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| March 02, 2007 | Friday | Safar 12, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Judge hurt, three police killed in Pakistan blast MULTAN, Pakistan, March 2 (AFP) An anti-terrorist judge was wounded and three policemen were killed when a remote-controlled bomb attached to a bicycle exploded in the central Pakistani city of Multan Friday, police said. Judge Bashir Ahmed Bhatti was among nine people injured by the blast around 100 metres away from the court building, district police chief Munir Ahmed Chishti said. Television footage of the blast site showed a white car believed to be the judge's with its front end wrecked by the force of the blast and blood stains on the seats. “A bomb of high intensity was planted on a bicycle in front of a basketball stadium near the court and exploded as the car of the special anti-terrorism court judge passed,” Chishti said. “Two police gunmen died on the spot and another nine people were injured including the judge, six policemen and two bystanders,” Chishti added. An injured policeman later died at a local hospital, a doctor said, adding that three wounded policemen are in a serious condition. (First Posted @ 09:45 PST, Updated @ 11:41 PST)
MNAs, MPAs of PPP-Patriots join PML-Q ISLAMABAD, MARCH 02 (PPI) Parliamentarians belonging to the Pakistan People’s Party-Patriots (PPP-Patriots) on Friday announced their decision to join the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) party. The announcement was made in the presence of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in a press conference at the PML House here. Those who joined the ruling party include Dr Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, Raza Hayat Hiraj, Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Ch Norez Shakoor, Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Sardar Faiz Timmon, Azhar Khan Yousafzai, Asad Murtaza Gillani, Zaheer Abbass Khokhar and Aamer Hayat Waran. Four MPAs of the Patriot Group including Sardar Manzoor Khan Panwar, Syed Manzor Hussain Shah, Abdur Razzaq Mehr and Asia Tariq also joined PML-Q ranks. Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister said “Patriots are now the members of the Pakistan Muslim League…We will move forward shoulder by shoulder for the general elections to ensure party success”. (First Posted @ 21:00 PST Updated @ 21:24 PST)
Cricket: Sonn stays, ICC succession race unresolved CAPE TOWN, March 2 (AFP) The succession battle for the presidency of the International Cricket Council remained unresolved Friday at the same time as current president Percy Sonn agreed to stay in the post for an extra year. It was announced after an ICC board meeting in Cape Town, Sonn's home city, that a nominations committee was deadlocked on whether David Morgan of England or Sharad Pawar of India, should be the next president. The decision was referred to a governance review committee for further discussion. The board also decided that match referees will in future be responsible for terminating matches in cases such as the controversial final Test between England and Pakistan last year when the umpires awarded the match to England after Pakistan failed to return to the field following a controversy over alleged ball tampering. (Posted @ 21:22 PST)
President Musharraf condemns Multan blast ISLAMABAD, Mar 2 (APP) President General Pervez Musharraf strongly condemned Friday's bomb blast in Multan in which three people were killed and eight including an ATC Judge were injured. He expressed his condolences to the aggrieved families of the victims. (Posted @ 21:18 PST)
Cricket: Pakistan duo escaped dope tests, says Speed CAPE TOWN, March 2 (AFP) Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif escaped an International Cricket Council drugs test when they were not selected for the Cricket World Cup, ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said Friday. Speed said: “If they had been selected the intention was that those players would have been target tested…The fact that they weren't selected means that they won't be tested. The target testing will continue but it will involve other players.” Asked whether Akhtar and Asif would be required to undergo tests before playing further international cricket, Speed said the ICC did not have the power to test players outside of ICC events. “The next ICC event (after the World Cup) is the Twenty20 world championships in South Africa in September and I can't speculate on that,” he added. (Posted @ 21:16 PST)
India, Pakistan to reduce troops in Kashmir: Mirwaiz SRINAGAR, March 2 (Agencies): Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq on Friday claimed that India and Pakistan have agreed to reduce troops on both sides of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region. "We are happy that India and Pakistan have agreed on withdrawal of troops from Jammu and Kashmir and Azad Kashmir (PoK) which would be the first step towards resolution of the Kashmir issue," the Mirwaiz said in his sermon at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar after Friday prayers, PTI reported. He said that during a recent meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri in Delhi, the Hurriyat delegation was told that the two countries were working out modalities of troop withdrawal from either side of the Line of Control. "We want to assure both India and Pakistan that Hurriyat will extend its full support and cooperation in pushing forward the peace process," he added. (Posted @ 21:12 PST)
