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December 13, 2007

Thursday

Zilhaj 2, 1428

Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)

MQM launches election manifesto KARACHI, Pakistan, DEC 13 (APP): Muttahida Qaumi Movement Thursday launched its election manifesto with the theme “empowerment for all”. Presenting the manifesto at a press conference, party’s deputy convener Dr Farooq Sattar said that it calls for complete provincial autonomy, elimination of feudal system, religious militancy and extremism. It also promises provision of jobs, reduction in poverty through various measures, reforms in education, health sectors and reforms in madarasah and agriculture sector. Responding to a question he said that his party feels that a comprehensive policy is needed to effectively handle the menace of extremism and terrorism. “Our manifesto calls for relief to poor in utility bills and taxes and also measures for reducing the burden of price hike”, he said.(Posted @ 21:45 PST)

Security forces takes complete control of Charbag in Swat valley Peshawar, Pakistan, Dec 13 (PPI) - Security forces in Swat Valley on Thursday took complete control of Charbagh. “Today at 07:00 AM security forces moved towards Charbagh and took over the control of police post at Chargagh. No resistance was faced by the security forces enroute”, an official said. During the search, security forces came across unmanned bunkers on ridge Mangalore. They also recovered huge quantity of local wine/liquor during the search. Militants headquarter at Darul Uloom Charbagh was also cleared and taken over by the security forces. Meanwhile, three miscreants have been apprehended by FC from Bariam and Ayub Bridge Checkpost.(Posted @ 21:30 PST)

Musharraf outlines growth of communication infrastructure Islamabad ,Dec 13 (PPI) President Pervez Musharraf said Thursday that country's communication infrastructure including road, rail networks, seaports and airports are being developed on modern lines to turn the country into economic, trade, and energy hub for the region. Speaking at programme “Aiwan-e-Sadr Sey” he said road and rail networks are being developed to create strong north- south linkages while sea ports will be linked with Iran, Afghanistan, China etc.(Posted @ 21:25 PST)

4 of family die due to suffocation in Kohat PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec 13 (APP): Three children and their mother died late Wednesday night due to suffocation caused by fire in Khwasi Banda in the precinct of Cantonment police station in Kohat district, police said. The fire was caused by dung cakes and straw (bhosa).(Posted @ 21:15 PST)

Pakistan reiterates its one-China policy ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): Pakistan reiterated Thursday its one- China policy that unequivocally embodies that Taiwan is an integral and inalienable part of the People's Republic of China, which is the sole government representing the whole of China including Taiwan. Senior Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the issue of Taiwan with his interlocutors in Islamabad, who reaffirmed Pakistan government's well-known one China Policy, Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said in response to a question. He was asked if Wang Yi, Special Envoy of the Chinese Government, currently visiting Pakistan, discussed the so-called referendum of UN membership by the Taiwan authorities and what was the position of the Government of Pakistan on this issue. The spokesman said, “One China Policy is not only Pakistan's long-standing principled position but is also the consensus position of the international community as clearly reaffirmed by the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758.” “Pakistan believes that Taiwan issue is an internal affair of the People's Republic of China. We have, therefore, always opposed attempts to bring up the question of Taiwan's membership in the UN bodies”, he added. The spokesman further said that Islamabad firmly opposes the so-called referendum on UN membership by the Taiwan authorities and will continue to oppose any such attempts in future too.(Posted @ 21:10 PST)

Seven children killed in eastern India road crash PATNA, India, Dec 13 (Reuters) - At least seven children and a bus driver were killed when their vehicle crashed head-on into a truck in eastern India on Thursday, police said.They were returning home after a trip to see the holy Buddhist town of Gaya in Bihar state when the accident happened.(Posted @ 20:50 PST)

