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| August 04, 2007 | Saturday | Rajab 19, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Nine killed, 35 hurt in Pakistan suicide attack ISLAMABAD, Aug 4 (AFP) Nine people were killed and 35 wounded Saturday when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed car into other vehicles in the northwestern Pakistani town of Parachinar, officials said. The bomber's car ploughed into vehicles parked on the town’s main road, local security chief Arbab Mohammad Arif told AFP. Local official Mujtaba Asghar said the attack happened at a taxi stand in front of a car showroom in the town, some 240 kilometres west of Islamabad. “Some public transport vehicles were parked on the road in front of the showroom when the bomber rammed his car and exploded,” Asghar told AFP. The blast damaged five shops as well as the vehicles. (First Posted @ 12:15 Updated @ 19:14 PST)
Pakistan army clashes with militants, 14 killed MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Aug 4 (Reuters) Pro-Taliban tribesman attacked a Pakistani army check-post in North Waziristan region on Saturday, killing four soldiers, but 10 militants were killed in the exchange of fire, an army spokesman said. Four members of the security forces were also wounded in the pre-dawn clash in Dosali area, some 40 km south of Miranshah, the main town of the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, Major-General Waheed Arshad said. “Militants fired about 50 rockets on a check-post complex at around 0300 hours (2200 GMT) and then they carried out a physical attack on the check-post,” he told Reuters. “Four security forces were killed and four wounded, while 10 militants were also killed in the attack.” Arshad said the latest clash lasted about two hours and militants were seen carrying four to five bodies while fleeing. Since the militants scrapped the peace accord last month, the army has erected more check-posts and carried out more patrols in North Waziristan, but it has yet to launch an offensive. (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Javed Hashmi freed from prison LAHORE, Aug 4 (AP) Pakistani opposition leader Javed Hashmi was released from prison after four years to a rapturous welcome from hundreds of supporters Saturday, and he immediately vowed to resume his political campaign against President Pervez Musharraf. Hashmi, the acting president of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party, was freed a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail part-way into a 23-year sentence for treason and trying to incite a mutiny against Musharraf. The Supreme Court agreed to bail of 50,000 rupees while it considers his application for the case to be reviewed. Hashmi was greeted by a crowd from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N who cheered and waved the party's green-coloured banners when he emerged late afternoon from the Kotlakhpat prison in Lahore. He was flanked by party officials, and former President Rafique Tarar. The crowd rushed toward Hashmi, draped a flower garland around his neck, and helped him climb onto the front of a four-wheel drive vehicle for a slow procession through Lahore to a shrine in the city. ''My fight was for the restoration of democracy, and the true freedom for me will come the day when we will get rid of those who toppled the elected government,'' Hashmi yelled into reporters' microphones from the vehicle. The crowd built throughout Saturday, and a party atmosphere developed with drummers and horn-players. (First Posted @ 17:04 PST Updated @ 19:26 PST)
Cricket-Pakistan cricketers reject offers from new Indian league KARACHI, Aug 4 (Reuters) Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Asif have turned down offers to play in the unofficial Indian Cricket League Twenty20 series. The three told Reuters Saturday that playing for Pakistan was far more important for them and they had not been tempted by offers made by the ICL organizers. (First Posted @ 16:46 PST Updated @ 21:12 PST)
Monsoon floods displace 19 million; 229 dead in north India, Bangladesh LUCKNOW, India (AP) Helicopters dropped food to almost 2 million marooned villagers in India Saturday as the death toll from unusually heavy monsoon rains and floods in South Asia crossed 200, officials said. At least 229 people have been killed in India and neighbouring Bangladesh, and 19 million driven from their homes in recent days. The number of dead in Bangladesh rose to 81 Saturday, up from 65 a day earlier, the country's information ministry said in a statement. Raging floodwaters have battered 38 out of 64 districts in the delta nation of 145 million people. (Posted @ 20:58 PST)
Present assemblies to elect President Musharraf DADU, Aug 4 (APP) Federal Minister for Water and Power, Liaquat Ali Khan Jatoi ruled out the possibility of seat adjustment with Pakistan Peoples Party on any constituency and said that Pakistan Muslim League (Q) has strengthened roots among the masses and has the ability to win the elections with thumping majority. The present parliament would re-elect President Musharraf for the next tenure, the minister said this while replying to questions of mediamen during his visit to 500 KV Dadu Grid Station Saturday. He said that under the dynamic leadership of the President Musharraf and the Prime Minister Aziz, Pakistan is moving towards rapid progress and prosperity and soon would be ranked among the developed countries. He mentioned that the policies of PML (Q) has strengthened the party roots in Sindh and the party would gain majority in national and provincial assemblies seats in the forthcoming general elections. (Posted @ 20:46 PST)
