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| February 28, 2006 | Tuesday | Muharram 29, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Bombers kill 37 in Iraq sectarian bloodshed BAGHDAD, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - At least 37 people were killed in Iraq on Tuesday, most of them in a triple bomb attack in Baghdad, as tanks guarded Sunni mosques amid fears of a new spiral of sectarian violence. Three bombs went off in quick succession in Shiite areas in the capital, killing at least 30 people and wounding 130. In one of the Baghdad attacks, a suicide bomber wearing a explosives vest blew himself up next to a queue of people waiting to buy kerosene in Al-Amin, southeast Baghdad. In the second, a car bomb exploded in the city's southeastern district of Jadida, an interior ministry official said. Those two attacks killed 24 and wounded 112 people, he said. Another six people were killed in a car bomb attack near a market in the central Karada district, he said, adding 18 others were wounded. Five bodyguards of Lieutenant General Daham Radi al-Assal, advisor to Iraqi defence minister, were killed when a roadside bomb exploded against his convoy in eastern Baghdad, a defence ministry official said. Seven other bodyguards were also wounded. Earlier on Tuesday, gunmen planted a bomb at the entrance of Al-Hurriya mosque, in the neighbourhood of the capital. It damaged the entrance but caused no casualties. Also on Tuesday the tomb of Hussein al-Majid, father of deposed Saddam Hussein, was bombed in the northern town of Tikrit.(First Posted @ 14:46 PST Updated @ 19:52 PST)
Pakistan culls birds, await flu test results KARACHI, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities culled about 23,000 birds Tuesday at two farms in Abbbotabad and Charsadda in the NWFP where a mild form of bird flu had been detected, Livestock Commissioner Muhammad Afzal said. "There is no report of bird flu from any other farm in the country," he added. Samples of the infected birds were being sent to laboratories in Britain, he said adding that "we are also conducting tests locally but it will take three weeks for us to complete these tests."(Posted @ 19:50 PST)
Palestinian shot after stabbing Israeli JERUSALEM, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday after he stabbed an Israeli and a foreign worker, Israeli military sources and an ambulance service said. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said the three were taken to hospital in Jerusalem after the incident in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, south of the city. The severity of their injuries was not immediately clear. Officials did not give the nationality of the foreign worker.(Posted @ 23:50 PST)
At least 10 killed by car bomb outside Baghdad Shiite mosque BAGHDAD, March 1, 2006 (AFP) - At least 10 people were killed and 50 wounded Tuesday evening when a car bomb blew up outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad, an interior ministry official said. The bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in Baghdad's northwest neighbourhood of Al-Hurriya, the official added. A series of bombs had rocked Baghdad Tuesday morning, with three near simultaneous blasts ripping across mixed neighbourhoods in the capital killing at least 30 people and wounding 130.(Posted @ 23:10 PST)
'Highly pathogenic' H5 bird flu virus found in Sweden STOCKHOLM, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - A "highly pathogenic" H5 bird flu virus has been detected in wild ducks in Sweden, the country's National Veterinary Institute (SVA) said on Tuesday, without specifying whether it was the deadly strain that can infect humans. Tests carried out on four tufted ducks found dead along Sweden's southeastern coast revealed "that two of them were positive for influenza, and when further analyzed, we saw that this was H5," state epizootic disease expert Marianne Elvander told AFP, adding that the strain found was a "highly pathogenic, aggressive variant of the virus." (Posted @ 22:00 PST)
Thousands protests against blasphemous cartoons in Karachi KARACHI, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) Thousands of protestors demonstrated against blasphemous cartoons on Tuesday as they marched for about half a kilometre from the national stadium in Karachi, police and witnesses said. "The entire nation from men, women to children are now on the streets to protest against the blasphemous cartoons," the president of Jamaat-i-Islami, Merajul Hude said. Police said Tuesday's rally remained peaceful, like all the other rallies so far held in Karachi. (Posted @ 14:20 PST)
5,000 children protest blasphemous cartoons KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) _ About 5,000 children staged a rally in Karachi Tuesday in the latest protest against thepublication of blasphemous cartoons. The children, aged 8 to 12, burned a coffin draped in U.S.,Israeli and Danish flags at a traffic intersection in the port city as police in riot gear looked on. The rally was organized by Jamaat-e-Islami. The children, some wearing school uniforms and headbands emblazoned with ``God is great,'' were released from schools to take part in the rally. Meanwhile, opposition lawmaker Liaqat Baluch, deputy secretary-general of the coalition, on Tuesday welcomed the European Union's first statement on the controversy but demanded an apology from Denmark, saying it ``has not so far acknowledged its mistake.'' Baluch said a ``line should be drawn'' between freedom of expression and actions that offend religious sensitivities.(Posted @ 18:45 PST)
