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| November 10, 2006 | Friday | Shawwal 17, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Bomb kills nine in Pakistan tribal area ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov 10 (AFP) - A roadside bomb planted by suspected militants Friday killed a pro-government tribal elder and eight others near Shakai town in South Waziristan near the Afghan border, officials said. "Around 13 people were travelling in a vehicle which was targeted by miscreants. Nine were killed and four others wounded," the official, who could not be identified, told AFP. Locals said tribal elder Khajan supported the government's drive to flush out foreign militants from the region. (Posted @ 20:12 PST)
Five dead, 50 wounded in occupied Kashmir mosque blast SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Nov 10 (AFP) - Five people including three women were killed and at least 50 wounded Friday, including women and children, when a grenade was hurled at worshippers in a crowded mosque in Pulwama district's Tahab village, some 40 kilometers south of Srinagar in revolt-hit occupied Kashmir, police said. A witness said the grenade exploded inside the mosque. In a second grenade attack in Srinagar, four policemen and a Muslim woman were wounded, police said. (Posted @ 17:12 PST)
Militants fire rockets at Pakistan troops, no casualties MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Nov 10 (AFP) Militants fired five rockets at a military fort in North Waziristan tribal area and separately kidnapped a driver supplying troops, officials said Friday. There were no casualties from the rocket attack. "Five rockets were fired at a fort used by security forces on Thursday night near Mir Ali town. They missed the target and exploded in open ground," a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Separately armed men snatched a private vehicle carrying supplies for troops at nearby Ippi village late Thursday and took the contractor hostage before fleeing, he said. In another incident late Thursday, armed men ambushed the car of a tribal elder who was travelling with four other people near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan but they all escaped unhurt. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks. (Posted @ 12:05 PST)
Security Council urged to condemn Israel's 'aggression' in Gaza UNITED NATIONS, Nov 10 (AFP) Israel came under fire Thursday during a UN Security Council debate for its deadly military onslaught in the Gaza Strip, with numerous calls for the deployment of UN observers to monitor a mutual ceasefire. Arab countries led appeals for strong condemnation of Wednesday's Israeli shelling that killed 18 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in the Gaza town of Beit Hanun. “This is state terrorism. These are war crimes, for which the perpetrators must be held accountable under international law…the Palestinian people must be accorded their rights, including their right to protection as a civilian population under occupation," Palestinian UN observer Ryad Mansour said. Forty-five speakers took the floor during the emergency debate during which the 15-member council took no action on a draft resolution, introduced by Qatar on behalf of Arab member states. The text would condemn what it dubbed the Israeli "massacre" in Beit Hanun and call for "an immediate ceasefire" between Israelis and Palestinians, the dispatch of a UN observer force and an investigation of the killings. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Hamas PM Haniyeh hints he will step aside GAZA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh hinted on Friday he would step aside and not head a unity government Hamas is trying to forge with the Fatah faction as a way to lift a Western embargo. Haniyeh said he hoped the unity cabinet could be in place within three weeks. He told faithfuls at a mosque in the Gaza Strip that Western powers did not want him to be part of the new administration. "(They have) one condition, that the siege will not be lifted unless the prime minister is changed. "When the issue is like this, the siege on one hand, the prime minister on the another ... I prefer the siege be lifted and the suffering ended," Haniyeh said. He said dialogue with Fatah and other parties would resume next week. "We have laid down the rules and the basis for the formation of a national unity government. I hope that within two to three weeks this issue will be concluded," Haniyeh said. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Terror struggle 'will last a generation': Blair LONDON, Nov 10 (AFP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Friday that Britain faces a generation of struggle against terrorism, after the head of domestic spy agency MI5 revealed that 30 plots have been uncovered. He also called on all sides including Muslims to denounce extremists who try to "warp and pervert the minds, particularly of younger people." Blair said that MI5 chief Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller was "absolutely right" to insist that the threat was long-term. "I've been saying for several years that this terrorist threat is very real, it's been building up over a long period of time," Blair told reporters after talks with New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark at 10 Downing Street. (Posted @ 17:02 PST)
