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| November 29, 2006 | Wednesday | Ziqa'ad 7, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan test fires nuclear-capable missile ISLAMABAD, Nov 29 (AFP) Pakistan test launched a nuclear-capable medium range missile on Wednesday, two days after South Asian rival India conducted its first trial of a new ballistic intercept system. The Pakistani Hatf 4 or Shaheen-1 missile has a range of 700 kilometers meaning it can hit targets deep inside neighbouring India. "Pakistani troops today conducted a successful launch of the medium range Hatf 4 or Shaheen-1 missile," the military said in a statement. The test came as part of a continuing exercise by Pakistan's Army Strategic Force Command. On November 16 Pakistan test fired a Ghauri missile with a longer range of 1,300 kilometers away. "The event marked the culmination phase of the training exercise and validated the operational readiness of the strategic missile group equipped with Shaheen-1 Missiles," the statement said. Pakistan's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Ehsan Ul Haq witnessed the launch exercise at an undisclosed location. He hailed "the high standards achieved during training which was reflected in the successful launch and the accuracy of the missile in reaching the target," the statement said. "Pakistan can be justifiably proud of its defence capability and the reliability of its nuclear deterrence," he added. Neighbouring India announced on Monday that its first test of a missile designed to intercept other missiles had been a success. (First Posted @ 10:15 PST, Updated@ 12:20 PST)
Iran leader blasts Bush's foreign policy in letter to American people UNITED NATIONS, Nov 29, 2006 (AFP) - In an unprecedented letter to the American people, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on US President George W. Bush's foreign policy and urged a withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. "Now that Iraq has a constitution and an independent assembly and government, would it not be more beneficial to bring the US officers and soldiers home and to spend the astronomical US military expenditures in Iraq for the welfare and prosperity of the American people?" the hardline Iranian leader said in a letter released by his country's UN mission here. (First Posted @ 20:00 PST; Updated @ 22:15)
Dr. Qadeer Khan "unwell", says sister KARACHI, Nov 29 (AFP) Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan is unwell and needs 24-hour medical care, his sister said Wednesday, dismissing official claims of his recovery from cancer surgery. Razia Hussain Khan appealed for the authorities to let her elder brother to live with his family in Karachi. "I have just spoken to him about two hours back. He is not well," his sister said. "He has complained of pain in his ear and toothache. There is a need for a 24-hour doctor in attendance for him so that if he develops any problem he should be looked after immediately." She added that "they can keep him under whatever security they want but at least close family members and close family friends be allowed to see him." (Posted @ 20:05 PST)
Palestinian PM begins talks in Egypt CAIRO, Egypt, Nov 29 (AP) Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh began talks Wednesday with Egyptian officials on a prisoner swap with Israel and the formation of a Palestinian coalition government. Haniyeh briefed Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on the latest developments in the Palestinian territories, Egypt's semi-official Middle East News Agency reported. Haniyeh is scheduled to meet Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa later Wednesday. After his arrival in Egypt, Haniyeh pledged his government would abide by the cease-fire as long as Israel did. (Posted @ 20:03 PST)
Two U.S. soldiers killed, one wounded, in Iraq BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov 29 (AP) Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed and one wounded in northern Iraq, the military said Wednesday. A soldier died Wednesday from wounds sustained during fighting in Anbar province, the military said. On Tuesday, a roadside bomb in the northern province of Salahuddin hit two Task Force Lightning soldiers, killing one and wounding the other, the command said. (First Posted @ 18:35 PST Updated @ 20:00 PST)
Federal cabinet approves family law bill ISLAMABAD, Nov 29 (PPI) The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved the Family Laws (Amendments) Bill, 2006 in compliance with a Supreme Court order. The cabinet meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The bill will now be presented before the parliament. (Posted @ 19:50 PST)
