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| January 27, 2007 | Saturday | Muharram 07, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Peshawar bomb blast kills 14 ISLAMABAD, Jan 28 (Agencies) A powerful bomb blast in Peshawar city’s Qisakhawani bazaar Saturday killed 14 people, including two senior police officers, police and officials said. About 35 people were also injured in the explosion that targeted a police contingent guarding a Moharram procession, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said. Sherpao said “there is no crater in the ground, and it is possible that it was a suicide attack, but we cannot say that with authority at the moment”. He said security forces already on high alert would be further beefed up following the explosion. Most of the victims were police and municipal officials who were clearing the route for a Moharram procession, said police. The procession had yet to begin. Provincial police chief Sharif Virk said that the city police chief officer Malik Saab was among the dead. The blast caused a power outage that left the city center in darkness, complicating rescue efforts. At the bomb site, investigators found what appeared to be two detached legs from a suspected suicide attacker. (First Posted @ 21:10 PST Updated @ 23:10 PST)
Counter improvised explosives device meeting held at GHQ RAWALPINDI, Jan 27 (APP) The 8th Counter Improvised Explosives Device (IED) Working Group Meeting was held here Saturday at the General Headquarters which was participated by delegates from Pakistan Army, Afghan National Army (ANA) and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). In the day long discussions participants dwelt at length on measures to counter the IED threat faced by the civil population as well as security forces on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border. (Posted @ 23:58 PST)
Cricket-Woolmer hits out at Newlands pitch CAPE TOWN, Jan 27 (AFP) Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has a home in Cape Town but he said he had never seen a Newlands pitch like that on which 32 wickets fell on the first two days of the third and final Test. With the series set to be decided early Sunday, Woolmer acknowledged: “South Africa are favourites but we would be stupid to come here tomorrow thinking we had lost the game. We'll certainly be trying.” Woolmer added: “With 32 wickets in two days, it's either extremely bad batting, wonderful bowling or something slightly wrong with the pitch.” (Posted @ 23:26 PST)
U.S. congressional delegation meets President Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan 27 (AP) The leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and her congressional delegation met President Musharraf on Saturday for talks on topics including Afghanistan and cooperation in countering terrorism, officials said. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said that the general told the lawmakers that his government's resolve to fight extremism was “unshakable.” “While noting the importance of military means, he emphasized that the solution lay essentially in a political approach,” the ministry said in a statement. The U.S. delegation “lauded Pakistan's role in the war against terrorism” and “affirmed the strategic importance of U.S.-Pakistan relations,” the statement said. Musharraf told the delegation that it was “in Pakistan's vital interest to have a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.” He also called for strong political and military ties between Islamabad and Washington and asked for U.S. support in tentative peace talks with its archrival and neighbor India, the Foreign Ministry said. (First Posted @ 20:50 PST Updated @ 22:38 PST)
Cricket-South Africa need another 125 to win CAPE TOWN, Jan 27 (AFP) Scoreboard at the close of play on the second day of the third Test between South Africa and Pakistan at Newlands on Saturday: Pakistan, first innings 157, South Africa first innings 183 all out (overnight 131-5, Smith 64, Asif 16-2-53-3, Sami 9-1-41-2, Kaneria 20-6-44-3), Pakistan, second innings 186 (Hameed 35, Sami 31, Steyn 13-3-47-3, Kallis 7-0-36-2, Hall 7-1-23-2, Harris 14.2-2-31-2), South Africa second innings 36-2 (Smith 33 n.o.; Kaneria 2.1-0-2-2) South Africa need another 125 to win. (Posted @ 21:36 PST)
US must explain Mideast military build-up: Russia MOSCOW, Jan 27 (AFP) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday said he would demand an explanation from the United States over its military build-up in the Middle East and criticised Washington for “hardline” policies against Iran. Lavrov said he would discuss Moscow's concerns during a meeting of the international quartet group, which meets in Washington next week to try to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Lavrov also criticised what he said were US threats to bypass the United Nations in taking new measures against Iran's nuclear power programme. (Posted @ 19:16 PST)
Bangladesh warns on new media, rally rules DHAKA, Jan 27 (AFP) Bangladesh has warned that anyone who breaks new media restrictions or a ban on political rallies imposed under emergency rule faces five years in jail. “Any person who breaks these rules can face a maximum five years and a minimum two years of rigorous imprisonment along with fines,” the home ministry said in a notice received on Saturday. The government can “restrict publication or broadcast of any anti-government” articles, cartoons or discussion in print or electronic media under the rules, the notice said. (Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Detained rights activist appears in Pakistani court ISLAMABAD, Jan 27 (AFP) Pakistani police produced a prominent human rights activist in a local court Saturday, a day after he was picked up outside his home by intelligence operatives, officials said. Khalid Khawaja has been charged with possessing banned literature for propagating militancy and inciting hatred against the government, they said. Police sought a 14-day remand of the accused but the court allowed police to keep him in custody for three days for interrogation. “I was just outside my house when intelligence officials grabbed me, covered my face with a piece of cloth and pushed me into a vehicle,” Khawaja told reporters at the court. He said they drove him for an hour before dropping him at a police station. Khawaja's daughter Rabia said on Saturday that police rang the family to inform them he was being held at a police station in the capital but gave no reason of his detention. (Posted @ 18:10 PST)
