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| August 07, 2006 | Monday | Rajab 11, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
UN powers fail to break deadlock over Mideast resolution UNITED NATIONS, Aug 7 (AFP) Ambassadors of the five permanent UN Security Council members met Sunday to discuss Lebanese objections which have held up a proposed French-US resolution seeking to end the new Middle East conflict. Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the council is not close to an agreement that could allow a resolution to be passed. Lebanon has objected to the draft resolution, which calls for a "full cessation of hostilities" between Israel and Hezbollah because it does not explicitly demand an immediate halt to the fighting. It has also raised problems with the way the resolution would handle territorial disputes and prisoners held by the two sides. He called on Lebanon and the Arab world to "give a very serious reading to this draft. And I think if they do, they'll see that there is much in it which is very much in the interests of Lebanon." French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere commented: "We must, while keeping the logic of the text that makes it useful, take into account the worries of everyone." He added: "The time for the council to give its decision is coming." Lebanon has proposed amendments on the ceasefire and territorial dispute that Churkin said "go pretty far from the text which was negotiated." "If you read the resolution carefully you can see all those concerns are being satisfied."But if people want to see some of those things mentioned more explicitly that of course might create a problem because there is also the government of Israel that we have to deal with under this very difficult situation," said the ambassador. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
President Musharraf urges U.N. chief to halt Israeli "aggression" ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug 7 (AP) Pakistan's president on Monday urged the United Nations secretary-general to help stop the Israeli ``aggression'' in Lebanon, saying a delay in a cease-fire would worsen the situation in Lebanon. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf spoke by telephone with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and ``called for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon'' and for Israel to remove its troops from there, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported. Musharraf said that ``any loss of time will further deteriorate the situation and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon,'' APP said. It gave no details of any comment from Annan and who initiated the conversation. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Expulsion of diplomats won't hurt peace with India, says Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Aug 7 (AFP) Pakistan said Monday the tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats by itself and India should not affect the peace process between the two nations. "In our view the expulsions should make no difference to the peace process," foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a weekly briefing. Aslam urged India not to see the dialogue process, launched in early 2004, in terms of whether or not the neighbouring countries were making a "concession". "We have repeatedly said that peace process is in the interest of Pakistan, India, this region and the world at large," she said. "We do not see any linkage between (a) terrorist act in India or Pakistan and the peace process. There are no connections and these are two separate matters," Aslam added. (First Posted @ 16:58 PST Updated @ 18:36 PST)
Three Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon fighting JERUSALEM, Aug 7, (AFP) - Three Israeli soldiers were killed Monday in clashes with Hezbollah around the flashpoint southern Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil, the army said. (Posted @ 23:46 PST)
At least 8 dead in Israeli strikes on south Beirut BEIRUT, Aug 7, (AFP) - At least eight people were killed on Monday when the Israeli military launched two strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a rescue worker with the Lebanese Red Cross said. The bombardments targeted the Shiyah district of the southern suburbs which until now has been spared attacks and was still inhabited by some residents. (Posted @ 23:32 PST)
Pakistan detains 14 Chinese headed to Europe on fake South Korean passports KARACHI, Aug 7, (AFP) - Pakistani police Monday arrested 14 Chinese who arrived in the port city of Karachi on fake South Korean passports on their way to Europe and two Koreans suspected of human trafficking, officials said. "We have arrested 14 Chinese, eight of them women, and two Koreans," a senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency, Mohammad Malik said. (Posted @ 23:20 PST)