NATO makes progress on Afghan force, but gaps remain: Blair RIGA, Nov 29 (AFP) NATO leaders have made "significant progress" towards bolstering their troubled forces in Afghanistan, although shortfalls still remain, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday. "There is complete agreement around the table that NATO's credibility is .. on the line," Blair told reporters towards the end of a two-day NATO summit in Riga, Latvia added. Blair also welcomed the fact that all countries had agreed to allow their troops to help out in emergency situations. (First Posted @ 14:55 PST Updated @ 19:43 PST)
Roadside bomb kills two NATO soldiers in Afghanistan KABUL, Nov 29 (Reuters) A roadside bomb killed two NATO soldiers in Logar province on Tuesday, NATO said Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, a suicide bomber attacked a NATO convoy outside the southern city of Kandahar, killing two civilians, a spokesman for the alliance said. (First Posted @ 18:40 PST Updated @ 19:25 PST)
Bomb kills soldier, wounds six in India's Assam GUWAHATI, India, Nov 29 (Reuters) One Indian soldier was killed and six others, including an officer, wounded on Wednesday when their jeep hit a bomb planted by suspected separatist rebels in Assam state, police said. (Posted @ 19:15 PST)
Thousands protest for rights over India's forests NEW DELHI, Nov 29 (Reuters) Thousands of India's poorest and most marginalised people living in forests gathered in New Delhi on Wednesday demanding rights over the land they have lived on for centuries. "Millions of impoverished people ironically live in the richest lands in India, but they have not been able to benefit from the land," said Shankar Gopalakrishnan from the Campaign for Dignity and Survival, a union of forest community groups. "Every year, hundreds of thousands are forcefully evicted, beaten, tortured and their homes are demolished by officials and businessmen who want to use the land for their own purposes." (Posted @ 19:15 PST)
Saudi Arabia will intervene in Iraq if US withdraws: aide WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) Using money, weapons or its oil power, Saudi Arabia will intervene to prevent militias from massacring Iraqis once the United States begins pulling out of Iraq, a security adviser to the Saudi government said on Wednesday. Nawaf Obaid, writing in The Washington Post, said the Saudi leadership was preparing to revise its Iraq policy to deal with the aftermath of a possible U.S. pullout, and is considering options including flooding the oil market to crash prices and thus limit Iran's ability to finance militias in Iraq. "To turn a blind eye to the massacre of Iraqi Sunnis would be to abandon the principles upon which the kingdom was founded. It would undermine Saudi Arabia's credibility in the Sunni world and would be a capitulation to Iran's militarist actions in the region," Obaid said. (Posted @ 19:15 PST)
Three Pakistanis beheaded in Saudi Arabia RIYADH, Nov 29 (AFP) Three Pakistani men, convicted of drug smuggling, were beheaded on Wednesday in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, the interior ministry said. Abdullah bin Khan Gholam Rassul, Matleb bin Shah Min Asghar Shah and Mudhafer bin Hussein bin Amir Ali were condemned to death after being caught bringing heroin into the kingdom in their stomach, the ministry said in a statement on the official SPA news agency. (Posted @ 18:08 PST)
Status of women to be improved: PM Aziz ISLAMABAD, Nov 29 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday said the government was committed towards improving the status of women in the country. He said that legislation aimed at abolishing discriminatory laws and practices against women would continue to be introduced. The prime minister was talking to Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Ch. Shujaat Hussain who met him here. Both leaders reviewed various legislative measures and proposals aimed at providing security to women and ensure protection of their rights in accordance with the injunctions of the Quran and Sunnah. Aziz said the new bill submitted by the president PML in the National Assembly would help eliminate several unhealthy social practices from our society which lead to exploitation of women. (Posted @ 16:43 PST)
