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| May 03, 2007 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Several injured in Pakistan protest ISLAMABAD, May 3 (AFP) Several people were injured in scuffles outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan Thursday in the latest protest over the suspension of the country's top judge Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Police said dozens of lawyers, marching in support of Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, ignored warnings not to try to enter the building, where he was appearing before a judicial panel, and clashed with police. “Lawyers attacked us with sticks and we had to retaliate,” officer Mehboob Ahmed said. Witnesses said five policemen and several of the hundreds of protesters massed outside were injured. Police also tried to stop journalists from entering the court premises but later allowed them after some scuffles. Protesters chanted anti-Musharraf slogans. ”We want restoration of the chief justice, we will fight for it till the end,” an activist of the Awami National Party said. Liaquat Baluch, a senior leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami party, vowed that the protest would continue until the independence of the judiciary was restored. Lawyers in Lahore boycotted courts and staged a protest sit-in outside the provincial parliament. Demonstrations were also held in other major cities and towns including Azad Kashmir. In Karachi lawyers blocked roads and burned copies of the charges filed by the president against the top judge. (First Posted @ 12:10 PST, Updated@ 14:10 PST)
Reference against justice Chaudhry: hearing adjourned to May 9 ISLAMABAD, May 3 (AFP) -The Supreme Judicial Council, which is hearing the reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, adjourned proceedings on Thursday until May 9 after Chaudhry's lawyers concluded arguments about the validity and composition of the council. The case will be heard on May 9 and 10, court officials said. Justice Chaudhry has also filed a separate constitutional petition at the Supreme Court challenging President Parvez Musharraf's action against him. The court is to take up the petition on Monday. Chaudhry appeared before the SJC for his eighth hearing on Thursday. (Posted @ 19:26 PST)
British soldier killed, Australian hurt in Afghanistan KABUL, May 2, (AFP) - A British soldier was killed and an Australian wounded in attacks in Afghanistan Thursday that also left two children hurt, while a bomb in Kabul wounded 25 Afghan soldiers and killed their driver. The Briton was killed in a battle that erupted after Taliban attacked soldiers at a checkpoint near a military base in the southern province of Helmand, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. (Posted @ 23:06 PST)
Textile is backbone of our industrial sector: PM Aziz ISLAMABAD, May 03 (PPI)- Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that textile is the backbone of our industrial sector and the government will continue to support the private sector in its efforts to modernize itself to increase the productivity and competitiveness of our products.Chairing a meeting to review the textile sector on Thursday he emphasized that the industry needs to go into the production of high value added goods, technology up gradation and more focus on research to manufacture in line with the changing global trends. (Posted @ 20:52 PST)
Iraq conference adopts five-year rescue plan SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 3 (AFP) - A key international conference on Iraq security on Thursday overwhelmingly adopted a five-year plan aimed at rescuing the war-ravaged country from chaos and bankruptcy. But the meeting was overshadowed by rare meetings between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US foes Iran and Syria. Foreign ministers and top diplomats from more than 50 countries launched the International Compact with Iraq (ICI). The document includes a raft of measures to give fresh impetus to Iraq's economy, improve governance and offer financial assistance, in a process key players hope will bolster reconciliation between warring communities. It includes new laws on oil revenue sharing and on the return to public life of members of the late Saddam Hussein's regime. Iraq's Finance Minister Bayan Jabr Solagh told AFP before the conference kicked off he expected countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt to write off up to 40-50 billion dollars of debt at the meeting. Attending the conference, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett pledged 200 million dollars worth of reconstruction. Marking a shift in US policy, Rice met her Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem and had a brief exchange with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. (Posted @ 20:48 PST)
