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| February 03, 2008 | Sunday | Muharram 24, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Bhutto posthumous autobiography says she was warned of bomber squad LONDON, Feb 3 (AP): In an autobiography being published after her assassination, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto says she was warned that four suicide bomber squads would try to kill her, one led by Osama bin Laden's 16-year-old son, according to a British newspaper. The former prime minister wrote that Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and a “foreign Muslim government” had informed her these squads were planning her murder, according to excerpts of the book published in The Sunday Times of London. “I was told by both the Musharraf regime and the foreign Muslim government that four suicide bomber squads would attempt to kill me,” Bhutto reportedly says in the book, “Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy & the West,” which is to be published on Feb. 12. The naming of bin Laden's teenage son, Hamza, could bolster intelligence claims that he is being groomed as a future leader of Al-Qaeda. (Posted @ 15:45 PST)
Suspected teenage suicide bomber arrested in D.I. Khan district PESHAWAR, Feb 3 (AFP/Reuters): Police arrested a suspected teenage suicide bomber from Dera Ismail Khan district and were searching for two accomplices, officials said. The arrest was made near Abdul Khel village in Dera Ismail Khan district, home of opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is said to be on a militant hit list, officials said. The 16-year-old boy was arrested late Saturday in Dera Ismail Khan, where Fazl-ur-Rehman, leader of the Jamiat-e-ulema-e-Islam religious party lives. “The boy was caught ... with a vest and explosives,” said an intelligence official. Two other intelligence officials confirmed a youth planning to become a suicide bomber and attack Rehman had been arrested. The chief of police in Dera Ismail Khan said a boy had been arrested but denied he was part of a plot to kill Rehman. Rehman was not immediately available for comment. The government has warned all politicians that they face the danger of attacks in the run-up to a Feb. 18 general election.(Posted @ 17:46 PST)
Police dispels rumors about attack on Amin Fahim Karachi, Feb 03 (PPI):A spokesman of Sindh Police Sunday said there is no truth in rumors about attack on senior PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim. The spokesman said Makhdoom Amin Fahim and safe and sound and he had talked to media and TV channels and told them that the rumors were baseless.(Posted @ 23:45 PST)
Two ICRC workers go missing near Afghan border ISLAMABAD, Feb 3 (Reuters): Two Pakistani workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have gone missing in a tribal region of northwest Pakistan close to the Afghan border, an official of the agency said on Sunday. The pair disappeared on Saturday as they were driving through the Khyber Pass on their way to Torkhum, a main crossing point on the border to send some things to the ICRC office in Kabul, said an ICRC communication officer. “We're quite concerned about their fate. We're trying our best to find out what happened,” she said. (Posted @ 15:10 PST)
Darra operation conspiracy of elite class: Asfandyar Wali PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 3 (APP): Awami National Party (ANP) condemned Darra operation and viewed it as a conspiracy of the elite and imperialist class against the Pukhtoons, President of ANP Senator Asfandyar Wali Khan said Saturday. In a statement he said such operations were meant to malign the Pukhtoons and to sabotage the election environment. However, he declared the ANP would not tolerate any further delay in the polls. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Four hurt in Parachinar bomb blast Parachinar, Feb 03 (PPI): Four persons were injured when some culprits tried to blow up a passenger coach near Sadda in Lower Kurram Agency. The vehicle was coming from Parachinar to Peshawar. When it reached near Sadda, it was targeted by an improvised explosive device (IED). The explosion resulted in injuries to four men who were taken to hospital.(Posted @ 20:35 PST)
Four children burnt to death near Thatta THATTA, Feb 03 (PPI): Four children were brunt to death and three persons including two women injured when a fire broke out in their house in a village near Ketti Bandar late on Sunday night. The family lit a log fire in the house to beat the cold and went to sleep. The fire spread and burnt the house. Four children were brunt to death while two women and a man suffered severe burn injuries and were rushed to Karachi for medical aid.(Posted @ 19:07 PST)
