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| June 20, 2006 | Tuesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
WHO in the process of providing 12 larger pre-fabricated RHC in AJK ISLAMABAD, Jun 20 (APP): The World Health Organization (WHO) is in the process of providing 12 larger pre-fabricated Rural Health Centres (RHC) in AJK, Jaffer Ilyas, public health officer at the WHO Muzaffarabad said Tuesday. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affaivs and Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reported while quoting him. (Posted @ 23:42 PST)
OIC appoints its special representative on Kashmir ISLAMABAD, Jun 20 (APP): The organization of Islamic Conference has appointed its Assistant Secretary General Izzat Kamal Mufti as its Special Representative on Jammu and Kashmir. This decision was made at the OIC Contact Group meeting, at Baku in Azerbaijan. The meeting was attended by Pakistan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Sardar Muhammad Anwar Khan, Advocate Muhammad Ashraf Lone of the APHC and Tahir Masood of the AJK chapter of the APHC took part at the OIC Contact Group meeting, KMS reported.(Posted @ 23:22 PST)
Amir of Kuwait departs ISLAMABAD, Jun 20 (APP): Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah left here Tuesday at the end of his two day visit to Pakistan. He was seen off at the Chaklala Air Base by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.(Posted @ 23:02 PST)
Two children killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza GAZA, June 20 (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike targeting a car carrying Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday killed two child bystanders and wounded eight children and two adults, witnesses and medics said. They said the dead were a 5-year-old boy and a girl under the age of 7.(Posted @ 22:42 PST)
Car bomb kills 4, injures 10 in northern Baghdad BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 20, (AP) _ A parked car bomb detonated in mnorthern Baghdad Tuesday, killing four people and wounding another 10, police said. The bomb exploded near an open-air market Baghdad's al-Hurryah neighborhood, police 1st Lt. Thayer Mahmoud said.(Posted @ 22:35PST)
Road accident kills eight people in Pakistan, police say KARACHI, June 20 (AP) _ A speeding minibus collided with a truck on a narrow road in a remote area near Hyderabad city in southern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing eight people and wounding several others, police said.(Posted @ 19:18 PST)
Official: India, Pakistan to cooperate in controlling bird flu, polio NEW DELHI, June 20 (AP) _ India and Pakistan on Tuesday discussed joint steps to control bird flu and polio as they seek to cooperate in tackling regional health care concerns, an Indian spokesman said. The first meeting of a technical-level working group ``discussed measures for control of polio and exchanged ideas on management of avian influenza,'' said Navtej Sarna, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman. The sides also exchanged information on drug and pharmaceutical administration and cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine, such as homeopathy, Sarna said.(Posted @ 19:14 PST)
Iran not yet decided on West's nuclear deal: foreign minister BAKU, June 20 (AFP) - Iran's Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki told journalists in Baku Tuesday that Tehran had yet to make a decision on a deal offered by Western governments aimed at defusing the standoff over its nuclear program. "It is not decided yet," Mottaki told reporters on the sidelines of a pan-Islamic conference in the capital of Azerbaijan. "I can't say for the time being when the answer will be finalized. There can be some questions and doubts which should be clarified," he said, speaking in English.(Posted @ 18:48 PST)
Afghan and coalition troops kill 19 in new strikes KABUL, June 20, 2006 (AFP) - Afghan and coalition forces killed 19 Taliban rebels in attacks around Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday. Eight died in a clash early Tuesday in eastern Paktika province, said an Afghan army corps commander for the southeast, Sami-ul-Haq Bader. "Their bodies were left at the site. Four were also wounded. One soldier was also wounded in the incident," he said. The attackers struck in Gayan district bordering Pakistan at about 2:00 am. Six more Taliban were killed and 15 wounded in another attack in the province that began at roughly the same time, the provincial governor said. The strike in Khoshamand district sparked a three-hour gunbattle. "The district headquarters building has sustained heavy damage. It was hit by rockets," governor Mohammad Akram Khepalwak said. Another seven rebels were arrested in the province's Mitakhan district, also on the border, after they tried to storm an army post, Bader said. In southern Helmand province coalition and Afghan troops attacked a group of insurgents meeting near a river near a Taliban safe house on Monday and killed five of them, the coalition said. The interior ministry meanwhile announced the capture of four militants, including a Taliban commander, in southeastern Ghazni province.(Posted @ 18:46 PST)
Pakistan, New Zealand in critical draw at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 (AFP) - Imran Warsi scored a 69th minute penalty corner to give Pakistan a crucial 3-3 draw against New Zealand in their Group B match in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament Tuesday. The draw gave both teams four points from two matches and kept them firmly in line for a semi-final berth. Both teams need one more point from their remaining matches on Thursday to confirm their place. Pakistan will play Argentina in the last match while the Kiwis will play the Netherlands which also stayed in the hunt for a semi-final place with a 4-1 win over Argentina earlier in the day . The Pakistanis could not keep pace with the fast attacks by the Kiwis. New Zealand scored in the sixth minute with Hayden Shaw firing from the first penalty corner. Mohamed Imran equalised in the 10th minute off a penalty corner but the Kiwis were back in front in the 37th minute through youngster Shea Mcaleese before Mohamed Saqlain converted a penalty stroke to keep the Pakistanis level. Kiwis struck again in the 66th minute through a field goal from Ben Collier. With just one minute to go, the Pakistanis earned their fifth penalty corner and Imran Wasi ensured them of a draw with a drag flick which went in off the goalkeeper's pads.(Posted @ 18:44 PST)
