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| May 04, 2007 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
President calls for setting Rs one trillion revenue target for next year KARACHI, May 4 (APP) - President General Pervez Musharraf has said the revenue collection target for the next year should be Rs one trillion and that the aim for next 10 years is to cross the mark of Rs four trillion. He was addressing as chief guest at the concluding session of National Conference on Tax Administration at a hotel here Friday evening. The two-day moot was organised by the Central Board of Revenue (CBR). The President said “now we are targeting a revenue collection of Rs 835 billion but we expect Rs 900 billion and it is hoped that the target would be met”. (Posted @ 22:18 PST)
Benazir Bhutto urges Musharraf to quit army ISLAMABAD, May 4 (Reuters) - Benazir Bhutto, self-exiled former prime minister of Pakistan, said Friday she might reach some political deal with President Pervez Musharraf, but he should quit his role as army chief to foster true democracy. “We admit there are contacts because we want transparency, but we don't say the deal has been done,” she told reporters in Dubai in a telecast carried by Pakistani networks on Friday Bhutto said previous contacts had come to nothing, but added: “This time, there might be a deal and there might not be a deal.” However, she insisted Musharraf should fulfil his commitment to step down as army chief by the end of 2007 before any deal could be reached. “A president in uniform and democracy cannot go together ... we want military to go back to barracks,” she said. (Posted @ 15:42 PST)
Afghan, Pakistan 'peace jirga' due August 1 KABUL, May 4 (AFP) -About 700 tribal elders, politicians and other influential people from Afghanistan and Pakistan will meet August 1 for a traditional “jirga” on the Taliban insurgency, the Afghan president said Friday. An Afghan delegation would travel to Pakistan later this month for more talks on the joint “peace jirga,” Hamid Karzai said in a statement after meeting Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao. “The people of Afghanistan want peace and stability in the area,” Karzai said, stressing the need for cooperation because “terrorism is affecting all of us.” Sherpao said Thursday, after a round of talks about the long-planned gathering, that the two sides were working on the agenda for the meeting, the first of its kind between the neighbours. (Posted @ 19:54 PST)
Pakistan police detain more than 500 activists ahead of rally for ousted chief justice LAHORE, Pakistan, May 4 (AP) - Police have detained more than 500 activists from opposition political parties ahead of what organizers predict will be the biggest rally yet in support of Pakistan's ousted chief justice, officials said Friday. Lawyers and opposition parties hope to draw huge crowds to a rally Saturday in Lahore, where Chaudhry is to speak. Ameer ul-Azeem, a spokesman for a coalition of religious opposition parties, accused authorities of rounding up “thousands” of activists, mostly in Lahore, to stymie the protest. A senior provincial official confirmed that police had detained people to prevent any “untoward incidents,” but put the number at more than 500. He asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Nevertheless, Chaudhry Sarfraz, a spokesman for the Lahore High Court Bar Association, which invited Chaudhry to speak, said it expects up to 20,000 people to gather in the court's parking lot. “It will be a mammoth rally,” Sarfraz said. (Posted @ 16:02 PST)
Iran to open atom plant this year, work on more: IRNA TEHRAN, May 4, (REUTERS) - Iran will inaugurate its first nuclear power plant in the coming year and will also start building two others, Energy Minister Parviz Fattah was quoted as saying on Friday. It was the latest announcement from Iran about progress towards establishing a civilian nuclear industry, which the West fear is a cover for making atom bombs. Tehran says it only wants to generate electricity. (Posted @ 23:54 PST)
Israeli troops kill three Palestinians in raid JENIN, West Bank, May 4, (REUTERS) - Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians, including two known militants, on Friday during a raid in a West Bank village, residents and medics said. Palestinian residents said troops searched buildings and gunshots were fired during the incursion. The bodies of three men were seen on the ground after the army pulled out and medics confirmed they were dead. (Posted @ 23:04 PST)
