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| April 22, 2006 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 23, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Iraqi president asks Maliki to form government BAGHDAD, April 22 (Reuters) - President Jalal Talabani asked Shi'ite politician Jawad al-Maliki to head postwar Iraq's first full-term government on Saturday, after a four-month deadlock. "I would like to inform the brothers and sisters that we decided unanimously to endorse our dear brother Nouri Jawad al- Maliki to head the cabinet," Talabani said in parliament.(Posted @ 19:34 PST)
Iraq parliament elects Sunni Islamist speaker BAGHDAD, April 22 (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament elected Arab Sunni Islamist Mahmoud al-Mashhadani as its speaker on Saturday. Mashhadani served as a medical officer in Saddam Hussein's army but was sentenced to death by his regime for joining outlawed Islamist groups. Mashhadani had only one competitor for the position of speaker, Sunni politician Saleh Mutlaq. But he withdrew his nomination to protest what he said was sectarian influence over politics.(Posted @ 19:30 PST)
Iraq's parliament re-elects President Talabani BAGHDAD, April 22 (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament elected incumbent President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, for a second term on Saturday as politicians began putting together a national unity government after four months of deadlock. Talabani, who has spent most of his life fighting for the cause of the Kurds in northern Iraq, is the first non-Arab president of an Arab country.(Posted @ 19:15 PST)
Benazir-Nawaz Sharif meeting on Monday KARACHI, April 22 (PPI): Formers prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif will meet in London on Monday, April 24, a Bilawal House press release said Saturday. It said Benazir Bhutto arrived in London early Saturday morning enroute to the United States. During her brief stay in the UK, she will also attend party meeting, besides meeting Mian Nawaz Sharif.(Posted @ 17:34 PST)
Pakistan lost to Korea in semifinal by 3-1 CHANGZHOU, (China ), April 22 (APP): Pakistan lost to South Korea by 3-1 in the second semi-final of world cup qualifying tournament played here Saturday. In the first semi-final, New Zealand defeated England 3-1, and will face Korea in the final on Sunday. Pakistan and Korea had a tough game till half time, with no score. However, the Koreans dominated in the second half, when their forwards Eun Seong Hong and Nam Yong Lee scored in the 45 and 49 minutes through field goals. Pakistan reduced the margin in the 56th minute through a penalty corner by Muhammad Imran. Pakistani got seven penalty corners mostly in the first half but could not convert.(Posted @ 17:24 PST)
Nepalese opposition parties reject king's democracy pledge KATHMANDU, April 22 (AFP) - Nepal's seven-party opposition alliance on Saturday formally rejected King Gyanendra's offer to restore multi-party democracy, while Maoist rebels said the pledge was meaningless. "The king in his royal proclamation has failed to address the issues of the seven-party alliance's roadmap and the understanding reached with the Maoists," the parties said in a joint statement. "There is no way we can join the government and our general strike and peaceful protest will continue."(First Posted @ 11:50 PST Updated @ 15:32 PST)
India, Pakistan close to gas pipeline deal with Iran DOHA, April 22 (Reuters) - Iran, India and Pakistan are close to signing a gas pipeline deal, the Iranian and Pakistani oil ministers told Reuters on Saturday, overriding U.S. opposition to the project. Speaking after talks with his Iranian and Indian counterparts, Pakistan's oil minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon said only technical issues had to be resolved. Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri said he had an understanding with India and Pakistan. "They are willing and Iran is ready," he added. When asked when the deal would be signed, he said only: "I hope we are going to have a ministerial meeting in Tehran in June," adding it would be attended by the same three ministers. The Indian oil minister Murli Deora declined to comment following Saturday's talks.(Posted @ 20:20 PST)
Fatah, Hamas supporters exchange fire, hurl Molotov cocktails at each other in Gaza GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, April 22 (AP) _ Supporters of the rival Fatah and Hamas groups exchanged fire and hurled Molotov cocktails at each other on Saturday after Hamas' political chief accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah of being a traitor. Three people were wounded in the clashes, which began as stone-throwing incidents. Fatah backers protested across the West Bank and Gaza throughout the day to demand that Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal apologize for his remarks, but violence was only reported in Gaza City.(Posted @ 19:06 PST)