Five dead, 22 hurt in Pakistan bombings: army QUETTA, Pakistan, Dec 13 (AFP) - Five soldiers were killed and 22 people wounded in twin suicide attacks in the cantonment area of Balochistan capital Quetta on Thursday, the military said. Initial accounts from officials said seven people were killed but that included the two suicide bombers, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. He said no civilians had been killed. Officials had earlier reported four civilians dead. Among the wounded, 13 were soldiers and nine were civilians, Arshad said. The attacks were close to a military checkpost around the city of Quetta. It was not immediately clear who the bombers were.(Posted @ 20:50 PST)

Armed Forces guardian of national integrity: General Tariq Majid ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): The Armed Forces are the guardian of national integrity and a symbol of unity of Pakistan and, with the support of the people, are fully capable to meet all challenges to the security of the country, said General Tariq Majid, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee while chairing the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee meetingThursday. The meeting reviewed the overall security environment with special emphasis on evolving geo-political dynamics. Detailed briefings were given with focus on developments in Afghanistan, Iran-US nuclear stand off, situation in occupied Kashmir and along the Line of Control, progress in war against terrorism and internal security situation. The meeting also reviewed the long term Armed Forces Development Plan and charted a way forward. General Tariq Majid emphasized that instability in Afghanistan, US-Iran stand off, insinuations by some vested interest groups in the west about the vulnerability of our nuclear assets and growing Indo-US strategic partnership, especially in the nuclear field continue to negatively impact on the regional stability as well as security of Pakistan. He underscored the necessity of safeguarding the image and prestige of the armed forces and building their integrated capabilities to deal with all perceived existing and evolving security challenges, while remaining geared to reinforce the government's efforts towards national progress. General Tariq Majid said that our nuclear and strategic assets are well protected with robust safeguards and very elaborate security system. Any irresponsible act by any one against it will be responded very strongly at all levels, he emphasised.(Posted @ 20:35 PST)

India tests surface-to-air Akash missile NEW DELHI, Dec 13 (AFP) - India carried out a successful test on Thursday of its surface-to-air Akash missile at an eastern coastal testing range, defence officials said.The 700-kilogramme missile can track 100 targets simultaneously with onboard radar, move at 600 metres a second and deliver a 55-kilogramme warhead across 27 kilometres in 50 seconds.(Posted @ 20:05 PST)

Russian arms treaty suspension 'unjustified': Britain LONDON, Dec 13 (AFP) - British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Thursday that Russia's decision to suspend a treaty which puts clear limits on the stationing of troops and heavy weapons across Europe was “unjustified”. In a written statement to parliament, Miliband added that he “regrets the unilateral decision” by Moscow to freeze its compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, signed in 1990.(Posted @ 20:00 PST)

JI chief asks opposition to stay away from Pakistan elections RAWALPINDI, Dec 13 (PPI)- Amir Jamat-i-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmed Thursday called upon the opposition parties to stay away from the polls. Addressing the Lawyers Open Forum at the District Courts he strongly criticized the leadership of PPP, PML-N and JUI-F saying that their participation in the election would be tantamount of recognizing the 'unlawful' actions of the present regime. He warned that the government emerging through this election would recognize all the 'unconstitutional' steps of General (Rtd) Pervez Musharraf. He praised the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts who refused to take oath under PCO. Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan asked the lawyers, youth, students, traders and doctors to be ready for launching a mass movement against the government. He also asked the political parties not to take part in the elections. “If they know that the elections will not be free and fair, then why they not join us in the boycott”, he added. The forum was also addressed by former ISI Chief Gen (Rtd) Hamid Gul, ex-MNA of MMA Mian Aslam and others.

Atta to be available at Rs 16/Kg from Friday: Minister KARACHI, Dec 13 (APP)- Karachiites will start getting atta at Rs 16 per Kg from Friday,caretaker Sindh Food Minister Aijaz Ali Shah Shirazi said while chairing a meeting of Sindh Food department and office-bearers of Flour Mills Association. It was decided that all the flour mills in Karachi will setup 142 stalls in the city where atta will be supplied at Rs 16 per Kg. Such outlets would also be setup throughout Sindh, he added. Flour Mills Association would publish advertisements in newspapers about the location of stalls setup by them.(Posted @ 19:15 PST)