Ayub Khan's diaries launched ISLAMABAD, May 04 (PPI) - Oxford University Press Friday launched the “Diaries of Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, 1966-1972” edited and annotated by Craig Baxter. The ceremony was attended by diplomats, bureaucrats, academics and journalists. Chaudhary Shujat Hussain, MNA, President PML (Q) was the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion, Sahibzada Yaqub Khan, Syed Shriff udin Pirzada, S.M. Zafar, Prof. Pareshan Khattak, M.P. Bhandara and Humayun Gohar commented that since Ayub Khan saw the history of Pakistan in the making and made history himself in his capacity as President, his diaries offer authentic material documenting Pakistan's political development which will be of great interest to posterity and particularly to those who lived through that difficult time. (Posted @ 20:34 PST)
Police fire at protesters in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, May 4 (AP) - Police fired at rock-throwing protesters in Srinagar on Friday, wounding one person, a police officer said. About 200 people demonstrated demanding that Papa Kishtwari, a former rebel who now supports Indian counter-insurgency operations, be hanged for allegedly committing atrocities against other Kashmiris. As the angry protesters hurled rocks at government forces, police fired “in panic,” said Sajjad Ahmed, a police officer. Police also used tear gas and bamboo sticks to disperse the protesters, who were incensed by the police shooting, Ahmed said. Also Friday, about 500 people held a peaceful protest in Kishtwari's hometown of Pampore, 20 kilometers south of Srinagar, police said. Police arrested Kishtwari earlier this month for allegedly firing at residents of Pampore as they held a demonstration, accusing him of seizing their land and killing dozens of people since he began supporting the government's anti-rebel operations about 10 years ago. At least four people were injured in the shooting by Kishtwari and his guards, police said. Protests have continued despite his arrest. (Posted @ 20:28 PST)
US confirms guidelines on next Israel-Palestinian peace steps WASHINGTON, May 4 (AFP) - The State Department confirmed Friday having circulated guidelines to Israelis and Palestinians about the next confidence-building measures to be taken as part of efforts to revive the peace process. But department deputy spokesman Tom Casey played down the notion that the document tried to enforce a strict timetable for implementing the measures. “These are suggestions and ideas that we've had and we've circulated -- it's not any kind of formal agreement nor is it something that's being forced on anybody,” Casey told reporters. Casey said the guidelines concerned measures laid down in the so-called Road Map of peace steps unveiled by major power brokers in 2003 but which has largely gone unimplemented. He said the steps include “easing some of the burdens on the Palestinian people, including through steps to enhance access and transport, and of course on the Palestinian side making sure there are efforts taken to ensure that while that is being done that those kinds of things aren't being taken advantage of to foment terrorism”. (Posted @ 20:24 PST)
Queen tours America's first English settlement JAMESTOWN, Virginia, May 4 (AFP) - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Friday toured the first permanent English settlement in America near the Virginia coast, where pioneers landed 400 years ago and changed the course of history. The queen and her husband, Prince Philip, were accompanied by US Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, as they arrived for a tour of Jamestown's archaeological dig site and living history museum. The smiling queen walked past a series of thatched-roof houses built in the 17th century style of the era and into the main square, where she watched actors representing the English settlers and their African slaves. (Posted @ 20:20 PST)
Several hurt in clashes in Srinagar SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, May 4 (AFP) - Several people were hurt Friday when police fired shots and used teargas and batons on Muslims protesting damage to a 200-year-old mosque in the historic Hari Parbat Fort overlooking Srinagar, witnesses said. Dozens of Muslim youths poured on to the streets near Srinagar's main mosque and threw stones at police and paramilitary forces. Police fired on the crowd and injured a civilian, while several others were hurt in a baton charge, witnesses said. The protesters said the mosque, in the historic fort used by paramilitary forces for almost 17 years, had been damaged in contrast to a Hindu temple and a Sikh Gurduwara, also inside the fort, which remained intact and were in fine condition. The design of the fort, built by Afghan governor Atta Mohammed Khan, is similar to those in Central Asia characterised by small brick and stone work and it contains a series of small apartments. The fort's surrounding wall was constructed in the 16th century by Mughal Emperor Akbar and the area served as an army cantonment. (Posted @ 20:16 PST)
