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| February 5, 2006 | Sunday | Muharram 6, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
President Musharraf had a very clear stand on Kashmir issue: Arbab KARACHI, Feb. 5 (APP)- As elsewhere, many social, political, educational and other organizations arranged a number of programmes to express solidarity with Kashmiris on Kashmir Solidarity Day here on Sunday. Sindh Chief Minister Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim led the main rally organized by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) here at Mazar-e-Quaid. Addressing the rally, he said that the Kashmir Solidarity Day would be observed till settlement of Kashmir issue to express solidarity with Kashmiris. Dr. Arbab has said that President General Pervez Musharraf had a very clear stand on Kashmir issue. He maintained that "InshAllah" the Kashmir issue will be resolved under the dynamic leadership of President Musharraf. He said that the talks between Pakistan and India were underway and the bus service between Srinagar to Muzaffarabad and train link between Khokhrapar to Monabao were results of the same. Nazims of Bin Qasim, Gadap, Lyari, Gulberg, SITE and Shah Faisal towns also led the rallies, taken out from their respective towns and joined the main rally at Mazar-e-Quaid. Rally participants expressed their support to the Kashmiris in their struggle for the right of self determination. Convener, Jammu and Kashmir All Parties Hurriyat Conference, (Pakistan) was also present on the occasion. The local and national dailies also published special supplements to highlight the Kashmir Solidarity Day.(Posted @ 23:40 PST)
President visits Bagh to express solidarity with quake survivors BAGH, (Azad Kashmir) Feb 5 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Sunday visited the quake-stricken areas of Bagh and said the government's sustained and effective efforts have helped the survivors overcome the devastation. Addressing a gathering of people in Banni Mahasra, the President said there has been a lot of improvement in the areas shattered by October 8, 2005 catastrophe. "We launched coordinated rescue and relief work, and effective implementation of the strategy has seen the situation and life improving fast in the quake-hit areas," he stated. However, the President said the government is fully conscious that a lot still remains to be done for complete recovery of the affected people. President Musharraf expressed the nation's complete solidarity with the quake survivors.(Posted @ 23:03 PST)
Mriwaiz's motorcade attacked in Indian Occupied Kashmir NEW DELHI, Feb 5 (APP): A group of people, suspected to be BJP workers, Sunday attacked Hurriyat Conference chief Mirwaiz Umer Farooq's motorcade in Indian Occupied Kashmir, pelting stones and smashing the window panes of the senior Kashmiri leader's car. Mirwaiz escaped unhurt in the attack, said a news report by Press Trust of India quoting official sources. BJP has organised a protest against Umer's visit to Jammu region, the report said adding, the saffron party is protesting his efforts to muster support for self-rule and demilitarisation of Kashmir. The attack took place when Mirwaiz's motorcade was heading towards Samba Rest House in Jammu district (IOK) where he was scheduled to meet National Democratic Front President R P Sarar, the so urces said. Raising anti-Hurriyat slogans, some 2000 people, suspected to be BJP and Shiv Sena activists, stopped the vehicles at around 5 p.m. and pelted stones at them, added the sources. The window panes of Mirwaiz car, who was escorted safely by the police, were smashed. Earlier, on February 2, Mirwaiz's motorcade was attacked allegedly by Shiv Sena activists outside Jammu airport, the report said. (Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Peaceful solution of Kashmir issue to ensure peace in region: PM ISLAMABAD, Feb 5 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Sunday emphasising the need to find peaceful, just and durable settlement of the lingering Kashmir issue, said Pakistan has not changed its principle stand on the issue and it should be resolved in accordance with aspirations of Kashmiri's. Addressing a seminar here at National Library on "Earthquake, Pakistan, Kashmir Solidary" organised by Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council, in connection with Kashmir Solidarity Day, the Prime Minister said Pakistan always supported the Kashmiri's who had struggled for their just cause. He said improved relations between Pakistan and India provide a unique opportunity for the two countries to work for a solution of the dispute that respects the aspirations of Kashmiri's. The Prime Minister said, "Pakistan wants there should be an ever-lasting and durable solution to the Kashmir issue keeping in view the aspirations and priorities of Kashmiris."(Posted @ 21:10 PST)
