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| June 12, 2006 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Bomb blast in Quetta, Pakistan kills five, wounds 17 QUETTA, Pakistan, June 12 (Reuters) A bomb blast in Quetta killed five people and wounded 17 on Monday. No group claimed responsibility for the bomb attack which police said was planted on a bicycle left at the side of the road near a hotel and a police station. "It was a terrorist act. A high-explosive material was used," the provincial government's interior minister, Shoaib Nosherwani, told reporters. Five people were killed including a woman and a child, he said. Seventeen were wounded, three critically. Nosherwani said the target appeared to have been policemen who often went to the hotel for tea-breaks. The attack bore the hallmark of the Baluch Liberation Army (BLA) group, he said.(Posted @ 21:48 PST)
Blair warns of 'different reality' unless Palestinians talk to Israel LONDON, June 12, 2006 (AFP) British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Monday of a "different reality" in the Middle East unless Israel and the Palestinians were able to negotiate an agreement on territory. Blair, who held talks in London with his visiting Israeli counterpart, Ehud Olmert, said everyone favoured a negotiated settlement. But such discussions would only take place if the Palestinians recognised the Jewish state's right to exist, renounced violence and agreed to follow the international "road map" for peace, he said. Olmert is hoping to sell a plan of fixing Israel's borders with or without agreement of the Palestinians while on a trip to London and Paris. Blair did not outwardly reject the proposal. "I don't want to go down any other path than a negotiated settlement but the reality is that this thing has got to be moved forward by negotiation or we are in a stalemate that Israel is necessarily and realistically going to want to unlock," the British prime minister said. The Israeli premier also confirmed that he would be meeting Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in "a few weeks".(Posted @ 23:22 PST)
Key Saddam witnesses say they were bribed, coerced BAGHDAD, June 12, 2006 (AFP) Four defense witnesses in the trial of Saddam Hussein on Monday recanted their testimonies, saying they were coerced into speaking on behalf of the Iraqi ex-president. Two of the witnesses said they were offered money for their testimony and two said their families had been threatened, according to confessions that were read out in court. "My family is detained in Syria until I provided my testimony in defense of Saddam," said the confession of the first witness. The confession of the second witness also indicated that he testified under threats to his family, but the final two witnesses admitted they did it for money, also 500 dollars. For all the recanting witnesses, the deals were organized by Saddam's former bodyguards with the final coaching on their court testimony performed by Dulaimi, according to the confessions. Following their testimonies, the four witnesses were detained by the court, which was pursuing legal action against the witnesses, the judge said. Saddam's attorney denied the earlier testimonies were fabricated, maintaining that the witnesses had been coerced into recanting. Earlier in the trial, his half brother Barzan al-Tikriti was thrown out of the court for calling Abdel Rahman "terrifying", a military judge and a "dictator". In response to the recanted witness testimonies, Saddam pointed out that the witnesses were taken away by police and in Iraq today, no one can trust the police. "This country will not be in a normal position unless the Iraqi people are united and the Americans leave," he concluded. The judge then adjourned the session until Tuesday. (First Posted @ 14:55 PST Updated @ 23:14 PST)
Zarqawi died of lung injuries hour after raid: US military BAGHDAD, June 12, 2006 (AFP) Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi died of serious damage to the lungs caused by the shockwaves from a US air strike on his hideout last week, the US military said Monday. The military, which also said DNA analysis confirmed the identity of the corpse as Zarqawi's, revealed he died nearly one hour after coalition forces dropped two 500-pound bombs on his safe house north of Baghdad last Wednesday. Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda in Iraq appointed a little-known militant named Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer to succeed the Jordanian-born Zarqawi, in an Internet message posted Monday whose authenticity could not be verified. US military doctor Colonel Steve Jones brushed aside reports that Zarqawi was beaten to death after coalition forces found him alive after the air strike. "He died of blast injuries and there was no evidence of beating. The injuries to his lungs were not survivable." he said. "At 7:04 pm on 7 June (the coalition medic on duty) realised that Zarqawi was dead. This is approximately 24 minutes after the coalition forces arrived or approximately 52 minutes after the first strike on the safe house," a coalition spokesman said. The spokesman added the military was "still in discussion with the Iraqi government as to final disposition of the remains. They are still under the coalition forces control." (First Posted @ 19:00 PST Updated @ 23:10 PST)
