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| November 05, 2006 | Sunday | Shawwal 12, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan urges Islamic countries to fight corruption, empower women ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov 5 (Agencies) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday urged Islamic nations to fight corruption, set up good governance and empower women in order to achieve economic development. Aziz was speaking at the opening of the World Islamic Economic Forum, an organization aimed at promoting trade and business ties among members of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Conference. Aziz said although Islamic nations control 70 percent of the world's hydrocarbon reserves, nearly 40 percent of Muslims still live in poverty and Islamic states together account for less than eight percent of world trade. ``We need to ensure political stability and continuity, good governance, transparency and accountability,'' Aziz said. He underlined the need for Islamic states to empower women. He said Pakistan has taken steps to promote women's role in society, citing their admission to the air force as fighter pilots as an example. Aziz also proposed the formation of an 'Islamic Economic Union' through multilateral free trade agreements and promotion of free flow of capital, labour, goods and services among Islamic countries. Aziz said the OIC and Islamic Development Bank need to be repositioned and reinvigorated in order to achieve the goals of setting up such a union. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in the same forum, cited the subjugation of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. Badawi called on the Islamic world to do everything possible to improve the image of Islam. ``We must stop the demonization of Islam in the West,'' he said. ``We must not allow the clash of civilizations to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.'' (First Posted @ 21:04 PST Updated @ 22:12 PST)
Saddam Hussein sentenced to death by hanging BAGHDAD, Nov 5 (AFP) Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and two of his senior allies were sentenced to death by hanging on Sunday after an Iraqi court found them guilty of crimes against humanity. Saddam was sentenced to death for his role in ordering the deaths of 148 people in the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad. Saddam's half-brother and intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti was also sentenced to death, as was Awad Ahmed al-Bandar, who was convicted as the president of the court which ordered the execution. The former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan received a life sentence, while three Baath party officials from Dujail received 15 years each and a fourth, more junior figure, was cleared. The appeal against Hussein's death sentence will begin on Monday and last for a month, the chief investigative judge for the Iraqi High Tribunal told reporters. (First Posted @ 13:50 PST Updated @ 16:32 PST)
Pakistan, Malaysia to set up Joint Investment Company ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 (APP): Pakistan and Malaysia on Sunday agreed to set up a joint investment company and announced that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries would be signed by the end of this year. Also Sunday, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmed Badawi had a one-on-one meeting and later at the delegation level talks covered a wide spectrum of bilateral ties between their countries. "I am happy at the outcome of bilateral talks...It is my hope to see our bilateral relations are further expanded and deepened," the Malaysian leader told reporters at a joint press briefing with Prime Minister Aziz at Prime Minister House here. Aziz said the joint investment vompany would provide an institutional framework for investment in each other's country. He added that the two countries already had an Early Harvest Programme and will conclude the FTA by the end of this year. The two leaders also discussed Pakistan's endeavor to engage with the Asean regional grouping. Aziz said they also discussed cooperation in the field of defence, and informed that Malaysia companies would participate in the upcoming annual defence expo to be held in Karachi this month. The two countries currently have a trade volume of around 700 million dollars which, the Malaysian leader hoped, would reach the one billion dollar mark soon. (Posted @ 16:38 PST)
China mine blast kills four BEIJING, Nov 5 (AFP) Four miners were killed and at least 43 injured Sunday in a gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China, official media reported. (Posted @ 21:52 PST)
Ten killed in two blasts in India's Assam state GUWAHATI, India, Nov 5 (Reuters) Ten people were killed and a dozen wounded when two powerful bombs exploded in troubled northeast India's biggest city Guwahati on Sunday, police said. (Posted @ 21:48 PST)
