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| June 19, 2006 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 22, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan to welcome Kuwaiti participation in development of energy, trade corridor: Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Jun 19 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Monday said Pakistan would welcome Kuwait's participation in development of Gwadar as a trade and energy corridor as visiting Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of the oil-rich country showed a keen interest in investment opportunities existing in Pakistan. The visiting leaders, declared during talks at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, that Kuwaiti private companies will make substantive investment in the infrastructure projects in Pakistan. The two leaders also oversaw the signing of a series of agreements and memorandum of understanding including an MoU on setting up an oil refinery at port Qasim, which will draw Kuwaiti investment to the tune of US dollars 1.2 billion. The facility will have the capacity to refine 100,000 barrels of oil per day.(Posted @ 22:56 PST)
Amir of Kuwait arrives on two-day visit to Pakistan ISLAMABAD, June 19 (APP): Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, was accorded a red-carpet welcome when he arrived here Monday on a two-day visit to Pakistan. President General Pervez Musharraf received the distinguished guest at the PAF base Chaklala. He is scheduled to hold comprehensive talks with the President Pervez Musharraf later in the day. Some bilateral cooperation agreements are expected to be signed during the visit, aiming to further bolster bilateral relations, specifically in the economic and investment areas.(Posted @ 18:08 PST)
Israeli bus hit by gunfire near West Bank settlement JERUSALEM, June 19 (AP) _ Palestinian gunmen attacked an Israeli bus near Ofra, a Jewish settlement about 20 Miles north of Jerusalem in the West Bank on Monday, lightly wounding three women, Israeli officials said adding that the victims were wounded by shattered glass.(Posted @ 21:32 PST)
Bush warns Iran not to reject offer KING'S POINT, New York, June 19, 2006 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Monday warned Iran of "progressively stronger political and economic sanctions" if Tehran refuses to freeze sensitive nuclear activities in return for talks."If Iran's leaders reject our offer, it will result in action before the (UN) Security Council, further isolation from the world, and progressively stronger political and economic sanctions," he said.(Posted @ 20:02 PST)
Iraq group says holding 4 Russians in Iraq-Web DUBAI, June 19 (Reuters) - A group linked to Iraq's al Qaeda said on Monday it was holding four Russian "diplomats" hostage in Iraq and gave Moscow 48 hours to pull out from Chechnya and free Muslim prisoners, according to an Internet statement. The statement from the Mujahideen Shura Council said it had abducted the four and killed a fifth Russian.(Posted @ 18:52 PST)
Seven US troops wounded in search for missing soldiers in Iraq BAGHDAD, June 19, 2006 (AFP) - Seven US servicemen have been wounded in a search operation involving more than 8,000 troops hunting for two soldiers who went missing south of Baghdad three days ago, spokesman Major General William Caldwell said in a statement. The soldiers went missing after they came under attack at a traffic control point near the town of Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad on Friday. Another soldier died in the attack. Caldwell said during the search the troops carried out a series of operations. "Three anti-Iraqi forces were killed in action, 34 detainees taken into custody, 63 tips received, to include 12 cordon and search operations based on actionable intelligence and eight air assault operations," he said adding that seven US troops were wounded in these operations.(Posted @ 18:26 PST)
Qaeda-led group claims abduction of US soldiers: Internet PARIS, June 19, 2006 (AFP) - A coalition of armed factions led by Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch claimed responsibility for the abduction of two US soldiers south of Baghdad, in a statement posted on the Internet Monday.(Posted @ 18:22 PST)
Top US diplomacy official Zoellick resigns WASHINGTON, June 19, 2006 (AFP) - Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, a leading architect of US-China policy and Washington's pointman on Sudan, has resigned and plans to return to the private sector, a US official said Monday. Media reports have said the Harvard-trained lawyer was disappointed at not getting the treasury secretary's post in a recent shuffle.(Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Pak-India talks on Wullar barrage on June 22 ISLAMABAD June 19 (PPI): Two-day talks between India and Pakistan on contentious Wullar Barrage would be held in Islamabad on June 22 and 23. Pakistan has from the very beginning opposed Wullar barrage on the ground that it would disrupt the flow of river Jhelum into Pakistan. Kishangaga power project has added another dimension to the issue. According to new design for Kishangaga, though India has given up construction of storage facility, it envisages diverting River Neelam to Wullar Lake. Pakistan had rejected Indian offer to look into the design of the project. Pakistan wants the project to be scrapped totally. Pakistan termed the project as a total violation of the Indus Water Treaty (Posted @ 18:12 PST)
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup field hockey result KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 (APP/AFP) - Results from the 15th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament on Monday: Pakistan 3 (Butt 5, Warsi 20, Abbasi 24); Netherlands 2 (Evers 14, Weusthof 70). Half-time score: 3-1. South Korea 3 (Jong Hyun 19, 23; Seong Jung 21); Australia 0. Half-time score: 3-0.(Posted @ 18:10 PST)