Four US troops killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Nov 10 (AFP) - Insurgents have killed four more US servicemen in Iraq, the military announced Friday, taking the number of troops killed in November to 23. Two soldiers were killed and one wounded Thursday after their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in west Baghdad, the military said. Another soldier was on a logistics patrol in Al-Anbar province when his truck hit a roadside bomb west of the flashpoint town of Haditha. Also in Al-Anbar, a marine from the unit stationed in Fallujah died Thursday of wounds received in clashes with insurgents. (Posted @ 21:46 PST)
Sports: Tennis: Pak beat India 2-1 in third tennis test KARACHI, November 10 (PPI): Pakistan took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-Test bilateral tennis series at Chandigarh (India) on Friday. Mustafa Ghouse, replacing Bopanna, went down to Pakistan's top player Aisam ul Haq Qureshi 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-2 in the opening singles. Karan Rastogi won the second singles against Aqeel Khan 6-2, 6-3, but Aisam and Aqeel clinched the deciding doubles against Bopanna and Ghouse 6-3, 6-7 (2) and 10-6. The fourth and final test will be played at New Delhi on Sunday. (Posted @ 20:56 PST)
George Washington statue beheaded at NYC cathedral NEW YORK, Nov 10 (AP) _ Vandals beheaded a statue of George Washington at one of the world's largest cathedrals and left a dollar bill on what was left of the neck, police said Friday. The damage was discovered Sunday at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, near Columbia University, Officer Kathleen Price said. The statue, near the front of the church, is part of a church collection of historical figures spanning 20 centuries. A statue of William Shakespeare represents 17th century, Washington the 18th century, and Abraham Lincoln the 19th century. Police were still investigating the damage Friday morning and had not made any arrests. The building, a neo-Gothic landmark big enough to hold two football fields, serves as the principal church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Construction on St. John the Divine began in 1892, but it is still only three-fifths complete. (Posted @ 20:50 PST)
US hopes to sign WTO deal with Russia next week WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (AFP) - The US government said Friday it hopes to sign a WTO accession deal with Russia at an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam next week. (Posted @ 20:26 PST)
British minister quizzed over 'cash for honours' steps down LONDON, Nov 10, 2006 (AFP) - Lord David Sainsbury, science minister in Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, who was questioned as part of a police inquiry into "cash for honours" allegations said Friday he was standing down from his job for personal, not political, reasons. He insisted the move had nothing to do with the probe. Police are investigating claims that seats in the House of Lords were offered in return for financial help to political parties. (Posted @ 20:22 PST)
Israeli minister does not exclude military action on Iran JERUSALEM, Nov 10 (AFP) - Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh has said he did not rule out preventive military action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. "I am not advocating Israeli preemptive military action against Iran and I am aware of all of its possible repercussions," Sneh was quoted as telling the English-language Jerusalem Post newspaper. "I consider it a last resort. But even the last resort is sometimes the only resort." (Posted @ 20:18 PST)
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has 12,000 fighters: chief DUBAI, Nov 10 (AFP) - The head of Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, said he has mobilized 12,000 fighters for a self-styled "Islamic state of Iraq," in an audio message posted Friday on the Internet. "I tell the commander of the faithful, the honorable Sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi: I have put 12,000 Al-Qaeda fighters at the disposal of the Islamic state of Iraq," Muhajer said, pledging allegiance to the emir of the "state" proclaimed on October 15. The authenticity of the message attributed to Muhajer could not be independently confirmed. (Posted @ 20:16 PST)
One killed, four injured in blast in northeast India GUWAHATI, Nov 10, (AFP) - A paramilitary trooper was killed and four others were seriously wounded Friday when their vehicle was hit by a powerful landmine explosion in India's northeastern state of Assam, officials said. (Posted @ 20:06 PST)
Lara looks to open cracks in depleted Pakistan test team LAHORE, Pakistan, Nov 10 (AP) _ West Indies captain Brian Lara hopes his team can apply enough pressure to open some cracks in a Pakistan test lineup depleted by doping bans in the three-test cricket series starting Saturday. ``Putting them under pressure will be the key,'' Lara told reporters Friday. (Posted @ 18:54 PST)
Five girls killed playing with explosives in Azad Kashmir ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (AP) _ An explosive device went off Thursday in a farm field in Azad Kashmir, killing five girls, between 3 and 6 years old, _ including three sisters, police said Friday. Police believe the girls in Kel village, 15 kilometers from the Line of Control _ mistook a bomblet for a toy, said Mohammed Bashir, a police official in Muzaffarbad, the Azad Kashmir capital. The three sisters _ died on the spot while two died later at a military hospital, he said. Bashir said munitions of that type had been fired from across the LoC by Indian forces in the past. ``The Pakistan army has defused many bombs, grenades and toy-shaped bomblets, but some are still lying in the farm fields,'' he said. (Posted @ 18:50 PST).