12 killed in Sri Lanka suicide blast COLOMBO, Feb 3 (AFP): At least 12 people were killed and 100 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack onboard a train at the main railway station in Colombo on Sunday, Sri Lankan police and a hospital spokeswoman said. Earlier, a crude bomb went off in a zoo in Colombo wounding four visitors. (First Posted @ 11:00 PST; Updated @ 22:04 PST)
Seven die in Indian held Kashmir clash SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Feb 3 (AFP): Four militants and three members of the Indian security forces were killed in a gunbattle, police said Sunday. The clash occurred at Balnoi in southern Poonch district late Saturday after police and troops sighted militants who crossed into Indian occupied Kashmir. “The militants managed to enter after ripping open a barbed-wire fence,” a police officer said. “They were engaged in a gunbattle by security forces that left four infiltrators, two policeman and a soldier dead, he said. (Posted @ 14:20 PST)
US, Iraqi troops kill 11, capture 64 suspects in raids BAGHDAD, Feb 3 (AP): U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 11 suspected militants and captured 64 others in two days of raids across central and northern Iraq, officials said Sunday. Iraqi troops killed eight suspects and arrested 28 overnight in Salman Pak, about 25kms south of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. They also seized weapons, explosives and some vehicles in the raid, including a Humvee that was apparently stolen from the Iraqi army, police said. Meanwhile, U.S. forces killed three suspects and detained 36 others in operations, the military said Sunday in a statement.(Posted @ 21:15 PST)
Ex-PM Berlusconi's mother dies at 97 ROME, Feb 3 (Reuters): Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's mother died on Sunday, aged 97. “Mamma Rosa”, as she was known to Italians, was a doughty supporter of her ambitious son who rose from her middle class home to be Italy's richest man and twice its prime minister.(Posted @ 20:53 PST)
Fierce battle on for Chad capital NDJAMENA, Feb 3 (AFP/Reuters): Fierce fighting rocked the Chad capital for a second day Sunday as rebels surrounded President Idriss Deby in his palace and hundreds of foreigners fled the country. With international aid organisations reporting bodies in the streets and hundreds of people wounded, anti-tank and automatic weapons fire was heard around the presidential palace. A UN security service official said there were a lot of bodies in the streets. France says 500 people evacuated: PARIS: France has evacuated at least 500 people from Chad, its foreign ministry said on Sunday. A ministry statement said 514 people had been flown from N'Djamena to Gabon. There were 217 French citizens and 297 other foreigners, it said. The statement also said around 400 more foreigners now in N'Djamena might be flown out later.(Posted @ 19:28 PST)
Four anti Al-Qaeda militiamen killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Feb 3 (AFP): Four members of a US-backed militia fighting Al-Qaeda in Iraq were killed in a raid on their base in Baquba town north of Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi and US sources said. The attackers escaped after blowing up the base of the Baquba Awakening Council in the Diyala provincial capital, an Iraqi police official said. The US military confirmed that four militiamen had died in the raid.(Posted @ 18:38 PST)
Cricket: Lee says Pakistan tour in hands of Cricket Australia BRISBANE, Feb 3 (AFP): Australian fast bowler Brett Lee said Sunday that any decision on whether or not the world champions tour Pakistan next month was in the hands of Australian officials. Lee was responding to reports from Pakistan that Zimbabwe's successful tour there showed that it would be safe for Australia to undertake their scheduled visit in March and April. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer said the Zimbabwe tour had been a test case for Australia. “Now I can say with authority and pride that we have successfully hosted matches and hope that the world champions will tour,” he told AFP in Karachi.(Posted @ 18:35 PST)
NATO chief calls for more German troops in Afghanistan BERLIN, Feb 3 (AFP): NATO chief General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has again pressed Germany to deploy combat troops in Afghanistan after the country rejected a US call, Bild newspaper said Sunday. Scheffer said he was trying to persuade a number of nations to play a bigger role in the battle against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung on Friday ruled out stationing soldiers in the south, saying the German mandate did not allow for sending troops into the turbulent region.(Posted @ 18:16 PST)