Militants kill Pakistani tribesman alleged for ties with Afghan government DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, June 19 (AP) _ Militants shot dead a senior Pakistani tribesman with close ties to the U.S.-backed Afghan government Monday, an official said. Nazimuddin Gangikhel was driving in a pickup truck when gunmen opened fire from a parked car. He was going to his village of Angoor Ada when he was ambushed near Wana, South Waziristan's main town, the official said.(Posted @ 17:10 PST)
Parked car bomb strikes Iraqi army convoy, killing five, wounding nine BAGHDAD, June 19 Iraq (AP) _ A parked car bomb struck an Iraqi army convoy on Square Mustansiriya in eastern Baghdad on Monday, killing five people and wounding nine, police said. Three soldiers and two civilians were killed and nine passers-by were wounded. In other incidents, an electrical worker, a former member of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, was gunned down as he was going to work in downtown Amarah, 290 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. Gunmen also killed police Col. Abdel-Shahid Saleh as he was heading to work west of Karbala, police spokesman Rahman Mishwai said. Elsewhere, gunmen trying to kill a former army major in Mosul missed their target but killed a civilian. The army major was injured. An insurgent sniper killed an Iraqi soldier some 40 kilometers west of Baghdad. An Iraqi convoy fired back at the attacker and two civilians were wounded. (First Posted @ 13:02 PST Updated @ 17:06 PST)
Iraq PM announces first coalition troop pullback BAGHDAD, June 19 (AFP) - Coalition troops are to quit the southern Iraqi province of Muthanna next month, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced Monday, in the first such handover to the fledgling Iraqi security forces. "We have a plan to transfer security from coalition troops to local forces and the first governorate where it will take place is the province of Al-Muthanna next month," Maliki told reporters. Based on the city of Samawa, the province is patrolled by Australian troops under British command. (Posted @ 16:10 PST)
UN urges care during new military operation in Afghanistan KABUL, June 19, 2006 (AFP) - The United Nations on Monday called on Afghan and coalition forces to avoid harm to civilians during a major new operation against Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan."While these operations are ongoing, it's imperative that the security forces -- both national and international -- exercise extreme caution to prevent any civilian casualties," UN spokesman Aleem Siddique told reporters. Operation Mountain Thrust involves more than 10,000 Afghan and coalition troops. (Posted @ 16:06 PST)
Prosecutor demands death penalty for Saddam BAGHDAD, June 19 (AFP) - Chief prosecutor in the trial of Saddam Hussein Jaafar al-Mussawi on Monday demanded the death penalty for the ousted Iraqi president and two other defendants viz his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan," as he rested his case. Saddam and seven other defendants are on trial for the killing of 148 Shiite civilians from the town of Dujail where the then president escaped an assassination attempt in 1982. The prosecutor asked that charges be dropped against one defendant -- Mohammed Azzam Azzawi, a low-ranking official of Saddam's Baath party in Dujail -- and that he be released. (Updated @ 16:00 PST)
Pakistanis clash over water, 12 hurt PARACHINAR, Pakistan, June 19 (Reuters) Rival Pakistani villagers battled each other for water on Monday, using rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades after one group tried to divert an irrigation canal. Twelve people were wounded in the fighting in the rugged Kurrum region on the Afghan border, said the region's administrator. Villagers said a child and a woman were killed but there was no official confirmation. "Twelve people from the Malikhel clan have been admitted to the main district headquarters hospital," the official added. (Posted @ 15:36 PST)
Annan tells new UN rights body to "break with past" GENEVA, June 19 (Reuters) U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told Monday's opening session of the new human U.N. rights body, the Human Rights Council, that it must represent a break from the past. "The eyes of the world -- especially the eyes of those whose human rights are denied, threatened or infringed -- are turned towards this chamber and this council," Annan told the new council. (Posted @ 14:05 PST)
Palestinians must prevent 'civil war': Islamic conference BAKU, June 19, 2006 (AFP) Palestinian factions must fight a slide into civil war which is being exploited by Israel, diplomats said at a pan-Islamic conference in Azerbaijan on Monday. "Palestinian forces should not allow a civil war to take place," the foreign minister of Malaysia, Syed Hamid Albar, said at the opening of an Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Baku. Yemen's foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Kurbi, called on international donors to resume the aid to the Palestinians that was cut by Western governments after the Hamas win. "We support UN calls for the Persian Gulf to be free of nuclear weapons. At the same time Israel must also sign the nuclear non-proliferation agreement," Kurbi said. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev also called for reforms to the UN Security Council, which he said has "no effective mechanism for implementing decisions. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
