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| May 27, 2005 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Afghan religious leaders issue fatwa calling for release of hostage KABUL, May 28 (AFP) - Afghan religious leaders issued Friday a fatwa, or religious decree, calling for the release of Clementina Cantoni, an Italian aid worker held hostage in Afghanistan. "Islam, among all the heavenly religions, practices the best governance policy, one of which is the issue of safety of foreign citizens who legally enter Afghanistan," said the fatwa from the Council of Islamic Leaders. (Posted @ 00:45 PST)
Al-Qaeda in Iraq says leader Zarqawi 'in good health': website DUBAI, May 27 (AFP) - Al-Qaeda in Iraq said its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the country's most wanted man, was "in good health", in a statement posted Friday on the Internet whose authenticity could not be confirmed. "Our leader is in good health. He is directing the jihadist operations and has been following the details right up to the time that this statement was drafted," the statement said.(Posted @ 00:40 PST)
U.N. charges Pakistani and Kosovar in sexual abuses New York (dpa) - A Pakistani working for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Kosovo has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse and human trafficking in the Serb province, the United Nations said Friday. A local girl was also charged in the case.(Posted @ 00:40 PST)
President and Prime Minister have projected feelings of all Muslims ISLAMABAD, May 27 (APP): Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal said on Friday that he President and the Prime Minister had projected the feelings of all Muslims by demanding that American soldiers found guilty of showing disrespect to the Holy Quran should be punished. Rao Sikandar said that both leaders had expressed feelings of extreme shock to the US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca during her recent visit to Pakistan over the disrespect shown by American soldiers at Guantanamo detention centre. (Posted @ 00:40 PST)
Cricket:Pakistan 144 all out West Indies 33-0 Bridgetown, Barbados, May 27 1st Test Day 2 :Pakistan 144 all out, West Indies 33-0 after tea break. (Posted @ 00:10 PST)
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Saudi King Fahd in hospital for medical tests-SPA RIYADH, May 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Fahd was admitted to hospital for medical tests on Friday, the officialnews agency SPA said."King Fahd entered King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh this evening to undergo some medical examinations," SPA quoted a palace statement as saying. It gave no further details.(Posted @ 21:15 PST)
Pakistani activists protest reported Holy Quran desecration = Islamabad (dpa) - Thousands of activists took to the streets throughout Pakistan Friday to protest reported desecration of the Holy Quran in the U.S. military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Big protest rallies were held in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore,Peshawar and Quetta under the aegis of the six-party Islamic opposition Alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Ammal (MMA) after Friday congregations.The protests went ahead under tight security. In Islamabad, MMA chief Qazi Hussein Ahmad led the rally, which marched up to the parliament house and kept on chanting anti-U.S. slogans.(Posted @ 20:45 PST)
Egyptians protest against Koran abuse, government CAIRO, May 27 (Reuters) - Thousands of Egyptians, led by members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, burnt U.S. and Israeli flags on Friday in protest against the abuse of the Koran by U.S. military personnel in detention camps.The protest outside the Lawyers Syndicate in Cairo was also a show of strength by the Brotherhood, more than 900 of whose members are in custody in a crackdown which began in March after the Islamist group began demonstrations for political reform.(Posted @ 20:45 PST)
Sonia Gandhi re-elected as Congress President- NEW DELHI, May 27 (APP): Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson and Chief of ruling party was unanimously re-elected on Friday as Congress President but formal announcement would be made tomorrow.(Posted @ 20:45 PST)
APHC Chief under house arrest, protest demon in IHK on desecration of Holy Quran NEW DELHI, May 27 (APP): Chairman, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani was put under house arrest today as Indian Held Kashmir observed a complete shutdown against the alleged desecration of Holy Quran by the US troops in Guantanamo bay detention Centre.(Posted @ 20:00 PST)
India, Pakistan agree to continue glacier talks ISLAMABAD, May 27 (Reuters) - Pakistan and India said on Friday that they agreed to continue talks about their standoff over the Siachen Glacier but announced no concrete progress after two days of discussions in Rawalpindi. "The two sides held frank and constructive discussions with a view to taking the process forward," a joint statement said.It was agreed by the two defence secretaries to continue with their discussions to resolve the Siachen issue in a peaceful manner," the statement added.(Posted @ 18:15 PST)
PML condemns desecration of Holy Quran ISLAMABAD, May 27 (APP): The ruling Pakistan Muslim League on Friday condemned the desecration of Holy Quran in Guantanamo Bay and expressed its deep shock at the incident demanding an immediate and impartial inquiry by the American government. A meeting of PML was held here at PML House under the chairmanship of President PML Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain who passed a resolution condemning the desecration of the Holy Quran.(Posted @ 18:00 PST)
JKLF to hold convention in Pakistan Srinagar May 27 (PPI) Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has decided to hold its first international convention since 1972 in Pakistan after June 2. Chairman of the JKLF Mohammad Yasin Malik said that all the diplomatic cells of JKLF in America, Canada, Britain and Middle East will arrive in Islamabad before June 2.(Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Country needs to sustain 8% growth for years: President Musharraf KARACHI, May 27 (APP) - President General Pervez Musharraf said on Friday that the GDP growth rate should be sustained at more than eight percent. Talking to reporters after a visit to the Pakistan Steel Mills, the President said the country would post a GDP growth rate of more than 8.3 percent in the current fiscal year to June 30. However the economy needs to sustain this pace of development and grow over eight percent for a number of years, he emphasized.(Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Suspected suicide blast in Pakistan kills 19 ISLAMABAD, May 27 (Reuters) - At least 19 people were killed and scores were wounded in a suspected suicide bombing at the Bari Imam shrine, which is close to Islamabad's main government buildings and the diplomatic enclave, where many embassies and diplomatic residences are located. "Our initial information suggests it was a suicide attack," Islamabad police chief Talat Mehmood Tariq told Reuters. At least 19 people died and 65 were wounded, said Tariq Mehmood Pirzada, a senior city official. The casualties included women and children."Many (Shi'ite) mourners have been martyred and many wounded," Qamar Haider Zaidi, a Shi'ite Muslim preacher, told reporters as bloody, limbless bodies were recovered from the scene. "Shi'ites and Sunnis were both there." President General Pervez Musharraf, and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz both have strongly condemned the blast incident, and ordered an inquiry. (Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Pakistani women stage new protests over alleged holy Quran desecration ISLAMABAD, May 27 (AFP) - About 100 women clad in Muslim veils and waving placards took to the streets in Peshawar on Friday. One banner urged the Muslim world to "unite to restore respect for the holy Quran" while another said: "The desecration of the Quran will trigger the collapse of the United States." "The aim of the rallies today is to let the Americans understand that the Muslim world cannot tolerate any desecration of the holy Quran," a spokesman for the protestors said. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Canada shares Pakistan's view on issue of UN reforms ISLAMABAD, May 27 (APP): Canada shares Pakistan's views on United Nations reforms and concern about proposed expansion of the UN Security Council (UNSC), the Canadian High Commissioner Margrate Hubber told AFP in an interview. "Canada's policy on the issue is the same as that of Pakistan", the Ambassador said. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Malaysian Muslims protest at US embassy over alleged Holy Quran desecration KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (AFP) - Several hundred demonstrators gathered on Friday outside the United States embassy in Malaysia to deliver a memorandum protesting the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by US military interrogators. Led by the hardline opposition Islamic Party (PAS), the crowd of about 500 people chanted "Long live Islam" and "Allahu Akbar" before handing the letter to US embassy officials. The memorandum was signed by PAS and three other Muslim non-governmental organisations. (Posted @ 15:13 PST)
Indian troops kill nine militants in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, India, May 27 (AFP) - Indian troops and police killed nine militants in occupied Kashmir, police said on Friday. Eight of the militants were killed in two bloody clashes in the southern district of Doda overnight, a police spokesman said. He said five of the militants were gunned down at a remote village which the police alleged to be a militant training camp. Separately, Indian troops overnight gunned down three militants in the same district during a hunt for militants who had ambushed and killed two soldiers early Thursday, police said. "The eight slain (militants) belonged to Hizbul Mujahedin and Lashkar-e-Taiba militant groups," the spokesman said. In another incident, Indian troops shot dead a district commander of Hizbul Mujahedin in central Budgam district overnight during a clash, police said. (Posted @ 11:32 PST)
Hurriyat describes as "negative" India's stand on travel beyond AJK NEW DELHI, May 26 (APP): Leaders of a faction of Hurriyat Conference, planning to visit Pakistan tonight characterized India's view as "negative" that their travel beyond Azad Jammu and Kashmir would be contrary to the understanding between the two countries. "This is a negative approach considering the improvement in relations between India and Pakistan", said senior Kashmiri leader and former APHC Chairman, Abdul Ghani Bhatt said while commenting on the remarks of External Affairs Ministry spokesman that any travel beyond AJK would not be in keeping with the understanding between New Delhi and Islamabad. (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
40,000-plus insurgents in Iraq, some will head to US: Clarke WASHINGTON, May 26 (AFP) - Former White House counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke said Thursday more than 40,000 insurgents are in Iraq and some will eventually head to the United States. "Take Fallujah, a city (in Iraq) with 250,000 people in it that we have totally destroyed. What if only one percent of these people have been motivated to hate America for the rest of their lives? It would be enough to pose a major threat," Clarke said at a Homeland Security conference in Washington. He also said that the United States has 123 chemical plants, any one of which, if attacked, could endanger the lives of a million people. "We have alienated public opinion in the Islamic countries. Our popularity is at an all-time low," he told the conference. (Posted @ 10:03 PST)
Syria says 1,200 arrested trying to get to Iraq UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (Reuters) - Syria's U.N. ambassador said on Thursday his country had arrested some 1,200 people over the past few months to prevent them from entering Iraq, despite U.S. charges that Damascus was not doing enough. Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad said in an interview that he would not say from which nations the insurgents came but said they were from "neighboring countries of Iraq and other countries in the region." (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Bush names new ambassador to Afghanistan WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W.Bush on Thursday nominated a career diplomat now serving in Iraq to be the new U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. Ronald Neumann, once approved by the Senate, would replace Zalmay Khalilzad, whom Bush nominated last month to become U.S. ambassador to Iraq. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Guantanamo probe finds 5 Holy Quran mishandling cases WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. military has identified five incidents of "mishandling of the Holy Quran" by U.S. personnel at Guantanamo Bay, but found no credible evidence that the Muslim holy book had been flushed down a toilet, the commander of the prison said on Thursday. Brig. Gen. Jay Hood refused to specify the nature of the mishandling, other than to say it did not involve placing it in a toilet. An FBI agent quoted a detainee in an August 2002 document made public on Wednesday as saying guards had thrown the Holy Quran in a toilet. Hood said military investigators interviewed that man this month, but did not directly ask him whether he had seen U.S. personnel put the Holy Quran in a toilet. (Posted @ 09:23 PST)
Two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq helicopter crash BAGHDAD, May 27 (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq on Thursday night when their helicopter crashed after being shot at near Baquba 60 km north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement on Friday. Out of the two helicopters that came under small arms fire one crashed while the other sustained damage but landed safely at a U.S. base. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 197.71 points KARACHI, May 27: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 6467.15, down 197.71 points from Thursday’s close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:30 PST)
Forex update KARACHI, May 27: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.08 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:30 PST)
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