- DAWN - RSS Feeds; February 09, 2008

February 09, 2008

Saturday

Safar 01, 1429

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

Suicide bomber kills 20, wounds 45 at ANP election rally in northwest Pakistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 9 (AP) - A suicide bomber struck at the election rally of Awami National Party Saturday in Charsadda town of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, killing 20 people and wounding 45, official said. The blast went off inside a hall where a large number of supporters of ANP _ a secular, ethnic Pashtun group _ had gathered. Mohammed Khan, a local police official, said two policemen were among the 20 dead. Four or five children were also killed or injured, he said. Abdul Waheed, 22, who suffered burns from the blast, told The Associated Press from his hospital bed in the nearby city of Peshawar that the bomb went off as a party member was reciting verses from the holy Quran. He said he did not see the bomber. “I only heard the blast and cries and then something hit me and I fell down,” he said. Police official Khan said police had found the severed head of the suspected bomber. Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the attacker detonated his explosives “very close to the stage” where party officials were assembled. Afrasiab Khattak, the party's provincial leader and a prominent human rights champion, was addressing the rally but told Dawn television that he was not hurt. Nawaz said Islamic militants were threatening all the political parties in the northwest ahead of the Feb. 18 parliamentary elections. “They are against everyone,” he told Dawn News TV. It was the third suicide attack targeting politicians in the Charsadda area in just eight months. In April 2007, a suicide bomber attacked a political rally by former interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, killing 28 people. In December, a suicide bomber targeted Sherpao again amid hundreds of holiday worshippers at a mosque inside his home, killing at least 50 people. Sherpao was unhurt. (First Posted @ 18:04 PST Updated @ 21:24 PST)

Pakistan's atomic weapons safe - Admiral Mike Mullen ISLAMABAD, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Saturday Pakistan's nuclear weapons were well protected and he was not worried they might fall into the hands of terrorists. Admiral Mike Mullen met President Pervez Musharraf and military leaders for talks on Saturday. He also met the official in charge of the country's nuclear arsenal, retired Lieutenant-General Khalid Kidwai. “I'm very comfortable that the nuclear weapons are secure, that there are proper procedures in place,” Mullen told a news conference. “I'm not concerned at all that they're going to fall into the hands of any terrorists.” Mullen said he was not aware of comments from a U.S. official in Washington on Friday that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar are operating from Pakistan. “I haven't actually seen that intelligence and have actually not heard that statement. I'm not aware that that's a fact at all,” Mullen said. Some U.S. politicians have called on President George W. Bush to consider cutting Pakistani aid unless it restored full civil rights and did more to fight terrorism. Mullen said he would like to see conditions “absolutely minimised”. “Pakistan has been a steadfast and historic ally,” he said. “It would be important for us in the United States to continue to invest in this. This is a threat that isn't going away, it's a mutual threat and one that we together are very intent on working our way through.” Mullen also said the United States would always respect Pakistan's sovereignty and would help it when asked in whatever way it could. (Posted @ 21:12 PST)

Suicide blast kills 20 at Pakistan election rally CHARSADDA, Pakistan, Feb 9 (AFP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up at an opposition Awami National Party election rally in Charsadda town of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province on Saturday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 25, government and party officials said. The attacker struck as hundreds of people gathered for the meeting, and according to initial reports 20 people were killed and 25 were injured, they said . Some private channels, quoting ANP sources said, 21 persons were killed and about 40 injured. “One of the injured told me in hospital that it was a suicide attack but I cannot confirm it officially,” provincial health minister Syed Kamal Shah told AFP. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz linked the attack to a wave of other bombings blamed on Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants that have claimed more than 70 lives this year. “Yes, it was most probably a suicide attack. It was close to the stage but none of the ANP leaders there were hurt,” Nawaz told AFP. “This is very significant that the ANP rally has been hit... these people are trying to hit at everyone, the threat posed by them is challenging everyone in Pakistan. “We are beefing security measures because only a little more than a week is left in the elections,” he added. Last year former interior minister Aftab Sherpao survived two suicide attacks in Charsadda that left dozens of people dead, the most recent being in December. “We blame security agencies for the attack. The agencies want to create civil war and want to support dictatorship,” ANP spokesman Zahid Khan told AFP. “The bomber blew himself up very near the stage, the party's provincial candidate was slightly injured. But it was a meeting which was not held in the open, but inside four walls, so how come the bomber was conveniently able to enter?” (First Posted @ 18:04 PST Updated @ 20:55 PST)

