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| May 5, 2006 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 6, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
PM for ECO free trade area, energy grid and inter-regional oil and gas pipelines BAKU, (Azerbaijan), May 5 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Friday called for establishment of an ECO free trade area, inter-regional oil and gas pipelines, saying an energy grid could create inter-linkages necessary for making the Economic Cooperation Organisaion more effective. Addressing the 9th ECO summit, Prime Minister urged closer coordination of policies among the 10-member grouping and said "for ECO to become a coherent, effective and seamless organization, it must create inter-dependencies and synergies, especially in areas of energy security, transportation linkages and trade promotion." He said the ECO region was well placed to become a major hub of energy supply. (Posted @ 12:10 PST)
Pakistani student dies in German custody: FO ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) A Pakistani student who was arrested for allegedly trying to hurt a German newspaper editor for publishing blasphemous cartoons has died in custody in Berlin, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman confirmed Friday. Tasnim Aslam identified the student as Amer Cheema, but would not say exactly when he had been arrested. She said an initial report from Berlin suggested that Cheema hanged himself at a prison, and added that Pakistan was trying to get more details. ``So far we only know that he had been detained for allegedly trying to hurt the editor of a German newspaper in Berlin, and his trial had not started yet,'' she said. Ellen Goelz, a diplomat at the German Embassy in Islamabad, said she had no information about the student although she had seen media reports. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry had not contacted the embassy about it, she said. In Berlin, justice officials this week had said that a 28-year-old man identified only as Aamir C. was found dead in a cell early Wednesday and that he appeared to have hanged himself with his clothing. On Friday, three lawmakers from Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) introduced a motion in the National Assembly, seeking a debate on the death of Cheema in his cell. They said the student had been tortured to death. The assembly speaker, Chaudhry Ameer Hussain, allowed the motion to be debated at an unspecified date. (Posted @ 15:22 PST)
Israeli airstrike kills four in Gaza GAZA, May 5 (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike killed four Palestinians on Friday in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics and witnesses said.(Posted @ 23:32 PST)
Pakistan not a failed state: US Under Secretary ISLAMABAD, May 5 (APP): US Under Secretary for International Trade, Franklin L. Lavin, hailing Pakistan's economic performance as `very positive and strong' said Friday it was not a failed in any context.(Posted @ 23:22 PST)
Sudanese govt, main Darfur rebel group sign peace deal ABUJA, May 5, 2006 (AFP) - The Sudanese government and the principal rebel movement in Darfur signed a peace agreement Friday designed to end three years of civil war in the impoverished western region. The deal was signed by representatives of Khartoum and the main faction of the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM), led by Minna Minnawi, in the presence of talks host Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and mediators.(First Posted @ 15:40 PST Updated @ 23:02 PST)
PM Aziz leaves for Islamabad BAKU (Azerbaijan) May 5 (APP): Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz left here Friday for Islamabad after attending the 9th ECO Summit. He was seen off at the airport by the First Deputy PM, Yaqob Eyyubov.(Posted @ 22:35 PST)
Pakistan, Turkey for non use of force against Iran BAKU, (Azerbaijan), May 5 (APP): Pakistan and Turkey Friday joined their voice against use of force against Iran, saying they favoured a negotiated peaceful settlement of its nuclear issue. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a detailed meeting including an extended exclusive session, on the sidelines of the 9th ECO summit, said they were against the use of force against Iran. In a brief chat with newsmen after their meeting, the Turkish Prime Minister said his country was for a peaceful resolution of the issue. Aziz said "we share a similar point of view." Both leaders said use of force would aggravate the situation in the region. Aziz earlier in his address at the ECO summit said it respected Iran's legitimate rights under the NPT, including the use of nuclear technology under IAEA safeguards. He also appreciated Turkey's role in the rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Pakistan's earthquake affected areas and said it was also seeking assistance form its seismic experts to build safer buildings.(Posted @ 21:40 PST)
EU ready to release Palestinian aid package BRUSSELS, May 5, 2006 (AFP) The European Commission said Friday that it was ready to offer 34 million euros in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, whose government is on the verge of bankruptcy. Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel will make the offer to the EU's 25-member states "in the next few days", his spokesman said, adding that the new money would be used for food aid, sanitation, water and health projects.(Posted @ 21:06 PST)