EU president Finland says Saddam should not hang BRUSSELS, Nov 5 (Reuters) The European Union urged Iraq on Sunday not to carry out the death sentence passed on Iraq's former leader Saddam Hussein after his conviction for crimes against humanity. "The EU opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances, and it should not be carried out in this case either," Finland, current holder of the rotating EU presidency, said in a statement. U.S. White House spokesman Tony Snow said the judgement was a "good day for the Iraqi people", while British interior minister John Reid said the ruling should be respected. (Posted @ 21:46 PST)
Iran welcomes Saddam verdict, says West armed him TEHRAN, Nov 5 (Reuters) Iran said hanging Saddam Hussein was a just punishment for his "inhuman crimes", but said it was the West which had armed the former Iraqi dictator against Iran, Kuwait and the Iraqi people. "Although Saddam and his allies carried out those crimes, it should not be forgotten that Saddam's Western supporters also paved the way for him to carry out those oppressive acts and crimes," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini. (Posted @ 21:44 PST)
Saddam sentence no excuse to split up Iraq: Turkey ISTANBUL, Nov 5 (AFP) Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul urged Iraqis on Sunday not to use the sentencing to death of former leader Saddam Hussein as an excuse to dismantle their war-torn country. "The unity of Iraq is very important to us, and this unity must continue," Gul said. (Posted @ 21:42 PST)
Russia warns Saddam hanging would divide Iraq MOSCOW, Nov 5 (AFP) Moscow warned of "catastrophic consequences" in Iraq if former president Saddam Hussein is hanged, but expressed scepticism on Sunday that the death penalty would be carried out. If the execution took place "there would be catastrophic consequences for Iraq, which is already on the verge of breaking up", said Konstantin Kosachev, president of the parliamentary commission for foreign affairs. "It is obvious that condemning him to death will only further divide Iraqi society, the Sunnis will not recognise this sentence," he said. (Posted @ 21:38 PST)
Iraq orders two TV stations shut after Saddam ruling BAGHDAD, Nov 5 (Reuters) Iraq's interior ministry ordered two television stations off the air on Sunday on the grounds they were inciting violence after Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death, a ministry spokesman said. The Baghdad-based Al-Zawra and Salahaddin, based in Saddam's home town of Tikrit, were ordered to go off the air. (Posted @ 21:35 PST)
Bahrain, Saudi make big drug busts MANAMA, Nov 5 (AFP) Bahraini authorities seized some 300 kilograms of hashish smuggled from Pakistan via Iran and destined for trafficking in Gulf Arab states, a police official said Sunday. The drugs, worth 730,000 dollars, were seized after police, acting on a tip off from Kuwaiti authorities, arrested two young Bahraini men and a 19-year-old Bahraini woman north of Manama Friday night, police added. (Posted @ 20:58 PST)
Dutch FM praises Pakistan's fight against Taliban ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 (AFP) Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot Sunday praised Pakistan for its efforts in the fight against the Taliban. "Minister Bot expressed appreciation for Pakistan's efforts in the fight against the Taliban," the Dutch embassy said in a statement released after his meeting with Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Kasuri in Islamabad. Bot "encouraged Pakistan and Afghanistan to further strengthen and deepen their good neighbourly relations," it said. "Both ministers agreed that a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan is of vital interest to the countries in the region and the world at large," the statement said. Bot also told Kasuri the Netherlands was interested in stepping into development efforts in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Kasuri "stressed the need to seal the Pakistan-Afghanistan border," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement. "He (Kasuri) said that the border could be fenced and jointly monitored," it said. Bot welcomed Pakistan's readiness to seal the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and told Kasuri he would discuss this with other NATO partners, the ministry said. (Posted @ 20:48 PST)
Air force officers held for attempt to murder Musharraf with rockets: report New York, Nov 5 (Agencies) A cabal of Pakistani military officials with access to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's innermost security circle has been arrested after trying to assassinate him in a rocket attack, the online UK-based newspaper The Sunday Telegraph reported on its web edition today. According to Pakistani intelligence sources, about 50 people are being held on suspicion of involvement in the September attack, which involved a battery of Russian-made 107 mm projectiles launched by a signal from a mobile phone. Many are understood to be young officers serving in the Pakistani Air Force, some of whom have access to high-security zones of the presidential offices, parliament and the intelligence service, the report said. One official said that while the rocket strike itself had been relatively amateurish, it would have probably been lethal had the plotters been assisted beforehand by a terrorist group. Gen Musharraf has called a meeting with his closest confidants this week to review his personal security, the report added. (Posted @ 20:45 PST)