President Musharraf inaugurates Health Expo 2006 ISLAMABAD, Nov 29 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday inaugurated the Health Expo 2006 in Islamabad, where he outlined the government’s strategy to provide basic healthcare to the common man. He informed the audience that the allocation for health sector in federal and provincial budgets combined was up by about 300 per cent, and added that: "But this is not enough. We have to allocate more for the health sector and it will be done." He stressed that "we must improve the quality and post-operative care at the tertiary hospitals." The president said the government is concerned about the high incidence of water-borne diseases. He said the project to provide clean drinking water to the people would be completed by December 2007, and Rs.7 billion has been allocated for this purpose. He added that the government was also addressing the issue of high mother and child mortality rates by increasing the number of Lady Health Visitors to 96,000. He also asked the pharmaceutical companies to lower the prices of their medicines to make them within the reach of a common man. He noted that the surgical instruments industry also needs to be upgraded, and said a university was being set up in Sialkot to teach the local industry there the relevant subjects. (Posted @ 16:25 PST)
NATO pledges to bolster Afghan force RIGA, Nov 29 (AFP) NATO vowed in a final summit declaration Wednesday to give its troubled mission in Afghanistan the "forces, resources and flexibility needed" to ensure its success. "We reaffirm the strong solidarity of our alliance and pledge to ensure that ISAF has the forces, resources and flexibility needed to ensure the mission's continued success," said the 11-page summit statement.(Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Saddam trial judge jails defence lawyer for a day BAGHDAD, Nov 29 (Reuters) The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's genocide trial on Wednesday ordered a defence lawyer to be jailed for a day for "insulting the court.” Badea Arif, a lawyer for co-defendant Farhan Mutlaq was ejected by the judge after twice being warned to stop addressing prosecutors as "brother". The judge ordered that he be held in a detainment facility for a day. After boycotting previous hearings, most of the defence team returned to court this week, but lawyers for Saddam and his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, remained absent.(Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Gunmen storm Iraqi police station, kill six BAGHDAD, Nov 29 (Reuters) Militants set off a car bomb in a small town north of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing six policemen, and then briefly occupied the local police station, a police source in the city of Samarra said. Four policemen were also wounded in the initial blast at dawn near the station in the town of Tharthar, near Samarra, 100 km north of Baghdad. U.S. and Iraqi forces later imposed a daylight curfew in Samarra, the police source said. (FirstPosted @ 11:45 PST, Updated@ 14:45 PST)
Eleven more die in China mine blast BEIJING, Nov 29 (AFP) Eleven miners were killed early Wednesday in a northern Chinese coal mine explosion, state press reported. The latest blast occurred in a coal mine in Tanshanling township, Gansu province, Xinhua news agency reported. No other details of the blast were immediately available.(Posted @ 14:40 PST)
India's debut centurion Hanumant Singh dies at 67 MUMBAI, Nov 29 (AFP) Former Indian batsman Hanumant Singh, 67, died at a city hospital here on Wednesday morning after complications arising from dengue fever, a cricket board official announced. Hanumant, who scored a hundred on debut against England at New Delhi in 1963-64, was infected with Hepatitis B after catching the fever, the board's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said. A renowned player of spin bowling, he scored only 686 runs in Test matches but had more than 12,000 runs with 29 centuries in first-class cricket. Hanumant served in various capacities with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Indian board including those of match referee, selector and coach.(Posted @ 14:30 PST)
14 killed in Egyptian bus collision CAIRO, Nov 29 (Reuters) Fourteen people were killed and 20 injured when two minibuses collided on a road southwest of the Egyptian capital Cairo early Wednesday, police sources said.(Posted @ 14:25 PST)
Pakistani court orders repatriation of Scottish custody fight girl LAHORE, Pakistan, Nov 29 (AFP) Scottish schoolgirl Molly Campbell must return to Britain, a Pakistani court ruled Wednesday after upholding an appeal by her mother. "Molly Campbell will be given in the custody of a female officer of the British High Commission within seven days to make arrangements for her onward travel to Scotland," said Lahore High Court judge Mian Saqib Nisar. The girl's mother Louise Campbell had filed a petition through a local lawyer after Molly's father Sajad Amed Rana won a case here in September barring the government of Pakistan from repatriating the girl to Britain.(Posted @ 14:25 PST)
