|
|
| January 18, 2007 | Thursday | Zilhaj 27, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
President warns of strong punitive action against terrorists ISLAMABAD, Jan 18 (APP) President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Thursday reiterated the government’s resolve to combat terrorism, and warned of strong punitive actions against all those involved in any illegal cross border activities or giving refuge to terrorists. Addressing the ninth meeting of the National Security Council here, also attended by the Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, the president observed that the government had taken effective political, administrative and other measures in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Musharraf underscored the need for strict implementation of plans to effectively check cross border militant movements and elimination of foreign terrorists. He also stressed upon the need for concerted measures on the Afghan side of the border to stop the illegal cross border movements of militants into Pakistan. Aziz said the government would extend all facilities, including financial assistance, for the development of FATA and the earthquake affected areas. (Posted @ 21:46 PST)
Kashmiri leader arrives in Pakistan LAHORE, Jan 18 (AP) The chairman of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) arrived in Lahore on Thursday. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is expected to meet with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and other officials during his five-day stay in the capital, Islamabad. Upon arrival, Farooq said Pakistan must share information with the APHC. “I hope that President Musharraf will share with us what he has discussed with India” about resolving the Kashmir issue, he said. (Posted @ 23:04 PST)
Pakistan navy gets maritime aircraft from US ISLAMABAD, Jan 18 (AP) Pakistan navy has received the first of eight American-made long-range P3-C Orions maritime surveillance aircraft from the United States, an official announced Thursday. The aircraft has been given to Pakistan under a 2005 defense deal worth US$1.2 billion. (Posted @ 23:00 PST)
Two killed, dozens injured in Dubai skyscraper fire DUBAI, Jan 18 (AP) A fire in an under construction 37-story building in Dubai on Thursday killed two laborers and left at least 57 others injured, a police official said. A construction worker fell from the high-rise building while trying to descend the glass-covered exterior, witnesses said. Three of the injured men were hospitalized in serious condition, police said, adding that the injured laborers were from India, Pakistan and China. The cause of the fire was not known. (First Posted @ 20:28 PST Updated @ 22:56 PST)
President Musharraf meets UAE Crown Prince RAWALPINDI, Jan 18 (Agencies) President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday met the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed forces, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Zaid Bin Sultan, at the Aiwan-e-Saddar here. Both leaders discussed in detail a host of bilateral issues. Musharraf said Pakistan would increase cooperation with UAE in various fields including defense, trade, health, petroleum, housing and other sectors. The crown prince informed the president that UAE is keen on investing in Pakistan in various fields, and was observing closely the privatization process in the country. (Posted @ 22:46 PST)
India protests LoC firing incident NEW DELHI, Jan 18 (AFP) The Indian government on Thursday lodged a protest with Islamabad over gunfire across the Line of Control which injured two Indian border guards. “We have taken it up with Pakistan's ambassador (Shahid Malik) here and expressed our concern over the firing by the Pakistani Rangers on Wednesday,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said. The spokesman said New Delhi also sought a commander-level meeting between the BSF and its Pakistani counterpart, the Rangers, “to prevent any such recurrence”. The Indian embassy in Islamabad also registered a protest. (Posted @ 21:10 PST)
President Musharraf to visit Jordan AMMAN, Jan 18 (AFP) President Pervez Musharraf is to visit Jordan next week for talks with King Abdullah II on the situation in the Middle East, Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency reported Thursday. Musharraf will begin a two-day working visit on Monday, it said. He will discuss with King Abdullah “ways to bolster bilateral ties, and review efforts underway to restore peace and stability in the Middle East”, Petra said. (Posted @ 21:08 PST)
Iran accuses U.S. of inflaming sectarian tensions BEIRUT, Jan 18 (AP) Iran's top security official Ali Larijani accused the United States of fanning Iranian-Arab tensions and inciting divisions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims with the aim of dominating the Middle East. Larijani in comments published in Beirut newspapers on Thursday said “we feel happy that Saudi Arabia and other states in the region have an accurate understanding” of the Arab-Iran and Shiite-Sunni disputes, Larijani said, adding that those disputes were fueled by the United States and Israel. (Posted @ 20:38 PST)
Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Art Buchwald dies WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (AP) Newspaper columnist Art Buchwald, whose wry political and social satire made him a pillar of the U.S. capital for more than four decades and earned him a Pulitzer Prize, died Thursday, his son said. Buchwald, 81, had refused dialysis treatments for his failing kidneys last year and was expected to die within weeks of moving to a hospice on Feb. 7. But he lived to return home and even write a book about his experiences. (Posted @ 20:36 PST)
U.K. Cabinet minister lashes out at Bush administration LONDON, Jan 18 (AP) The U.S. government has failed to produce a coherent foreign policy, undermined the fight against terrorism and impeded the search for peace in the Middle East, a member of Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet said in an interview published Thursday. Peter Hain, Blair's Northern Ireland secretary, declared that U.S. President George W. Bush's “neo-con mission has failed.” “The problem for us as a government ... was actually to maintain a working relationship with what was the most right-wing American administration, if not ever, then in living memory,” Hain was quoted as saying. (Posted @ 20:34 PST)
Suicide bomber kills one Afghan soldier, wounds five KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan 18 (AP) A suicide bomber blew himself next to Afghan soldiers at a market in Paktika province's capital, Sharan, on Thursday, killing one soldier and wounding three, an official said. Two civilians were also wounded in the attack. (First Posted @ 16:00 PST Updated @ 20:32 PST)
Pakistani father to have custody of Scottish girl: SC ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan 18 (AP) A Pakistani father will have custody of his 12-year old daughter, while the Scottish mother will have visiting rights, following a compromise between the two parents after a months-long custody battle, Pakistan's Supreme Court said Thursday. Chief judge Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry dismissed a High Court ruling that Molly Campbell be handed over to British authorities to live with her mother, after the two parents agreed that she could live in Pakistan. He said both parents had agreed the mother will be free to visit Pakistan to see her daughter, with expenses paid by the father. (Posted @ 20:30 PST)
India pledges to open up insurance sector to Britain NEW DELHI, Jan 18 (AFP) Britain's finance minister received a pledge from his Indian counterpart Thursday that the country will try and open the insurance sector to wider foreign ownership. Brown is visiting India with a 150-company business delegation. In return, the Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said “we hope (the) UK will give more licenses to Indian banks”. The two finance ministers also launched a bilateral financial dialogue during which they discussed ways to stem the flow of funds to terrorists. (Posted @ 19:54 PST)
Rebels in India's Assam warn migrants to leave NEW DELHI, Jan 18 (AFP) A separatist group in India's insurgency-hit northeast warned “Hindi-speaking” migrant workers on Thursday to quit the region and threatened to step up violence. The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) also rejected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's renewed offer of talks. (Posted @ 19:35 PST)
Maliki calls for more US arms for Iraqi army LONDON, Jan 18 (AFP) The United States could dramatically and quickly cut its troop presence in Iraq if it provided enough weapons to the country's security forces, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in an interview with a group of foreign correspondents published Thursday. Maliki also rejected claims that his government was on “borrowed time” as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had said, and asked “whether it is borrowed time for the Iraqi government or the American administration.” He also defended the execution of Saddam Hussein, and two of his aides, though he acknowledged that Iraqi authorities had made “mistakes”. He also dismissed accusations that the Baghdad government was being lenient with Shiite militias, telling the reporters that 400 members of the Mahdi Army had been arrested in recent days. (Posted @ 19:32 PST)
US-North Korea talks conclude in Berlin BERLIN, Jan 18 (AFP) The US envoy to six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear arms met for the third time in three days Thursday with his Pyongyang counterpart in hopes of resuming full-scale negotiations later this month, a US embassy spokeswoman here said. She said Thursday's meeting of Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill with North Korean negotiator Kim Kye-gwan would be the last bilateral talks in Berlin ahead of visits to South Korea, China and Japan, who along with the United States and Russia are involved in the six-party negotiations with North Korea. (Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Bangladesh army arrests student leader DHAKA, Jan 18 (AFP) The Bangladesh army has arrested a top student leader and five colleagues as part of a crackdown on suspected “criminals and terrorists”, police said. Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, 25, general secretary of the main opposition Awami League's student wing, and five other senior leaders, were taken from Dhaka University campus. Other arrests included a town council chairman and the four sons of a former member of parliament at Narsingdi, in the outskirts of Dhaka, police added. (Posted @ 19:18 PST)
