|
|
| September 18, 2006 | Monday | Sha'aban 24, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan women's bill on ice until Musharraf returns ISLAMABAD, Sept 18 (Reuters) Pakistan's government decided on Monday to delay trying to pass a bill reforming laws to protect women until President Pervez Musharraf returns from the United States at the end of the month, senior officials said. Also Monday, the National Assembly session was suspended until the government was ready to reconvene. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, head of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), said he was looking to delay submitting the bill for up to two weeks. "It could be delayed to evolve consensus. We are not backtracking," he told a local private television channel. A senior official, on condition of anonymity, said the bill that would be voted on would be the original draft that placed the crime of rape under the civil criminal code and removed it from the Hudood Ordinances’ penal code. The official said the government also planned to introduce additional legislation to improve women's status. (First Posted @ 17:05 PST Updated @ 19:38 PST)
Car bomb blast in Peshawar; 30 cars burnt, no causalities reported PESHAWAR, Sep 18: A powerful bomb blast in Pakistan’s Peshawar city Monday blew up at least 30 cars in a parking lot, a local television channel reported. No causalities were reported in the incident as no person was present in the car parking lot at the time of the blast, the TV report quoting a police source said. (Posted @ 18:22 PST)
"Look at my eyes", gas victim tells Saddam trial BAGHDAD, Sept 18 (Reuters) A former Kurdish guerrilla fighter accused Saddam Hussein of poisoning him with chemical weapons strikes in testimony at the ousted Iraqi leader's genocide trial on Monday. Karwan Abdullah Tawfiq took off dark glasses to show the swollen lids of his eyes, which he said were permanently damaged by nerve poison that had completely blinded him for six months. Saddam stood up to denounce the witness for taking Dutch citizenship. "He who holds foreign nationality would immediately lose Iraqi citizenship," the former president told the court. "This man is no longer Iraqi." He also asked whether a Dutch doctor who treated Tawfiq had ever seen "the effects of chemical weapons used by the Americans in Vietnam". The judge cut him off, saying the point was irrelevant and later cut off sound to the press gallery. (First Posted @ 12:40 PST Updated @ 22:32 PST)
Britain praises Pakistan's role against terrorism LONDON, Sept 18 (APP): British Home Secretary John Reid, during a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao here on Monday, appreciated Pakistan's role and co-operation in the global war against terrorism. Speaking to the Pakistani media after a 45-minute meeting at the Home Office, Reid said the two countries were fighting an "enemy in common." He said the British government recognizes Pakistan's strategic partnership in counter-terrorism and expressed the hope that the two countries would continue to share views on this global menace and assist each other. (Posted @ 22:14 PST)
Bush assails Venezuela, Myanmar, over drugs NEW YORK, Sept 18 (AFP) The United States on Monday accused Venezuela and Burma of having "failed demonstrably" to fight illegal drugs and expressed deep concerns about failings in Afghanistan and Bolivia. The White House, releasing the findings of the annual US government report on the global drug trade, warned that the drug trade and "widespread public corruption" could threaten global aid to the fledgling government in Kabul. In the report, US President George W. Bush identified Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Myanmar, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela as major drug-transit or major illicit drug-producing countries. (Posted @ 22:12 PST)
Afghan, NATO forces launch new anti-Taliban drive in Afghanistan KABUL, 18 Sept (AFP) Afghan and NATO-led security forces from three countries launched Monday a new offensive against Taliban insurgents in western Afghanistan. Afghan police and soldiers were joined by troops from Italy, Spain and the United States in the offensive in Farah province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. The new offensive, called Operation Wyconda Pincer, kicked off a day after ISAF declared success in a major anti-Taliban drive in the southern province of Kandahar. (Posted @ 22:10 PST)
At least 40 killed in Iraq violence BAGHDAD, Sept 18 (AFP) A suicide bomber killed 13 volunteers at a police recruitment centre in Ramadi city Monday, a police officer said. Four members of a family were shot dead by unknown gunmen in Baquba. Gunmen also killed two others in a small town just to the west of Baquba, while 10 other people, three of them soldiers, were killed elsewhere in Diyala province. Fourteen bodies were found in the heart of the capital Monday. In other violence, four policemen were killed by gunmen in the far north of Iraq, while four women were killed in a series of shootings in the main northern city of Mosul. Southeast of the capital, near the town of Suwayrah, gunmen attacked a group of civilians, killing three and wounding another three.In the main southern city of Basra, police said Lieutenant Colonel Fawzi Abdel Karim, the director of the province's counter-terrorism office, was kidnapped by gunmen who then dumped his body north of the city. In Baiji town, police found two severed heads as well as a body. Another three bodies were found in Babil province just south of the capital. (Posted @ 22:08 PST)