Strong earthquake rattles northern Indonesia, damaging buildings JAKARTA, Indonesia, Nov 29 (AP) A strong earthquake in northern Indonesian destroyed houses and buildings Wednesday, the Antara news agency reported. There were no reports of deaths or injuries. The 6.1-magnitude tremor struck at 10:32 a.m. north of the Maluku islands, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was centered 70 kilometers beneath the sea and 216 kilometers northeast of Ternate, the capital of North Maluku province. Around 10 houses, a mosque and a school building were destroyed in Sopi village on Morotai island, the Antara reported.(First Posted @ 09:00 PST, Updated@13:45 PST)
US, North Korean envoys dig in for second day of nuclear talks BEIJING, Nov 29 (AFP) US and North Korean envoys met for a second day Wednesday for more tough negotiations aimed at laying the groundwork for a resumption of six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear arms program. US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, Washington's pointman on North Korea, met with the North's envoy Kim Kye-Gwan and Chinese negotiator Wu Dawei, US embassy officials in Beijing said.(Posted @ 12:45 PST)
NATO military force should keep out of development: NGOs KABUL, Nov 29 (AFP) NATO soldiers' involvement in both reconstruction and combat in Afghanistan endangers relief workers and undermines long-term development, non government groups say, as NATO leaders meet in Riga. Below-expected reconstruction after 25 years of war was ratcheting up public frustration, leaving the country at a "dangerous crossroads", the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), the umbrella body of NGOs said.(Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Israel's main labour union starts nationwide strike JERUSALEM, Nov 29 (Reuters) Israel's main labour union began an open-ended public sector strike on Wednesday, shutting down government offices, halting outgoing flights and preventing many vital services. The Histadrut labour federation, which represents hundreds of thousands of civil workers, said the strike was in protest over the non-payment of salaries to 12,000 municipal workers and failure to transfer money to pension and other employee benefit funds for 40,000 others.(Posted @ 12:05 PST)
Four bombs explode on railway line linking Pakistan with Iran; no casualties QUETTA, Pakistan, Nov 29 (AP) Four bombs exploded minutes apart on a railway line linking Pakistan with neighbouring Iran, but there were no casualties, police and a railway official said Wednesday. The blast occurred late Tuesday in Naushki, a town about 200 kilometers west of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, said Maqbool Ahmed, an official with state-run Pakistan Railways. No train was scheduled to pass at the time of the explosions. Engineers were dispatched to repair the damaged track, he said. Local police official Yasin Shah confirmed the blasts, but refused to speculate who might have been responsible.(Posted @ 11:55 PST)
Eight insurgents, two women killed in US raid north of Baghdad BAGHDAD, Nov 29 (AFP) US forces killed eight insurgents and two women Wednesday in an early morning raid on a insurgent hideout north of Baghdad, said the US military.(Posted @ 11:40 PST)
Judge strikes President Bush's authority to designate terrorist groups LOS ANGELES, Nov 29 (AP) A federal judge struck down President George W. Bush's authority to designate groups as terrorists, saying his post-Sept. 11 executive order was unconstitutional and vague, according to a ruling. The Humanitarian Law Project had challenged Bush's order, which blocked all the assets of groups or individuals he named as ``specially designated global terrorists'' after the 2001 terrorist attacks.(Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Iraq one of greatest presidential blunders: Jimmy Carter WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (AFP) Former US president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday the Iraq war was one of the "greatest blunders" ever made by a US leader. Carter however, said on CNN he believed the sectarian violence wracking the US-occupied country so far fell short of a civil war. "I think that the original invasion of Iraq, and all of its consequences, yes, were a blunder," Carter said. "It's going to prove, I believe to be one of the greatest blunders that American presidents have ever made." Asked whether the Iraq war would prove to be a bigger mistake in the annals of US foreign policy than the war in Vietnam, he answered: "I think it is going to be a close call…but perhaps much more vividly known by the rest of the world than Vietnam was."(Posted @ 09:05 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 167.33 points: KARACHI, Nov 29: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 10594.83 , down 167.33 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Nov 29: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.9 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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