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| August 22, 2005 | Monday | Rajab 16, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Pakistan provincial chief escapes unhurt after rocket attack QUETTA, Pakistan, Aug 22 (AFP) - The head of the troubled southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan escaped unhurt Monday after seven rockets were fired at a military camp while he was visiting, police said. The barrage came as Baluchistan chief minister Jam Mohammad Yousaf toured a camp of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Kohlu town, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) southeast of the provincial capital Quetta. "Some seven rockets were fired on the camp when the chief minister was in the building for a briefing on the law and order situation ahead of Thursday's municipal elections," local police officer, Mohammad Riaz, said. The rockets fell some 400 metres away from the camp and caused no casualties, he said.(Posted @ 22:20 PST)
President for provision of electricity, safe water for all by 2007 RAWALPINDI, Aug 22 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Monday reiterated the government's commitment to providing safe drinking water and electricity to the entire country by 2007.He was addressing a meeting that discussed a range of initiatives to materialize the basic facilities across the country. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also attended the meeting.(Posted @ 19:35 PST)
Two killed in Caucasus blast VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia, Aug 22 (AFP) - An explosion near a hospital in the southern Russian province of Ingushetia Monday killed at least two people, a spokesman at the regional interior ministry told AFP. One man was killed on the spot and three others were injured and taken to hospital, one of whom died later, said the spokesman, Iakhia Khadziev He said the explosion went off as a police car was passing, and said the possibility of an attack against the police could not be ruled out. A minibus was also damaged in the blast.(Posted @ 23:40 PST)
Last settlers leave Gaza as curtain falls on Israeli occupation NETZARIM SETTLEMENT, Gaza Strip, Aug 22 (AFP) - The last remaining Jewish settlers were pulled out of the Gaza Strip on Monday as Israel brought down the curtain on its 38-year occupation of the Palestinian territory. "All the Jewish residents of the Gaza Strip have been evacuated," national police spokesman Avi Zelba told AFP at the end of an operation which began last Wednesday and had initially been expected to take some three weeks.(Posted @ 23:12 PST)
Mind Intensity Earthquake Felt In Qila Abdullah, Chaman Quetta, Aug 22 PPI: An earthquake of mild intensity was felt on Monday afternoon in Qila Abdullah and Chaman towns of Balochistan province. According to Meteorological Department's office the magnitude of the earthquake on international richter scale was four.(Posted @ 22:40 PST)
Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces arrives ISLAMABAD, Aug 22 (APP): Vice Admiral Fahad Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad Al-Saud, Commander Royal Saudi Navel Forces accompanied by his personal staff arrived here Monday on an official visit at the invitation of Admiral Shahid Karimullah, Chief of the Naval Staff Pakistan Navy.(Posted @ 22:24 PST)
Afghanistan asks Pakistan to postpone refugee camp closure KABUL, Aug 22 (AFP) - Afghanistan called on Pakistan Monday to postpone the closure of all refugee camps in the Pakistani tribal regions, which are being shut by the end of the month for what Islamabad says are security reasons. The Afghan government said in a statement that every decision about the fate of the 32 camps being closed should follow an earlier three-way agreement between Islamabad, Kabul and the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). Thousands of refugees are defying the orders, protesting that they need at least two years to move out of the camps Pakistan has ordered camps in the tribal area in North Western Frontier Province to close by August 31 because of "security concerns".The UN refugee agency has said that it supported the relocations as clashes between Pakistani forces and suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives had made it "impossible" to assist the refugees properly. UNHCR spokesman Jack Redden said 385 refugees were repatriated from camps in Bajaur tribal region on Monday and more than 3,000 Afghans had registered themselves to return home.(Posted @ 19:52 PST)
Pakistan to meet energy requirements in industrial sector: Musharraf RAWALPINDI, Aug 22 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf has directed to evolve a target-oriented strategy to ensure future uninterrupted supply of gas and electricity to potential investors in the industrial sector, commensurate with Pakistan's fast-paced development and economic growth. He expressed government's resolve to tapping indigenous resources as well as import of gas and electricity from regional countries to fulfil the growing energy requirements of the country. Addressing a meeting which reviewed Pakistan's energy requirements in the light of recent growth in various industrial sectors, the president assured all-out facilitation to the local and foreign entrepreneurs and said the Government views provision of requisite energy futuristically to sustain its onward march on the path of high economic growth. Prime minister Shaukat Aziz attended the meeting.(Posted @ 19:30 PST)