Hostages released, eight killed in occupied Kashmir violence SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, July 7 (AP) Gunmen released three civilian hostages from a village home in occupied Kashmir on Monday, as four suspected militants, three Indian soldiers and a civilian were killed in fighting in the valley, police said. The gunmen held two men and a boy for five hours as they battled police and soldiers in the village of Shirpora, about 65 kilometers south of Srinagar. Police said the hostages were freed after village elders and police made several appeals to the gunmen on loudspeakers, saying the civilians were noncombatants. The fighting later resumed, and two suspected militants were killed, the official said. A soldier died also of injuries suffered in the gunbattle. Separately, militants ambushed government soldiers in Warpora village killing two of them and wounding another, said police. A purported spokesman of Hezb-ul Mujahedeen claimed responsibility for the Warpora attack in a call to a local news agency. (First Posted @ 13:40 PST Updated @ 23:12 PST)
Israeli army kills at least 23 TYRE, Lebanon, Aug 7 (AP) Israeli commandos landed on a southern hilltop near Lebanon's Mediterranean coast on Monday, fighting Hezbollah in close combat as warplanes launched fresh air-strikes across the country, killing at least 23 people. Five more were feared dead from Israeli raids in Tyre. Four buildings were flattened and others were engulfed in flames. Rescuers said they got a frantic call from a woman reporting five people crushed to death in an apartment. But they came under fire and were forced to flee before retrieving the bodies, and an ambulance was hit by a missile as it sped from the scene, an ambulance driver said. (Posted @ 22:16 PST)
Lebanese prime minister now says one dead, not 40 in Houla attack BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug 7 (AP) The Lebanese prime minister backtracked Monday, saying only one person had been killed in an Israeli air raid in the southern border village of Houla. At a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers earlier in the day he broke into tears as he reported 40 people had died. He offered no other explanation for the error. ``It turned out that there was one person killed. They thought that the whole building smashed on the head of about 40 people and it turned out, thank God because we are not happy if someone is killed, they have been saved,'' Saniora said. (First Posted 11:10 PST Updated @ 22:14 PST)
Musharraf for continued political stability to attain progress, prosperity ISLAMABAD, Aug 06 (Agencies): President General Pervez Musharraf Monday stressed the need for continued political stability in the country while attending a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in honour of a visiting delegation of Sindh PML leaders at the PM's House Monday. Earlier in a meeting between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, the premier said the PML along with its coalition partner is committed to providing political stability in the country and is working assiduously to build a Pakistan that fulfils its key role in the region and the Muslim Ummah. Matters relating to the organization and enrolment of the PML in Sindh also came under discussion. (Posted @ 22:02 PST)
Every political party to submit consolidated statement of accounts: CEC ISLAMABAD, Aug 7 (APP): The Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan, Justice (R) Qazi Muhammad Farooq, Monday said every political party shall submit a consolidated statement of accounts duly audited by a Chartered Accountant to the Election Commission within 60 days from the close of each financial year. The last date for filing statement of accounts by the political parties is August 29, 2006, he added. He stated this while drawing attention of the political parties to the provisions of Article 13 of the Political Parties Order, 2002 in this connection. He said a certificate signed by the party leader must accompany the statement of accounts stating that (a) no funds from any source prohibited under Political Parties Order, 2002, were received by the party and (b)the statement contains an accurate financial position of the party. (Posted @ 21:40 PST)
Heavy downpour in Thatta, Hyderabad THATTA, Aug 7 (APP): Heavy rain lashed various parts of Thatta district on Monday afternoon which continued intermittently till evening. Reports said the situation had further worsened in rain affected areas especially in the coastal areas of the district. Many villages were also reported to be inundated with rain water. Hyderabad city also received heavy showers on Monday with the local Met office recording six millimetres of rain there. (Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Gilgit-Skardu road remains blocked, air traffic also stays suspended GILGIT, Aug 7 (APP): The Karakuram Highway along the Gilgit-Skardu, Gilgit- Hunza and Gilgit-Ghizer roads remained blocked for the third consecutive day with fresh boulders and land sliding reported at various points. According to sources, travellers remained stuck at various places while traffic between Pakistan and Chine as well as Gilgit to Rawalpindi and other districts were also suspended due to blocked roads. FWO sources said restoration of traffic was continuing, however, the relief work was hampered due to continuing torrential rains. Meanwhile, the flight schedule was disturbed for the fifth consecutive day as no aeroplane flew from Islamabad to Gilgit due to bad weather. (Posted @ 21:25 PST)