6 killed, 18 wounded in suicide attack on Iraqi military checkpoint BAGHDAD, Nov 10 (AP) _ At least six Iraqi soldiers were killed and 10 wounded when a suicide bomber drove his explosives-rigged car into an army checkpoint in Tal Afar on Friday, the military said. The unit's commander, Col. Abdul-Karim Jassim, was among those killed in the attack, while eight civilians were also injured, army spokesman Brig. Najim Abdullah said. (Posted @ 18:40 PST)
PM Shaukat Aziz calls for courage, magnanimity, flexibility for Kashmir resolution NEW YORK, Nov 10 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday said that a historic opportunity exists to resolve the Kashmir issue in an acceptable manner and emphasized the need for courage, magnanimity and flexibility for settlement of the decades-old dispute. Addressing academics and students at Princeton University he said that since the launch of Pakistan-India peace process in 2004 there has been improved atmosphere and increased people-to-people contacts "but we must now move towards dispute resolution." He said Pakistan has proposed ideas of demilitarization, self-governance and joint management. In his wide-ranging address, Prime Minister Aziz spoke about Pakistan's vital strategic importance and spelt out the country's position on major regional and international issues and its efforts to sustain a high economic growth befitting its enormous potential. In the context of Pakistan-US ties, he said, today the relations between the two countries are pivotal - both regionally and globally. Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan remains a key player in the international war on terrorism. "The success we have achieved is unparalleled, over 800 terrorists have been eliminated or apprehended." He also called for rejecting the false notion of a linkage between terrorism and Islam, saying terrorism knows no borders or religion. (Posted @ 18:14 PST)
Iraq estimates 150,000 dead since invasion BAGHDAD, Nov 10 (AFP) - Iraq's health ministry said Friday that some 150,000 people have been killed since the 2003 US-led invasion, more than three times the previously agreed upon figure. "Some 75 to 80 people die every day on average ... but in some cases the figures exceed that number." The dead came from military clashes, those killed in cold blood and bodies brought to morgues, the spokesman said. (Posted @ 17:48 PST)
UAE to mete out stiff punishment to human traffickers DUBAI, Nov 10 (AFP) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) president has ordered stiff penalties for human trafficking, the state WAM news agency reported Friday. (Posted @ 17:08 PST)
Eleven Maoist rebels killed in clashes with Indian police HYDERABAD, India, Nov 10 (AFP) - Eleven Indian Maoist militants were killed Friday in two gunbattles with police in forests in the coastal state of Andhra Pradesh, police said. The exchange of fire, in which nine rebels were killed, lasted about half an hour in Kadapa district. In another fight in the state's Warangal district, two rebels were killed. (Posted @ 17:04 PST)
Rights group says Israel probe into Gaza deaths 'insufficient' JERUSALEM, Nov 10 (AFP) The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) called Friday on Israel to open an independent investigation into a lethal shelling attack in Gaza, branding as "insufficient" an internal army probe. The results of an initial military investigation into Wednesday's deaths of 18 Palestinians, mostly women and children, attributed the shelling to a "technical failure of the artillery radar system". But rights group HRW said the army's inquiry into the attack "failed to address the key questions of whether the attack was a violation of international law and who should be held accountable for the lethal fire. "The Israeli government should immediately conduct a comprehensive independent investigation to establish these issues," HRW added. (Posted @ 14:35 PST)
Eighteen Taliban killed by Afghan and NATO forces KABUL, Nov 10 (AFP) Afghan soldiers backed by NATO forces and warplanes killed 18 Taliban militants in a series of clashes in southeastern Afghanistan, the alliance said Friday. Three NATO soldiers, three Afghan troops and an interpreter were also wounded in the fighting in Paktika province, an ISAF press release said. (Posted @ 14:25 PST)
