need to destroy terrorist cells, disrupt terrorist operations, strengthen border controls, and prevent attacks." The request includes $698 million for Pakistan; $559 million for Colombia; $462 million for Jordan; $213 million for Kenya; and $159 million for Indonesia. (Posted @ 11:10 PST)
US military general probing Holy Quran desecration allegation WASHINGTON, May 12 (AFP) - A review of interrogation logs is underway to corroborate an exclusive allegation that military interrogators at Guantanamo Bay stuffed the Holy Quran in a toilet to rattle Muslim prisoners, a top US military officer said Thursday. The commander of the US Southern Command, General Bantz Craddock, has been at Guantanamo for the past two days "digging into this issue to see if there was a time when the Holy Quran was not respected," said General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "They have looked through the interrogation logs, and they cannot confirm yet that there was ever the case of the toilet incident except in one case, a log entry that they still have to confirm, where a detainee was reported by a guard to be ripping pages out of the Holy Quran and putting them in a toilet to stop it up as a protest," Myers said. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
Anti-war U.S. sailor sentenced in court-martial SAN DIEGO, May 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. sailor, whose refusal to go to Iraq has become a rallying point for anti-war activists, on Thursday had his pay cut and was sentenced to confinement to his base and hard labor. Navy Petty Officer Pablo Paredes, who refused to board the USS Bonhomme Richard as it was preparing to sail from San Diego with 2,000 Marines in December, was convicted in a court-martial on Wednesday to reduced Paredes' pay to the level of a basic recruit and spend two months restricted to his Navy base with three months of hard labor. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Abu Ghraib figure blames superior for introducing abuse WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - The former commander of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq blamed a ranking officer for introducing the use of human pyramids and dog leashes in the abuse of detainees and said in an interview on Thursday that abuse may be continuing there. Col. Janis Karpinski, a former one-star Army Reserve general who was punished in the scandal, said she had no idea what was going on at the prison and blamed Gen. Geoffrey Millerfor the methods that were used to humiliate detainees. "I believe that Gen. Miller gave them the ideas, gave them the instruction on what techniques to use," she said in excerpts from an interview on the ABC News "Nightline" program. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 127.28 points: KARACHI, May 13: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 7411.33, up 127.28 points from Thursday’s close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, May 13: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.35 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:20 PST)
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