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| February 06, 2008 | Wednesday | Muharram 27, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Satellite Parameters for DAWN NEWS Satellite: Intelsat 10, Band -C Downlink Frequency: 4126.05 Mhz Symbol rate: 3255 Ks/s FEC: 3/4 Polarization: Horizontal 
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Mly chopper crashes in South Waziristan, eight dead: official ISLAMABAD, Feb 6 (AFP): A military helicopter crashed in a troubled tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing a senior army officer and seven other personnel, the army said. The chopper came down near the village of Tanai in South Waziristan after a “technical malfunction”, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP. The crash killed Major General Javed Sultan, the commanding officer of Kohat garrison, two brigadiers and five other personnel, officials said. The death tolls were recognized as: General Officer Commanding Kohat, Major General Javed Sultan, Brigadier Afzal Cheema, Brigadier Saeed Khan, Lieutenant Colonel Omar Farooq, Captain Shehzad, Captain Naveed (Pilot), Captain Haroon (Pilot) and one Non Commissioned Officer, Crew Chief Naik Amir.(Posted @ 17:07 PST, Updated @ 22:30 PST)
Pakistan rejects US intelligence report on nuclear weapons ISLAMABAD, Feb 6 (AFP): Pakistan's foreign ministry Wednesday rejected a US intelligence report that “vulnerabilities exist” in the military's control of its nuclear weapons. The report in its annual threat assessment said the situation in the country had “not seriously threatened the military's control of the nuclear arsenal, but vulnerabilities exist.” Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said there should be no concern. “Pakistan's nuclear assets are safe. There should be no cause for concern over hypothetical scenarios which have zero probability,” he told a weekly briefing. He also rejected criticisms in the Western media of Pakistan's record in tackling militancy. “What Pakistan has done to counter the challenge of Al-Qaeda and terrorism is well known. We do not need to repeat that. Pakistan has given more sacrifices than any other country in this war,” he said.(Posted @ 16:50 PST)
ANP leader shot dead in Karachi: police KARACHI, Feb 6 (AFP): Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a Pashtoon politician in Karachi on Wednesday, police said. The attackers ambushed the car of Awami National Party Sindh Vice President Fazalur Rehman Atakhel in Sohrab Goth and escaped, police official Javed Afridi told AFP. Atakhel, about 50 years old, died on the spot, Afridi said. Unrest gripped the Pashtoon-dominated neighbourhood after the killing and angry ANP supporters resorted to firing shots in the air. Some protesters set a bus on fire, pelted passing cars with stones and set up roadblocks using burning tyres, witnesses said.(Posted @ 18:41 PST, Updated @ 19:42 PST)
Pakistan Taliban declare ceasefire: spokesman ISLAMABAD, Feb 6 (Reuters): Pakistani Taliban fighters announced a ceasefire on Wednesday after months of clashes with security forces and suicide attacks in the country. Military spokesmen were not immediately available for comment but security officials in South Waziristan said there had been contacts with militants in tribal strongholds of the Pakistani Taliban. “The government has shown leniency over the past four or five days,” Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan told Reuters by telephone. “That's why we are declaring a ceasefire.” Omar said the decision to call a ceasefire was taken at a shura chaired by Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban. (Posted @ 16:10 PST)
Pakistan limits Australian tour to four venues KARACHI, Feb 6 (Reuters): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to limit Australia's tour, which is under threat due to security concerns, to four venues, an official said on Wednesday. The proposed March-April tour will take place in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad. Australia are scheduled to play three tests, five one-day internationals and twenty20 match on their first tour of Pakistan for 10 years. Australia indicated they have an open mind on the tour and they very much want to play in Pakistan but would take a final decision after the elections on Feb. 18,” PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf told Reuters. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Pakistan People’s Party says it hasn't decided on candidate for prime minister ISLAMABAD, Feb 6 (AP): Pakistan People’s Party said Wednesday it had not decided whether Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Ali Zardari will be its candidate for prime minister after the country holds parliamentary elections this month. Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said it was ''premature'' to say whether Zardari would be nominated for prime minister when the new Parliament convenes. ''That decision will be taken after the elections,'' Babar said, referring to the February 18 balloting. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)