Death toll from Rwanda, Congo quakes hits 40 KIGALI, Feb 3 (Reuters): The death toll from two earthquakes that struck hours apart in Rwanda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo on Sunday has gone up to 40, officials in both countries said, while around 350 are injured. “The death toll (in Rwanda) has now increased to 25 from the earthquake. Two hundred have serious injuries,” a Rwandan police chief told Reuters in Kigali, referring to a magnitude 5.0 earthquake that struck south Rwanda. The acting governor of South Kivu's Bukavu region said: “There are five dead and 149 seriously injured.”(Posted @ 15:45 PST, Updated @ 20:39 PST)
Six Indonesian marines killed JAKARTA, Feb 3 (AP): An amphibious tank sank in stormy seas during a military exercise, killing at least six Indonesian marines and leaving one missing, a navy spokesman said Sunday. The accident occurred in the Java Sea on Saturday, during a naval exercise involving amphibious tanks, submarines and warships. The tank sank after encountering three-meter high waves off Java island's eastern coast. One marine was missing while nine others survived, he said.(Posted @ 17:52 PST)
Two police officers killed in Chechnya NAZRAN, Russia, Feb 3 (AP): Two police officers were killed by rebels in Chechnya, and several others wounded in militant raids' in a neighboring province, officials said Sunday. The clash in Vedeno region in Chechnya's southern mountains occurred late Saturday when a group of local policemen were conducting a security raid and confronted a group of rebels. A gunbattle ensued, and two officers were killed and one wounded before the militants fled, the Chechen branch of Russia's Interior Ministry said.(Posted @ 17:32 PST)
Pirates seize Russian-built tugboat off Somalia: reports MOSCOW, Feb 3 (AFP): Pirates seized an ice-going tugboat and its six crew including a British captain, off Somalia's coast, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday. Interfax cited the transport ministry as saying the vessel, the Svitser Korsakov, had been seized in the Arabian Sea. The ministry could not immediately be contacted for confirmation. Russia has informed naval forces of the NATO military alliance about the seizure.(Posted @ 17:31 PST)
Nine British soldiers arrested after rampage at Cyprus resort LARNACA, Feb 3 (AFP): Nine British troops serving in Cyprus have been arrested and charged after allegedly smashing up a pub and attacking locals in the holiday resort of Ayia Napa, authorities said on Sunday. Police said around 20 soldiers burst into the Bedrock pub in the southern coastal town and starting wrecking the place in the early hours of Saturday morning before officers intervened. British Forces Cyprus said nine soldiers had returned to barracks after being detained and charged by police with a variety of offences.(Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Qatar reports new damage to Gulf undersea cables DOHA, Feb 3 (AFP): An undersea telecoms cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged, disrupting services, telecommunications provider Qtel said on Sunday, the latest such incident in less than a week. Cables were also damaged last week in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Dubai, causing widespread disruption to Internet and international telephone services in Egypt, Gulf Arab states and south Asia. The cause of the damage is not yet known.(Posted @ 16:47 PST)
Two charged in Britain with terrorist offences LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters): British police said on Sunday they had charged two people with offences under the Terrorism Act. Amjad Mahmood, 29, and Shella Roma, 27, both of Chester Road, Werneth, Oldham, were arrested on Jan. 31, police said. They will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Feb. 12.(Posted @ 16:42 PST)
Former Czech President Vaclav Havel released from hospital PRAGUE, Feb 3 (AP): Former Czech President Vaclav Havel has been released from a hospital where he was treated for two weeks due to an irregular heartbeat, Czech public radio said Sunday. Havel, 71, entered the IKEM hospital in Prague on Jan 19 and he is to be treated at his home for another week, a hospital spokeswoman told the radio. She gave no other details.(Posted @ 16:34 PST)
Bird flu spreads in Bangladesh DHAKA, Feb 3 (Reuters): Bird flu has spread to three more districts of Bangladesh, the livestock department said on Sunday, taking the number of affected districts to more than half of the country's 64 districts. The latest outbreaks were reported in Gopalganj, Sylhet and Mymensingh districts, officials said. The port city of Chittagong was put on high alert after some dead crows tested positive for the H5N1 virus, local officials said. (Posted @ 16:05 PST)