Saudi Al-Qaeda leader was killed in clashes: official RIYADH, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - The head of the Al-Qaeda network in Saudi Arabia, Fahd bin Faraj al-Joweir, was among the five militants killed in Monday's shootout in Riyadh, the Saudi interior ministry said Tuesday. Another two militants among the five were also listed among the 36 most-wanted militants in the kingdom, it added.(Posted @ 18:55 PST)
Chirac champions air ticket tax idea to fund development aid PARIS, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - Countries around the world were Tuesday urged to embrace a French proposal for a new tax on airline tickets as a way of boosting funds to fight poverty, hunger and disease in developing nations. President Jacques Chirac, pushing the initiative at a Paris conference of representatives from 95 countries, said: "The moment has come to enter a new phase, to go forward in implementing concrete projects." His surcharge on air tickets -- to come into force in France from July -- won approval from UN chief Kofi Annan, who was also attending the event. "President Chirac has shown real leadership in efforts to find innovative sources of financing to help the world achieve the Millennium Development Goals," Annan said. He noted that Chile was also implementing the airline ticket tax and that Britain plans to use money from an existing airline surcharge to the same end.(Posted @ 18:54 PST)
Iran has right to civil nuclear power: Chirac PARIS, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - Iran has the right to civil nuclear power as long as it respects its commitments to the cause of non-proliferation, French President Jacques Chirac said Tuesday. "France believes in the need for the demands of non-proliferation to be respected, but believes this does not in any way prejudice Iran's right to civil nuclear energy within such a framework," Chirac was quoted as saying by his spokesman. He made the remarks in conversation with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a few days ahead of a crucial meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which must rule whether to refer Iran to the Security Council over its nuclear programme.(Posted @ 18:52 PST)
Nine bullet riddled bodies found southeast of Baghdad: hospital BAQOUBA, Iraq, Feb 28 (AP) _ Nine bullet-riddled bodies, including a Sunni Muslim tribal sheikh, were found Tuesday morning off a road southeast of Baghdad, police and hospital officials said. Iraqi army found the bodies near two burned minibuses in an open area off the road from Baghdad into Iraq's strife prone Diyala province, police said. The victims included Sheikh Hamid Irbat Ghazi, of the influential Mahamdeh tribe, and two of his nephews, police said.(Posted @ 18:46 PST)
India insincere in resolving Kashmir dispute: APHC Srinagar, February 28 (PPI) All Parties Hurriyat Conference Tuesday said that the prevailing tyrannical ground situation in occupied Kashmir betrays the insincerity and lack of seriousness on the partof India to resolve Kashmir dispute. Occupied Kashmir has been virtually transformed into an army garrison where killings of innocent civilians are alarmingly on the increase with other atrocities touching new heights. As a result, the ongoing process of talks is losing its importance with every passing day, a spokesman of the Hurriyat said in a statement in Srinagar. Meanwhile, the APHC, at a meeting in Srinagar, expressed serious concern over the plight of Kashmiri detainees, languishing in different jails for the past several years even after the expiry of their detention period.(Posted @ 18:44 PST)
Overall poverty in the country has declined:Shaukat Aziz Islamabad, Feb 28 (PPI)Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Tuesday said the overall poverty in the country has declined by over six percent, unemployment rate for the current year by six point eight percent and GDP is expected to grow up to seven percent during the current financial year. Presiding over a meeting of the National Economic Council he said growth in the manufacturing and services sectors is to maintain its momentum despite the tragic earthquake and oil price hike.(Posted @ 18:44 PST)
Ruptured pipeline repaired, gas supply restored LAHORE, Feb 28 (APP): Supply of gas to SNGPL's system which was disrupted at 2140 hrs on February 26 due to rupture of 30" diameter gas transmission pipeline, was restored at 0230 hours today (February 28). Repair of 16" diameter Wapda line was also completed by SNGPL at 1030 hours, a press release said Tuesday. There has been no reduction in gas supply to any city or town in the Punjab or the NWFP or any area of operation of SNGPL. Gas supply to cement and power sector (Wapda), which was disrupted due to the pipeline rupture as well as the 16" diameter Wapda pipeline supplying gas to Guddu power station, has also been restored, it said.(Posted @ 18:40 PST)
Afghans blame "infidels" for cartoons, Iraq attack GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Feb 28 (Reuters) - More than 7,000 Afghans protested on Tuesday against blasphemous cartoons and condemned attack on a shrine in Iraq as a "plot by infidels".Sayed Ghulam Sakhi, head of the government-appointed Islamic Council in Ghazni, called the printing of the cartoons,the attack in Iraq and desecration of the holy Quran the work of "Zionists". "(They) are linked together and the work of the infidels," he said. Another senior cleric in Ghazni, Mawlavi Jailani, charged that the attack on a shrine in Iraq last week, was part of a "plot by the infidels to create hostility" between the two Muslim sects.(Posted @ 18:40 PST)