Rain emergency declared in Kotri KOTRI, Aug 07 (Online): Thousands of villagers were left stranded as storm drains in the area flooded due to torrential rains and land communications of more than 200 villages of Sindh province’s Jamshoro were cut off from other parts of the district. As per reports, the district continued to receive heavy rains on Monday due to which a flood like situation persisted in the area. Severe shortage of edibles and food in the villages was also reported. The DCO declared a rain emergency in the district and emergency centres in the offices of TMOs of Bhola Khan, Kotri, Majhand and Kheon Tulukas have been set up to cope with the situation. (Posted @ 21:20 PST)
Six including three brothers killed in Pakistan road accident PESHAWAR, Aug 7 (APP): Six people including three brothers were killed when an over speeding jeep fell into a deep ravine at Peeli Parri (Abbottabad) on Monday morning, police said. The ill-fated jeep (N0.LZB-3878) was on its way from Dhonga Ghali to Murree when the driver had lost control of the vehicle, police said. (Posted @ 21:12 PST)
Four arrested with 233 kg of narcotics in Multan MULTAN, Aug 7 (APP): Local police arrested four narcotics traffickers and recovered 233 kilogram hashish and opium worth Rs10 million from their possession here on Monday. (Posted @ 21:10 PST)
New AJK cabinet sworn in MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 7 (APP): A 16-member cabinet was sworn in at the Kashmir House in Islamabad on Monday. The outgoing AJK President Major General (Retd) Sardar Muhammad Anwar Khan administered the oath. According to a notification, Malik Muhammad Nawaz was appointed senior minister in Prime Minister Sardar Attique’s cabinet with portfolio of Electricity department, Ch. Muhammad Yousaf Industries (Labour and Mangla dam affairs), Raja Muhammad Naseer Khan (Local Government & Rural development), Raja Nisar Ahmed Khan (Finance, Planning & development), Abdul Rashid Abbasi (Law and Parliamentary Affairs), Hafiz Hamid Raza Zakat Usher (Aouqaf and Transport), Muhammad Sana Ullah Qadri (Rehabilitation, Civil Defense and Armed Forces), Sardar Muhammad Naeem Khan (Revenue, Custodian, Abandoned properties), Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Naqi (Health), Syed Ghulam Murtaza Gilani (Forest, AKLASC and AKMIDC), Mrs. Shamim Malik (Social Welfare and Women Development), Col. Retd. Raja Muhammad Nasim (Public Works Department and Development Authorities, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of quake hit areas), Mirza Muhammad Shafique Jaral (Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, livestock and Fisheries), Ch. Muhammad Akbar Ibrahim (Tourism, Wildlife and Environment), Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi (Food, Cooperative and Prisons), Ali Shan Chaudhry (Youth Affairs and Sports). (Posted @ 21:05 PST)
Pakistan-India Dosti bus with five passengers on board reaches Nankana Sahib ISLAMABAD, Aug 7 (APP): The Pakistan-India Dosti bus reached Nankana Sahib via Amritsar carrying one Nepali woman and four American devotees while another bus left from Nankana Sahib for Amritsar. (Posted @ 20:52 PST)
Indian PM charged with leaking Iraq scandal report NEW DELHI, Aug 7 (Reuters) A former Indian foreign minister asked parliament on Monday to reprimand Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for what he said was leaking an investigation report on Iraq's oil-for-food scandal. Indian Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekawat, who presides over the upper house, said he had received a notice from Natwar Singh seeking to reprimand the prime minister for leaking the report to the media last week instead of placing it in parliament. Several other lawmakers had also moved similar notices against the prime minister, and Shekawat said he would decide on future action once they had been studied. There was no immediate comment from the prime minister's office. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said it was "unbecoming" of a member to move a privilege motion against the leader of his own party. (Posted @ 20:48 PST)
Bush urges quick UN resolution CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug 7 (AFP) US President George W. Bush said Monday a UN resolution on ending the Lebanon crisis was needed as "quickly as possible," as Washington tried to ease Israeli and Lebanonese objections to the draft. "We will work with our partners to get the resolution laid down as quickly as possible," Bush told reporters, with Rice at his side. Rice said she would address Israeli and Lebanese objections to the proposed draft resolution and would "take a little time" to ease their anxiety. The Secretary of State declined to get into details about the various objections to the draft resolution, but argued that differences were perhaps not as big as they appeared. "For instance, there is agreement that the Lebanese government needs to extend its authority throughout the country." (Posted @ 20:40 PST)
