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| October 20, 2006 | Friday | Ramazan 26, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Seven dead, 41 injured as blast hits shoppers in Peshawar PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct 20 (AFP) - A bomb blast ripped through a crowd of shoppers in the city of Peshawar Friday, killing at least seven people, latest reports said. Dozens of others were injured by the powerful bomb, which was planted beneath a gypsy vendor's cart near a public park, North West Frontier Province police chief Riffat Pasha said. Six bodies and dozens of injured had been brought to the Lady Reading hospital in Peshawar, medics said. Other reports said seven persons were killed while the number of injured was at least 41. The push-carts were parked on the footpath outside Jinnah Park selling toys, garments and jewellery ahead of next week's Eid al-Fitr festival, that marks the end of the month of Ramadan. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. (First Posted @ 19:26 PST Updated @ 20:58 PST)
Interior minister's comment ISLAMABAD, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said it was too early to say who was responsible for planting the improvised explosive device (IED). "It seems like a locally made IED," he said. "It is an attempt to create chaos and harassment." (Posted @ 19:34 PST)
Two Pakistani soldiers killed in South Waziristan rocket attack WANA, Pakistan, Oct 20 (AFP) Two Pakistani soldiers were killed and three others injured late Thursday when some 50 rockets hit a checkpost in the Shakai valley area of South Waziristan, officials said Friday. The soldiers returned fire and the clash continued until dawn on Friday, an official added. (First Posted @ 11:30 PST Updated @ 12:10 PST)
Afghan President seeks Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s help Jacobabad, Pakistan, Oct 20 (PPI): Afghan President Hamid Karzai has sought help of opposition leader & JUI (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman to resolve problems faced by the Afghan people. In a letter to Maulana Fazlur Rahman, President Karzai said his country was facing war-like situation for past two to three decades as a result of which Afghans were facing problems, JUI-F Secretary General & MNA Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri told newsmen here Friday. He said the party was considering as to how JUI-F could help Afghan people. In reply to question he repeated threat that MMA law-makers would resign from the assembles if the government tried to get women protection bill passed in violation of recommendations of Ulema Committee. (Posted @ 20:36 PST)
Sri Lanka navy says kills 20 rebels in sea battle COLOMBO, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The Sri Lankan navy killed at least 20 Tamil Tiger rebels on Friday in an ongoing sea battle in the northern Jaffna region, a navy spokesman said. "There is a sea battle. There were 12 LTTE boats including three suicide boats," Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said adding "we destroyed two boats. The fighting is going on and we are chasing them." (Posted @ 20:18 PST)
18 killed, 90 wounded as Iraqi militia battle police AMARA, Oct 20 (Agencies) - Shiite militiamen fought deadly street battles with Iraqi police in Amara on Friday, after overnight clashes left 18 dead, witnesses and medics said. Hundreds of armed fighters from Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army destroyed three police stations and were on the point of winning control of the town when senior Sadr aides arrived and negotiated a brief truce. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has also dispatched a ministerial delegation headed by the state minister for security affairs, Shirwan al-Waeli, to resolve the crisis, his spokesman Yassin Majeed said. Fighting erupted after police arrested a Mahdi Army militiaman suspected of killing a local intelligence officer. "There are 18 dead, 10 of them gunmen, and 90 wounded, including militia, police and civilians. The fighting is continuing," said Zamil al-Oreibi, medical director of the city's health department. Elsewhere in Iraq, overnight mortar fire killed nine people and wounded 12 in the town of Balad, police said. And in Baghdad, an overnight mortar attack killed five Palestinian refugees and wounded 11 more living in a fortified compound in east Baghdad. (First Posted @ 17:26 PST Updated @ 19:52 PST)
Indian police kill militants in Srinagar gunbattle SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Indian security forces killed two militants in a nine-hour gunbattle near Srinagar’s agricultural university on Friday. Police said the shooting, which began at 9:30 am (0400 GMT), ended after heavy gunfire and shelling of the house where the two militants were holed up. "Two militants were killed, two houses were damaged. There were no casualties on our (security forces) side," said S.M. Sahai, inspector-general of police. Hundreds of police and paramilitary forces had surrounded the suspected hideout and evacuated residents. Meanwhile three militants, a civilian and a child were killed in two separate gunbattles and an explosion in northern and southern areas of the strife-torn region on Friday, police said. A local Muslim cleric was also hurt after unidentified gunmen shot him in Srinagar on Thursday night. (First Posted @ 12:15 PST Updated @ 19:40 PST)
