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| March 07, 2007 | Wednesday | Safar 17, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan, India agree to share information on terror attacks ISLAMABAD, March 7 (AFP) Pakistan and India have agreed to share information to prevent terror attacks through a new anti-terrorism panel, a joint statement said Wednesday. The panel, set up to fight terrorism and discuss intelligence-sharing, will meet quarterly, it said. The statement said two sides “agreed that while the anti-terrorism mechanism would meet on a quarterly basis, any information which is required to be conveyed on priority basis would be immediately conveyed through the respective heads of the mechanism.” The South Asian rivals also agreed to exchange specific information to help investigations on either side “related to terrorist acts” and prevention of violence in the two countries, it said. (Posted @ 17:16 PST)
Britain names new head of MI5 spy agency LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) Britain on Wednesday named a new head of its domestic intelligence service, MI5. A Home Office spokesman said Jonathan Evans, previously deputy director general of MI5, would take over on April 8 from Eliza Manningham-Buller, who announced late last year that she was stepping down. (Posted @ 23:18 PST)
Germany's Helmut Schmidt warns of new nuclear age BERLIN, March 7 (Reuters) U.S. plans to install a nuclear missile defence shield in eastern Europe could herald a “new atomic age” and hinder non-proliferation, former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt wrote in a newspaper. In a guest article for Germany's Die Zeit, Schmidt criticised Washington defence policy and said recent moves by former Cold War rivals Russia and the United States to modernise their nuclear weapons sent the wrong message. The U.S. move had sparked a new nuclear arms race and could lead to resentment among non-nuclear nations, Schmidt said, calling on the U.S. government to set a positive example. (Posted @ 23:12 PST)
Major raid targets illegal immigrants near Boston BOSTON, March 7 (Reuters) Federal officials detained 350 suspected illegal immigrants at a Massachusetts factory that made supplies for the U.S. military in one of the biggest such raids in New England, authorities said on Wednesday. Workers who are in the country illegally will be charged and deported, officials said, adding that most of those caught were from Latin America. (Posted @ 23:10 PST)
Three U.S. soldiers killed near Baghdad BAGHDAD, March 7 (Reuters) Three U.S. soldiers were killed and another was wounded by a roadside bomb near Baghdad on Wednesday, the U.S. military said in a statement. (Posted @ 23:08 PST)
Indian troops kill two militants in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, March 7 (Reuters) Indian troops shot dead two militants on Wednesday in an alleged gun battle near a forest in Kupwara district, police said. Three soldiers including an officer were wounded in the firefight, police added. (Posted @ 23:02 PST)
Jurists call for probe of Pakistani disappearances ISLAMABAD, March 7 (Reuters) A team of international jurists called on Wednesday for Pakistan to investigate allegations that many people have disappeared after being taken into custody because of suspected links to terrorism. “A major concern was the accounts given by a number of people of alleged disappearances of suspects who have said to have been arrested by security authorities,” the leader of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists team, Arthur Chaskalson, told a news conference in Islamabad. Chaskalson said he welcomed an assurance from Pakistani authorities that the allegations would be investigated. “They cannot be brushed under the carpet, they are far too serious and there is a need for full investigation,” he said. Chaskalson and his team also met some of the family members of those who have disappeared. (Posted @ 23:00 PST)
Saudi Arabia warns foreigners of possible attacks RIYADH, March 7 (Reuters) Saudi authorities have warned all foreign embassies in the kingdom that a group blamed for last month's killing of four French nationals could strike again, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. (Posted @ 22:58 PST)
Iraq stability hinges on pullout of US forces: Syria DAMASCUS, March 7 (Reuters) Syria will work toward stabilising Iraq but a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops is needed to achieve peace, Syrian Vice-President Farouq al-Shara said on Wednesday after meeting his Iraqi counterpart Tareq al-Hashemi. “The basis for any political process is the preservation of Iraqi unity and independence according to a timetable (for a pullout) that helps achieve total reconciliation,” Shara said. (Posted @ 22:55 PST)
India claims sharp drop in occupied Kashmir “terrorism” SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, March 7 (AFP) The number of “terrorist” related incidents in revolt-hit occupied Kashmir has fallen during the past three years by more than a third, India said Wednesday. The number dropped by 35 percent to 1,667 last year from 2,565 in 2004, according to a written statement submitted by India's junior home minister to the parliament. (Posted @ 22:24 PST)