Kyrgyz kill three suspected militants BISHKEK, Aug 7 (Reuters) Kyrgyz security forces killed three men-- two Tajiks and a Kyrgyz citizen --including a prayer leader of a mosque, in the south of the Central Asian state suspected of being members of a banned militant group, the SNB security service said on Monday. Agents claimed to have found weapons, including grenades, and religious literature in the car. (Posted @ 20:38 PST)
Arab League to seek amendment of U.N. resolution BEIRUT, Aug 7 (Reuters) Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Beirut, will send a delegation on Monday to try to push through proposed Lebanese amendments to a draft U.N. resolution seeking to end violence, a Lebanese official said. The official said the Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and the foreign ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates would leave shortly for New York. (Posted @ 20:38 PST)
Cubans should decide their form of government: Bush CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug 7 (Reuters) President George W. Bush said on Monday he did not know the condition of Cuba's ailing leader Fidel Castro and that it was up to Cubans to decide their form of government. Bush said the United States wanted the Cuban people to be able to choose their own form of government. "And we will make this very clear, as Cuba has the possibility of transforming itself from a tyrannical situation to a different type of society, the Cuban people ought to decide," he said. (Posted @ 20:36 PST)
Baghdad security to improve by end-Sept: US general BAGHDAD, Aug 7 (Reuters) The top U.S. general in Iraq said on Monday that U.S. and Iraqi forces would drive death squads and militants out of Baghdad by the end of September. "There is a comprehensive plan ... to change the situation significantly prior to Ramadan," General George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told a news conference following a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. (Posted @ 20:36 PST)
Suicide bomber kills nine in Iraq's Samarra BAGHDAD, Aug 7 (Reuters) A suicide bomber strapped with explosives blew himself up at a police station in the town of Samarra north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least nine people and wounding 10, police sources said. There were no further details. (Posted @ 20:34 PST)
Explosion in Pakistani tribal village kills three children PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 1 (AP) A discarded ordnance shell exploded in Shpalki tribal village in north-western Pakistan’s Darra Adamkhel town on Monday, killing three young boys who were playing with the explosive, an official said. The three brothers, ages 8, 10 and 11, were killed at the scene of the blast, a government official said. The type of the shell or how the children got it was not known. (Posted @ 20:02 PST)
Flood death toll in northwest Pakistan hits 144 PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 7 (AFP) Flash floods caused by torrential monsoon rain in northwest Pakistan have claimed 144 lives, including dozens killed when a bridge collapsed into a river, a government official said Monday. Some 16,000 mud-brick houses were destroyed or damaged by flooding in several districts, including 12,000 in the badly hit district of Mardan northeast of the provincial capital Peshawar. Another 40 people were killed mostly by roof collapses, electrocutions or drowning in central Punjab province last week. Rains also caused landslides in quake-hit areas, disrupting communications and relief efforts for the survivors of the October 8 quake. (Posted @ 18:50 PST)
Kosovo risks "ethnic cleansing" again: Rights group LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) "Ethnic cleansing" could happen again in Kosovo unless negotiations on the province's future lead to strong legal safeguards for minority communities, London-based Minority Rights Group International said on Monday. Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population, are pushing for independence from Serbia, a goal Serbia rejects. "The danger is that the patterns of segregation that are accepted in Kosovo, and that leads to the terror of ethnic cleansing, will be enshrined in the constitution and will be played out again over the next decade," the group said. It criticised the United Nations and the international community for failing to protect the rights of Kosovo's minorities and said the situation was the worst in Europe. (Posted @ 18:48 PST)
France calls for 'rapid' adoption of Lebanon resolution PARIS, Aug 7 (AFP) France called on Monday for the rapid adoption of a Franco-US resolution aimed at ending the Israeli-Lebanese conflict, while insisting it wanted to take Lebanon's objections into account. He said France was "studying these (Lebanese) proposals with the greatest care, and along with its partners in the Security Council was looking at ways of taking them into account". (Posted @ 18:46 PST)