Police clash with protesting Pakistani lawyers ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb 9 (AP) - Police using tear gas and water cannons clashed Saturday with hundreds of lawyers to block them from reaching the barricaded house of Pakistan's deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry in Islamabad. About 1,500 black-suited lawyers marched on the residence of justice Iftikhar who was fired by President Pervez Musharraf three months ago. After the lawyers tried to breach the barbed-wire barricade, hundreds of police in riot gear drove them back by firing tear gas and shooting water cannons from a fire truck. They also baton-charged the crowd and beat lawyers with batons. Some of the lawyers threw stones at police. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries in the clash. Earlier Saturday, Pakistan's Bar Council announced a nationwide lawyers' boycott of courts until Feb. 18 elections _ part of a campaign to pressure the government to restore deposed top judges. Athar Minallah, a prominent Supreme Court lawyer, said the decision was made at a council convention in Islamabad before they marched on justice Iftiklhar’s house. Minallah was among several lawyers who were later arrested. Minallah, speaking to The Associated Press by cell phone from a police van, said police had manhandled him and hit him twice on the head. He complained of a headache. “I don't know where they are taking me,” he said. (Posted @ 20:26 PST)

Suicide bomber kills at least 18, wounds 25 at election rally in northwest Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan, Feb 9 (AP) - A roadside bomb Saturday wounded six paramilitary soldiers at Naushki, about 150 kilometers southeast of Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, police said. (Posted @ 20:24 PST)

Thousands rally as Benazir party re-launches poll bid THATTA, Pakistan, Feb 9 (Reuters) - To chants of “Democracy is the best revenge”, tens of thousands of Benazir Bhutto's followers rallied in the historic Thatta own, about 80 miles east of Karachi, in southern Pakistan on Saturday as her party relaunched an election campaign derailed by her assassination. Around 2,000 police and hundreds of private armed security guards from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party secured the venue, a sports stadium. The size of the rally -- police estimated the crowd at over 100,000 -- dwarfed smaller ones Bhutto had held in the run-up to her murder. “She wanted to change the system and that is why the system has killed her,” Benazir's husband Asif Ali Zardari, de facto party chief, told supporters, some wrapped in red, green and black party flags and wearing hats bearing her portrait. “The system is her killer, but she knew that even if she lost her life, people like you and me would complete her mission and take revenge,” he added. Giant portraits of Benazir Bhutto, Zardari and their 19-year-old son Bilawal, who was appointed party chairman and has vowed to take up his mother's mantle after finishing his studies, hung at the stadium. (Posted @ 20:22 PST)

Sindh trains 8,000 commandos to combat terrorism SHAHDADPUR, Pakistan, Feb 09 (PPI): E-Policing System has been introduced in the province to train policemen on modern lines and about 8,000 commandos have been imparted special training to combat terrorism and protect the life and property of people, DIG Training and Inspection Sindh, Iqbal Mehmood, said while addressing a passing- out parade at Police Training College, Shahdadpur, on Saturday. (Posted @ 20:20 PST)

Pakistan election rally blast kills 14, wounds 24 ISLAMABAD, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A suspected suicide bomber killed 14 people and wounded 24 at the election rally of Awami National Party in the town of Charsadda in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province on Saturday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. “We've been told 14 people were killed and 24 wounded. Apparently it was a suicide attack,” said the spokesman, Javed Iqbal Cheema. ANP leader Afrasiab Khattak, who was addressing the rally, told Dawn Television he was safe. “There was an explosion at my meeting, there was a big bang and I saw some people getting hit. I'm fine,” he said. Private Tv channels, quoting ANP sources said, upto 30 persons were killed. The ANP is a secular party and is competing with religious parties in the legislative elections on Feb. 18. (First Posted @ 18:40 PST Updated @ 20:18 PST)

