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| September 12, 2005 | Monday | Sha’aban 7, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Colombian plane hijacked with 25 aboard BOGOTA, Sept 12 (AFP) - Two armed men on Monday hijacked a Colombian airplane carrying 25 people in southern Colombia, an air force source told AFP. The two hijackers were apparently armed with grenades, radio Caracol reported. The Aires airline plane landed in Bogota's El Dorado airport, an airport official said. The plane had been flying between Florencia and Neiva, Martin Gonzalez, the aviation authority spokesman, told AFP.(First Posted @ 23:15 Updated @ 23:45 PST)
President urges US for greater market access NEW YORK , Sept 12 (APP) : President General Pervez Musharraf Monday called upon the United States to facilitate greater access for Pakistani products in the American market. He told Secretary of State Dr Condoleeza Rice during a meeting that Pakistan desires to have more access to the robust American market as part of its endeavours to bolster its exports.(Posted @ 23:30 PST)
Cricket-England win Ashes as final test is drawn LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - England won the Ashes for the first time since 1987 after the fifth and final test against Australia ended in a draw on Monday, giving the hosts a 2-1 victory in the series. Kevin Pietersen scored a magnificent 158, including seven sixes and 15 fours, and Ashley Giles 59 to lead England to 335 all out in their second innings. Australia faced four balls of their second innings before the players left the pitch because of bad light with the score on four for no wicket. The umpires returned to the middle minutes later and removed the bails to signal the end of the match.Australia, victorious in the last eight Ashes series, won the first test at Lord's, England the second at Edgbaston and the fourth at Trent Bridge. The third test was also drawn.(Posted @ 22:40 PST)
Cricket-England 335 all out & 373 v Australia (367) in 5th test LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - England were all out for 335 in their second innings, a lead of 341, against Australia on the final day of the fifth Ashes test at the Oval on Monday: Scores: England 335 (K.Pietersen 158, A.Giles 59; Warne 6-124) and 373 (A.Strauss 129, A.Flintoff 72; S.Warne 6-122) vs Australia 367 (M.Hayden 138, J.Langer 105; A.Flintoff 5-78, M.Hoggard 4-97).(Posted @ 22:08 PST)
US Secretary of State Calls On President Musharraf New York, Sept 12( PPI): Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice Monday called on President Pervez Musharraf in New York and exchanged views on further enhancing Pakistan-US relations in different fields including trade and investment. Situation in South Asia with special reference to Pakistan-India composite dialogue, Afghanistan and Middle-East also came under discussion. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said the future direction of ongoing talks with India will be determined by the meeting between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York on Wednesday. He told newsmen Pakistan wants India to include Kashmiri leadership in the dialogue process.(Posted @ 22:05 PST)
Filing of nomination papers starts for 3rd phase of LG elections ISLAMABAD, Sep 12 (APP): The Election Commission started receiving nomination papers Monday for the October 6 third phase of Local Government elections in 109 districts. The process will be completed on Tuesday and the EC would publish the notice of nominations on Wednesday. Indirect election of district Nazims, Tehsil and Taluka Nazims, town Nazims will be held in all districts of the four provinces, except for Ghotki district. Members of Zila Councils and each Tehsil/Taluka council or Town Council against the seats reserved for women, peasants and workers and minority communities will also be elected on October 6.(Posted @ 22:02 PST)
Ex-Taliban envoy freed from Guantanamo - Afghan TV KABUL, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan has been released from a U.S. military prison in Cuba under an Afghan government reconciliation programme, Afghan state television said on Monday.Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef became the Taliban's spokesman after the Sept. 11 attacks and held regular news conferences at his Islamabad embassy at which he tried to convince the world the Taliban's guest, Osama bin Laden, was not responsible. "The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, who had been in Guantanamo prison for some time, has been released with the help of the reconciliation programme," state run Kabul National Television said.Zaeef had met the head of the reconciliation programme, former president Sibghatullah Mojadidi, the television said. It gave no details and Mojadidi was not immediately available for comment.Four prominent former Taliban members are running in the election. Among them is Zaeef's old boss, former foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil who surrendered to U.S. troops after the Taliban's ouster and was detained for about two years.(Posted @ 21:58 PST)