British forces in Afghanistan need back-up: former colonel LONDON, Aug 7 (AFP) A former British colonel said Monday that British forces in Afghanistan needed far more support if they are to succeed. Tim Collins said a "radical rethink" of funding for the Afghanistan mission was needed. Collins, one of the most senior officers in Iraq in 2003, said forces in Afghanistan were taking on Taliban fighters with too few soldiers, and he warned that Britain needed to brace itself for further troop deaths. Asked to comment, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said troop levels were "guided by requests from commanders on the ground," and that she was unaware of any such appeal being made recently from British generals inside Afghanistan. (Posted @ 18:44 PST)
War on drugs in Afghanistan has failed: UN KABUL, Aug 7 (AFP) The war against drugs in Afghanistan is a failure and the strategy needs to be changed, the top United Nations official in Afghanistan said Monday. "Nobody can say that we have been successful if the poppy production has increased," Tom Koenigs, the UN Secretary-General's special representative in Afghanistan, told a monthly press conference. Figures for Afghanistan's 2006 harvest of opium poppies -- which are used to make heroin -- are not yet known but the UN has said that it is set to pass the 4,100 tonnes produced in 2005. "We know that if we start eradicating the whole surface of poppy cultivation in Helmand we will increase the activity of the insurgency and increase the number of insurgents," he said. The international community had to rethink its plans to help farmers substitute other crops for opium, which is hardy, easily transportable and reaps relatively big profits for growers, Koenigs said. (Posted @ 18:42 PST)
'We are not in civil war': Iraqi president BAGHDAD, Aug 7 (AFP) Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Monday rejected the idea that his country is caught in the grip of a civil war between Shiites and Sunnis. "I don't believe that a civil war is taking place in Iraq," Talabani told a joint news conference with the commander of US and coalition forces in Iraq, General George Casey. "There is more than one Iraqi political force... which opposes civil war," he said, naming the ruling Shiite coalition and the Sunni National Concord Front. Talabani, however, said the killings in Iraq were mere reactions to major insurgent attacks. He said that Iraqi forces should carry out security missions and that coalition forces led by the United States act as backup. "They (coalition troops) should not be the head of the arrow," he said. (Posted @ 18:40 PST)
US official calls for joint action with India to fight terrorism NEW DELHI, Aug 7 (AFP) A senior US State Department official called Monday for joint action against terrorism, including against groups based in Pakistan. "The two sides discussed joint efforts to fight terrorism and felt that terrorism should be fought in all places and all its forms," Richard Boucher, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, said after a three-hour meeting with government officials. "We all know there is terrorism in the (South Asia) region. Some of the terrorism is in Pakistan. Some of the groups that have designs against India still have pieces in Pakistan," he told reporters. (Posted @ 18:38 PST)
Seven hospitalized after opening envelope addressed to Palestinian premier RAMALLAH, West Bank, Aug 7 (AP) Palestinians launched an investigation Monday after seven people were hospitalized when one of them opened a suspicious envelope addressed to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, officials said. The Palestinian Cabinet building in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the envelope was delivered, was evacuated, said Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer. The envelope contained an orange tissue that emitted a strong smell, said Shaer's office manager, who opened the mail. A local hospital official said they were complaining of strong headaches and had fainted, but were now conscious. (Posted @ 18:34 PST)
Nine killed in Iraq, including five shot in Baghdad barbershop BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug 7 (AP) Gunmen travelling in two cars sprayed a barbershop in Baghdad with bullets Monday, killing five people, while two policemen were killed in the northern city of Mosul in a similar drive-by shooting, police said. Two bombs exploded in another part of Baghdad Monday, injuring 10 people, including a senior police officer. Two bodies, handcuffed and shot in the head, were also found in western Baghdad Monday, said police. (Posted @ 17:10 PST)
Saudi foreign minister calls for end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon ANKARA, Turkey, Aug 7 (AP) Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal called for an end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon, saying that Saudi Arabia's patience was wearing thin, according to remarks published Monday. ``We have been patient for a long time, but out patience is running out,'' Turkey's Milliyet newspaper quoted al-Faisal as saying in an interview published. ``If Israel wants to live in this region it has to learn to stay in peace with the people of the region,'' al-Faisal said, adding ``They are destroying the whole country because two soldiers were captured. It is a tragedy.'' (Posted @ 17:06 PST)