Indian troops martyr 3 more Kashmiris SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Feb 09 (PPI)-- Indian troops, in their fresh acts of state-terrorism, martyred three more innocent Kashmiri youth during an operation in Chitral-Kasbrari in Mendhar town in Poonch district, KMS reported. Separately, seven persons, including four Indian troops, were injured in a grenade blast at Gulshan Chowk in Bandipora town. (Posted @ 19:16 PST)

US Chairman Joint Chiefs meets General Kayani RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Feb 09 (PPI)- Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, United States, Admiral Michael Mullen, now on a three- day official visit to Pakistan, visited General Headquarters and called on Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. They discussed matters of professional interest with particular reference to security situation in the region. (Posted @ 19:14 PST)

Musharraf launches $2.16bn Neelum-Jhelum hydro-electric project ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb 09 (PPI)- President Pervez Musharraf Friday said there are indications of forward movement towards the resolution of long-standing Kashmir dispute with India and vowed that he would not let down the Kashmiris. Speaking at the launch of 2.16 billion dollars Neelum-Jhelum Hydro- Electric Project in Islamabad Saturday he said Kashmir runs in the veins of every Pakistanis and relations between Pakistan and India could not be normalized unless the dispute is resolved. He said the forward movement on conflict resolution slowed down in the past few months but now there are positive indications in this regard. President Musharraf said now there is greater interaction among the Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC which would help in taking the peace process forward. Neelum-Jhelum Project has strategic importance, President Musharrraf said and expressed gratitude for the Chinese assistance in the project. It is yet another symbol of Sino-Pak friendship, he added.. He said Pakistan has proposed extending oil and gas pipelines and rail network up to Chinese border which would be an eighth wonder. The Chinese Ambassador said Neelum-Jhelum to be completed in eight years is one of the biggest project being undertaken with Chinese collaboration. The project envisages the diversion of Neelum River waters through a tunnel out- falling into Jhelum River. The Power House would be constructed at Chatter Kalas, 22 kms south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir. (Posted @ 19:12 PST)

Blast at Pakistan election rally kills 14 ISLAMABAD, Feb 9 (Reuters) A suspected suicide bomber killed 14 people and wounded 24 at the election rally of Awami National Party(ANP) in Charsadda town in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province Saturday, Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said. “We've been told 14 people were killed and 24 wounded. Apparently, it was a suicide attack,” Cheema said. ANP leader Afrasiab Khattak, who was addressing the rally, told Dawn TV he was safe. (First Posted @ 18:04 PST Updated @ 18:58 PST)

Open more trade routes with India: PM Soomro LAHORE, Pakistan, Feb 9 (PPI): Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro Saturday called for opening more trade routes with India to facilitate export of cement and other products to the neighbouring country. Inaugurating the Passenger Facilitation Centre, Wagah (Rail & Road), he said such facilities will cut costs and help rationalise prices on both sides of the border. He also lauded the self-assessment scheme and other reforms introduced in FBR, and said these will minimise contact between tax payer and tax collector, resulting in increase in tax revenue. (Posted @ 18:40 PST)

Pakistan arrest 16 suspected miscreants in Swat RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Feb 9 (PPI): At least 16 suspected miscreants were arrested Saturday by the security forces from troubled Swat Valley, says an Inter-Services Public Relations Press release. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered from them, it added. (Posted @ 18:35 PST)

Sports- Lt. Gen Arif Hasan elected POA president LAHORE, Pakistan, Feb 09 (PPI)- Lt. Gen (retd) Syed Arif Hasan was Saturday elected as president of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA). Abdul Khaliq Khan was elected secretary general for a team of four yeasr at the POA general council meeting at Lahore on Saturday, says a press release. The other office bearers include: Vice Presidents Syed Shahid Ali, (IOC member), Chaudhary Mohammad Yaqoob (Volleyball), Syed Aqil Shah (Wrestling), Brig, Saleem Nawza Malik (Army), Khawaja Farooq saeed (WAPDA), Mrs, Fatima Lakhani (Gymnastics), Treasurer, Major (R) Muhammad Afzal (Volleyball). Associate Secretaries general, Lt Col (R) Mohammad Yahya (Bodybuilding), Mohammad Khaild Mahood (Athletics), Idrees Haider Khawaja (Punjab), Syed Azhar Ali Shah (NWFP), Ahmed Ali Rajput (Sindh), Mohammad Afzal Awan (Balochistan), Mrs, Veena Masood and Mrs, Tania Malik. (Posted @ 18:32 PST)