12 bodies found in Iraq, bombing of market place kills two Iraqis BAGHDAD, April 22 (AP) _ Suspected insurgents set off two bombs in a Market in Muqdadiyah in northern Iraq on Saturday, killing at least two Iraqis and wounding 17 others, police said. The bodies of 12 Iraqis who apparently were tortured and killed in captivity were also found in various parts of Baghdad, police added. Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi forces fought an hour-long gunbattle with insurgents in Ramadi, and four militants were killed and two Iraqi soldiers wounded, U.S. officials said. In Kut, 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, police found a body floating in the Tigris River on Saturday, and in Baghdad's northern district of Azamiyah, unidentified gunmen in a speeding car sprayed a police patrol with machine gun fire, killing one officer. In central Baghdad, gunmen killed a civilian riding in a car. A roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in the Harithiya neighbourhood of southwestern Baghdad, wounding five civilians and a policeman, while in eastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting another police patrol near al-Mashtal Bridge wounded two policemen. In Mosul, gunmen riding in a car wounded an Iraqi soldier on patrol, said police Maj. Gen. Wathiq Mohammed.(First Posted @ 16:18 PST Updated @ 19:04 PST)
Iran IAEA envoy says Iran and Russia have reached "basic deal" on joint uranium enrichment TEHRAN, April 22 (AP) _ Iran's envoy to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Saturday that Iran had reached a ``basic deal'' with Russia on formation of a joint uranium enrichment venture on the Russian territory, state-run television reported. ``Only issues regarding technical, legal and financial matters remain to be resolved which need more deliberation and exchange of views,'' the television quoted Soltanieh as saying Saturday in the Russian capital.(Posted @ 18:48 PST)
Two explosions hit supermarkets in eastern Ukraine; 14 injured KIEV, Ukraine, April 22 (AP) _ Two explosions hit two adjacent supermarkets in the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, emergency officials said. Ukrainian news agencies reported that 14 people were injured. Ukraine's Interfax news agency reported that two people were injured in one of the blasts, and 12 injured in the other blast, including two who were hospitalized in serious condition. Interior Ministry confirmed the explosions, but said it didn't immediately have any other details.(Posted @ 18:32 PST)
Police baton-charge protesting quake survivors MUZAFFARABAD, Azad Kashmir, April 22 (AFP) - Police fired warning shots and charged with batons Saturday as hundreds of earthquake survivors took to the streets demanding compensation payments. Shopkeepers also went on strike in protest at tax demands and utility bills issued despite desperate conditions since the massive quake which killed more than 73,000 people in October last. "It was a complete strike in Muzaffarabad and protestors staged rallies in different parts of the city," a police officer said. Protesters burned tyres and blocked roads leading to Jhelum and Neelum valleys and Kohala district, they said, adding that public transport had ground to a halt. Police fired into the air and used truncheons to disperse some 1,000 protestors in Garhi Dupatta, 24 kilometers south of Muzaffarabad and the nearby town of Majoi, police officer Sultan Awan said. "There were no casualties," he added. Almost all shops were closed as authorities issued notices to pay taxes, traders said. Some 700 people at a rally on the main Bank Road also criticised the power supply department for sending utility bills to owners of buildings destroyed in the disaster. Witnesses said protesters burned utility bills and chanted slogans. They said the government promised cash compensation of 175,000 rupees for each house destroyed in the quake. Survivors have received an initial tranche of 25,000 rupees but the payment of the remaining money has now been suspended pending a new survey, residents complained and demanded that the compensation amount should be doubled and paid to each affected family instead of each devastated house.(First Posted @ 16:38 PST Updated @ 18:26 PST)
Four Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan: report OTTAWA, April 22 (AFP) - Four Canadian soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, local media reported Saturday. The explosion struck an armoured vehicle carrying the soldiers to a remote base near Gumbad, some 75 kilometres north of Kandahar, broadcaster CTV said. Three soldiers were killed at the scene. A fourth was flown to Kandahar and died in hospital, it added.(Posted @ 18:02 PST)
Occupied Kashmir: Shabbir's arrest strongly condemned SRINAGAR, Occupied Kashmir, April 22 PPI) The Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) has strongly condemned the house arrest of party President, Shabbir Ahmad by Indian troops, to prevent him from addressing poll boycott rallies in Baramulla district, where the so-called by-elections for three assembly constituencies are being held on Monday.(Posted @ 17:54 PST)
