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| August 27, 2007 | Monday | Sha’aban 13, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Fighting in northwest Pakistan kills one militant, injures civilians MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan, Aug 27 (AP) Militants and soldiers exchanged fire in northwest Pakistan Monday, killing one militant and injuring three civilians and a soldier, an official said. Militants fired rockets at a security post on the outskirts of North Waziristan's main town of Miran Shah before dawn, sparking a gunbattle with troops, an intelligence official said. A mortar shell apparently fired by security forces hit a civilian home, wounding two women and a child, said the official, who spoke requesting anonymity. One militant was killed and one soldier wounded in the firing. Militants fired rockets at military posts and bases in Miran Shah and in Mir Ali, another North Waziristan town, but no one was hurt, the official said. Also Monday, police said they seized four suicide belts, 228 sticks of dynamite and other bomb-making material in a raid on a home in Chakdara, a town in NWFP’s Dir district. Police launched the raid based on intelligence that a Saudi Arabian al-Qaida suspect was living in the house, but he was not there, a police official said requesting anonymity. A Pakistani doctor who owned the house was taken into custody along with the Saudi suspect's family and a guard, the official said. He said the suspect, who had been living at the house for three weeks, had told local people his name was Mohammed Yousaf. (Posted @ 14:35 PST)
Pakistani hostage released in Nigeria PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, August 27, (AP) - Gunmen who kidnapped a Pakistani worker more than three weeks ago in restive southern Nigeria released him Monday, police said. The man was handed over to authorities in Rivers State, where he was seized July 31, police spokeswoman Irejua Barasua said. She was not able to say if a ransom had been paid, and she had no further details. (Posted @ 23:18 PST)
Ishaq Khakwani tenders resignation from cabinet, retains as MNA and party worker ISLAMABAD, Aug 27 (APP) - Minister of State for Information Technology Ishaq Khan Khakwani Monday resigned from the cabinet but he will retain his membership of the National Assembly. “I personally think that there should be a national consensus for a package deal among all mainstream political parties to draw a mechanism to go ahead and jointly work to further strengthen democratic institutions in the country,” he told media. Ishaq Khakwani said neither anyone asked him to resign nor he consulted anyone before tendering his resignation before Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during a scheduled meeting with him. Dismissing the impression of any personal differences with any of PML leader, he expressed the view that “I took this decision because I think it will be in favour of President Pervez Musharraf that he contests the presidential election on the basis of his performance after shedding his uniform.” (Posted @ 23:38 PST)
Bush hails Iraq accord, warns more work to do ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, Aug 27, (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Monday welcomed a broadbrush deal among top Iraqi leaders to forge national unity and quell sectarian violence but warned that much work remained. In a hastily announced public statement, Bush said he had spoken to leaders in Baghdad and that the agreement showed they understand that they need to pursue the “true and meaningful reconciliation” that has eluded them. (Posted @ 23:04 PST)
Supremacy of parliament critical for democracy: PM ISLAMABAD, Aug 27 (APP) - Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Monday said that supremacy of parliament is critical to the smooth functioning of democracy in the country. Talking to former President of Pakistan Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari here at the PM's House, Aziz said each pillar of state has to play a cohesive role in accordance with the constitution in the better interest of the country. The Prime Minister said that government is focusing on the development of less developed areas. (Posted @ 22:52 PST)
England beats India by 42 runs to take 2-1 lead in series BIRMINGHAM, England, August 27, (AP) - Result of the third one-day international between England and India at Edgbaston on Monday: England 281 for 8 (Ian Bell 79, Paul Collingwood 44; Rudra Pratap Singh 3-55, Ramesh Powar 2-45) def. India 239 (Sourav Ganguly 72, Rahul Dravid 56; James Anderson 3-32, Paul Collingwood 2-45). (Posted @ 22:34 PST)
K-2 peak conquered from new route ISLAMABAD, Aug 27 (APP): A Russian climbing party has made mountaineering history by conquering K-2 peak from a new route. The Russians got to the top of the 8,611 metres high K-2, nestling in the Karakoram Range, from a new route--the Centre of the Western Wall. President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has hailed the conquest. (Posted @ 22:08 PST)
