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| January 17, 2006 | Tuesday | Zilhaj 16, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Musharraf defers controversial Pakistan dam project ISLAMABAD, Jan 17 (Reuters) President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday deferred plans to build a controversial dam after fierce opposition from three of Pakistan's four provinces. Speaking to the nation on the state-run television, he said Pakistan should build five dams including Kalabagh by 2016 to meet growing water shortages caused by drought and silting of existing reservoirs. However, he said the government had decided to start construction of two other dams immediately because small provinces, particularly Sindh, had reservations over Kalabagh. "Public opinion, mostly in Sindh…is not fully on board. I respect this public opinion," he said.(Posted @ 22:32 PST)
Pakistan 'cannot accept' actions like missile strike: Aziz ISLAMABAD, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) Pakistan cannot accept actions like an air strike on a village that killed 18 people, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Tuesday, adding that he will bring it up when he visits Washington this week. "Pakistan is committed to fighting terrorism but naturally we cannot accept any action within our country which results in what happened over the weekend," Aziz told a joint news conference with former US President George Bush. "So the relationship with the US is important, it is growing but at the same time such actions cannot be condoned," he said. "This is one unfortunate event where many innocent lives have been lost and that is why we in the government and cabinet today have expressed deep regret and condemned the incident," Aziz added. "But our relationship with the US is of long standing and my trip to the United States is there on schedule because we want to engage on many issues including how we fight terrorism.” Bush, who is visiting Pakistan as the United Nations special envoy for South Asian earthquake relief, said "I leave that subject to so many people involved in the war on terror". However he added that "I am here as a representative of the secretary general trying to help with the relief and reconstruction effort. But I think that the feeling generally is that the US is trying to help the people of Pakistan and I hope that's what prevails". Aziz leaves for Washington later Tuesday and is due to meet current President George W. Bush during his six-day stay.(Posted @ 17:10 PST)
India, Pakistan say peace process yielding dividends NEW DELHI, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) India and Pakistan Tuesday said a two-year-old peace process had helped build trust between them after their senior officials met to review progress. Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Pakistani counterpart, Riaz Mohammed Khan, had made "positive assessments of the milestones achieved in the last round" of talks, said Indian foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna. These included "an overall improvement in relations…and a reduction of the trust deficit," Sarna told reporters. Khan had also expressed "satisfaction over what has been achieved so far," Pakistan's foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said. At Tuesday's meeting, India proposed that neither side build "new posts and defence works along their disputed border in Kashmir,", periodic meetings between senior commanders along the LoC, and an extension of a 12 kms rail link between Khokhrapar in Sindh and Munnabao in Rajasthan, up to Ajmer. They also discussed the need to increase the number of flights between the two countries and to add more destinations, Sarna said. Aslam said Pakistan had handed over proposals to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident or the unauthorised use of nuclear weapons. "We also proposed to India that an agreement on notification of flight testing of missiles should be expanded to include cruise missiles, which have been tested by both countries," she said. "We also said we should have an agreement not to permanently relocate strike formations to forward positions," she said. Sarna said the foreign secretaries would on Wednesday "finalise a schedule of meetings" on six other disputed issues besides Kashmir and set the agenda for a meeting between the two foreign ministers later this year.(Posted @ 20:30 PST)
Pakistan says alleged US air strike killed five foreign militants PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) Pakistan said Tuesday that last week's alleged US missile attack in its border area was aimed at foreign militants invited to a dinner and up to five of them were killed. It was the first confirmation by Pakistan that the attack in Bajur tribal region bordering Afghanistan targeted "foreign" militants. "The missile attack on a village in Damadola area of Bajur agency on the night between 12th and 13th January was directed against foreign terrorists," said an official statement quoting Fahim Wazir, Bajur's head of administration. "According to our information at least four to five foreign elements had also been killed in this incident but their bodies were removed from the scene within no time by their companions," the statement said. It said a joint investigation team comprising various government agencies revealed that up to 12 foreign "miscreants" were also invited to the dinner which caused the attack. The statement regretted the killing of "18 innocent local people" in the strike. It said that two local militants, Maulana Faqir Mohammad and Maulana Liaqat, removed the bodies of the foreigners killed in the attack to "suppress the actual reason of the attack."(Posted @ 17:20 PST)