Bomb kills one, wounds more than 20 at election rally in northwestern Pakistan PESHAWAR, Feb 9 (AP) A bomb exploded Saturday at the election rally of Awami National Party in Charsadda town in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, killing at least one person and wounding more than 20, police official Mohammed Nabi said. The dead and wounded people were being transported to a hospital, he said. Afrasiab Khattak, the party's provincial leader, was addressing the rally but later told Dawn TV he was not hurt. (First Posted @ 18:04 PST Updated @ 18:26 PST)

Turk parliament approves landmark headscarf reform ANKARA, Feb 9 (Reuters) Turkey's parliament approved Saturday constitutional changes aimed at lifting a ban on female students wearing the Muslim headscarf in universities, the assembly's speaker said. Lawmakers backed the amendments by 411 votes for to 103 against. (Posted @ 18:18 PST)

Obama will be assassinated if he wins: Nobel winner Lessing STOCKHOLM, Feb 9 (AFP) If Barack Obama becomes the next US president he will surely be assassinated, British Nobel literature laureate Doris Lessing predicted in a newspaper interview published here Saturday. Obama “would certainly not last long, a black man in the position of president. They would murder him,” Lessing, 88, told the Dagens Nyheter daily. Lessing, who won the 2007 Nobel Literature Prize, said it might be better if Obama's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton were to succeed in her bid to become the first woman president of the United States. “The best thing would be if they (Clinton and Obama) were to run together. Hillary is a very sharp lady. It might be calmer if she were to win, and not Obama,” she said. (Posted @ 18:12 PST)

Blast reported at election rally in northwestern Pakistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 9 (AP) An explosion took place Saturday at the election rally of Awami National Party in the town of Charsadda in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, police official Mohammed Nabi said, adding that there was no immediate word on casualties. He had no further details. (Posted @ 18:04 PST)

Police clash with protesting Pakistani lawyers ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb 9 (AP) Police using tear gas and water cannons clashed Saturday with some 1,500 lawyers to block them from reaching the barricaded house of Pakistan's deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. After the lawyers attempted to breach the barbed-wire barricade, police drove them back by firing tear gas and shooting water cannons from a fire truck. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries. (Posted @ 18:02 PST)

Lebanon vote delayed for 14th time, mediator leaves BEIRUT, Feb 9 (Reuters) Lebanon's presidential election has been postponed from February 11 to February 26, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Saturday, announcing the 14th delay in the vote caused by the country's political crisis. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa meanwhile left Beirut Saturday after mediating talks that failed to yield a breakthrough. The two sides have agreed on army chief General Michel Suleiman as the next head of state, but have been unable to agree on the make-up of the new cabinet. The opposition wants veto power in the government or a three-way split that would share portfolios equally between it, the governing coalition and ministers appointed by the president. The governing coalition has rejected the idea. (Posted @ 17:20 PST)

Kashmiris stage protest to demand remains of Maqbool Bhat SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Feb 9 (AFP) Scores of protestors were detained Saturday in revolt-hit occupied Kashmir as they demanded the return of the remains of separatist leader Maqbool Bhat hanged nearly a quarter century ago. Police wielding sticks beat back the demonstrators as they tried to force their way into a UN observer office in Srinagar to submit a petition asking for the UN's help in this regard. Prominent Kashmiri leaders Shabbir Shah, Sheikh Aziz and Javed Mir, who were leading the demonstration, were among the dozens taken into custody in Srinagar. “We've detained nearly 40 people for violating law and order,” a police officer said. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference asked the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in its petition “to use your influence over India in releasing the mortal remains of the beloved son of the soil.” Bhat was hanged and buried in New Delhi's Tihar Jail on February 11, 1984, on the charge of murdering an intelligence officer. Supporters say the charges were trumped up. Five years later, Kashmiris began an armed revolt against Indian rule in occupied Kashmir that has left tens of thousands of people dead. (Posted @ 17:00 PST)