World Islamic Economic Forum begins in Islamabad ISLAMABAD, Nov 5: The second World Islamic Economic Forum (WIFE) opened its sessions in Islamabad on Sunday.(Posted @ 18:56 PST)
Seven killed in occupied Kashmir violence JAMMU, occupied Kashmir, Nov 5 (AP) Four members of a Kashmiri family and two suspected militants were killed in two separate incidents Sunday in occupied Kashmir, police said. A 55-year-old farmer, his wife, a daughter and a niece were shot dead by unknown gunmen in the remote, mountainous Dalwa village, police said. Separately, government forces killed two suspected militants during a shootout in Phagsoo, a village 175 kilometers northeast of Jammu, police added. Also Sunday, an eight-year-old boy was killed and three other children were critically wounded when an explosive they found while playing in Sonarwarni village field exploded, police added. (First Posted @ 10:25 PST Updated @ 18:48 PST)
Saudi Arabia beheads convicted Pakistani drug smuggler RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov 5 (AP) Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani man convicted of smuggling hashish into the country, the Interior Ministry said in a statement Sunday. Ghulam Mustakbir Mohammed Youssef was beheaded Saturday in the capital Riyadh. (Posted @ 18:30 PST)
U.S. and Iraqi forces kill 53 suspected insurgents BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov 5 (AP) U.S. and Iraqi security forces killed 53 suspected insurgents in a Saturday night raid on a fruit farms near the city of Madain, Iraqi police said on Sunday. (Posted @ 18:26 PST)
Iran would consider new US request for Iraq talks TEHRAN, Nov 5 (AFP) Iran on Sunday said it was ready to consider requests from United States to hold unprecedented talks over Iraq. "If we receive an official request, we are ready to examine it," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters. Hosseini added that "as far as bilateral relation is concerned, the position of Iran has not changed". (Posted @ 17:16 PST)
Two more Palestinians killed in Gaza GAZA CITY, Nov 5 (AFP) Israeli forces killed two more Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday. A Hamas member was shot dead in Beit Hanun and a member of the security forces close to president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party was killed in nearby Beit Lahiya, medics said. (Posted @ 17:14 PST)
Mild quake jolts northern Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 (AFP) A mild 4.2-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of quake-battered northern Pakistan Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of damage, officials said. "It was a mild intensity earthquake," an official at the seismological department said. Shocks were felt at 1:10 pm (0810 GMT) in Bagh and Rawlakot districts of Azad Kashmir. The epicentre was in Bagh district, some 80 kilometres northeast of the capital Islamabad, he said. (Posted @ 17:12 PST)
Pakistan, Malaysia sign agreements in banking and communication sectors ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 (APP): Pakistan and Malaysia on Sunday agreed to cooperate in the field of Islamic finance and to construct roads in Pakistan. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and agreement to this effect were signed at the Prime Minister House here following talks held between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his Malaysian Counterpart Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The MoU regarding cooperation in Islamic financing was signed between Pakistan’s National Institute of Banking and Finance Limited Pakistan (NIBFLP) and Malaysia’s The International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF). The agreement to construct roads in Pakistan was signed between Pakistan’s National Highway Authority (NHA) and Malaysia’s Minconsult International Limited. Under this agreement, the Malaysian firm will construct the Khanozai-Zhob (N-50), Mughal Kot (N-50) and Qila Saifullah-Waigum Road (N-70) sections of the Pakistani highways. This project woth 2.41$ million will be executed with the help of loans from Asian Development Bank. (Posted @ 16:58 PST)
Amnesty condemns Saddam trial, death sentences LONDON, Nov 5 (AFP) Amnesty International on Sunday condemned the death sentences handed to Saddam Hussein and two of his senior allies, describing their trial as a "shabby affair, marred by serious flaws". The London-based human rights group said the trial should have helped the process of establishing justice and the rule of law in Iraq but was in fact "deeply flawed and unfair". Amnesty charged that "political interference undermined the independence and impartiality of the court", prompting the first presiding judge to resign and the appointment of another to be blocked. The court also failed to take adequate measures to protect witnesses and defence lawyers, three of whom were killed during the trial, it added. Saddam himself was denied access to legal counsel for the first year after his arrest, while there appeared to have been inadequate responses to complaints by lawyers throughout the judicial process, Amnesty said. (Posted @ 16:28 PST)