Scotland Yard to submit report in Benazir Bhutto’s murder probe this week ISLAMABAD, Feb 6 (AFP): British detectives will give their first report to the Pakistani government this week on their findings in the murder of former premier Benazir Bhutto, the interior ministry said Wednesday. A team of forensic and explosive experts from Scotland Yard spent more than two weeks in Pakistan after President Musharraf sought British help following Bhutto's December 27 assassination in a gun and suicide attack. “They informed us that they would submit their report by Friday,” Interior Ministry Spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema told AFP. The British investigators are due to arrive here Thursday from London. British embassy spokesman Aidan Liddle also confirmed the report would be presented to the government this week. Asked if the team would investigate further, Cheema said it would depend on the circumstances. The government said it would make Scotland Yard's findings public. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Spain prosecutes Rwandan leaders for killings MADRID, Feb 6 (Reuters) A Spanish court accused 40 Rwandan military and political leaders on Wednesday of organising the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians, including nine Spaniards, during the 1990s. Spanish High Court judge Fernando Andreu believes the officials committed genocide, crimes against humanity and terrorism, according to documents setting out the case.(Posted @ 22:36 PST)
'Real test' for NATO in Afghanistan: Rice LONDON, Feb 6 (AFP): NATO is facing a “real test” in Afghanistan but progress is being made to tackle the Taliban insurgency, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on a visit to London on Wednesday. “Yes, I do think the alliance is facing a real test here but we shouldn't underestimate the transformation that NATO itself has gone through in really learning how to fight this fight,” she told reporters.(Posted @ 21:26 PST)
Chad president says government in “total control” N'DJAMENA, Feb 6 (Reuters): Chad's government is in total control of the capital N'Djamena and the country, President Idriss Deby said on Wednesday, in his first public appearance since rebels attacked the city at the weekend. “We have total control of the situation, not only in the capital, but the whole country,” Deby told a news conference in N'Djamena.(Posted @ 21:10 PST)
Palestinian rocket attack wounds 2 Israeli children JERUSALEM, Feb 6 (AP): A Palestinian rocket on Wednesday landed in a southern Israeli community, lightly wounding two preschoolers with shrapnel as they played outside their home, Israeli medics said. Officials said the rocket struck a home in Kibbutz Beeri, a collective farm about six kilometersfrom the Gaza border. Hamas claimed responsibility, raising the likelihood of an Israeli reprisal.(Posted @ 20:57 PST)
Gunmen seize 30 Zambian fishermen LUSAKA, Feb 6 (AFP): Armed men suspected to be from the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) seized 30 Zambian fishermen on Lake Mweru, which is shared by the two neighbouring nations, state radio reported on Wednesday. The gunmen crossed to the Zambian side of the lake and “abducted” 30 fishermen whom they are currently holding in captivity, said the report by the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC).(Posted @ 20:35 PST)
Polish PM heading to Moscow to relaunch dialogue WARSAW, Feb 6 (AFP): Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pays his first visit to Russia Friday aimed at relaunching dialogue as a proposed US missile shield and Russian-German plans for a Baltic pipeline divide Warsaw and Moscow. Tusk's trip will be the first by a Warsaw leader since Poland's then president, Aleksander Kwasniewski, visited the Kremlin in September 2004.(Posted @ 20:20 PST)
Germany to send extra troops to North Afghanistan BERLIN, Feb 6 (Reuters): Germany said Wednesday it would send extra combat soldiers to northern Afghanistan as part of a NATO Quick Reaction Force to replace a Norwegian unit of 250 troops. “There is a readiness from our side now to fulfil this duty because we consider it a military necessity,” German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters. “This will happen this year in summer,” he said. The announcement coincided with a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to London where she is discussing strategy on Afghanistan.(Posted @ 18:49 PST)