Philippine police camp rocked by blasts in armoury MANILA, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Explosions in an armoury shook the main police camp in the Philippine capital and rained debris on houses in the area on Monday, but police said it appeared to be an accident with no one killed. Radio reported a building was on fire and a gas station inside the camp had been extensively damaged. "It's still premature to conclude there was sabotage," General Avelino Razon, the deputy national police chief, told Reuters .Residents living several km (miles) away said the earth shook during two loud explosions and their houses had been hit with debris.(Posted @ 21:55 PST)
Iran insists on right to make nuclear fuel VIENNA, Sept 12, 2005 (AFP) - Iran says it will cooperate fully with UN nuclear inspectors provided it is allowed to make nuclear fuel, according to a document presented Monday to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and obtained by AFP.(Posted @ 21:50 PST)
US warns Syria: "Our patience is running out" WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (AFP) - The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, warned here Monday that the United States' patience with Syria "is running out" and added "all options are on the table."(Posted @ 21:38 PST)
Norwegians cast ballots in cliffhanger election OSLO, Sept 12, 2005 (AFP) - Norwegians voted on Monday in a general election so tight that pollsters were unable to predict whether Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik's center-right coalition or the left-wing opposition would emerge victorious. Some 3.4 million Norwegians were eligible to cast their votes to determine the makeup of the country's government for the next four years.(Posted @ 21:32 PST)
More than 60 Somalis die at sea headed to Yemen DJIBOUTI, Sept 12 (Reuters) - At least 61 Somali migrants died after smugglers left them helpless for 20 days in a faulty boat during a crossing to Yemen, survivors said on Monday. A Danish ship sailing nearby saw the stranded boat and managed to rescue 39 people, including a woman who gave birth at sea to a baby boy, and took them to Djibouti. Last week 45 Africans, mostly Somalis and Ethiopians, drowned in a separate incident when armed smugglers forced them overboard during a crossing to Yemen.(Posted @ 20:46 PST)
Cricket-Pakistan A 181-7 v Australia A 196 KARACHI, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Pakistan A were 181 for seven at close after bowling Australia A out for 196 on the second day of their four-day match in Rawalpindi on Monday. Scores: Australia A 196 all out (Phil Jaques 92 not out; Shahid Nazir 3-36, Mohammad Sami 3-57). Pakistan A 181-7 (Nathan Bracken 3-41, Shane Watson 2-38).(Posted @ 20:40 PST)
Security incidents in Iraq, Sept 12 BAGHDAD, Sept 12 (Reuters)Seven unidentified bodies were found in the town of Rustumiya, southeast of Baghdad. An Interior Ministry source said their hands were tied and they had been shot in the head. Six civilians were killed and another two wounded when gunmen attacked an estate agent's office in the Shu'la district of western Baghdad, a police source said. Two policemen were killed and three civilians wounded by gunmen in the downtown Wasiti district of Kirkuk. The dead, a father and his son, were in charge of guarding the city governor's office.At least six Iraqi soldiers were killed or wounded by a roadside bomb that hit their convoy in Falluja, a police source said.A senior judge from the northern Iraqi town of al-Dawr was assassinated with his brother by gunmen in the nearby town of Is'haqi on Sunday, police said. Police found the bodies of two Iraqis in the Tigris river running through the town of Balad, 65km north of Baghdad, police said. An Iraqi contractor working for the U.S. military was found dead 75 km south of Baghdad. Police said he had been blindfolded and handcuffed.(Posted @ 20:36 PST)
Iraqi army seeks to control Tal Afar, 200 dead TAL AFAR, Iraq, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Iraqi army has killed up to 200 insurgents in Tal Afar, military officials said on Monday, as Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari defied a $100,000 bounty placed on his head by a militant group to visit the scene of the insurgency.The Iraqi army, backed up by U.S. troops, launched an assault early on Saturday against an estimated 350-500 insurgents in the town near the Syrian border while Iraq's Third Army Brigade launched a fresh offensive on Monday, killing 40 insurgents and arresting 21 "terrorist emirs," or senior insurgent leaders, brigade's media officer said, in an operation ending at around 5.15 p.m. (1315 GMT). "Overall, 157 terrorists have been killed and 291 arrested since the beginning of the operations," he said. "Under our plan, by Thursday the city should be clear and safe," he added. The Iraqi army lost its first soldier in the fighting in Tal Afar on Monday, while six civilians were also killed.(Posted @ 20:28 PST)