President's re-election in uniform to ensure continuity of ongoing development process: Pervez Elahi LAHORE, Aug 4 (APP) Punjab Chief Minister, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said President Pervez Musharraf will be re-elected president in uniform from the existing assemblies in the interest of continuity of the ongoing development process in the country. He was addressing assembly members, nazims and PML office-bearers of Rahim Yar Khan district at Chief Minister's Secretariat, here Saturday. He said, “There will be no objection to the support of any political party in the election of the president in uniform as we want completion of this process amicably.” He said that general elections will be held in the country in a fair and transparent manner after the completion of the constitutional term of the present assemblies. “Pakistan Muslim League will contest election against Pakistan Peoples Party and there is no question of electoral alliance or seat adjustment with PPP,” Elahi said. He said that PML would contest general elections from its own platform and would achieve a glorious victory. (Posted @ 20:22 PST)
Lebanese soldier killed in battle at camp BEIRUT, Aug 4 (Reuters) A Lebanese solider was killed Saturday in fighting with Fatah al-Islam militants holed up in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon, security sources said. (Posted @ 19:24 PST)
US military kills four, captures 33 in raids in Iraq BAGHDAD, Aug 4 (AP) U.S. forces killed four suspects and captured 33 others Saturday in raids in northern Iraq and along the Tigris River Valley, the military said. The four were killed in a raid in Diyala province’s town of Qasirin targeting an insurgent group believed to be coordinating logistical support from Iran for militias in Iraq, the U.S. military said in a statement. Among those detained in other raids Saturday was the alleged leader of a terror group responsible for planting roadside bombs in Mosul, the U.S. military said in another statement. Another member of the group was also taken into custody, it said. West of Tarmiyah, U.S. troops captured 20 suspects accused of having ties to a high-ranking al-Qaida figure, the military said. Two more suspects were also arrested for alleged ties to another leader from the same group, it said. Four more suspects were detained for alleged involvement in a sniper cell, the statement said. In Kirkuk, five people were captured, the military said. (Posted @ 19:06 PST)
Ahmadinejad says Iran won't give up nuclear plans ALGIERS, Aug 4 (Reuters) Iran will not give up its atomic energy programme, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in remarks published Saturday before a visit to fellow OPEC-member Algeria. “Iran has not demanded more than its right to nuclear energy. We are not ready to give up a single inch of this right,” Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Algerian newspaper El Watan. “We will continue our efforts within the framework of international law. I can say that Iran is a nuclear state.” (Posted @ 19:00 PST)
US soldier found guilty in Iraq rape, murder CHICAGO, Aug 4 (Reuters) A U.S. military court found an American soldier guilty in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her family, and will sentence him Saturday, the Army said. The guilty verdict against Pvt. Jesse Spielman, 22, was delivered by a jury late Friday. He was one of five soldiers charged in the March 2006 attack on the family in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad. Spielman, the court found, participated in the planning of the attack and acted as a lookout. He was found guilty of four counts of murder, of rape, conspiracy to commit rape and housebreaking with the intent to commit rape. (Posted @ 18:56 PST)
Four killed in helicopter crash in Cumbria LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) A civilian helicopter has crashed in northern England killing four people, emergency services said Saturday. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the helicopter took off from Carnforth, Lancashire, on Friday night bound for Lockerbie in Scotland. The wreckage was found Saturday at a farm in Cumbria, close to the M6 motorway. (Posted @ 18:52 PST)
Tremors felt in Karachi KARACHI, Aug 4 (APP) Some parts of Karachi Saturday received tremors of light magnitude at about 3.30 p.m., but Met Office said its observation scale did not record any such activity due to power failure. A Met official told APP that due to power failure, its observation system could not record the magnitude of these shocks. The Met office is in contact with the observatories in Peshawar and Quetta to confirm these reports, he added. He, however, said that the report of tremors could not be confirmed from a high quality worldwide seismic recording system which works round the clock. Meanwhile, people said that they felt shocks in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e- Jauher, Sharea Faisal, I. I. Chundrigar Road, etc. (Posted @ 18:40 PST)
Tigers say 32 civilians killed in Tamil regions COLOMBO, Aug 4 (APP/AFP) At least 32 Tamil civilians have been killed and another 24 “disappeared” last month in Tamil-dominated areas of Sri Lanka's northeast, the guerrillas said Saturday. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) blamed government forces for the killings as well as the disappearances from the Jaffna peninsula and the north-eastern areas where Tamils are concentrated.The military denies targeting civilians and in turn blames the Tigers for using civilians as human shields as well as forcibly conscripting child soldiers. (Posted @ 18:38 PST)
