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| March 31, 2007 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 11, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan tribes attack Al-Qaeda bunkers WANA, Pakistan, March 31 (AFP) Pakistani tribesmen attacked foreign Al-Qaeda militants hiding in bunkers in ongoing clashes that killed five people in the South Waziristan tribal region, officials and residents said Saturday. The pro-government tribesmen seized seven bunkers dug into a mountain from where the Uzbek militants and their Chechen and Arab allies could launch attacks on the main town of Wana, they said. “The foreign militants fled. They suffered casualties but details were not available,” a security official said. He said a pro-government tribal commander was wounded in the fighting which continued until Saturday morning. Foreign militants also shelled Pakistani army soldiers in the area, killing two, another security official said. Troops from an army base in the area responded with artillery fire targeting foreign militants on the outskirts of Wana, he said. Two children were killed late Friday when a mortar shell fired by Uzbeks landed in their home in Shen Warsak town and the body of a tribal fighter was found in the area on Saturday, residents said. (First Posted @ 16:36 PST Updated @ 23:08 PST)
SAARC officials recommend Iran's observer status NEW DELHI, March 31 (AFP) South Asian officials on Saturday recommended observer status for Iran at next week's regional summit. Foreign secretaries from the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) met here ahead of the regional forum, which gets underway here Tuesday, and unanimously recommended that Iran's request for such status be accepted, the Press Trust of India said. The meeting of foreign secretaries also reviewed the progress of panels formed under the grouping. (Posted @ 23:04 PST)
Cricket: British police to join Woolmer murder probe LONDON, March 31 (AFP) A team of British police officers is to fly to Jamaica next week to help with the probe into the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer, London's Metropolitan Police said Saturday. The team will consist of three detectives and a crime scenes officer, a spokeswoman for the force said. “We received a formal request from the Jamaican authorities to review the investigation,” she said. The team will be led by a detective superintendent from the homicide and serious crime command, the statement added. (Posted @ 22:58 PST)
Cricket: Pakistan police to help Woolmer probe LAHORE, Pakistan, March 31 (AFP) Pakistan is sending two senior police officers to Jamaica to help investigate Bob Woolmer's murder, the country's cricket chief said on Saturday. The two will leave on Monday, said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf who repeated denials that any Pakistani players were involved in the crime. Ashraf said he would represent “Pakistan and the PCB” at the former England player's funeral in South Africa on Wednesday. (Posted @ 22:54 PST)
Cricket-Pakistan appoint panel to probe World Cup failure LAHORE, March 31 (Reuters) The Pakistan Cricket Board has suspended the central contracts of its players and appointed a three-member committee to evaluate the team's poor performance at the World Cup in the Caribbean. PCB chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf told a packed news conference on Saturday that the panel, comprising former test players Ejaz Butt, Salahuddin Ahmed and Saleem Altaf, would submit its findings in a month. “This committee will look into all dimensions of the team's performance and find reasons for the poor results,” Ashraf told reporters. Ashraf added that if anyone had information, even without evidence, of match-fixing at the World Cup, he or she should contact the International Cricket Council. “There is no need to over-react or panic and we are putting in place a new management plan to improve the performance of the board and team in the coming years,” he said. Ashraf went on to add that the board would wait two months before announcing a new captain and coach for the side as Pakistan did not have any immediate international commitments. In the board shake-up, former test player Zakir Khan has been appointed director of cricket operations in place of Altaf, who has been promoted to director of special projects. Altaf will also lead the technical committee for next year's Champions Trophy and the 2012 World Cup, both hosted or co-hosted by Pakistan. Former bureaucrat Shafqat Nagmi has been installed as the PCB's chief operating officer. (Posted @ 18:04 PST)
Cricket-Emotional Inzamam dismisses match-fixing allegations LAHORE, March 31 (Reuters) Pakistan's World Cup captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq on Saturday angrily dismissed rumours that his players might have deliberately lost their matches to the West Indies and Ireland and this had led to the death of coach Bob Woolmer. An emotionally charged Inzamam told a crowded news conference that some people and the media had made it a habit to malign the players and make wild accusations after a poor performance. “These match-fixing allegations are only rumours...I have been captain for last three years and no one said anything like this before,” Inzamam said. “When we were winning no one said there was match-fixing or there was disunity in the team. No one said I run a one-man show in the team.” He added: “I can tell you this much. We are all terribly disappointed at letting the nation down and I again apologise for that.” Inzamam said the players were devastated at the death of Woolmer and insisted they were as keen as anyone else to find out what had happened with him. “If the investigators want to question us again we are willing to go again but the board has said with legal advisers.” He added: “We were not the only ones treated as suspects by Jamaican investigators and I have no experience of how such cases are handled. But they asked only routine questions.” (Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Pakistani gets life for Thai woman's murder BANGKOK, March 31 (AFP) A Pakistani man has received a life sentence for killing and dismembering a Thai woman he had met through an Internet chat room, local reports said Saturday. (Posted @ 17:56 PST)