Russian bombers not carrying nuclear weapons MOSCOW, Aug 27 (APP/AFP): Russia said Monday that strategic bomber planes which were ordered this month to resume the Soviet-era practice of long-range patrols are not carrying nuclear weapons, ITAR-TASS news agency reported .“We are not flying with nuclear weapons during our patrols. They are not aboard. There are only training weapons,” the head of strategic aviation, General Pavel Androsov, was quoted as saying. He said the main aim of the flights was to improve training for pilots, which in recent years “was virtually stopped”. (Posted @ 20:18 PST)
President for strengthening shipbuilding industry ISLAMABAD, Aug 27 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday said shipbuilding industry can become the country's great asset due to its potential and would contribute to the uplift of national economy. Chairing a meeting of Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works he remarked that Pakistan should concentrate not only on ship repair but also shipbuilding and needed shipyards with bigger docks to accommodate larger vessels. (Posted @ 20:14 PST)
Chinese high-level delegation leaves for Pakistan BEIJING, AUG 27 (APP) : A high-level Chinese delegation from Ministry of Education led by Deputy Director-General Jiang Feng left here Monday for Pakistan to hold negotiations for setting up Pakistan-China University of Science and Technology. (Posted @ 20:12 PST)
Kasuri reviews Pakistan's foreign policy KARACHI, Aug 27 (APP)- Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said Monday that Pakistan will continue to conduct its foreign policy in consonance with its national interests without taking dictation from any foreign power. “Our foreign policy is essentially shaped and underpinned by national security concerns and well being of the people of Pakistan”, he told a press conference. Within these parameters, he said, our primary objective is to safeguard the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and to strive for promoting political, economic and trade relations with other countries and project the true image of the country in the international community. As a result of Pakistan's principled and dynamic foreign policy, positive trends are being witnessed in our relations with neighbours, including China, as well as, USA, EU, Russia, East Asia, Japan and the Islamic world, he stated. In the context of Pakistan-India relations, he said it was a matter of satisfaction that our relationship is now stable and the peace process has become irreversible. Emphasising that Kashmir is the core issue pending a settlement, the Foreign Minister said we have made it clear to India that now the two countries need to move from conflict management to conflict resolution. (Posted @ 20:08 PST)
SHC adjourns hearing on May 12 incidents till Sept. 3 KARACHI, Aug 27 (APP): A larger bench of Sindh High Court headed by Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany Monday adjourned the hearing of petition and different applications about incidents of May 12 last, after receiving statements from Sindh Chief Minister and other high authorities. On Monday, counsel of Sindh Chief Minister, Barrister Wasim Sajjad submitted that the matter pertaining to contempt of court against Sindh CM was a different matter and it should be taken up, separately, because it is not connected with May 12 incidents. Statements were also filed before the larger bench by the counsels representing Sindh Home Secretary, Chairman KPT, Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping and others.. Iqbal Kazmi, rights' campaigner, also appeared before the bench and submitted that he had moved an application before the High Court to name Sindh CM as respondents in his petition about incidents of May 12. Allowing the request of Kazmi the bench named the Sindh CM and TPO Saddar Police, as respondents. In reply to the questionnaire containing 35 queries, raised by amicus curiae, advocate Kazi Faez Isa, Home Secretary Sindh, Brig. (Retd) Ghulam Muhammad Mohatarem also submitted statement. (Posted @ 20:04 PST)
President administers oath to two new ministers ISLAMABAD, Aug 27 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday administered oath to two new members in the Federal Cabinet. They are Iqbal Mohammad Ali Khan as Federal Minister and Dr Abdul Kadir Khanzada as Minister of State. Their portfolios would be announced later. (Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Protest strike shuts down southern Indian city after twin bombings HYDERABAD, India, Aug 27 (AP) - Streets were deserted and businesses closed Monday in Hyderabad city after Bharatiya Janata Party called for a strike to protest government's failure to prevent weekend bombings that killed at least 42 people. The state government closed the schools in the state for the day, and the BJP asked shops and businesses to shut down as well. Traffic was sparse throughout the city. Police detained roughly 100 BJP activists who tried to forcibly close shops that remained open and stop vehicles on the roads. BJP activists burned Pakistan and Bangladesh flags. Earlier in the day, police evacuated a government office building after receiving one of several telephone calls about further bomb attacks, but found no explosive devices. Both Bangladesh and Pakistan condemned Saturday's bombings and rejected the allegation that groups from their countries were involved. (Posted @ 18:08 PST)