Egyptian trains collide, 20 injured CAIRO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A train bound for Cairo ran into the back of a train going to Port Said in the Nile Delta early Tuesday morning because of a signal failure and mist, injuring 20 people, officials said. The accident took place near the town of Abu Hummus, which lies on the main line between Cairo and Alexandria and about 150 km northwest of the capital, MENA news agency reported.(Posted @ 18:30 PST)
Gunfire heard from Afghan siege prison-witnesses KABUL, FEB 28 (Reuters) - Several bursts of gunfire wereheard on Tuesday from a prison on the outskirts of Kabul taken over at the weekend by hundreds of inmates led by Taliban commanders and a kidnap gang leader, witnesses said."They wanted to attack us; we opened fire," a police officer said by telephone from inside the Pul-i-Charkhi prison. He gave no other information and it was unclear if there had been any casualties. Reporters saw four United Nations vehicles driving out of the jail about two minutes after the shooting. Earlier, in an agreement with authorities, inmates handed over the bodies of four prisoners killed after rioting broke out at the prison on Saturday, as well as 17 of 30 wounded, Deputy Justice Minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai said. As part of the agreement, Hashimzai told reporters preparations were underway to transfer more than 1,300 prisoners from two cell blocks damaged in the riot to a temporary block while repairs were carried out. But Olivier Moeckli, a spokesman for the ICRC which had offered to monitor the transfer process, said the agreement appeared to have broken down.(First Posted @ 14:40 PST Updated @ 17:24 PST)
Maoist rebels kill 55 in landmine blast in India RAIPUR, India, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Maoist rebels set off a landmine under a truck on Tuesday in Darmagura area in Dantewada district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, killing 55 people and wounding at least 20 who belonged to a government-backed anti-Maoist group, senior police officer S.K Paswan said. Indian Maoists, who are fighting for the rights of peasants and landless labourers operate in at least nine of the country's 29 states. India's home ministry says there are about 9,300 Maoist guerrillas operating in the country.(First Posted @ 13:10 PST Updated @ 17:10 PST)
Police fire teargas on Muslim protesters in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Police in occupied Kashmir fired teargas on Tuesday to disperse hundreds of Muslims protesting the magazine publication of a picture of a playing card showing an image of Mekkah, police said. At least 10 protesters were detained. More than 400 Muslim youths gathered near Lal Chowk, in the heart of Srinagar, raising slogans and pelted police with stones and set fire to copies of the magazine, witnesses said.(Posted @ 16:55 PST)
China's population up by 7.68 million in 2005 BEIJING, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - China's population, the world's biggest, rose by 7.68 million last year to 1.307 billion, according to official figures released Tuesday. China's rural population reached 745.44 million at the end of last year, or 57 percent of the total, with 562.12 million people living in urban areas, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The rise continued a trend of falling population growth and birth rates, the result of the controversial one-child policy adopted in 1979. The birth rate dropped to 12.4 per 1,000 people last year from 21.06 per 1,000 in 1990, the bureau said. China's population growth rate similarly fell from 14.39 per 1,000 in 1990 to 5.89 last year.(Posted @ 16:50 PST)
Two British soldiers killed in southern Iraq: official LONDON, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - Two British soldiers were killed and a third injured on Tuesday in an attack in Ammara in southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence said declining to give further details about the cause of the attack. Iraqi police claimed that a roadside bomb targeted a British patrol on the outskirts of Amarra, killing four troops. Three troops were also injured, according to police captain Mohammed Radi.(Posted @ 16:48 PST)
India hikes military spending 7.2 percent in 2006-07 NEW DELHI, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - India on Tuesday hiked military spending by 7.2 percent to 890 billion rupees (19.8 billion dollars) in its budget for the year to March 2007 to fund ongoing modernisation, the finance minister said. "This will include 374 billion rupees for capital expenditure," Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said in reference to the country's plans to upgrade military hardware for its armed forces. India's million-plus army, the world's fourth largest, received the lion's share at 322 billion rupees (7.15 billion dollars), marking a jump of nearly 360 million dollars over last year. The navy, which plans to build an aircraft carrier and is working on a nuclear reactor for a submarine project, received 1.49 billion dollars -- a 14.6 percent hike from its 2005-2006 spending of 1.3 billion dollars. The budget for the air force, which hopes to buy 126 military jets for six billion dollars in the current decade, was increased to three billion dollars from two billion dollars in the previous year. Arms factories were alloted 77 million dollars and the remaining 5.25 billion dollars was reserved for development projects or payments of hardware bought in previous years.(First Posted @ 11:55 PST Updated @ 16:42 PST)
21 militants sentenced to death for Bangladesh bombings DHAKA, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) - A court sentenced 21 militants to death Tuesday for their part in deadly blasts that saw more than 400 bombs detonated almost simultaneously across Bangladesh last year, officials said. The synchronised blasts were claimed by an outlawed Islamic militant group. "Judge S.K.M. Anisur Rahman Khan today sentenced 21 men to death by hanging after they were found guilty of carrying out bomb blasts ... on August 17, 2005," Amirul Islam, administrative officer at the court in the southwestern Jhenidah district, said. Three of the defendants were sentenced in absentia, he said.(Posted @ 16:40 PST)