Militants release 8 hostages; 11 still in captivity LAGOS, Nigeria, May 3 (AP) - Eight foreign hostages seized by a militant group from an offshore vessel in southern Nigeria on Thursday have been released, the militant group said. In all, 18 foreigners were kidnapped during the last 24 hours and 11 still remain in the custody of the kidnappers. (Posted @ 20:28 PST)
New demonstration in Afghanistan after civilian deaths HERAT, Afghanistan, May 3 (AFP) - Hundreds of Afghans chanted “Death to America” in a new protest Thursday in western Afghanistan, where a weekend US-led operation against the Taliban is said to have killed about 50 civilians. The protest in Shindand district in Herat province began when Afghan soldiers, deployed to the tense area following the operation, shot and wounded two men on a motorbike who had ignored warnings to stop, officials said. (Posted @ 20:24 PST)
US says it killed senior Qaeda figure but not chief BAGHDAD, May 3 (AFP) - The US military killed a senior Al-Qaeda figure this week in Iraq, but he was not the group's chief Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as claimed by Iraqi officials, spokesman Brig- Gen William Caldwell said Thursday. Caldwell told reporters that US forces killed Al-Qaeda in Iraq's “information minister”, whom he identified as Muharib Abdulatif al-Juburi, early Tuesday in an area just north of Baghdad. “He was killed at 2:00 am on May 1 (2200 GMT on April 30) in an operation a few miles west of Taji. This is the individual that has caused some confusion and was the senior Al-Qaeda person killed,” he said. “His was the only body we took at the site,” he added. “DNA testing and photo identification confirmed this yesterday.” Earlier, Iraqi interior minister operations director Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf told state television that Muharib al-Juburi was also known as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of an Al-Qaeda umbrella group. But Caldwell said the US military had no knowledge of Baghdadi. Earlier in the week, Iraqi officials had described the man killed near Taji as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, but Caldwell said this was not possible as tests would have already proved this. “If in fact we did get al-Masri, we would be able to give positive identification unequivocally,” the general insisted. (First Posted @ 16:30 PST Updated @ 18:02 PST)
Bangladesh Nobel prize winnner scraps politics plan DHAKA, May 30 (AFP) - Bangladesh Nobel Peace Prize winner and micro-credit pioneer Muhammad Yunus Thursday announced that he had abandoned his plan to form a political party. “I decided to enter into politics because of your support,” Yunus said in an open letter. “Now... I am informing you that I am not going to form any political party.””I had a plan... but I came to understand that it is not possible and so accepting this reality I decided not to go forward,” he added. (Posted @ 17:55 PST)
Pakistan jirga commission leaves for Kabul ISLAMABAD, May 3 (APP): Pakistan jirga commission Thursday left for Kabul for the second round of talks with Afghan jirga for peace in Afghanistan and in tribal areas of Pakistan. During the two-day parleys on May 3 and 4, issues including constitution of a grand peace jirga commission and border control will be discussed. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao heads the Pakistani jirga whose other members include NWFP Governor Jan Muhammad Aurakzai, Governor Balochistan Awais Ahmed Ghani, Federal Minister for State and Frontier Region Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind and Federal Minister for Culture Ghazi Ghulab Jamal. (Posted @ 17:36 PST)
Number of coaches in Thar Express increased KARACHI, May 3 (APP): Pakistan Railway has decided to introduce two additional economy class coaches on Thar Express effective May 4. Pakistan Railway has also decided to levy 10 times more charges on the base rate of parcel charges per kg beyond free allowance of 35 Kg. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
84 percent of Afghan refugees in Pakistan don't plan to return home ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 3 (AP) - A vast majority of the 2 million-plus Afghan refugees in Pakistan do not intend to return home, mostly because of security fears, but Pakistan still plans to repatriate them all within three years, officials said Thursday. A report issued Thursday on a recent U.N.-supported registration of Afghan refugees found that 84 percent do not intend to return. Of those, 41 percent cited insecurity as the primary reason _ double the figure recorded during a refugee census in 2005. Nevertheless, Sajid Hussain Chatta, a top official at the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, said the government was sticking to its target for all the refugees to be repatriated on a voluntary basis by 2009. “We have no reasons to believe that we will shift our policy,” Chatta told a news conference after the report's release He said 200,000 had already gone back during 2007 and it was planned for 600,000 more to return by year's end. Four camps _ housing more than 220,000 refugees _ would close by September, he said. Some 2.1 million refugees joined the 15-week registration process, which entitles them to stay in Pakistan until December 2009. Of the 300,000 who did not sign up, 200,000 have since gone back to Afghanistan. Those remaining face deportation. (Posted @ 17:18 PST)
