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| February 23, 2006 | Thursday | Muharram 24, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
President visits JF-17 fighter jet manufacturing facility; returns home CHENDGU (China) Feb 23 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Thursday visited the Chendgu aircraft industrial corporation and described the JF-17 fighter aircraft, jointly developed by Pakistan and China, as a major leap forward in bilateral cooperation. He went around the design and research institutes of the facility and also visited the avionics laboratory in the capital of Sichuan province. He also met the officers of Pakistan Air Force, who are engaged in the joint project there. He also witnessed the assembly line of the fighter aircraft and inspected two prototypes at the Flight Test Station. Later, he visited the Dong Sang Electric Supply Corporation and appreciated its contribution in stepping up power generation units in various parts of Pakistan. Later he left Chendgu for Pakistan Thursday, the Chinese media reported.(Posted @ 22:45 PST)
Bodies burnt in open after Nigeria religious riots kill 146 ONITSHA, Nigeria, Feb 23 (Reuters) Christian youths burned the corpses of Muslims on Thursday on the streets of Onitsha in Nigeria, the city worst hit by religious riots that have killed at least 146 people across the country in five days. Christian mobs, seeking revenge for the killings of Christians in the north, attacked Muslims with machetes, set fire to them, destroyed their houses and torched mosques in two days of violence in Onitsha, where 93 people died. Some charred corpses were still lying on the streets and hundreds of Muslim men, women and children fled the city crammed into open-top trucks for fear of more killings. Thousands more were hiding in army barracks and police stations.(Posted @ 23:38 PST)
Rice starts visit to UAE ABU DHABI, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Abu Dhabi on Thursday for the final leg of a Middle East tour, an AFP correspondent on her plane said. Her talks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were expected to focus on nuclear programme of Iran and a deal for a UAE firm to take control of operations at six major US ports.(First Posted@ 9:45 PST Updated @ 23:26 PST)
At least 49 dead in Moscow market collapse MOSCOW, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) The snow-laden roof of a Moscow food market collapsed before dawn Thursday as traders started their day, killing at least 49 people and injuring 31 in a fresh Russian disaster that President Vladimir Putin said must be the subject of "detailed inquiry." The roof of the Baumansky market fell in at about 5:00 am (0200 GMT) on a national holiday and before the market was open to the public, which likely preventing even greater carnage. Authorities announced more than 13 hours after the collapse that the death toll stood at 49 and that rescue efforts were being wound up.(First Posted@12:05 PST Updated @ @ 23:22 PST)
Israel army kills five Palestinians in West Bank raid NABLUS, West Bank, Feb 23 (Reuters) Israeli troops killed five Palestinians on Thursday during a raid in West Bank. Medics said three Palestinians were among the dead in Nablus on Thursday. Two other stone throwing Palestinians were shot dead when they confronted Israeli troops. Angered by the deaths, hundreds of Palestinians marched in the streets.(First Posted@ 16:45 PST Updated @ 23:12 PST)
Seven US soldiers killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) Seven US soldiers have been killed by roadside bombs in northern Iraq, the US military said Thursday. Three died Wednesday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb near Balad and four were killed on the same day by another bomb near Hawijah, the military said.(Posted @ 23:05 PST)
Bush says Dubai ports deal not a security threat WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) President George W. Bush insisted on Thursday that a deal to allow a Dubai company to manage six U.S. ports would not pose a security risk, despite an outcry of concern among both Republicans and Democrats. "This wouldn't be going forward if we were not certain that our ports would be secure," Bush told reporters during a Cabinet meeting.(Posted @ 22:56 PST)
Differences remain on India-US nuclear deal: Burns NEW DELHI, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) Washington and New Delhi may not be able to resolve differences over a groundbreaking nuclear deal before US President George W. Bush visits India next week, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who is in New Delhi to prepare the ground for the presidential visit, warned Thursday. "Both of us want to complete these negotiations but there are still some remaining differences between us and those differences need to be worked out," Burns told reporters after talks with Indian foreign secretary Shyam Saran. He described his exchanges with Saran as "good" but stressed, "There are still remaining differences." An Indian foreign ministry statement merely said there was an "informal exchange of views", adding that "a more detailed discussion is expected to be held tomorrow (Friday)."(Posted @ 22:48 PST)