Juma-tul-Wida observed with religious fervour ISLAMABAD, Oct 20 (APP): Juma-tul-Wida (the last Friday of the holy month of Ramzan) was celebrated with religious zeal and fervour throughout the country on Friday. Large congregations were held at all principal mosques. On the occasion special prayers were offered for the freedom of occupied lands including Al-Quds and Kashmir. At various places including Karachi processions were taken out to express solidarity with the oppressed Muslims engaged in freedom struggle. (Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Pakistan is fully aware of security demands: Chairman JCSC KARACHI, Oct 20 (APP):- General Ehsan-Ul-Haq, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Friday said that international and regional environment demanded highest level of vigilance and military preparedness and that Pakistan was fully aware of these imperatives. Addressing the graduation ceremony of Air Defence Staff Course at the Army Defence School at Malir Cantonment, he said Pakistan has no aggressive designs against anyone but our desire for peace should not be misconstrued as a sign of weakness; it is a strategy of defensive deterrence. We also seek the peaceful resolution of all disputes with our neighbours including Kashmir. General Ehsan said the armed forces are being upgraded through an Armed Forces Development Plan. This, he added, is a part of the government's national defence policy and will see the three armed forces much stronger and far more capable to thwart any designs that someone may have against us. " Pakistan is significantly upgrading its air defence assets. We are bringing in new weapons systems to support our concepts along with significant advances in integrating these systems", he said. The graduating course also included officers from Bangladesh, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Myanmar. (Posted @ 19:02 PST)
N.Korea's Kim says no further nuclear tests report SEOUL, Oct 20 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told visiting Chinese envoy Tang Jiaxuan that Pyongyang planned to conduct no further nuclear tests, South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a diplomatic source in China as saying on Friday. "I understand he expressed clearly there was no plan to conduct nuclear tests," the source was quoted as saying. (Posted @ 18:44 PST)
Bombers hit Afghanistan KABUL, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber on foot killed an Afghan soldier and wounded seven more in Khost on Friday, the army said. The attack came hours after an operation by U.S.-led coalition forces and Afghan troops killed a militant and captured four in the same province. Meanwhile, Tajikistan border guards shot dead two Afghan drug smugglers on Friday and seized 200 kg of drugs, a spokesman said in Dushanbe. (Posted @ 18:40 PST)
OPEC agrees to production cut of 1.2 million barrels a day DOHA, Qatar, Oct 20 (AP) _ OPEC decided to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day on Friday. United Arab Emirates oil minister Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamili made the announcement at a news conference after OPEC's oil ministers held an emergency meeting in the capital of Qatar. (Posted @ 17:58 PST)
Pakistan doping tribunal to start Saturday LAHORE, Pakistan, Oct 20 (AFP) - Suspended Pakistan bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif may attend a doping tribunal on Saturday after testing positive for steroids. "The preliminary hearing of the tribunal will be held on Saturday and there is a possibility that Akhtar and Asif will appear before them," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) operations director Salim Altaf told AFP. He also said that doping expert Waqar Ahmed, the medical director of the Pakistan Sports Board, had been appointed as the third and final member of the panel. Barrister Shahid Hamid will chair the tribunal. Former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam is the other member. (Posted @ 17:44 PST)
Gunmen fire on Hamas PM's convoy GAZA CITY, Oct 20 (AFP) - Gunmen opened fire on Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya's convoy in southern Gaza on Friday, but his car was not hit and the head of the Hamas-led government was not hurt, witnesses said. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Tens of thousands pray at Jerusalem mosque JERUSALEM, Oct 20 (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Muslims prayed at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. In his sermon, Imam Yussef Abu Sneineh called on Palestinians to stand united and guard against any blacklash from disputes between president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party and the ruling Hamas. Israeli authorities allowed West Bank men older than 45 and women over 35 into Jerusalem to pray. At the Bethlehem checkpoint to the south, clashes broke out between Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinians who demonstrated after being prevented from getting to Jerusalem in order to pray at the mosque. Seven Palestinians were wounded. (Posted @ 17:28 PST)
