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| January 08, 2007 | Monday | Zilhaj 17, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Indian PM hopes for lasting peace with Pakistan NEW DELHI, Jan 8 (AFP) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday he hoped India and Pakistan would eventually be able to sign a long-term peace treaty. “I dream of a day when, while retaining our respective national identities, one can have breakfast in (India's) Amritsar, lunch in Lahore (in Pakistan) and dinner in Kabul,” Singh said. Singh said commercial ties between the eight SAARC members could guarantee durable peace. Pakistan's foreign ministry said such a peace treaty with India would be possible only after a resolution of the Kashmir dispute. “Once we are able to resolve the long-standing issues including the most important issue of Jammu and Kashmir, we can move towards it,” ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told reporters. “Indian Prime Minister has talked about a treaty of friendship sometime back. He has talked about in the context of something that may take place at a later stage in future, not immediately,” she said. “It is his future vision for South Asia,” she added. (First Posted @ 16:24 PST Updated @ 21:10 PST)
Pakistan to discuss peace process during Indian FM’s visit ISLAMABAD, Jan 8 (APP) Pakistan and India will review progress made during the third round of their composite dialogue and discuss bilateral relations during the forthcoming visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told a media briefing here Monday that Mukherjee would extend a formal invitation to the Pakistani leadership for the 14th SAARC summit to be held in New Delhi in April. The two countries are likely to sign several agreements including one on visa relaxation to facilitate people-to-people contacts, she said. About the proposed visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan, the spokesperson said the date has not yet been finalized. About the proposed jirga commission with Afghanistan, she said its composition would be finalized in the next few days. Regarding European Union's statement on transparency in the upcoming general elections of the country, the spokesperson said Pakistan welcomes international observers for the polls but rejects any external pressure. About the Canadian foreign minister’s visit to Pakistan coming Monday, she said the minister would hold talks on promotion of bilateral trade and economic ties. (Posted @ 22:28 PST)
Supreme Court asks govt to trace out remaining detainees ISLAMABAD, Jan 8 (AP) Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday criticized as insufficient efforts by authorities to trace at least 16 people believed to be held by Pakistani intelligence agencies. Judge Mian Shakirullah Jan, adjudicating a legal case brought by relatives of the missing, accused the government of wasting time. He said the efforts of “concerned authorities” to trace the missing “are not satisfactory” and urged them to “speed up.” Deputy Attorney General Nasir Saeed Sheikh told the court Monday that 25 of the people have been traced while 16 remained unaccounted for. Amna Janjua said in court her husband was “still in the custody of (intelligence) agencies”, which Sheikh denied. The judge adjourned the case until Jan. 15. (Posted @ 21:02 PST)
Rawalpindi Express heads for South Africa ISLAMABAD, Jan 8 (APP) Fast bowler Shoaib Akhter will fly to South Africa immediately as a replacement for injured speedster Umer Gul, the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, Dr. Nasim Ashraf, announced on Monday. Chief Selector Wasim Bari had received a fax message from the tour management committee in which it was informed that doctors on the South Africa tour had diagnosed Umer Gul with an ankle injury and ruled him out for any competitive cricket for at least three weeks, the PCB chairman added. (Posted @ 21:08 PST)
More than 20 killed in Iraq attacks BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (AFP) More than 20 people were killed in attacks across Iraq on Monday, while police recovered 25 bodies in Baghdad, security officials said. The defence ministry said a total of 26 militants were killed in Iraq since Sunday, all but three of them in Baghdad. Gunmen ambushed a bus in Baghdad’s Jihad neighborhood, killing four and wounding nine, a security official said. Three more Iraqis were killed in a bomb attack in a market at Zafaraniyah in south Baghdad, a security official said. Also near Zafaraniyah a roadside bomb left two civilians dead. Five members of one family were shot dead in the Dora district of Baghdad, he said, while a policeman was killed by gunmen in a separate attack in the capital. Two people were killed when several mortars hit the capital's Amel neighbourhood. In Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, four people were killed in different attacks, police said. (First Posted @ 14:25 PST Updated @ 23:32 PST)
Israeli defense minister proposes new peace plan JERUSALEM, Jan 8, 2007 (AFP) Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz Monday proposed a fresh plan for peace in the Middle East, army radio said. Peretz's three-stage plan calls for the creation of a new economic and security policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians, negotiations on a future Palestinian state to begin within six months and negotiations on the details of a final accord to take place over 18 months. (Posted @ 23:02 PST)
Cricket-Australia cement No. 1 ranking after Ashes sweep NEW DELHI, Jan 8 (Reuters) Australia have consolidated their place at the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) test rankings following their first 5-0 Ashes sweep over England. An ICC statement on Monday said that third-placed Pakistan can draw level or overtake England if they beat hosts South Africa 2-0 or sweep the three-test series starting in Centurion on Thursday. South Africa remain sixth despite last week's 2-1 home series victory over fourth-placed India. (Posted @ 22:12 PST)
Cricket-Nazir takes five for Pakistan in tour match KIMBERLEY, South Africa, Jan 8 (Reuters) Pakistan fast bowler Shahid Nazir took five for 61 in a drawn tour test match against a Rest of South Africa XI team in Kimberley on Monday. The home side scored 383 in their first innings in reply to Pakistan's total of 485 for nine declared. Pakistan were 96 for two in their second innings when the three-day match was abandoned as a draw with three overs remaining. (Posted @ 21:48 PST)