US to invest 103 million dollars in southern Afghanistan KABUL, June 12, 2006 (AFP) The United States said Monday it would invest 103 million dollars in development projects in southern Afghanistan. US ambassador Ronald Neumann said his country was the only donor nation that wanted to work in the volatile region. The projects included the rehabilitation of power lines from the Kajakai hydroelectric dam in Helmand province that will provide electricity to the provincial capital Lashkar Gah and to Kandahar, the biggest city in the south. Between now and 2008 a new transmission line would be added. The US government's development arm, USAID, would also build 70 kilometres of road from Kajakai to the city of Grishk.(Posted @ 23:06 PST)
Bush, aides admit Iraq insurgency still tough CAMP DAVID, Md., June 12 (Reuters) President George W. Bush acknowledged on Monday that Iraq's insurgency remains a serious challenge despite Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death and insisted U.S. troops must stay for now to help the country's government. "I fully recognize that's not an end to war, on the other hand it was a major blow to al Qaeda ... and the terrorists who are trying to spread violence and stop the emergence of a new democracy," Bush said, referring to the killing last Wednesday of Zarqawi in Iraq. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and aides began two days of consultations at Camp David to reassess strategy for the Iraq war. They spoke by videoconference with the top U.S. commanders in Iraq, Gens. George Casey and John Abizaid, as well as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. A White House counsellor told reporters after an initial three-hour session that it was agreed the Iraqi insurgency remained "a very serious and vexing challenge." The counsellor said the meeting was not about troop numbers and that Bush's position remained that any withdrawals will be based on conditions on the ground.(Posted @ 23:00 PST)
PM Aziz discusses PML party elections, prices with Shujaat ISLAMABAD, Jun 12 (APP): PML party elections, its reorganization and the impact of the budget on prices were some of the issues that came under discussion during a meeting between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the PML President Ch. Shujaat Hussain Monday at the Prime Minister's chamber in the parliament. According to a press release Hussain apprised Aziz of the various steps being taken to revitalize the party and enlarge its enrolment. He said that the party election will conclude by August 12.(Posted @ 22:54 PST)
Hamas MPs delay motion against Abbas referendum GAZA, June 12 (Reuters) Lawmakers from the ruling Hamas group said on Monday they had delayed until next week lodging a motion with parliament against a referendum called by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on a statehood proposal. Hamas lawmakers said they wanted to allow more time for dialogue with Abbas to resolve a crisis over a manifesto that implicitly recognises Israel. They said the motion would be filed in parliament on June 20.(Posted @ 22:18 PST)
British scientists unveil latest craft to search for life on Mars LONDON, June 12, 2006 (AFP) British scientists on Monday took the wraps off a prototype craft to search for signs of life on Mars, hailing it the smartest piece of equipment ever designed for exploration of the red planet. The rover, nicknamed Bridget, will contain high-tech equipment that will gather and test rock and other samples from beneath the planet's surface to determine whether life ever existed on Mars, still does or could in the future. Bridget is vying for approval in the European Space Agency's (ESA) 700-million-euro (910-million-dollar) ExoMars mission, scheduled for launch in 2011.(Posted @ 22:14 PST)
Two car bombs kill five people north of Baghdad BAGHDAD, June 12 (Reuters) Two car bombs exploded near a market in Balad town north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least five people and wounding 26, police and hospital sources said. There were no further details.(Posted @ 22:12 PST)
Two Canadian troops seriously hurt in Afghanistan OTTAWA, June 12 (Reuters) Two Canadian soldiers were in serious condition on Monday after undergoing surgery for gunshot injuries suffered during a clash with militants, military officials said. The men were injured when Canadian troops attacked a Taliban compound in a village near Kandahar.(Posted @ 22:10 PST)
Bangladeshi forces kill 10 suspected Indian rebels DHAKA, June 12 (Reuters) At least 10 suspected Indian rebels were killed in a raid by security forces in Bangladesh's south-eastern forests bordering the two countries on Monday, officials said. The forests lie between Bangladesh's Rangamati district and India's rebel infested northeastern Mizoram state.(Posted @ 22:06 PST)