Boat packed with Haitian migrants capsizes, 20 bodies spotted SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, May 4 (AP) - A boat carrying about 150 Haitian migrants capsized early Friday while being towed by a police boat, and some 20 corpses have been spotted, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard, using a helicopter, was searching for approximately 58 other migrants who were missing. (Posted @ 19:52 PST)
Gunmen kill government driver in Pakistan tribal region MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan, May 4 (AP) - Assailants on Friday shot and killed a government driver in Miran Shah, North Waziristan's main town of northwestern Pakistan, an official said. Reports said masked gunmen opened fire from a car on Asal Mir as he drove to office. Also Friday, a lone attacker threw a hand grenade at a military convoy on the outskirts of Miran Shah, wounding at least five soldiers, a local intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. (Posted @ 18:16 PST)
Militants blow up music shops in Pakistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 4 (AFP) Suspected militants targeted music shops with explosive devices overnight in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province’s Charsadda town , damaging a dozen outlets, police said Friday. The shops were closed when the crude home-made devices exploded at three markets late Thursday, a senior police officer said. (Posted @ 12:32 PST)
Truck kills 14 waiting for the bus in China BEIJING, May 4 (AFP) - Fourteen people were killed and another 45 were injured in southwest China Friday when a truck ploughed into a group of waiting bus passengers, state media said. Nine were killed instantly. Another five died on way to hospital. (Posted @ 18:24 PST)
Five police killed in Baghdad blast BAGHDAD, May 4 (AFP) - Five Iraqi policemen were killed on Friday when a bomb detonated as they patrolled Baghdad’s Amil neighbourhood, defence and security sources said. Two more policemen were wounded as the blast tore through their vehicle, they said. In Mosul, a car bomb exploded outside the home of Lt-Col Raad Harush, commander of a local army battalion, injuring him and 13 others, including five family members, said Brig- Gen Mohammed al-Wagaa. In Kirkuk, police raised the death toll from a pair of car bombs targeting the homes of a police officer and a local politician late Thursday to six dead and 41 wounded. Four of the dead were children, including an infant of five months, as were most of the wounded. (Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Christian-Muslim wounds still ”very deep”-Khatami VATICAN CITY, May 4 (Reuters) - Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami met Pope Benedict on Friday and said the wounds between Christians and Muslims were still “very deep”, including those caused by a controversial papal speech last September. “These wounds are very deep. There are many wounds and they cannot heal that easily,” Khatami told a conference in Rome just before the papal meeting, when asked if the wounds that followed the Pontiff's speech in his native Germany had been healed. “For sure, a meeting with the Holy Father cannot be enough to heal all these wounds but at least we are making a joint effort in order to start healing these wounds,” Khatami said. The Vatican said Khatami and the Pope met for about 30 minutes and spoke through interpreters about the “dialogue among cultures” to overcome current tensions and promote peace. They also discussed the problems of minority Christians in Iran and the Middle East and encouraged peace efforts such as the conference on Iraq's future taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. At Friday morning's conference, before meeting the Pope, Khatami said no one could use God's name to “instigate war or hate or speak ignorantly of crusades”. He said both religions must enter a “sincere and practical dialogue and commitment to achieve peace and eliminate terrorism and war”. (Posted @ 18:18 PST)
Floods kill 23 Afghans, NATO soldier FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, May 4 Reuters) - Floods triggered by heavy rain killed 23 Afghans and a NATO soldier, and destroyed scores of houses in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Badakhshan, officials said Friday. Authorities were searching for some missing people after the flooding, which hit on Thursday night in an area of the impoverished and mountainous province near the border with Tajikistan, China and Pakistan, provincial governor Munshi Abdul Majid said. A soldier with the NATO-led forces died in another area of the province when his car was washed away by the floods, an Afghan aid worker said in Faizabad, the provincial capital of Badakhshan. (Posted @ 18:14 PST)