Commonwealth soldiers fight racism in British army LONDON, March 7 (AFP) A Belize-born British soldier on Wednesday launched a trade union for fellow soldiers from Commonwealth countries to fight what he described as racism within Britain's armed forces. Marlon Clancy, a serving British soldier, told the BBC he was setting up the British Commonwealth Soldiers Union to focus on giving advice to members, as it is legally banned from striking or negotiating. The BBC said the move comes amid complaints of widespread racism, unfair treatment and a lack of welfare support. (Posted @ 22:20 PST)
British Muslim convicted over blasphemous cartoon protest LONDON, March 7 (AFP) A court on Wednesday found a British Muslim man ,Abdul Muhid, guilty of inciting murder during a demonstration last year against the blasphemous Danish cartoons. (Posted @ 22:18 PST)
IBM, Indian tech firm devise smart card for poor BANGALORE, India, March 7 (AFP) US giant IBM and an Indian technology firm said Wednesday they had devised a smart card to help poor entrepreneurs access credit from institutions that lend to the “unbanked.” Small traders who have borrowed from microfinance institutions will be able to take part in fruit and vegetable auctions using the card, without having to take loans from greedy moneylenders, the companies said. The system would be accessed by customers using a fingerprint-enabled smart card, which will serve as both proof of identity and an electronic passbook, the two companies said in a joint statement in Bangalore. (Posted @ 22:16 PST)
India denies allegations of aiding militants in Balochistan NEW DELHI, March 7 (AFP) India on Wednesday denied allegations by Pakistani officials that New Delhi was involved in aiding tribal militants in its Balochistan province. “India has nothing to do with developments in Balochistan,” India's foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in response to Pakistan's charges. Sarna said that New Delhi also shared with Islamabad evidence of terrorist activities in India, but he declined to give details. (Posted @ 22:14 PST)
Paramilitary force to guard Indian capital's metro NEW DELHI, March 7 (AFP) A special paramilitary force will guard the New Delhi metro from next month, taking over from city police in a move that comes two weeks after deadly train blasts in India, an official said Wednesday. The Central Industrial Security Force, which guards airports, refineries and other sensitive areas, will deploy 1,633 armed personnel in the five-year-old metro system, an official for the force said. (Posted @ 22:10 PST)
Seven policemen killed in Baghdad bomb blast BAGHDAD, March 7 (AFP) A car bomb on Wednesday killed seven policemen deployed in southern Baghdad, a security official said. At least 15 policemen and 10 civilians were wounded in the blast. (Posted @ 21:54 PST)
Israel detains dozens in Ramallah raid RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 7 (AFP) Israeli troops firing guns and grenades stormed Palestinian military intelligence headquarters in Ramallah on Wednesday, seizing more than 50 men, Palestinian security sources said. The Palestinian Authority slammed the raid. “This act could have grave consequences and compromise efforts aimed at installing calm,” chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said. The Israeli army said it had also arrested 13 other wanted Palestinians elsewhere in the occupied West Bank. (First Posted @ 11:30 PST Updated @ 21:40 PST)
Govt not involved in Waziristan clash: Durrani ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 7 (AP) A gun-battle between tribesmen and Central Asian militants in South Waziristan shows that Pakistan's shift away from direct military action against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters is paying off, a government minister said Wednesday. Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani said the incident was a “vital development” because it suggested that elders in the semi-autonomous border zone were growing more hostile to foreign fighters who have found refuge in their midst. Durrani denied that the government was involved in instigating the fighting, but said that reconstruction activities and agreements between the government and the tribes “are the background to this. ... It certainly causes a gap between the locals and the militants.” The dead included a senior militant, Durrani said. However, he could not confirm whether fugitive Uzbek militant leader Tahir Yuldash was in the attacked convoy. (Posted @ 21:12 PST)
No progress in Samjhota Express tragedy: Rashid ISLAMABAD, Mar 7 (APP): Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, on Wednesday said that no progress of the Samjhota Express tragedy investigations had so far been communicated to Pakistan. Talking to a private television channel, he said Pakistan will not allow the lackadaisical approach and cold behavior of India in the investigations of a tragedy that involved the deaths of 60 of its innocent citizens. From the very first day India was not cooperating with Pakistan to unearth the truth behind the killings, he said. “In fact they have no evidence, no booking record or any list of passengers present in the two unfortunate coaches,” he said. The Indian authorities refused joint investigations. They did not allow Pakistan railways authorities to conduct any probe into their (Indian) territory. Commenting on a sketch of an unknown accused circulated by the Indian authorities he said it lacked proper identity, proof of citizenship or any passport number. He said it was a figment of their imagination only and had been publicized only to cope with pressure. (Posted @ 20:50 PST)