Suicide blasts in Afghanistan kill 18 HERAT, Afghanistan, Sept 18 (AFP) A suicide bomb exploded in Afghanistan's western city of Herat Monday, killing 11 people and wounding 18, a hospital deputy director said. The blast struck outside the city's main mosque and appeared targeted at a high-ranking police official who escaped unharmed, police said. Separately, a suicide bomb attack in the southern province of Kandahar killed four Canadian troops with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and injured several people, including 27 civilians, among them children. Another suicide blast killed three Afghan policemen in the capital Kabul. (First Posted @ 13:10 PST Updated @ 22:06 PST)
100,000 opposition supporters rally for Bangladesh vote reform DHAKA, Sept 18 (AFP) At least 100,000 opposition supporters rallied in the Bangladeshi capital Monday demanding electoral reforms ahead of national elections. "If you don't agree to the people's demands we will force you out of government. Accept the reforms, that is the only option you have," the leader of the main opposition Awami League, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, told the rally. Hasina announced a highway and rail network blockade for Wednesday and a national strike for Thursday. "If by then the government does not agree to our demands we will call indefinite action," she added. (First Posted @ 14:30 PST Updated @ 22:04 PST)
Blast injures five in southwest Pakistan’s Quetta city QUETTA, Pakistan, Sept 18 (AFP) A time-bomb exploded in a crowded bazaar in the south-western Pakistan’s city of Quetta on Monday, injuring two policemen and three civilians, police said. The "low-intensity" device blew up in a shop in Quetta's crowded Meezan Chowk market, police said. One policeman from Pakistan's Frontier Constabulary was seriously injured while the other victims had light shrapnel wounds and were being treated at a government hospital, he said. Police said a suspect had been arrested. The blast could be heard from a public meeting organised by opposition parties to protest the killing of key tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, about half a kilometre away, witnesses said. No one claimed responsibility for the blast. (Posted @ 20:34 PST)
UN rights council should debate religious tolerance after Pope's speech: OIC GENEVA, Sept 18 (AFP) Pakistan and other Islamic nations on Monday called on the United Nations top human rights forum to debate religious tolerance in the wake of Pope Benedict XVI's controversial speech criticising Islam. Speaking on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, Pakistani ambassador Masood Khan told the 47 member states of the UN Human Rights Council that the OIC was reassured by the pope's subsequent apology. However, the initial statement by the leader of the Roman Catholic Church remained nonetheless regrettable because it associated Islam with violence, he added. "The statement of Pope Benedict XVI referring to the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) has hurt the sensibilities of the Muslims all over the world," Khan said. He asked the chairman of the Council, which began its latest session Monday, to "set aside some time as early as this week to discuss religious tolerance and related issues". Khan cautioned against "attempts to revive Medievalism". "Such a tendency also threatens to deepen alienation between the West and the world of Islam and hurts the ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and harmony amongst religions," he said. (Posted @ 19:34 PST)
Iran leader blames US-Israeli conspiracy for pope remarks TEHRAN, Sept 18 (AFP) Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday blamed a US-Israeli conspiracy aiming to sow conflict between religions for remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI on Islam. Khamenei said the comments were part of the same conspiracy that started with the US invasion of Iraq and was hatched by great powers intent on creating crises between religions to "pursue their evil objectives". "The issue of the insulting cartoons and remarks of some politicians about Islam are different links in the conspiracy of the Crusaders, and the pope's remarks are the latest links in this," he said. "These remarks were a surprise from a high Christian official and very much to be regretted," he added. (Posted @ 18:58 PST)
Seven killed in alleged assassination attempt on Somali president BAIDOA, Somalia, Sept 18 (AFP) At least seven people were killed Monday when two powerful blasts rocked Somalia's parliament building in a suspected attempt to assassinate the country's interim president. President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was unhurt by the explosions, at least one of which was from a car bomb that officials said were intended to kill the president and destabilize the already weak government. Among those killed was Yusuf's younger brother, a senior security official in the president's office said. (Posted @ 18:48 PST)
Israeli court defers decision on Hamas officials OFER MILITARY BASE, West Bank, Sept 18 (AFP) An Israeli military court on Monday deferred a decision on whether to release on bail 21 Hamas officials arrested in a major crackdown against the Palestinian ruling party. The military judge deferred a decision, giving no indication when a ruling would be announced. The defence slammed the move as political in order to leverage for the release of an Israeli soldier held by Palestinians. (Posted @ 18:46 PST)