US defence secretary meets Qatar's emir DOHA, Jan 18 (AFP) US Defence Secretary Robert Gates met in Doha Thursday with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, state media said. The two men discussed “ways of boosting ties between the two countries and developments in the region,” the official QNA news agency reported without giving further details. (Posted @ 19:14 PST)
Iran offers to help train, equip Iraqi forces BAGHDAD, Jan 18 (AFP) Tehran's ambassador to Baghdad said Thursday that Iraq stands ready to help train and equip Iraqi security forces to combat ‘terrorism’. Speaking after talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Hassan Kazemi demanded to be shown “any shred of evidence that Iran is working to destabilize Iraq,” as the United States alleges. The ambassador said that putting more foreign troops into Iraq “shows that the situation is deteriorating…it slows the process of transferring responsibility for security to Iraqi troops just as we need to be moving faster”. (Posted @ 19:02 PST)
US sailor dies in Iraq BAGHDAD, 18 Jan (AFP) A US sailor in southern Iraq died in a non-combat related incident on Tuesday, the US military said Thursday. (Posted @ 17:12 PST)
Rice, Merkel see chance for Middle East peace BERLIN, Jan 18 (AFP) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after the two sides announced a revival of the international quartet for Middle East peace. Rice said that representatives from the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union would meet in Washington on February 2 to discuss ways to end the Middle East conflict. (Posted @ 16:58 PST)
String of car bombs kill 17 in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Jan 18 (AFP) Five car bombs rocked Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 17 and wounding nearly 50 people, officials said. Three car bombs exploded almost simultaneously in the southern district of Dora, leaving 10 people dead and 30 wounded. Four more people were killed, including two policemen, and 11 wounded when another car bomb struck a passing police patrol near in central Baghdad's Sadun Street, a security official added. The fifth car bomb went off in southeastern Baghdad's Khamsara district killing three people and wounding seven. (First Posted @ 10:50 PST, Updated@ 16:25 PST)
Golf-Shabbir takes early lead in Pakistan KARACHI, Jan 18 (AFP) Muhammad Shabbir hit a six-under-par 66 to take the early first-round lead at the Pakistan Open on Thursday. The Pakistani carded six birdies and no bogeys to open up a one-shot lead over Malaysia's Airil Rizman as play continued at Karachi Golf Club. Vivek Bhandari of India shot 68 to lie in joint third alongside compatriots Uttam Singh Mundy and Rahul Ganapathy and Scotland's Barry Hume. Defending champion Chris Rodgers fired 69 to lie joint seventh along with five other players. The 300,000-dollar Pakistan Open is the first event on the 2007 Asian Tour.(Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Pakistan rejects claim Mullah Omar in Quetta ISLAMABAD, Jan 18 (AFP) Pakistan Thursday denied its intelligence service was sheltering Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in the city of Quetta near the Afghan border. “It is an absurd and sheer lie,” top military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said. The claim was made in a video released by Afghanistan's intelligence authority Wednesday by Abul Haq Haqiq, a Taliban spokesman after his arrest in eastern Afghanistan. “The (Taliban) statement appears to have been given under pressure,” said Sultan who is also Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's press secretary. Sultan urged Afghanistan to stop blaming Pakistan for its troubles and sought evidence from Kabul to back up the Taliban spokesman's claims. “We would like to have the evidence so that we can go after these people. Unfortunately by pointing fingers at others the Afghan authorities are simply facing away from the reality. They should try to put their own house in order instead of blaming others,” Sultan said. “There is a mess in their country that they have to resolve, it cannot be solved by pointing accusing fingers at others.”(Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Israeli troops kill Palestinian gunman in Nablus shootout NABLUS, West Bank, Jan 18 (AP) In a gunfight early Thursday, Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Nablus shot dead a Palestinian identified as Mohammed Ramdun, 33, an activist in a group affiliated to President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, Palestinian security officials and paramedics said.(Posted @ 12:45 PST)
