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| March 22, 2007 | Thursday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Benazir, Nawaz Sharif talk to media LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) Exiled former leaders of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif said Wednesday they were deeply worried by the suspension of Pakistan’s Chief Justice and accused western leaders of hypocrisy in tolerating Pakistan's “military dictatorship”. They said a judicial crisis in Pakistan has cast doubt on promised elections in the country. They pointed out that while NATO troops in Afghanistan were being killed in the fight to restore democracy, Britain and the United States among others winked at Musharraf's assault on the institutions of their country. “If democracy must be defended in Afghanistan, then democracy in Pakistan must be defended, too,” Benazir told reporters after two hours of talks with Nawaz Sharif in London. “It is important for the international community to stop turning a blind eye.” “We have some very serious constitutional issues coming up - whether the president can be re-elected, whether he can also be the chief of army staff and whether former prime ministers can return,” Bhutto said. “Many people believe that the chief justice of Pakistan was forcibly removed because he could not be relied upon to rubber stamp the desires of the current regime.” “We have jointly decided to struggle against this military dictatorship and do everything within our means to stop the brutalities Mr Musharraf is committing against institutions in Pakistan,” Sharif said on Wednesday. He said he and Benazir felt let down by western leaders who said the question of allowing former prime ministers back into Pakistan was an internal matter. “The double standards are there,” he said. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Pakistan tests nuclear-capable cruise missle ISLAMABAD, March 22 (Reuters) Pakistan successfully tested on Thursday a nuclear-capable cruise missile with a range of 700 kilometres, the military said in a statement. The Hatf V11 Babur missile is a terrain-hugging, radar avoiding cruise missile capable of carrying a variety of warheads including nuclear, it said. “The flight data collected validated the design parameters set for the flight test,” the military said. “It is a highly manoeuvrable missile with pin-point accuracy.” The missile was first tested in 2005. Since then, its range has been enhanced to 700 km, from 500 km previously, the military said. President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz congratulated scientists and engineers involved and assured them of complete support in development plans of all strategic projects, the military said. (FirstPosted @ 10:00 PST, Updated (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
US sees no threat to Musharraf over judicial crisis WASHINGTON, March 22 (AFP) Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf faces no immediate threat to his rule despite violent protests over his removal of a top judge, a senior US State Department official said Wednesday. “I don't think it's too much of a question of (Musharraf) being toppled or serious unrest in country,” the official said when asked whether Washington was concerned that growing protests could lead to the military ruler's overthrow. “It doesn't seem that way at the moment. I don't see any signs of that,” said the official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Cricket- Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 93 runs KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 22 (AFP) Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 93 runs Wednesday to put minnows Ireland through to the World Cup Super Eights. Pakistan piled up 349 before bowling out Zimbabwe for 99 in their Group D clash at Sabina Park to take the tie on the Duckworth-Lewis method. Brief scores: Pakistan: 349 off 49.5 overs (Imran Nazir 160, Inzamam-ul-Haq 37, Iftikhar Anjum 32, Younis Khan 28; Elton Chigumbura 3-50, Gary Brent 3-68). Zimbabwe: 99 off 19.1 overs (Elton Chigumbura 27; Danish Kaneria 3-20, Umar Gul 2-10, Danish Kaneria 2-48). (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Iran navy launches Gulf war games TEHRAN, March 22 (AFP) The Iranian navy launched military exercises in the Gulf on Thursday in a display of the Islamic republic's “power and defence capability”, the naval chief said. The exercises, codenamed “Power,” will run until March 30.(Posted @ 21:50 PST)
Govt to accept whatever decision SJC takes: PM Aziz ISLAMABAD, Mar 22 (APP) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday said that the government believes in the supremacy of the constitution and law, and will accept the decision of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on the Presidential reference against Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. “The Supreme Judicial Council is the ultimate body to look at such issues and whatever they decide, we will stand by it”, the prime minister said while talking to a Singaporean media delegation here at the PM House. “Let the institutions of the state review the situation in this particular case and give their judgment, and we will implement whatever it is”, Aziz stressed.In response to a question regarding the country's political situation, Aziz maintained that the next general elections will be held on schedule.(Posted @ 21:45 PST)
