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| February 03, 2007 | Saturday | Muharram 14, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Musharraf calls for eradication of terrorism, extremism OKARA, Feb 3 (APP) President General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday called terrorism and extremism as threats to development and prosperity in the country. “If we do not eliminate extremism, terrorism and sectarianism from the society, we would not be able to provide better health and educational facilities to the common man,” the said while addressing a public gathering here after the inauguration of the Okara-Depalpur bypass. He deplored the recent suicide bombings in the country, as steps to create religious turmoil. “Some elements involved in suicide attacks, consider themselves better Muslims as compared to others and risk the lives of innocent people, which is totally against the spirit of Islam,” he said. The president urged people to identify such extremists, who incite people and use places of worship to fan hatred towards others. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
127 killed in Baghdad market blast BAGHDAD, Feb 3, (AFP) - At least 127 people were killed and 305 wounded on Saturday in the biggest attack so far this year in Iraq when a suicide truck bomb slammed into the central Baghdad district of Al-Sadriya, a security source said. The blast sent a long plume of thick grey smoke into the air just before dusk, a time when markets are usually crowded with shoppers out for food ahead of the night-time curfew. The head of bomb squad at Baghdad's interior ministry said the truck was packed with one tonne of explosives. (First Posted @ 21:20 PST Updated @ 23:38 PST)
Russian forces kill four rebels near Chechnya MOSCOW, Feb 3, (REUTERS) - Russian military forces killed at least four rebels on Saturday during a special operation in the turbulent region of Ingushetia near Chechnya, media reported. Interfax news agency quoted the interior ministry as saying troops briefly fought a group of militants holed up in a flat in the town of Malgobek in the northwestern part of Ingushetia. (Posted @ 23:20 PST)
Afghanistan could become exporter of terror, says NATO chief MADRID, Feb 3, (AFP) - Afghanistan runs the risk of becoming an exporter of terrorists if a NATO mission in the country fails, the organisation's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Saturday. (Posted @ 23:00 PST)
Fatah, Hamas agree to renew Gaza truce GAZA, Feb 03, (Agency) - Senior officials from rival Fatah and Hamas factions agreed on Saturday to pull their gunmen off the streets of Gaza and halt bloodshed which has killed 23 Palestinians in the last three days. (Posted @ 22:26 PST)
Pakistan to be made stronger: PM Aziz FATEHJANG, Feb 3 (APP) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday said the present government is committed towards making Pakistan a strong, vibrant and developed country. Addressing a public meeting here after inaugurating a gas supply project to the Hattar-Qutbal area, Aziz said that President Musharraf will contest the presidential elections, which would be held this year according to the constitution. Regarding his own strategy for the coming general elections, he said “I will again contest the election from this area”, and expressed hope that people will again repose their confidence in him. He informed that the construction work on a new International Airport at Fatehjang had been started. He also announced that new machinery will be provided to the Fatehjang hospital, and a water filtration plant will be installed in the area. He also said that new model villages will be constructed in Attock district and solar energy will be utilized to generate electricity for the inhabitants of the area. (Posted @ 20:14 PST)
Egypt photographers protest ousting from parliament CAIRO, Feb 3 (AFP) Egypt's news photographers staged a protest in downtown Cairo on Saturday protesting their exclusion from parliament following the snapping of an unflattering picture of the prime minister eating watermelon. Some 30 photographers from Egyptian newspapers and international wire agencies laid their cameras out on the steps and carried banners reading, “We are your lens, don't shut us out” and, “Our cameras reveal your violations.” (Posted @ 19:44 PST)
Nineteen crushed to death in Mumbai accident MUMBAI, Feb 3 (AFP) At least 19 labourers were crushed to death Saturday when a warehouse wall they were building collapsed near Mumbai, police said. (Posted @ 19:42 PST)
Iran shows nuclear conversion plant ISFAHAN, Iran, Feb 3 (AFP) Iran on Saturday opened doors to its nuclear conversion plant in a show of transparency. A delegation of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Group of 77 representatives arrived at the uranium conversion facility in the central city of Isfahan together with foreign and Iranian journalists for a guided tour. (Posted @ 19:40 PST)
Curfew in three Iraqi cities BAGHDAD, Feb 3 (AFP) Iraq imposed curfew on three cities Saturday, including the oil rich northern city of Kirkuk, the northern town of Samarra and the restive city of Mosul, police said. (Posted @ 19:38 PST)
Killing of bin Laden in-law was political: brother DUBAI, Feb 3 (AFP) The killing in Madagascar of a Saudi brother-in-law of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was “politically motivated” and Madagascar “sold him” to intelligence services, his brother claimed in remarks published on Saturday. The Saudi government expressed regret at the murder and authorities carried out an autopsy on businessman Jamal Khalifa's body after its repatriation, a Saudi paper reported. (Posted @ 19:38 PST)
