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| January 02, 2008 | Wednesday | Zilhaj 22, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Terrorists killed Benazir Bhutto: President Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Jan 2 (AP): President Pervez Musharraf in his address to the nation on television said “terrorists” were responsible for the killing of Benazir Bhutto. He said the Pakistani nation had “experienced a great tragedy” due to Benazir Bhutto's death. He said he was grieving as much as the rest of Pakistan over Bhutto's slaying in a suicide attack after a campaign rally last Wednesday. He blamed “many miscreants and some political elements” of taking advantage of the tragedy to loot and plunder. President Musharraf called for reconciliation, not confrontation in the wake of Benazir Bhutto's killing. He also said the vote delay was 'unavoidable' President Pervez Musharraf announced he had sought help from British police in an investigation of Benazir Bhutto's death.He said a Scotland Yard team would come 'immediately' to help in the Bhutto assassination probe. Army troops and paramilitary soldiers will ensure security in the general election on Feb. 18. Musharraf said.(First Posted @ 20:20 PST Updated @ 20:35 PST)
Election delayed until Feb. 18: ECP ISLAMABAD, Jan 2 (AP): Election commission officials announced Wednesday that they were delaying parliamentary elections for six weeks until February 18 because of the violence and chaos that followed the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. The elections had been scheduled for Jan. 8, but Qazi Mohammed Farooq, head of the election commission, said it would be impossible to hold the polls on that day. (Posted @ 17:20 PST)
British police due in Pakistan by weekend: Miliband LONDON, Jan 2 (AFP): A team of British anti-terror police will head for Pakistan by the end of the week to help investigate the killing of Benazir Bhutto, Scotland Yard and Foreign Minister David Miliband said Wednesday. “At the request of President Musharraf, the Prime Minister has agreed to send a UK Police team of technical experts to assist the government of Pakistan in the investigation of the death of Benazir Bhutto,” he said in statement. “The team is due to leave the UK by the end of the week,” he said. (Posted @ 21:40 PST)
PPP condemns election postponement but decides to take part NAUDERO (Larkana), Jan 2 (APP) The Central Executive Committee and Federal Council of Pakistan Peoples Party which met here Wednesday at Bhutto House decided to hold the “chehlum' of Benazir Bhutto on February 7. In this regard Quran and Fateha Khawani will be held at all District Headquarters of the party besides a big gathering in Naudero where PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari will be present. Addressing a press conference after the joint meeting of CEC and Federal Council, Asif Ali Zardari said the meeting condemned the postponement of elections, but still it will take part in the elections. He reiterated the demand for inviting a UN-sponsored Commission to investigate the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Asif Zarrdari said that if elections were rigged its consequences have will be borne by the rulers. (Posted @ 23:00 PST)
US welcomes Pakistan election date WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (AFP): The White House Wednesday welcomed Pakistan setting February 18 as the “date certain” for elections postponed after the slaying of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. “The important thing is they have a date certain for the elections,” spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters shortly before Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf defended the postponement in a major speech. (Posted @ 21:50 PST)
Opposition parties flay Feb. 18 polls postponement ISLAMABAD, Jan 2 (AP): Opposition political parties condemned postponement of general election from Jan. 8 to Feb. 18 and warned it could spark violent protests. The opposition alleged authorities were postponing polls to help the ruling party and President Musharraf. However, it was unlikely they would boycott the rescheduled vote. Benazir Bhutto's PPP could still get a sympathy boost and the ruling party suffer a backlash. “We condemn this decision,” said PPP leader Agha Siraj Durrani, adding party leaders were meeting to decide a response. Earlier, party Senator Babar Awan warned the delay could trigger street protests and riots. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of PML-N immediately reasserted a demand for Musharraf to resign. Party spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said the party would work with other opposition groups to come up with a joint response. Ruling party spokesman Tariq Azim denied the postponement would benefit it. “A few weeks’ delay is understandable. We would have thought parties would go along with the election commission decision,” he told Dawn News TV. (Posted @ 18:35 PST)
PML-N will take part in Feb. 18 vote: spokesman ISLAMABAD, Jan 2 (AFP): A spokesman for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the opposition leader's party, PML-N would take part in elections after they were delayed until February 18. (Posted @ 18:00 PST)