India honours match-fixing accused Azharuddin MUMBAI, Nov 5 (AFP) Mohammad Azharuddin was freed from the stigma of disgrace after India's cricket chiefs honoured the banned former captain for his services to the sport. Azharuddin, now 43, was among 16 Indian captains honoured by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday night during a function to inaugurate its new headquarters at the Wankhede stadium. Some 15,000 guests, who included the top brass of the International Cricket Council, warmly applauded Azharuddin as he went up on stage to shake hands with BCCI president Sharad Pawar. Newspapers on Sunday flashed photos of a beaming Azharuddin being hugged by current superstar Sachin Tendulkar. (Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Three shot dead, five injured in bomb attacks in Thai south NARATHIWAT, Thailand, Nov 5 (AFP) Three people were shot dead while five others were injured in three simultaneous bomb attacks at karaoke bars in Thailand's restive south, police said Sunday. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Six killed in Baghdad ahead of Saddam trial BAGHDAD, Nov 5 (AFP) A mortar attack on Adhamiyah neighbourhood of Baghdad killed six people and injured 20 others, a security official said Sunday, as Iraq braced itself for Saddam Hussein's judgement day. In a separate incident, gunmen in jeeps stormed the house of Dhia al-Din Mehdi Hussein, a professor in criminal law at Baghdad's Mustansiriyah University, and kidnapped him, an interior ministry official said. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
Four killed in Pakistani tribal area WANA, Pakistan, Nov 5 (AFP) Suspected militants shot dead a pro-government tribal elder, while separately three others were gunned down in a Pakistani tribal zone bordering Afghanistan, officials said Sunday. Malik Wali Zar, a member of a government-sponsored committee working on expulsion of foreign pro-Taliban militants, was shot dead Saturday at Inzar village in South Waziristan, a security official said. Zar was returning home after attending a meeting in Wana when he was kidnapped from a passenger van by masked gunmen and shot dead, a security official said. Separately, unidentified gunmen shot dead three tribesmen in neighbouring North Waziristan Saturday, another security official said. The three were hauled from a van in Dangeen village, of North Waziristan, and shot dead. It was not immediately clear whether pro-Taliban militants were behind the attack, the official said. In another incident, senior local administration official Faiz Ullah was travelling in a passenger van when he was kidnapped by armed gunmen in the town of Mir Ali, the official said. (Posted @ 12:15 PST)
Confusion over deadly Baghdad clash BAGHDAD, Nov 5, 2006 (AFP) There were conflicting reports Sunday of a fierce gunbattle south of Baghdad, which the Iraqi interior ministry's chief spokesman said had left more than 50 Al-Qaeda militants dead. A US military spokeswoman, Lt-Col Josslyn Aberle, initially confirmed the report. Overnight, however, the US military issued a second statement saying: "We received an update regarding the National Police incident. Multinational Brigade Baghdad reported no suspected Al-Qaeda were killed and eight were detained," it said. There was no explanation of the confusion between the two reports. (Posted @ 10:25 PST)
US soldier shot dead in Iraq BAGHDAD, Nov 5 (AFP) A US soldier was shot dead Saturday when terrorists attacked his patrol with small-arms fire in western Baghdad, a statement said Sunday. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Cricket-England arrive in Australia for Ashes defence SYDNEY, Nov 5 (Reuters) England's cricketers arrived in Sydney on Sunday to defend the Ashes against Australia. England's opening match is a one-day game against the Australian Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on Friday. The first Ashes test starts in Brisbane on Nov. 23. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Pakistan’s Chowdhry defeated by Wu as amateur boxing president SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Nov 5 (AP) After two decades in charge, Prof Anwar Chowdhry of Pakistan was ousted as president of the International Amateur Boxing Association by Ching-Kuo Wu of Taiwan in an election on Saturday. Wu won the vote 83 to 79. The 84-year-old Chowdhry entered the quadrennial AIBA Congress dogged by allegations that he hid personal expenses and stalled reforms demanded by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC froze more than US$9 million (euro7 million) set to go to the organization last year to force changes in judge selection. Chowdhry, who defeated Wu by a large margin in a 1998 election for the presidency, denied the allegations. He did not speak to reporters after his loss was announced. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)