Thirty hurt in Bangladesh clashes ahead of strike DHAKA, June 12 (Reuters) At least 30 people were injured in the Bangladeshi capital on Monday in clashes between police and opposition workers trying to whip up support for a nationwide strike, witnesses said. The clashes erupted after baton-wielding police swooped on thousands of activists trying to march through the streets of Dhaka on the eve of a two-day strike called by the 14-party opposition alliance to press for electoral reforms ahead of elections next year. Several vehicles were set on fire in the latest unrest. British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury on Monday expressed "grave concern about the level of politically-motivated violence which risks tarnishing Bangladesh's reputation as a democracy."(Posted @ 22:02 PST)
Eleven people killed in violence across occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, June 12, 2006 (AFP) Eleven people died and dozens were injured in violence across occupied Kashmir Monday, police and army spokesmen said. Eight labourers from the northern state of Bihar were shot dead by unknown gunmen in Anantnag district, an army spokesman said, adding that five others were hurt. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. In Jammu, a man was killed and 20 injured, four seriously, when a grenade exploded at a bus station crowded with Hindu pilgrims. Police shot and killed one person and 25 more were injured in a clash with villagers over the desecration of a mosque by Indian soldiers. The killing happened in the village of Trehgam in northern Kupwara district when police fire on protestors, a police spokesman said. The protesters were demonstrating against a raid by soldiers on a mosque in a neighbouring village late Friday, saying it had been desecrated. The army denied any wrongdoing.(First Posted @ 09:30 PST Updated @ 21:46 PST)
Pakistan to create commission to modernize police ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) Pakistan announced Monday it will form a commission to oversee and modernize its police service. The National Public Safety Commission, comprising lawmakers and civilians, will watch the performance of police officers and recommend their premature transfer for ``unsatisfactory'' performance, said Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, who heads the commission. The 12-member commission will oversee the highway and railroad police departments as well as the Federal Investigation Agency, which is responsible for enforcing immigration laws and fighting corruption in government departments, Sherpao said at a news conference. The commission is mandated to recommend the reform and modernization of police laws, prisons and probation services, he said.``I strongly believe that with the commission in place, the long-existing estrangement between the police and citizens will decrease,'' Sherpao said.(Posted @ 21:32 PST)
Emirates sends home more than 1,000 children smuggled as camel jockeys DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) More than a thousand child jockeys smuggled into the Emirates to race camels have been sent to their home countries, government officials here said. ``They are now a thing of the past, they no longer exist in the Emirates,'' a Deputy Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Saif al-Shafar claimed on Sunday. ``The UAE has helped 1,075 children from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan, Mauritania and Eritrea return home after undergoing a rehabilitation program,'' he added.(Posted @ 21:28 PST)
Security forces kill 37 militants in Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) Security forces raided a southern Afghan village and killed 15 suspected militants, including a relative of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, while fighting elsewhere left 25 dead, an Afghan army general said Monday. Mullah Omar's brother-in-law, Mullah Amanullah, was killed along with 14 others in Siachave village, Uruzgan province, when troops stormed the area late Sunday after a tip from tribesmen, said the army commander. Coalition military spokesman said the military was looking into the report that Amanullah had been killed. Six other suspected militants were captured and several weapons were also seized in the raid on the village, the commander added. In a second raid early Monday, Afghan and coalition troops killed 12 suspected militants in a gunbattle in Kandahar province's Saidan village, he said. Ten other militants were killed in neighboring Helmand province's Sangin district late Sunday in a battle involving Afghan and British forces, the Afghan general said. A British soldier was killed and another two seriously injured in the clash, he said. Two civilians were killed and six others wounded when a bomb hit their car as it crossed a bridge in Paktia province, said a local police chief. It was not immediately clear why the vehicle was targeted.(Posted @ 21:24 PST)
