|
|
| June 06, 2006 | Tuesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 9, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Roadside bomb kills two US soldiers-Afghan officials JALALABAD, June 6 (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed two U.S. coalition soldiers and wounded two others in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, according to Afghan officials in Nangahar province. "Two soldiers were killed and two wounded while patrolling. They belonged to the coalition forces," Mohammad Hashim Ghum Sharik, a spokesman for the governor and head of information in the province, told Reuters. The U.S. military in Kabul was unable to comment. (Posted @ 20:35 PST)
Rumsfeld Indonesia visit cements US military ties JAKARTA, June 6 (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday the restoration of U.S. military ties with Indonesia was good for both countries and he was committed to ensuring Jakarta access to American training and equipment. Rumsfeld's visit to Jakarta, the final leg of a three-country Asian tour, came six months after the State Department waived Congressional restrictions that had cut U.S. military aid and arms sales to Indonesia imposed in 1992 (First Posted @ 11:00 PST Updated @ 20:30 PST)
Pakistan, Turkey to boost cooperation against terrorism, drug trafficking ISLAMABAD, June 6 (AP) _ Pakistan and Turkey will boost cooperation to fight terrorism, Internet crimes and drug and human trafficking. A joint statement issued by senior Pakistani and Turkish officials after talks in Islamabad said both sides also agreed to train each other's security officials in counterterrorism, drug smuggling and human trafficking. They also pledged to share information on Turkish and Pakistani nationals entering each other's country, Pakistani Interior Ministry head Kamal Shah told a news conference. Pakistan handed over a list of 26 Pakistani human traffickers reportedly in Turkey and requested for verification of their whereabouts, Shah said. Pakistan also sought information about 38 Pakistanis arrested in Turkey for traveling without proper documents, he said. In his remarks, the head of Turkish delegation Shahbettin Harput said most of the narcotics come from Afghanistan to the different parts of the world and that Pakistan and Turkey are taking measures to curb the flow. (Posted @ 20:06 PST)
Southern Afghanistan in 'state of war': security think-tank LONDON, June 6 (AFP) - A state of war is gripping southern Afghanistan as Taliban fighters win public support and it will spread unless newly deployed British troops regain control, a security think-tank warned Tuesday. Entire districts in the restive province of Helmand have already been lost to insurgents who have learnt new bomb-making skills from the bloody campaign in Iraq, said Emmanuel Reinert, executive director of the Senlis Council. In a new report on southern Afghanistan, the council said: "Helmand is in a state of war, once again. The nature of instability in Helmand has shifted from random insurgency to a state of prolonged and organised violence that threatens the very foundations of the new Afghanistan." "The British troops will need to regain control ... otherwise the whole of southern Afghanistan will be lost to the Taliban insurgents," Reinert told a London news conference to launch the report. The report, Reinert said, concluded that: "Helmand is an early warning of what the whole of Afghanistan could become if a different approach is not taken in the next months." (Posted @ 19:54 PST)
Pakistan rejects Indian allegations of cross-border infiltration ISLAMABAD, June 6 (APP): Pakistan on Tuesday rejected allegations by some Indian leaders about cross border infiltration and termed the claims of killing Pakistanis attempting to crossover as "baseless". "We have asked India, if they have evidence of involvement of any Pakistani, they should share the information with us," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said at a press briefing. Rarely consular access is provided in such case when the infiltrators are reportedly arrested. "There is never any confirmation from India, whether those killed were Pakistanis or not," she added. About the acquisition of building for Pakistan's Consulate in Mumbai, she said a few buildings shown by India were not deemed suitable by Pakistan. (Posted @ 19:26 PST)
400,000 job opportunities under 'Rozegar Scheme': Dr Salman Shah ISLAMABAD, Jun 6 (APP): Some 400,000 job opportunities will be created under the Rs 12 billion 'Rozegar Scheme' being launched by the federal government from July, said Advisor to PM on Finance Dr. Salman Shah. "Educated persons in the age bracket of 18-40 years will get loan for self employment," he said at the post-budget press conference Tuesday. Under the scheme, they can establish public call offices, mobile utility stores, get franchise for Utility Stores and own transport (taxi etc). He said the government will share the risk associated with the loan. The government will pick up half of the mark up and other half will be picked up by the individual. (Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Suspected Tamil rebels detonate mines near Sri Lanka capital, 4 killed elsewhere COLOMBO, June 6 (AP) _ Suspected Tamil rebels triggered two anti-personnel mines outside Colombo early Tuesday, wounding two people but missing a navy convoy that was their apparent target, the military said. Separately, police said the bodies of four Tamil civilians with gunshot wounds were found in the northeast overnight.(Posted @ 19:04 PST)