US envoy says 'now or never' for Indo-US nuclear deal NEW DELHI, Feb 9 (APP/AFP) US ambassador to India David Mulford Saturday warned New Delhi it could be “now or never” for the India-US nuclear technology deal, saying the pact was unlikely to be offered again. “If this agreement is not processed in the present (US) Congress it is unlikely that this deal will be offered again to India,” Mulford told CNN-IBN. (Posted @ 16:50 PST)

Three gas pipelines blown up in Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan, Feb 9 (PPI) The supply of natural gas to Quetta power house, CNG stations and industrial units in the provincial capital was suspended after miscreants blew up the main gas pipeline at Pat Feeder Saturday morning. A spokesman of Sui Southern Gas Company said the pipeline was supplying gas to Quetta from Sui. Separately, suspected miscreants blew up a 24-inch diameter gas pipeline in Sui area of Pir Koh Loti gas field, while another 24-inch diameter gas pipeline was blown up near Kandh Kot. Teams of maintenance engineers have been dispatched and it is expected that all three pipelines will be fully operational within the next 24 hours, SSGC officials said. (First Posted @ 14:25 PST, Updated @ 16:40 PST)

Key Sri Lankan dissident dies in road crash COLOMBO, Feb 9 (AFP) Leading Sri Lankan dissident Sripathi Sooriyarachchi was killed Saturday with two other passengers in a car crash in north-central Sri Lanka, police said. Sooriyarachchi died when his vehicle crashed into a tree at Thambuttegame, a police official said, adding two other passengers were also killed. Two passengers were also injured, police added. (Posted @ 16:00 PST)

Insurgents attack UN in Mogadishu MOGADISHU, Feb 9 (Reuters) Insurgents hurled at least seven grenades at a United Nations compound in Mogadishu but no one was hurt, a U.N. source said Saturday. The source said the attackers struck at the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) offices several times overnight after ordering residents in the area to switch off their lights late Friday. “Fortunately no one was hurt as none of the employees were present at the time,” the U.N. source told Reuters by telephone. UNDP officials in Mogadishu did not immediately comment. (Posted @ 15:55 PST)

Zardari hits PPP election campaign trail THATTA, Pakistan, Feb 9 (AFP) Asif Ali Zardari hit the campaign trail Saturday for the first major party rally since Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in December. Thousands of people were gathering at Thatta, a rural town in Sindh province, amid tight security following 40 days of mourning since she was killed in Rawalpindi. More than 2,000 police deployed around the public meeting venue at Thatta. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) guards were also on hand to protect the gathering to be followed by similar public meetings attended by Zardari across the country. “There is no specific militant threat for this meeting but we are not taking any chances,” Thatta police chief Daud Junejo told AFP. Banners proclaiming “long live Bhutto”, “democracy is the best revenge,” and the tri-colour PPP flags were festooned all around the spacious ground as caravans of party supporters continued to arrive from afar. (Posted @ 14:45 PST)

Three bombers enter different Pakistani cities, warns NCMC ISLAMABAD, Feb 9 (PPI) National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) Saturday alerted all provincial governments, chief commissioner of Islamabad and the police department that three alleged suicide bombers belonging to Baitullah Mehsud’s group have entered various cities from Dera Ismail Khan and Tank. NCMC wrote in a letter that these alleged suicide bombers can launch attack in any city; accordingly, the security arrangements should be made still stricter, a private TV channel reported. According to the NCMC letter, all three bombers have short moustaches; one of them is aged 15/16 years with blonde hair and the other is 24/25 years with wheatish complexion. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)

Gas pipeline blown up in Pakistan’s Sui QUETTA, Pakistan, Feb 9 (APP) Unknown miscreants blew up a 24-inch diameter pipeline supplying gas to Pirkoh purification plant in Sui in the wee hours of Saturday, police official Fida Hussein told APP. According to reports, the incident took place in Talli Mat area of district Dera Bugti. The saboteurs had planted explosives with the pipeline which destroyed its two feet long piece. (Posted @ 14:25 PST)