Iran says UN resolution 'operation' against Lebanon TEHRAN, Aug 7 (AFP) Iran on Monday dismissed a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to fighting between Hezbollah and Israel as a "political operation against Lebanon". The draft, sponsored by permanent council members France and the United States, is "one-sided and another operation against Lebanon," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a conference. Mottaki also criticised the French-US text for depicting Lebanon as the initiator of the crisis. (Posted @ 16:52 PST)
US military court told soldiers took turns to rape BAGHDAD, Aug 7 (Reuters) A U.S. military court heard graphic testimony on Monday on how four U.S. soldiers took turns holding down and raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl before murdering her and her entire family. The case, the fifth involving serious crimes being investigated by the U.S. military in Iraq, has outraged Iraqis and led Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call for a review of foreign troops' immunity from Iraqi prosecution. (Posted @ 16:40 PST)
Israel cuts main artery for aid into south Lebanon BEIRUT, Aug 7 (Reuters) An Israeli air strike hit the last crossing over Lebanon's Litani river on Monday, cutting off the main artery for aid to the southern port of Tyre and hard-hit areas nearby, a humanitarian group said. Christopher Stokes, director of operations for Medecins San Frontieres (MSF), said the bombing of a makeshift bridge had blocked a convoy of food, medical aid and fuel to Tyre. (Posted @ 15:35 PST)
Lebanon says 1,000 dead or missing in war with Israel BEIRUT, Aug 7 (Reuters) Israel's 27-day-old offensive in Lebanon has killed 925 people, mostly civilians, and left 75 missing and presumed dead, Lebanese Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh said on Monday. Khalifeh told Reuters about a third of the dead were children under the age of 13. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Insurgents kill 2 border policemen in western Afghanistan KABUL, Aug 6 (AP) Insurgents attacked a border police post in western Afghanistan on Sunday, killing two officers, a police official said. The four suspected Taliban used rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns during the attack in Murghab district of Badghis province before fleeing in the direction of neighboring Heart province, said Abdull Amid, deputy police chief for the province. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Oil prices breach 76 dollars in Asia as BP shuts down Alaskan production SINGAPORE, Aug 7 (AFP) Oil prices breached 76 dollars a barrel in Asian hours Monday on news BP Exploration Alaska was shutting half its oil production in the Alaska North Slopes, dealers said. (First Posted @ 09:50 PST Updated @ 13:40 PST)
Six Iraqi soldiers killed northeast of Baghdad BAQUBA, Iraq, Aug 7 (AFP) Six Iraqi soldiers were killed and another 15 wounded Monday when insurgents attacked a checkpoint near Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, police said. The soldiers killed one insurgent and seized a large quantity of weapons as they repulsed the attack, police said, adding that other gunmmen escaped. In a separate incident, two civilians were wounded when seven mortars slammed into Sayda district, also near Baquba overnight Monday. (Posted @ 12:35 PST)
Iraqi and US forces clash with Sadr militia in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Aug 7 (AFP) Iraqi and US forces fought a two-hour deadly gunbattle with Sadr militia after launching an overnight raid on an impoverished eastern Baghdad suburb, defence ministry and militia officials said Monday. As a result two militiamen were killed, three other wounded. Two Iraqi soliers were wounded," they said. The fighting was the first to have pitted Iraqi forces and their American allies against Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army since US reinforcements began rolling into the capital to quell a brutal sectarian war. Separately on Sunday, three US soldiers were killed southwest of Baghdad when a roadside bomb hit their patrol. "The American and Iraqi army raided Sadr City to arrest a number of Sadr militiamen. They arrived near a house, and militiamen opened fire on them. They exchanged fire," an Iraqi defence official said. Staff at the Imam Ali hospital said three civilians were killed -- including a woman and a three-year-old girl -- and 18 wounded. An AFP journalist in Sadr City reported that the raid on the area, a stronghold of the firebrand cleric, was accompanied by air strikes. The head of Sadr's office in Sadr City, Abdulzahra Al-Suwaidi, claimed that the raid had targeted Mehdi Army supporters to punish them for holding an anti-American and anti-Israeli street rally on Friday. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Four anti-war protesters arrested at UK airport LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) Four protesters against the war in Lebanon were arrested on Sunday after a security breach at a Scottish airport, police said. The three women aged 52, 45 and 36 and a man 25 years old got through a fence at Prestwick airport, near Glasgow, and ran on to a runway, according to media reports. They were thought to be protesting at the use of the airport by U.S. planes carrying munitions to Israel, reports said. (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