U.S. warned Britain about leader of July 7 bombings LONDON (AP) U.S. intelligence officials warned Britain that the alleged leader of the July 7 suicide bombings in London had been in touch with extremists who were plotting to blow up synagogues in the United States, a new book claims. “The One Percent Doctrine'' by Ron Suskind says that Sidique Khan, of the four suicide bombers who killed 52 people in London, was banned from flying to the United States in 2003, according to excerpts of the book published Monday in The Times newspaper. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
U.S. troops press ahead with Ramadi operation RAMADI, Iraq, June 19 (Reuters) U.S. troops pressed ahead on Monday with an operation to flush out insurgents from their stronghold in the western Iraqi town of Ramadi. A Reuters witness said he saw seven U.S. tanks. Shops were shuttered and most residents stayed home, fearing a U.S. offensive. U.S. and Iraqi forces are setting up additional checkpoints, the military said. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Afghan, US forces kill seven Taliban in south: military KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, June 19, 2006 (AFP) Afghan and coalition forces killed seven Taliban insurgents and wounded four others, including a Pakistani national, in Uruzgan province on Sunday, an Afghan commander said Monday. "The four wounded were arrested. One of them was a Pakistani national identified by the identity documents he was carrying," the commander said. (Posted @ 12:15 PST)
Pakistan takes revenge in hockey opener KUALA LUMPUR, June 19, 2006 (AFP) Former champions Pakistan turned in a masterful first half performance to beat the Netherlands 3-2 in their opening match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia on Monday. Both teams provided an exciting match with play swinging from end to end, but three well-taken goals in the opening half ensured full points for the Pakistanis. "This is a good win for us as we were able to match the Dutch in almost all departments and also stopped them from scoring from several good attempts," said Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa. Netherlands coach Roelant Altmans said his team had better control of the game but missed several good chances. "I will be happy if they improve with each match," he said. The Netherlands will play Argentina Tuesday and Pakistan will take on New Zealand in their second match. Score: Pakistan 3 (Butt 5, Warsi 20, Abbasi 24) Netherlands 2 (Evers 14, Weusthof 70); H-t: 3-1. (First Posted @ 09:40 PST Updated @ 11:20 PST)
Two girls burnt to death in Hindu-Muslim riots in India LUCKNOW, India, June 19, 2006 (AFP) Two girls were burnt to death in sectarian rioting between Hindus and Muslims sparked by the death of a youth in India's Uttar Pradesh state, police said Monday. "Over 100 houses were set ablaze in a Hindu-Muslim clash in which two girls were charred to death," a police official said. The incident in Pratapgarh, 200 kilometres southeast of Lucknow, came after a Hindu youth was gunned down by unidentified people in a village market Sunday evening. "Riot police have been sent to the village to control the situation," police said. "Over 100 people have been arrested. The situation is still tense." (Posted @ 11:10 PST)
Taliban killed 32 in Afghanistan: MP KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, June 19, 2006 (AFP) Taliban militants killed 32 people in an attack in southern Afghanistan while 10 others are missing, a member of parliament said on Monday. Legislator Dad Mohammad Khan said the casualties from the attack in southern Helmand province on Sunday were all friends and relatives. He said the victims were killed while retrieving the bodies of five other men slain in an earlier attack. (Posted @ 11:10 PST)
Klimt painting sold for record $135 million WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) A 1907 portrait by Gustav Klimt has been purchased by cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder for $135 million, the highest amount ever paid for a painting, The New York Times reported. The price tops the $104.1 million paid for Picasso's 1905 "Boy With a Pipe (The Young Apprentice)" in an auction at Sotheby's in 2004, the paper said in its Monday edition. The portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the wife of a Jewish sugar industrialist, is considered one of Klimt's masterpieces. (Posted @ 11:05 PST)
China, India agree to resume "Silk Route" border trade BEIJING, June 19, 2006 (AFP) China and India have agreed to resume frontier trade next month through a Himalayan pass that was closed 44 years ago following a border war, state media said Monday. Officials from both sides signed an agreement Sunday in Lhasa, the capital of the Chinese region of Tibet, to reopen the Nathu La Pass on July 6, the official Xinhua news agency said. Nathu La, part of the famed Silk Road and located 4,400 meters above sea level, has been closed since a brief war broke out between China and India in 1962. (Posted @ 09:47 PST)
Pakistan-born architect found guilty on terror charges in Australia SYDNEY, June 19, 2006 (AFP) Pakistan-born architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi was found guilty of three terrorism-related charges Monday, making him the first person convicted of planning a terrorist act on Australian soil, the Australian Associated Press reported. The Supreme Court in Sydney had heard that Lodhi, 36, plotted to bomb Sydney's electricity grid and various defence sites in October 2003. The indictment said Lodhi, who denied four counts of preparing to commit a terrorist act, had "the intent of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause, namely violent jihad." (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 336.73 points: KARACHI, June 19: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 9943.84, up 336.73 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, June 19: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.5 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
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