Israel ready to release more prisoners than expected: Mubarak CAIRO, Sept 18 (AFP) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel is ready to release in exchange for a captured soldier is higher than expected, the official MENA news agency reported Monday. "Egyptian contacts and efforts are progressing, and according to the outline of the agreement -- which has not yet been finalised -- the soldier will be freed in exchange for the release of a large number of Palestinian women and children," Mubarak was quoted as saying. "Israel will then release Palestinian prisoners in three stages," MENA quoted him as saying, without specifying a number. (Posted @ 18:42 PST)
Terror suspect goes silent 'to protect family in Pakistan' LONDON, Sept 18 (AFP) A terrorist suspect on trial in London stopped giving evidence Monday, saying he was worried about the safety of his family in Pakistan if he continued to do so. Omar Khyam, who is accused with six others of plotting a bombing campaign of Britain with more than half a ton of fertiliser explosive, said he had been contacted by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). "The ISI in Pakistan has had words with my family relating to what I have been saying about them," he told the court. "I think they are worried I might reveal more about them, so right now, as much as I want to clarify matters, the priority for me has to be the safety of my family so I am going to stop," he added, according to the BBC. (Posted @ 18:30 PST)
IPCC revived to promote harmony among provinces: PM Aziz ISLAMABAD, Sep 18 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Monday said the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee (IPCC) has been revived to promote understanding and harmony between the provinces and the federation on important national matters. Addressing the inaugural session of the IPCC held here Monday morning, Aziz said the IPCC should focus on important national matters and remove inter-provincial gridlock. "We need to have a one voice when dealing with issues of national importance, and national interest should be kept above political considerations," he said. He reminded the committee that in the aftermath of the October 8 earthquake last year, every house in Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and NWFP became a relief camp and everyone was eager to help those hit by the earthquake.(Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Indian court finds two men guilty of killing 10 in 1993 Mumbai blasts MUMBAI, Sept 18 (AFP) A court convicted two men Monday for murdering 10 people in a bombing outside a Mumbai cinema during 'Black Friday' 13 years ago when 257 people were killed. Asgar Yusuf Mukadam and Shahnawaz Qureshi parked a van packed with explosives set to go off outside the cinema during a two-hour city-wide blitz in the western economic capital in 1993. Seven people have now been convicted over the attacks, including three alleged bombers, with verdicts for the rest of the 123 defendants expected in the coming weeks. Three people have been acquitted.(Posted @ 17:20 PST)
Iran to execute four Pakistanis for drug trafficking TEHRAN, Sept 18 (AFP) A local court in Iran sentenced four Pakistani nationals and one Iranian man to death for drug trafficking, the news agency ISNA reported Monday. The four Pakistani men were identified only by their initials: M.A, B.G, S. and F.A, after they were convicted of trafficking several kilograms of heroin. The verdict has yet to be approved by higher judiciary officials, the news agency said.(Posted @ 17:15 PST)
Cricket-Pakistani inquiry judge questions Mushtaq's appointment KARACHI, Sept 18 (Reuters) A Pakistani judge who held a long inquiry into match-fixing allegations against the Pakistan team has expressed surprise at the appointment of leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed as assistant coach for the Champions Trophy. Retired judge Malik Qayyum said on Monday he was surprised that the Pakistani cricket authorities had ignored his recommendations on Mushtaq in his match-fixing report. "I had recommended in the report that Wasim Akram and Mushtaq should be kept under observation," Qayyum said, adding "I had recommended they should not be appointed to any position of authority or responsibility." Senior PCB official Abbas Zaidi said the board had satisfied itself about every aspect of Mushtaq's conduct in recent years. "The match-fixing issue is an old episode. As it is Mushtaq is there for just one tournament and is not an active a member of the playing squad," Zaidi said.(Posted @ 17:45 PST)
At least 10 die in fire in southeastern Iran TEHRAN, Iran, Sept 18 (AP) At least 10 members of a family were killed Monday and four others wounded when a fire broke out in a fuel store in southeastern Iran, state-run television reported.(Posted @ 14:25 PST)
Bus, truck collision kills 17 in India JAIPUR, India, Sept 18 (Reuters) - A head-on crash between a truck and a passenger bus carrying 75 Hindu pilgrims Sunday killed 17 people, including 14 women and two children, in Rajsamand district, 350 km south of Jaipur state of Rajasthan. Police said 26 passengers were injured, seven of them critically. The passengers were on their way to the town of Pushkar in central Rajasthan for a dip in a sacred pond.(Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Police kill 13 Taliban in southern Afghan clash KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept 18 (AP) Police clashed with suspected Taliban militants late Sunday in the orchards of Hawasa village in Helmand province's Gereshk district, leaving 13 militants dead and four wounded, Ghulam Nabil Malakheil, the provincial police chief said. Police recovered the dead militants' bodies, including that of Mullah Mohammed Akhunzada, a known Taliban commander, Malakheil said. The insurgents took the wounded with them.(Posted @ 12:20 PST)