48 dead as storms rip across America's South ATKINS, Arkansas, Feb 6 (AP): Authorities went door-to-door early Wednesday searching for more victims of deadly tornadoes that tore across four U.S. states. At least 48 people were reported dead throughout the South. The dead included 24 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, and seven in Kentucky, emergency officials said.(First Posted @ 08:30 PST, Updated @ 19:27 PST)
Chad rebels vow to resist if attacked by French N'DJAMEMA, Feb 6 (Reuters): Chadian rebels said on Wednesday they would defend themselves if attacked by French troops or other foreign forces in Chad, and vowed to press ahead with their fight to topple President Idriss Deby. They said they were still occupying positions “around N'Djamena”, but declined to specify how far they were from the capital.(Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Iran bars Khomeini’s grandson from election TEHRAN, Feb 6 (Reuters): An Iranian hardline watchdog body has banned a grandson of the country's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from running for parliament next month, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Among many hopefuls barred from running is Ali Eshraghi, a 39-year-old civil engineer who is also a grandson of Khomeini, founder of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Eshraghi told the Kargozaran newspaper he had not been told why he was rejected. Another grandchild of Khomeini, Zahra Eshraghi, was barred from running in the 2004 parliamentary vote.(Posted @ 16:54 PST)
Sri Lanka says 37 Tamil Tigers killed COLOMBO, Feb 6 (AFP): Sri Lankan war planes Wednesday bombed Tamil Tiger targets in the north as ground forces clashed with the rebels, leaving 37 guerrillas and five soldiers dead, the defence ministry said. War planes hit a location near Iranamadu on Wednesday morning after government forces destroyed some 30 Tigers bunkers in Jaffna peninsula. The ministry said 12 LTTE members were killed while security forces suffered five wounded. In other clashes, at least 25 guerrillas and five government soldiers have been killed since late Tuesday. The ministry said 21 government soldiers were wounded in the clashes.(Posted @ 09:35 PST, Updated @ 16:36 PST)
Italy president dissolves parliament, election in April ROME, Feb 6 (Reuters): Italian President Giorgio Napolitano formally dissolved parliament on Wednesday, a spokesman said, putting the country on the road to a snap election that will most likely be held in mid-April. Caretaker Prime Minister Romano Prodi was due to hold a cabinet meeting shortly afterwards to decide the date of the election, widely expected to take place on April 13 and 14. (Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Man throws Molotov cocktail at Japanese Foreign Ministry TOKYO, Feb 6 (AP): A man threw a Molotov cocktail into the Japanese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday and then tried to disembowel himself with a knife, Kyodo News agency reported. Tokyo Metropolitan Police could not immediately confirm the report. Kyodo did not report whether the attack caused any damage or injuries, or whether the man was arrested. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Bird flu spreads to urban Bangladesh: officials DHAKA, Feb 6 (Reuters): Bird flu has spread to the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka and the port city Chittagong, despite authorities’ efforts to contain it, livestock officials said Wednesday. Dozens of dead crows found over the past two days in Dhaka have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu. In Chittagong, officials confirmed the spread of bird flu in several farms and also in crows that tested positive for the strain. The virus has spread to 38 of the country’s 64 districts. (Posted @ 15:35 PST)