Kenya road crash kills 12 NAIROBI, Aug 4 (Reuters) Twelve people died and four were injured in Kenya Saturday when a cattle truck lost control and plunged into a valley near the northern town of Moyale, Patrick Beja, the town's acting district commissioner, told Reuters. (Posted @ 17:34 PST)
Algerian army kills 13 Qaeda militants ALGIERS, Aug 4 (Reuters) The Algerian army has killed 13 al Qaeda militants near the border with Tunisia in the past three days, newspapers reported Saturday. The militants were killed in Tebessa province, some 634 km east of Algiers, dailies Liberte and El Khabar said. (Posted @ 17:16 PST)
At least nine die in Slovakian lodging house fire BRATISLAVA, Aug 4 (Reuters) At least nine people died in a fire at a lodging house in northern Slovakia, police said Saturday. Firefighters found seven bodies in the ruins in the small northern town of Kysucke Nove Mesto after Friday's blaze, the TASR news agency reported. “There are still two more people missing,” TASR quoted Frantisek Posluch, the head of the regional police department, as saying. (Posted @ 17:08 PST)
Few civilian deaths from Afghan bombing KABUL, Aug 4 (Reuters) Afghan and Western military forces said Saturday there were minimal civilian casualties from an air strike in southern Afghanistan this week that targeted Taliban leaders and may have killed up to 150 people. Aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan launched a strike in the Baghran area of Helmand province Thursday, targeting known Taliban commanders, the U.S. military said. Also, a suicide car bomb targeting foreign forces killed two Afghan civilians in Kandahar Saturday, witnesses and Afghan troops said. (Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Cricket- Pakistan's Shoaib, Asif clear drugs tests KARACHI, Aug 4 (Reuters) Pakistan pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have returned negative results for last week's out-of-competition drugs tests conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), PCB director of communications Ehsan Malik told Reuters Saturday. “We have received the results of the urine samples collected from all 26 players last week and they have all tested negative,” Malik said. “Shoaib and Asif have cleared the tests which are part of our zero tolerance policy towards drugs in sports.” The tests were conducted during a training camp in Karachi ahead of next month's Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. Malik said the samples had been sent to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accredited laboratory in Malaysia. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Civilian killed in grenade attack on funeral procession in Mogadishu MOGADISHU, Somalia, Aug 4 (AP) An unidentified teenager threw a grenade at a funeral procession Saturday, killing one person and wounding three others in the Somali capital, a witness said. Relatives, friends and neighbours of District Commissioner Haji Ali Fidow, who was shot dead late Friday, were in a convoy going to a burial site when ''a young boy intercepted the convoy ... and threw a grenade at the vehicles,'' said a nephew of the dead government official. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Somali gunmen slay district official MOGADISHU, Aug 4 (AFP) Somali gunmen killed Haji Ali Fido, a district commissioner, at his home in Yakshid district, north of Mogadishu late Friday, witnesses said Saturday. “The men, armed with two pistols, opened fire ... and managed to escape because there were no bodyguards. He died instantly,” the commissioner's son told AFP. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Phoenix lander launched to Mars WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (AFP) A US space probe named Phoenix Mars Lander was successfully launched early Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and began its nine-month journey to Mars, where it will dig for clues to past and present life. The lander blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a Delta II rocket at 5:36 am in a flawless launch that illuminated the dark night sky. If everything goes as planned, Phoenix should complete its 680 million kilometre to Mars on May 25, 2008. About 90 minutes after launch, the Delta II rocket will give the probe the final push it needs to send it from Earth orbit to Mars. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Tennis-Sharapova breezes past Mirza to reach San Diego semis SAN DIEGO, Aug 4 (Reuters) Top seed Maria Sharapova (Russia) demolished Sania Mirza (India) 6-2 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the San Diego Classic on Friday. (Posted @ 12:35 PST)
Suicide car bomb hits foreign troops in Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Aug 4(Reuters) A suicide car bomb hit foreign troops in the city of Kandahar on Saturday killing two Afghan civilians, witnesses and Afghan troops said.Two apparently wounded foreign soldiers were taken away from the scene, Afghan troops at the scene said. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