President Musharraf administers oath of office to CJ of IHC ISLAMABAD, Feb 9 (APP) President Musharraf Saturday administered oath of office to Justice Sardar Mohammad Aslam as Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court. The court will comprise of eight judges, besides the Chief Justice and is expected to be operational within this month. (Posted @ 14:20 PST)

G7 leaders warn of slower growth, global risks TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) Finance leaders of the world's top industrialised nations put on a show of solidarity Saturday in the face of an economic slowdown and conceded that things could get even worse because of the crumbling U.S. housing market. In a communique released after meetings in Tokyo, the Group of Seven said prospects for economic growth had worsened since they last met in October, although fundamentals remained solid and the U.S. economy was likely to escape a recession. “In all our economies, to varying degrees, growth is expected to slow somewhat in the short term, reflecting wider global economic and financial developments,” finance ministers and central bankers from Japan, the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy and France said in the statement. The G7 leaders urged banks to fully disclose their losses and shore up their balance sheets to help restore the normal functioning of markets. (Posted @ 14:15 PST)

Harsh winter kills more than 750 in Afghanistan KABUL, Feb 9 (Reuters) More than 750 people have perished as a result of severe cold and heavy snowfalls this winter across Afghanistan, a government official said Saturday. The cold spell has also killed nearly 230,000 cattle, said Noor Padshah Kohistani of the National Disaster Management Commission. “Across the country, 763 people have died since the start of the winter due to cold weather and severe snowfalls,” he told Reuters. The snowfalls have destroyed more than 500 houses and damaged more than 40,000, a disaster commission statement said. (Posted @ 13:55 PST)

Three shot dead in Thai south YALA, Thailand, Feb 9 (AFP) Three people were shot dead by suspected rebels in separate drive-by shootings in southern Thailand Saturday, police said. A woman was gunned down in Yala province and two men were also killed in another shooting. Police said two soldiers were also wounded in a roadside bomb attack in the province where another villager was hurt in a separate bomb blast. Authorities declined to give further details. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)

Sunni Arab bloc says agrees to rejoin Iraq govt BAGHDAD, Feb 9 (Reuters) Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc has agreed to rejoin Iraq's Shi'ite-led government after key demands for returning were met, two officials from the bloc said Saturday. “The Accordance Front has decided to return to the government. The results of the negotiations with the government have been positive,” Adnan al-Dulaimi, the head of the bloc, told Reuters. The Front pulled its six ministers out of the cabinet of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in August, plunging the government into crisis. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)

Local Qaeda in Iraq leader killed in raid north of Baghdad BAGHDAD, Feb 9 (AP) A local al Qaeda in Iraq leader was killed early Saturday in a police raid on his home north of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. Abu Omar al-Dori resisted police for about an hour before he was killed around 4 a.m. in his house in downtown Samarra, about 95 kilometres north of Baghdad, a police officer said requesting anonymity. The U.S. military had no immediate comment on the incident. (Posted @ 12:55 PST)

Eleven dead in Austria nursing home fire VIENNA, Feb 9 (AFP): At least 11 people died Friday in a fire at a retirement home that housed 24 people in Egg, in Austria, the emergency services said, adding the toll was likely to rise. Five people were reported injured, while seven were evacuated to safety. Egg, a town of about 3,000 people, lies in Austria's westernmost Vorarlberg state, which borders on Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)

Cricket-New Zealand beat England by six wickets WELLINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) New Zealand beat England by six wickets in the first one-day international at Westpac Stadium on Saturday. Scores: England 130 all out in 49.4 overs; New Zealand 131-4 in 30 overs (S. Broad 3-26). (First Posted @ 10:05 PST, Updated @ 12:45 PST)

