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| November 21, 2007 | Wednesday | Ziqa’ad 10, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Over 5,000 emergency prisoners released: official ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (AFP): Pakistani authorities have released more than 5,000 lawyers, political workers and rights activists who were arrested under emergency rule, an aide to the law minister said Wednesday. A total of 5,757 people were detained since President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency on November 3, said Sarwar Hayat, an aide to caretaker law minister Afzal Haider. “Some 5,134 people have been released up to 1400 GMT today,” he said. Of the remaining 623, he said 202 were lawyers while 421 were either students or political workers. “Their release is also under consideration and it is expected that they would be freed in a few days,” he added. (Posted @ 21:15 PST)
Imran Khan released from jail: officials ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (AFP): The authorities Wednesday freed Imran Khan from prison who had gone on a hunger strike three days ago and began a hunger strike on Monday. “We have released Imran on the instructions of the provincial government,” Sheikh Inamur Rehman, superintendent of Dera Ghazi Khan prison in central Punjab province, told AFP. “I personally saw him off at the prison gate,” he said, adding Khan was released at 1445 GMT. Earlier Khan's sister Allema earlier said Khan had stopped drinking water and that he was increasingly weak on the third day of his hunger strike. Officials said Khan would be among more than 250 prisoners being released in Punjab. “This is a goodwill gesture from the interim government because it wants to give a level playing field to all political parties before the election campaign gets underway,” a senior provincial government official said. (First Posted @ 20:10 PST Updated @ 20:20 PST)
Commonwealth ministers discuss Pakistan suspension KAMPALA, Nov 21 (AFP): Commonwealth foreign ministers kicked off a meeting in Kampala Wednesday to decide whether or not to suspend Pakistan. A decision is expected late Thursday, before the biennial heads of government summit is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II the next day. As the ministers assembled for their two-day consultations, Pakistan warned against any “hasty” decision. The Commonwealth “should have a short postponement of the decision and immediately send a delegation to Pakistan to look at the situation in the country,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said. (Posted @ 18:30 PST)
Balach Marri killed QUETTA, Nov 21 (AFP): Security forces killed Balach Marri, the leader of a banned group blamed for a deadly insurgency in Balochistan province, a spokesman for the group said Wednesday. Identified by Pakistani authorities as the leader of the Balochistan Liberation Army, he was killed in a military operation overnight, the group's spokesman Beeberg Baluch told reporters by telephone. “Balach Marri was killed by Pakistani security forces in an operation in Kohlu district,” Baluch said in a telephone call from an undisclosed location. “He died along with several other colleagues.” Sources from the Marri tribe also confirmed his death. The Pakistani military and police were not immediately available to comment on the claim. A local television channel said Marri had been killed in Afghanistan, not Pakistan. (Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Imran Khan stops taking water: family MULTAN, Nov 21 (AFP): Imran Khan has stopped taking water, his sister said Wednesday as his hunger strike against the imposition of emergency rule entered a third day. Khan, now an opposition politician, was arrested in Lahore last week and charged with offences under anti-terrorism laws, before being transferred to a prison in Dera Ghazi Khan. “Imran is not taking any liquid and he is not eating. He has grown weak but his spirits are very high,” Khan's younger sister Allema Khan told AFP by telephone after visiting him in jail. “He chided us for showing weakness and he said we should urge the youth of Pakistan to go on a token hunger strike to press for the restoration of the judiciary.My hunger strike is not about me. It is focused on the issue of restoration of judiciary,” Khan's sister quoted him as saying. (Posted @ 18:35 PST)
In Islamabad, the authorities said they will release hunger-striking cricket legend Imran Khan from jail within hours, senior government officials said Wednesday. (Posted @ 18:45 PST)
Police detain journalists in Faisalabad, Quetta FAISALABAD, Nov 21 (AFP): Police Wednesday baton-charged and tear-gassed journalists protesting against emergency rule in Faisalabad, leaving 10 injured, witnesses and officials said. Two of them were seriously hurt and a number were arrested. Some 150 journalists wanted to rally outside the city's press club against strict media curbs under the state of emergency when police took action. A senior member of the Faisalabad Union of Journalists told AFP a tear gas shell hit a woman on the back, while another journalist received multiple injuries because of the baton charging. A local police official said a few reporters were arrested. He did not give a figure, but journalists said 16 had been taken into custody. In Quetta, 25 journalists were detained for trying to start a similar protest, a senior police officer told AFP. (Posted @ 18:05 PST)