Strongman crowned ruler in war-ravaged Chechnya MOSCOW, March 2 (AFP) Lawmakers in Chechnya on Friday overwhelmingly approved Moscow's favoured candidate, Ramzan Kadyrov, as the new president of the war-ravaged southern Russian province. (Posted @ 20:32 PST)
Six die in US bus crash: report WASHINGTON, March 2 (AFP) A bus carrying a US college baseball team toppled off a highway ramp on Friday in Atlanta, killing at least six people and seriously injuring nine others, US media reported. Police said 29 other people were injured. (Posted @ 20:26 PST)
Kosovo talks end without agreement: UN envoy VIENNA, March 2 (AFP) Serbs and ethnic Albanian representatives remain “diametrically opposed” on the future of Kosovo, UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari said Friday as week-long talks on the Serbian province's status ended in Vienna without agreement. Ahtisaari said he was ready to review the text of his proposal on the status of Kosovo, taking into consideration comments made during the past week of negotiations, and send it to Belgrade and Pristina before a final meeting on March 10. (Posted @ 20:24 PST)
Six powers agree on framework for UN resolution on Iran PARIS, March 2 (AFP) The United States, four European powers and China have agreed on the framework for a new UN resolution toughening sanctions on Iran, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Friday. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany are “fully in agreement on the framework of a new resolution”, said Douste-Blazy. The breakthrough came during a telephone conference call held Thursday between political directors from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. (First Posted @ 09:05 PST Updated @ 20:22 PST)
Baghdad bomb kills two US soldiers, interpreter BAGHDAD, March 2 (AFP) A roadside bomb killed two US soldiers and an interpreter on Friday as they patrolled Baghdad, the military said. Earlier, the military had reported that a US marine had been killed on Wednesday in western Iraq. (First Posted @ 11:30 PST Updated @ 20:20 PST)
Indian army airlifts thousands stranded on Kashmir highway SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, March 2 (AFP) India's air force has airlifted to safety more than 5,000 people stranded for days in sub-zero temperatures on a Himalayan highway by avalanches and landslides, officials said Friday. Nearly 2,000 others stuck on the highway in occupied Kashmir were able to start up their vehicles late Friday as labourers and engineers cleared the way, using bulldozers, snow removal machines and shovels. Seven planes were used in the rescue operation. (Posted @ 20:16 PST)
Al-Fayed wins court battle to have jury at Diana inquest LONDON, March 2 (AP) The millionaire owner of Harrods department store won a court battle Friday to have a jury at the inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and his son, Dodi Fayed. In an unusual ruling, three senior judges at London's High Court overturned a decision by the deputy royal coroner that she would sit alone, without a jury, in determining what caused the deaths of the pair in an August 1997 car crash in Paris. (Posted @ 16:24 PST)
Militants claim kidnapping 18 Iraqi govt workers BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 2 (AP) The Islamic State of Iraq militant group on Friday claimed that it had kidnapped 18 government workers and soldiers in retaliation for the alleged rape of a woman by members of an Iraqi police force. Seven of the hostages were shown in an internet post wearing Iraqi military uniforms, and all had their hands tied behind their backs. Also Friday, reports emerged of fierce clashes between militants and residents of the village of Amiriyat near Fallujah. The U.S. military also said Friday that eight suspected militants were killed a day earlier in a raid in Salman Pak, just southwest of Baghdad. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Indian troops kill militant in occupied Kashmir RINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, March 2 (AFP) A militant commander was shot dead along with his bodyguard during an alleged gun-battle with Indian troops late Thursday in Morha Daraj village, police said Friday. Police said Mohammed Yasin was a top commander of the Hizbul Mujahedin group. (Posted @ 15:55 PST)
Fifty feared dead in Nigerian ferry capsize: report LAGOS, March 2 (AFP) At least 50 people were feared dead when a ferry sank on Wednesday afternoon in the southern Nigerian state of Bayelsa, state media reported Friday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said rescue workers had so far recovered three bodies. (Posted @ 15:53 PST)
Egyptians with Sinai observer force die in crash ISMAILIA, Egypt, March 2 (Reuters) Nine Egyptians, including eight engineers working for the multinational peace monitoring force in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, were killed in a road crash, security sources said Friday. The sources said the deaths occurred Thursday night after a truck that was crossing a Sinai road collided with two vehicles including a taxi carrying the engineers out of Sinai for a work break. (Posted @ 14:53 PST)