Saudi king, Cuba's Castro among world's richest rulers: Forbes NEW YORK, May 5, 2006 (AFP) Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, Cuban President Fidel Castro, Monaco's Prince Albert II and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II are among the world's wealthiest rulers, Forbes magazine reported on its website Friday. Featuring monarchs, presidents and other leaders, the Forbes list is topped by Abdullah, 82, who became Saudi Arabia's sixth king in August 2005 and is worth an estimated 21 billion dollars, according to Forbes. In second place, with 20 billion dollars, is 59-year-old Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, followed by the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, 58, with 19 billion dollars. Dubai's ruler, 56-year-old Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, came in fourth, with 14 billion dollars, followed by Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, 61, with four billion dollars. Castro, 79, came in seventh, with 900 million dollars credited to him by Forbes.(Posted @ 20:35 PST)
Six arrested for sectarian attacks in Pakistan KARACHI, May 5, 2006 (AFP) Pakistani police arrested six suspected militants over a string of sectarian attacks in Karachi, security officials said Friday. Investigators also recovered heavy weapons and explosives in the swoop on the suspects, who are believed to be from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), a banned extremist group, the officials said.(Posted @ 20:34 PST)
Two Italian troops dead after Kabul blast KABUL, May 5, 2006 (AFP) Two Italian soldiers were killed and four others wounded when their military convoy was hit by a road bomb in Kabul on Friday, the NATO-led peacekeeping force here said. "They were on a patrol in Kabul and were attacked by an IED (improvised explosive device)," a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the capital said. "Four were injured and two died... They were Italians," the spokesman added.(First Posted Posted @ 18:42 PST Updated @ 20:32 PST)
Arbab, Sindh PML leaders meet Musharraf ISLAMABAD, May 05 (PPI) Chief Minister Sindh Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim and leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-QA) from Sindh Friday met President Pervez Musharraf here. Others included in the meeting were Nadir Akmal Leghari, federal ministers from Sindh Ghaus Bux Mahar, Justice (Retd) Abdul Razaq Thahim of the PML-Functional of Pir Pagara group, PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and General Secretary Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed. Several issues were discussed during the meeting including reorganization of the PML in Sindh and the strengthening of its base as a popular political force, improvement of law and order and construction of water reservoirs including the Kalabagh Dam. Musharraf is said to have directed Chief Minister Sindh and other PML leaders to manifest complete unity and understanding among their ranks so that PML could remove intra-party differences and chalk out a comprehensive strategy for the forthcoming general elections.( First Posted @ 19:36 PST Updated @ 19:54 PST)
Turkish PM meets Iranian President ANKARA, May 5, 2006 (AFP) Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday that the international community would not tolerate the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the Anatolia news agency reported from Baku. Erdogan met Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of a regional gathering in the Azerbaijani capital. Asked what messages he conveyed to the hardline Iranian leader, Erdogan said: "Turkey believes that no one can object to nuclear technology for peaceful, humanitarian aims.” He added that "But of course, no country in the world will approve the proliferation of nuclear weapons." Asked Ahmadinejad's reply, Erdogan said: "They also have the same understanding."(Posted @ 19:46 PST)
Iraqi oil engineers kidnapped BAGHDAD, May 5 (Reuters) Gunmen kidnapped six engineers working for Iraq's state-owned Northern Oil Company on Friday, police said. The six were returning to the oil city of Kirkuk, 250 kms north of Baghdad, from a meeting at the Baiji refinery, when they were stopped. No further details were available.(Posted @ 19:45 PST)
Three U.S. soldiers killed by bomb in Iraq BAGHDAD, May 5 (Reuters) Three U.S. soldiers were killed on Friday when their vehicle was blasted by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. The incident happened in Babil province, just south of the capital, the military said. It gave no further details.(Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Taliban kill five including Afghan tribal chief KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 5, 2006 (AFP) Five people including a key tribal chief and his son were killed in the latest spate of violence blamed on the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, officials said Friday. Chieftain Haji Lala died along with his son and his bodyguard on Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded beneath their vehicle in Helmand province, an interior ministry spokesman said. Lala was an influential tribal chief and was the cousin of parliamentarian and former Helmand governor Sher Mohammad Akhundzada. Separately, Taliban militants ambushed a police convoy in Helmand and two policemen died and two others were wounded in a subsequent fire fight, an official said.(Posted @ 16:58 PST)
Country produces 12.39 million cotton bales MULTAN, May 5 (APP): Pakistan produced 12.394 million cotton bales during the 2005-6 season against an official target of 13 million bales, said the final report issued by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) head office here Friday. Last year the country produced a record crop of 14.6 million bales, it observed. Punjab's production has been computed at 9.849 million bales and that of Sindh at 2.545 million bales. The federal committee of agriculture (FCA) has fixed 13.82 million bales of cotton production target for the next crop (2006-7), sowing for which has already started in Punjab and Sindh. (Posted @ 12:10 PST)