UK envoy visits Benazir KARACHI, Nov 21 (AFP): British High Commissioner (ambassador) Robert Brinkley called on Benazir Bhutto in Karach Wednesday. “I shared our concerns about elections in Pakistan and the need of an independent election commission to hold fair and impartial elections,” Benazir told reporters after the meeting. The British High Commission said in a statement that Brinkley called on Bhutto “to discuss the current political situation” and told her that Britain “strongly supports free and fair elections. Mr Brinkley reiterated the UK's position, calling on General Musharraf to restore constitutional order as soon as possible, and before the January elections, to release all political prisoners and lift curbs on the media, and step down as chief of army staff,” the statement said. (Posted @ 18:10 PST)
Pakistan to attend Mideast peace meet: official ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (AFP): Pakistan said Wednesday it would attend a key Middle East conference next week hosted by the United States. US officials say the Annapolis meeting will launch the first fully-fledged Israeli-Palestinian peace talks since former president Bill Clinton tried to broker a final settlement near the end of his US presidency in 2000. Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said Islamabad would decide who to send. “Pakistan welcomes any proposals that would bring peace and stability to the Middle East and could resolve the core issue of Palestine that has caused instability, suffering and conflict in the region for several decades,” Sadiq told reporters. (Posted @ 18:25 PST)
Suspension: Pakistan asks Commonwealth to delay decision ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (AP): Pakistan has asked the Commonwealth to delay a decision to suspend it from the organisation, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro asked for a “short postponement” in the decision, which was expected later this week, during a call with his British counterpart Gordon Brown on Tuesday, a ministry spokesman said. (Posted @ 15:55 PST)
President Musharraf cements legal basis for emergency rule: order ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (AFP): President Musharraf moved Wednesday to put his state of emergency on a solid legal footing, issuing an ordinance which says it cannot be challenged in any court. The order amends the constitution to stipulate that Musharraf's November 3 imposition of emergency “is declared to have been validly made” and “shall not be called in question in any court or forum on any ground whatsoever.” All other decisions made in relation to emergency rule “shall... be deemed to be and always to have been validly made,” added the order. “The presidential order issued today has ratified and validated the action taken on November 3 by the chief of army staff,” attorney general Malik Mohammad Qayyum said. (Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Deposed Pakistan chief justice kept at home ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (AFP): Police Wednesday stopped the country's ousted chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry from leaving his compound, a day after the government said he was free to move, former judge Rana Bhagwandas, another ousted Supreme Court judge said. “Justice Iftikhar said he would come out at 8:00 am and this morning when we came out in the compound we saw a massive police presence. A magistrate was also at the gates,” Bhagwandas told AFP. “No one was allowed to leave the compound. Iftikhar Chaudhry also tried to come out of his house but he was not allowed,” added Bhangwandas. Police stopped journalists from approaching the compound and erected barricades across the road leading to it, an AFP reporter saw. An interior ministry spokesman said Tuesday the sacked judges were “free to move.” Bhagwandas said he believed Musharraf's regime was taking harsh measures because it was “frightened”. “We have never seen this kind of method being used on senior judiciary in the history of the country,” he added. “We do not think they can survive for long. They will be doomed.” (Posted @ 15:10 PST)
Wajihuddin Ahmed wants political parties to explore boycott option ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (APP): A retired Sindh High Court Chief Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed said Wednesday that they would not appeal to the international community to cut aid of Pakistan because it would not be in the interest of the country. Talking to media after being barred from meeting deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry he said,” the political parties should think over the option of boycotting the next general elections and if they do so, it will be a positive development.” Referring to the election schedule announced by the Election Commission, he said only one week has been given to the political parties to submit nomination papers and many had not yet decided whether they would participate or not in the upcoming general elections. He said, ”he would come again Thursday (tomorrow) and try to present bouquet to judges under house arrest in judicial colony. I have tried several times on phone to contact deposed chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry but failed and now we are not allowed to meet him,” he said. (Posted @ 16:50 PST)