40 bodies found in Iraq Baghdad, May 4 (Reuters) - Police found at least 40 bodies in only three cities – Baghdad, Falluja and Baiji –during the last 24 hours ending Thursday midnight. Twenty-five bodies were found in different parts of Baghdad, the interior ministry said. Nine more bodies were found in Falluja, 50 km west of Baghdad, police said. Four were believed to be brothers. Meanwhile, six police officers were found dead in Baiji, 180 km north of Baghdad, police said. (Posted @ 18:12 PST)
Iran, US hold low-level talks: Iraq FM SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 4 (AFP) - Iran and the United States held talks “at the level of experts” Friday on the sidelines of a meeting on Iraq's security, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told a news conference. “It was the ambassadors and members of the delegations that met,” Zebari said, without revealing the officials' identities. (Posted @ 17:18 PST)
Sri Lanka storms leave 15 dead COLOMBO, May 4 AFP) - At least 15 people have died following heavy monsoon rains and flash floods in Sri Lanka's capital and nearby coastal areas, police and hospitals said Friday. Three people were killed in the capital on Thursday, all of whom drowned after falling into unprotected drains or manholes. Heavy showers also damaged the roof of the country's parliament, while parts of the main Galle Road in Colombo were washed out, police said. Schools in Colombo were closed Friday. Rains in neighbouring Gampaha and Kalutara districts and the southern port district of Galle claimed a further 12 lives, police said. (Posted @ 17:14 PST)
More civilians killed in US-led raid-Afghan official SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, May 4 (Reuters) - At least 13 more civilians were killed in a bombing raid by U.S.-led forces in Maroof district of Kandahar province on Tuesday, Janan Gulzai, a provincial assembly member, said Friday, bringing to 70 the number of such deaths reported this week. “I saw all the victims are civilians,” Gulzai who was a member of a government team investigating the incident, told Reuters. The civilians were travelling in three cars along the same stretch of road as coalition troops near the town of Spin Boldak when the troops came under Taliban fire, said Ghulam Farooq, a resident of the area. The 13 civilians were killed when coalition warplanes were summoned to bomb the area while the Taliban escaped, he said. A spokesman for the U.S. military said he had no information about the report and would check. (Posted @ 15:49 PST)
Iranian minister leaves dinner over red dress-U.S. SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 4 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki abruptly left a dinner where he was to sit opposite U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, complaining that a red dress worn by an entertainer was too revealing, a U.S. official said Friday. U.S. officials said Mottaki complained to his Egyptian host the red dress worn by a Russian violinist was offensive. “I am not sure which woman he was afraid of, the woman in the red dress or the secretary of state,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack of the incident. (Posted @ 15:38 PST)
Fire kills three in Russian hospital fire MOSCOW, May 4 (Reuters) - A fire in a Russian psychiatric hospital in the southern Rostov region killed three people on Friday and injured around 16 others, the fire services said, the latest deadly accident in Russia's often under-funded institutions. The fire started in the early hours of the morning and raged for two hours. There were 43 people in the building at the time. (Posted @ 15:35 PST)
US military kills two more Iraq Qaeda leaders BAGHDAD, May 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said Friday it had identified two more senior al Qaeda in Iraq leaders killed in an operation north of Baghdad three days ago. It said the latest two people confirmed killed were Sabah Hilal al-Shihawi, who it said was the religious adviser of Muharib Abdul Latif al-Jubouri, and Abu Ammar al-Masri, who it described as a foreign fighter. The U.S. military said on Thursday it had killed Jubouri, the senior information minister for al Qaeda in Iraq, in a raid in Taji, north of Baghdad. Shihawi and Masri were killed in the same operation. Both men were identified by associates at the site, and photograpic evidence also identified Shihawi, the military said in a statement. (Posted @ 15:34 PST)