3 killed, at least 7 wounded in explosion outside Afghan mosque KABUL, June 6 (AP) _ An explosion in the courtyard of a religious school-cum- mosque in Khogyani district of Ghazni killed three people and wounded at least seven Tuesday, officials said. The Imam of the mosque has been taken into custody, Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanezai said. The blast apparently occurred as explosives were being attached to a motorbike in preparation for an attack at another location, said Abdul Wakil Kamyab, the province's deputy police chief. He said nine people were wounded.(Posted @ 18:52 PST)
Pakistan slams "slow pace" of peace talks with India ISLAMABAD, June 6 (AP) _ Pakistan is disappointed at the ``slow pace'' of peace talks with India, a Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman said Tuesday. Relations between the two neighbors must move beyond ``confidence-building phase'' that commenced with the resumption of dialogue on different issues in 2004, said spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam. ``We are disappointed with the slow pace of forward movement in the composite dialogue process but I would not say it has broken down,'' Aslam said during a news conference. Since the ``composite dialogue'' began two years ago, there have been improvements in relations in various sectors. But little headway has been made on security related matters, particularly the Kashmir issue. She said in reply to a question that Pakistan will cooperate with India in fighting militants if it provides evidence of involvement by Pakistani individuals or groups in terrorism in occupied Kashmir. ``We have never received any information and in the absence of any proof or evidence these remain baseless allegations,'' she said.(Posted @ 18:46 PST)
US, NATO, Pakistan, Afghan military chiefs discuss anti-terror cooperation ISLAMABAD, June 6 (AP) _ U.S. and NATO officials discussed regional anti-terror cooperation with Pakistani and Afghan counterparts during talks here Tuesday, the first to involve NATO, the Pakistani military said in a statement. The meeting dealt with ways to connect all parties to an intelligence-sharing database on militant activities in both countries and how to improve security in the southern Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. Each side also provided reports on Operation Mountain Lion, a military campaign targeting militants hiding along the border region. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told reporters that ``all issues of coordination in the war against terrorism were considered'' (First Posted @ 11: 15 PST Updated @ 18:28 PST)
Nine killed in Iraq as severed heads found in box BAGHDAD, June 6 (AFP) - At least nine people were killed Tuesday in attacks across Iraq, including mortars fired at the interior ministry, as police found nine severed heads in a box used to carry fruit. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, meanwhile, ordered the phased release of 2,500 prison detainees, in what he described as a gesture to "promote national reconciliation". The first batch of 500 prisoners were to be freed on Wednesday, from a total of 28,700 detainees being held in Iraqi and US prisons across the country, as of April 30. Two men were killed and seven wounded as insurgents fired three mortars which crashed near the interior ministry building. An Iraqi woman was killed in an explosion at central Baghdad's Al-Alawi bus and taxi station. A man was also wounded in the attack. Three people, including a policeman and a woman, were shot dead in separate incidents in and around Baquba, police said. Also in Baquba, police found nine heads wrapped in black plastic bags and shoved in a cardboard box used to carry fruit on the highway outside the city. Some of the heads were blindfolded and already decomposing, police said. Gunmen also shot dead Shaaban Abdel Kadhim, a local municipal representative for Baghdad's Al-Furat neighborhood, along with his two bodyguards Tuesday while travelling in the car. Police also found the body of a 25-year-old woman who had been shot in the head in southern Baghdad's Al-Bayaa neighborhood. A man's body was also found in Kadhimiyah district. Elsewhere in the capital, four civilians were wounded in a roadside bombing which targeted a police patrol behind the university of technology in eastern Baghdad, an interior ministry official added. Meanwhile, a British military patrol early Tuesday escaped an apparent attack in Salekh, outside Basra, a military spokesman said.(Posted @ 18:10 PST)
Iran gives cautious reception to nuclear offer TEHRAN, June 6 (AFP) - Iran on Tuesday gave a cautious reception to an international proposal aimed at resolving the crisis over its disputed nuclear drive, saying the offer contains "positive steps" but also "ambiguities". "There are positive steps in the proposal, and there are also some ambiguities that should be cleared up," Iran's top national security official Ali Larijani said on state television.(Posted @ 17:52 PST)
Three coalition soldiers injured in blast in Afghanistan KABUL, June 6 (AFP) - Three US soldiers were wounded Tuesday when a suicide car bomb struck a convoy of coalition troops in eastern Khost province on the border with Pakistan, officials said. The car bomb exploded as it passed the convoy moving in the opposite direction, a coalition statement said.(First Posted @ 13:00 PST Updated @ 17:46 PST)