Pakistan asks consular access for its nationals detained in Indian jails ISLAMABAD, Aug 22 (APP): Pakistan Monday asked India to allow consular access to 222 of its citizens imprisoned in different Indian jails and called for their immediate release on humanitarian ground. Foreign Office spokesman Naeem Khan told the weekly briefing that the 222 people, for whom the consular access has been requested, include 208 civilians and 14 fishermen. Responding to a question, the spokesman said there was an expected meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) next month that would provide an opportunity to the two leaders to discuss all issues including Jammu and Kashmir. On Bagliahar issue, he said Pakistan submitted its full case to the neutral expert on August 18, while India would also submit its case. On Kishanganga, he said India was yet to respond to the new set of dates proposed by Pakistan. Regarding progress on Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, he said "the talks were on-track" and a trilateral framework agreement was likely by the end of December, with construction commencing in early 2006. About reports of a meeting between Pakistani experts and those of International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, the spokesman said the dates have yet to be finalised.(Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Indian Foreign Secretary to visit Pak to review dialogue process NEW DELHI, Aug 22 (APP): Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran will visit Islamabad from Aug 31 for the wrap up meeting of the second round of the Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue process. The second round was initiated by the two Foreign Secretaries on December 27-28 last year in Islamabad where they discussed two of the subjects of the Composite Dialogue - Peace and Security including CBMs and Jammu and Kashmir. They would now assess the progress made during the second round of dialogue, take stock of the relationship and outline the course to move forward the dialogue process, the release said. Meetings on the other five subjects under the Composite Dialogue framework, including Siachen, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project, Sir Creek, Economic & Commercial Cooperation and Promotion of Friendly Exchanges in various fields have been completed from May-August this year. Home Secretary level talks on the sixth subject of Terrorism and Drug Trafficking are slated to be held here on August 29-30.(Posted @ 18:52 PST)
Casualties in Iraq, Aug 22 BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Ten Iraqis, eight of them policemen, were shot dead by gunmen north of Baghdad on Monday, police and hospital sources said. The men, who had left their police station wearing civilian clothes, were travelling in a minivan along with three other civilians when gunmen followed them in three cars and sprayed them with gunfire, police captain Karim al-Salmani said. Police found four bodies in a western Baghdad district near a Sunni mosque, an Interior Ministry source said.Two of the bodies were found on the highway and the other two were found in a semi-built house in the area. The identities of the victims were not immediately clear. In Kirkuk gunmen assassinated a counter-terrorism security official, Captain Ibrahim Saeed, and his wife , police said.One Iraqi policeman was killed when insurgents sprayed his vehicle with gunfire in the northern city of Samarra, police said. Meanwhile, the U.S military denied it bombed a wedding party in the western town of Hit on Friday. "We did not drop any bombs from aircraft on Friday in Anbar," an emailed response to a query from Reuters said.(Posted @ 17:35 PST)
Pakistan says arrests 10 militants in tribal belt ISLAMABAD, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The Pakistani military arrested 10 suspected terrorists and found a large quantity of weapons in raids in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan where al Qaeda militants have been active, a statement said on Monday. Seven suspects were arrested in the Mera Din area of the Shawal Valley and three in other parts of North Waziristan close to the Afghan border, a military statement said. The weapons cache was found in a deserted compound, which appeared to be a religious school. It included grenades and machineguns, commando uniforms, as well as women's clothes and wigs, the statement said. It said the raids took place in the past 24 hours. The identity of those arrested could not immediately be established, the statement said, adding that they had been handed over to intelligence agencies for interrogation.(Posted @ 17:26 PST)
Iraq suspends southern oil exports after power failure BASRA, Iraq, Aug 22 (AFP) - Iraq on Monday suspended all oil exports from its southern fields after a power failure, industry sources said. "The exports were stopped from 7:00 am (0300 GMT) after power failure affected the Zubair 1 pumping station," a source said.The oil ministry in Baghdad said it was checking the reports, but other industry sources in southern Iraq confirmed both the power failure and the halt in exports. At least two thirds of Iraq's 1.6 million barrels per day of oil exports come from the southern oilfields.(Posted @ 17:18 PST)