Basha dam renamed as Diamer Basha BASHA, Feb 23 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday renamed the 6.5 billion dollar Basha dam as Diamer-Basha dam. He also appreciated the people of Diamer for supporting the national project.(Posted @ 22:42 PST)
World Council of Churches denounces blasphemous cartoons PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (AP) The world's biggest grouping of Christian churches denounced on Thursday both the publication of blasphemous cartoons and the violent protests. The message from the World Council of Churches also said the crisis underscored the crucial need ``to strengthen dialogue and cooperation between Christians and Muslims.'' ``By the publication of the (blasphemous) cartoons, freedom of speech has been used to cause pain by ridiculing peoples' religion, values and dignity,'' said the message.(Posted @ 22:15 PST)
Officials say monsoon poses new threat to Pakistani quake survivors HATTIAN BALA, Pakistan (AP) Huge piles of earth and boulders threatens Hattian Bala, a village of 1,500 homes, as the approaching monsoon season posed new dangers of flooding, officials said Thursday. The rubble has blocked two streams, forming dams that could collapse in a rainy season deluge. Such dam collapses would inundate Hattian Bala as well as destroy a nearby bridge, an army engineer said. Hattian Bala is regarded to be in the extreme danger zone and the government has earmarked 60 million rupees to correct the water flow. But other communities threatened by similar newly formed dams will have to move, an official said. Teams of government surveyors and geologists are studying the lakes and will report next month on which villages will be at risk during the monsoon season. Upstream from Hattian Bala, Tang Nullah, was completed with the excavation of 45,000 cubic meters of rubble. But the second at Karli Nullah will require blasting and digging away of 825,000 cubic meters of rubble by heavy machinery to bring the wall down 30 meters, an official said.(Posted @ 22:12 PST)
Pakistan to close three Afghan refugee camps ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) Pakistan has announced it will close three Afghan refugee camps by April, the U.N. refugee agency said Thursday. About 139,000 refugees living in the camps have been offered either to return to Afghanistan with U.N. assistance or move to refugee camps elsewhere in Pakistan, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement. Reasons for closing the camps in NWFP and Balochistan provinces include security, land development and camp consolidation, the statement said. ``We expect about 400,000 Afghans to return home this year,'' the statement quoted the agency's assistant representative in Pakistan, as saying.(Posted @ 22:08 PST)
Hunt for militants temporarily halted in Miran Shah MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan (AP) Authorities have temporarily stopped hunting for foreign militants in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, to give local tribesmen an opportunity to evict the fighters themselves, Khalilur Rahman, governor of NWFP, said Thursday. But he warned that “very strict action'' would be taken if the tribesmen didn’t comply with the order.(Posted @ 22:00 PST)
Five killed, seven injured in clash among tribesmen near Peshawar PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) Followers of a cleric, Mufti Munir, and members of a jirga or tribal council exchanged gunfire Thursday in north-western Pakistan, killing five people and injuring seven, an official said. Paramilitary troops deployed by authorities stopped the fighting in Qambarabad, a tribal town about 15 kilometres west of Peshawar, a government official said.(Posted @ 21:56 PST)
Hundreds protest against Iraq holy shrine attack in Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) About 1,000 protestors marched on the streets of Karachi on Thursday, to demonstrate against the bomb attack on a holy shrine in Iraq and the blasphemous cartoons. They also staged a sit-in on a busy street and listened to clerics give speeches. Sajid Ali Naqvi, the chief of Tehrik-i-Islami Pakistan, also declared a seven days of mourning period and called for calm between the Shiite and Sunni sects in Pakistan. "It is a part of a well-planned conspiracy to divert the attention of the Muslim nation from the blasphemous caricatures and to trigger a row between Shiites and Sunnis in Pakistan and rest of the world," Naqvi said. In other protests, about 4,000 supporters of Pakistan People's Party gathered in various towns across the southern province of Sindh, a senior figure of the party said. In Multan, about 200 people also protested. Police also raided homes and arrested 31 activists of Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Thursday, one day before the group’s planned nationwide protests against blasphemous cartoons, a spokesman for the alliance said. However, police officials said only one was detained.(Posted @ 21:55 PST)