ICRC heading to Guantanamo after detainee suicides GENEVA, June 12, 2006 (AFP) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Monday it was sending a team to the US military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to take stock of the situation after the suicides of three "war on terror" detainees there. ICRC staff will meet with US officials and interview detainees, a spokesman said.(Posted @ 17:05 PST)
US-led war on terror increases risk of terrorist attacks: think-tank LONDON, June 12, 2006 (AFP) The US-led "war on terror" is increasing the risk of terrorist attacks and distracting governments from greater threats to global security such as climate change, a think-tank warned in a report Monday. The Oxford Research Group urged countries, especially the United States and Britain, to rethink their security policies to counter future instability. "There is abundant evidence that the 'war on terror' is proving deeply counterproductive -- making the risk of future terrorist attacks on the scale of New York, Madrid or London more not less likely," it said. Instead of terrorism, the report cited climate change; competition over resources; socio-economic marginalisation and global militarization as the main threats to peace and the likely causes of future conflict. It noted that the war in Iraq has entered its fourth year and the conflict in Afghanistan is moving into its sixth year. "Yet both countries are increasingly unstable and violent, while the Al-Qaeda movement is as active as ever," the authors of the report said. It suggested a different strategy focused on addressing the fundamental issues that create instability: Renewable energy and conservation to counter climate change; energy efficiency to combat resource competition; poverty reduction programmes to defeat marginalisation; and halting development of weapons of mass destruction to stop global militarization.(Posted @ 17:02 PST)
US drives world military spending to new high STOCKHOLM, June 12, 2006 (AFP) Global military spending shot to a record high in 2005, with the United States accounting for nearly half the total, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on Monday. Military spending reached 1.118 trillion dollars in 2005, or 173 dollars for every person on earth. This was an increase of 3.4 percent from 2004, it said in its annual report. Most of the annual rise was due to increased US spending, which was boosted by conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also by the effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita."The USA is responsible for 48 percent of the world total, distantly followed by the UK, France, Japan and China with four to five percent each," SIPRI noted.(Posted @ 16:58 PST)
US forces kill seven militants in Iraq, two children die BAGHDAD, June 12 (Reuters) U.S.-led forces in Iraq killed seven militants with alleged links to senior al Qaeda leaders in a raid on Monday near the town of Baquba, the U.S. military said. It said there were several women and children at the scene and that two children had also been killed. Three insurgents were also wounded in the operation and two others detained, it said. (Posted @ 16:44 PST)
India, U.S. seek to finalise nuclear deal draft NEW DELHI, June 12 (Reuters) Indian and U.S. officials began talks on Monday in an attempt to finalise the draft of a landmark civilian nuclear agreement. "These talks are crucial but there may not be any major announcement at the end of it as both sides will have to go back to their governments for more consultations," one Indian official said.(Posted @ 16:40 PST)
EU says suicides show Guantanamo should be closed LUXEMBOURG, June 12 (Reuters) The suicides of three Arab detainees at Guantanamo show that the U.S. prison camp should be closed, the European Union said on Monday. Two Saudis and a Yemeni hanged themselves with clothes and bed sheets in maximum security cells on Saturday -- the first prisoners to die at Guantanamo since the United States began sending suspected al Qaeda and Taliban captives to the prison on the island of Cuba in 2002. "Guantanamo should be closed. This is an occasion to reiterate that statement," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told reporters on arrival at a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Luxembourg. Luxembourg's foreign minister criticised a statement by a U.S. official on Sunday that the suicides were a "PR move". "Something has to change in the American mentality," Jean Asselborn told reporters.(Posted @ 15:05 PST)