Abbas calls referendum on Palestinian statehood plan RAMALLAH, West Bank, June 6 (AFP) - Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas was headed for a showdown with the Hamas government after winning the green light Tuesday to hold a referendum on implicitly recognising Israel. The decision by the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to endorse his referendum plan came despite fierce opposition from Hamas which argued more time was needed for talks to resolve deep differences with Abbas's own Fatah faction. Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said an exact date for the referendum would be declared within 48 hours -- still leaving open the possibility of a last-minute compromise. Polling would take place exactly 40 days after the announcement, Abu Rudeina added.(Posted @ 17:44 PST)
Afghanistan wants more Pakistan help on terrorism TOKYO, June 6 (Reuters) Afghanistan wants more help from Pakistan in dealing with terrorism, its foreign minister said on Tuesday. "Clearly we have a security problem in the south, but this is a cross-border problem because the sources of terrorism using terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy are outside of our borders," said Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta. Spanta, speaking at a gathering in Tokyo sponsored by a foreign-affairs think tank, did not specify a nation. "We need to have a friendly and peaceful relationship with all of our neighbours, and we hope that our brothers and sisters in Pakistan do more against terrorism," he said.(Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Eight killed in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, June 6 (Agencies) The Indian army on Tuesday killed eight men in occupied Kashmir’s Maschil sector, a spokesman said. ``We had reports that there would be infiltration attempts by militants. Our patrols intercepted a group and eight militants were killed,'' the army spokesman said. Meanwhile, the army also unearthed an ammunitions cache from a cave in the Gurez highlands of occupied Kashmir. No arrests were made, the spokesman added.(First Posted @ 13:15 PST Updated @ 19:38 PST)
EU’s Solana starts meeting on atomic incentives in Iran TEHRAN, June 6 (Agencies) EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana began a meeting with Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Tuesday to present proposals aimed at persuading Iran to halt making nuclear fuel, an Iranian official said. The New York Times reported Tuesday citing European diplomats and a senior US official sources that the initiatives include allowing Iran to purchase aircraft parts from Boeing and Airbus, backing Iran's bid to join the World Trade Organization and helping it build light-water reactors through joint projects with other countries. Also on the cards is a US offer to enter in direct talks with Iran and join in the negotiations over its nuclear program.(Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Thai road accident leaves 18 dead BANGKOK, June 6, 2006 (AFP) - At least 18 factory workers were killed and six people wounded when a car slammed into a bus that then hit a passing truck in central Thailand, police said Tuesday. The bus carrying night shift workers from a Charoen Phokaphan animal food factory was pulling onto a highway when an oncoming the car collided into it.(Posted @ 10:05 PST)
One injured as rockets fired at southern Israel JERUSALEM, June 6, 2006 (AFP) - Palestinian militants in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday fired three rockets into southern Israel which exploded near the town of Sderot injuring one person, military sources said. One of the rockets hit a house in the town slightly injuring a resident, the sources said. Last Tuesday Israeli troops made a raid into the Gaza Strip in an attempt to tackle a string of such attacks. During that operation three Islamic Jihad activists and a police officer were killed.(Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Bomb blast rocks Philippine office building MANILA, June 6, 2006 (AFP) - An improvised bomb exploded outside an office building in Manila's business district before dawn on Tuesday, shattering a glass wall but causing no casualties, police said. The device made of gunpowder went off outside an insurance company building, said police chief Marieta Valerio of the Makati district of Manila. There were no suspects named but police suggested that the bomb might be linked to growing anger at the family members who control Great Pacific Life Assurance Corporation (Grepalife), over the failure of a separate educational insurance company that they also owned
Karachi Stocks up 159.02 points: KARACHI, June 6: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 10532.88 , up 159.02 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, June 6: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.48 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14.20 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
The DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Karachi 74200, Pakistan.
Phone:+92 (21) 111-444-777 Fax: +92 (21) 569-3995
webmaster@dawn.com
Make sure to reload these pages so you're viewing the current version.
|
|
|
Contributions |