Veteran Bollywood music composer Naushad dies MUMBAI, May 5, 2006 (AFP) - Veteran Bollywood composer Naushad Ali, who wrote the music for some of India's biggest film box-office hits, died in hospital Friday after a heart attack, medical officials said. Naushad, 86, enjoyed great popular success in the 1950s and 60s, and was a pioneer in introducing Hindustani classical and North-Indian folk music to the cinema. He started his Bollywood career with "Prem Nagar" in 1940, and a string of successes followed. He composed music for blockbusters like Oscar-nominated "Mother India", "Mughal-e-Azam" and "Pakeezah" and in 1981 received India's top government cinema award, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, for his lifetime contribution -- 68 movies over six decades, half of them major money-spinners. He slowed down in the last two decades due to ill-health and his last work was for "Taj Mahal - An Eternal Love Story" in 2005. Naushad introduced singers Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi to Bollywood movies. Naushad was considered one of the first in the industry to introduce sound-mixing and the separate recording of voice and music tracks in playback singing, for which Bollywood is famous. (Posted @ 12:00 PST)
Singapore, Pakistan end third round of free trade talks SINGAPORE, May 5, 2006 (AFP) Singapore and Pakistan on Friday completed a third round of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA), the city-state's trade ministry said. "Both sides had fruitful discussions and made further progress on the key issues tabled during the third round in the chapters on trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, investment, government procurement, customs and the legal elements of the FTA," it said in a statement. The next round of negotiations is scheduled in Pakistan by July. (Posted @ 15:42 PST)
Russia says undecided on whether Iran is a threat MOSCOW, May 5 (Reuters) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow has yet to decide on whether Iran should be considered a threat. He was responding to remarks from his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, that Russia and China "had officially told us ... (of) their opposition to sanctions and military attacks" against the Islamic Republic. "We have made no such announcements. In such an important and serious area like nuclear non-proliferation, we can make a decision only based on the opinions of experts," Lavrov told reporters. "The inspections that have been held in Iran do not allow us to conclude that Iran has the technology to create weapons of mass destruction. But on the other hand, these inspections do not allow us to make the opposition conclusion," he added. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Abbas speaks to Olmert about peace moves RAMALLAH, West Bank, May 5 (Reuters) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about reviving peace talks, a senior Abbas aide said. Saeb Erekat said Abbas and Olmert would also meet when the Israeli leader returned from a trip to the United States. But an official in Olmert's office denied any meeting had been planned, although he said the two spoke by telephone earlier on Friday. "He (Abbas) spoke to him about peace partnerships and advancing peace moves," Erekat said. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Nearly 100 injured in Bangladeshi protests over power DHAKA, April 5 (Reuters) Nearly 100 people were injured in clashes in Bangladesh on Friday after police tried to break up a protest over shortage of drinking water and electricity, police and witnesses said. Police fired teargas shells and used batons to evict thousands of people squatting on a highway linking the capital Dhaka with the port city of Chittagong, demanding adequate power supplies to run their irrigation pumps. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Interior minister Clarke to go in UK cabinet shake-up LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) British Prime Minister Tony Blair pushed through one of the biggest cabinet shake-ups in his nine years in office on Friday, naming Defence Minister John Reid as interior minister and replacing Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Environment minister Margaret Beckett takes over foreign affairs from Straw while interior minister Charles Clarke, embroiled in a row over the release of foreign prisoners, leaves the government, officials said. They did not immediately say who would replace Reid at the Ministry of Defence.(First Posted @ 09:10 PST; Updated @ 15:30 PST)
Ahmadinejad says adversaries must 'begin respecting the people of Iran' BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a summit of regional leaders Friday that Iran's adversaries must ``begin respecting the people of Iran'' and repeated that Iran’s nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. In a speech to the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Iranian leader said his country's ``adversaries are waging a psychological war and trying to establish a nuclear apartheid to prevent our people from exercising their inalienable rights.'' He added that`Our nuclear programs are solely for peaceful purposes. ... I declare that the baseless accusations leveled against us by the bullying powers of the world will by no means change the resolve of our nation to move forward on the path to advancement and progress,'' he said. Ahmadinejad said the ECO countries should step up their efforts to cooperate with each other. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Rocket attack on Pakistani police post kills one officer KHAR, Pakistan (AP) Assailants fired rockets at a police post in Nakhtar, about 25 kilometres from Khar, the main town in Bajur tribal region bordering Afghanistan, before dawn Friday, killing one officer and wounding another, an official said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack. ``We have called a meeting of the tribal elders to seek their help to trace and capture the attackers,'' an official said. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Pakistani authorities seize narcotics in raid near Afghan border QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) Anti-narcotics forces seized nearly three tons of opium and morphine after a gunbattle with drug traffickers in Brahamcha, a village in Chagai district, about 275 kilometres southwest of Quetta, a Pakistani official said. Three suspects, all Pakistanis, were also arrested in the late Thursday raid. The Anti-Narcotics Force said they seized 1,720 kilograms of opium and 1,120 kilograms of morphine and confiscated the vehicle used to transport the drugs. ``The drugs were brought from Helmand province in southern Afghanistan for further smuggling to Europe via Iran,'' officials said. (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Kashmir shuts down to protest sex scandal SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, May 5 (AFP) - A day-long strike to force the government to reveal the names of people caught up in a sex scandal paralysed occupied Kashmir on Friday. Police last month unearthed a prostitution racket allegedly involving more than 40 young women servicing politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen in the Muslim-majority state. The state government asked the federal Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) to investigate and police have already made several arrests. Friday's strike was called separately by the Traders and Manufacturers Association and the region's leading women separatist group, Dukhtaran-e-Millat or Daughters of Faith. The strike closed shops, businesses, schools and banks in Srinagar. Traffic was also limited. Dukhtaran chief Aasiya Andrabi has threatened to go to court if the names are not revealed. "The government, by ordering a CBI inquiry into the scandal, is only buying time," she said in a statement. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)
India calls for cushion against oil price shocks at ADB annual meet HYDERABAD, India, May 5 (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opened the Asian Development Bank's annual board of governors meeting Friday with a call for international financial bodies to tackle sharp swings in oil prices. "It is incumbent on all major international financial institutions to ... devise credible strategies to enable the world economy to cope with the increased unpredictability and volatility of energy prices," said Singh. (Posted @ 11:50 PST)
S.Lanka navy in clash, rebel boat explodes COLOMBO, May 5 (Reuters) - One Tamil Tiger rebel boat exploded during a clash with the Sri Lankan navy off the island's northwestern coast on Friday, a naval source said. He said he had no details of casualties. (Posted @ 11:50 PST)
Millions drink toxic water in northern India: report LUCKNOW, India, May 5, 2006 (AFP) - Millions of people in poverty-ridden northern India are drinking ground water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a government minister said Friday. A report released this week by the Uttar Pradesh public works department said the water was "not fit for human consumption" and could lead to cancer and other illnesses. Contaminants such as arsenic, lead and cadmium were present in groundwater sources tested in 42 out of 70 districts, State Urban Development Minister Mohammed Azam Khan said, describing the findings as "frightening." "Once contaminated, it is very difficult to purify the water," the report added. The minister said the state would ask the World Bank for help in providing clean water. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
US appreciates Pakistan's efforts to go after terrorists along Pak-Afghan border WASHINGTON, May 5 (APP): The United States commended Wednesday Pakistan's efforts to go after terrorists "that may be operating" along the border region, "and we will continue to work with them and help in those efforts," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in reply to a question at the daily Press briefing. "The top priority" of President Bush was "winning the war on terrorism," he said. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Taliban warns British troops of 'river of blood' in Afghanistan LONDON, May 5 (AFP) - The Taliban has warned British troops newly arrived in Afghanistan that the militant group will turn the country "into a river of blood", in comments published in The Times on Friday. Mohammad Hanif Sherzad, spokesman for Taliban leader Mullah Omar, speaking via satellite phone from an undisclosed location, said: "Our activity will increase day by day. We now have the confidence to fight face-to-face and we have all the ammunition we need. "We will turn Afghanistan into a river of blood for the British." (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 3.81 points: KARACHI, May 5: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 11686.44, down 3.81 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:05 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, May 5: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.1 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:05 PST)
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