US attorney general has resigned: report WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (AFP) - Embattled US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, accused by US lawmakers of misleading Congress and abusing his office, has resigned, the New York Times reported on its website on Monday. (Posted @ 17:48 PST)
Taliban ambush kills 3 US soldiers ASADABAD, Afghanistan, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Three U.S. and two Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush on Monday in Afghanistan's eastern provice of Kunar, a provincial police official said. The incident happened in Ghazi Abad district near the border with Pakistan, police chief of the district told reporters. “There was a Taliban ambush in which three U.S. and two Afghan soldiers were killed today,” he said. (Posted @ 17:36 PST)
Two NATO soldiers killed by raids in Afghanistan KABUL, Aug 27(Reuters): Two NATO soldiers have been killed in two separate attacks in Afghanistan, the alliance said on Monday. NATO did not identify the victims. However, the Netherlands' military said a Dutch soldier had been killed overnight by a bomb in southern Afghanistan. It said the 30-year-old sergeant was in a unit searching for explosives in the province of Uruzgan when the improvised device exploded. A corporal was wounded in the attack but was not in a critical condition. (Posted @ 12:50 PST)
Pakistan says nuclear deterrence indispensable for its security ISLAMABAD, Aug 27 (APP): Pakistan's position on Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is very clear and it considers nuclear deterrence an indispensable part of its security, Foreign Office spokesperson Ms Tasnim Aslam said at the weekly Press briefing in response to a statement by Japanese Defence Minister who expressed her country's desire that Pakistan may join the NPT regime. The spokesperson also recalled Director General IAEA's statement that non-proliferation needed to accommodate the ground realities. “Since the nuclear weapons in these states (India and Pakistan) is a reality, it is better for the credibility of this (NPT) regime that there should be some kind of accommodation,” the IAEA official was quoted as saying. (Posted @ 17:20 PST)
Fire at UAE port's chemical depot put out DUBAI, Aug 27(Reuters) - Firefighters extinguished a blaze that tore through a chemical storage depot at Jebel Ali port in the emirate of Dubai on Monday. “The fire is under control although it started in the middle of the 8,000 square metre depot used to store chemicals,” said Rashid al-Matrooshi, head of administration at the Dubai Civil Defence Department. There were no casualties and shipping was not disrupted. It was not clear what caused the blaze, which broke out at 4.00 a.m (0000 GMT), enveloping parts of Dubai in black smoke. “There were explosions, sending debris up to 300 metres in the air,” Matrooshi said. The depot stored about 25,000 barrels of combustible material and bags of chemical powder, Matrooshi said. (Posted @ 16:48 PST)
Former Bangladesh minister, UN expert jailed for taking bribe DHAKA, Aug 27 (AFP) - A special Bangladeshi anti-graft court on Monday jailed a former minister and his UN expert wife for accepting a 342,000-dollar bribe, a prosecutor said. Nazmul Huda, who served as communications minister until last October, was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 25 million taka (362,000 dollars) for taking the bribe from a leading construction company, prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kazal said. His wife Sigma, a UN specialist on people trafficking, was jailed for three years for aiding her husband and keeping the money in her bank account, Kazal said. (Posted @ 16:44 PST)
Hasina Wajed refused bail DHAKA, Aug 27(AFP): Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed. The court overturned a ruling by a lower court issued last month which said that Sheikh Hasina, who served as prime minister between 1996 and 2001 and is facing several different charges, should be freed from detention. In a separate ruling, the court also ordered the former prime minister, who has been detained since July 16, to submit details of her financial affairs to the anti-corruption commission within seven working days. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Cricket: India's rebel league gets court relief NEW DELHI, Aug 27 (AFP) - Indian Cricket League (ICL) received a fillip on Monday when a court temporarily barred government institutions from sacking players aligned with the rebel circuit. Delhi High Court passed the interim order on a suit filed by the ICL, which said that public sector companies like Air India had threatened to expel ICL-linked players. Judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the official Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the federal government to submit their replies to the ICL suit before the next hearing on October 5. “Why should players have swords hanging over their head?” justice Kaul asked. The ICL has also pleaded with the court to direct the BCCI to let out cricket stadiums in the country for its