Cricket-India signal end of Ganguly’s test career BARODA, India, Feb 23 (Reuters) India signalled the end of Saurav Ganguly's international career after dropping their former captain from the squad for the first test against England starting on Mar. 1. Chief selector Kiran More said the squad "we're looking at the future. We are not going to look back from now onwards," he said. An upset Ganguly said "no comments" when reporters approached him soon after the decision at a function to honour the player in his hometown Kolkata.(Posted @ 20:20 PST)
Gas pipelines blown up in southwest Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) Suspected tribesmen blew up two pipelines supplying gas to the national grid Thursday in Balochistan, officials said. One blast hit a pipeline in the Pesh Bogi area, near the town of Dera Bugti while the second explosion overnight targeted a pipeline bringing gas from the Pirkoh field to the main reservoir at Sui, an official said. Some 20 rockets were also fired at paramilitary troops.(Posted @ 20:16 PST)
Bush denounces Iraq bombing WASHINGTON, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) US President George W. Bush on Thursday called the bombing of a shrine in Iraq a "political act" meant to sow "civil strife" and appealed for an end to reprisal attacks. "The voices of reason from all aspects of Iraqi life understand that this bombing is intended to create civil strife, that the act was an evil act," Bush said after a meeting with his cabinet. "The destruction of a holy site is a political act intending to create strife and so I'm pleased with the voices of reason that have spoken out and we will continue to work with those voices of reason to enable Iraq to continue on the path of a democracy that unites people and doesn't divide them," he said.(Posted @ 20:12 PST)
Blair calls Iraq shrine bombing 'desperation, desecration' LONDON, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday condemned the bombing of a shrine in Iraq as "an act of desperation and desecration" and vowed to stand up against terrorists who want to derail moves towards democracy. "This was an act of desperation as well as an act of desecration by people who committed this outrage," said Blair at a monthly news conference in his Downing Street residence. The bombing has aggravated the risk of sectarian strife, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Thursday, adding that he hoped civil war can be avoided. Straw alleged that the shrine bombing bore the "hallmarks" of Al-Qaeda and its leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, although the actual perpetrators remain unknown. The EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also condemned on Thursday the bombing and the spate of revenge attacks that followed it.(Posted @ 20:06 PST)
Iran president warns West over Iraq shrine blast TEHRAN, Feb 23 (Reuters) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Western powers like the United States and Israel that they would face the wrath of Muslims following the devastating bombing of the holy shrine in Iraq. Ahmadinejad pinned the blame for Wednesday's Samarra shrine bombing on "Zionists" and foreign forces in Iraq. "These heinous acts are committed by a group of Zionists and occupiers that have failed. They have failed in the face of Islam's logic and justice," Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television. "There are definitely some plots to force Shi'ites to attack the mosques and other properties respected by the Sunnis," he said. "Any measure to contribute to that direction is helping the enemies of Islam and is forbidden by Sharia," he added.(Posted @ 19:38 PST)
Over 120 shot dead in Iraq sectarian bloodshed BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) Gunmen have killed at least 127 people in Iraq in sectarian violence that flared after the bombing of a revered shrine, officials said Thursday. Amid warnings that sectarian violence could spiral further out of control, Iraqi political leaders went into an emergency meeting with President Jalal Talabani. Eighty bullet-ridden corpses were brought to the Baghdad morgue between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, the deputy director of the morgue said. The bodies, which had been dumped in Baghdad and its suburbs, could not immediately be identified. Another 47 bodies of men shot to death were discovered along with 10 burned out cars alongside a road near Nahrawan, southeast of Baghdad, police said. The corpses were found near a brick factory and it was not immediately known if the victims were workers from the factory. Iraq has already placed its security forces on high alert and cancelled all leave. Early Thursday the police also reported finding the bodies of three Iraqi journalists working for Dubai-based Arabiya satellite television who were kidnapped near Samarra Wednesday evening while reporting on the shrine bombing. In other violence, at least 12 people were killed in a powerful roadside bomb attack in Baquba, 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, of which eight were Iraqi army soldiers and four other civilians, police said, adding 20 others were wounded. One man was also killed and two wounded in a drive by shooting outside a mosque in Baquba, police added. (First Posted@12:15 PST Updated @ 18:12 PST)