Bin Laden, Omar not operating in Pakistan: FO ISLAMABAD, Feb 9 (Reuters) Pakistan rejected Saturday a U.S. official's assertion that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar are operating from Pakistani territory. A senior U.S. administration official told reporters in Washington Bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri and others were operating out of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders were directing insurgency operations in Afghanistan from the Pakistani city of Quetta, said the U.S. official who declined to be identified. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said if a U.S. official had information on the whereabouts of the wanted militants he should tell Pakistan. “If there is any actionable intelligence it should be shared with the government of Pakistan so that they can be neutralized,” Sadiq said. “You don't talk to the media if you have information like this.” He said the U.S. official's assertion was not correct. “If he was right, he would claim the bounty money, not speak to the media,” he said, referring to U.S. reward money for information leading to arrest of the militants. Pakistan did not know where the militant leaders were, Sadiq said. “If we knew, we would take action.” (First Posted @ 09:40 PST, Updated@ 12:45 PST)

Twenty killed as avalanches sweep occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Feb 9 (Reuters) Twenty people were killed by avalanches and 15 others were missing in occupied Kashmir as the heaviest snowfall in recent years brought the Himalayan region to a standstill, officials said Saturday. More than 300 people have been rescued from avalanche-hit areas, while many villages remained inaccessible, police said. Six members of a family were killed when an avalanche swept away their home late Friday in the Banihal area, 110 km south of Srinagar, police said. In the neighbouring area of Kapran an avalanche killed another family of six. (First Posted @ 09:55 PST, Updated @ 12:35 PST)

Russia denies breaching Japanese airspace: report MOSCOW, Feb 9 (AFP): Russia's air force on Saturday denied a Japanese foreign ministry report that one of its strategic bombers briefly breached Japanese airspace, Russian news agencies reported. “Russian air force planes carried out their mission according to plan. Japanese military airspace was not breached,” a spokesman for the air force was quoted by ITAR-TASS as saying. (Posted @ 11:45 PST)

Floods kill four in eastern Indonesia: official JAKARTA, Feb 9 (AFP): Four people were killed and hundreds forced to evacuate their homes due to severe floods in eastern Indonesia, an official said Saturday. The local disaster management centre said all four victims drowned after rivers overflowed following three days of heavy rain. (Posted @ 10:50 PST)

Sri Lanka military says 44 killed in north COLOMBO, Feb 9 (Reuters): Sri Lankan troops have killed at least 29 Tamil Tiger rebels, taking the two-day death toll to 44 amid fresh fighting, the military said on Saturday. “Troops killed 29 LTTE terrorists in Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar on Friday,” a military spokesman said. The military said it had captured a rebel-held area in Mannar on Friday, killing 12 Tamil Tiger rebels. Three soldiers had died and 15 were wounded in the fighting, it said. The Tamil rebels were not immediately available for comment. Analysts say neither side is winning as the rebels repeatedly hit back with suicide and roadside bombings and air attacks. (Posted @ 10:50 PST)

OPEC could ditch dollars for euros: chief LONDON, Feb 9 (AFP): OPEC could switch the pricing of oil from dollars into euros within a decade, Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri told a weekly magazine. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could adopt the euro to combat the decline of the dollar, Badri told the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), published in London. Badri told MEED the change could happen within a decade. MEED recalled that OPEC is under pressure from its members, who have seen their earnings decline sharply since 2000 due to its use of the dollar. The US currency has fallen 44 percent in value against the euro in that time. (Posted @ 10:25 PST)

US mly reports five soldiers killed in two bombings BAGHDAD, Feb 9 (AP): Five American soldiers were killed in two roadside bombings, the U.S. military reported Saturday. Four of the deaths occurred in Baghdad and one in Tamim province, the military said in separate statements. The five were killed during operations Friday. The bombing in Tamim province also wounded three soldiers. The military gave no further information. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)

Russian bomber intrudes into Japanese airspace TOKYO, Feb 9 (AFP): A Russian air force bomber briefly entered Japanese airspace in the Pacific Ocean south of Tokyo early Saturday, a press report said. The intrusion occurred around 2230 GMT Friday, Kyodo News reported. The bomber flew over the southern part of the Izu Island chain, which stretches south from Oshima, some 100 kilometres south of Tokyo, the report said. The three-minute intrusion ended following warnings by a Japanese fighter jet dispatched by the Air Self-Defense Forces, said Foreign Ministry official Kotaro Otsuki. The ministry lodged a protest over the intrusion to the Russian Embassy in Tokyo and demanded an explanation, Otsuki said. No official was immediately available at the ministry to confirm the report. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)