Protester dies in Nepal ethnic violence KATHMANDU, Feb 3 (AFP) Police killed one protester on Saturday in new clashes in southeastern Nepal, bringing to 14 the number of people killed in two weeks of ethnic violence, an official said. The death came as the group representing the Mahadhesi ethnic community demanded that the region be turned into an autonomous state to end the unrest. (Posted @ 19:02 PST)
German chancellor arrives in Egypt CAIRO, Feb 3 (AFP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Cairo Saturday for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the start of a regional tour hoping to nudge along the Middle East peace process. Merkel, whose nation holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, was to discuss with Mubarak ways to re-energise the role of the Quartet, comprising the EU, the United Nations, Russia and the United States, in the peace process. (Posted @ 18:58 PST)
Four U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb 3 (AP) Two U.S. soldiers were killed in fighting Friday in Anbar province, the military said Saturday in a statement. Ten U.S. troops have been killed so far in the first three days of February, according to the military, including two who died in a helicopter crash Friday northwest of Baghdad. (First Posted @ 09:18 PST Updated @ 17:26 PST)
Sri Lanka president offers peace talks to Tigers VAKARAI, Sri Lanka, Feb 3 (AFP) Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapkse offered fresh peace talks on Saturday and asked Tiger rebels to lay down weapons as he visited this former guerrilla-held town. The president said he was ready to offer a political package to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to end the island's decades-old separatist campaign, but the rebels must start decommissioning arms. (Posted @ 15:27 PST)
Tennis: Hingis beats third seed in Pan Pacific Open TOKYO, Feb 3 (AFP) Former world number one Martina Hingis beat defending champion Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday for a place in the final of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament against Ana Ivanovic. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Senior official arrested in occupied Kashmir murder case SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Feb 3 (AFP) Indian police in occupied Kashmir arrested a top officer Saturday on murder charges after a Kashmiri carpenter was falsely identified as an insurgent and killed in a fake encounter, an official said. Senior Superintendent of Police Hans Raj Parihar was the head of the Special Operations Group in Gandherbal district near Srinagar. The murder of the carpenter was among the cases of at least four civilians killed in fake gunbattles in Gandherbal district that police are investigating. (Posted @ 15:19 PST)
Nine killed in Iraq attacks TIKRIT, Iraq, Feb 3 (AFP) At least nine people were killed on Saturday in a series of attacks across Iraq, including six police commandos shot dead near the northern town of Samarra, security officials said. A group of gunmen attacked a police checkpoint early Saturday, killing six commandos and wounding another six, police said. After the attack an indefinite curfew was imposed on Samarra. A series of explosions were also reported from the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police said. In one of the attacks - a suicide car bombing - a civilian was killed and 16 others were wounded, police said. A car bomb was also reported from the town of Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, in which one person was killed and nine others wounded, police said. Another person was killed and four wounded in clashes between insurgents and civilians in the village of Kharnabat in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. Police from Baquba, the provincial capital of Diyala, said the clashes started since late Friday and continued into Saturday. (Posted @ 14:48 PST)
Suspected suicide bomber kills two soldiers in Pakistan DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Feb 3 (AFP) A suspected suicide bomber Saturday crashed his explosives-filled car into a military convoy, killing two soldiers and injuring six others in northwestern Pakistan’s town of Tank, some 60 kilometres west of here on a main road, police said. “A suspected suicide bomber rammed his explosives-filled car into military vehicles. Two soldiers were killed and six others injured,” senior police official Mohammad Khan said. (Posted @ 14:15 PST)
Man killed by own bomb in northwest Pakistan DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Feb 3 (AFP) A man trying to plant a bomb outside a video shop in a northwestern Pakistani town was killed Saturday when it exploded prematurely, police said. The blast occurred in the morning in a main market in the town of Lakki Marwat, some 70 kilometres northeast of here, killing the suspected bomber and damaging nearby shops, senior police official Ashraf Zaman said. “The body of the bomber was blown up into pieces but his bearded face remained intact,” he said. (Posted @ 14:15 PST)
Tajikistan jolted by moderate earthquake PESHAWAR, Feb 3 (APP) Tajikistan was hit by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale early Saturday. According to Seismological Network of Pakistan Meteorological Department here, the earthquake originated at 0302 hours and its epicenter was about 600 kilometers North of Peshawar in Tajikistan. (Posted @ 11:39 PST)