Hurriyat to launch campaign in support of Pakistan's proposals on Kashmir NEW DELHI, Dec. 13 (APP): The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has decided to launch a fresh campaign in occupied Kashmir on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's four-point plan to resolve the Kashmir dispute. The APHC at the meeting in Srinagar under the chairmanship of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and attended among others by Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, Bilal Ghani Lone, Agha Syed Hassan Al Moosavi and Fazl Haq Qureshi discussed at length the overall political and security situation in occupied Kashmir and demanded demilitarization of occupied Kashmir, end of gross human rights violations and inclusion of Kashmiris in on-going peace process between Pakistan and India to resolve the dispute. Meanwhile, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, patron of People's Democratic Party, a coalition partner of occupied Kashmir government, demanded reduction of Indian troops and the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).(Posted @ 18:25 PST)

At least seven dead in Pakistan attacks QUETTA, Pakistan, Dec 13 (AFP) At least seven people were killed and several others wounded Thursday in two near-simultaneous suicide attacks at a military checkpost in near Balochistan’s provincial capital Quetta, officials said. As people converged on the scene of the first bombing, a second suicide bomber blew himself up, provincial police chief Saud Gohar told AFP. Three soldiers and four civilians were killed, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. A senior security official said the death toll was 11, with seven military personnel killed, but the army spokesman declined to confirm this figure. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks. “This is the first time that a suicide attack has taken place in this part of the city,” Arshad told a private television channel. “There were two people involved in the attack.” Ethnic Baloch militants are active in the region but are not known for carrying out suicide attacks, which are a hallmark of Taliban-linked militants who sometimes infiltrate from across the border in Afghanistan. (FirstPosted @ 18:00 PST, Updated@ 18:55 PST)

President appoints six additional judges of Peshawar High Court ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): President Pervez Musharraf Thursday appointed six Additional Judges of the Peshawar High Court,Peshawar, on and from the date they take oath of their office. They are: justices Shaji Rehman Khan, Ghulam Muhayuddin Malik, Syed Yehya Zahid Gillani, Ziauddin Khattak, Sayed Mussaddiq Hussain Gillani and Mohammad Alam Khan.(Posted @ 18:15 PST)

Number of tax payers increases as 500,000 more filed returns till Wednesday ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): An increase of 500,000 tax payers has been recorded in the country this year as 2.052811 million had filed tax returns upto December 12 as compared to 1.5 million in the corresponding period of last year, Member, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Shawar Khurshid Butt said Thursday. Talking to a private TV channel he said, it is expected that the tax base would increase further as returns filed by the corporate sector will come by December 31. Tax to GDP ratio should be 20 percent. Presently it is 10 percent,he said and added that FBR has devised a strategy to enhance tax to GDP ratio up to 0.2 percent per annum.(Posted @ 18:15 PST)

Lawyers stage protest rally in Lahore LAHORE, Dec 13 (APP): The lawyers of Lahore Bar Association and High Court Bar Association staged a joint protest rally against the imposition of emergency and sacking of judges on Thursday. The rally started from Aiwan-i-Adal and terminated in front of the Punjab Asembly building. The protesters were carrying placards and banners inscribed with different slogans in favour of independence of judiciary and supremacy of law. They were joined by the members of the civil society at the GPO chowk where its participants staged a sit-in for half an hour. The speakers urged all the political parties to boycott the upcoming election for the sake of democracy and independence of Judiciary in the country. During the protest ttraffic remained disturbed for two hours. Some protesters also burnt the banners of the main political party which backs president Musharraf.(Posted @ 18:05 PST)

At least seven dead in Pakistan attacks QUETTA, Pakistan, Dec 13 (AFP) At least seven people died and several others were wounded Thursday in two apparent suicide attacks at two military checkposts in southwestern Pakistan, officials said. The attacks appeared to be nearly simultaneous, according to an interior ministry official.(Posted @ 18:00 PST)