Kashmiris strike to protest pope remarks SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Sept 18 (AFP) A one-day strike in occupied Kashmir to protest against Pope’s remarks about Islam saw shops, businesses and government offices closed on Monday. In Srinagar, traffic was thin and most government offices remained closed. The strike call was given by the Hurriyat Conference and was supported, among others, by the influential Kashmiri government employees union, as they rejected Pope’s statement as falling short of the full, personal apology they had demanded.(Posted @ 12:10 PST)
Chirac warns against inter-religious tensions PARIS, Sept 18 (AFP) French President Jacques Chirac on Monday warned against "anything that increases tensions between peoples or religions", while answering an interview question on the remarks of Pope Benedict XVI on Islam. "We must avoid everything that increases tensions between peoples or religions," he said in an interview on Europe 1 radio. "We must avoid any confusion between Islam, which is of course a respected and respectable religion, and radical Islamism which is a totally different form of behaviour and which is of a political nature," he said.(Posted @ 12:00 PST)
Bus-truck collision kills seven in Bangladesh DHAKA, Bangladesh, Sept 18 (AP) A passenger bus and a truck collided head-on in the northeastern Habiganj district on Monday, killing at least seven people and leaving about 30 others injured, a TV station reported.(Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Indian premier denies U.S. behind India-Pakistan talks in Havana NEW DELHI, India, Sept 18 (AP) Indian Prime Minister Mamohan Singh on Monday denied that pressure from the United States was behind weekend talks between Singh and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that led to an agreement to resume stalled peace talks. ``I totally deny any insinuation that whatever was done with Pakistan is at the behest of the U.S. or any other country. It is a question of our own sovereign national interest,'' he told reporters onboard his aircraft en route home from the Cuban capital, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.(Posted @ 11:15 PST)
Eleven Muslims killed in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Sept 18 (AFP) Suspected Tamil Tigers killed 11 Muslim men in eastern Sri Lanka, where their mutilated bodies were found Monday, the defence ministry said. The victims were labourers working on an irrigation project in Ampara district, a ministry spokesman said, adding that one man escaped with injuries and had been admitted to hospital.(Posted @ 10:55 PST)
Pakistani minister optimistic on Iran NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri said on Sunday that private talks with top European officials have made him optimistic there can be a negotiated solution to the nuclear crisis with Iran. "It's on the basis of background briefings that we've received that I feel cautiously optimistic," he said in an interview after visiting Europe with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.(Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Bombs, arson attacks rock southern Thai province BANGKOK, Sept 18 (AFP) Bombers and arsonists struck southern Thailand again overnight, burning school buildings and attacking a military convoy, police said Monday. No one was hurt in the overnight attacks across five districts in Narathiwat province, which destroyed vehicles, a school canteen, a daycare center and a timber factory, police Major General Yongyuth Charoenvanit said. In a separate attack, a bomb exploded on a rural road as a military convoy passed without causing injury, police said. Another bomb detonated near railway tracks but caused no damage. (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Space tourist, astronauts aboard Soyuz enter orbit BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, Sept 18 (AFP) The Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft carrying the world's first female tourist and two professional astronauts has successfully entered orbit, officials at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan said Monday. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Swedish PM loses to centre-right coalition STOCKHOLM, Sept 18 (AFP) Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson and his Social Democratic Party on Sunday lost legislative elections by a thin margin to a centre-right coalition headed by 41-year-old newcomer Fredrik Reinfeldt. The four-party opposition Alliance for Sweden was credited with 48.1 percent of votes, while the Social Democrats and their allies, the Left and the Greens, garnered 46.2 percent with votes in 99 percent of electoral districts counted. (Posted @ 09:15 PST)
Former British Open champion Curtis wins US PGA event FARMINGTON, Pennsylvania, Sept 18 (AFP) - Ben Curtis, who won the 2003 British Open then took nearly three years to win another title, captured his second US PGA event in three months here Sunday, winning the 84 Lumber Classic. Curtis finished on 14-under par 274, two strokes ahead of compatriot Charles Howell at the 4.6 million-dollar event. American Brett Quigley was third on 277. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 103.47 points: KARACHI, Sept 18:At the close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 9881.10, down 103.47 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Sept 18: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.88 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 |