At least 27 militants killed in Pakistan: military ISLAMABAD, Jan 2 (AFP) -At least 27 militants were killed in two days of clashes in South Waziristan tribal area of northwestern Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan, a military official said Wednesday. The clashes broke out after pro-Taliban militants kidnapped four para-military soldiers in the area on Tuesday, the official said. “Five militants were killed yesterday and 22 overnight,” he said. The official said that the kidnapped soldiers were delivering food rations from one post to another when militants seized them. Their fate was not immediately known. After Pakistan forces fired at militants, five of them were killed and 20 were taken into custody, the official said. Both sides used heavy weaponry in firing that went on through the night, resulting in the death of 22 militants with no loss of life on the army side, he said. (First Posted @ 13:20 PST, Updated @ 14:05 PST)
Pakistan open to help on Bhutto probe: foreign office ISLAMABAD, Jan 2 (AFP): Pakistan's foreign office said Wednesday that the government was “open to receiving assistance from outside” in the investigation into the killing of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. “The government is committed to a thorough and transparent investigation and is open to receiving assistance from outside,” foreign office spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told reporters. He said visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had offered help with the probe on Wednesday, while the United States and Britain had already told Pakistan that they could assist in the investigation. (Posted @ 16:40 PST)
France, EU offer Pakistan help in Bhutto probe RAWALPINDI, Jan 2 (AFP/APP): France and the European Union on Wednesday offered Pakistan help in investigating the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said. Kouchner, the first high-ranking foreign official to visit Pakistan since opposition leader Bhutto was killed met President Pervez Musharraf to offer the help of France and the 27-nation EU bloc. French FM expresses solidarity with Pakistan: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called on President Musharraf Wednesday and expressed solidarity with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism. He said the European Union was keen on the holding of the forthcoming general election in Pakistan, but pointed that it was for the country's election commission to decide the date. President Musharraf reiterated his commitment to hold a free, fair and transparent poll.(Posted @ 16:40 PST)
Pakistan issues Benazir killing photos, offers reward ISLAMABAD, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities published on Wednesday photographs of a severed human head and two men standing in a crowd moments before Benazir Bhutto was killed, and offered a reward of 10 million rupees ($164,000) for their identification. One of the pictures shows two men standing in the crowd outside the Bhutto rally moments before she came out and was killed. The picture, already carried by Dawn News television and the daily Dawn newspaper, shows a clean-shaven young man wearing sun glasses, a white shirt and dark waist coat. Behind him stands a man with a white shawl over his head, who it said was believed to be the bomber. Later pictures and video footage have shown the young man firing a pistol at Bhutto as she left the rally standing up through the sunroof of her land cruiser to wave to supporters. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Gold price soars to record high above $855 LONDON, Jan 2 (AFP): The price of gold struck a record high above 855 dollars an ounce in trading here Wednesday owing to a weak dollar and unrest in Pakistan as it benefited from its safe-haven status, traders said. The precious metal smashed its previous historic high of 850 dollars an ounce, which was reached in January 1980. (Posted @ 21:20 PST)
Sri Lanka to formally end ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels COLOMBO, Jan 2 (AP): Sri Lanka's government has decided to formally withdraw from a nearly six-year-old cease-fire with Tamil Tiger rebels amid escalating violence that has rendered the deal redundant, a minister said Wednesday. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake proposed to the Cabinet the annulment of the truce and it was approved unanimously, cabinet spokesman and Media Minister Anura Yapa told The Associated Press. “All the ministers agreed to the proposal,” he said. (Posted @ 21:05 PST)
US-led soldier, Afghan interpreter killed in Afghanistan KABUL, Jan 2 (AFP): A US-led coalition soldier was killed Wednesday in a bomb blast in Afghanistan, making him the first troop to die this year in the country, the military said. An Afghan interpreter was also killed in the attack in Khost province, the coalition said in a statement. “One coalition soldier and one Afghan civilian, working with coalition forces, died from wounds received when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near their vehicle,” the statement said. Two other soldiers were wounded in the explosion. (Posted @ 22:00 PST)
US military says 51 Qaeda leaders killed or captured BAGHDAD, Jan 2 (AFP): The US military said Wednesday 51 Al-Qaeda leaders were killed or captured by multinational forces in Iraq during December, as efforts to close the extremist group intensified. Of those captured in December, “eight were regional, city or functional emirs, nine cell leaders, six involved in media and propaganda activities and five were foreigner terrorist facilitators,” said US military spokesman Major General Kevin Bergner. (Posted @ 20:00 PST)