British terror laws alienate Muslims, policeman says: report LONDON, Aug 7 (AFP) British anti-terrorism laws discriminate against Muslims and law enforcement agencies are running a "real risk of criminalising" ethnic minority communities, a top police officer will say on Monday, according to The Guardian newspaper. Tarique Ghaffur, assistant commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, will tell a National Black Police Association conference in Manchester that more work is needed to stop the "flight, fright or separation" of Britain's Muslim communities. Ghaffur, Britain's highest-ranking Muslim police officer, will cast doubt on police claims that people of Asian appearance being stopped and searched more than those of other ethnicities is a result of "intelligence-led" targeting. "These practices tend to be based more on physical appearance than being intelligence-led," he will say. (Posted @ 10:50 PST)
Kuwait pledges 300 million dollars to Islamic poverty fund KUWAIT CITY, Aug 7 (AFP) Kuwait decided Sunday to give 300 million dollars to a five billion dollar poverty fund set up by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to help poor Muslim nations, KUNA news agency reported. The idea of the fund was proposed by Saudi King Abdullah at the OIC summit last December. Saudi Arabia has earmarked one billion dollars to the fund. IDB president Ahmad Mohammad Ali has said the fund is not expected to start operations before the next annual board meeting in Senegal next year. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
Palestinian shot dead in West Bank, settlers accused NABLUS, West Bank, Aug 7 (AFP) A Palestinian driving his car south of Nablus in the north of the West Bank was shot dead early Monday and his son wounded, Palestinian security sources said. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
Israel carries out night raids on east Lebanon: police BAALBEK, Lebanon, Aug 7 (AFP) Israeli warplanes early Monday carried out a dozen raids in east Lebanon, hitting roads linking the region with Syria, Lebanese police said without reporting any victims.Two raids targeted the road leading to the Masnaa border post, knocked out by previous attacks and hit again each time residents fill in the craters so as to be able to drive around, the police said. The fighter-bombers pounded the road between Baalbek and Rayak, linking the Baalbek region with Zahle in the centre of Lebanon, they said. A construction company with a parking place for trucks was targeted. Two other raids hit the Aita al-Fukhar road linking villages in the Bekaa Valley with Syria. The fighter-bombers carried out four raids on hills east of Baalbek, some 10 kilometres from the border with Syria, the police said. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Sharapova snaps Clijsters' streak to win WTA showdown SAN DIEGO, California, Aug 7 (AFP) Second-seeded Maria Sharapova beat Kim Clijsters 7-5, 7-5 here Sunday, taking her first triumph in five tries over the Belgian top seed to win a 1.34 million-dollar WTA hardcourt event. The defeat snapped a 24-match North American summer hardcourt unbeaten streak for Clijsters, the reigning US Open champion. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Hezbollah says it killed four Israeli soldiers BEIRUT, Aug 7 (AFP) The Islamic Resistance, armed wing of Hezbollah, announced it had killed four Israeli soldiers including an officer in a pre-dawn attack in south Lebanon on Monday. "Our fighters spotted a group of enemy elite forces at 3:20 am (0020 GMT) entering a house near the village of Hula. They attacked the house and managed to kill four Zionist soldiers including an officer," it said in a statement. Hula is located at the edge of the central part of the border between Lebanon and Israel, where there have been repeated clashes over the past week between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Israel bombs south Beirut Hezbollah bastion BEIRUT, Aug 7 AFP) Israeli warplanes early Monday pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, Lebanese police said. The fighter-bombers carried out five raids in less than an hour as dawn broke, attacking with bombs and air-to-ground missiles. On Sunday afternoon warplanes had dropped six bombs on the sector, destroying a 10-storey building and cutting the main road that crosses the suburb. In reply Hezbollah, announced it had fired rockets at the north Israeli town of Haifa. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 74.02 points: KARACHI, Aug 7: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 10846.60, up 74.02 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Aug 7: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.63 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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