Musharraf likely to quit army by weekend: Attorney General ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (AFP): President Musharraf is set to step down as army chief and swear a new oath of office as a civilian president by the weekend, Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum said Wednesday. Qayyum told AFP that if the Supreme Court throws out a final legal challenge Thursday to Musharraf's re-election, he would doff his uniform within days. “If the Supreme Court lifts the stay order against his re-election, then President Musharraf is likely to take the oath as a civilian president by Saturday or Sunday,” Qayyum said. On Monday the top court dismissed the main five of six challenges against Musharraf's October 6 victory, leaving just one - regarded as minor - to be heard Thursday. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Kashmir militants kill pro-India politician SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Nov 21 (AFP): Suspected militants shot dead a top official of a leading pro-India party, the second killing of a politician in a week, police said Wednesday. Ghulam Mohammed Wani, a leading member of the regional People's Democratic Party (PDP) which governs Kashmir in coalition, was shot dead late Tuesday in northern Baramulla district, a police spokesman said in Srinagar. (Posted @ 17:00 PST)
PML-N rejects talks with President Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (AP): On Wednesday, a senior member of Nawaz Sharif's party said the ousted leader refused to meet with President Musharraf. ''He followed his commitment in letter and spirit of not holding negotiation with a military dictator,'' said party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq. Haq declined to say whether his party would boycott the vote, saying the opposition ought to make a collective decision. Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said Wednesday more than 3,700 people had been released from lockup. He said several new arrests were made, so he could not give an exact figure on how many people were still behind bars. Separately, officials said Musharraf spent hours discussing topics including countering extremism with Saudi security officials before meeting with Saudi King Abdullah. Details of that meeting were not available, but an official in Musharraf's office in Islamabad said Saudi leaders wanted Musharraf to let Sharif return and compete in next month's elections. Musharraf, the official said, was seeking to convince Saudi Arabia that having Sharif return now would deepen the political turmoil and threaten Pakistan's stability. The official said Musharraf has privately told aides that he would be prepared to let Sharif return after the January election provided he tones down his rhetoric. Both the Saudi and Pakistani officials requested anonymity. (Posted @ 14:10 PST)
Six more ministers inducted in Balochistan care-taker cabinet QUETTA, Pakistan, Nov 21 (APP): Six more ministers were inducted in the care-taker cabinet of Balochistan here Wednesday making the total number of the cabinet members as eighteen. Governor Balochistan Awais Ahmed Ghani administered the oath to the new ministers in a simple ceremony at the Governor House also attended by care-taker Chief Minister Sardar Mohammad Saleh Bhootani, ministers and senior government officials. The new care-taker ministers included in cabinet are Mir Abdul Majid Bizenjo,Wajah Manzoor Ahmed, Sardar Aziz Ahmed Lehri, Sardar Inayatullah Zehri, Sardar Sher Khan Parkani and Yahya Nasir. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
Army raids against militants leave 40 fighters dead in northwestern Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov 21 (AP): Security forces attacked mountaintop positions of pro-Taliban militants in northwestern Pakistan, leaving 40 fighters dead, the army said Wednesday. The militants suffered the casualties in raids Tuesday and Wednesday against their locations in Shangla district of the Swat region. There was no immediate word on whether troops suffered any casualties. Troops ''have cleared a hub of resistance of militants from a prominent height'' overlooking a road leading to Alpurai, Shangla's main town, the army statement said. The rugged region lies about 160 kilometres from Islamabad. Elsewhere in Swat, militants fired at least 18 rockets against a military camp near Mingora, the region's main town. No casualties were reported in that clash, and the army only said troops responded to the attack ''with retaliatory fire.'' The militant casualties Tuesday and Wednesday would take to about 180 the number killed in the region in the past week. (First Posted @ 11:50 PST, Updated @ 12:40 PST)