Fire ravages renowned London hospital LONDON, Jan 2 (AFP): Patients were evacuated Wednesday from internationally-renowned cancer hospital in London ravaged by fire which engulfed its roof, emergency services and witnesses said. Smoke and flames billowed from the Royal Marsden Hospital in west London, television images showed, while ambulances and firefighters rushed to the scene. The Royal Marsden was the first hospital in the world dedicated to the study and treatment of cancer. (Posted @ 20:00 PST)
Curfew in Assam district after four Muslims killed GUWAHATI, Jan 2 (Reuters): Authorities in India's restive northeast imposed a curfew and called out the army in a remote district on Wednesday after four Muslim protesters were shot dead by police and dozens wounded in clashes. The trouble in Assam state’s Goalpara district began after hundreds of people, mostly Muslims settlers originally from Bangladesh, attacked a police station protesting against a government decision not to hold village council elections. The area is part of an autonomous council of tribal people and Muslim settlers fear the tribals could corner most opportunities in the absence of an elected village council. “The situation is tense. We are afraid it might take a communal turn,” a senior police officer told Reuters. (Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Syria halts collaboration with France over Lebanon DAMASCUS, Jan 2 (Reuters): Syria on Wednesday suspended diplomatic cooperation with France aimed at ending the political crisis in Lebanon, a move that mirrored earlier similar action by Paris. “It seems that the French want to blame Syria for their failure ... to reach a solution to the crisis,” Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told reporters. “Accordingly, Syria has decided to stop cooperation.” (Posted @ 19:05 PST)
Kenyan violence death toll climbs to nearly 330 NAIROBI, Jan 2 (AFP): The death toll Wednesday of Kenya post-electoral violence climbed to 328 after overnight violence yielded 22 more fatalities in the country's western towns, officials said. This brings the countrywide death toll to at least 328 people in politically related-violence since December 27 polling day, according to an AFP tally compiled from police, mortuary attendants and aid workers. A Kenyan government security document put the death toll at 177. (First Posted @ 0950 PST Updated @ 19:04 PST)
People power to warm new Stockholm building STOCKHOLM, Jan 2 (AFP): Body heat from hundreds of thousands of people who pass through Stockholm Central Station each day will be used to heat a new office building nearby, the project leader said Wednesday. “So many people go through Central Station... We want to harness some of the warmth they produce to help heat the new building,” Karl Sundholm, of the Swedish state-held property administration company Jernhuset, told AFP. (Posted @ 18:55 PST)
53 people trapped after Chile volcano eruption SANTIAGO, Jan 2 (Reuters): Chilean military vehicles were en route on Wednesday to rescue 53 people trapped in a wilderness park after one of the country's largest volcanoes erupted, spewing ash and molten lava. There were no reports of injuries or damage, but dozens of tourists were evacuated from the base of the volcano and a group of 53 people was stranded after a local river swelled with meltwater and cut off road access. (Posted @ 18:55 PST)
Black Sea ports in Romania, Bulgaria closed due to weather BUCHAREST, Jan 2 (AP): High winds forced closure of Black Sea ports in Romania and Bulgaria Wednesday, authorities said, as forecasters warned of more heavy snowfall across the region. Roads also were closed in Romania's southwest because of snow. Two ports in Constanta, one in Midia and one in Mangalia were closed. The port on the channel linking the River Danube to the Black Sea was also shut. In Bulgaria, three main Black Sea ports were closed. Many roads across the country were closed to traffic and dozens of villages had no electricity Wednesday, civil defence authorities said. (Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Bomb at police station kills at least four ALGIERS, Jan 2 (AP): A large car sped toward a police station and exploded at its doors early Wednesday morning, according to witnesses in Naciria, a town 70kms east of the Algerian capital. The Interior Ministry said the bomb attack killed at least four people and injured twenty. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
At least 12 dead in Nigeria oil city violence : officer LAGOS, Jan 2 (AFP): At least 12 people were killed over New Year in Nigeria's oil capital Port Harcourt when gunmen attacked two police stations and a hotel, a military officer in the city said Wednesday. “For now what we are looking at is between 12 and 16 dead in total,” the officer, who asked not to be named, told AFP, adding that the total included both civilians and police. The latest violence followed the lifting Sunday of a curfew on the city that had been in place since the last fighting there four months ago. (Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Seven killed in Iraq suicide attack: police BAQUBA, Jan 2 (AFP): A suicide bomber blew himself up in Baquba Wednesday, killing at least Seven people and wounding 16 in an attack aimed at an anti-Qaeda patrol, police said. “Four people were killed and 16 injured,” said a police captain. “Three women and a police officer were injured.” Among the dead was a leader of a local Awakening Council, US-backed militia groups who have turned against Al-Qaeda. A patrol with 20 members in three vehicles was the target of the suicide attack, police said. (Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Myanmar orders massive hike in satellite TV fees YANGON, Jan 2 (AFP): The Myanmar authorities have ordered a massive hike in the fee for satellite TV licences, an official said Wednesday, in what residents said was an attempt to limit access to foreign media. An official requesting anonymity said renewing an existing licence for a satellite dish would now cost one million kyat ($800), a staggering rise on last year's fee of 6,000 kyat ($4.80). (Posted @ 16:10 PST)