PPP to win 142 National Assembly seats in polls-2008: Benazir Bhutto KARACHI, Dec 13 (APP) Chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party, Benazir Bhutto Thursday said that the PPP will win 142 National Assembly seats in next month’s elections. Addressing a press conference after her arrival here from Islamabad, she said that negotiations were underway between the PPP and other political parties for seat adjustments and added that provincial leaders have been authorised to undertake the exercise. She termed her visit to Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan and Nowshera in NWFP very productive, adding that she would now visit Balochistan followed by a few public meetings in Karachi. She said she will celebrate Eid-ul-Azha in Larkana and later hold a public meeting there, followed by a tour of Sindh province. PPP's election campaign will be concluded in Punjab, she added. She said it was impossible for her to go to each and every place in the country and the party’s poll campaign teams are being constituted to visit different areas of Pakistan. (FirstPosted @ 16:20 PST, Updated@(Posted @ 18:00 PST)

Taliban kill woman, grandson for spying KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec 13 (AFP) Afghan police said Thursday that Taliban militants had shot dead a 60-year-old woman and her seven-year old grandson in public after accusing them of spying for the US military. Militants stopped the two Wednesday as they were walking to their home in south-central Uruzgan province, provincial police chief Juma Guld Himat told AFP. (Posted @ 17:05 PST)

Explosion heard in southern Gaza, two Islamic Jihad fighters wounded GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, Dec 13 (AP) An explosion was heard Thursday in the southern Gaza Strip near the border with Israel. The Islamic Jihad group said two of its members were wounded in an Israeli ground missile strike near the Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel. (Posted @ 16:50 PST)

Afghans say hundreds of Taliban killed in Musa Qala KABUL, Dec 13 (Reuters) Afghan and NATO-led troops killed, wounded and detained hundreds of insurgents during fighting in Musa Qala, the Defence Ministry said Thursday. Thousands of Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops captured the town Tuesday after one of the biggest operations the Afghan army has carried out. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)

Benazir Bhutto arrives in Karachi KARACHI, Dec 13 (APP) Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson, Benazir Bhutto, arrived here Thursday morning from Islamabad. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)

Russia, Iran resolve problems on nuclear station: Moscow MOSCOW, Dec 13 (AFP) Disputes holding up the completion by Russia of Iran's first nuclear power station at Bushehr have been resolved, the head of Russian state contractor Atomstroiexport said Thursday. “The difficulties with the Iranian client are resolved and we have an agreement on the timetable for the construction. I will give more details at the end of December,” said Atomstroiexport head Sergei Shmatko. (Posted @ 15:45 PST)

Cricket- Sri Lanka and England draw second test COLOMBO, Dec 13 (Reuters) England reached 250 for three to draw the second test against Sri Lanka as rain washed out the final session of play on Thursday. Brief scores: England 351 and 250-3 (M. Vaughan 61, A. Cook 62, I. Bell 52) v Sri Lanka 548-9 dec (M. Vandort 138, M. Jayawardene 195) (Posted @ 15:25 PST)

Eleven civilians killed in Mogadishu mortar attack MOGADISHU, Dec 13 (AFP) At least 11 Somalis died in Mogadishu Thursday, including nine in almost simultaneous mortar blasts. “A mortar shell exploded in the midst of a crowded stall, killing six people and wounding five others, some of them seriously,” a witness told AFP. Moments later, another shell landed nearby, killing another three people. The fighting took place mainly in southern Mogadishu but some mortar shell impacts were reported in some distant northern districts of the war-ravaged capital. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)

Iran, IAEA wrap up latest nuclear talks TEHRAN, Dec 13 (AFP) Iran and UN nuclear watchdog officials have ended their latest round of talks in Tehran on the controversial Iranian atomic drive, officials said on Thursday. The two sides tackled the issue of uranium contamination for the first time in their ongoing discussions, aimed at obtaining outstanding information from Tehran on the history of its contested nuclear programme. “The discussions took place in a constructive climate. An extra step has been made to solve the outstanding questions on the Iranian nuclear programme,” Iran's ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh told the state IRNA agency. (Posted @ 14:25 PST)

