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| May 20, 2006 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 21, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
World needs to engage with Iran: Aziz SHARM-AL-SHAIKH (Egypt), May 20 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday said the world needs to engage with Iran to resolve its nuclear standoff with the West, adding that Pakistan is willing to play its role to help reduce tensions in the region. He warned that the use of force against Iran would "create complications and challenges" besides having a global impact on the supply of oil and gas. In an interaction with the international media during the World Economic Forum at the Red Sea resort of Sharm-al-Shaikh, Aziz said “we have to build bridges and communicate(with Iran). . . in a quiet way we are using our best offices(to reduce tensions).” He stressed that Pakistan wants to expand relations with Iran for the cause of peace and in its own national interests. He also made it clear that Pakistan was against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Rejecting that there’s pressure to abandon the proposed USD seven billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project, he said Pakistan has to meet its growing energy needs and will take a decision in the country’s national interest. He also said Pakistan was doing all within its means to stop the illegal movement of weapons and drugs along its porous borders with Afghanistan, but urged the other side to do the same. Expressing grave concern over the growing cultivation of poppy in Pakistan's immediate neighbourhood, he said there were similar concerns of supply of illegal weapons into the country. He said Pakistan was still hosting over three million Afghan refugees.(Posted @ 22:10 PST)
24 killed, 48 injured in 2 incidents in Iraq BAGHDAD, May 20 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed vest inside a police station in the Iraqi town of Qaim near the Syrian border on Saturday, killing five policemen and wounding 10, police said. In another incident Saturday, a bomb explosion in the midst of a crowd of employment seeking labourers killed 19 people and injured 38 others in Baghdad’s Sadr City area.(First posted @ 9:15 updated @ 12:30 PST)
Grenade attack in Pakistan's Waziristan kills three PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 20 (Reuters) Pro-Taliban militants killed two Pakistani troopers in a grenade attack at the Frontier Constabulary compound in Mir Ali town, 25 km east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, but one of their own men was also killed, a government official said on Saturday. "Two attackers managed to escape but one died in the attack as he slipped when he started running away after throwing the grenade," an official said.(First Posted@ 12:05 PST Updated @ 14:50 PST)
French, US soldiers among 15 dead in new Afghan battles KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 20, 2006 (AFP) Security forces continued to battle Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan Saturday with two French commandos and a US soldier among the latest 15 fatalities in days of violence. Authorities meanwhile would not confirm if a wounded one-legged militant captured after heavy gun battle last week was a top Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah. A man claiming to be Dadullah reportedly told the Pakistan-based AIP news agency that he was alive and leading 12,000 well-armed men against the government, with 1,200 ready to carry out suicide attacks. The two French commandos were killed and a third was wounded in fighting in the south, according to a French military source in Paris. The French source did not say how or where the Special Forces soldiers were killed. A US soldier was killed and six others wounded in a separate battle with "enemy" in southern Uruzgan province late Friday, the US-led coalition said. Afghan security forces also clashed with Taliban on Saturday in Helmand province when their 20-vehicle convoy was separated in an attack. Six vehicles were able to escape but 50 men were left in Taliban territory, a military commander on the scene said, labelling the encounter "a disaster". Reinforcements reached the men and fought off the rebels hours later. "The fighting is over now. We have found the bodies of four of our soldiers. Thirteen are missing and 24 have been wounded," the commander said. (First Posted @ 12:40 PST Updated @ 20:10 PST)
Prime Minister Aziz meets Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas SHARM-AL-SHAIKH (Egypt), May 20 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Saturday said Pakistan fully supports an independent homeland for the Palestinians and stressed the need for an early resolution of the Palestine issue for lasting peace in the region. Aziz, who met Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on the side lines of World Economic Forum Summit on Middle East, said resolution of the Palestine issue was vital for peace and stability of the world. "Pakistan extends support to the rights of Palestine people," he said. Mahmud Abbas appreciated Pakistan's support and informed Aziz about the steps taken by his government for improving the situation for Palestinians.(Posted @ 22:48 PST)