matches. (Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Four US troops killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Aug 27 (AFP) - Insurgents have killed four more American troops north and west of Baghdad, the military said Monday. “Two Task Force Lightning Soldiers were killed by enemy gunfire in Salaheddin province Sunday,” a statement said. Salaheddin's capital is Tikrit, hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein. A marine was also killed on Saturday and another on Sunday during combat operations in the western province of Anbar, a second statement said. (Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Rebels kidnap 15 soldiers in Mali BAMAKO, Aug 27 (AFP) - Tuareg rebels have kidnapped 15 soldiers from a town in eastern Mali, Tedjerete, and fled in the direction of Niger, Malian security officials said Monday.The troops snatched on Sunday were among those posted in the northern part of Mali's border area to protect agro-science technicians working to prevent a locust infestation in the sub-Saharan region, the army said. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
71 Ugandan soldiers killed in crash NAIROBI, Aug 27(Reuters): Seventy-one Ugandan soldiers were killed and another 41 injured, many seriously, when their huge truck crashed into a concrete barrier in the east of the country, a spokesman said on Monday. The crash happened late on Sunday in Uganda's mountainous east, a spokesman said. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Six civilians killed as US clashes with Iraq militia KUT, Iraq, Aug 27(AFP): Six civilians were killed on Monday, when they were caught in the crossfire during clashes between US forces and the Mahdi Army militia near the city of Kut, southeast of Baghdad, security and medical officials said. (Posted @ 14:20 PST)
10 arrests in Politkovskaya murder case MOSCOW, Aug 27(AFP): Ten people have been arrested in connection with the murder last year of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Russia's prosecutor general, Yury Chaika, said on Monday. “To date we have arrested 10 people. In the very near future they will be charged with committing this serious crime.” (Posted @ 14:20 PST)
Israeli troops kill Palestinian on Gaza border GAZA, Aug 27(Reuters): Israeli troops on Monday shot and killed a Palestinian near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, the army said. A Palestinian ambulance took his body to a hospital in Gaza. (Posted @ 12:45 PST)
Thailand sets post-coup elections for December 23 BANGKOK, Aug 27(AFP): Thailand will hold its first general elections since last year's military coup on December 23, the nation's top electoral official said on Monday. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
Death toll in Greek fires reaches 63 ATHENS, Aug 27(AFP): The death toll in the forest fires that have been ravaging Greece for four days rose to 63 on Monday after two bodies were discovered on the Peloponnese peninsula. “The death toll so far is 63 after two bodies were found in the village of Agnanta in the Peloponnese,” a health ministry official told AFP. The Greek government suspects the fires were started deliberately.(Posted @ 12:20 PST)
AIDS victims 'buried alive' in PNG PORT MORESBY, Aug 27(AFP): Some AIDS victims are being buried alive in Papua New Guinea by relatives who cannot look after them and fear becoming infected themselves, a health worker said Monday. The worker who spent five months carrying out an AIDS awareness campaign in the remote Southern Highlands of the South Pacific nation, said she had seen five people buried while still breathing. A recent United Nations report said PNG was facing an AIDS catastrophe, accounting for 90 percent of HIV infections in the Oceania region. (Posted @ 11:25 PST)
50 arrested after new protest in Myanmar YANGON, Aug 27 (AFP) About 50 pro-democracy activists in Myanmar were arrested Monday in a town outside Yangon, after they staged a new protest against a massive hike in fuel prices, witnesses said. The activists marched in silence from a market in Bago, a town about 75 kilometres northeast of Yangon, witnesses said. After about 30 minutes the entire group was arrested and taken to local authorities for questioning. (Posted @ 11:05 PST)
Sri Lankan military says it killed nine Tamil rebels in attacks in north COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Aug 27 (AP) Army soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels clashed in Sri Lanka's north, leaving nine insurgents dead, the military said Monday. Army troops confronted insurgents in two fronts in the northern Mannar district, killing nine Tamil tigers during fighting over the past two days, said an officer at the defence ministry's media center. Five soldiers also were wounded in the fighting, the officer said, requesting anonymity. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 95.28 points: KARACHI, Aug 27: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 11958.09 , down 95.28 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Aug 27: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.93 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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