Justice Bhagwandas appointed Acting Chief Justice ISLAMABAD, Mar 22 (APP) The senior most judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan after Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Rana Bhagwandas has been appointed Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan here on Thursday by the President. The official notification issued by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights here on Thursday said: “In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 180 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President is pleased to appoint Mr.Justice Rana Bhagwandas, the most senior judge of the Supreme Court, to act as the Chief Justice of Pakistan with effect from the date he resumes his office.” Justice Baghwandas will take oath on Saturday. According to Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Javed Iqbal ,Judge, Supreme Court of Pakistan, will administer the oath in a ceremony scheduled to be held ar the Ceremonial Hall of the Supreme Court Registry, Karachi.(Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Cricket: Pakistan players questioned over Woolmer KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 22 (AFP) Pakistan's World Cup players were being questioned on Thursday as the investigation into the death of Bob Woolmer became embroiled in a fevered round of speculation and denial. “We're going through a process of speaking to people, including members of the team,” said Mark Shields, the deputy chief commissioner of the Jamaican police force. Pakistan team is due to leave for home on Saturday after spending two days in Montego Bay. Meanwhile, the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper said a “high-ranking police officer” had confirmed that fresh evidence has surfaced which suggested that Woolmer was strangled in his room at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel between Saturday night and Sunday morning. According to the police officer, Woolmer was found half naked in his room, partially wrapped in a towel, the newspaper said. The newspaper also quoted unnamed sources close to the investigation as saying that bones in the lower part of Woolmer's face were broken, suggesting he had been strangled. Pakistan team spokesman Pervez Mir dismissed the suggestions. “I'm afraid I cannot count these as accurate because the Jamaican police force hasn't given us official information as to what were the causes of Bob's death,” Mir said.(Posted @ 21:15 PST)
Pakistan honors late Woolmer with highest civil award ISLAMABAD, March 22 (AFP) Pakistan said on Thursday it would confer its highest civil award on late national cricket coach Bob Woolmer, officials said. President Pervez Musharraf conveyed the decision to Gill Woolmer, the widow of the coach, in a condolence letter he sent to her on Thursday, an official said. “The sudden passing away of the much respected and loved coach of Pakistan cricket team deeply grieved me, just as it did the entire Pakistani nation,” Musharraf said in the letter. “In recognition of his valuable contribution in the field of sports the government of Pakistan has decided to honor Mr Bob Woolmer with the civil award of Sitara-i-Imtiaz (star of distinction).” Officials said the posthumous award is expected to be received by Woolmer's widow in the Pakistani capital on August 14 on the occasion of the country's 60th Independence Day.(Posted @ 21:10 PST)
Cricket: Woolmer's widow says murder a 'possibility' LONDON, March 22 (AFP) The widow of the late Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer on Thursday said in an interview with Britain's Sky News television that there was a “possibility” her husband was murdered. “I suppose there is always the possibility,” she said, apparently contradicting statements she made to Indian television late Wednesday in which she dismissed the possibility of a conspiracy or a match-fixing link. “I mean some of the cricketing fraternity, fans are extremely volatile and passionate about the game and what happens in the game, and also a lot of it in Asia, so I suppose there is always the possibility that it could be that.”(Posted @ 19:30 PST)
Six militants killed in ambush in Pakistan WANA, Pakistan, March 22 (Reuters) Pakistani tribesmen killed four Uzbek militants and two tribesmen in an ambush as they were taking weapons to their comrades in Chinay Kho village near the Afghan border, security officials said. “All of them were killed on the spot,” said an official in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan. Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said there had been sporadic firing in some other areas but there were no reports of casualties.(Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Pakistan lawyers rally, inquiry ordered into beatings PESHAWAR, Pakistan, March 22 (AFP) Lawyers held fresh protests over the removal of Pakistan's chief justice Thursday, as an inquiry into the beating of attorneys by police at another demonstration got under way. Around 3,000 lawyers boycotted court proceedings and blocked a road ahead of a legal convention in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Thursday, witnesses said. On Wednesday police fired tear gas and baton-charged around 100 lawyers in Quetta.The acting chief justice, Javed Iqbal, on Thursday ordered a senior judge at Baluchistan High Court to conduct a judicial probe into the incident and submit a report within a week, court officials said. Iqbal gave the order after a complaint filed by the vice president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and summoned top police and administration officials to his court, the officials said. (First Posted @ 16:45 PST Updated @ 19:20 PST)