Pakistani PM meets Egyptian premier SHARM-AL-SHAIKH (Egypt), May 20 (APP): Pakistan and Egypt Saturday vowed to play a leading role in the resolution of international conflicts affecting Muslims. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz after meeting the Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazef on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum said the Ummah was facing several challenges and there was an urgent need for greater unity and cooperation. The two premiers vowed to project a true image of Islam that shunned violence and advocated peace, tolerance and flexibility. They also spoke of greater interaction amongst the Muslim states, and increased trade and business activities aimed at bringing about an economic turnaround in the lives of ordinary people. They also discussed the situation in the region, international issues apart from bilateral relations and the need to have a closer economic cooperation, joint ventures and investment.(Posted @ 22:45 PST)
Mubarak chides U.S. over nuclear double standards and unilateralism SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) President Hosni Mubarak opened the World Economic Forum on Saturday with a series of indirect but pointed jabs at the United States, warning that the world must overcome the widening gap between rich and poor and block escalating threats of terrorism. He further challenged Washington to work towards a world ``that fosters multilateralism, abides by international legitimacy and steers away from unilateral actions'' in a clear reference to the American invasion of Iraq. In a speech opening the World Economic Forum in this south Sinai resort, the Egyptian leader also hammered on the need for more equal economic and trade treatment for developing countries which he said have been forced to take on ``significant burdens'' to the advantage of the major economic powers. ``We shall never relax our efforts with either the Palestinians or Israelis in pushing them back toward the path of negotiations,'' Mubarak told the 1,300 assembled delegates to the first WEF to be held in Egypt.(Posted @ 20:38 PST)
Thousands take to streets to protest caste quotas in India NEW DELHI, India, May 20, 2006 (AFP) Thousands of students and professionals marched through the streets of India's capital Saturday to protest a government affirmative action plan to reserve more university seats for lower castes. Chanting "Stop this injustice," doctors, lawyers, executives and parents joined the rally against boosting quotas for lower-caste students in top medical, engineering and other professional colleges to 49.5 percent from 22.5 percent. Police estimated the crowd at the New Delhi protest at around 5,000 people.(Posted @ 20:28 PST)
US to give Pakistan equipment to help detect bird flu ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) The United States on Saturday said it will give Pakistan the latest medical equipment to strengthen its capacity to detect and respond to bird flu and prepare for a possible human flu outbreak. Randall Tobias, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Developments, or USAID, made the announcement after visiting a laboratory working under the country's Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock near the capital, Islamabad. He said the equipment to be provided by USAID to the National Reference Laboratory will enable it to detect the virus within six hours. The laboratory now takes 24 hours to 72 hours for such tests.(Posted @ 20:24 PST)
The new Iraqi government BAGHDAD, May 20, 2006 (AFP) Iraq on Saturday announced its new government, although only interim appointees were named to three crucial security posts. The government includes 37 ministers and state secretaries, including three women. Here is a list of some of the members in the new government: Prime Minister, interim interior minister: Nuri al-Maliki, Deputy Prime Minister, interim defence minister: Salam al-Zaubai, Deputy Prime Minister, interim state secretary for national security: Barham Saleh, Foreign Minister: Hoshyar Zebari Oil Minister: Hussein Shahristani, Finance Minister: Bayan Jabr Solagh, Commerce Minister: Abdelfalah al-Sudani, Communication Minister: Mohammed Tawfik Allawi, State secretary for foreign affairs: Rafeh al-Issawi, State secretary for civil affairs: Adel al-Assadi and State secretary for parliamentary affairs: Safa al-Safi. (First Posted @ 15:10 PST Updated @ 19:54 PST)
India says Silk Road border post with China to open in July GUWAHATI, India, May 20, 2006 (AFP) India will open 14 centres for border trade with its South Asian neighbours, including one in July to trade with China along the famed Silk Road, a minister said Saturday. "Formal trading with China at Nathu La (Pass on the border between India's Sikkim state and China's Tibet region) will begin by July this year and 13 more new border trading points with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal will be opened soon," Indias commerce minister Jairam Ramesh told journalists in Guwahati. Ramesh said the country would also have eight trading centers with Bangladesh, four with Nepal and one with Pakistan in another three years, built at a cost of nine billion rupees (198 US million dollars).(Posted @ 19:08 PST)
