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| August 26, 2005 | Friday | Rajab 20, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Moderates won, extremists lost in LG polls across the country: Musharraf KARACHI, Aug 26 (APP) President General Pervez Musharraf Friday said the local bodies elections have resulted in the victory of moderates and the defeat of extremists everywhere in Pakistan. "The outcome of the elections overall in the country is a victory for moderates and enlightenment, and defeat for the extremists", Musharraf said while inaugurating the "Askari Park" at the site of old Sabzi Mandi in Karachi. "This is an excellent outcome of the local government elections and I commend the people of Karachi for peaceful elections here," he added. The President assured that within a year or maximum one-and-a-half year the electricity system in Karachi will be improved. He said water, cleaner environment, roads and electricity will also be made available to the people of Karachi who deserve a better deal than what they had been having in the past. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Casualties in Iraq, Aug 26 BAGHDAD, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A follower of Moqtada al-Sadr was shot dead by policemen and another wounded in Kerbala, police and Sadr's office said. One guard was killed and two injured when aroadside bomb struck their patrol near a bridge in Doura district of Baghdad. A police source said the men worked for a firm protecting oil facilities. One suspected insurgent was killed by Iraqi police in an exchange of small-arms fire during raids on Thursday and Friday in Mosul. The U.S.military said 16 suspects were also detained in the raid.(Posted @ 20:25 PST)
One hundred thousand Shi'ites protest Iraq charter BAGHDAD, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A hundred thousand Iraqis across the country marched on Friday in support of Moqtada al-Sadr opposed to a draft constitution that U.S.-backed government leaders say will deliver a brighter future.Sadr supporters marched in eight cities, including 30,000 people who gathered for a sermon delivered on his behalf in a Baghdad slum district..(Posted @ 20:25 PST)
Saudi says it thwarted 'imminent' attacks RIYADH, Aug 26 (AFP) - Saudi authorities said on Friday they had thwarted terrorist attacks, including one in the capital Riyadh, during a series of coordinated operations against Al-Qaeda suspects last week. "Security forces managed to... prevent vile attacks that were imminent," when they targeted militant hideouts in Riyadh, the holy city of Medina and the northern town of Arar on August 18, said an interior ministry statement. A raid on a Riyadh hideout targeted a group preparing to carry out "an imminent terrorist attack in the city, said the statement read on state television. One-time local Al-Qaeda chief Saleh al-Ufi was killed during a shootout with security forces in Medina on August 18. Two other militants were also killed in the clashes in Medina and Riyadh, including one figuring on a most-wanted list. State television Friday aired footage of the clashes and large quantities of weapons seized during last week's operations.(Posted @ 20:05 PST)
New Zealand win second one-dayer BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Aug 26 (AFP) - New Zealand beat India by 51 runs in the second one-day international at the Queens Sports Club here on Friday. It was the second win for the Kiwis who defeated hosts Zimbabwe by 192 runs in the opening match of the triangular tournament earlier in the week. Scores: New Zealand 215 (43.1 overs); India 164 (37.2 overs)(Posted @ 20:00 PST)
England 477 all out against Australia NOTTINGHAM, England, Aug 26 (AFP) - England, after winning the toss, were bowled out for 477 at tea on the second day of the fourth Test against Australia at Trent Bridge here Friday. Flintoff hit a grand century. Simon Jones was 15 not out.(Posted @ 19:55 PST)
Pakistan attaches great importance to its ties with African Union: PM ISLAMABAD, Aug 26 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Friday underlined the growing importance that Pakistan attached to the African Union (AU) as a regional entity and to the African countries individually. He was talking to the visiting Foreign Minister of Guinea,Madam Sidibe Fatoumata Kaba, who paid a courtesy call on him here at the Prime Minister house.(Posted @ 19:55 PST)