Key Iraq neighbours, players discuss security SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, May 4 (AFP) Iraq's neighbours and key international players Friday went into talks aimed at increasing security cooperation and ending the bloodshed in Iraq. Taking part in the expanded neighbours' conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh were Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the United States, European Union and United Nations, as well as other key players. “The meeting would focus on getting regional support to Iraq specifically,” a delegate said requesting anonymity. “The idea is to create pressure for neighbours to perform.” (Posted @ 14:17 PST)
Gunmen kill two in Iraqi radio station assault BAGHDAD, May 4 (APP/AFP) Gunmen attacked a local radio station in west Baghdad killing two employees and halting transmission, a defence ministry official said Friday. Dozens of gunmen assaulted Radio Dijla in the Jamia neighbourhood Thursday and shot four people, two of them fatally. (FirstPosted @ 10:41 PST, Updated @ 14:16 PST)
Six killed in Philippine election attack MANILA, May 4 (AFP) Six relatives of a congressional candidate were shot dead in the Philippines’ northern Abra province early Friday. The attack happened when political rivals opened fire with automatic weapons on the convoy of Cecille Luna, mayor of Lagayan. Luna, who is running for congress, blamed the attack on Abra Governor Vicente Valera, who is running against her in the May 14 elections. Just hours before the Abra attack, a candidate for town council was shot dead by communist insurgents in Daraga town, southeast of Manila. (Posted @ 14:15 PST)
Rain, storms kill 15 in southeastern India HYDERABAD, India, May 4 (Reuters) Fifteen people were killed and 45 injured as heavy rain and thunderstorms lashed India's southeastern coast, causing houses, trees and electric poles to collapse, officials said Friday. The casualties occurred during Thursday and Friday in Andhra Pradesh state. Most victims were trapped under the debris of houses or were hit by falling trees and electric poles, a disaster management official said. Separately, five elephants were killed Friday in the eastern state of West Bengal when they were struck by lightning in Buxar Tiger Reserve, 770 km northeast of Kolkata, authorities said. (Posted @ 12:32 PST)
Crucial climate change agreement reached BANGKOK, May 4 (AFP) The world must act quickly to cut back on the greenhouse gases that fuel climate change, the UN's leading authority said in a report Friday. Scientists and experts on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) added that there was “substantial” potential for the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to below current levels. “Mitigation efforts over the next two to three decades will have a large impact on opportunities to achieve lower stabilisation levels” of greenhouse gases, the report said. “There is substantial economic potential for the mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades,” it said. The report is set to be formally launched at a media conference at 0600 GMT, and was agreed after five days of intense debate and marathon talks at a major UN conference here. The report calls for greater use of renewable energies such as solar, wind, and hydro-power, as well as ways to use energy more efficiently. (FirstPosted @ 09:25 PST, Updated@ 12:06 PST)
U.S. 2008 Election: Republicans back war, question handling SIMI VALLEY, California, May 4 (Reuters) Republican White House contenders offered strong support for the military effort in Iraq but voiced qualms about the Bush administration's management of the war during a first debate at the California presidential library of Ronald Reagan Thursday. “We must win in Iraq. If we withdraw, there will be chaos, there will be genocide, and they will follow us home,” said Arizona Senator John McCain. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said: “We should never retreat in the face of terrorism. Terrible mistake.” McCain however said the war was “badly managed for four years.” “Clearly there was a real error in judgment,” said former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. (Posted @ 09:24 PST)
Two Cuban soldiers killed in plane hijack attempt HAVANA, May 4 (AFP) An officer and a soldier were killed Thursday by two military deserters trying to hijack an airplane at Havana's airport, the interior ministry said. Airport sources said earlier the heavily-armed deserters were thwarted in their attempt to take over a Boeing 737 after a fierce gun battle in Jose Marti airport's Terminal 2. (Posted @ 09:24 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 81.92 points: KARACHI, May 4: At the close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 12512.08, up 81.92 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:00 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, May 4: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.7 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:00 PST)
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