Blackout leaves 5 million without power in France PARIS, Nov 5 (AP) A power outage left about 5 million people in France, including parts of the capital, without electricity. The outage struck around 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) Saturday, affecting about 15 regions, including Rhone, Isere, Loire, Ain and Saone-et-Loire, firefighters there said. About 5 million people were still without power early Sunday. No injuries were reported, though firefighters in Paris said they had responded to nearly 40 calls from people stuck in elevators. The cause of the blackout was not immediately clear. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)
Climate change: 22,000-plus in London protest for urgent action LONDON, Nov 5 (AFP) Between 22,000 and 25,000 protesters converged on central London Saturday as part of global protests calling for urgent action from world leaders to tackle climate change, police and organisers said. Of those, police said about 4,000 people gathered outside the US embassy in Grosvenor Square to call for Washington to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that set targets for a reduction in signatory countries' carbon dioxide emissions. Ahead of a United Nations climate change conference in Nairobi, on Monday, British government was urged to help negotiate a deal to keep global warming to less than two degrees centigrade. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)
Three suspected Chechen rebels killed in Ingushetia MOSCOW, Nov 5, 2006 (AFP) Three suspected Chechen rebels were shot dead in a firefight Saturday in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia, a news agency report said quoting Russia's FSB security service. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)
Israeli military offensive kills nine in Gaza GAZA CITY, Nov 5 (AFP) Nine people, including a 12-year-old girl and five gunmen, were killed in the Gaza Strip Saturday as Israel pressed on with an offensive that has left 44 Palestinians and one soldier dead in four days. In Beit Hanun, which has been reoccupied by Israeli troops since Wednesday, residents cooped up inside their homes got a brief respite after the army suspended patrols for three hours. During the brief respite the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, delivered water, food and other basic aid to the town, as its Gaza director John Ging called the situation there "desperate". "Death, destruction and despair are the terms to describe the situation," Ging told reporters. Israel says it launched the operation to stop militants from firing rockets into communities bordering the Gaza Strip. But the latest blitz has failed to stop the fire, with eight rockets hitting Israel on Saturday and 24 in all since Wednesday, lightly wounding at least three people. (Posted @ 08:40 PST)
British minister blasts cluster bombs: report LONDON, Nov 5, 2006 (AFP) A British minister has broken ranks and called for cluster bombs to be banned due to their deadly impact on innocent civilians, according to a leaked letter in The Sunday Times newspaper. International Development Secretary Hilary Benn wrote to government colleagues arguing that the weapons were "essentially equivalent to land mines" and caused thousands of unnecessary deaths. His comments clash with the British government's position that cluster munitions play a "legitimate" role in modern warfare and that it would be "unfair" on British troops not to use them when enemies were doing so. Benn said Britain should push for a ban on cluster bombs at a major international arms convention in New York next week. The letter was sent recently to Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and Defence Secretary Des Browne. (Posted @ 08:40 PST)
Main issues of US election campaign WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (AFP) President George W. Bush's handling of the deteriorating situation in Iraq dwarfed all other issues ahead of Tuesday's congressional elections. A Newsweek poll published Saturday showed that 32 percent of registered voters had Iraq foremost in their minds, against 19 percent for the economy and 12 percent for terrorism. Eleven percent said health care was their top issue, 10 percent said immigration, five percent said abortion and three percent said stem cell research. Other surveys have come up with similar findings. (Posted @ 08:30 PST)
Britain prepares paras for tackling Taliban: report LONDON, Nov 5 (AFP) British defence chiefs have put a parachute regiment battalion on standby to jump into Afghanistan should fighting escalate with the Taliban, The Sunday Times said. Citing senior defence sources, the broadsheet said 600 troops from 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, were on standby to fly to Afghanistan within 12 hours and carry out an airborne landing within 24 hours. Top British diplomats warned last week that a planned assault on opium producers was likely to result in heavy fighting, the newspaper said. (Posted @ 08:30 PST)
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