APHC chief terms Pakistan visit productive LAHORE, Jan 27 (APP) Chairman All Parties Hurriyyat Conference (APHC), Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, on Saturday termed his visit to Pakistan ‘productive’. Talking to newsmen at the Allama Iqbal International Airport upon arrival from Islamabad, he said “we believe that President Musharraf's four point formula can be a good basis to initiate talks for the resolution of the long standing Kashmir issue”. Regarding talks of the APHC delegation with the leadership of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the Mirwaiz said that the Srinagar and Muzaffarabad based working groups would lead to constructive intra-Kashmir dialogue, involving leaders from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). (Posted @ 18:06 PST)
PM Aziz invites international observers for elections DAVOS Jan 27 (APP) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday said the next general elections in Pakistan would be held on schedule in a fair, free and impartial manner and invited international observers to monitor the electoral process. Addressing a breakfast meeting here on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, the prime minister said the parties of the politicians living abroad would also participate in the coming elections. He said PML-N led by Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party of Benazir Bhutto already have their representatives in the present assemblies. But Aziz added that every politician has to face the law of the land and no one was immune from accountability, particularly those who made money by misusing their offices while in power. (Posted @ 17:54 PST)
World Bank chief calls on Prime Minister Aziz DAVOS Jan 27 (APP) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday met the World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz at the World Economic Forum here. The prime minister gave Wolfowitz an overview of Pakistan's economy and initiatives taken by his government to ensure water, food and energy security in the country. Wolfowitz said the World Bank would look at the water requirements of Pakistan and initiate projects to meet the shortage. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Iraq in crossfire between US and Iran: Iraqi VP DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 27 (AFP) Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi warned here Saturday that Iraq must not be caught in any crossfire between neighbouring Iran and the United States. Mahdi, during a debate at the World Economic Forum, also cautioned Iranians not to interfere or provoke US-led forces in Iraq. Former Iranian president Mohamed Khatami, who was taking part in the same debate, said he hoped reports of the US policy to kill or capture Iranians in Iraq were not true, warning that they could lead to an escalation in tensions between Iran and the United States. (Posted @ 17:02 PST)
US air strike kills 14 Iraq militants BAGHDAD, Jan 27 (AFP) US air strikes killed 14 militants in Baquba on Saturday and also destroyed a suspected hideout for foreign fighters, the military said. (Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Attack on Iran would “drag Mideast into hell”: Mussa DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 27 (AFP) Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa, said Saturday that military action against Iran “would bring the whole of the Middle East into hell.” Speaking to AFP, he said: “I said the war in Iraq would open the doors of hell and it did. This time, it would bring the whole of the Middle East into hell itself.” Mussa added that “any military action now anywhere in the Middle East is to be discouraged.” Moussa also called for a six-month deadline to be imposed for the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, stressing that 2007 was a vital year for negotiations “because of presidential elections in the United States in 2008, which would paralyse US involvement in the conflict.” (Posted @ 16:44 PST)
Saudi king sees no immediate risk of sectarian conflict KUWAIT CITY, Jan 27 (AFP) King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said in comments published Saturday that there was no immediate risk of sectarian conflict in the region but said the kingdom's authorities were being vigilant. “(Concerning attempts to) exploit religion and fuel sectarian division between Sunnis and Shiites, we are alert but we don't see it as an (immediate) danger,” the king told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassah. The king also played down the number of Sunni-Shiite conversions in Saudi Arabia. “We are following this issue and are aware of the dimensions of conversion and where it has reached,” the king said. “But we believe this process will not achieve its purposes because the overwhelming majority of Muslims who embrace the Sunni faith will not desert the sect and its doctrine,” he added. (Posted @ 16:42 PST)
Policeman killed, school torched in Thai south YALA, Thailand, Jan 27 (AFP) Insurgents shot dead a policeman and torched a school in the southern Thailand, police said Saturday. A police sergeant was shot and killed while on patrol in Pattani province late Friday, while a wooden building at an elementary school in nearby Yala province was burnt to the ground by insurgents. (Posted @ 14:03 PST)
South African historian Rattray shot dead JOHANNESBURG, Jan 27 (Reuters) South African historian David Rattray was attacked and killed at his home in KwaZulu-Natal Friday, local media reports said Saturday. (Posted @ 14:03 PST)
Quake shakes Indonesia's Sulawesi JAKARTA, Jan 27 (AFP) A magnitude-5.4 earthquake Saturday shook the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of any damage. The quake hit at 3:01 pm and was centred about 95 kilometres northeast of the North Sulawesi provincial capital Manado at a depth of 147 kilometres, the meteorology agency here said. The tremor was felt in Manado. (Posted @ 14:03 PST)