About 40 Taliban killed in Afghanistan clashes KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, March 22 (AFP) About 40 Taliban fighters were killed in clashes with Afghan and NATO forces in the southern province of Helmand on Thursday, police said, as troops elsewhere captured eight suspected militants. The security forces had launched the operation from Gereshk and the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, to the southwest. The offensive was still under way. (First Posted @ 15:05 PST Updated @ 19:15 PST)
Indian ruling party ally presses for troop cuts in occupied Kashmir NEW DELHI, March 22 (AFP) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday met the leader of his regional ally in occupied Kashmir over the party's calls for a drastic cut in troop levels in the disputed territory, officials said. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's regional People's Democratic Party (PDP), a key partner of occupied Kashmir's Congress-run administration, has threatened to withdraw its support if New Delhi rejected its demands for troop cuts by mid-year. Details of Singh's one-on-one meeting with Sayeed were not immediately known. “The PDP leader is also likely to press for the withdrawal of military presence from civilian property in Jammu and Kashmir,” an official from the premier's office said.(Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Cricket: My toughest ever day: Inzamam KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 22 (AFP) Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq on Thursday admits that his final one-day international was one of the most difficult in which he has played. “This has been a very difficult decision,” a sombre Inzamam told reporters, after Pakistan cruised to a 93-run victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method. “I have played for Pakistan for the last 16 or 17 years, and it has been a great honour for me. I have enjoyed playing for Pakistan, and it has meant a great deal to me, but I had to make this decision in the interest of Pakistan cricket.” “Indeed, the last three or four days were very difficult for all of us, and we were under a lot of stress. We are delighted now that we came out, and we got a win to dedicate to him.” Inzi said “The reception I got from the fans, and of course, the way the boys treated me when I was walking off, and Bob not being here made it extra emotional.”(Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Cricket-Former teammates sympathize with Inzamam ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 22 (AP) Former teammates of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq sympathized with him for his emotional tearful farewell from international cricket following Pakistan's match against Zimbabwe in the World Cup. “In that brief innings, he showed the world his class,” ex-test wicketkeeper Rashid Latif said. “He didn't play just these two one-day internationals for Pakistan, he had won many matches for the country in the last 15 years,” Latif said. Ex-test captain Javed Miandad told a private television channel that “there was no pressure on the Pakistan players because they knew they were out of the competition…Yesterday's performance was ample proof that our players can't play under pressure.” Even a swashbuckling 160 from opener Imran Nazir against Zimbabwe was not enough to satisfy Miandad. “The damage had already been done so what's the use of playing such a knock,” he said.(Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Pakistani tribesmen, militants negotiating ceasefire WANA, Pakistan, March 22 (AFP) Taliban commanders tried Thursday to negotiate a ceasefire between tribesmen and foreign Al-Qaeda militants after fierce battles left 114 people dead, officials said. Intermittent heavy weapons fire continued Thursday in the rugged South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan, after a brief truce the previous night to allow the tribesmen and their Uzbek opponents to bury the dead. Intelligence officials said that the “jirga” or tribal council overseeing the negotiations included Baitullah Mahsud, a wanted Taliban chief. Another member of the “jirga” or tribal council running the talks is Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of former minister in Afghanistan's 1996-2001 Taliban regime, Jalaluddin Haqqani. “Top Taliban commanders have assembled in Wana to negotiate a ceasefire between Uzbeks and local Taliban backed by the government,” a local security source said. “There is still a tense stand-off between the rival factions with occasional firing. Local tribesmen were adamant that first foreign militants should surrender and only after that they would agree to a ceasefire.” Leader of the Uzbek militants, Tahir Yuldashev, had “refused to meet the jirga, the local intelligence official added. (Posted @ 15:10 PST)
