|
|
| August 30, 2006 | Wednesday | Sha'aban 5, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Protestors block roads across Balochistan province QUETTA, Pakistan, Aug 30 (AP) Protesters blocked key highways in Balochistan province Wednesday in new unrest sparked by the killing of Jamhori Watan Party chief, Nawab Akbar Bugti, officials said. Police also announced that up to 700 people were detained since riots erupted Saturday. Police said scores of protesters blocked two key roads linking Quetta to Karachi and one heading west to Iran. Another road linking Gawadar with Karachi was also blocked by boulders and crudely erected barricades, police said. ``More than 70,000 of our supporters are active across Balochistan to record their protest against the killing of their beloved leader,'' said Jalib, a senior figure in the Baloch Solidarity movement, an alliance of four ethnic-Baluchi political groups that ordered the highways blocked. Police are in contact with Bugti supporters to try to open the roads, officials said. Although there were no immediate reports of violence in Quetta on Wednesday, shops remained closed there, while dozens of buses were parked at a terminal unable to leave for Karachi and Lahore, according to a cameraman at the scene. (Posted @ 12:08 PST)
Kashmiris hold protest for the 'disappeared' SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Aug 30 (AFP) - Kashmiris staged a sit-in protest Wednesday to mark the International Day of the Disappeared and appealed to authorities to provide information about missing relatives. "We won't rest till we know the truth," said Parveena Ahanger, who led the sit-in at a park in Srinagar, and whose son disappeared in 1990 after his alleged arrest by the Army. She heads the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons. Some 8,000 to 10,000 "enforced disappearances" have been reported in occupied Kashmir since 1989 when the insurgency against Indian rule erupted, Amnesty International said Wednesday. Indian officials admit only 3,900 people have disappeared over the past 17 years of unrest. (Posted @ 16:36 PST)
MMA to decide on quitting coalition in Balochistan government on September 5 Peshawar, Aug 30 (PPI) MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said Wednesday that following the latest developments in Balochistan the MMA would consider if it should continue as coalition partner in Balochistan government. The decision would be taken by the MMA supreme Council at its meeting on September 5, he told a news conference after attending JI provincial council's meeting here. He said that by observing the general strike on Sept 1 the whole nation would express its anger against the killing of Nawab Bugti, the military operation in Balochistan, and the amendments in Hudood laws. He also criticised the government for ill- treating Dr Abdul Qadeer saying that it had shocked the whole nation. " Dr Qadeer is a national asset”, he said and demanded of the government to allow political leaders to meet him. Qazi said that although MMA had given the strike call against the amendments in Hudood law but after Nawab Bugti's killing the situation had totally changed and the nation would now show its rejection of the policies of the military ruler.(Posted @ 19:40 PST)
Eighth Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in Gaza GAZA CITY, Aug 30, 2006 (AFP) - A 30-year-old man was shot dead by Israeli troops in Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City, a medical source said, the eighth Palestinian killed by the Israelis Wednesday in the coastal territory. Another six Palestinians were killed by tank fire in Gaza Strip, while the other six were killed, also in Shejaiya, where Israeli troops have been conducting operations against militants since Saturday. Overnight, a 24-year-old mentally handicapped man was killed by Israeli fire in the northern Gaza Strip after he approached the border with Israel.(Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Hezbollah minister says Israeli soldiers won't be freed unconditionally BEIRUT, Aug 30 (AP) _ A Hezbollah Cabinet minister said Wednesday the guerrilla group would not release two captured Israeli soldiers unconditionally, and that they would only be freed in a prisoner exchange. ``There will be no unconditional release. This is not possible,''Minister of Energy and Hydraulic Resources Mohammed Fneish told reporters in Beirut.(Posted @ 18:55 PST)
Bangladesh paralysed as coal protest strike grips nation DHAKA, Aug 30 (AFP) - A strike paralysed Bangladesh Wednesday as a police officer was killed amid new violent protests over the shooting deaths last Saturday of five demonstrators against a British firm's plan to construct a coal mine. Shops, schools and businesses in all major towns and cities were closed for the strike called by the main opposition. In Dhaka, activists hurled rocks and clashed with security forces, after 10,000 police and paramilitary officers fanned out across the city to try to contain the situation. One officer injured in the clashes later died in hospital. More than 3,000 protestors took to the streets in Phulbari where Asia Energy plans to invest 1.4 billion dollars to build the open-pit mine, and which farmers and locals say will damage environment and displace over 100,000 people.(Posted @ 18:55 PST)
Insurgents kill 20 in Baquba; 53 elsewhere in Iraq BAQUBA, Aug 30 (AFP) - Insurgents killed at least 20 Iraqi men, women and children on Wednesday in a string of bombings and shootings in and around Baquba, as at least 53 people died elsewhere in Iraq. Seven civilians, including four women and a child, died when a roadside bomb hit their minibus in the district of Buhriz, police said. All the victims were from one family and were on way to Baquba to attend a wedding party. Three civilians were killed and 10 others wounded, including three policemen, in a similar roadside bomb attack near Muqdadiyah market, 45 kilometres northeast of Baquba. In another roadside bombing, four policemen were killed and two others wounded when their patrol was hit near Bala Druz, 45 kilometres southeast of Baquba, police said. An Iraqi army officer was killed and a soldier wounded when their patrol struck a roadside bomb on Imam Weis road, east of Baquba. Four more civilians, including a woman were shot dead in different incidents in the Yarmuk, Al-Siwamra, Al-Mafraq neighborhoods of Baquba. A 12-year child was among the dead, police said.(Posted @ 18:40 PST)