Cricket: Pakistan and South African players in fire scare PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, March 7 (AFP) Pakistan and South African players were involved in what is believed to be a fire scare and had to file out of their Hilton hotel here early Wednesday as they were having breakfast. Four fire engines were at the scene but no official comment was immediately available.Pakistan paceman Mohammad Sami said he had seen a lot of smoke when evacuating the hotel. “I was on the sixth floor when a security man came to my room and asked me to vacate the hotel,” he said. “I saw a lot of smoke coming out from the corridor so I ran down.” Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq was unfazed by the evacuation, saying he had been told that the team had had to leave the hotel “as a precautionary measure”. (Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Bomb kills one, wounds 13 in Balochistan QUETTA, Pakistan, March 7 (AFP) One person was killed and 13 were wounded when a bomb targeting pro-government tribal elders exploded in Balochistan province on Wednesday, officials said. The bomb was rigged to a motorcycle in Sui town and hit a jeep carrying three tribesmen. The three tribal leaders and four guards traveling with them were wounded in the blast along with seven passers-by, including three children, police said. One passer-by later died in hospital in Sui, a hospital official said. (Posted @ 17:28 PST)
Pakistan tribal clash toll rises to 19 WANA, Pakistan, March 7 (AFP) Pakistani tribal elders led negotiations in South Waziristan region’s Azam Warsak village on Wednesday after fierce gun-battles between Uzbek militants and tribesmen left 19 people dead. “The death toll has risen to 19, from 15 yesterday. The dead include 12 Uzbek militants and three local supporters, three members of local peace committee and one Afghan shopkeeper,” a security official said. “The militants regrouped Tuesday night and torched two residential compounds belonging to Malik Saadullah(a pro-government tribal chief). Militants also abducted six of Saadullah's men but released three of them after a few hours,” the official said. (Posted @ 17:24 PST)
Pakistani's hand severed in Saudi for theft RIYADH, March 7 (AFP) A Pakistani man convicted of theft in Saudi Arabia had his right hand cut off on Wednesday in Medina city, the Saudi interior ministry announced. Mohammad Hajji Gholam was sentenced to have his hand amputated after he was found guilty of theft, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. (Posted @ 17:20 PST)
Cricket-ICC clear Sami and Arafat for World Cup KARACHI, March 7 (Reuters) Pakistan have received International Cricket Council (ICC) approval to include fast bowler Mohammad Sami and all-rounder Yasir Arafat in their World Cup squad, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Wednesday. “We have clearance from the ICC technical committee to replace Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif,” PCB director of cricket operations Saleem Altaf said, adding the replacements had left for the Caribbean and would join the team by Thursday. (Posted @ 17:06 PST)
Iraq death toll rises to nine BAGHDAD, March 7 (AFP) - Iraqi insurgents killed nine more Shiite pilgrims on Wednesday as the toll from the previous day's suicide attack rose to 117, amid fears that a backlash could undermine the US-led Baghdad security plan.The killings continued on Wednesday as -- undaunted -- thousands of pilgrims continued their march of devotion, carrying banners and copies of the Holy Quran and marching hundreds of kilometres to Karbala's revered shrines. An official at Yarmukh hospital in Baghdad said the bodies of eight pilgrims had been brought in overnight -- seven of them blown up by an roadside bomb and one shot -- and that 23 wounded people had been treated. A ninth devotee was killed and three wounded when a group walking on the main highway towards Karbala from Baghdad was raked with gunfire by unknown attackers early on Wednesday, according to another medical source. On Tuesday, meanwhile, a large force of Al-Qaeda militants stormed a prison outside the northern city of Mosul and freed 140 inmates: “They were driving Opel sedans and pick ups. They entered the jail and freed between 140 and 150 prisoners, including Arabs and foreign fighters. A US helicopter arrived and opened fire, killing five escapees, a spokesman said. .At the start of the year Badush jail was holding 1,200 of the most dangerous prisoners in Iraq, including 100 foreign fighters.(Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Indonesia plane inferno kills 23 YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia, March 7 (AFP) -An Indonesian airliner with more than 130 people aboard burst into flames and shot off the runway Wednesday after landing in Yogyakarta city, killing at least 23 people, officials said. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said four people from a party of Australian officials and journalists following his visit to Indonesia were among those unaccounted for. Downer was not on the plane. There was confusion throughout the day over the death toll and even how many people were aboard the doomed jet. A local official put the initial death toll at 49, the airline later said it was 22 and the transport ministry then put it at 23. Garuda said 112 people came out alive, and that all but three had been injured.(Posted @ 15:30 PST)