Iraq's main Sunni bloc pulls out of government talks BAGHDAD, Feb 23 (Reuters) Iraq's main political bloc pulled out on Thursday of negotiations for the formation of a new government, blaming the ruling alliance for sectarian violence that has killed dozens of people in the past 24 hours. "We are suspending our participation in negotiations on the government with the Shi'ite Alliance," Tareq al-Hashemi, a top official of the Iraqi Accordance Front, told a news conference.(Posted @ 17:04 PST)
Indian editor arrested for publishing blasphemous cartoons NEW DELHI, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) The editor of an Indian magazine has been arrested for publishing the blasphemous cartoons that have angered Muslims worldwide, police said Thursday. Alok Tomar, editor of Hindi magazine Senior India, was charged with hurting the religious sentiments of the muslim community and causing harm to national integration, media reports said. A deputy police commissioner confirmed Tomar's arrest but gave no further details. Police said they had seized all copies of the magazine.(Posted @ 17:04 PST)
Dubai consortium in airport bid for India, China, Middle East SINGAPORE, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) A newly-formed Dubai consortium on Thursday unveiled plans to bid for the development and operation of airports in China, India and the Middle East, a market they estimated to be worth 400 billion US dollars. The consortium is comprised of DAE Airports and six other top companies in the United Arab Emirates, who sealed a partnership Thursday during Asian Aerospace, the world's third-largest airshow. DAE Airports is a subsidiary of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), a recently launched holding firm that aims to invest 15 billion dollars in manufacturing and services in the booming aviation sector. The focus would be on developing new airports on a build, own, operate and transfer scheme.(Posted @ 17:04 PST)
Three Afghan policemen seized with 800 kg of heroin KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) Afghan authorities have arrested three policemen for allegedly smuggling nearly 800 kilograms of heroin in a police truck, a governor said Thursday. The governor would not say if the detained policemen were associated with high-ranking officials or had been acting on their own.(Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Cricket-Pakistan's Akhtar to fly to Australia for knee treatment KARACHI, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said Thursday he will fly to Australia next week to see a specialist after being diagnosed with a degenerative disease in his left knee. But the 30-year-old said he hoped to regain fitness in time for Pakistan's summer tour of England, despite also suffering problems with the other knee and his left ankle. "Both my knees were causing problems but I played on despite these injuries, just for the sake of my team," said Akhtar, who took just four wickets in Pakistan's 2-0 home Test series win against India early this month.(Posted @ 16:10 PST)
Four injured as bomb explodes in north-western Pakistan DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) A bomb exploded at a video shop in Zafar Colony, a commercial area in Dera Ismail Khan, a remote tribal region in north-western Pakistan on Thursday, injuring at least four people, police said. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.(Posted @ 16:05 PST)
Thousands of Kashmiris protest Indian army’s killing of four boys SRINAGAR, Occupied Kashmir (AP) Thousands of Kashmiris took to the streets shouting anti-India slogans in Occupied Kashmir Thursday to protest the fatal shooting of four boys by the Indian army. The demonstrators accused security forces of cordoning off a children's playground and firing indiscriminately Wednesday in Dodipora village during a hunt for a suspected militant. Four young boys between the ages of 6 and 18 died in the shooting. Both the Indian army and the state government promised to investigate the incident. Protesters staged dozens of demonstrations Thursday in Srinagar, while residents of Dodipora staged a sit-down protest on the streets. In Srinagar police baton charged the protesters and also arrested a Kashmiri leader Javed Ahmed Mir, who was leading one of the protests there. Another leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, said he was prevented by police from visiting Dodipora. (First Posted @ 9:15 Updated@ 16:05 PST)
Pakistan, Afghanistan sign accord to set up cross-border bus services ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) Pakistan and Afghanistan concluded an agreement Thursday for starting two cross-border bus services, one of them to open next month, officials said. Trial runs for the bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad will be held on March 15 and 17, said Mohammed Hashim Waiz, the head of the Afghan delegation. Regular bus service will start along the route a month after the trial, he said. Two months after the Peshawar-Jalalabad service, another bus link will be set up between Quetta and Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, he added.(Posted @ 16:00 PST)