Musharraf to end emergency rule, restore constitution on December 15: Malik Qayyum ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (AP) President Musharraf will lift Pakistan's state of emergency Saturday only after changing the constitution to ensure that he cannot be hauled before a court, Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said Thursday. He told the Associated Press that the president, who has acknowledged that he breached the constitution, will amend the charter to protect his decisions from legal challenges. Qayyum said government’s legal experts were finalizing the changes and that they would be announced before Musharraf lifts the emergency on Saturday, but provided no details. (Posted @ 14:15 PST)

Pakistani lawyers protest against Musharraf LAHORE, Pakistan, Dec 13 (AFP) Around 2,500 Pakistani lawyers protested in the streets in Lahore Thursday, tearing up election posters of the main party backing President Musharraf, witnesses said. The protesting lawyers shouted slogans against the president, including “Go Musharraf! Go!” and “The war will continue until the judiciary is independent!” (Posted @ 14:10 PST)

At least 18 killed in fresh Sri Lanka fighting COLOMBO, Dec 13 (APP/AFP) Fresh fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels across Sri Lanka's embattled north has left at least 18 dead, the defence ministry said Thursday. A fragmentation mine targeting troops on patrol killed one policeman in the northern district of Vavuniya Thursday, the military said, blaming the attack on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Elsewhere, troops reported killing 17 Tamil Tiger rebels in separate clashes across the northern regions during the 24 hours ending Thursday morning, the ministry said, placing government casualties at one soldier injured. There was no comment from the LTTE. (First Posted@ 10:30 PST, Updated @ 14:05 PST)

Mine blast kills six people, wounds six others in southern Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec 13 (AP) A civilian car hit a freshly planted land mine in southern Afghanistan Thursday, killing six people and wounding six others, the Interior Ministry said. The victims were travelling on a road outside the town of Tirin Kot, in Uruzgan province, when the blast ripped through their vehicle, a ministry statement said. (Posted @ 13:40 PST)

Iranian police kill 12 armed rebels in clashes TEHRAN, Dec 13 (Reuters) Iranian police killed 12 armed rebels in clashes in a southeastern region Thursday, saying they had planned to detonate bombs in the country, state television reported. The fighting took place near Sistan-Baluchestan province’s Iranshahr city. (Posted @ 13:35 PST)

Russia seizes four Japanese fishing boats in disputed northern waters TOKYO, Dec 13 (AP) Japan said Thursday that Russia had seized four Japanese fishing boats in disputed waters between the two countries, fuming that the detention was unacceptable and demanding an explanation from Moscow. The boats were captured by the Russian border coast guard in the early hours off Kunashiri Island, one of four disputed islands between the countries, a Foreign Ministry official said requesting anonymity. Russian Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment. (Posted @ 13:25 PST)

Sixteen bodies found in a ditch north of Baghdad BAGHDAD, Dec 13 (Reuters) Sixteen dead bodies were found Thursday in a ditch in a town north of Baghdad within Diyala province, police said. They said the bodies found near Muqdadiya, all adult males, appeared to have been killed recently. (Posted @ 13:25 PST)

Strong quake strikes Chilean coast WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (AFP) A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck 55 kilometres north of Antofagasta, along Chile's Pacific coast, US geologists reported Thursday. The earthquake, which was 40 kilometres deep, took place early Thursday 1,140 kilometres southwest of Chile's capital Santiago, the US Geological Survey said. (Posted @ 12:45 PST)

Malaysia arrests four ethnic Indians KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 (AP): Malaysian authorities arrested at least four ethnic Indian activists Thursday under a security law that allows detention without trial, a lawyer said. The activists are key officials in the Hindu Rights Action Force, which held a street protest on Nov. 25.complaining about alleged racial discrimination (Posted @ 12:00 PST)