South Korea's first woman PM steps down SEOUL, March 7 (Reuter) South Korea's first woman prime minister stepped down on Wednesday and returned to her ailing, liberal Uri Party to help boost its chances ahead of December's presidential election. Han Myeong-sook said last month she intended to resign and told reporters upon officially leaving she may consider a run for president herself. She was prime minister for almost a year. President Roh Moo-hyun is expected to name a replacement on Friday, a spokesman told reporters. South Korean media said the person most likely to be the next prime minister is Han Duck-soo, a former finance minister.(Posted @ 14:20 PST)
Six workers including a Pakistani die in wall collapse Doha, March 07 (PPI): At least six Asian expatriate workers, including a Pakistani, two Indians, and a Nepalese were killed when the boundary wall at a construction site in the Education City collapsed on Tuesday, the Gulf Times reported.(Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Quake in western Iran injures 35 TEHRAN, March 7 (Reuters) An earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale hit an area in western Iran Wednesday, injuring 35 people, the IRNA news agency reported. The quake struck near the town of Doroud in Lorestan province.(Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Democratic, Republican bills seek to squeeze Iran's economy WASHINGTON, March 7 (AFP) Senior US lawmakers sought Tuesday to ramp up economic pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, introducing legislation to discourage investment there.House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Lantos said his Iran Counter-Proliferation Act legislation would help “prevent Iran from securing nuclear arms and the means to produce them, and ... ensure that we achieve this goal in a peaceful manner.” ”My legislation will increase exponentially the economic pressure on Iran,” he said, while still encouraging diplomatic overtures between Washington and Tehran. The Lantos bill targets in particular “the corporate barons running giant oil companies,” he said.(Posted @ 10:40 PST)
US refuses to join UN rights council WASHINGTON, March 7 (AFP) The United States will not seek a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, senior officials said Tuesday. “While we continue to remain very engaged on the issue on human rights within the UN system, whether that is the General Assembly or the Security Council, we do not plan this year to run for the human rights council,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns linked the decision to remain off the year-old council to the 47-member panel's stance on Israel, which he said had “discredited” the body.(Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Senate confirms Crocker as U.S. ambassador to Iraq WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) The U.S. Senate Tuesday confirmed Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq. U.S. President George W. Bush nominated Crocker to succeed the current ambassador in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, in a shuffle of advisers announced in January ahead of his latest Iraq strategy. Crocker, a career diplomat, has been Washington's ambassador to Pakistan since November 2004.(Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan OTTAWA, March 7 (AFP) Military officials said a Canadian soldier died Tuesday in Afghanistan.(Posted @ 09:10 PST)
French philosopher Jean Baudrillard dies age 77 PARIS, March 7 (AFP) French sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard, one of Europe's leading postmodernist thinkers and a fierce critic of consumer culture, died Tuesday in Paris at the age of 77. He was a prolific writer and renowned photographer who first attracted worldwide attention in 1991 with the deliberately provocative claim that the Gulf War “did not take place”.Just over a decade on he courted fresh controversy by describing the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States as an expression of “triumphant globalisation battling against itself”. Born in Rheims on July 29, 1929, into a peasant family, he studied German at the Sorbonne, later working as a teacher and translator of Bertolt Brecht before his interests turned to sociology. Baudrillard taught sociology throughout the 1960s and went on to develop a stinging critique of modern society. He was the author of more than 50 works including: “The Mirror of Production,” “Simulacra and Simulation,” “America,” and “The Spirit of Terrorism: And Requiem for the Twin Towers.”(Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 222.45 points: KARACHI, March 07: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 11146.35 , up 222.45 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, March 07: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.73 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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