Pakistani experts to visit Guantanamo Bay PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) Pakistani counterterrorism experts and government officials will soon travel to Guantanamo Bay to see the conditions under which Pakistanis are detained at the high-security U.S. detention prison, a Cabinet minister said Saturday. ``We recently sought a consular access to our people detained at Guantanamo Bay and America has accepted this request,'' Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told reporters in Peshawar. He said the officials will also travel to Afghanistan to see how many Pakistanis are still detained there. However, Sherpao gave no dates for the visits. (First Posted @ 18:25 PST Updated @ 19:05 PST)
11 passengers killed, 15 injured in Islamabad road accident ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) A speeding minibus lost control and overturned after hitting a roadside shop in Pakistan's capital on Saturday, killing at least 11 passengers and injuring 15 others, police said. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident in Islamabad. An area police official said police were still investigating. He said the victims had been taken to a hospital, where some were listed in critical condition.(Posted @ 19:02 PST)
Kashmiri leader Geelani rejects India's invitation for talks NEW DELHI (AP) Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami group, said Saturday he has declined an invitation from the Indian home ministry to participate in the talks scheduled for May 24-25 in Srinagar. ``We are declining the invitation because we don't believe that such a conference can settle the Kashmir dispute. India should allow a vote for self-determination,'' Geelani said. Other key leaders, including Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, Yasin Malik and Shabbir Shah, said they haven't received an invitation from the Indian government as yet. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plans to travel to occupied Kashmir next week and meet with both pro-India and anti-India groups.(Posted @ 18:58 PST)
15 corpses discovered south of Baghdad: ministry BAGHDAD, May 20 (AFP) - Fifteen corpses were discovered in the town of Musayeb, south of Baghdad, early Saturday, bearing signs of gunfire and torture, a defence ministry source said.(Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Abbas loyalist targeted in Gaza elevator blast GAZA, May 20 (Reuters) - A top Palestinian security official loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas was wounded in an attempt to assassinate him as he took an elevator to his office on Saturday, Palestinian security officials said. General Intelligence chief Tareq abu Rajab was among six security officials wounded in the explosion at his headquarters in the Gaza Strip, security officials said. One of his bodyguards died in the blast. "It's a clear assassination attempt. We are launching an investigation to get to the perpetrators," a senior general intelligence agency official said on condition of anonymity. The explosion followed a night of armed clashes between gunmen from the rival Hamas and Fatah factions. Five gunmen were wounded in the fighting.(First posted @ 12:40 PST updated @ 13:30 PST)
NATO general says drugs Afghanistan's biggest threat BERLIN, May 20 (Reuters) - Afghanistan is on the brink of becoming a narco-state with drug cartels now posing a greater threat to the country's future than Taliban insurgents, NATO's top military commander in Europe said on Saturday. In an interview with the International Herald Tribune,General James Jones said: "Afghanistan is teetering on becoming a narco-state. "It is not the resurgence of the Taliban but the linkage of the economy to drug production, crime, corruption and black market activities which poses the greatest danger for Afghanistan," he added. Jones was appointed commander of NATO and the U.S. forces in Europe in 2003.(Posted @ 13:25 PST)
India reacts to Pope's remarks by asserting religious tolerance NEW DELHI, May 20 (AFP) - India has hit back at criticism attributed to Pope Benedict XVI about "disturbing signs of religious intolerance" in the country, saying people of all faiths enjoy equal rights under the law.The Times of India, and other media, reported that the pope voiced strong criticism to India's new ambassador to the Vatican, Amitava Tripathi, over attempts by some Indian states to introduce legislation to ban what some call "forced conversions". The pope criticised India for a "reprehensible attempt to legislate clearly discriminatory restrictions on the fundamental right of religious freedom," the Times said. This year, the BJP government introduced a bill to ban "forced conversions" in western Rajasthan state, but the state governor refused to sign the bill. In central Madhya Pradesh, several Christians have been arrested this year for preaching Christianity.(Posted @ 13:17 PST)