Abbas says disarming Hamas would trigger civil war: report ROME, Sept 12 (AFP) - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas refuses to try to disarm Hamas because he believes it would trigger a civil war, according to an interview published here Monday. Disarming Hamas "would only lead us into civil war" he said in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. "Hamas has announced for the first time that it is taking part in the general elections. It will become a party like any other. So it will no longer have a need for arms," Abbas said.The Palestinian leader ruled out any delay to the January 25 election date. "That date is not open to change."(Posted @ 20:14 PST)
Sri Lanka 160-3 in reply to Bangladesh's 188 COLOMBO, Sept 12 (AFP) - Sri Lanka were 160-3 in their first innings at stumps in reply to Bangladesh's 188 on the opening day of the first cricket Test here on Monday.(Posted @ 20:10 PST)
Somali gunmen take over United Nations headquarters in Jowhar MOGADISHU, Sep 12 (AFP) - Militiamen allied to the leader of the Somali transitional leadership have taken control of the UN offices in the provisional capital of Jowhar and denied UN staff members access to the facility, officials said on Monday. The militiamen, commanded by warlord Mohamed Omar Habeb, who gave transitional leader Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed refuge in his town in June, ordered remaining local UN staff members to leave the compounded, which they surrounded late on Sunday.(Posted @ 20:02 PST)
Britain says NIreland Protestants face a choice: law or anarchy BELFAST, Sept 12 (AFP) - Northern Ireland's Protestants face a "moment of choice" between law and gangsterism, Britain warned Monday after rioters hurling pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails and paving slabs injured at least 50 police and 10 civilians. "This is a moment of choice for everybody, for politicians and for people right the way down through every part of the community," said Peter Hain, Britain's secretary for Northern Ireland affairs, as he studied steps to take after a second night of rioting. At least 50 officers were wounded over the weekend when they came under a hail of live rounds, paint bombs, pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails, and paving stones, police said. Ten civilians were also injured. At Bangor, to the east of Belfast, a bus was hijacked, then set on fire, after its passengers were robbed, while a police station at New Barnsley, to the west, came under attack by rioters who tried to ram the door with cars.(Posted @ 19:58 PST)
Palestinian shot dead amid mayhem on Gaza-Egypt border RAFAH, Egypt, Sept 12 (AFP) - Egyptian guards shot dead one Palestinian and wounded another Monday as hundreds stormed the buffer zone on the Gaza border amid scenes of mayhem just hours after Israeli troops pulled out, witnesses and medics said. The 750-strong force which Egypt is deploying to take over security at the frontier opened fire after hundreds of Palestinians, including armed militants, swarmed into no-man's land and dozens broke through the barbed wire on top of the border wall. AFP correspondent saw Egyptian guards make no move to intervene as hundreds of jubilant Palestinians poured into the buffer zone to try to take advantage of the Israeli departure to communicate with friends or relatives on the other side of the divided border town of Rafah. Dozens were seen mounting the small concrete wall that marks the frontier before its barbed-wire top collapsed under the pressure, allowing crowds of youngsters to cross over to the Egyptian side.(Posted @ 19:50 PST)
Islamabad seeks release of 8 Pak nationals ISLAMABAD, Sept 12 (PPI) Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Naeem Khan Monday said that Pakistan is still in touch with American and Iraqi authorities and the Kuwaiti company for release of eight Pakistanis, now in custody in Iraq. Answering questions at a news briefing, he said according to the Kuwaiti company these individuals had no valid travel documents for Iraq and the company is trying to seek their early release.(Posted @ 19:36 PST)
Commonwealth Games torch relay passes through Islamabad ISLAMABAD, Sep 12 (APP): The Queen's Baton passed through boulevards of this capital city and sailed over placid waters of suburban Rawal Lake, wrapping up the Commonwealth Games torch relay with a fireworks-studded indoor ceremony at Liaquat Gymnasium, Pakistan Sports Complex, on Monday. Starting at Pakistan Sports Complex at 2.30 p.m., the "Queen's Baton Relay" made a round of the city before returning to Liaquat Gymnasium--the venue of an hour-long, final ceremony which was capped off with spectacular fireworks outside.Interior Minister, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, was the chief guest at ceremony featuring folk dances and karate show, followed with speeches by Lt. Gen. Syed Arif Hasan, President of Pakistan Olympic Association, and representatives of 18th Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held in Melbourne from March 15 to 26 next year.(Posted @ 19:30 PST)