Pakistan recalls Afridi and Nazir for one-day series against South Africa ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan 27 (AP) Pakistan cricket selectors recalled batsmen Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir on Saturday for next month's five one-day internationals against South Africa. (Posted @ 12:48 PST)
Eleven girls dead in Indian school collapse AHMEDABAD, India, Jan 27 (Reuters) Rescue teams on Saturday ended their search through the rubble of a school residence in the western Indian state of Gujarat, which collapsed killing 11 girls and injuring over a dozen, officials said. Parts of a three-storey hostel belonging to the Adarsh Nivas school in Tichakpura village, 300 km south of the state's main city, Ahmedabad, came down Friday, burying many students under mounds of rubble. The residence was home to about 150 girls and 20 teachers. The state government has ordered an inquiry. One mother told a news channel her daughter had warned of the risk of a collapse. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
Pakistan probes Taliban link to Marriott bombing ISLAMABAD, Jan 27 (AFP) Investigators probing the suicide blast at Islamabad’s Marriott hotel said Saturday they are looking at possible links to pro-Taliban extremists fighting government forces near the Afghan border. “We suspect (the attack) could be by militants opposed to the government's drive against Taliban elements in the tribal regions,” a senior security official said requesting anonymity. The pattern of the bombing closely resembled suicide bombings in Afghanistan, where scores of such attacks last year blamed on the Taliban did not cause widespread damage and killed mostly the bombers, he added. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Tennis- Serena destroys Sharapova to win title MELBOURNE, Jan 27 (Reuters) Serena Williams destroyed Russian top seed Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-2 in the Australian Open final Saturday to clinch her eighth grand slam title. Unseeded after a year plagued by injury and dismissed by many as merely a dangerous floater at the start of the tournament, the American made a mockery of the rankings by tearing the U.S. Open champion apart in just 63 minutes on Rod Laver Arena. (Posted @ 10:22 PST)
Head of Iraqi army says U.S. troops will be able to withdraw by 2008 FORT RILEY, Kansas, Jan 27 (AP) Iraqi forces will have sufficient strength and equipment to allow for the withdrawal of most U.S. troops by 2008, the Iraqi army's chief of staff General Babaker B. Shawkat Zebari said Friday during a visit to Fort Riley to observe the training of U.S. transition teams advising Iraqi forces. (Posted @ 10:08 PST)
Gunmen kill five, mortars injure four people in Mogadishu MOGADISHU, Jan 27 (AP) Gunfire and mortar attacks in Somalia's capital killed five people and injured at least four in the latest violence, witnesses said. An Associated Press reporter saw five bodies in open areas of the city with gunshots to their chests. Four mortar attacks overnight injured four people, including a 3-year-old girl, a witness said Friday. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Bush says 'I'm the decision-maker' on Iraq WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) President George W. Bush rebuffed congressional criticism of his Iraq plan Friday by insisting “I'm the decision-maker” and warned Iranians would be stopped if they attacked U.S. or Iraqi forces inside Iraq. Bush, asked about congressional resolutions being prepared in both the House of Representatives and the Senate opposing his plan, made clear he had the authority to carry it out. “One of the things I've found in Congress is that most people recognize that failure would be a disaster for the United States. And in that I'm the decision-maker, I had to come up with a way forward that precluded disaster,” Bush said. (Posted @ 09:49 PST)
Russia slams US sanctions against arms firms MOSCOW, Jan 27 (Reuters) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that U.S. sanctions against Russian arms firms for weapons sales to Iran were unfounded, Interfax news agency reported. Lavrov, speaking in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok, said Russia's delivery of TOR-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran had breached no international laws and that Moscow had asked for an explanation from Washington. “These are defensive, normal weapons not nuclear (weapons). We expressed bewilderment at the sanctions that were imposed…we have asked for an explanation,” Interfax reported Lavrov as saying. (Posted @ 09:32 PST)
Prison riot Guatemala leaves at least one dead GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 27 (AP) Inmates rioted at a prison on the outskirts of the Guatemalan capital Friday leaving at least one person dead before 3,000 riot police and soldiers stormed the penitentiary, authorities said. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Sri Lankan navy foils rebel attack on Colombo port COLOMBO, Jan 27 (AFP) Sri Lanka's navy destroyed a Tamil Tiger rebel boat to prevent an attack on the island's main sea port of Colombo Saturday, the defence ministry said. There were no immediate details of casualties. (Posted @ 09:28 PST)
Fire kills 13 at illegal Chinese plastics workshop BEIJING, Jan 27 (Reuters) A fire at a plastic recycling workshop in south China’s Guangdong province’s Yangwu village killed 13 people and injured five early Friday, state media reported Saturday. Police were investigating the cause of the fire. (Posted @ 09:27 PST)
A least one dead in US Navy helicopter crash in California LOS ANGELES, Jan 27 (AFP) One sailor was killed and three crew were missing Friday after a US Navy helicopter crashed into the sea off the coast of California, military officials said. Naval Air Forces officials said the Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk crashed during a routine training exercise at about 2:30pm, 80 kilometers off the coast of Camp Pendleton, southern California, outside San Diego.(Posted @ 09:00PST)
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