Pakistan landslides, rain death toll reaches 80 MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, March 22 (AFP) Thirteen more people have died in landslides and accidents caused by heavy rain in Pakistan, officials and residents said Thursday, bringing the death toll from several days of bad weather to 80. Six members of a family died and two were injured when they were hit by an avalanche in the mountainous Dir district of North West Frontier Province on Wednesday, residents told AFP. Separately the roof of a seminary at Karak town in the same province collapsed Wednesday, killing two female students and injuring another eight, police said. Three more people were reported killed in roof collapses in other towns in the province, officials said. More incidents of mudslides were reported in Azad Kashmir, where 37 persons, mostly women, were killed in two separate landslips Tuesday. Two more women were killed Wednesday when a landslide swept away a house at Moyian Saydan village in Jhelum valley, police said. Authorities evacuated scores of Kashmiris whose homes were damaged by the rain to safer areas. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
U.S. soldier killed by small arms fire in Baghdad BAGHDAD, March 22 (AP) A U.S. soldier was killed Wednesday by small arms fire in western Baghdad while his patrol was returning to base from combat operations, the military announced Thursday. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Ethiopian tanks open fire in Mogadishu fighting MOGADISHU, March 22 (Reuters) Ethiopian tanks guarding a Somali government base in the capital Mogadishu opened fire Thursday in a clash with insurgents, a Reuters correspondent said. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Four killed in gasoline tank explosion in central Vietnam HANOI, Vietnam Mar 22 (APP/AP) A gasoline tank exploded Thursday in central Vietnam’s Danang City, killing four men who were repairing it and injuring four others, officials said. Police were investigating the cause of the blast. (Posted @ 12:05 PST)
Two killed in Thai south YALA, Thailand, March 22 (AFP) Insurgents killed two men in southern Thailand, police said Thursday. A villager was shot dead late Wednesday when militants broke into his house in Pattani province. On Thursday morning, a teenager’s body was found floating in a river in Yala province. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Not handing power to Iraqis quickly was 'mistake': Bolton LONDON, March 22 (AFP) The coalition forces that invaded Iraq in March 2003 made a “mistake” in not handing power to Iraqis quickly enough, former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said in an interview Wednesday. “The real problem was in not relying more on Iraqis,” Bolton told the BBC. “By imposing the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) for a year, we denied the Iraqis at least a year of learning how to live with each other... that was a mistake.” “We should have handled it differently, and what I would have done differently is much earlier, much sooner after the overthrow, given it back to the Iraqis,” he said. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
One dead, two kidnapped in renewed Gaza violence GAZA CITY, March 22 (AFP) A Palestinian man was killed and 17 others were wounded in Gaza late Wednesday when shooting broke out between the Hamas and Fatah groups, security officials said. The fatality occurred when a man was caught in the crossfire between the two clans in the northern Gaza Strip. A member of Fatah was also kidnapped in that incident, while a university professor who is also a senior Hamas official was abducted separately. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Twenty-five killed, 35 wounded in violence in Nepal KATMANDU, Nepal, March 22 (AP) A fierce fight between Nepal's former communist rebels and ethnic rights activists trying to stage rallies in the same place Wednesday left 25 dead and 35 wounded, officials said. Maoists supporters and members of the Madeshi People's Rights Forum had both gathered at the same open ground venue in Gaur, about 160 kilometers south of Katmandu, to hold separate rallies, the area's police chief said. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Earthquake jolts eastern Japan, felt in Tokyo TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.2 jolted eastern Japan Thursday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Buildings shook in Tokyo, but there were no reports of damage. The focus of the tremor was 80 km below the surface of the earth in Saitama prefecture, just north of the capital. (Posted @ 09:15 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 0.56 points: KARACHI, March 22: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 11296.06, down 0.56 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, March 22: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.83 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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