Rockets kill eight near Pakistan's main gas field QUETTA, Pakistan, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Tribal militants fired more than 100 rockets into a town near Pakistan's largest gas field in the troubled province of Baluchistan, killing eight people, officials said on Sunday. The rockets hit the town of Sui late Saturday, damaging 16 houses. Police said two military guards and six civilians were killed in the attack, which followed a similar rocket blitz on Friday and early Saturday around the nearby town of Dera Bugti. The area's senior government administrator, Abdul Samad Lasi, said said nine people were wounded in the attack on Sui, which he blamed on "miscreants", a term officials use to describe Baluch militants battling for autonomy. Officials said the death toll could rise as a search for bodies was continuing. Sui is the site of Pakistan's main gas field and is about 720 km (450 miles) southwest of the capital Islamabad. Lasi said the militants also blew up a section of gas pipeline and a water pipeline in a gas field in Dera Bugti overnight, while a landmine blast on Sunday killed one civilian in the nearby Kohlu district. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said security forces were currently limiting their activity to defensive action but warned that "this strategy can be changed for the protection of gas installation and local population".(Posted @ 20:20 PST)
Twelve killed in Pakistan bus blast ISLAMABAD, Feb 5, 2006 (AFP) - At least 12 people were killed and 13 injured when a powerful bomb exploded on a passenger bus Sunday in Pakistan's insurgency-plagued southwestern Baluchistan province, officials said. "Twelve people were killed and 13 injured in the explosion on the passenger bus," Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told AFP. The bus, which was carrying 50 passengers, was travelling through the Bolan Pass region on a regular run from the provincial capital Quetta to the eastern border city of Lahore in neighbouring Punjab province when the blast occurred. "It was a timing device planted inside the bus," Baluchistan police chief Chaudhry Yaqoob told AFP. Yaqoob said the injured had been taken to a hospital in Quetta. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.(First Posted @ 19: 30 PST Updated @ 19:45 PST)
Pakistan observe Kashmir solidarity day MUZAFFARABAD, Feb.5 (APP)- President General Pervez Musharraf Sunday said the environment is favorable for finding a political settlement of Kashmir dispute and welcomed Indian Prime Minister's statement on negotiated solution to the lingering dispute. "Pakistan will not be found wanting if India shows sincerity and reciprocity towards finding a just solution to the longstanding dispute," he told a large public gathering on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day. The President said the improved ties between Pakistan and India and the recent earthquake have provided an opportunity to move forward on the dispute that has bedeviled ties between the two South Asian states for over half a century. "Now is the time and the leadership should make use of the opportunity and move towards a solution of the Kashmir dispute," he stressed, with President Pervez Musharraf saying Pakistan will continue to support Kashmiris right to determine their future. Rallies were held across Pakistan Sunday in support of the "right to self-determination" for the people of Kashmir. The government, political parties and Islamic groups separately marked an annual day of solidarity with Kashmiris. Some 2,000 people gathered in Islamabad to listen opposition leaders accuse Musharraf of compromising Kashmiris' rights in the ongoing peace dialogue with India over the disputed state.The main rally in Islamabad was led by the leaders of the ruling PML and Kashmiris political parties based in Rawalpindi & Islamabad. Big rallies were also held at all provincial capitals where these were led by the chief ministers. Major opposition MMA, ARD & the host of political parties & major groups representing the Kashmiris also organized Kashmir solidarity day rallies. Similar gatherings were also organized at all district towns & major industrial sectors.(First Posted @ 19:25 PST Updated @ 22:45 PST)
Six killed, ten injured in road mishap OKARA, Feb 5 (APP): Six persons were killed and ten others injured when a coach collided with a tractor trolley near Ittefaq Nagar locality, some 17 kilometres from here Sunday. According to police, a coach (LOK-9548) was heading towards Lahore via Depalpur when it collided with a tractor trolley (KS-118) coming from the opposite. As a result Sharafat Bibi, Abdul Rashid, Maqsood Ahmed, Muhammad Maskeen, Muhammad Zaman and Rehmat Ali died on the spot while ten others were wounded.(Posted @ 19:00 PST)
28 wounded in Lebanon cartoon clashes BEIRUT, Feb 5, 2006 (AFP) - At least 28 people were wounded Sunday in violent protests in Beirut against blasphemous cartoons, hospital sources said. Demonstrators stormed and set fire to the building housing the Danish consulate and attacked other property in the Asharafiyeh neighborhood. An AFP journalist on the scene estimated that several thousand people were among the angry crowds.(Posted @ 18:50 PST)