China kills 18 militants in restive west BEIJING, Jan 8 (Reuters) Police killed 18 militants in a gun battle Friday in northwest China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Xinhua reported on Monday, adding that police also captured 17 others. (Posted @ 21:14 PST)
Pakistan to release 115 Indian fishermen KARACHI, Jan 9 (Reuters) Pakistan will release 115 Indian fishermen on Tuesday from the Landhi jail (in Karachi) before Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee visits Islamabad to push the peace process between the two countries forward, an official said on Monday. (Posted @ 21:06 PST)
U.N. calls for joint action against Taliban in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan 8 (AP) Pakistan and Afghanistan's other neighbors must deny Taliban and other militants sanctuary if the country is to have a chance at rebuilding after a quarter century of wars, the deputy head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Chris Alexander, told reporters on Monday. The majority of the 142 Taliban leaders, identified and put on the sanctions list by the United Nations back in 1999, are still active, some of which “were in Pakistan for at least part of 2006,” he said, without elaborating. “Tackling this insurgency will require not only a military effort ... but also a stronger focus on development, on improved governance, on regional diplomacy and on dealing with the very complex problem of the emerging narcotics industry in this country,” Alexander said. He also called for an end to the accusations. “This war of words, this rhetorical contest between two governments, two partners in this region, must end.” He also called on Pakistan to drop plans to mine its border with Afghanistan. (Posted @ 21:04 PST)
Six Afghan troops wounded in suicide blast KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) A suicide car bomber wounded six Afghan soldiers in Paktika province's Bermel district on Monday, while NATO-led troops and Afghan police killed two suspected Taliban militants and detained four others in Mizan district in Zabul province on Sunday, officials said. Also on Sunday, a roadside bomb ripped through a vehicle in Khost province’s Mandozayi district, killing a woman, her two newborn babies and the children's grandmother, an official said. (First Posted @ 14:05 PST Updated @ 20:18 PST)
Sri Lanka rebels say army shells kill three civilians COLOMBO, Jan 8 (Reuters) Sri Lankan army shells hit a hospital complex in the island's restive northeast district of Trincomalee killing three civilians and wounding 11, the Tamil Tigers said on Monday, but the military denied the incident. (First Posted@ 10:00 PST Updated @ 18:26 PST)
Clashes spread as blockade paralyses Bangladesh DHAKA, Jan 8 (Reuters) Caretaker President Iajuddin Ahmed summoned army chief Lieutenant-General Moiuddin U. Khan to the presidential palace on Monday as at least 50 people were left injured and 30 detained by police on the second day of a transport blockade, called by former prime minister and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina. Police used batons and teargas to disperse protestors after they set ablaze several vehicles across Dhaka and its outskirts, witnesses said. Army troops were patrolling the streets of Dhaka. On Monday, buses and lorries did not operate, deliveries from ports were suspended and most businesses and educational institutions were closed. Rail and ferry services were also disrupted. Some taxis and rickshaws were operating within the capital Dhaka but Hasina’s alliance activists manned strategic points to prevent vehicles entering and leaving the city, witnesses added. (First Posted @ 10:20 PST, Updated @ 17:58 PST)
Cold snap kills 110 in Bangladesh DHAKA, Jan 8 (Reuters) At least 20 people died from cold weather in northern Bangladesh in the past 24 hours, taking the confirmed death toll from the frigid conditions to 110 in the past week, officials said on Monday. Thick fog forced authorities to suspend operations at Dhaka's international airport for 14 hours until late morning on Monday, aviation officials said. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
New figures show 23,000 Iraqis killed in 2006 BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (Reuters) Iraq's Health Ministry said it believed there had been a rise in casualties last year but declined to confirm a report on Monday that its statistics showed nearly 23,000 civilians and police were killed in 2006.The Washington Post published data quoting an Iraqi health official Monday that said violence rose during last year, with 17,310 civilians and police killed violently in the second half of the year, compared to 5,640 in the first six months of 2006. (Posted @ 17:48 PST)
Pakistan to be made a hub of engineering: PM Aziz KARACHI, Jan. 8 (APP) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday expressed the desire to make Pakistan a hub for global engineering products and industry. Speaking at the inauguration of the Daewoo Assembly Plant at Razzaqabad here, Aziz assured the gathering that no stone would be left unturned for improving and continuing government policies. “This is part of our vision to make Pakistan a hub for global engineering products and global engineering industry”, he said, adding that together with the private sector, the government will frame the policy and provide a sound micro economic environment. He said that it was up to the private sector to build factories, produce goods, take technology from wherever they can in the world and build a Pakistan which would be modern, enlightened, progressive and peaceful. (Posted @ 17:12 PST)
Musharraf acknowledges role of scientific organizations ISLAMABAD, Jan 8 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday commended the role of Pakistani scientific organizations in contributing towards peaceful uses of technology and defense in the country. Inaugurating the fifth International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technologies here, the president said that Pakistan was pursuing a well planned strategy to catch up with the advancements in science and technology. He referred to plans of setting up of nine universities with the cooperation of France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, South Korea, China and Japan. He said two of the nine universities were already operational while seven were likely to start by 2008. He said the government had substantially increased funds for education, and was optimistic that at least in respect of the literacy rate, the country will be able to achieve the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). (Posted @ 17:04 PST)