Central Asian heads meet to halt Afghan drugs flow BEIJING, June 12 (Reuters) Central Asian states plan to create a protective buffer to staunch the flow of drugs from Afghanistan, China said on Monday. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Hui said narcotics, mainly from Afghanistan, threatened social stability and security in Central Asia. "Not only do drug crimes threaten the stability of the region, they are also an important source of funds for terrorism and extremism," he told a news conference ahead of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperative Organisation (SCO) summit. Li said members were implementing a narcotics-fighting agreement reached at their 2004 Tashkent summit and would consider putting in place a "buffer" to slow the flow of illegal drugs from Afghanistan.(Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Norway finds 100 million barrels of oil in Iraq OSLO, June 12 (Reuters) A Norwegian independent producer DNO, the first Western oil firm to begin exploration in post-war Iraq, has found at least 100 million barrels of oil in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq, DNO said on Monday. The Kurdistan regional government called it a "major discovery" and said on its Web site that it expected production from the Tawke field near Zaxo to begin in early 2007.(Posted @ 14:58 PST)
Israeli train derails, several dead JERUSALEM, June 12 (Reuters) An Israeli commuter train derailed on Monday after slamming into a truck crossing the tracks, causing several deaths and injuring about 150 people, rescue services said. Live television footage from the scene, near the city of Netanya in central Israel, showed a carriage on its side and medics carrying out passengers on stretchers.(Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Iran says will not negotiate on atomic fuel work TEHRAN, July 12 (Reuters) - Iran's government said Monday it would not negotiate over its right to enrich uranium. "Iran's view on the nuclear fuel cycle has been announced... we have obtained this technology, it is our obvious right and we do not negotiate over our obvious nuclear rights," Government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said.(Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Musharraf-Hu meeting to take place in Shanghai on Friday SHANGHAI, June 12 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf and Chinese President Hu Jintao are scheduled to hold bilateral meeting here Friday. Chinese Foreign office confirmed the meeting and said China attached great importance to President Musharraf's presence in SCO summit, to be held in Shanghai on Thursday. Musharraf is also scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Afghan President Hamid Karzai Thursday on the sideline of the SCO's summit.(Posted @ 11:13 PST)
Strike on Zarqawi yields intelligence treasure trove: Rubaie WASHINGTON, June 12 (AFP) - Last week's deadly strike on senior Al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi yielded a treasure trove of vital intelligence information, Iraq's national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told US television Sunday. "We found a lot of material in that place. We found the diaries. We found telephone numbers. We found computers, and ... there was a database in that computer," he said. "There was a lot of information ... Zarqawi used to carry with him," he said. Rubaie said the information was used to carry out "a lot of raids immediately after we got Zarqawi." It led officials to other operatives in the terror group.(Posted @ 10:50 PST)
Two oil ministry employees killed in Baghdad bombing BAGHDAD, June 12 (AFP) - Two employees of Iraq's oil ministry were killed when the bus they were travelling on in Baghdad's southern Al-Dora district was hit by a roadside bomb Monday, an interior ministry official said. In a separate incident in Baghdad's northern Shuala neighborhood, gunmen wounded two teachers, a man and woman.(Posted @ 10:40 PST)
British soldier killed in Afghanistan LONDON, June 12 (AFP) - A British soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in a gunfight with suspected Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, the British defence ministry said Sunday. "UK forces have suffered a fatality in Helmand province," after a mobile patrol was engaged in a firefight against suspected Taliban forces, a spokesperson said.(Posted @ 10:40 PST)
Suicide car bomber kills four Iraqi soldiers outside Baquba BAQUBA, Iraq, June 12 (AFP) - Four Iraqi army soldiers were killed late Sunday when a suicide car bomber blew himself up at a newly set up checkpoint outside Baquba, police said Monday. The attack occurred at around 8:00 pm (1600 GMT) on a highway between Baquba and Al-Ghalabiyah, a town 25 kilometers west of Baquba. The checkpoint was set up by the Iraqi army two days back in the aftermath of the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the village of Hibhib near Baquba.(Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 116.60 points: KARACHI, June 12: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 9733.23 , down 116.60 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, June 12: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.55 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14.20 PST)
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