Ahmadinejad to peform hajj TEHRAN, Dec 13 (AFP): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to perform hajj, the first time a president of the Islamic republic is to attend the annual Muslim pilgrimage, an official said Thursday. Ahmadinejad's senior advisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi said that the president would be taking part in the hajj after receiving an invitation from Saudi King Abdullah. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)

International drug ring spanning six countries smashed in Australia SYDNEY, Dec 13 (AP): A global task force smashed a sophisticated drug ring that was running huge amounts of cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and ecstasy across six countries, Australian police said Thursday. Based in Vancouver, Canada, the syndicate supplied drugs to Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan and the West Coast of the United States, A spokesman of the Australian Joint Asian Crime Group told reporters. Forty people including 14 Australian and Canadian nationals in Australia were arrested in a series of raids, he said. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)

Majority in Pakistan wants Musharraf out: poll WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (AFP): Most Pakistanis want to see President Pervez Musharraf out of power, according to the first poll released since the general declared a state of emergency last month, US media said Thursday. Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed said he should resign immediately, according to the New York Times which cited a poll by the International Republican Institute, a conservative-leaning civic group based in Washington. A full 70 percent judged his government does not deserve re-election and two-thirds “expressed anger at the current state of affairs, desired change and were anti-Musharraf,” the institute said. The newspaper said it obtained the poll results from the institute ahead of its official release later Thursday. The IRI said it surveyed a random sample of 3,520 people across Pakistan, and the poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 1.69 percentage points. (Posted @ 11:50 PST)

Bangladesh seeks $2.2 bn aid for cyclone recovery DHAKA, Dec 13 (Reuters): Bangladesh seeks $2.21 billion in assistance from overseas donors to help recover from damage from the November 15 cyclone that killed more than 3,200 people and made millions homeless, a senior official said Thursday. The assistance is required to finance rebuilding infrastructures and a long-term disaster protection programme in the affected coastal areas, he said. (Posted @ 11:10 PST)

Japanese scientists create genetically modified “fearless” mouse TOKYO, Dec 13 (AP): Scientists at Tokyo University say they have used genetic engineering to successfully switch off a mouse's instinct to cower at the smell or presence of cats, showing fear is genetically hardwired and not learned through experience, as commonly believed. Research team leader Kobayakawa said, “mice with certain nasal cells removed through genetic engineering didn't display fear. The mice approached the cat, snuggled up to it and played with it. The discovery fear is genetically determined and not learned after birth is interesting,” he said. (Posted @ 11:10 PST)

Indian Maoists blast police station, kill three RAIPUR, India, Dec 13 (Reuters): Maoist insurgents have blown up a police station in central India, killing at least three constables, an official said Thursday.The attack took place Wednesday night in the rebel-infested Bastar region of Chhattisgarh state, the worst-hit among about a dozen states where Maoists are active. (Posted @ 10:35 PST)

14 rebels, police officer killed in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Dec 13 (AP): Sri Lankan army troops waged a series of attacks against Tamil separatists in the volatile north, killing 14 rebels, while a police officer was killed by a land mine, the military said Thursday. The fighting was part of a major escalation in attacks between the two sides in parts of the north. In two battles Wednesday, troops killed nine rebels in the Muhamalai area of the Jaffna peninsula, north of rebel-held territory, the military said Thursday. The army killed four more rebels in two other attacks in the area, while another rebel was killed in a confrontation in Mannar district. (Posted @ 10:30 PST)

China recalls war massacre with sirens, bell and warnings NANJING, Dec 13 (Reuters): China marked 70 years since Japan's infamous Nanjing massacre on Thursday, invoking memories of the atrocity to remind Tokyo that the wartime past remains a bitter backdrop to an improving relationship. Sirens sounded, calling citizens to silence, a bell tolled, and around 100,000 people, including frail survivors, gathered for the re-opening of a newly expanded massacre memorial in the former capital in eastern China. The six-week wave of killing by invading Japanese troops overrunning Nanjing was among the bloodiest episodes of Japan's invasion of China, taking 300,000 lives according to official Chinese accounts. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)