Afghan president condemns latest suicide attack KABUL, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) President Hamid Karzai Tuesday condemned a suicide attack that killed 22 people near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, saying residents of the frontier area were bearing the brunt of "terrorism". "The people of Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan have suffered tremendous loss of lives and sustained heavy damages due to the presence of the terrorist networks in their areas," Karzai said in the statement.(First Posted @ 17:52 PST Updated @ 19:30 PST)
UN temporarily shuts down offices in southwest Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) The United Nations has temporarily closed its aid agency offices in south-western Pakistan for security reasons, officials said Tuesday. Security sources said the UN took the action after a threatening call to a UN office in Baluchistan province and following a deadly suicide bombing in an Afghan town just over the border on Monday. "The UNHCR office in Quetta is closed today because of security concerns and we are awaiting further instruction to see when we can start working again," UN High Commission for Refugees spokeswoman said.(Posted @ 17:48 PST)
Saudi Arabia mediates to ease Lebanon-Syria tensions-report LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia has presented Lebanon and Syria with a plan to defuse tensions between the two countries over the killing of ex-Lebanese premier Rafik al-Hariri, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told the FT in an interview that the kingdom had made proposals for an agreement, but was waiting for a response from Beirut and Damascus, and details would have to be worked out. "Now it's in the hands of both countries and they will let us know," he said.(Posted @ 16:32 PST)
Cricket-Indian openers fall short of record; match ends in draw LAHORE, Jan 17 (Reuters) Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid just missed out on a world record as the weather affected first test against Pakistan ended in a predictable draw on Tuesday. The pair put on 410 runs before Sehwag was caught behind off the bowling of Rana Naved for 254, leaving them three runs short of matching the test best opening stand set by compatriots Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy in 1956. The second test of the three-match series starts in Faisalabad on Saturday. Scores: Pakistan 679-7 declared (Younis Khan 199, Mohammad Yousuf 173, Shahid Afridi 103, Kamran Akmal 102 not out); India 410-1 (Virender Sehwag 254, Rahul Dravid 128 not out).(First Posted@ 15:36 PST Updated@ 16:22 PST)
Iraq says Iran holds nine coastguards prisoner BAGHDAD, Jan 17 (Reuters) The Iraqi government said on Tuesday nine Iraqi coastguards were taken prisoner by Iran after an incident involving a suspected oil smuggling ship in the Gulf. "Eight men from the Coast Guard and an officer were taken prisoner by Iranian coastguards," said a spokeswoman in the prime minister's office.(Posted @ 15:42 PST)
Musharraf to address nation amid storm over airstrike ISLAMABAD, Jan 17 (Reuters) President Pervez Musharraf will address the nation on state television at 8.00 pm (1500 GMT) Tuesday, officials said. So far the president has made little comment on the furore caused by the attack, said to have been conducted by CIA-operated Predator drone aircraft, that killed at least 18 people in a village close to the Afghan border last Friday. Officials would not say what Musharraf's address would focus on, though Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has also scheduled a news conference two hours before the president is due to speak.(Posted @ 14:57 PST)
New chief Saddam judge named BAGHDAD, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) Saeed al-Hameesh, a member of the five-judge panel trying Saddam Hussein, will replace the chief judge, who has resigned, when the trial resumes next week, the main prosecutor in the case said Tuesday. Hameesh will only hold the post on a temporary basis until the judges at the Iraqi High Tribunal elect a new permanent replacement for Rizkar Mohammed Amin, he said.(Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Five Pakistani soldiers, civilian injured in rocket attacks MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) - Five Pakistani paramilitary soldiers and a civilian were wounded when suspected militants fired rockets in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday. Rockets hit security checkposts in the villages of Ghalanai and Tabi and military camps in Razmak and Dosali villages in North Waziristan, a security official said. The attacks started around midnight on Monday and continued until early Tuesday, the official said on condition of anonymity. A civilian was injured late Monday when a rocket struck his home in a garrison area of Bannu town, some 65 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of North Waziristan's main town of Miranshah, a local police official said.(Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Indian air force MiG-21 crashes, pilot bails out safely NEW DELHI, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) - An Indian airforce MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashed Tuesday during a live firing exercise near Jamnagar in Gujarat state , but the pilot bailed out safely, a military spokesman said. "There were no casualties, no damage to property," he said adding that "the pilot bailed out safely". The Indian air force has been plagued by crashes of aircraft in its aging fleet, particularly the Russian-made MiG-21s.(Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Former US president Bush meets quake survivors in Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) - Former US president George Bush visited an earthquake survivors' camp in Islamabad Tuesday after bad weather grounded flights to the worst-hit areas for a third straight day. He toured a tent school, met camp officials and spoke to survivors, UN spokesman Ben Malor said. "The special envoy asked them about their concerns, how they are coping, what they think that future holds for them, how they intend to move on after the winter is over," Malor said. " He held a one-year-old baby boy named Abu whose mother died in the earthquake and who is living with his father." Bush was due to visit Muzaffarabad, the ruined capital of Azad Kashmir, but his trip fell prey to the same rain and snow that is causing severe difficulties for quake victims. A UN official said that flights would also be cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday because of the weather. Bush is later scheduled to meet with the head of the UN relief agencies in Pakistan and then hold talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Malor said. He met President Pervez Musharraf on Monday to discuss aid efforts and plans to rebuild the areas that were shattered by the 7.6-magnitude temblor.(Posted @ 12:28 PST)
Malaysia says all Thai Muslims returned to Thailand KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) - Malaysia has sent back all 131 Thai Muslims who were sheltering in the country since Auig 30 last year , resolving a thorny bilateral issue, law minister Mohamad Radzi Sheikh Ahmad told reporters Tuesday. The group had fled across the border from their homes in restive southern Thailand citing insecurity and fear of persecution by the Thai government.(Posted @ 12:21 PST)
Seven die in occupied Kashmir violence SRINAGAR, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) - Suspected militants shot dead two members of a pro-India communist party in revolt-hit occupied Kashmir, while Indian troops killed five rebels in two separate gunbattles, police and the army said Tuesday. Police said Gulzar Ahmed and Bashir Reshi, two functionaries of the Communist Party of India (CPI), were gunned down in separate incidents in the Kulgam area of the southern district of Anantnag late Monday. Another communist activist was shot and wounded in the same area. Ahmed is the nephew of Yusuf Tarigami, the state head of the CPI. In the neighbouring district of Pulwama Indian troops shot dead five militants in two separate encounters on Tuesday, an army spokesman said. Two of the militants were hiding inside the house of a municipal councillor from the state's ruling Congress party. One of them was identified as Saifullah, who was serving as "battalion commander" of Harkat-ul-Mujahedin. Another three militants were killed early Tuesday when troops ambushed them after receiving a tip-off.(Posted @ 12:06 PST)
Iran's President lets CNN back in after apology TEHRAN, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has allowed CNN to resume operating in the country after the American cable news network apologised for mistakenly quoting him saying Tehran was seeking nuclear weapons, state radio reported Tuesday.(Posted @ 12:03 PST)
Sri Lanka landmine attack leaves at least six sailors wounded COLOMBO, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) - A powerful landmine exploded in Sri Lanka's restive northeastern port district of Trincomalee Tuesday, wounding at least six sailors travelling in a bus, military officials said. (Posted @ 09:54 PST)
International donors' conference on bird flu opens in Beijing BEIJING Jan 17 (APP/AP) _ Disease experts urged rich countries at a donors conference Tuesday to come up with the US $1.5 billion that the World Bank says is needed to tackle bird flu and prepare for a potential pandemic in humans. The funding conference follows a global bird flu coordination meeting held two months ago in Geneva, which brought together more than 600 participants from 100 countries. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Israeli troops kill W.Bank militant - witnesses TULKARM, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed a Hamas leader in a West Bank clash on Tuesday, witnesses said. They said the 24-year-old man, leader of the Hamas military wing in Tulkarm, died in an exchange of fire after soldiers surrounded his hideout in the town. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 72.48 points: KARACHI, Jan 17: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 10166.00 , up 72.48 points from Monday's close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:45 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Jan 17: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 59.8 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:45 PST)
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