Pentagon official for Guantanamo detainees quits over remarks WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (AFP) A senior Pentagon official responsible for Guantanamo detainees resigned Friday over his public criticism last month of lawyers who defended the prisoners, a Pentagon spokesman said. Cully Simon, deputy assistant secretary of defence for detainee affairs, “did submit his resignation and (Defence) secretary (Robert) Gates accepted it,” said Bryan Whitman. In a Federal News Radio interview on January 11, Simon said he found it “shocking” that major US law firms were rushing to defend “terrorists” locked up at the US facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Posted @ 10:34 PST)
Death toll from Philippine tanker blast reaches 50 PAGADIAN, Philippines, Feb 3 (AFP) The death toll from the explosion of a tanker truck in the southern Philippines’ town of Tigbao has risen to 50 with at least 41 wounded, the local army commander said Saturday. (Posted @ 10:31 PST)
2008 Democratic hopefuls call for Iraq war's end WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) Six Democratic presidential hopefuls courted party leaders Friday with calls to end the Iraq war but offered divergent views on how to do it, saying the debate would be a crucial test of Democratic leadership. In separate appearances before nearly 400 members of the Democratic National Committee and hundreds of other activists who jammed a hotel ballroom, the 2008 White House contenders said Democrats in Congress must find a way to pressure President George W. Bush to stop the war. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York promised to bring U.S. troops home if she was elected to the White House. The three early favorites in the Democratic race - Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards - drew the warmest ovations. Obama avoided easy applause lines with a quiet, sober speech calling for an end to political cynicism. (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Violence over alleged vote fraud leaves 100 dead in Congo: rights group KINSHASA, Congo, Feb 3 (AP) Nearly 100 people died and 30 others were wounded this week in clashes that erupted when demonstrators protesting alleged electoral fraud rampaged through several towns and security forces tried to restore order, rights groups and humanitarian organizations said. Dolly Ibefo of the rights group Voice for the Voiceless said Friday the deaths - mostly demonstrators shot by police or soldiers - had occurred since Monday in several towns in southwestern Bas Congo province. The protests were led by Bundu Dia Kongo, a group that supports Jean-Pierre Bemba. (Posted @ 09:49 PST)
Bush appoints new arms control head at State Department WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (AP) President George W. Bush announced the nomination Friday of veteran arms control expert John Rood to replace Robert Joseph as the State Department's senior nonproliferation official. Rood is serving in a senior arms control position at the State Department and played a similar role earlier at the National Security Council. (Posted @ 09:38 PST)
Six women arrested in protest at Oregon military recruiting centre PORTLAND, Oregon, Feb 3 (AP) Police arrested six women as they blocked access to a military recruiting centre to protest President George W. Bush's decision to increase troops in Iraq. The protesters sat in front of the recruiting centre Friday and refused to let anyone in or out, and some used wheelchairs as props, a spokeswoman for the Surge Protection Brigade said. ''We decided to prevent them from coming up with those troops,'' she said, referring to Bush's ''surge'' strategy to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. ''We want to stop the recruiting of our valuable young people in this country to a place they don't belong.'' (Posted @ 09:36 PST)
Police officer killed in riots at soccer match in Italy ROME, Feb 3 (AP) A police officer was killed when fans rioted at a soccer match, prompting the Italian soccer federation to postpone all league matches this weekend and cancel next week's friendlies involving the national teams. Fans at the Serie A match between Sicilian sides Catania and Palermo rioted outside Catania's Angelo Massimino stadium during the second half Friday. Police said the officer died after an explosive device was thrown inside his vehicle. The violence continued after the game, trapping hundreds of fans inside the stadium as authorities sought to avoid further violence and stop people from leaving. (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Forest fires in central China kill seven BEIJING, Feb 3 (AP) Two forest fires, including one started by villagers who were trying to clear weeds Friday, killed a total of seven people in central China, a news report said Saturday. Villagers who set fire to weeds to clear a hillside near Hengyang, a city in Hunan province, started a blaze that killed five villagers and destroyed 27 hectares of forest, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The second blaze, also in Hunan, killed two people between the cities of Loudi and Changsha. (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
19 dead as tornado, thunderstorms wreak havoc in Florida LADY LAKE, Florida, Feb 3 (AFP) Deadly thunderstorms and a tornado levelled homes and cut power in central Florida Friday, killing at least 19 people. “There are 13 (fatalities) in Paisley and six in Lady Lake,” a spokesman for Lake County said. (Posted @ 09:17 PST)
Earthquake measuring 5.5 hits northern China BEIJING, Feb 3 (AFP) An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck China's northern Qinghai province Saturday, geologists said. The quake struck at 6:30 am, 195 miles north of Golmud, in Qinghai, at a depth of 10 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. (Posted @ 09:17 PST)
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