Japan police arrest navy commander TOKYO, Dec 13 (AP): Police arrested a Japanese naval officer Thursday for allegedly leaking sensitive defense technology that the U.S. had shared with Japan, officials said. Sumitaka Matsuuchi, a 34-year-old lieutenant commander in the Maritime Self-Defense Force, was arrested for allegedly leaking the classified data to an instructor at a Japanese naval academy in violation of a Japan-U.S. security pact, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)

South China restaurant blaze kills 10 BEIJING, Dec 13 (AP): A fire at a restaurant in southern China killed 10 people, state media reported on Thursday. The fire on Wednesday afternoon at Mingdian Western-style Restaurant in Zhangmutou, in the southern province of Guangdong, spread more than 400 sq metres before being put out, Xinhua news agency said. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)

Six troops wounded in south Thailand NARATHIWAT, Thailand, Dec 13 (AFP): Six Thai troops were wounded Thursday in a roadside bomb attack in Thailand's south, police said. Police said the bomb hit a patrol truck carrying 12 soldiers in Narathiwat, one of three provinces along the southern border with Malaysia where a separatist insurgency has raged for four years. Also in Narathiwat, a 26-year-old Muslim man who volunteered with the local defense force was killed in a drive-by shooting. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)

Five dead in train blast in India's northeast GUWAHATI, Dec 13 (AFP): Five people were killed and four injured Thursday in an explosion aboard a passenger train in India's restive northeastern state of Assam, officials said. The blast took place when the high speed train was nearing Golaghat district, about 270 kilometres east of Assam's main city of Guwahati, en route to New Delhi, a railway official said. The train had departed from eastern Dibrugarh town with at least 800 people on board, the official said. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)

US repatriates 15 Guantanamo prisoners to Afghanistan, Sudan SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Dec 13 (AP): The U.S. announced Wednesday that it sent 15 prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay prison back to their home nations. The military transferred 13 men to Afghanistan and two to Sudan, the Department of Defense said in a statement. (Posted @ 09:22 PST)

Tropical storm kills 14 in Caribbean SANTO DOMINGO, Dec 13 (AFP): Tropical Storm Olga, a rare December cyclone, left at least 14 people dead in the Caribbean as pounding rains triggered major floods and landslides, authorities said Wednesday. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)

Flawed election systems By I.A. Rehman

SOUTH Asians have many reasons to rue their condition. Prominent among them is a persistent failure to establish democratic electoral mechanisms. Several countries in the region are facing difficulties in holding free, fair and democratic elections, and nowhere has the task become as problematic as in Pakistan.

This became apparent as experts from the region recently debated the requisites of an ‘inclusive electoral process’ at the invitation of a South Asian human rights network. The experts were invited to share their experiences of holding elections and their reform plans with delegates from the region. The objective was to determine the essential features of an electoral process that would meet the highest possible standards and the result would reflect the pluralist society that each South Asian country is.

What made a Pakistani disconsolate, though the deliberations were both stimulating and fruitful, was the realisation that while different South Asian states were facing different sets of problems, Pakistan seemed to have gathered on its plate all of them and something extra.

Several Indian states are now in the grip of election fever, none more than Gujarat where a chief minister who has been universally condemned for the 2002 pogrom is threatening India’s entire effort at establishing a secular democracy. Nothing causes the democrats there more anguish than the gnawing feeling that the more Narendra Modi’s criminal record is exposed the better his chances of return to power seem to become. And this despite the existence of the most powerful of the national election authorities in the region, one that is known for speedily responding to challenges and holding its own against the executive. Unavoidable is the question: what good is an electoral process if it cannot offer the people safety and security against a communalist predator?

Pakistan’s fledgling democrats may be facing a similar problem: how to devise an electoral framework that cannot be exploited by anti-democratic elements to make a mockery of democratic institutions.

Nepal claims to have mobilised people’s power to establish a democratic order twice in less than two decades. Last year the people won their right to a new constitution to be framed by a democratically elected constituent assembly. The promised election has already been delayed by many months. Meanwhile extra-democratic attempts, some of them extra-legal too, are being made to ensure what General Ziaul Haq would have described as ‘positive results’. Does this amount to pre-poll rigging?