Iraqi abductors free 11 Pakistanis, three Indians ISLAMABAD, Aug 22 (AFP) - Kidnappers in Iraq have released 11 Pakistani nationals and three Indians who were abducted earlier this month, the foreign office in Pakistan said Monday. The Pakistanis, who worked with a Kuwaiti firm, went missing while travelling by bus from the southern Iraqi city of Basra to the capital Baghdad on August 13, foreign office spokesman Naeem Khan said. "We have just been informed by the Kuwaiti company that all 11 Pakistanis have been freed," he said at his weekly news briefing. They were currently in Basra and would be transported to Kuwait in the next 24 hours, he said. Three Indians abducted at the same time had also been freed, he said.(Posted @ 17:06 PST)
Sri Lanka names president's brother as new foreign minister COLOMBO, Aug 22 (AFP) - The brother of Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Anura Bandaranaike, was named foreign minister Monday to replace his assassinated predecessor Lakshman Kadirgamar, an official said. He will head the foreign ministry as well as keep his current post as minister of tourism, an official at the president's office said.(Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Inquiry is in progress to find out the cause of derailment:DS Railway KARACHI, Aug 22 (APP)_ Relief work is going on at the parcel express derailment site at Malir bridge and according to Divisional Superintendent Railways Karachi the removal of all the goods wagons will be completed sometime Monday. He said four wagons have been lifted with the help of cranes and work is in progress to lift the remaining two. DS Railway said that until the tracks are cleared, the movement of up and down trains will be carried out at Landhi Station. Passengers are now boarding trains from Landhi railway station while arrangements have also been made to transport them to Landhi from City and Cantonment Stations through buses, he added.(Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Roadside bombs kill four Afghan police KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Aug 22 (APP/AFP) - Four policemen were killed and four were wounded in two separate roadside bomb attacks amid a spiralling insurgency in southern Afghanistan, officials said Monday. Two police officers died and one was hurt on Sunday by a remote control device in Sia-sang, a village in restive Uruzgan province, provincial governor Jan Mohammed told AFP. "Their police jeep was hit by a roadside bomb ," said Khan.(Posted @ 16:46 PST)
11 killed in occupied Kashmir fighting SRINAGAR, Aug 22 (AFP) Indian troops shot dead eight militants in occupied Kashmir while three members of a family were killed by unknown suspects, police and army spokesmen said Monday. (Posted @ 15:05 PST)
US and Afghan forces kill 105 rebels in three weeks: US military KABUL, Aug 22 (AFP) US and Afghan forces have killed at least 105 Taliban militants in the past three weeks during operations to increase security before key legislative elections, the American military said Monday. (Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Nepal Maoists set off landmine,four policemen killed KATHMANDU, Aug 22 (Reuters) Maoist rebels blew up a police vehicle in west Nepal on Monday killing four policemen and wounding three, a police officer said. (Posted @ 14:55 PST)
At least 13 killed, 30 injured in Nepal bus accident KATHMANDU, Aug 22 (AFP) At least 13 people were killed and 30 injured when a bus skidded off the road and plunged 400 metres (1,320 feet) into a gorge in far-western Nepal, police said Monday. The accident happened Sunday night at Chokhan village in Baitadi district, 675 kilometres (421 miles) west of Kathmandu. The injured were being treated at a local hospital and 12 were in serious condition, a police official said. The cause of the accident had yet to be determined, the official said. It is not yet known how many passengers were on the bus. (Posted @ 12:50 PST)
Two US soldiers killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (AFP) Two US soldiers were killed late on Sunday when their vehicle rolled over during a combat patrol in Iraq, the US military said Monday. The incident occurred at about 11:00 pm (1900 GMT) Sunday near Tellafar, west of Iraq's northern city of Mosul. The deaths brough to 1,860 US military losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Indonesia pulls 1,300 troops out of Aceh JAKARTA, Aug 22 (APP/AFP) Some 1,300 Indonesian soldiers on Monday pulled out of Aceh province, a week after a peace deal was stuck with separatist rebels there, military deputy spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki said. Two battalions from the army's Kostrad strategic reserve, about 1,300 men, left on board a navy ship from North Aceh early Monday, Basuki told AFP. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Joint China-Russia war games prepare for live fire drills BEIJING, Aug 22 (APP/AFP) Chinese and Russian forces were Monday preparing for live-fire exercises as part of ongoing joint war games involving nearly 10,000 soldiers and a wide range of military hardware, state press said. "Military (naval) vessels, fighter jets and amphibious tanks will start three-day live ammunition combat practice tomorrow," a senior officer of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was quoted by the China Daily as saying. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 278.62 points: KARACHI, August 22: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 7590.54 , up 278.62 points from Friday's close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:45 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, August 22: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.23 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:45 PST)
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