South Asia flood death toll at 1,400 NEW DELHI, Aug 4 (AFP) Flooding triggered by monsoon rains has killed some 1,400 people and marooned around 25 million in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The number of dead crossed 1,100 by late Friday in India alone, the UNICEF said in a statement. The floods had affected some 10 million people in Bihar alone, according to PTI news agency report Saturday. Another 5.5 million were displaced in Assam and some 1.4 million people in Uttar Pradesh, officials said. In Bangladesh the situation appeared to be worse. “In the last 15 days, all major rivers rose above danger levels and their water has already inundated some 40 per cent of the country's total land area,” said Saiful Hossain of Bangladesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Afghanistan again rules out prisoner swap for SKoreans GHAZNI, Aug 4 (AFP) An Afghan negotiator Saturday again ruled out a prisoner exchange to free 21 South Koreans held by the Taliban, saying it was against the policy of Afghanistan and the United States. Talks are being conducted mainly by South Korea and could only involve settling on a ransom payout, parliamentarian Mahmood Gailani told AFP. “The talks are now mainly by South Koreans. They can only talk about money, ransom,” he added. (Posted @ 12:25 PST)
SKorean families visit mosque seeking help over hostages SEOUL, Aug 4 (AFP) The families of 21 South Koreans held hostage by Afghanistan's Taliban for more than two weeks visited a mosque in Seoul on Saturday and delivered a letter appealing for assistance from the Afghan people. The families asked clerics at the mosque to help deliver medical supplies to the apparently ailing captives. Sulaiman Lee Haeng Lae, Imam of the mosque, said he has already been making efforts to seek release of the hostages. “Our former secretary general of the mosque has already arrived in Afghanistan as part of the group led by South Korea's special envoy. He is still helping there,” he said. (Posted @ 12:10 PST)
Bomb kills four Afghan cops ASADABAD, Afghanistan, Aug 4 (AFP) A bomb blew up a police vehicle in the eastern province of Kunar late Friday, killing four officers and injuring as many others, a police commander said Saturday. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Romney attacks Obama over Pakistan warning WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized Democrat Barack Obama on Friday for vowing to strike al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan if necessary. “I do not concur in the words of Barack Obama in a plan to enter an ally of ours... I don't think those kinds of comments help in this effort to draw more friends to our effort,” Romney told reporters on the campaign trail. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is one of the Republican front-runners, said U.S. troops “shouldn't be sent all over the world.” He called Obama's comments “ill-timed” and “ill-considered.” (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
U.S. Senate confirms Mullen as new military chief WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) The U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed President George W. Bush's choice of Michael Mullen to be his top military adviser, replacing Marine Gen. Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen, 60, who has been serving as chief of Naval operations told Congress Tuesday that he thought the United States would be in Iraq for “years not months” and that a rapid military withdrawal could turn the country into a “caldron.” (Posted @ 10:35 PST)
US Congress to scrutinize nuclear pact with India WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (AFP) The US Congress has to determine whether an operational agreement of a landmark US-India nuclear deal is legal, the head of an influential House of Representatives panel said Friday. The statement by Tom Lantos, the Democratic chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, came as two US arms experts warned that the civilian nuclear agreement was filled with “loopholes” that could be exploited by India to bolster its nuclear weapons program. Lantos said Congress needed “to determine whether the new agreement conforms to the Henry Hyde Act, and thereby supports US foreign policy and nonproliferation goals.. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the US Arms Control Association, and Fred McGoldrick, a former senior official with the US Department of Energy, called for a closing of “the proliferation loopholes that plague” the agreement. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House foreign affairs committee, said she too had concerns, including India's right to reprocess US-origin nuclear fuel under the agreement, and technology that could be used to enhance the Asian giant's nuclear weapons program.The right to reprocess spent US-sourced nuclear fuel has been given only to Japan and the European Union so far. The agreement “will be under a microscope once Congress gets a chance to look at it,” said Edward Markey, the Democratic co-chairman of the House of Representatives Bipartisan Task Force on Non-Proliferation. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Taliban want neutral venue for hostage talks GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Aug 4 (AFP) Afghanistan's Taliban were holding out Saturday for a neutral venue for talks with South Korea over the fate of 21 hostages they are threatening to kill. The militants have agreed to talks with the South Koreans, but are refusing to meet them in government-controlled territory. “They told us that they are in negotiations with the Afghan and American governments to convince them to free Taliban prisoners in exchange for the South Korean hostages,” Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP Friday. The Taliban would agree to talks if they were held in areas that the rebels control, in another country or under a UN guarantee of a “safe return” for its negotiators, he said. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
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