Insurgent killed laying bomb in Afghanistan KABUL, Jan 18 (AFP) A man fixing a bomb near an Indian roadworks company in southeastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province was killed when the device exploded ahead of schedule, officials said Thursday. In the southern province of Helmand meanwhile, police reported that three Taliban fighters, including a local commander, were killed in a shootout with Afghan troops on Wednesday.(Posted @ 12:20 PST)
US military drone crashes near Baghdad airport BAGHDAD, Jan 18 (AFP) A US military remote controlled aircraft crashed five miles southeast of Baghdad airport late Wednesday, the military reported Thursday. “The crash does not appear to be from hostile activity. A board will be convened to investigate the incident,” the military said, adding that the crash site was an unpopulated area and caused no collateral damage or injuries.(Posted @ 10:45 PST)
100 insurgents killed in clashes northeast of Baghdad: Iraqi TV BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan 18 (AP) Clashes between Iraqi troops and insurgents Wednesday near the district of Balad Ruz, 70 kilometers northeast of Baghdad left at least 100 insurgents killed, the state-run Iraqiya channel said, quoting the police. Dozens of insurgents also were captured and large amounts of ammunition were seized.(Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Troops shoot and kill four suspected militants in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Jan 18 (AP) Indian forces shot and killed four suspected militants in occupied Kashmir’s Awagam village, some 85 kilometers south of Srinagar Thursday, police said.(Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Mild earthquake rattles parts of Pakistan's Himalayan north; no injuries reported ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan 18 (AP) A mild earthquake rattled parts of Pakistan's northern Himalayan region early Thursday, but there were no reports of any injuries or damage, an official said. The magnitude-4.2 quake at 7:26 a.m. was felt in the towns of Gilgit and Chilas located in the rugged mountainous region, said Nasir Mahmood, an official at the state-run Seismological Center in the northwestern city of Peshawar. The quake was centered in the area where the two towns are located, about 350 kilometers north of Peshawar, Mahmood said.(Posted @ 9:30 PST)
Senators introduce resolution opposing US troop buildup in Iraq WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (AFP) Three top US senators Wednesday slammed President George W. Bush's plan to send 21,000 extra troops to Iraq in a resolution warning the strategy was “not in the national interest of the United States. The draft resolution proposed by Democrats Carl Levin, Joseph Biden and Republican Chuck Hagel, called on the US to “transfer, under an appropriately expedited timeline, responsibility for internal security and halting sectarian violence in Iraq to the government of Iraq and Iraqi security forces. “Congress does not support the plan for escalation because it is based on the false premise that there is a military solution to the violence and instability in Iraq,” Levin, head of the Armed Services Committee, said. New York Senator Hillary Clinton also blasted Bush's plan, saying it would not stem violence. “I do not think that this strategy has a very high level of success at all attached to it… at best, it's a holding pattern,” Clinton said in an interview with NBC television.(Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Northwest Airlines apologizes to Hajj pilgrims DETROIT, Jan 18 (Reuters) Northwest Airlines apologized Wednesday to 40 American Muslims who were barred from a recent flight to Detroit, but denied it discriminated against the group, which was returning from a Hajj pilgrimage, adding that said compensation would be discussed.. He said some of the Muslims got on the flight, while others could not board because they lacked required luggage receipts. The January 7 incident was taken up by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which welcomed the airline's apology, but said the group wanted clarification and compensation. “Northwest has not taken full responsibility,” said the Michigan director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who said he will meet this week with airline representatives.(Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 23.30 points: KARACHI, Jan 18:At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 10640.41 , up 23.30 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Jan 18: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.95 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
The DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Karachi 74200, Pakistan.
Phone:+92 (21) 111-444-777 Fax: +92 (21) 569-3995
webmaster@dawn.com
Make sure to reload these pages so you're viewing the current version.
|
|
|
Contributions |