Iraq bombings kill 45 amid surge in bloodshed BAGHDAD, Aug 30 (AFP) - Insurgents killed at least 45 Iraqis and wounded scores more in a series of bombings on Wednesday, including one in a crowded Baghdad market and another at a military recruitment centre. The blast in Shurja market left 24 dead and 35 wounded and came just two hours after rebels targeted an Iraqi army recruitment centre in the town of Hilla, killing 12 volunteers and wounding 38. A roadside booby trap and a car bomb killed another three people and injured 14 in Karrada neighbourhood. Meanwhile, city's Yarmuk hospital received Wednesday morning the body of a first lieutenant in the Iraqi army and the bodies of two gunmen killed in clashes in Dura. Another Iraqi army officer was killed and two wounded in roadside bombing between Kut and Baghdad, while police retrieved five bodies washed up on the banks of the Tigris south of the capital. In the town of Samawa one person was killed and at least 10 injured Wednesday as volunteers seeking jobs in the army clashed with the police.(Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Annan urges Israel to stop deadly Gaza offensive, lift closure RAMALLAH, West Bank, Aug 30 (AFP) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called Wednesday for Israel to stop its Gaza offensive and closure, and for Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets into the Jewish state, after talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank. For his part, the Palestinian leader warned that no security would come to the Middle East until Israel ends its occupation and a Palestinian state is created. "Two hundred Palestinians have been killed since the end of June," Annan told a news conference with Abbas in Ramallah. "This must stop immediately," he said. "The closure of Gaza must be lifted, the crossing points must be opened."(Posted @ 18:35 PST)
Seventh Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in Gaza GAZA CITY, Aug 30 (AFP) - A 14-year-old boy was shot dead by Israeli troops in Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City, a medical source said, the seventh Palestinian killed by the Israelis in the coastal territory Wednesday. The other six Palestinians were killed by tank fire in Gaza Strip. Overnight, a 24-year-old mentally handicapped man was killed by Israeli fire after he approached the border with Israel.(Posted @ 18:30 PST)
PM leaves on 4-nation tour ISLAMABAD, Aug 30 : Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Wednesday left for a four nation tour to Norway, Britain, Turkey and Lebanon.(Posted @ 17:25 PST)
Hair in 'big trouble' says Inzamam CARDIFF, Aug 30 (AFP) - Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has said umpire Darrell Hair was now in "big trouble" as the ball-tampering row took a new twist.I was quite happy to play the game after half an hour - and then the next day - because we had launched our protest, he said. “I don't know why he was not interested in playing," he told Sky Sports News. He insisted both he and his side were completely innocent of ball-tampering. "I'm sure 100 percent because I have done nothing. That is why I am doing these things, because I know we are not guilty and that is why we take this stance."(Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Kofi Annan to launch Musharraf 's autobiography on Sept 25 Islamabad, Aug 30 (PPI) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would be chief guest at the launching ceremony of President Pervez Musharraf 's autobiography "In the line of fire" in New York on Sept 25. (Posted @ 16:36 PST)
Lebanese government to compensate war victims BEIRUT, Aug 30 (AFP) - Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said Wednesday his government planned to pay 33,000 dollars in compensation to families whose homes were destroyed in southern Lebanon during Israeli invasion. Siniora, who spoke before heading to Sweden to attend an emergency conference on humanitarian and reconstruction needs, said 130,000 homes had been destroyed or damaged in Lebanon during the war, 51,000 of them in the southern suburbs of Beirut and the remainder in the rest of the country. Siniora said he would ask countries attending the meeting in Stockholm to sponsor the rebuilding of around 38 villages in southern Lebanon that were nearly totally destroyed during the 34-day conflict. He said he would also appeal at the conference for mobile homes to temporarily house thousands displaced by the war. (Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Israel kills Islamic Jihad activist JENIN, West Bank, Aug 30 (Reuters) A senior Islamic Jihad leader, Hosam Jaradat, who was shot by undercover Israeli troops in the West Bank a week ago died on Wednesday in a hospital in Jordan, representatives of his group said. The group did not provide any further details.(Posted @ 14:10 PST)
China stresses need to resolve Iran nuclear dispute through diplomacy BEIJING, Aug 30 (AP) China on Wednesday stressed the need to resolve the Iran nuclear crisis through diplomatic means, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing met with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was visiting Beijing, Xinhua said. Details of the meeting were not provided. (Posted @ 12:27 PST)
Naguib Mahfouz, the only Arab Nobel winner in literature, dies at 94 CAIRO, Egypt, Aug 30 (AP) Naguib Mahfouz, who became the first Arab writer to win a Nobel Prize in literature, died Wednesday, his doctor said. He was 94. (Posted @ 12:27 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 143.47 points: KARACHI, August 30:At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 10086.34, up 143.47 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, August 30: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.5 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
The DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Karachi 74200, Pakistan.
Phone:+92 (21) 111-444-777 Fax: +92 (21) 569-3995
webmaster@dawn.com
Make sure to reload these pages so you're viewing the current version.
|
|
|
Contributions |