Only a decade has passed since Bangladesh took the lead in providing in the constitution for an independent caretaker regime for holding a general election. The initiative was hailed in all neighbouring countries. Most of all in Pakistan where elections have been more suspect than elsewhere. But the result desired has not been achieved, thanks to the well-known South Asian genius for bending constitutional provisions to suit partisan interests. The present caretakers have been unable to hold elections within the stipulated period. These are now promised in 2008.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh regime is trying to use legal instruments to root out political corruption, something all military rulers in Pakistan have done and failed. More promising perhaps are attempts to develop a foolproof poll system. Which merely shows that independent caretakers, if such angels can at all be found, are not enough to guarantee fair elections if the electoral system remains flawed. Unfortunately the Pakistan regime appears determined not to learn this lesson till some more time has been lost in debilitating misadventures.

The history of Pakistan shows that soon after independence the party in power developed such a dread of reference to the people that it moved farther and farther away from the minimum standards of free and fair elections. Worse, none of its successors has made any meaningful effort to break with the unholy tradition. As a result, no general election can be claimed to have been fair. The one or two elections that are popularly believed to have been relatively fair deserve the distinction because of a general impression that official manipulation was on a lower scale than usual.

Further, attempts at electoral reform have been largely limited to ensuring orderly polling or, latterly, to basing results on a correct count of the ballots cast. Important though these aspects of a general election are they do not meet the most decisive requirements of fair and democratic elections. The main defects and deficiencies of Pakistan’s electoral system can be summarised as under:

* The franchise is still not wholly democratic. The Ahmedis continue to be denied, contrary to law, the benefit of the joint electorate system that was revived, after 17 years of deviation, in 2002. In respect of other communities too the logic of a single voters’ list is not fully respected.

* The fruits of the electoral system are not available in full measure to the people living in Fata and the Northern Areas.

* The government continues to resist the demand for an independent and efficient Election Commission. The mode of the Chief Election Commissioner’s appointment, the system of forming the Election Commission only after an election has been notified and the initial part of the electoral process completed, the commission’s lack of comprehension of democratic imperatives, and its failure to protect the democratic rights of the more vulnerable elements — women, the poorest sections, homeless nomads, the riverbank population, the prison population and non-resident Pakistanis — all imply institutional obstacles to fair election.

* Failure to eliminate exploitation of belief for electoral advantage and denial of the right to vote and contest election to women, both offences listed in the penal code, seriously undermine the sanctity and credibility of elections.

* The objective of registering all eligible voters remains unrealised.

* The government sees nothing wrong in the escalating costs of contesting elections which is increasingly limiting the field to people of doubtful credentials.

* A huge majority of the underprivileged is excluded from electoral contest, thereby making progress towards a pluralist democracy impossible. Even suggestions that some of the candidates’ financial burden should be assumed by the Election Commission have gone unheeded.

* Successive regimes have sought to suppress the fundamental issue that democratic elections are impossible under a regime that can manipulate the Constitution and the law for personal or factional gain.

Unless the above-mentioned impediments to fair elections, some of which are institutional in character, are removed the crisis of legitimacy will not be over.

One of the painful conclusions from the South Asian experts’ deliberations is the reluctance of states such as Pakistan to learn from positive initiatives within the region. For instance, the Bangladesh Election Commission claims to have found a way to eliminate personation or chances of anyone voting more than once by preparing biometric records of each one of the country’s 90 million voters. If this system works the problems caused by defects in voter lists, non-availability of polling agents and lack of identification papers (NIC, etc) may disappear.

The Indian Election Commission asserts that its electronic voting machines guarantee a fair count, and that no complaint of manipulating results has been heard for 11 years. Has Pakistan studied this process?

The only explanation for Pakistan’s keenness to persist with a flawed electoral system and a moribund Election Commission could be its permanent establishment’s contempt for the people’s sovereign rights.

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