President Musharraf returns from Saudi Arabia ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (Reuters): President Musharraf returned Wednesday morning from a visit to Saudi Arabia. Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj, the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, stayed behind and was returning separately. President Musharraf spent less than 24 hours in Saudi Arabia, and during that time he met King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and intelligence chief Murqin bin Abdul-Aziz. President Musharraf's spokesman Rashid Qureshi denied that any contact with Sharif had figured on Musharraf's itinerary. “Not at all. There was no plan, there was no schedule. No such thing was to happen,” Qureshi said. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Pakistan must restore judiciary: UN rights chief KABUL, Nov 21 (AFP): The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told AFP Tuesday the restoration of the independence of Pakistan's judiciary is as important as the holding of elections. Louise Arbour also called on Pakistan to lift its state of emergency “to create an environment conducive to free and fair elections.” “Not only is the election process an important one, but the restoration of the judiciary I think is equally important,” the commissioner said in an interview in Kabul at the end of a six-day visit. Musharraf's imposition of the state of emergency and replacement of the Supreme Court by judges who have since dismissed challenges to his election were a setback for democracy in Pakistan, she said. “The main target of this entire enterprise was a frontal attack on the judicial branch of government and that is an enormous setback for democracy and constitutionalism,” Arbour said. The UN rights chief said Pakistan had turned down her request for a visit but she would be in transit in Islamabad Wednesday. (Posted @ 10:50 PST)
British Queen arrives in Uganda for summit KAMPALA, Nov 21 (AP): Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrived in the Ugandan capital Wednesday for a visit that will include the opening of the biennial Commonwealth summit. The 81-year-old monarch is the head of the Commonwealth, an organisation of 53 countries comprising Britain and her former colonies. In addition to opening the conference Friday, the Queen will address the Ugandan Parliament and visit an AIDS clinic, where she will meet patients and open a ward named after her. Her son, Prince Charles, also will be in Uganda this week. (Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Rebels attack east Congo army base, civilians flee KINSHASA, Nov 21 (Reuters): Congolese Tutsi rebels loyal to a renegade general attacked an army brigade headquarters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Wednesday, forcing thousands of civilians to flee, U.N. officials said. The attack was the latest outbreak of fighting to hit conflict-torn North Kivu province, where insurgents led by rebel General Laurent Nkunda have been resisting a government order to disband and integrate into the national army. (Posted @ 21:20 PST)
Rail track blown up near Sibi SIBI Nov 21 (PPI): Terrorists blew up a three-foot portion of the railway line Wednesday afternoon. Terrorists blew up a portion of the railway line near Dingra about 20 km away along Sibi-Dera Murad Jamali section of Pakistan Railways. The outgoing Bolan Mail, Jaffar Express and other trains were detained at Sibi. A railways team was sent to the site which started repair work. Traffic is expected to be repaired in a few hours. MACH: A hand grenade was thrown on a house in Mach this evening. (Posted @ 21:10 PST)
Soldiers kill 9 Tamil rebels in clashes COLOMBO, Nov 21 (AP): Soldiers killed nine Tamil Tiger rebels in several clashes in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday, the military said. Troops and rebel fighters clashed twice across the de facto border that separates government- and rebel-held territories in Muhamalai on the Jaffna peninsula, leaving five guerrillas dead, an official at the Defense Ministry information center said on condition of anonymity, citing government policy. (Posted @ 20:15 PST)
China puts out 50-year-old fire BEIJING, Nov 21 (APP/AFP): Firefighters in northwestern China have extinguished a fire that had burned in an underground coal seam for a half-century, state media reported Wednesday. It took firefighters more than three years to put out the blaze by drilling into the burning coal bed and pouring water and slurry into it, and then finally covering the surface to starve it of oxygen, Xinhua news agency said. The fire, 100 metres underground in the Terak coal field in Xinjiang region, had consumed more than 12 million tonnes of coal and released over 70,000 tonnes of toxic gases annually since the 1950s, it said. (Posted @ 18:35 PST)
Bomb kills US soldier, Iraqi interpreter in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Nov 21 (AFP): Insurgents killed a US soldier and an Iraqi interpreter in a bomb attack in Baghdad, the US military said Wednesday. It said that the blast was caused by an explosively-formed penetrator (EFP bomb. The bomb struck as the soldier's patrol was returning to base after conducting an escort mission Tuesday. (Posted @ 18:35 PST)
Jordan Islamists cry foul after poll setback AMMAN, Nov 21 (AFP): Jordan's Islamist opposition cried foul Wednesday after suffering a big setback in parliamentary polls in which reports emerged of vote-buying despite pledges of transparency from the government. Only six of the 22 Islamic Action Front candidates fielded were victorious in Tuesday's election, final results showed, a tally sharply down on the 17 seats the group won in the last polls in 2003. “There was vote-rigging in several districts,” an IAF spokesman told AFP. Analysts had predicted the IAF would end up with 17 of the 110 seats in the lower house of parliament, equalling its 2003 score. But the Islamists failed even to win a single seat in their traditional stronghold of Zarqa, an impoverished city east of the capital. (Posted @ 18:25 PST)