13 killed as western Kenya fighting intensifies: police NAIROBI, Feb 3 (AFP): At least 13 people were killed in western Kenya as tribal fighting and a police crackdown intensified, police said Sunday, bringing the death toll to 70 since Friday. “A total of 13 people were killed overnight,” a local police commander told AFP. The fatalities occured along the Kisii-Kalenjin tribal border and nearby areas in Nyamira district in western Kenya, he said. (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Egyptian troops close last breach in Gaza-Egypt border RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Feb 3 (AP): Egyptian troops closed the last breach in Egypt's frontier with the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning, witnesses and Hamas security officials said, ending a chaotic, 11-day stream of Palestinians out of long-blockaded Gaza. The troops were allowing Gazans and Egyptians who remained on the wrong side of the border to cross back to their homes, but barred new cross-border movement, witnesses and Hamas security officials said. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Notorious Afghan warlord in standoff with police KABUL, Feb 3 (AFP): About 150 police surrounded the Kabul home of one of Afghanistan's most notorious warlords, General Rashid Dostum, for around nine hours Sunday after dozens of his men reportedly took a rival hostage. The heavily armed police arrived early morning, blocking several roads in one of the city's most upmarket areas and taking positions on rooftops surrounding Dostum's mansion. They later dispersed after a tense standoff with Dostum's men, an AFP reporter witnessed. (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
53 injured as snow hits Tokyo, flights, trains cancelled TOKYO, Feb 3 (AFP): Dozens of flights and trains were cancelled Sunday as snow blanketed Tokyo, with 53 people injured in weather-related accidents, officials said. More than 140 domestic flights were cancelled, mainly to or from Tokyo's Haneda airport, where one of the three runways was temporarily closed as snow disturbed the guidance system, officials said. Several train services were also cancelled, while bullet trains were delayed. Highways were closed at many points in Tokyo and its environs as three centimetres of snow fell in the capital. (First Posted @ 10:00 PST; Updated @ 14:35 PST)
Roadside bomb kills eight in Somali capital MOGADISHU, Feb 3 (Reuters): A roadside bomb killed at least eight women travelling in a minibus in the south of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday, witnesses said. The driver, conductor and two other passengers in the bus survived, suffering minor injuries, an eyewitness said. A police spokesman confirmed the blast but had no further details. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Algerian army kills five Al-Qaeda fighters: paper ALGIERS, Feb 3 (Reuters): Algerian troops killed five Al-Qaeda fighters, including the organisation's chief in Mali, during a hunt for men who shot at army helicopters in Algeria's desert south, the top-selling daily El Khabar said Sunday. The five were killed on Friday in the Rhourd Ennous area 700 km south of Algiers. A sixth guerrilla was arrested, the newspaper said. (Posted @ 14:28 PST)
Cricket-India 194 all out v Australia - innings SYDNEY, Feb 3 (REUTERS) India were dismissed for 194 in 45 overs in their tri-series one-day international against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday. Scores: India 194 all out in 45 overs (Gautam Gambhir 39, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 37; Brett Lee 5-27). (Posted @ 13:25 PST)
Bomb kills Baghdad police colonel BAGHDAD, Feb 3 (AFP) - A bomb attached underneath the vehicle of a Baghdad police colonel blew up on Sunday, killing the officer and wounding two others, security and medical sources said. Lieutenant-Colonel Hamed Ibrahim died and two lieutenants in the car were wounded in the blast in western Mansur neighbourhood, they said. An official at Yarmuk hospital confirmed receiving the colonel's body. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Building collapses in western India, killing 8 injuring 12, says official AHMADABAD, India, Feb 3 (AP) - A four-story building collapsed in western India on Sunday, killing eight people and injuring another 12 after a warning to evacuate days before went unheeded, a local administrator said. The building which housed a hotel and a bank in the city of Ahmadabad apparently was weakened when a foundation for a new building was dug nearby, said I.P. Gautam, a municipal commissioner. Those killed were mainly hotel workers and some guests who were staying there despite the warning, Gautam said. Rescuers removed the bodies and pulled the injured from the debris, he said. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