Attack on British Iraq base causes fire BAGHDAD, March 2 (AFP) A shell or rocket attack on a British base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra set fire to a fuel dump overnight but caused no casualties, a military spokeswoman said Friday. “There was a fire caused by an IDF (indirect fire) attack on the Shatt al-Arab Hotel last night. No personnel were injured and the fire burnt itself out,” she told AFP by telephone. (Posted @ 14:40 PST)
Sri Lanka war planes bomb suspected Tiger camp COLOMBO, March 2 (AFP) Sri Lankan war planes bombed a suspected Tiger rebel camp in the northeast Friday as part of an increased offensive against the guerrillas, a defence official said. “Using MIG 27 jet planes, the air force took Tiger targets in the Thoppigala jungles,” military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said. (Posted @ 14:40 PST)
Fourteen police missing in Iraq's Diyala BAGHDAD, March 2 (Reuters) Fourteen Iraqi police from a rapid reaction force based in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, went missing after leaving their base Thursday to go on leave, a police source in Diyala said Friday. (Posted @ 14:35 PST)
Twelve Taliban killed in Afghanistan KABUL, March 2 (AFP) The NATO force in Afghanistan said Friday its soldiers and warplanes had killed 12 Taliban in a battle in the south while a “known terrorist” was arrested separately. The battle was in Zabul province Tuesday and kicked off when 30 militants attacked an ISAF and Afghan patrol with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades, ISAF said in a statement. The military struck back with heavy-weapons fire and close air support, it said. An ISAF soldier was wounded. The US-led coalition announced meanwhile it arrested a “known terrorist” and seven other people Friday suspected of “aiding terrorist fighters and facilitating terrorist operations” in Paktika province. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Eleven French, three Britons missing in Ethiopia ADDIS ABABA, March 2 (AFP) Eleven French nationals and three Britons have been missing in northern Ethiopia for more than 24 hours, an official from the tour operator they were travelling with, Origins Ethiopia, said Friday. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
US senators urge pressure on Musharraf over Qaeda WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) Members of the Senate Thursday urged the Bush administration to consider ways of taking military action against al Qaeda camps in Pakistan if President Pervez Musharraf is incapable of acting on his own. Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee pressed Defence Department officials to clarify whether international law would allow U.S. forces in Afghanistan to strike in areas of Pakistan where U.S. intelligence says al Qaeda is rebuilding. Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama suggested the United States could act under the same legal argument used to justify the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Taliban rule in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. (Posted @ 12:05 PST)
Allied convoy in Afghanistan struck by blasts KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, March 2 (Reuters) A convoy carrying Western troops was struck by at least three blasts Friday as it passed through the Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, witnesses said. Residents did not know whether there were any casualties, or what caused the blasts on a road in Tirin Kot, capital of Uruzgan province. Villagers in Garmser district of Helmand said NATO troops clashed with gunmen Friday, but gave no other details. (Posted @ 11:58 PST)
U.S. pressure could destabilize Pakistan: Ambassador Durrani WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) U.S. pressure, including congressional threats to cut or put conditions on billions of dollars in aid, could destabilize Pakistan and maybe even bring down President Pervez Musharraf, Islamabad's envoy to Washington said Thursday. In an interview with Reuters, Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani expressed concern that anti-terrorism cooperation among the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan was eroding and rejected what he said were attempts to unfairly blame Islamabad for an upsurge in cross-border violence. Tampering with U.S. aid levels will fan anti-Americanism, strengthen the extreme right and Taliban supporters, be counterproductive, and “create problems for Musharraf to be able to continue the way he is,” Durrani said. Asked if it might trigger Musharraf's ouster, he replied: “I don't know. Possibly it could bring him down. It could destabilize the whole country…cause mega-problems there. That is possible”. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Nineteen dead as tornadoes tear through southern US NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, March 2 (AFP) Nineteen people were killed as tornadoes and severe storms ripped through the southern United States Thursday, with 13 of the victims at an Alabama school, the White House said. (Posted @ 08:45 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 74.44 points: KARACHI, March 02: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 11133.35, down 74.44 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:02 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, March 02: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.7 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:02 PST)
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