Iran could review IAEA ties over UN draft MOSCOW, Nov 10 (Reuters) Iran will review ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency if Russian changes watering down the European draft resolution on sanctions in the U.N. Security Council are not accepted, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Friday shortly after arriving in Moscow for talks on the issue with Russia's top security and foreign ministry officials. "We will review our relations with the IAEA if the U.N. accepts the Euro-troika resolution without taking into account the amendments made by Russia," he was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
40 hurt as train derails in India NEW DELHI, Nov 10 (AFP) At least 40 people were injured when a passenger train derailed in India’s western Maharashtra state, a report said Friday. There were no deaths in the accident, the Press Trust of India said, quoting railway officials. The reason for the accident was not immediately known. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
Tamil MP assassinated in Sri Lanka capital COLOMBO, Nov 10 (AFP) A pro-rebel Tamil legislator, Nadarajah Raviraj, was assassinated in Colombo Friday, officials said. He was rushed to hospital in the capital but later died of his injuries, hospital spokeswoman said, adding that his bodyguard was dead on arrival at the same hospital. Gunmen sprayed their vehicle with bullets as they set off for work, before escaping on a motorcycle in Colombo's busy Narahenpita area, police said. Raviraj is a member of parliament from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and a former mayor of the northern town of Jaffna. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
30 terror plots being planned in Britain: spy chief LONDON, Nov 10 (AFP) British intelligence services are involved in tackling more than 1,600 people from 200 groups or networks who are "actively engaged" in terrorism, the head of the domestic spy agency MI5 said Thursday. Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller said in comments that led television news bulletins late Thursday and early editions of Friday's newspapers that MI5 was aware of nearly 30 "plots to kill people and to damage our economy". The risk to Britain was "sustained... not a series of isolated incidents" and the "serious, growing threat..." from terrorism would last a generation, she added. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Six major powers compare notes on Iran sanction resolution UNITED NATIONS, Nov 10 (AFP) Envoys of six major powers Thursday reviewed proposed UN sanctions against Iran over its failure to halt its uranium enrichment program, and agreed to meet again next Monday. Ambassadors of the Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany held their second informal session in two days at France's UN mission in New York. "We talked about a variety of the issues, the scope of the sanctions," US Ambassador John Bolton told reporters after the meeting. "I do think we made progress. We will now have a chance to consider this further and we will meet again on Monday afternoon." His Chinese counterpart, Wang Guangya, described Thursday's discussions as "slow," whereas Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: "We are not yet at the point where we can come to agreement on various issues.” (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Israeli troops clash with Palestinians in West Bank BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Nov 10 (AFP) Israeli troops clashed with Palestinians in the West Bank village of Nahalim late Thursday, security sources said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Fresh sea battles in Sri Lanka, six feared dead COLOMBO, Nov 10 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan navy clashed Friday leaving two rebel craft destroyed north of the Trincomalee town, the military said. A defence ministry spokesman said the Tiger boats had been packed with explosives with the intention of attacking a naval craft, but a gunboat attacked and blew them out of the water. About six people who were thought aboard are feared dead. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 233.63 points: KARACHI, Nov 10: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 10739.45, down 233.63 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:05 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Nov 10: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.68 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:05 PST)
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