Nobel Peace winner eyes microcredit for North Korea SEOUL, Oct 20 (Reuters) This year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize said on Friday he would be willing to set up a bank in North Korea to aid its poor, adding that regional stability is enhanced by eliminating poverty. "If they would like to have a microcredit programme, I would like to have a banking programme. The leadership is not the whole story of a nation," Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus said during a visit to Seoul to accept a separate peace prize. "If Beijing can take it as a political decision and adopt it as an official policy of the Communist Party of China, I don't see North Koreans would have any problem," Yunus said. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Saudi Arabia sets up panel to formalise succession RIYADH, Oct 20 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia said on Friday a committee of princes will vote on the eligibility of future generations of kings and crown princes. The system will not take effect until Crown Prince Sultan, heir to King Abdullah, becomes king, a statement from the royal court said. The committee will be made up of sons and grandsons of late King Abdul Aziz al-Saud, founder of modern Saudi Arabia and father of the current king and crown prince, said the statement signed by King Abdullah. The step was taken in the "general interest", it said, adding it is part of an amendment of the Basic Law. (Posted @ 14:20 PST)
Ahmadinejad predicts Israel will disappear TEHRAN, Oct 20 (AFP) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday predicted that Israel would not survive and that its allies would face the "boiling wrath" of the people if they continued to support the Jewish state. (Posted @ 14:10 PST)
Pakistan arrests six more Indian fishermen KARACHI, Oct 20 (Reuters) Pakistan arrested six more Indian fishermen Thursday for illegally entering the country's territorial waters, raising the number of detentions to 28 this week, an official said Friday. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
Gunmen kill eight labourers at US base in Afghanistan ASADABAD, Afghanistan, Oct 20 (AFP) Unknown gunmen shot dead eight labourers working on a US base late Thursday in the eastern province of Kunar, police said Friday. (First Posted @ 11:10 PST, Updated @ 12:00 PST)
US, China discuss Iran, North Korea BEIJING, Oct 20 (Reuters) China told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday it would play a "constructive role" in resolving the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in a joint press appearance with Rice. Li also said, "we hope that all the relevant parties will maintain cool-headedness, adopt a prudent and responsible approach and adhere to dialogue and the peaceful resolution as the general direction of our efforts." Rice said, North Korea's "announcement of a nuclear test was a serious provocation and it poses a threat to international peace and security, particularly the peace and security of East Asia…we talked about the importance of the full implementation of 1718 so we can make certain there is not a transit and trade in illegal materials, dangerous illegal materials, concerning North Korea." (First Posted @ 10:15 PST, Updated @ 11:55 PST)
Five dead, 12 hurt in attacks in Thai south NARATHIWAT, Thailand, Oct 20 (AFP) Five people were killed and 12 injured in a spate of shootings and bomb attacks across southern Thailand, police said Friday. (First Posted @ 09:25 PST, Updated @ 11:40 PST)
US marine killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Oct 20 (AFP) A US marine was killed in Iraq's Al-Anbar province, the US military announced late Thursday. (Posted @ 10:28 PST)
US troops to remain in Iraq until 'terrorists' defeated: Bush WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (AFP) President George W. Bush insisted Thursday that US troops would not pull out of Iraq before "the terrorists are defeated.” "Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging. Our goal is victory," he said, speaking at a rally for Republican congressman Don Sherwood in La Plume town, Pennsylvania. "We are a nation at war, and we must do everything in our power to win that war…we will not pull out our troops from Iraq before the terrorists are defeated. We will not pull out before Iraq can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself," Bush said. (Posted @ 09:18 PST)
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