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| January 09, 2008 | Wednesday | Zilhaj 29, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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US Senator 'reassured' on Pakistan nukes ISLAMABAD, Jan 9 (AFP) - US senator Joe Lieberman who met President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday said he felt reassured about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, and called for upcoming elections to be “fair and credible.” He said he had received a “detailed and explicit” briefing by Pakistan's military leadership on the security of the US ally's atomic arsenal. “I was impressed by the specific explanation I had about the system that is in place here,” Lieberman told reporters after the meeting, on a visit planned before the December 27 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto. “There are some who have expressed concerns about the security of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal,” he said, referring to doubts expressed by the head of the UN nuclear watchdog and others in recent days. “Overall I felt reassured... and I will take that message back to Congress,” he added. Lieberman also said that in discussions with Musharraf and Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro he had urged that key general elections, postponed for six weeks until February 18 in the wake of Bhutto's killing, go ahead. “The president (Musharraf) could not have been stronger or more explicit that that should happen and that the government do everything they can to make sure that the elections are fair and credible,” Lieberman said. “There has probably never been a perfect election, including in the United States of America, but the important thing is that when this election is over no-one should be able to say that the government didn't do everything it could to assure fairness and transparency,” he added. Lieberman, now an Independent, is chairman of the US Senate's Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He was a Democratic vice-presidential candidate in the 2000 elections. (Posted @ 21:15 PST)
Armed tribesmen assemble to hunt down killers of eight peace committee elders WANA, Pakistan, Jan 9 (AFP) - Thousands of armed tribesmen met at Wana in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan Wednesday vowing to organise a lashkar (legion) to hunt down Al-Qaeda-linked militants blamed for killing eight of their elder kinsmen. The tribal jirga (council) came three days after militants stormed two offices and killed eight tribal elders of a government-sponsored peace committee. “One man from each house should come to Wana with a gun at 10:00 am (0500 GMT) on Thursday to plan our defence and act against those who are responsible for disorder,” tribal chief Malik Ghaffar told the gathering. Wazir tribe chief Maulvi Nazir, who earned fame after he drove out hundreds of Uzbeks from the region last year in bloody clashes, is expected to address the lashkar on Thursday. He did not turn up at Wednesday's meeting but had earlier blamed Baitullah Mehsud, a top Al-Qaeda commander and leader of the rival Mehsud tribe, for the killing of the peace committee members. Residents have reported that announcements have been made on public address system asking Mehsud tribesmen to “leave Wana to avoid losses.” Baitullah is accused by the government of masterminding a spate of suicide attacks in the country, including the December 27 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi. Local sources told AFP his tribe was preparing a jirga to negotiate with the Wazir tribe to avoid confrontation. (Posted @ 15:55 PST)
Pakistan army strikes hideout of cleric Fazlullah in Swat PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 9 (AP) - Pakistan's military has targeted suspected hide-outs of the leader of pro-Taliban militant forces in the Swat Valley, but could not confirm whether cleric Fazlullah was killed, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said Wednesday. He said two locations were targeted on Tuesday night on information that Maulana Fazlullah was hiding there. “I am not in a position to confirm whether he died” in the attacks, Arshad told The Associated Press. A senior military official in the area said on condition of anonymity that the army had used artillery in the strikes. No more details were immediately available. President Pervez Musharraf last week identified Fazlullah as one of two militant leaders behind a spree of suicide attacks in Pakistan. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Pakistan rejects nuclear watchdog's worries ISLAMABAD, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Pakistan angrily rejected on Thursday remarks by the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of Islamist militants. Dismissing El Baradei's remarks as “unwarranted and irresponsible”, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told a regular news briefing that “as head of the IAEA, which is a U.N. body, he has to be careful about his statements which ought to remain within the parameters of his mandate.” Sadiq said: “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear weapon state. Our nuclear weapons are as secure as that of any other nuclear weapon state.” Replying to a question Sadiq said Pakistan would maintain its important ties with the United States no matter which party came to power. “The Pakistan-U.S. relationship is a very important relationship. It's not only important for the United States or for Pakistan but it's also important for the peace and stability of the whole region.” (Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Scotland Yard beefs up team in Bhutto probe ISLAMABAD, Jan 9 (AFP) - Scotland Yard has sent an explosives expert and two other detectives to Pakistan to beef up its team aiding the probe into the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, an official said Wednesday. Scotland Yard initially sent five investigators but one has left and the team now numbers seven. They have collected forensic evidence, reconstructed the crime scene, and recorded statements from witnesses and the medical team that tried to revive Benair Bhutto after the attack. “There is no breakthrough yet. We are examining the evidence closely with all technical help and expertise from Scotland Yard,” a senior Pakistani investigator said. (Posted @ 18:55 PST)