Israel reopens key crossing with Gaza Strip, allowing tons of goods to cross JERUSALEM, Feb 5 (APP/AP): Israel reopened on Sunday a key crossing with the Gaza Strip whose closure more than three weeks ago severely damaged the Gaza economy. Israel had closed the Karni crossing Jan. 14 in light of a warning that militants were planning a terror attack at the crossing. Palestinian officials estimated that the Gaza economy suffered US$30 million in damage, mostly from 135 tons of fruits and vegetables that spoiled as they waited to cross to be shipped to Israeli and European markets. Many dairy products like Israeli milk and cheese were absent from the shelves of Gaza foodstores since Karni was closed. The Israeli army said that it suspected that Palestinian militants had dug a tunnel under the crossing to carry out a bombing. Palestinian security said it found the start of a tunnel on its side of Karni when the crossing was first shut down but that did not justify its continued closure.(Posted @ 18:24 PST)
Australia beat South Africa by 57 runs in ODI SYDNEY, Feb 5, 2006 (AFP) - Australia beat South Africa by 57 runs in their triangular series limited overs cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. Score: Australia 344-6 (50 overs); South Africa 287-6 (50 overs).(Posted @ 16:26 PST)
Iran says will hold talks with Russia on uranium enrichment plan TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ Iran said Sunday it will hold talks with Moscow on a proposal to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia, a day after a senior Iranian official had declared the proposal dead.``The situation has changed. Still, we will attend talks with Russia on February 16,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a press conference. (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Land mine kills six police in southern Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) _ A land mine ripped through a police vehicle, killing six officers and wounding four in the latest in a wave of attacks that have rocked southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday. The blast late Saturday in Kandahar province came after 48 hours of bloodshed that left 38 people dead as hundreds of Afghan and U.S. forces battled some 200 militants in the biggest fighting in months. The mine was buried in a dirt road and detonated as the police drove over it in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, said Mohammed Nabi, a local police chief. (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
Group of 50 Iraqis released by US military BAGHDAD, Feb 5, 2006 (AFP) - The US military said it has released Sunday 50 male detainees after a review of their cases by a joint Iraqi-US board. It did not give other details. Last month it released more than 400 detainees from various US- and Iraqi-run prisons, while on Saturday a US spokesman said a fresh batch of detainees were to be released within a fortnight. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Thai minister quits as heat on Thaksin grows BANGKOK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - A second minister Sora-at Klinpratoom handed in his resignation on Saturday as 40,000 people gathered in central Bangkok in the biggest anti-government demonstration in 14 years, a spokesman said. Culture Minister Uraiwan Thienthong had quit the government on Friday. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Abbas meets Hamas over new government GAZA CITY, Feb 5(AFP) - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Hamas officials agreed Saturday to convene parliament on February 16, as a first step toward forming a new government after the group's swept to victory in parliamentary elections last month."We agreed with the president (Abbas) to hold the first session of the Legislative Council on February 16," the number one candidate on the successful Hamas electoral list, Ismail Haniyeh, told journalists. Abbas"reaffirmed that the next government must honour past accords" the Palestinian Authority has signed with Israel, said his spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Three Palestinian militants killed in Israeli rocket attack in Gaza GAZA CITY, Feb 5, 2006 (AFP) - Three members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the militant armed offshoot of the Fatah movement, were killed in an Israeli helicopter attack in Gaza City early Sunday, medical and security sources said. The attack destroyed a centre in Gaza City belonging to Fatah movement. Eight other Palestinians were wounded, one of whom was in serious condition, doctors said. The helicopters first fired three rockets at the offices then two more at the car in which the three Brigades members were trying to flee the building. An Israeli F16 fighter jet meanwhile fired two missiles at a bridge near Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip, damaging it but without claiming any victims, a security source said. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the two raids. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
One dead, over 100 wounded in California prison riot LOS ANGELES, Feb 4, 2006 (AFP) - One prisoner was dead and more than 100 inmates were injured Saturday in a prison riot northwest of Los Angeles, which involved more than 400 detainees, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "This is ongoing right now, law enforcement will be able to speak better on that, to give us an inside of what exactly sparked this major riot," he told KCBS2 television. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
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