Installation of oil refineries at Gawadar vital for Pakistan: President KARACHI, Aug 26 (APP)- President General Pervez Musharraf said Friday that Pakistan must establish oil refineries at Gawadar to refine oil of Gulf countries for international market. He was speaking at the inauguration of $ 480 million, 817 kilometres long white oil pipeline from Port Qasim to Mahmood Kot, built by Pak-Arab Pipeline Company (PAPCO).The President said the world oil prices were rising due to lack of refining capacity and not because of production shortage. "There is a big and increasing gap between demand and supply of refined oil. Therefore, I think, Pakistan must go very strongly towards establishing oil refineries (to capitalise this opportunity)",he noted. It will also serve the strategic defence interest of the country,he observed. He said Gawadar Port has been completed and will be commissioned in June 2006. The port is ready but we are dredging it to 15 metres depth for accommodating larger vessels. President Musharraf said "a similar pipeline can be laid from Gawadar to upcountry to transport oil products as a feasible proposition". He commended the joint venture as of great importance and strategic significance to Pakistan, saying that this pipeline will go a long way in catering to the needs of Afghanistan and Central Asian republics in an environment-friendly manner. It will also replace the transportation of oil products by tankers which have been crowding the area in Keamari creating nuisance for the locals and causing pollution in the area.(Posted @ 19:50 PST)
China to support Pakistan in setting up Textile City SHANGHAI, Aug 26 (APP): China has shown willingness to provide technical and investment support to Pakistan for setting up a textile city in Karachi, said Zahid Zaheer, Chief Executive Pakistan Textile City (PTC) who is here at the head of a seven-member delegation for talks on the subject.It was already agreed that the PTC in collaboration with the National Engineering Service Pakistan (NESPAK) will build infrastructure at the cost of Rs. 10 billion within a period of one year at about 1,250-acres land located in the outskirt of Karachi, Zaheer told APP in an interview Friday(Posted @ 19:40 PST)
Five grenade blasts wound 13 people, spread panic in occupied Kashmir town SRINAGAR, Aug 26 (AFP) - A wave of five grenade blasts Friday left 13 people wounded in a town in occupied Kashmir, among them four border guards and a five-year-old girl.The explosions went off within three hours in Sopore, 50 kilometres north of Srinagar, targeting soldiers patrolling on foot and in vehicles, a police spokesman said. "Most of the injured were bystanders," he said.Soporeis a stronghold of Hizbul Mujahedin.(Posted @ 18:40 PST)
Eight die as senior separatist seeks Kashmir conference SRINAGAR, Aug 26 (AFP) - Eight people were killed in the latest violence in Indian Kashmir, officials said Friday as a senior separatist said he planned to call a conference of leaders from both sides of the divided state. An army official said Indian troops shot dead four members of Hizbul Mujahedin, while suspected rebels killed a public servant and his son. "The militants were killed in two separate clashes late Thursday in the districts of Anantnag and Pulwama," army spokesman Vijay Batra told AFP. Also Thursday, suspected militants shot dead a government official and his son in the southern district of Rajouri, police said and blamed militants for two more shootings in which a village head and a Kashmiri working in the Indian army were killed in the districts of Baramulla and Budgam respectively. Meanwhile, senior Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik said Friday he planned to call a Srinagar conference of leaders from both the Indian and Pakistani zones. "This conference will give chance to Kashmiris to speak their minds," Malik told a rally in Bandipora, 60 kilometers north of Srinagar."There is tremendous pressure on India and Pakistan from the international community to resolve the dispute," Malik said. "I can tell you with authority that the Kashmir issue is heading towards a resolution." "The way Palestine is heading towards a solution, similarly serious efforts are on to resolve the dispute over Kashmir," he said, but warned that Kashmiris would not accept any resolution forced on them.(Posted @ 18:35 PST)
Iraq Shiites say charter offer final BAGHDAD, Aug 26 (AFP) - Leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority have made their final proposals on the text of a new constitution and would brook no further compromise in the hunt for Sunni Arab endorsement, a negotiator said Friday. "Today we reached the final limit beyond which we can't move any further," said Jawad Maliki, the number two in Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari's Dawa party.(Posted @ 19:15 PST)
Japanese teachers missing in Afghanistan TOKYO, Aug 26 (AFP) - Two Japanese teachers have been missing in Afghanistan since arriving there on holidays three weeks ago, authorities said Friday.The man and a woman arrived in Karachi on August 6 and shortly afterward contacted their families in Hiroshima for the first and last time, officials said. "Our staff in Islamabad and Karachi confirmed that two people entered Afghanistan but we don't know where they are now," said Yuji Yamamoto, an official at the Japanese foreign ministry. From hotel records, Japanese authorities learned the couple headed to Quetta near the Afghan border a day after arriving in Karachi. They were due to return to Japan on August 19 but did not. A senior diplomat at the Japanese embassy in Islamabad, Shieuta Kazumasa, said the pair entered Afghanistan on August 8 "and since then they are missing". "We are keeping in contact with the government of Afghanistan," he added. Another diplomatic source in Islamabad said the pair entered Afghanistan from the border crossing at Chaman, near Quetta. "We have checked the immigration record at Chaman. They left Pakistan on August 8 and they have not re-entered Pakistan," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.(Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Burundi's new president sworn in to end conflict and transitional rule BUJUMBURA, Aug 26 (AFP) - Burundi's new President Pierre Nkurunziza was sworn in here Friday as the country's first elected leader after 12 years of war at a ceremony attended by several other African heads of state. The 40 year-old Hutu ex-rebel leader took oath of office for a five-year period under the terms of the country's power-sharing constitution endorsed in February.(Posted @ 18:25 PST)
Resolution of core Kashmir dispute must for durable peace: PM ISLAMABAD, Aug 26 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Friday that durable peace in South Asia cannot be achieved unless the coreissue of Kashmir is resolved. Talking to the Prime Minister of AJK Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan, at the Prime MinisterHouse Aziz said that the Kashmir dispute needs to be resolved in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people and reiterated Pakistan’s resolve continue its political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris for their just causes. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Three buses pile up in Iran, killing 22 - TV TEHRAN, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Three coaches crashed in northwestern Iran on Friday, killing 22 people and injuring 38, state television reported. A coach from Istanbul to Tehran tried to overtake a bus travelling from Syria but smashed head-on into an oncoming bus. It was not immediately clear if those killed were all Iranians. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Cricket-Indian pacemen strike early, New Zealand recover to 215 BULAWAYO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Indian left-arm pace duo Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra wrecked New Zealand's hopes of posting a big total in the second triangular series match on Friday. New Zealand, who won the toss and chose to bat, recovered from a poor 36 for 5 to make 215 in 43.1 overs with Craig McMillan hitting a half-century. Pathan took three for 34, Nehra two for 22. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Pakistan sentences five to hang for Musharraf death plot ISLAMABAD, Aug 26 (AFP) - Five people have been sentenced to death in Pakistan for their involvement in a 2003 attempt to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in which 15 people were killed, an official said Friday. Army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said a low-ranking member of the military and four civilians were given the sentence a few days ago. The sentences relate to Christmas Day 2003, when two suicide bombers rammed explosives-laden vehicles into Musharraf's motorcade in Rawalpindi near the capital. "Five people have been given the death sentence," Sultan told AFP. The soldier sentenced was named as Naik Arshad Mahmood, and the civilians were named as Zubair Ahmed, Rashid Qureshi, Ghulam Sarwar Bhatti and Akhlas Ahmed. Sultan said another three people convicted of involvement in the plot were jailed. Rana Mohammad Naveed was sentenced to life imprisonment, Adnan Khan got 15 years behind bars and Aamir Sohail 20 years. "I cannot say where the case was tried," the military spokesman added. "They were tried under the relevant provisions of law."On Saturday, officials said former Pakistani soldier Islam Siddiqui, 35, was hanged in Multan prison for involvement in the earlier December 14 attempt. Musharraf narrowly survived that attack because a hi-tech jamming device on the president's Mercedes had delayed the explosions of five bombs. No one was injured in the attack.(Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Flintoff and Jones boost England NOTTINGHAM, England, Aug 26 (AFP) - Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones powered England towards a commanding first innings total as the hosts enjoyed the best of the morning session on the second day of the fourth Test against Australia at Trent Bridge here Friday. At lunch England were 344 for five, with Flintoff 73 not out off 94 balls with one six and 11 fours and wicket-keeper Jones 34, the pair sharing their fourth century stand in Test cricket. In total England, who resumed on 229 for four, had scored 115 runs in the session's 29 overs for the loss only of Kevin Pietersen for 45. (Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue yields "noticeable progress"- Shyam Saran NEW DELHI, Aug 26 (APP)- Indian Foreign Seccretary Shyam Saran on Friday said ongoing Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue process yielded "noticeable progress" and it needed to be carried forward to address the issues. At a press briefing in the run up to the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary level talks, to be held in Islamabad from August 31 Saran said the Composite Dialogue process has been looking at specific issues like Siachen, Sir Creek, terrorism, drug trafficking. It was not clear whether all these could be subsumed in the Joint Commission having a new role, he expressed adding, no definitive view has been taken on whether the dialogue process could be carried forward in a changed format and this issue is likely to come up during the talks.He told newsmen that Pakistan had agreed to grant consular access to Sarabjit Singh, facing death sentence but denied there was any proposal about exchange of prisoners for the release of Sarabjit Singh. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
14 children among 17 killed in Paris fire: police PARIS, Aug 26 (APP/AFP) - Fourteen children and three adults died in an overnight blaze in an apartment building housing African immigrant families in Paris, police said Friday. The fire, one of the worst to hit the capital in its postwar history, apparently started in the building's stairwell. Most of those killed were asphyxiated, according to firemen. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Israel arrests two for pig's-head attack on mosque TEL AVIV, Aug 26 (Reuters) Two suspected Jewish ultranationalists are under arrest for throwing a pig's head at a mosque in a botched bid to spark Muslim rioting and halt Israel's Gaza Strip withdrawal, police said on Friday. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Turkish soldiers kill Kurdish rebel in clash DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Aug 26 (Reuters) Turkish soldiers killed one Kurdish guerrilla in a clash in a remote part of southeast Turkey on Thursday evening, a local official said. (Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Blast hits oil well in Iraq's Kirkuk field BAGHDAD, Aug 26 (Reuters) Insurgents sabotaged an exporting oil well in Iraq on Friday, an Iraqi oil official said adding that fire-fighters were battling the blaze in the northern Kirkuk oilfields, which pumps 7,000 to 10,000 barrels per day (bpd)and feeds a pipeline to Turkey. (Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Singapore, Pakistan wrap up first round of free trade talks SINGAPORE, Aug 26 (AFP) Singapore and Pakistan on Friday concluded the first round of talks towards a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), the city-state's trade ministry said. Pakistan will host the next round of discussions in November, Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement. "Both sides had fruitful discussions on the key issues in trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, and investment, as well as the legal chapters of the FTA," it said. (Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Suspected Taliban kill government mapmaker and merchant in Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Aug 26 (AFP) Suspected Taliban militants shot dead a government mapmaker and a merchant as the two walked through Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, police said Friday. A purported spokesman for Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call from an undisclosed location. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Cholera kills 16 in Congo army convoy LUBUMBASHI, Congo, Aug 26 (Reuters) A cholera outbreak in a convoy of soldiers travelling with their families in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has killed at least 16 people and infected hundreds, aid officials said on Friday. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
15 killed in explosion in mine in south-western China BEIJING, Aug 26 (AFP) Fifteen miners were killed in an explosion in a coal mine in south-western China's Guizhou province, state press reported Friday, in the latest of the country's regular mine disasters. Two miners escaped and four were rescued after the blast in the Zhulinwan Coal Mine on Thursday, state news said. Police were trying to find out the cause of the explosion. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Sri Lankan court rules there will be presidential election this year COLOMBO, Aug 26 (AFP) Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Chandrika Kumaratunga's final term ends in December, clearing the way for elections between October 22 and November 22. The five-judge bench decided unanimously that Kumaratunga's second and final term will end on December 22. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 31.68 points: KARACHI, August 26: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 7585.69, up 31.68 points from Thursday's close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, August 26: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.12 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:20 PST)
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