Kashmiri leaders to visit Pakistan next week for talks SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Jan 8 (AFP) Members of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) will visit Pakistan next week for talks with President Pervez Musharraf, their leader said Monday. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said in Srinagar that the three to four-member delegation was expected to leave for Pakistan on January 16 or 17. “The next three months are crucial, as a series of meetings are to take place between Indians and Pakistanis,” Farooq said. (Posted @ 16:26 PST)
11 dead in land protests in India's West Bengal KOLKATA, India, Jan 8 (AFP) The death toll in clashes over the proposed purchase of farmland to build special economic zones in India's Marxist-ruled West Bengal state has risen to 11, police said Monday. Several people were also injured when a group of armed men raided the village of Nandigram, about 120 kilometers south of the state capital Kolkata in a land dispute Sunday, police said. The officers fired at villagers keeping watch to block government officials from giving notice of the takeover of the land, police said. West Bengal's Marxist administration has announced plans to buy 14,500 acres of land for Indonesia's Salim group to set up a chemical hub under an agreement clinched in July. The purchase is part of the state government's plans to take some 36,000 acres of land to set up “special economic zones.” (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Former Palestinian finance minister escapes harm in West Bank shooting RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan 8 (AP) Gunmen opened fire at the car of former Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, security officials said. Fayyad was not in the car. The officials said the car was attacked outside his office on the outskirts of Ramallah. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Saddam's trial resumes 9 days after former leader's hanging BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan 8 (AP) Saddam Hussein's trial for the killing of 180,000 Kurds in the 1980s resumed Monday with the late dictator's seat empty, nine days after he went to the gallows. The court's first order of business was to drop all charges against Saddam. Six co-defendants still face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in a military campaign code-named Operation Anfal during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war. Shortly after the court reconvened Monday, a bailiff called out the names of the accused and the six men walked silently into the courtroom one after another. Chief Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa said the court decided to stop all legal action against the former president, since ''the death of defendant Saddam death was confirmed.'' (Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Militant jungle hideout, suspected al-Qaeda base captured: Somali officials KISMAYO, Somalia, Jan 8 (AP) Somali officials said Monday they had captured a jungle hideout used by militants that is believed to be an al-Qaeda base. ''We have captured Ras Kamboni,'' Somali lawmaker Abdirashid Hidig said, speaking of the base at the southernmost tip of Somalia. (Posted @ 14:10 PST)
Two rebels killed after bloody weekend in India's northeast GUWAHATI, India, Jan 8 (Agencies) Indian security forces shot dead two suspected militants in northeastern Assam state’s Sivasagar district late Sunday after the separatists killed 66 people over the weekend, police said Monday. An indefinite curfew clamped late Saturday was likely to be relaxed for a few hours on Monday, officials said. (First Posted @ 09:40 PST, Updated @ 14:00 PST)
Gunmen attack Baghdad bus killing 15 BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (Reuters) Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying dozens of cleaners and other workers from a district in Baghdad to the city's airport Monday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 15 others, a hospital source said, adding that the attack occurred in western Baghdad’s Amriya neighbourhood. Police and the Interior Ministry said they were still checking the reports about the attack. (Posted @ 12:15 PST)
Five killed in occupied Kashmir violence SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Jan 8 (AFP) Two suspected militants, two civilians and a policeman were killed in occupied Kashmir late Sunday, police said Monday. The militants were killed near the town of Chrar-e-Sharief, about 30 kilometers west of summer capital Srinagar, a police spokesman said. The two civilians were killed by suspected militants in northern Baramulla district, police said, adding that a policeman hurt in an attack last week on the outskirts of Srinagar died in hospital Sunday evening. (Posted @ 12:10 PST)
Hearings for Diana, Dodi inquests to resume LONDON, Jan 8 (AFP) Preliminary hearings for a long-awaited coroner's inquest into the death of Britain's Princess Diana in a Paris car crash get under way in London Monday. Proceedings resume three years after her inquest and that of Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Moneim “Dodi” Fayed, were opened and adjourned until a British probe into conspiracy theories around the 1997 crash that claimed their lives. Former senior High Court judge Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss will act as deputy coroner of the Queen's household after the royal coroner, Michael Burgess, stood down in July last year. (Posted @ 09:05 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 89.96 points: KARACHI, Jan 8: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 10237.32, up 89.96 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Jan 8: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 61.07 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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