Cricket-West Indies squad for test series in England BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, May 3 (Reuters) - West Indies have named the following 15-man squad for the four-test series in England starting on May 17:- Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Sylvester Joseph, Runako Morton, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor. (Posted @ 17:12 PST)
IEA chief says Iran should be allowed nuclear power PARIS, May 3 (Reuers) - There is no reason why Iran should not have nuclear energy, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Claude Mandil told a news conference Thursday. “There is no energy reason why it should be denied nuclear,” he said, although he added he understood the West's concerns. The IEA, energy adviser to 26 industrialised countries, has been an advocate of nuclear energy as a way to address future needs without polluting the planet. (Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Six more killed in Sri Lanka violence COLOMBO, May 3 (AFP) - Six people including two policemen have been killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka's embattled north and east, military officials said Thursday. Among those killed was a Tiger guerrilla who was shot dead when he tried to infiltrate an army defence line in the Jaffna peninsula on Wednesday. (Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Sri Lankan ex-president stripped of perks COLOMBO, May 3 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Thursday stripped former president Chandrika Kumaratunga of her official staff and 36 government cars, saying that she was not entitled to extravagant privileges. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Sarath Silva also held that it was also illegal for her to occupy a state bungalow refurbished at huge cost to the state. It also ordered the former president to pay 100,000 rupees (925 dollars) to three individuals who filed the case challenging the state privileges accorded to her,” a court official said. (Posted @ 16:40 PST)
Turkish parliament sets snap elections for July ANKARA, May 3 (AFP) - Turkey's parliament Thursday overwhelmingly approved a ruling party call for snap general elections on July 22 in a bid to resolve a damaging crisis sparked by secularist objections to having a former Islamist as president. The proposal was approved by all of the 458 lawmakers present in the televised session in the 550-seat parliament, deputy speaker Sadik Yakut said. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has a majority of 351 seats in the house and had the support of the opposition to bring the elections forward from November 4. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Green Zone rocket attack kills four Filipino contractors working for the U.S. government BAGHDAD, May 3 (AP) Four Filipino contractors working for the U.S. government were killed in a rocket attack on the heavily fortified Green Zone Wednesday, the American Embassy said Thursday. (Posted @ 12:45 PST)
Roadside blast hits Afghan army bus in Kabul, kills one, wounds 29 KABUL, Afghanistan, May 3 (AP) A remote-control bomb hit an Afghan army bus in Kabul Thursday, killing the driver and wounding 29 people, including 22 soldiers, officials said. The bomb was placed in a cart on the side of the road and exploded when the bus passed by, an Afghan National Army officer said. Seven civilians also were wounded, the Kabul police director of criminal investigation said. (First Posted @ 09:00 PST, Updated @ 12:31 PST)
Roadside bombs kill three US soldiers in Iraq BAGHDAD, May 3 (AFP) Three US soldiers were killed in separate roadside bomb attacks while on patrol in Baghdad, the military announced late Wednesday. A woman soldier was severely wounded and subsequently died when a bomb exploded under her vehicle in western Baghdad. Another two soldiers died and several were wounded by a bomb targeting their vehicle while they searched a southern Baghdad neighbourhood for booby traps. (Posted @ 10:25 PST)
Two dead in Singapore refinery blaze SINGAPORE, May 3 (AFP) Two workers died and another two suffered injuries after a fire broke out Thursday at US oil giant ExxonMobil's oil refinery located on Singapore’s Jurong Island, the company said. The fire broke out at 1:15 am and was put out by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), the company and police said.(Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 3.05 points: KARACHI, May 3: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 12430.17 , down 3.05 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, May 3: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.7 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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