Printing of ballot papers completed: ECP ISLAMABAD, Jan 9 (APP): The printing of over 180 million ballot papers for the upcoming general elections has been completed. The Election Commission has meanwhile approved a plan for setting up over 64,000 polling stations around the country, where over 500,000 officials would work for the electoral process. The election commission has postponed elections at NA-207 Larkana after the assassination of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. In Punjab elections have been postponed in PP-99 Gujranwala and PP-70 Faisalabad after deaths of Nasir Mehmood Sindhu and Chaudhry Asghar Advocate. In NWFP elections have been postponed in PF-59 Battgram and PF- 81 Swat after deaths of Al-haj Muhammad Ayaz Khan and Mian Gul Asfandyar Amirzeb. (Posted @ 18:35 PST)
Musharraf for thorough probe into Benazir’s assassination ISLAMABAD, Jan 9 (APP):- President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday reaffirmed government's resolve to conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Talking to US Senator Joseph Liebermann he also said the Government was committed to hold free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections, and added that international observers and an independent media will play an important role in overseeing the electoral process. During the meeting, Pakistan-US relations, counter-terrorism cooperation and domestic and regional developments came under discussion. (Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Iran should not underestimate Israel, says Peres as Bush arrives BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel, Jan 9 (AFP) - Israeli President Shimon Peres on Wednesday warned Iran not to underestimate Israel's resolve to defend itself, as he welcomed US President George W. Bush on a landmark visit. “We take your advice to not underestimate the Iranian threat. Iran should not underestimate our resolve for self defence,” Peres said.He also urged Bush to help confront the “madness” of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Peres also said this will be a moment of truth for Middle East peace. “On your way here you said that 2008 should be the pathway from words to action, from aspiration to reality. Indeed, the next 12 months will be a moment of truth,” he said.US President George W. Bush said he saw a new opportunity for peace in the Holy Land as he arrived Wednesday on a landmark visit to bolster revived Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (Posted @ 15:45 PST)
Critics try to sway debate on US-India nuclear deal WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters): Critics of the U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement Wednesday urged two international groups whose approval is vital to the deal to take steps to ensure it does not undermine global nonproliferation efforts. Nearly 100 nongovernmental organizations and 25 individuals made their case in a letter to the 45 nations of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which governs international nuclear trade, and to some board members of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, argued that the deal would “damage the already fragile nuclear nonproliferation system and set back efforts to achieve universal nuclear disarmament.” (Posted @ 10:35 PST)
Heavy rains, snowfall continue in Pakistan's NAs ASTORE, Jan 9 (APP):Pakistan's Northern Areas are in grip of severe cold weather, forcing people to remain in-doors and hampering trade activities in the region. Rain and snowfall lashed the Northern Areas for the third consecutive day, Wednesday. According to local Met office, the area has so far received one feet of snowfall dropping the temperature to minus four. (Posted @ 14:25 PST)
ANP stages province-wide protest against electricity, gas load shedding and flour shortage Peshawar, Pakistan, Jan 09 (PPI) - Awami National Party Wednesday orgnised province-wide protest rallies against ban on the movement of wheat flour from the Punjab and hours-long electricity and gas load shedding in the province. In Peshawar, rallies wee held in Soekarno Square and Saddar Road Cantonment at which hundreds of the red-flag carrying workers took part.The rally on Saddar Road was jointly led and addressed by ANP provincial president Afrasiab Khattak, Haji Adeel, Syed Aqil Shah and ANP candidates on NA-2 Arbab Najeebullah, NA-3 Hashim Baber and NA-4 Arbab Zahir Khan Khalil. The rally at Khyber Bazaar was led and addressed by former provincial president, Bashir Ahmed Bilour, and others. (Posted @ 21:10 PST)