India inciting communal clashes in Ladakh: Abdullah JAMMU, Feb 23 (APP): In occupied Kashmir, the patron of pro-India, National Conference, Farooq Abdullah has held New Delhi responsible for inciting communal clashes in Ladakh, and polarizing Jammu and Kashmir on communal lines to strengthen its stranglehold on Kashmir. According to Kashmir Media Service, in a media interview in Jammu, he said, communal clashes are outcome of the divisive policies of New Delhi.Farooq Abdullah asked New Delhi to change its discriminatory policies and stop messing in occupied Kashmir. He insisted that India must accept Kashmir as a dispute and take positive steps to settle it, once for all.(Posted @ 15:20 PST)
China sends vice minister to Iran for nuclear talks BEIJING, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A Chinese vice foreign minister will fly to Iran on Friday to start three days of talks on the standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters on Thursday.China said earlier on Thursday that there was still room to defuse the nuclear standoff between Iran and Western countries, who have threatened sanctions against TehranVice Foreign Minister Lu Guozeng will visit Iran from Feb. 24 to 26.(Posted @ 14:40 PST)
Pakistan qualifies to become SCO member: Musharraf BEIJING, Feb. 23 (APP): Pakistan is eminently qualified to have full membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) that is engaged in promoting peace and stability in the region as its main objective.President Pervez Musharraf, in his extensive interaction with the Chinese electronic and print media during his five-day visit to China, forcefully pleaded Pakistan's case in context of its geopolitical and strategic importance in the region and its legitimate right to play a greater role in regional organizations for promoting common interests in political, economic and defence fields.Chinese media as well as the resident based foreign correspondents showed immense interest in the coverage of President's important engagements in Beijing and Chengdu. President's meetings with Chinese leaders received prominent front-page coverage in the leading newspapers, including the Peoples Daily and the China Daily.(Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Bush supports solution of Kashmir issue WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (APP)- President George Bush has said that the United States "supports a solution" of Kashmir issue "that is acceptable to all sides." Elaborating, he said it is "all sides" because it recognizes "that a solution must be acceptable to India, Pakistan and those living within Kashmir." The roundtable interview with Pakistani journalists was taken at the White House, where high officials, including Press Secretary to the U.S. President was also present.President Bush was told that while Pakistan has made certain proposals in a bid to resolve the Kashmir dispute but India has not reciprocated, hence the bilateral talks are not going anywhere- and that there is need for a third-party mediation or some sort of help and that, does he have any specific proposals The U.S. President said that he was pleased to see the amount of trade that was taking place between India and Pakistan. "It's a substantial increase from July of '04 to July of '05. I thought that the new transportation routes between India and Pakistan are hopeful signs." "So, the role of the United States, in our judgment, is one that will help lead to a settlement that is acceptable to all sides," he added.(Posted @ 12:50 PST)
Bangladesh buys fighter jets from China for 93.6 million dlrs DHAKA, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) - Bangladesh has signed a 93.6 million dollar deal with China to procure 16 fighter jets for its air force, the country's acting defence minister said Thursday. Each fighter plane would cost 5.85 million dollars, Hafizuddin Ahmed, the country's water resources minister who is also acting minister of defence, told the national parliament, according to the state-run BSS news agency. The minister did not indicate what kind of planes were being bought but Lieutenant-Colonel Nazrul Islam, spokesman for the country's armed forces, identified them as F-7 fighter jets. Dhaka and Beijing have strong defence ties and much of Bangladeshi military hardware is purchased from China.(Posted @ 12:15 PST)
Three dead, 20 injured in Indian ship blast HYDERABAD, India, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) Three Indian sailors were killed and 20 injured when discarded ammunition exploded while it was being thrown into the sea from a missile ship off the east coast, police said Thursday. Six of the injured were in a serious condition after Wednesday night's accident. INS Magar, the missile ship of the Indian navy, was around 60 kilometers off the east coast when the blast occurred. The three sailors died on the spot while the others were airlifted to a naval hospital.(Posted @ 12:09 PST)