Turkish ship in flames off Croatian coast ZAGREB, Feb 6 (Reuters): A Turkish freight ship caught fire close to Croatian territorial waters on Wednesday and was likely to sink, but all crew members and passengers had been rescued, Croatian marine officials said. Croatia's sea and transport ministry said the incident happened 13 nautical miles west of the Adriatic town of Rovinj. The statement said the 193-metre long ship “Und Adriyatik” was sailing from Istanbul to Trieste and was carrying “200 trucks and nine tons of dangerous material”. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Strike over killings shuts down Indian state KOLKATA, India, Feb 6 (Reuters): A strike over the killing of protesters by police in eastern India shut schools, offices, and businesses Wednesday. Protesters stopped trains and buses in West Bengal's state capital, Kolkata, as the strike took hold, witnesses and police said. The strike was called by the Forward Bloc after police opened fire on their supporters in a northern district Tuesday, killing at least six people. The rally, by villagers wanting work under a rural employment guarantee scheme and demanding the cancellation of plans to set up industry on farmland, turned ugly as protestors tried to force their way into a government building in Cooch Behar district. Dozens of protestors were arrested by police throughout the state as they tried to block roads and stop buses in the streets. (Posted @ 13:55 PST)
Gas fire erupts in Tennessee, shooting flames hundreds of feet into the air HARTSVILLE, Tennessee, Nov 6 (AP): A massive fire erupted at a natural gas pumping station, shooting flames hundreds of feet in the air and rattling windows for miles. Highway Patrol authorities said there were fatalities, but it wasn't immediately clear if they were from the fire or from a strong storm that moved through the area. The fire erupted at about 10 p.m. Tuesday at the Columbia Gulf Natural Gas pumping station near the Macon County community of Green Grove, about 40 miles northeast of Nashville. (Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Gunmen open fire on Mosul police patrol, killing two officers BAGHDAD, Feb 6 (AP): Gunmen killed two Iraqi policemen around 9 a.m. Wednesday in western Mosul’s Bab Sinjar district, police said. Two other policemen were wounded, along with a civilian. (Posted @ 13:45 PST)
Thai marine killed in blast at Chinese shrine YALA, Thailand, Feb 6 (AFP): A high-ranking marine was killed and four other marines and two civilians were injured Wednesday when a bomb exploded outside a Chinese shrine ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in southern Thailand, police said. The bomb was hidden inside a motorcycle outside the temple in Pattani, they added. Also in Pattani, a 20-year-old man who volunteered with the government's defence forces was shot dead late Tuesday, police added. (Posted @ 13:40 PST)
Ex-Bangladesh PM wins victory against corruption trial DHAKA, Feb 6 (AFP): Detained former Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed scored a victory against the army-backed government Wednesday with a court ruling that she could not be tried for corruption under emergency laws. She is being tried by a special fast-track court, but the High Court in Dhaka said this was illegal - effectively throwing into doubt all other completed or pending corruption cases pushed by the authorities. “The High Court has also quashed the case against Hasina. The judgement has established the rule of law, supremacy of the constitution and the supremacy of the human rights in the country,” her chief lawyer Rafiq-ul-Haque said. But Kamrul Islam, her other lawyer, said the victory would be short-lived, with the government set to take the matter to the Supreme Court. “We will fight in the Supreme Court, although we have very dim hope for a positive verdict,” he said. (First Posted @ 12:20 PST, Updated @ 13:35 PST)
Bomb aimed at US convoy in Iraq kills four civilians DIWANIYAH, Iraq, Feb 6 (AFP) A powerful roadside bomb aimed at a US military convoy in the central Iraqi city of Diwaniyah, about 180 kilometres south of Baghdad Wednesday, instead ripped through two civilian cars, killing four people, including two women, and wounding six, police said. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Clinton, Obama draw; McCain takes control in U.S. vote WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters): Democrat Barack Obama and rival Hillary Clinton battled to a draw on “Super Tuesday” and John McCain seized command of the Republican race in presidential nominating contests in 24 U.S. states. Obama won 12 states (Georgia, Delaware, Alabama, Kansas, North Dakota, Connecticut, Utah, Minnesota, Colorado, Alaska, Idaho and Illinois) and Clinton took eight (Arizona, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Massachusetts, California, New Jersey and New York). McCain won nine states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Oklahoma, Arizona, Illinois and Missouri) to take a daunting lead in the Republican race. Romney won six states (North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Colorado, Massachusetts and Utah) and Huckabee won five (Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and West Virginia). (First Posted @ 08:35 PST, Updated @ 12:15 PST)