Peace a dream sans Kashmir solution: Mirwaiz LONDON, April 22 (PPI) The APHC Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq addressing the two-day conference on "Pakistan-India Dialogue: Quest for Peace" at Cambridge said the issue of Kashmir is central to Pakistan, India and the peace in the region. Until there was a forward movement on the issue, peace would remain a distant dream in South Asia. Emphasising the importance of inclusion of Kashmiris in the talks between Pakistan and India, he said: "Until and unless there is trilateral dialogue things will not shape up." According to Kashmir Media Service, Mirwaiz said if the solution of Kashmir was to be found outside the ambit of the UN Security Council resolutions, there were ways to do it but it had to be negotiated by the three concerned parties --Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir. "Unless there is a genuine change in the ground situation, all talks of this dialogue process will be in vain," he added.(Posted @ 17:44 PST)
AJK: Three persons killed in road accident KOTLI, Azad Kashmir, April 22 (PPI) Three persons died and 26 others sustained serious injuries in a road accident 20 km from Kotli when their coach fell into a ravine late Saturday night, police sources said. There were 40 passengers on board the ill-fated coach which was heading towards Khuiratta Besakhi Mela from Jalalpur Jattan (Punjab) when the driver lost control while taking a sharp turn, reports said.(Posted @ 17:28 PST)
Boy killed, 5 schoolchildren injured in Chechen roadside bomb blast ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia, April 22 (AP) _ A bomb exploded Friday on a roadside near the city of Gudermes in Chechnya while schoolchildren were cleaning up trash, killing a boy and wounding five other children, an emergency official said Saturday. In Dagestan, west of Chechnya, a powerful remote-controlled roadside bomb exploded early Saturday while a police car was driving by, wounding one officer, the regional Interior Ministry said. Hundreds of attacks targeting law enforcement agencies have occurred in Dagestan in recent years.(Posted @ 17:20 PST)
6 injured as police open fire on farmers protesting power outage in Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan, April 22 (AP) _ Police used batons and tear gas shells on about 250 farmers who had blocked a main highway in the town of Pashin, about 50 kilometers north of Quetta, protesting power outages on Saturday, wounding six, a senior police official said. ``We repeatedly requested them to end the protest peacefully, and hours later we had to use force because the farmers had blocked the main road, which connects Baluchistan with Afghanistan,'' he said. Asmatullah Khan, a local government official, said the farmers had complained that the frequent power outages were affecting irrigation that depends on electricity. He said police had told the protesters that engineers were repairing some of the high-voltage transmission lines damaged in recent weeks by tribal militants. But the farmers refused to clear the road and began pelting police with stones, he said. Khan said the situation was now under control, and police were patrolling the area.(Posted @ 17:06 PST)
10 die when truck runs over landmine in Cambodia PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, April 22 (AP) _ Ten people were killed when their truck hit an anti-tank mine as they were travelling to their war-ravaged rice fields in northwestern Cambodia, an official said Saturday. The area of Oddar Meanchey province where the incident occurred Friday was heavily mined during the war in the 1980s. The victims included seven farmers, one policeman, a soldier and a provincial civil servant.(Posted @ 17:04 PST)
2 soldiers killed, 6 injured in mine explosions in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, April 22 (AP) _ Two Sri Lankan army soldiers, including an officer, were killed and six others injured Saturday in two mine explosions blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, the military said. Also Saturday, unidentified gunmen fatally shot a Tamil woman and seriously wounded her husband, police said.(Posted @ 16:28 PST)
Guyana's agriculture minister shot dead GEORGETOWN, Guyana, April 22 (AP) _ Gunmen burst into the home of Guyana's agriculture minister Satyadeo Sawh, a naturalized Canadian citizen, early Saturday and shot him to death along with two of his family members and a security guard, a government spokesman said. Another of the minister's family members was wounded in the attack at their coastal home east of the South American nation's capital, said spokesman Robert Persaud.``It smacks of a political assassination but the motive is still to be determined,'' he said.(Posted @ 16:22 PST)