Roadside bomb kills five, wounds 28 in Colombo COLOMBO, Jan 2 (AFP): Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a powerful roadside bomb in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo Wednesday, killing five people and wounding 28 others, police and hospital officials said. The powerful Claymore mine targeted an army bus transporting wounded soldiers but hospital officials said most of the victims were civilians. It was the second high-profile attack in the capital in as many days. (First Posted @ 09:40 PST, Updated @ 16:10 PST)
21 killed in Afghanistan on new year KABUL, Jan 2 (AP): Roadside bombs and military operations in Afghanistan killed 21 people, including 14 Taliban fighters, as the record violence that Afghanistan saw in 2007 continued into the new year, officials said Wednesday. Afghan and foreign troops killed eight suspected Taliban fighters Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, while a roadside bomb in Khost province killed two Afghan security guards working for a U.S. military base, an Afghan Defence Ministry statement said. Five other militants were killed in separate incidents when roadside bombs they were planting exploded prematurely, the ministry statement said. It also said Taliban militants killed an Afghan army officer and wounded another in Helmand province's Sarkono area. Police in Khost killed a would-be suicide bomber who was carrying hand grenades as he tried to enter a police checkpoint Tuesday. A roadside bomb in the south killed two border police in Kandahar province. (Posted @ 15:45 PST)
24,000 civilian Iraqi deaths in 2007: independent group WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (AFP) - US-led coalition and paramilitary forces in Iraq were responsible for some 24,000 violent civilian deaths in 2007, according to an independent group monitoring casualties in the war-ravaged country. The Iraq Body Count (IBC) whose figures are tallied from media reports, morgue and hospital data, non-governmental and other sources, said in a report released Tuesday that there were between 22,586 and 24,159 violent civilian deaths in Iraq during the past year. “For some 24,000 Iraqi civilians, and their families and friends, the year was one of devastating and irreparable tragedy,” the IBC said. The group said that as of January 1 2008, the total for violent civilian deaths to the end of 2007 in Iraq was between 81,174 and 88,585. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
'I'm not sure who won': Kenyan elections chief NAIROBI, Jan 2 (AFP) - Three days after declaring Mwai Kibaki winner of Kenya's presidential poll, the country's elections chief on Wednesday cast doubt on the outgoing president's re-election win. “I do not know whether Kibaki won the election,” Electoral Commission of Kenya chairman Samuel Kivuitu told The Standard daily newspaper. He told the newspaper that he had been under pressure from Kibaki's party and that of third man Kalonzo Musyoka to announce the results swiftly despite growing evidence of irregularities in the tallying process. “If this matter is finally taken to the court, the ruling should be made urgently so that if it were decided that Raila is the president, so be it. If it is Kibaki, so be it,” Kivuitu said. (Posted @ 13:40 PST)
Cricket-Australia 376-7 v India in 2nd Test SYDNEY, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Australia were 376 for seven in their first innings at the close of play on the opening day of the second test against India here Wednesday. Scores: Australia 376-7 (Symonds 137 not out, Brad Hogg 79, Ponting 55-- Rudra Pratap Singh 4-108) vs India (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
Six Hamas militants killed in Israeli air strike GAZA CITY, Jan 2 (AFP) - Six members of Hamas' military wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, were killed and three other people were injured in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City overnight, Palestinian hospital officials said Wednesday. (First Posted @ 09:45 PST, Updated @ 10:35 PST)
12 killed in 2 separate ambushes on security personnel in India LUCKNOW, India, Jan 2 (AP) - Two assailants with guns and grenades ambushed a police recruitment centre in Rampur city in northern India in an attack that killed seven police officers and a civilian, while suspected Maoist rebels shot dead four soldiers in the neighbouring state of Bihar. The Maoist rebels ambushed a group of soldiers and shot dead four of them, police said. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 313.05, points: KARACHI, Jan 02: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13353.38, down 313.05, points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:15 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Jan 02: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 61.5, to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:15 PST)
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