HR abuses alarming: NC SRINAGAR, Sept 12 (APP): The pro-India National Conference (NC) has expressed grave concern over massive increase in human rights violations in occupied Kashmir and has decided to raise the issue during the forthcoming secession of the so-called Legislative Assembly. According to Kashmir Media Service, NC Provincial President, Dr. Mehboob Beigh, talking to newsmen in Kupwara, castigated the puppet regime for its connivance with the occupation authorities in perpetrating crimes against Kashmiris and said there was no let up in the atrocities and the human rights violations committed by Indian troops in the occupied territory.(Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Rebels rocket US-British compound in southern Iraq BASRA, Iraq, Sept 12 (AFP) - Iraqi rebels launched a rocket attack on a US-British diplomatic compound in the southern city of Basra. Overnight, four 107mm Chinese-built rockets slammed into ousted dicator Saddam Hussein's former Basra palace which houses both the US and the British consulates, a Western diplomat said. "There were no casualties or injuries, and no significant structural damage," according to the US embassy.(Posted @ 17:35 PST)
India, Pakistan release 600 civilian prisoners NEW DELHI, Sept 12 (APP): Around 600 Indian and Pakistani civilian prisoners including fishermen on Monday walked to freedom, crossing into their respective homelands.Altogether 435 Indians, including 371 fishermen were released by Pakistan, while India set free 152 Pakistanis at the Wagah border. Some extra immigration staff has been deputed at the Wagah border for speedy clearance of documents as the formalities could take hours to complete. Among the 152 Pakistani prisoners, 42 were deaf and dumb.The Pakistani prisoners, who were released today, were yesterday brought to Amritsar prison from various jails across the country.(Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Troops martyr two more Kashmiri youth JAMMU, September 12 PPI In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops, in their fresh act of state-terrorism on Monday, martyred two more Kashmiri youth. According to Kashmir Media Service, troops launched a violent search and cordon operation in Kishtwar area of Doda district, in which two youth were killed. The operation was ongoing till last reports came in.(Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Roadmap to be presented at next meeting with Indian PM: Butt SRINAGAR, September 12 PPI In occupied Kashmir, senior leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Professor Abdul Ghani Butt has said, roadmap on Kashmir will be presented at the next APHC leaders' meeting with the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. According to Kashmir Media Service, in a media interview, he said, that all parties to the Kashmir dispute, Pakistan, India and genuine Kashmiri leadership must work for bringing about long-lasting and sustainable peace in occupied Kashmir. He described the recent meeting of the APHC delegation with The Indian prime minister, as positive and good.(Posted @ 16:50 PST)
Two Russian soldiers killed in Grozny explosion GROZNY, Russia, Sept 12 (AFP) Two Russian soldiers were killed and several detainees injured when their four-wheel drive vehicle was hit by an explosion and gunfire in Grozny Monday morning, according to pro-Russian Chechen security forces. The prisoners being transported were murder suspects, the Chechen interior ministry's deputy commander of special forces, Buyvady Dakhilgov, told AFP, though he did not confirm whether they were Chechen separatists.(Posted @ 16:42 PST)
President says he wants to move forward peace process with India NEW YORK, Sept 12 (APP)- President General Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday night that he would like to move forward the peace process with India, especially on the "key dispute" of Kashmir at his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this week. "I look forward to meeting the prime minister of India, and that, I think is of great importance," the president told reporters on his arrival in New York to participate in the three-day UN summit opening on September 14. The president is scheduled to meet the Indian prime minister on Wednesday. The two leaders had met in New Delhi earlier this year.(Posted @ 16:32 PST)
US nuclear envoy arrives in South Korea SEOUL, Sept 12 (AFP) US chief delegate Christopher Hill arrived here Monday for consultations with South Korean officials ahead of the resumption of six-party talks in Beijing on North Korea's nuclear drive, officials said. At talks with South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young, Hill said Washington had used a one-month recess in the talks constructively and productively, according to Yonhap news agency. (Posted @ 16:09 PST)