Egypt begins closing breached Gaza border RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Egyptian forces began closing the breached border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday, stemming the flow of Palestinians across the frontier breached by Hamas last month, witnesses said. Reuters staff at the border said the Egyptian forces closed the gap, but still allowed Palestinians and Egyptians to return to their homes. After talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Saturday Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said Hamas “will restore control over this border, in cooperation with Egypt, and gradually”. (Posted @ 11:35 PST)
POLL-Clinton, Obama neck-and-neck ahead of Super Tuesday WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are running neck-and-neck in California, New Jersey and Missouri two days before the sprawling “Super Tuesday” presidential showdown, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday. Obama has a slight lead in California and is virtually tied with Clinton in New Jersey and Missouri heading into the biggest day of voting in a U.S. presidential nominating campaign, with contests in 24 states from coast to coast. In the Republican race, Arizona Sen. John McCain has double-digit leads on Mitt Romney in New York, New Jersey and Missouri but narrowly trails the former Massachusetts governor in California, the biggest prize on “Super Tuesday.” Romney leads McCain by 37 percent to 34 percent in California. The poll's margin of error is 2.9 percentage points. “California could be Romney's last stand,” Zogby said. “If he wins there, it may not be a whole new ballgame, but it can give those Republicans who oppose McCain hope they still have a chance to stop him.” (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Polls open for Serbia's crucial presidential run off BELGRADE, Feb 3 (AFP) - Polls opened on Sunday in Serbia's presidential run off seen as crucial for the country's EU integration amid looming independence of its breakaway province of Kosovo. (Posted @ 11:15 PST)
Boxing-Khan on track for world title after win over St Clair LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - British Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan retained his Commonwealth lightweight title with a unanimous points win over Australian Gairy St Clair on Saturday. “I've done 12 rounds there against a world class opponent,” Khan told ITV Sport at ringside after repelling a late St Clair flurry. “I want to become a world champion this year.” All three judges scored the fight 120-108 in Khan's favour, with St Clair failing to win a round. The victory took the Bolton-born fighter's record to 16 wins in row as a professional. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
China mine blast kills 9 BEIJING, Feb 3 (Reuters) - An explosion Saturday at a colliery in the coal-rich province of Shaanxi killed nine people, state media reported, just as the government ordered scores of pits to stay open to alleviate the country's worst-ever power shortage. (Posted @ 10:35 PST)
Three dead in Indonesian police, military clash JAKARTA, Feb 3 (AFP) - Two policemen and a soldier died in an eight hour bout of violence Saturday on an eastern Indonesian island at the weekend, reports said Sunday. The state Antara news agency said trouble erupted in Masohi, Seram Island, following a dispute between a policeman and a soldier because of a love affair involving them and two sisters. The violence also left the official residence of the Central Maluku district police chief gutted by fire, and 40 police houses and an office vandalised, Antara said. Metro TV said two policemen and one soldier were killed while six others were wounded. (Posted @ 10:25 PST)
Qaeda claims Israel embassy attack in Mauritania DUBAI, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for an attack on the Israeli embassy in Mauritania and demanded Arab states have no ties with the Jewish state, Al Jazeera Television said on Sunday. Al Jazeera showed what it said was a written statement from an al Qaeda-affiliated group but did not say how it obtained it. The claim has yet to appear on the Islamist Web sites normally used by al Qaeda-linked organisations. The western Saharan country is one of three Arab countries to have relations with the Jewish state. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Five shot dead in US shopping center CHICAGO, Feb 3 (AFP) - Five women were shot dead Saturday at a shopping mall in Chicago's fastest-growing suburb of Tinley Park, media reports said, citing police. Reports said police were hunting a man suspected to have committed the killings and then fled. The motive was not known, they added. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
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