Eight Egyptians drown as Nile boat sinks CAIRO, June 20, 2006 (AFP) - Eight Egyptians drowned on Tuesday when their overloaded sail boat being used as a ferry capsized on the River Nile in Upper Egypt, police said.(Posted @ 18:22 PST)
Palestinian leader demands halt to rocket fire RAMALLAH, West Bank, June 20 (AFP) - Moderate Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas called Tuesday for an immediate halt to militant rocket fire against Israel, warning that the Gaza Strip might otherwise come under ground assault.(Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Indonesia floods kill 26 JAKARTA, June 20 (AFP) - Twenty-six people were killed when flash floods caused by heavy rain ripped through several districts in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province, police and reports said Tuesday. Twenty-three people were found dead after floods submerged Sinjai district following two days of torrential rain, said a policeman in the provincial capital Makassar.(Posted @ 18:18 PST)
Pakistan, Kuwait express determination to further expand, strengthen ties ISLAMABAD, June 20 (PPI): Pakistan and Kuwait Tuesday expressed determination to further expand and strengthen their relations in all fields particularly in economy, trade and investment. This was stated by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and visiting Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jabar Al-Sabah while addressing Pak-Kuwait investment conference in Islamabad. Shaukat Aziz described visit of Amir of Kuwait as turning point in relations between the both countries and expressed confidence that it will lead to new dimensions in cooperation in investment and trade. He said Pakistan and Kuwait stood by each other in difficult times and they have a lot to share in religion, history, values, culture etc. Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah appreciated economic policies and the legislations made in Pakistan for economic openness involving both local and foreign private sectors. He hoped that investment agreements signed between the two countries on Monday would go a long way in increasing public and private partnership in future.(Posted @ 18:16 PST)
Amir of Kuwait holds talks with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ISLAMABAD, June 20 (PPI): Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah held one-on-one meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad focussing on ways and means to further expand relations between the two countries in various fields including trade, economy and investment.(Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Two missing U.S. soldiers in Iraq killed-official BAGHDAD, June 20 (Reuters) - Two missing U.S. soldiers in Iraq have been killed and their bodies were found in Yusufia, Major General Abdul Aziz Mohammed told a news conference in Baghdad. He did not say when the soldiers were killed or when their bodies were found. (Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Coalition helicopters target southern Afghan Taliban camp, kill 5 militants KANDAHAR, June 20 (AP) _ Coalition helicopters bombed a Taliban camp in Baghran district of Helmand province, killing five militants and wounding eight, provincial governor's spokesman Haji Ghulam Muhiddin said Tuesday. Afghan forces retrieved the bodies of five slain militants, he said adding that eight militants had been wounded and taken away by other Taliban fighters. (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Police: Suspected communist rebels kill 7 villagers in central India NEW DELHI, June 20 (AP) _ Suspected communist rebels killed seven villagers and injured another three during an overnight raid in central India, police said Tuesday. The seven were killed _ some shot, others stabbed or beaten to death _ because the rebels suspected them of helping government forces in the Chattisgarh state village of Konta, 500 kilometers south of Raipur, the state capital, said G. Naik, the inspector-general of police. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Turkish driver, three Afghan guards killed in Afghanistan attack HERAT, June 20 (AFP) - More than a dozen gunmen ambushed a road construction company's convoy in Afghanistan and killed a Turkish driver and three Afghan guards, police and embassy officials said Tuesday. Another two guards were wounded in the attack on Monday in western Farah province, provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb said. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Thirteen Iraqis killed in alleged US fire on poultry farm BAQUBA, June 20 (AFP) - Thirteen Iraqis working in poultry farms in a village near Baquba were killed during overnight US raids in the area, Iraqi police and a rights organisation said Tuesday. The workers were sleeping in the fields of Bushaheen village, said an Iraqi police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said that in addition to the 13 killed, four others were wounded and 10 people arrested. A US military spokesman in Baghdad acknowledged there was an incident in the area but refused to give details, saying the raids were part of an ongoing campaign against militants of the Al-Qaeda terror network in Iraq. Witnesses said the incident was triggered when a guard in the village mistook US soldiers in the distance for gangs and began firing towards them. Two of the dead were children. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Police fire tear gas, rubber bullets at Bangladesh opposition activists DHAKA, June 20 (AFP) - Bangladesh police used tear gas and rubber bullets Tuesday to disperse opposition party supporters as they staged an anti-government protest in Dhaka. "They tried to go to the compound of the election commission to lay siege to it but we stopped them," said police Inspector Gius Udddin. "They threw stones and bricks at us and we used tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse them," he added. There were no reports of any injuries. (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Second bus route opens across Line of Control ON THE LINE OF CONTROL, June 20, 2006 (AFP) A bus service between Rawlakot in Azad Kashmir and Poonch on the other side of Line of Control (LoC) rolled on Tuesday. Amid heavy security, India's ruling Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi launched the service when the bus arrived at Chakandabagh on the border after it had travelled the ten kilometres from Poonch in occupied Kashmir. Passengers were to cross the frontier on foot before a separate bus took them to Rawlakot. "This bus service is bound to strengthen the relationship between India and Pakistan," Gandhi said. The Indian bus is carrying 66 passengers, 36 of whom are from Azad Kashmir, according to a police chief. On the Pakistani side 55 passengers gathered at Titrinote border post before boarding the bus. The bus then took the passengers just over a kilometre up to the LoC. Passengers from both sides will cross the border on foot before being driven to their destinations. The buses themselves will not cross. "This is a good omen for the divided Kashmiri families," Sardar Sikandar Hayat, the prime minister of Azad Kashmir, said ahead of the launch of the service. (Posted @ 14:55 PST)
Indonesia president urges Muslims to fight terrorism JAKARTA, June 20 (Reuters) Muslims should help solve global problems including terrorism and reach out to the rest of the globe if they want to be understood, Indonesia's president said on Tuesday. At a conference gathering Muslim scholars from around the globe, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono invoked the glory days of Islam in the first millennium, when Muslims were at the forefront of scientific and cultural advancement, and told participants to put forward moderate views. "The spectre of terrorism still threatens many of our communities. There is still a lengthy list of conflicts within the Muslim community and even between Muslim communities and non-Muslims," said Yudhoyono. "The Muslim world must be firm and united in the global fight against terrorism. The best way for the ummah to deal with the globalised world is by becoming an active part of it," he said. (Posted @ 13:10 PST)
Sri Lankan rebels recommit to truce COLOMBO, June 20 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers on Tuesday recommitted to the island's 2002 ceasefire and said they had told mediator Norway that they will ensure the safety of Nordic truce monitors. "We have committed to the ceasefire agreement and Norway's facilitation role and giving diplomatic immunity and protection to the SLMM monitors who are working in the northeast," S. Puleedevan, head of the Tigers' peace secretariat, said. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Suicide bomber hits senior citizens' home in Iraq BASRA, Iraq, June 20 (Reuters) A suicide bomber attacked a senior citizens' home in Basra on Tuesday and casualties were feared, state television reported. Police sources said the blast targeted an area where senior citizens gather to get pensions. They said two people were wounded and the suicide bomber was the only person killed in the blast. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Two arrested, reward offered for missing lawyer in Kashmir sex case: report SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, June 20, 2006 (AFP) Two former ministers were arrested Tuesday and a reward offered for information about a missing lawyer in a prostitution case that has rocked occupied Kashmir, reports said. G.A. Mir and Raman Matoo were arrested in New Delhi and Srinagar respectively on Tuesday by the federal Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Press Trust of India news agency said. Police in Srinagar declined to comment on the arrest reports. Mir is a sitting member of the Kashmir legislature and a senior leader of the ruling Congress party, while Matoo is an independent legislator. "Matoo and Mir have been booked under the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act for procuring persons for prostitution," the news agency said. Police said the CBI has also announced a reward of 200,000 rupees (4,444 US dollars) for information about a lawyer, Anil Sethi, wanted in connection with the racket. The CBI has already detained nine men, including a senior paramilitary officer and another police officer, in the case. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Rights group presses Malaysia on detainees KUALA LUMPUR, June 20, 2006 (AFP) Human Rights Watch(HRW) on Tuesday accused Malaysia of hypocrisy for calling for the closure of the US Guantanamo jail while holding scores of detainees without trial. The international rights watchdog called on Malaysia to either charge or release those held under the country's tough Internal Security Act, including alleged members of the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). HRW said that many of the detainees have now been held for more than four years without trial or any judicial review of their cases. It accused the ruling United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) of misusing the act to silence its critics. (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