China says completion of Three Gorges dam is "historic moment" BEIJING, May 20 (AFP) - China marked the official completion of Three Gorges Dam Saturday at a simple ceremony, as state-run China Central Television broadcast live the last load of cement being poured onto the top of the dam, the world's largest hydropower project. "I can announce to the Chinese people ... that the Three Gorges dam is completed," said Li Yong'an, manager of the Three Gorges Construction Company. The 2,309-meter-long, 185-meter-high block of concrete across the Yangtze river will control floods and generate electricity for a power-hungry nation. It will not be fully operational for more than two years. The last generators are yet to be installed, and work still needs to be done on the ship lift which together with a ship lock will allow ocean-going vessels to navigate the vast reservoir that is filling up behind the dam.(Posted @ 12:10 PST)
Tense stand-off between Irish police and Afghan hunger strikers DUBLIN, May 20(AFP) - Irish authorities were struggling Saturday to end a tense stand-off with a group of Afghan asylum seekers who have been on hunger strike in a Dublin cathedral for seven days. The group, which includes eight unaccompanied teenage asylum seekers who were put in the care of the state by a court order on Friday, say they will kill themselves if their demands are not met. Police said the 800-year-old St Patrick's Cathedral remains sealed off to the public.(Posted @ 13:00 PST)
US commends Pakistan's commitment in eliminating insurgent elements WASHINGTON, May 20 (APP): The United States believes Pakistan fully cooperates with the coalition and Afghan forces "to locate and eliminate Taliban and other insurgent forces. "Asked to comment on the reported harsh statement ofAfghan President Hamid Karzai a State Department official told APP that "Pakistan is a truly committed partner in the war on terror," and that United States "appreciates the demonstration and sacrfices made by the Pakistani forces."(Posted @ 12:50 PST)
Pre-monsoon storms lash India, 20 dead KOLKATA, India, May 20 (Reuters) - Lightning strikes and falling trees have killed 20 people in pre-monsoon storms which lashed two Indian states, officials said on Saturday. At least 12 people died in Andhra Pradesh and eight others were struck dead by lightning in West Bengal on Friday, they said.(Posted @ 12:40 PST)
Four killed in Thailand's restive south NARATHIWAT, Thailand, May 20 (AFP) - Four people were killed by suspected militants on Saturday in separate attacks in Thailand's Muslim-majority restive south, police said. A 49-year-old rubber trader was shot dead in Pattani, one of the three insurgency-plagued provinces on the Malaysian border, police said.In neighboring Narathiwat, two Muslim brothers were gunned down while driving a motorcycle. Police also found the body of a 22-year-old whose throat was slashed, along with six stab wounds, in Pattani.(Posted @ 12:30 PST)
U.S. commanders decide to send more troops to Iraq WASHINGTON, May 20 (AP) _ U.S. military commanders are sending several hundred additional U.S. troops to Iraq to bolster security as a new government takes shape in Baghdad, a defence official said Friday. The extra troops are from a 1st Armored Division battalion that has been stationed in Kuwait as a reserve force. Details of the movement, including timing, were not immediately available. The official who discussed it had direct knowledge of the decision but spoke on condition of anonymity because it had not been publicly announced.(Posted @ 10:35 PST)
Guantanamo inmates lure US guards into camp ambush WASHINGTON, May 20 (AFP) - Guantanamo inmates staged a fake suicide bid to lure US guards into a trap and attack them with fan blades and other improvised weapons, the commander of the US detention camp said Friday. Guards fired rubber bullets and six prisoners suffered minor injuries in what Rear Admiral Harry Harris, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, called "the most violent outbreak" at the prison since it was opened in January 2002. Detainees smothered the floor with human excrement and soapy water to make it slippery before guards rushed in believing they were saving a man from hanging himself, said Harris. The guards were then attacked with "broken light fixtures, fan blades" and other improvised weapons, Harris told a telephone press conference from Guantanamo.(Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Canada, Australia seek to protect uranium exports OTTAWA, May 20 (AFP) - Canada and Australia, which hold the world's largest uranium reserves, agreed Friday to work together to protect their nuclear exports which may be threatened by US energy security proposals. "I think the two countries can work together in partnership to ensure that the (US) initiative does not work in a way that in any way affects our own interests or the legitimate exploitation of our uranium reserves," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters in Ottawa at the close of a two-day official visit that included talks on trade, security and climate change. Canada and Australia have a combined 43 percent of the world's uranium reserves and 52 percent of the world's uranium production.(Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Two Philippine policemen shot dead by communist rebels BACOLOD, Philippines, May 20 (AFP) - Communist guerrillas shot dead two policemen as they were guarding a dance party in the central Philippines, police investigators said Saturday.(Posted @ 09:30 PST)
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