Pakistan striving for inter-faith harmony: Musharraf RAWALPINDI, Mar 31 (APP) President General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday highlighted the efforts and measures being taken by the government to promote inter-faith harmony in a meeting with a delegation of senior Buddhist Monks from Korea, Japan and China, led by Jeon Chong Yoon. The president appreciated the visit of monks and stressed the need to further promote “religious tourism” in Pakistan for local and foreign tourists. Highlighting the discovery of 200 artifacts from the site of Julian-II near Taxila, the president said the find was made possible due to the ongoing cooperation of Pakistan with other countries. Musharraf emphasized the need for further cooperation and assistance between archaeological departments and institutions of different countries for excavation and preservation of artifacts. (Posted @ 16:40 PST)
Four bombs kill 14 in Iraq BAGHDAD, March 31 (AFP) Three car bombs and a roadside bomb killed 14 people and wounded dozens Saturday, security officials said. Five people were killed and 15 wounded when a car bomb exploded outside Al-Sadr hospital in Sadr City. A second car bomb killed four people, including two policemen and wounded 20, including many policemen, near a service station in Hilla city, police said. In the town of Tuz Khurmatu, near the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, another two civilians were killed and 11 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a central square, local police chief said. In Suweira, south of Baghdad, three civilians were killed and seven wounded in a roadside bomb explosion as shoppers were busy making weekend purchases, police said. (First Posted @ 12:35 PST, Updated @ 14:00 PST)
Three car bombs kills eight in Iraq BAGHDAD, March 31 (AFP) Three car bombs killed eight people and wounded dozens Saturday, security officials said. Four people were killed and 16 more wounded when a car bomb exploded outside Al-Sadr hospital in Baghdad's Sadr City. A second car bomb killed two policemen and wounded 23, including many policemen, near a service station in Hilla city, police said. In the town of Tuz Khurmatu, near the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, another two civilians were killed and 11 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a central square, a local police chief said. (First Posted @ 12:35 PST, Updated @ 14:00 PST)
Twelve die in accident in South Africa JOHANNESBURG, March 31 (Reuters) Twelve people were killed when a minibus taxi overturned on a highway in the Western Cape, SABC radio news reported Saturday. Five people were seriously injured in the accident, which occurred as members of the same family were taking a corpse to the rural Eastern Cape province for burial, the report said. (Posted @ 12:45 PST)
Pakistan test-fires short-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warhead ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 31 (AP) Pakistan successfully test-fired an indigenously developed short-range nuclear-capable missile Saturday, the military said. The surface-to-surface Abdali ballistic missile, which has a range of 200 kilometres and was launched from an undisclosed location inside Pakistan, ''can carry all types of warheads,'' the military said in a statement issued from Rawalpindi. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
One killed, three injured in Thai south BANGKOK, March 31 (AFP) A man was shot dead by insurgents and three others were injured in two separate attacks in southern Thailand, police said Saturday. A 49-year-old man was gunned down late Friday by two people on a motorcycle in Pattani province, police said. Elsewhere, a 37-year-old man was injured Saturday in a drive-by shooting in neighbouring Yala province. A couple was also wounded in a small roadside bomb explosion in the province. (Posted @ 11:35 PST)
Afghan troops kill eight suspected Taliban KABUL, Afghanistan, March 31 (AP) Suspected Taliban militants attacked a checkpoint manned by Afghan troops, leaving eight militants dead and an Afghan guard wounded, a statement from the U.S.-led coalition said Saturday. Afghan troops had been manning a checkpoint in the southern province of Uruzgan when a large group of militants attacked their compound Thursday, the statement said. (Posted @ 11:15 PST)
More than 200 insurgents killed in Mogadishu: Ethiopia ADDIS ABABA, March 31 (AFP) The Ethiopian government late Friday said its army has killed more than 200 insurgents in Mogadishu since launching an offensive in the city as part of its support for the struggling Somali government. “More than 200 armed people have been killed, several wounded, and 13 have surrendered,” according to a statement from Ethiopia's information ministry, cited by the ENA news agency. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
China copper mine flood traps six workers SHANGHAI, March 31 (Reuters) A copper mine in central China flooded early Saturday, trapping six people working underground, the Xinhua news agency reported. The accident occurred when 21 miners were working at a copper mine pit in Hubei province, Xinhua said, adding that 15 workers had been rescued. (Posted @ 10:25 PST)
Brazil's airports ordered to shut down amid controllers' strike BRASILIA, March 31 (AFP) All of Brazil's 49 airports were ordered shut down late Friday amid chaos in South America's largest economy sparked by an air traffic controllers' strike for better working conditions, the state airports management agency Infraero said. Ifraero announced that all takeoffs were cancelled across the country of 190 million, and that the only operations allowed were the landings of planes already in flight. Among the most affected, most heavily trafficked are the airports controlled by the Cindacta-1 control center in Brasilia. It is in charge of flights in the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Goias, Brasilia, southern Tocantins and Mato Grosso. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Four dead in Japanese army helicopter crash TOKYO, March 31 (AFP) Four Japanese soldiers were killed when their CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter crashed on a small island in the south of the country, police said Saturday. The wreckage of the helicopter, which crashed late Friday, was found overnight on a mountainside on Tokunoshima, an isle north of the main Okinawan island. The heavy-lift helicopter was on its way from Naha, the main city of Okinawa, to Tokunoshima. (First Posted @ 09:00 PST, Updated @ 09:50 PST)
US imposes sanctions on Iranian firm over nuclear work WASHINGTON, March 31 (AFP) The United States Friday ordered a freeze on the assets of an Iranian defence contractor accused of involvement in Tehran's nuclear and missile programs. The sanctions were ordered by the State Department against Iran's Defence Industries Organization (DIO) under the terms of two UN Security Council resolutions adopted since December which are aimed at forcing Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment program. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
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