Romanian soldier killed, four wounded in Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, June 20, 2006 (AFP) A Romanian soldier with US-led coalition forces was killed and four others were wounded in an attack on a coalition convoy in main US base in the south at Kandahar air field at 5:00 am early Tuesday, the coalition said. "The wounded were helicoptered back to Kandahar air field and are under treatment," a spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman could not immediately say what kind of attack it had been or place the attack on any group. (First Posted @ 11:25 PST Updated @ 11:35 PST)
Thailand says no plan to rebuild Afghan Buddhas BANGKOK, June 20, 2006 (AFP) Thailand on Tuesday denied reports that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had offered to rebuild two giant ancient Buddha statues destroyed by Afghanistan's former Taliban regime in 2001. A government spokesman said the premier had only offered to collect the remains of the 1,500-year-old statues for use in producing small replicas. "There was some mistranslation in some of the reports," the spokesman added. Karzai told the Thai premier at a regional conference last weekend in Kazakhstan he would consider the proposal to make small statues using the remains of the originals, according to spokesman. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Iran nuclear talks looking up: Blix JAKARTA, June 20, 2006 (AFP) The former chief of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, Hans Blix, said Tuesday talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program appeared to be progressing. "The negotiation looks better and brighter now than it was half a year ago," the Swedish diplomat told a press conference after meeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Blix was in Indonesia to present the president with a report on the world's nuclear, biological and chemical arms which he wrote with a team of experts put together by Sweden in September 2003. Blix also welcomed Yudhoyono's plan to visit North Korea next month to try to defuse tensions over the Stalinist state's nuclear program. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Blast hit U.S.-led coalition convoy in Afghan south KABUL, June 20 (Reuters) A roadside bomb hit a convoy of U.S.-led coalition troops on Tuesday in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, residents said. A spokesman for the coalition in the south confirmed that a blast struck a car in the convoy on the main road leading to the airport, just outside the Kandahar city, which is used by the coalition forces. (Posted @ 11:25 PST)
Tennis-Ancic beats Pakistan’s Aisam in Ordina Open DEN BOSCH, Netherlands, June 19 (Reuters) Defending champion Mario Ancic struggled to a 7-6 6-7 7-5 win over Pakistani qualifier Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi in the first round of the Ordina Open on Monday. At 6-5 in the final set, the towering Croat converted his only break point of the set to take the match, which lasted two hours and 43. "I think (he) played extremely well. He served an unbelievable serve and volley game...You're much more used to guys playing from the back, but he did it extremely well," Ancic said. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Australian troops to redeploy in Iraq CANBERRA, June 20, 2006 (AFP) Hundreds of Australian troops are to redeploy for a more dangerous mission in Iraq, Prime Minister John Howard's government said Tuesday, sparking calls to bring them home. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said that 460 soldiers currently guarding Japanese engineers in the southern city of Samawa would move soon to the nearby city of Tallil. They would provide back-up and training for Iraqi forces who are set to take control of the southern province of Al-Muthanna, and help secure the Syrian border, Nelson said. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Japan to withdraw ground troops from Iraq TOKYO, June 20 (Reuters) Japan has decided to withdraw its troops from Iraq, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Tuesday. Tokyo has kept about 550 ground troops in Samawa, southern Iraq, since February 2004 on a non-combat mission. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Three US soldiers charged with murder of Iraqi detainees WASHINGTON, June 20 (APP/AFP) - Three US soldiers have been charged with premeditated murder and other offenses for allegedly shooting to death three detainees in Iraq, the US military said Monday. The soldiers allegedly shot and killed the three unidentified men near the Muthana Chemical Complex in Salaheddin province on May 9, according to charge sheets filed June 15. The case is the latest in a series involving allegations that US troops killed Iraqi civilians. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
China sends first-ever delegation to observe U.S. Pacific wargames SHANGHAI, China (AP) _ China has sent its first-ever delegation to observe U.S. war games in the Pacific, the government said Tuesday, hailing that as a ``very important component'' of military-to-military exchanges.China's 10-member delegation to the ``Valiant Shield'' maneuvers includes one general-equivalent officer each from the People's Liberation Army, air force, and navy, the official Xinhua News Agency said. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Japan says troops to leave Iraq TOKYO, June 20, 2006 (AFP) - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday Japan would pull its troops out of Iraq, ending Tokyo's first mission to a country at war since World War II. "The Japanese government has decided to withdraw the Ground Self-Defense Forces from Iraq," Koizumi told a news conference. "After closely consulting with the United States, the multinational forces, Britain and Australia, I made the decision because I judged that the humanitarian mission has made a certain achievement in the region." Japan has 600 troops -- known as the Self-Defense Forces due to the pacifist constitution -- in the southern Iraqi city of Samawa, a mission that began in January 2004. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
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