Saddam trial resumes BAGHDAD, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP/Reuters) - The trial of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and his seven former aides resumed Tuesday afternoon in Baghdad with all defendants present. Chief judge Rauf Rasheed Abdel Rahman rejected requests by the defence team for the trial to be postponed and for the judge and chief prosecutor to be dismissed. Saddam's lead lawyers then walked out of the courtroom and were replaced by court-appointed lawyers. After three hours of proceedings the trial was adjourned until Wednesday.(First Posted @ 16:40 PST Updated @ 19:12 PST)
India's Assam state changes British-era name to Asom GUWAHATI, India, Feb 28, 2006 (AFP) India's northeastern state of Assam has been renamed Asom to cast off its British-era label, a state minister said Tuesday. The move is the latest in a series of name changes in India in which Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata (formerly Bombay, Madras and Calcutta) reverted to their original names to shrug off the legacy of British colonial rule. Unable to pronounce Asom correctly, the British rulers had dubbed the state as Assam in 1826. (Posted @ 14:35 PST)
About 70 dolphins washed ashore on Japanese beach TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) Scores of dolphins washed onto a beach on Japan's Pacific Coast on Tuesday, and surfers joined local officials in a struggle to push them back into the sea. Most of the dolphins had returned to the water by sundown, they said. "We have no idea why this happened," an official said. Some of the dolphins may have died, the official added. (Posted @ 14:35 PST)
Earthquake hits southeast Iran, no damage reported TEHRAN, Feb 28 (Reuters) An earthquake measuring 5.6 to 5.8 hit the town of Orzuyieh at 11:00 a.m. (0730 GMT) in southeast Iran on Tuesday but there were no reports of casualties or damage, a provincial official and state media said. Dubai residents say they also felt a tremor. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Rockets fired at military post, communications tower in southwest Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) Rockets were fired at a security forces checkpoint and a telecommunications building in separate attacks Tuesday in south-western Pakistan, officials said. No one was reported injured. Three rockets landed in a field near a paramilitary post in Dera Bugti, a senior government administrator in the area said. In a separate attack, two rockets were also fired at a telecommunications tower in Bolan, a mountainous area southeast of Quetta, a police official said, adding that the rockets missed the tower but landed nearby, shattering windows in a building at the tower's base. (Posted @ 14:25 PST)
Kidnapped Nepali dies in Afghanistan, another safe KABUL, Feb 28 (Reuters) One of the two Nepali security men kidnapped in Afghanistan died of illness during more than two weeks in captivity but the other has been found safe, a government official said on Tuesday. The body of the man was found in an area to the west of Kabul on Monday evening after the kidnappers fled, the official told reporters. (Posted @ 14:20 PST)
Indian soldiers kill three persons in Occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, Occupied Kashmir (AP) Government forces killed three persons Tuesday as troops beefed up security in Occupied Kashmir ahead of U.S. president's visit to India, police said. Two suspected militants were killed in an overnight gunbattle in the village of Drabgam after paramilitary troops raided an alleged hideout, a spokesman for the Border Security Force said. Two paramilitary soldiers were also wounded in the fighting. Separately, government forces killed another suspect in Wattargam, a village 70 kilometres north of Srinagar, the spokesman added. (Posted @ 12:50 PST)
U.S. solider killed in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) A U.S. soldier was killed by small-arms fire west of Baghdad, the military said Tuesday. The soldier, assigned to Multi-National Division in Baghdad, died Monday. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)
US settling suit by Egyptian held after Sept 11-NYT WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) The U.S. government has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by an Egyptian who was among dozens of Muslims detained after the Sept. 11 attacks, held for months and deported, The New York Times reported in its Tuesday editions. The settlement is the first the government has made in a number of suits saying that non-citizens were abused and their constitutional rights violated after the attacks, the newspaper said in the report. The Egyptian, Ehab Elmaghraby, used to run a restaurant in Manhattan. He was one of two plaintiffs in the suit. The other, a Pakistani, is still pursuing the suit. The Justice Department declined to comment to the Times. Lawyers who represent both of the men told the newspaper the settlement was significant. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 264.37 points: KARACHI, Feb 28: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 11456.12, up 264.37 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Feb 28: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.05 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 09:50 PST)
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