Nine killed as train hits school pickup truck in southern Thailand YALA, Thailand, Sept 12 (AFP) - At least eight teenage schoolgirls and a driver were killed Monday when a train slammed into a pickup truck loaded with students going home from school, hospital officials and witnesses said. The pickup, used by an Islamic school to ferry students to and from class, was hit by a passenger train headed for Bangkok shortly after it left the station at 4:00 pm in the southern town of Yala, witnesses said. (Posted @ 16:08 PST)
Chirac confirms India's 2.4-bln-euro purchase of six submarines PARIS, Sept 12 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac confirmed Monday India's 2.4-billion-euro (three-billion-dollar) purchase of six Franco-Spanish submarines as he received visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his Paris offices. (Posted @ 15:34 PST)
Philippines, Muslim rebels to resume talks this week MANILA, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Informal talks to end a Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines are due to resume in Kuala Lumpur this week, government and rebel officials said on Monday. (Posted @ 15:34 PST)
Afghan policeman, suspected Taliban rebel die in gunbattle KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept 12 (AFP) - One Afghan policeman and a Taliban insurgent were killed and another policeman wounded when suspected rebels ambushed a police patrol in Afghanistan, a provincial official said Monday. The attack late Sunday in the southern province of Kandahar the former stronghold of the ousted Islamic regime -- came a week before Afghans go to the polls in historic parliamentary elections. "One policeman was killed, one was wounded and one Taliban insurgent was also killed in the half-hour exchange of fire last night" in Dand district, Kandahar police chief Abdul Malik told AFP. (Posted @ 15:35 PST)
Top Iranian nuclear official visits Russia MOSCOW, Sept 12 (AFP) Iranian Vice-President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who heads his country's atomic energy agency, arrived in Moscow on Monday for a brief working visit, with Russia's work on a nuclear power station high on the agenda, Iranian diplomats said. Aghazadeh was notably due to meet the head of the Russian federal nuclear agency, Alexander Rumyantsev, as well as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Igor Ivanov, head of Russia's security council. Russia is building a power station in the Iranian city of Bushehr, a project which is sparking controversy as the United States and other Western countries accuse Iran of seeking to secretly build nuclear weapons. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Three alleged US spies killed in Pakistani tribal belt MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept 12 (AFP) - Militants have killed three people accused of being spies for the United States in a Pakistani tribal region bordering Afghanistan, local officials said Monday. The attackers slit their throats and left a note in the local Pashtu language saying "anyone working as an American spy will meet the same fate," the official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP. Their bodies were found on Monday in a drain in the town of Tappi, 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Miranshah, capital of the semi-autonomous North Waziristan region. Insurgents in the rugged tribal areas, where Pakistani forces last year fought pitched battles with suspected Al-Qaeda militants, have issued a hit-list of 28 local elders whom they called "government spies." (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Militants put price on Iraqi PM's head DUBAI, Sept 12 (Reuters) A militant group, calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq, has offered up to $100,000 for killing the prime minister and other top officials in Iraq responsible for launching an offensive on rebels in a northern town Tal Afar, according to an Internet statement posted on Monday. The statement, which could not be immediately verified, put a $100,000 price on Jaafari, $50,000 on Interior Minister Bayan Jabor and $30,000 on Defence Minister Saadoun Dulaimi. (Posted @ 13:57 PST)
15 killed as suspected Maoists raid village in east India NEW DELHI, Sept 12 (AFP) At least 15 people were killed when more than 100 suspected Maoists raided a village Monday in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, a report said Monday. (Posted @ 10:22 PST)
Tennis: Federer wrecks Agassi's dream NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) Roger Federer played dream-wrecker at Flushing Meadows on Sunday when he downed sentimental favourite Andre Agassi 6-3 2-6 7-6 6-1 in the U.S. Open men's singles final. (Posted @ 10:12 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 3.32 points: KARACHI, September 12: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 7892.57, up 3.32 points from Friday’s close. (Bureau Report) (Posted @ 14:40 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, September 12: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.05 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:40 PST)
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