UN calls meeting of Iraqi leaders after shrine attack UNITED NATIONS, Feb 23 (APP) Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to all communities in Iraq to show maximum restraint after the "provocative" bombing of a shrine on Wednesday. At the same time, UN Envoy to Iraq Ashraf Jehangir Qazi said he would invite a wide range of Iraqi leaders to a meeting in an effort to curb communal strife, saying the attack on the holy shrine of Imam Ali-Hadi was clearly aimed at provoking sectarian strife. Ashraf Qazi said he would invite government, political, religious and civic leaders to a meeting to seek to adopt a common policy and take concrete and immediate measures to foster a spirit of fraternity and mutual respect for peaceful alternatives to the violence racking the country. "Whenever and wherever atrocities of this nature occur, the government must ensure that those responsible are brought to justice," Qazi declared in a statement issued by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). (Posted @ 12:05 PST)
30% demonstrators in protest rallies were Afghan refugees: CM PESHAWAR Feb 23 (APP): NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani while expressing profound grief and anger over publication of blasphemous sketches said miscreants would not be allowed to damage property and cause disorder during the protest rallies. Talking to delegations from Swat, MPAs and Ulema on Wednesday he said 30 percent demonstrators were Afghan refugees and officials have been directed to keep an eye on their criminal activities.(Posted @ 10:45 PST)
President addresses Chinese investors CHENGDU, (China), Feb. 23 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Thursday highlighted Pakistan's potential as an emerging economic hub and an attractive destination for foreign investment and urged the Chinese entrepreneurs to benefit from the country's investor-friendly climate. "Don't see Pakistan as a stand-alone country, look at Pakistan which is blessed with central, strategic location," he told chief executive officers (CEOs) of leading Chinese companies based in China's industrial province of Sichuan, who called on him here during his visit to Sichuan province. Pakistan offers shortest route to Central Asia, Western China and South Asia and serves as trade and energy corridor to these regions, he said. The President assured full legal security to foreign investment and told the Chinese entrepreneurs that over 600 foreign companies working in Pakistan, about 60 of them Chinese, never encountered any problem. Export Processing Zones and Industrial Estates are open to foreign investors, he added. The investors are allowed 100 per cent equity and there is no bar on remitting dividends, profits and capital. He particularly identified, automobile, auto parts, telecom, infrastructure, construction, oil and gas exploration and energy - from hydro, coal, alternative resources to nuclear energy - as some of the attractive areas for investment. General Manager Dongfang said his company has already invested in 15 projects in Pakistan and planned to invest in four more hydropower plants and two locomotive engineering projects. General Manager SECP said the company has already established a textile unit in Karachi while another was being set up.(Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Detained Egypt, Saudi suspects lynched in Iraq second city BASRA, Feb 23 (AFP) - Eleven suspected foreign fighters from Egypt and Saudi Arabia were kidnapped by gunmen from a prison in Basra Wednesday and all but one of them lynched, police said.(Posted @ 10:05 PST)
NATO will be in Afghanistan for years: military chief LONDON, Feb 23, 2006 (AFP) - Afghanistan has "huge problems" and NATO troops will be in the country for "years and years", Major General Michel Gauthier, commander of Canada's forces in Afghanistan, told the British newspaper, The Guardian, in an interview published Thursday. The build-up of NATO troops in southern Afghanistan over the coming months is the alliance's "biggest operational, and perhaps strategic, challenge in years, if not decades," Gauthier said. He said southern Afghanistan was an "unpermissive environment" and the country was facing "huge problems". Asked if NATO troops would be in Afghanistan for decades, he replied: "For years and years". The major general predicted there would be fewer suicide attacks than at present. They were "counter-cultural" to Afghans, the majority of whom wanted a peaceful and better life. "What is clear, [is that] narcotics, criminality, terrorism and insurgency, are all linked," he added.(Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 165.73 points: ARACHI, Feb 23: At the close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 11609.85 , up 165.73 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:30 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Feb 23: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.01 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:30 PST)
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