Taliban control 54pc of Afghanistan: think tank LONDON, Nov 21 (AFP): Afghanistan is in “crisis” and risks becoming a divided state, as the Taliban now control vast areas of unchallenged territory, a thinktank warned Wednesday. The Senlis Council called for the NATO-led force in the country to be doubled in size to 80,000, after a study found that 54 percent of Afghan territory has a permanent Taliban presence. (Posted @ 18:05 PST)
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey launch building of strategic railway MARABA, Georgia, Nov 21 (AFP): The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey Wednesday launched the construction of a strategic new railway linking their three countries. “We are launching the construction of a railway that will mark the revival of the great Silk Road,” Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said at a ceremony in eastern Georgia attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Abdullah Gul. The railway will link Baku, Tbilisi and the Turkish city of Kars, bypassing Russia to allow goods to be shipped through the South Caucasus region to Turkey and on to western Europe. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Police helicopter crashes in South Africa JOHANNESBURG, Nov 21 (AFP): A helicopter carrying 14 South African police officers crashed near the border with Lesotho on Wednesday, the SAPA news agency reported. There were no immediate details of casualties. The crash occurred near the town of Wepener as the helicopter was carrying out patrols along the border. (Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Australian Navy rescues 16 from sinking boat CANBERRA, Nov 21 (AP): The Australian navy rescued 16 people, 10 of them children, from a boat sinking in rough water off the country's northwest coast, the defence department said Wednesday. The group from the Indonesian island of Rote was trying to reach Australia to escape economic hardship at home, said Ferdi Tanoni, Director of the West Timor Care Foundation, an advocacy group for fishermen. (Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Two British troops killed in Iraq helicopter crash LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters): Two British military personnel were killed in Iraq on Tuesday when their Puma helicopter crashed near Baghdad, the Ministry of Defence said. “Two other personnel were seriously injured, but are now recovering in hospital. It is too early to speculate on the cause of the crash,” the MoD said in a statement on Wednesday, adding the families of those killed had been informed. (First Posted @ 09:15 PST, Updated @ 16:10 PST)
Afghanistan urges Japan to resume naval mission TOKYO, Nov 21 (AFP): Afghanistan's finance minister Anwar Ul-Haq Ahady Wednesday urged Japan to resume a naval mission backing the US-led “war on terror,” even if it limits operations to assuage domestic criticism. Ahady held several days of talks in Japan, which has pledged to look at ways to step up financial aid to Afghanistan after the military mission ceased. (Posted @ 16:00 PST)
French judge interviews Chirac in corruption probe PARIS, Nov 21 (AFP): Former French president Jacques Chirac was formally questioned by a judge Wednesday in an investigation into the improper use of city funds when he was mayor of Paris, justice officials said. Chirac was summoned to the offices of the investigating magistrate Xaviere Simeoni at 0730 GMT, they said. According to Le Monde newspaper, Chirac was being interviewed as an “assisted witness” which leaves open the possibility of criminal charges. The investigation is into claims that Paris funds were used to pay the salaries of individuals with no connection to City Hall. In all 20 people are being investigated. (Posted @ 15:55 PST)
Afghan, US troops kill 50 Taliban fighters: government KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov 21 (AFP): Afghan police and US-led coalition forces killed more than 50 Taliban militants in fighting in Charchino district of Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, the government said Wednesday. The militants were killed over the past 24 hours, the interior ministry said in a statement. There were no casualties to Afghan and US forces, the government said. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
India tests SAM missile near Pakistan border JODHPUR, Nov 21 (AFP): India has tested an air defence missile at a site close to its border with Pakistan where it conducted a string of nuclear detonations in 1998, officials said Wednesday. Military scientists tested the medium-range surface-to-air missile Akash, or Sky, from Pokhran, some 200 kilometres from Pakistan's borders last week but gave details of the flight only on Wednesday. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Trains collide in Corsica, at least 30 hurt PARIS, Nov 21 (Reuters): Two trains collided on the French island of Corsica, injuring at least 30 people, France's LCI television reported Wednesday. It gave no further details. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
30 vehicles damaged in Kolkata riot over industry-farm row KOLKATA, Nov 21 (Reuters): Riot police fired tear gas to disperse violent protesters in Kolkata Wednesday as fresh trouble broke out in a political row over the killing of villagers opposed to surrendering land for industry. State officials said the army was being deployed in six areas of the city to quell the violence as protesters hurled stones, shattered windshields of cars and buses and blocked traffic in downtown Kolkata, witnesses said. At least 30 vehicles were damaged, some of them set on fire, and several protesters and policemen injured, police said.The police arrested 200 protesters belonging to the All India Minorities Forum after they attacked police with rocks at several areas. At least 34 people have died in Nandigram since January. (First Posted @ 14:55 PST, Updated @ 15:30 PST)