Bomb blasts damage Afghan politician's home CHARBOLAK, Afghanistan, April 22 (Reuters) - Two bombs badly damaged on Saturday the home of an Afghan politician Akhter Mohammad Ibrahimkhil in Charbolak in the province of Balkh, 50 km west of Mazar-i-Sharif.(Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Nepal police fire on protesters, scores wounded KATHMANDU, April 22 (Reuters) - Nepali police opened fire and used teargas on Saturday to try to disperse over 100,000 anti-monarchy protesters who defied a curfew and marched towards the palace in the centre of the capital. Police opened fire in at least two places and fired teargas repeatedly to push back protesters just half a mile from the palace, witnesses said. Political parties said about 150 people were wounded during the day. About 75 were brought to one hospital alone, doctors said.(Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Death toll hits 10 in Bangladesh wedding bus accident DHAKA, April 22 (AFP) - Rescuers found the body of a child Saturday after a bus packed with 45 wedding guests plunged into a river in the town of Narail in Bangladesh on Friday, bringing the death toll from the accident to 10. Police said Saturday only three remained missing. The groom was among those who survived but divers recovered the body of the bride.(Posted @ 16:04 PST)
Militant dies in suicide attack in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, April 22 (AFP) – A solo militant exploded an explosive-laden car near a military convoy a few kilometers from an Indian Air Force base in occupied Kashmir on Saturday, an army spokesman said. "A few vehicles belonging to the Air Force were slightly damaged but there were no other casualties," he said adding that the convoy carrying Air Force officials was heading to Jammu when it was attacked. Both Hizbul Mujahedin and Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to a local news agency.(Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Rebel group in India's restive northeast extends truce NEW DELHI, April 22, 2006 (AFP) - The Indian government and tribal separatist guerrillas agreed to extend a truce in Nagaland state by another year just days before it was due to expire on April 28, a rebel leader said Saturday.(Posted @ 15:28 PST)
Chinese president arrives in Saudi Arabia RIYADH, April 22, 2006 (AFP) Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Saudi Arabia Saturday for a 48-hour visit expected to focus on economic and energy cooperation. Hu was received at Riyadh airport by the capital's Governor Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz and Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi, a Chinese embassy official said. A series of cooperation agreements will be signed after Hu holds talks with King Abdullah, the official said.(Posted @ 12:45 PST)
CIA warned Bush of no WMD in Iraq: retired US official WASHINGTON, April 22, 2006 (AFP) The Central Intelligence Agency warned US President George W. Bush before the Iraq war that it had reliable information the government of Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction, a retired CIA operative disclosed. But the operative, Tyler Drumheller, said top White House officials simply brushed off the warning, saying they were "no longer interested" in intelligence and that the policy toward Iraq had been already set. In the disclosure, made in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" program due to be broadcast late Sunday, Drumheller said the information about the absence of the suspected weapons in Iraq was clandestinely provided to US by former Iraqi foreign minister Naji Sabri, who doubled as a covert intelligence agent for Western services. Then-CIA director George Tenet immediately delivered this report to Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other high-ranking administration officials, but the information was dismissed. They said “Well, this isn't about intel anymore. This is about regime change.'" Drumheller said the White House did not want any additional data from Sabri because, as he pointed out, "the policy was set." (Posted @ 11:55 PST)
Senior BJP leader shot, critically wounded in Mumbai MUMBAI, April 22, 2006 (AFP) A senior member of India's nationalist Hindu party was shot and critically wounded Saturday by his brother at his home in Mumbai in what was believed to be a family dispute over property, police said. Pramod Mahajan, a senior general secretary for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was rushed to hospital with three bullet wounds and was immediately taken into surgery, police and party members confirmed.(Posted @ 10:30 PST)
US soldier suicides climb in 2005: army WASHINGTON, April 21, 2006 (AFP) The US Army said 83 soldiers committed suicide last year, more than a quarter of them while deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan.Ten soldiers took their own life in the first three months of this year, the army said. Of last year's suicides, 25 were by soldiers deployed for operations in Iraq or Afghanistan. "We are keenly aware of the stresses facing our soldiers both on deployment and at home station," the army said in a statement.In 2004, 67 soldiers on active duty committed suicide, 14 of them while deployed on operations in Iraq or Afghanistan.(Posted @ 09:52 PST)
Australian soldier dies in Iraq MELBOURNE, April 22 (Reuters) An Australian soldier has died in Iraq after accidentally shooting himself while maintaining his weapon, Australian Defence Minister said on Saturday. The soldier, whose name was not released, was the first member of the Australian defence forces to die while serving in Iraq.(Posted @ 09:40 PST)
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