Israel launches airstrikes as Hamas persist in rocket launchings GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, Feb 6 (AP): Israel targeted Gazan militants in at least one airstrike Wednesday, injuring four Palestinians, as Hamas persisted in its rocket attacks on Israeli border communities. Early Wednesday, Israeli aircraft fired at militants who had launched rockets moments earlier, the army said. Hamas said that four of its men were moderately injured in the strike. Gaza militants said Israel carried out several airstrikes overnight, but the army confirmed only one. Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Israeli border communities Tuesday and early Wednesday, moderately wounding a 14-year-old girl and knocking out power in parts of Sderot town. (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
Landslide kills seven on Indonesia's Java JAKARTA, Feb 6 (Reuters): A landslide triggered by heavy rain killed seven people in Indonesia's Central Java province, a health official said Wednesday. A torrent of mud slammed into houses in Sindangwangi village on the northern coast of Java island Tuesday evening, burying seven people, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis centre. Rescuers managed to unearth their bodies early Wednesday, he said. One person was injured. (First Posted @ 09:30 PST, Updated @ 10:50 PST)
Two killed in communist rebel attack on Philippine mine TAGUM, Philippines, Feb 6 (AFP): Communist rebels attacked a small gold processing plant owned by local town mayor Manuel Brillantes in the southern Philippines Wednesday, killing two of Brillantes’ bodyguards, an official said. About 10 heavily armed men believed to be New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas struck JB Mining's site in the mountain region of Diwalwal, a gold rush site, on Mindanao island, provincial governor Arturo Uy said. Brillantes was inside a house in the compound when the attack occurred. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Mass grave found north of Baghdad; six ‘militants’ killed in Khalis BAGHDAD, Feb 6 (Reuters): Iraqi security forces found a mass grave containing about 50 bodies, some badly decomposed and others killed more recently, during a hunt Tuesday for Al Qaeda militants north of Baghdad, police said. Police and members of a neighbourhood security unit raided a house thought to be used by Al Qaeda militants in an area near Samarra, 100 km north of Baghdad, when they found 10 people who had been kidnapped from a nearby town. Police said information from some of the people freed from that house led to the discovery of the grave nearby. Three car bombs were also found in the area. Separately six suspected militants were killed during operations by U.S. forces targeting Al Qaeda near Khalis, 80 km north of Baghdad. Three died when one of the suspected militants detonated a vest packed with explosives. Another three were killed by U.S. soldiers in a nearby building. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Coalition soldier killed in Afghanistan blast KABUL, Feb 6 (AFP): A soldier from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan was killed Tuesday and two others injured when their vehicle hit a mine in the country's south, a coalition statement said. The troops were conducting a security patrol with Afghan soldiers near the village of Dab in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province, when the mine exploded, the statement said. (Posted @ 08:55 PST)
At least 20 killed in Somali port blast BOSASSO, Somalia, Feb 6 (Reuters): An explosion killed at least 20 people and wounded a hundred more Tuesday in the northern Somali port of Bosasso, a regional official said. “A big explosion killed more than 20 people and wounded at least a hundred tonight,” Bari regional governor Musa Gelle Yusuf told Reuters. “More dead bodies are still being brought to Bosasso hospital. We do not know the cause but police are investigating,” he said. In northern Mogadishu, four people were killed by insurgents, witnesses said. “The insurgents first killed a policewoman and then they chased a policeman who ran when he saw them,” resident Quresh Osman said. “The insurgents then opened fire indiscriminately, killing the policeman and two other civilians.” (Posted @ 08:55 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 26.57 points: KARACHI, Feb 06: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 14018.45, up 26.57 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:15 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Feb 06: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 62.95 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:15 PST)
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