Israeli forces kill three Palestinians in Gaza GAZA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - `Israeli forces killed a Palestinian militant and two civilians in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, witnesses and medical workers said. An Israeli missile landed near a residential building in the border town of Beit Hanoun, killing a man and a woman, both of them civilians. Five other people were wounded. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the attack. (Posted @ 21:00 PST)
120 deaths per day in first three years of Iraq occupation: WHO GENEVA, Jan 9 (AFP) - An average of 120 Iraqi adults died a violent death every day in the three years following the US-led invasion of March 2003, the World Health Organisation said Wednesday. A household survey carried out by the WHO and the Iraqi government between March 2003 and June 2006 estimated that between 104,000 and 223,000 people died from violence during that period. More than half of all the violent deaths occurred in Baghdad, it added. (Posted @ 20:10 PST)
Bangladesh President appoints 5 new advisers DHAKA, Bangladesh, Jan 9 (AP) - Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed appointed five new advisers Wednesday to replace those who resigned earlier, an official said. Golam Quader _ a retired army officer who once headed a national security agency, ex-attorney general Hasan Arif, former bureaucrat M. Showkat Ali, educationist Rasheda K. Choudhury and economist Hossain Zillur Rahman were sworn in by Ahmed, government official Ali Imam Majunder said. (Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Russia gas blast kills 7, more victims feared MOSCOW, Jan 9 (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed and more were feared dead after a suspected gas explosion in an apartment building in the Russian city of Kazan on Wednesday, said an emergency services spokeswoman. She said there had been “33 people registered as residents in the collapsed building, but nobody knows how many were in it at the time”. At least two people have now been rescued alive from the ruins. (Posted @ 19:05 PST)
African Union head meets Kenya's feuding parties NAIROBI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - African Union chief John Kufuor met Kenya's president and opposition leader on Wednesday to try to break a political impasse behind post-election turmoil that has killed about 500 people. Kufuor made no public comment after his meetings. (Posted @ 19:00 PST)
Arab League chief starts tough mission in Lebanon BEIRUT, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Arab League chief Amr Moussa began the difficult task on Wednesday of getting rival Lebanese leaders to agree details of an Arab plan to end Lebanon's presidential crisis. “Lebanon is in danger... and we want to salvage the situation in Lebanon,” Moussa told reporters at Beirut airport. “We come full of optimism, full of hope. The initiative is clear and we will start work now because time is tight.” (Posted @ 18:55 PST)
Mohmand Levies become professionally competent force PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jun 9 (APP): Mohmand Levies has become a professionally competent force to take on anti-social elements, Dr. Karim Niazi, Political Agent said at the passing- out parade Wednesday. In all, 64 Mohmand levy personnel participated in the passing out parade. (Posted @ 18:10 PST)
US senator meets PML-N leader ISLAMABAD, Jan 9 (APP): Visiting US Senator Jospeh Liebermann met chairman of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Raja Zafar-ul-Haq here Wednesday and discussed the overall political situation in the country and the February 18 general elections. Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Zafar-ul-Haq said he briefed the US senator about “ the party's apprehensions about rigging in the elections”. He said Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with the Untied States. Both sides agreed that the US government should support restoration of democracy in the country, he added. He said he also told the US Senator that rejection of candidatures of Nawaz Shairf and Shahbaz Sharif was politically motivated. (Posted @ 17:46 PST)
3 US soldiers killed in attack north of Baghdad BAGHDAD, Jan 9 (AP) - Three U.S. soldiers were killed in an attack north of Baghdad, the military announced Wednesday. Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack Tuesday in Salahuddin province, the military said. (Posted @ 17:35 PST)
Rockets fall on southern Israeli city as Bush arrives JERUSALEM, Jan 9 (AP) - Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired about a dozen rockets and mortars on southern Israel on Wednesday, striking a house in a border town shortly before U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in the Mideast to try to build momentum for stalled peace talks. Israeli police said 12 projectiles were fired Wednesday, including seven that landed inside Israel. Israeli forces strike at militants nearly every day in response to rocket fire, and dozens have been killed in recent weeks. Rockets fall on southern Israeli city as Bush arrives. (Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Clinton scores surprise win in New Hampshire MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan 9 (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton defied the polls and narrowly upset Barack Obama in New Hampshire on Tuesday, breathing new life into her U.S. presidential campaign after a poor third-place finish in Iowa. Republican John McCain, meanwhile, capped his rise from the political scrap heap with a win over Mitt Romney that resurrected his once-struggling presidential campaign. The Democratic race now heads on to contests in Nevada and South Carolina. Both New Hampshire races were close. Clinton beat Obama by 39 percent to 37 percent, while McCain won over Romney by 37 percent to 32 percent in almost complete returns. (Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Gales leave thousands without power in Scotland LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Severe gales and heavy rain battered parts of Scotland on Wednesday, leaving thousands of homes without power and closing roads, police and utility companies said. Winds gusting at up to 80mph blew down trees, damaged power lines and toppled several trucks. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Smashed statues found after Bangladesh airport heist DHAKA, Jan 9 (AFP) - Pieces of two rare terracotta Hindu statues stolen in Bangladesh have been found at a rubbish dump two weeks after they were stolen en route to an exhibition in Paris, officials said Wednesday. The 1,500-year-old artefacts -- statues of the Hindu god Vishnu -- were to have featured in an exhibition on Bangladesh culture and history at Paris's Guimet Museum. “So far we have recovered 46 broken pieces of the stolen artefacts, about 30 percent of the two statues,” said acting keeper of the National Museum Shawpan Kumar Biswas. “If we find all the pieces we are optimistic that it might be possible to reconstruct the statues,” he added. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Two dead in Philippines religious parade MANILA, Jan 9 (AFP) - A woman was crushed to death and a man killed Wednesday during the parade of the 400-year-old “Black Nazarene” in Manila. At least 20 others were injured as up to 100,000 people packed the streets around Quiapo church in downtown Manila for the annual parade of a black icon of Jesus Christ. The “Black Nazarene” -- venerated by millions in the mainly Roman Catholic Philippines for its supposedly miraculous powers -- is wheeled out on a float from its permanent site in Quiapo church on January 9. Devotees walk to the church barefoot dressed in maroon clothing and join the procession. (Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Bomb blast in Russia's Dagestan region, two hospitalised MAKHACHKALA, Jan 9 (AP): A bomb blast ripped through a car in Russia's Dagestan region Wednesday, injuring a top railway official and his driver, law enforcement authorities said. The explosion in the provincial capital Makhachkala, hit a car in which the top railway official in Dagestan and a member of the provincial legislature, was riding, the city police deputy chief said. (Posted @ 13:45 PST)
Sri Lankan fighting kills 41 COLOMBO, Jan 9 (AP): Sri Lankan soldiers captured some rebel-held territory as heavy fighting across the north killed 41 people, the military said Wednesday. In the latest clash Tuesday night, troops seized about one square kilometer of territory in Mannar district, a military spokesman said. He said 19 guerrillas and one soldier were killed and five soldiers wounded in the fighting. Five insurgents died in a separate clash in the same district, he said. In Vavuniya district, soldiers killed 13 guerrillas Tuesday and three more rebels were killed on Jaffna peninsula. No immediate comment was available from the rebels. (First Posted @ 10:55 PST, Updated @ 12:30 PST)
Former rebel leader Thaci to become Kosovo's PM PRISTINA, Jan 9 (AP): A former rebel leader is poised to become Kosovo's prime minister Wednesday, and he is expected to lead the troubled province to independence from Serbia this year. Hashim Thaci, 39, will head a coalition government that will try to steer the province through a declaration of independence, a course supported by United States and important European governments but fiercely opposed by Serbia and Russia. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
Israeli military kills Gaza militant GAZA CITY, Jan 9 (AFP): Israeli fire killed a Palestinian militant in the north of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip early Wednesday, medics said, hours before US President George W. Bush was to arrive in the region. Bush was to land in Israel around midday on the first trip to the Jewish state and the Palestinian territories by a sitting US president in nine years. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)
Cuba celebrates 49th anniversary of Castro's Havana triumph HAVANA, Jan 9 (AFP): With fireworks, outdoor speeches and a message from their ailing iconic leader, Cubans late Tuesday celebrated President Fidel Castro's triumphal entry into Havana 49 years ago at the head of his revolution. “I cannot forget that on a day like today I had the honor of being welcomed by the people of this capital 49 years ago,” Castro, 81, said in a statement read out on television to mark the occasion. (Posted @ 10:35 PST)
Cricket: Indian players head to Canberra as troubled tour resumes SYDNEY, Jan 9 (Reuters): India's cricketers left their Sydney hotel to travel to Canberra on Wednesday to resume their troubled tour of Australia. The Indian team players refused to talk to media when they left the hotel early Wednesday, two days after their scheduled departure. India are due to play a three-day match against an Australian Capital XI side, starting Thursday, before heading to Perth on Sunday to prepare for the third test. (Posted @ 09:00 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 51.64, points: KARACHI, Jan 09: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 14267.55, down 51.64, points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:13 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Jan 09: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 62.35, to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:13 PST)
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