Israel okays armoured vehicles for Palestinians JERUSALEM, Nov 21 (AFP): Israel has given approval for the Palestinians to get dozens of armoured vehicles in a gesture of goodwill to President Mahmud Abbas ahead of a key US peace meeting, officials said Tuesday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave the green light for 50 Russian-made vehicles to be delivered to the Palestinian Authority over the coming months, a government spokeswoman told AFP. (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Car bomb in Iraq's Ramadi kills six BAGHDAD, Nov 21 (Reuters): A car bomb killed at least six people, including women and children, in Ramadi Wednesday. Major Mohammed Arak said a parked car exploded outside a courthouse being guarded by police in central Ramadi, capital of Anbar province. A separate police source said a suicide car bomber was responsible. A third police source put the death toll at four, with 15 wounded. (Posted @ 13:45 PST)
10 seriously injured in road accident in Pakistan NOWSHERAN VIRKAN, Pakistan, Nov 21 (APP): Ten passengers of a commuter van suffered serious injuries when the vehicle was hit by a speedy tractor trolley on Tatlay Aali road here Wednesday. According to local police, the passenger van was coming from Kamoke when it was hit by an overloaded trolley near Marri Bhandara. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Four gunmen killed in clashes north of Baghdad BAGHDAD, Nov 21 (AP): Gunmen battled Iraqi police north of Baghdad early Wednesday, and four people were killed, police said. Authorities said the gunmen attacked a police patrol in downtown Muqdadiyah. All the dead were believed to be insurgents. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Small plane flips over on takeoff in New Zealand WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Nov 21 (AP): A pilot and a tourist walked away unhurt after their small plane flipped over as they took off on a whale-watching flight in New Zealand Wednesday. Officials were investigating what caused the single-engine Cessna 172 to overturn on the runway at the airport in Wellington. A Civil Aviation Authority emergency crew rushed to the plane and sprayed it with fire retardant as a precaution, and the runway was closed for several hours while the debris was cleared, police said. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
China Three Gorges landslide kills one, two missing BEIJING, Nov 21 (Reuters): A landslide near China's huge Three Gorges Dam trapped four workers, killing one and injuring another while two remained missing, Xinhua news agency reported. The landslide hit Tuesday morning in the central province of Hubei, beside a half-completed railway line near the 660-km dam reservoir, Xinhua said. The slide also severed a nearby highway.(Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Bush expresses confidence in Musharraf WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (AFP): US President George W. Bush expressed confidence Tuesday that President Musharraf would heed pressure to end emergency rule and voiced optimism that Islamabad's nuclear arsenal was safe. “Today, I thought was a pretty good signal that he released thousands of people from jail,” Bush told ABC television in an interview from Camp David. “Are we happy with the emergency rule? No, we're not. Do we, do I understand how important he is in fighting extremists and radicals? I do. And do I believe that he's going to end up getting Pakistan back on the road to democracy? I certainly hope so,” Bush said. “He has said he's going to take off his uniform, he's said there will be elections. Today he released prisoners, and so far I've found him to be a man of his word,” said Bush. The US president also said Musharraf “hasn't crossed the line” where he would lose Washington's support and that “he truly is somebody who believes in democracy.” Asked whether he was confident that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was safe from extremists, Bush replied: “I certainly hope so. We feel pretty comfortable at this moment in time.”(Posted @ 09:00 PST)
Bush to host key Mideast peace conference Nov 27 WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (AFP): US President George W. Bush will host a key conference on November 27 aiming to revive the Middle East peace process and pave the way towards a separate Palestinian state, US officials said Tuesday. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will open the conference involving more than 40 countries from around the world on Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland, State Department officials said.(Posted @ 09:00 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 193.56, points: KARACHI, Nov 21:At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13508.98, up 193.56, points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Nov 21: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 61.35, to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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