8 police killed in ambush by militants in eastern Algeria ALGIERS, Feb 9 (AP): Militants sprayed police officers with machine gun fire in an overnight ambush in eastern Algeria, killing eight, security officials said Friday. The officers were traveling in two all-terrain vehicles when they came under fire overnight Thursday outside a village, near the Tunisian border, officials said. The militants made off with the two vehicles, officials said. Another officer was killed and one injured in a separate attack Thursday in the Tizi-Ouzou region, some 100 kilometers east of the capital, Algiers, police said. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)

Cricket: England all out for 130 WELLINGTON, Feb 9 (AFP): England were all out for 130 in the final over, after electing to bat first in the opening one-day cricket international against New Zealand at Westpac Stadium here Saturday. Phil Mustard top scored with 31, while Chris Martin, Scott Styris and Jeetan Patel took two wickets each. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)

Failure in Afghanistan would threaten Europe: Gates MUNICH, Feb 9 (AFP): Failure in Afghanistan would directly threaten European security, US Defense Secretary Roberts Gates warned Friday as he sought to mobilize NATO allies and more especially public opinion in Europe. Gates, here to attend an international security conference, said he would seek to convince reluctant Europeans of the need to send reinforcements to fight the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Sending French soldiers to fight in southern Afghanistan would be a “very good signal” and “a most welcome contribution” to NATO's efforts to counter the Taliban, he said. France has yet to announce whether French troop will fight in the south, where NATO troops face a resurgent Taliban, but was in talks with Canada Friday about the possibility of offering logistical support to its troops there. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)

14 killed in Indian held Kashmir avalanches, hundreds forced to flee SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Feb 9 (AP): Avalanches killed at least 14 people, 12 from just two families, and forced hundreds more to leave their snowbound villages in Indian-occupied Kashmir, officials said. Heavy snowfall, with some areas receiving more than three metres in a week forced hundreds of people to leave their homes and seek shelter in safer places. Frequent rain and heavy snow often trigger winter avalanches in Kashmir. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)

Bin Laden, Omar operating in Pakistan claims US official WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters): Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders are directing insurgency operations in Afghanistan from Quetta, while Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is operating from the tribal areas, a senior U.S. administration official said on Friday. Bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri and others are operating out of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “Just as Mullah Omar is giving strategic direction for the Taliban from Quetta, Al-Qaeda senior leadership is in FATA doing its planning,” the official said, without giving the source of the intelligence. The official said the administration still saw President Pervez Musharraf as a worthy ally. “There are multiple sources of pressure and instability on Musharraf and the sense here has been what he really needs is a dependable partner to see him through this period and that's been sort of the strategic logic of supporting Musharraf,” the U.S. official said. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)

Spanish judge bars two Basque pro-independence parties from election MADRID, Feb 9 (AP): A Spanish judge on Friday barred two Basque pro-independence parties from running in elections next month, suspending their activities for three years. Judge Baltasar Garzon of the National Court accused the Basque Nationalist Action and the Communist Party of the Basque Lands of being linked to Batasuna, the outlawed political wing of the armed separatist group ETA. The ruling ordered authorities to shut down the parties' offices, freeze their bank accounts and cut off funding they receive from the government. In Spain all parties with seats in national, regional or local legislatures receive subsidies. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)

After 60 years, Polaroid quits instant film business BOSTON, Feb 9 (AP): Polaroid Corp. is dropping the technology it pioneered long before digital photography rendered instant film obsolete to all but a few nostalgia buffs. Polaroid is closing factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands and cutting 450 jobs as the brand synonymous with instant images focuses on ventures such as a portable printer for images from cell phones and Polaroid-branded digital cameras, televisions and DVD players. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)

Canada looks to 2011 Afghanistan combat mission end date OTTAWA, Feb 9 (AFP): The Canadian government put forth a motion Friday to keep its 2,500 troops in Afghanistan until end 2011, risking snap elections. However, the plan is dependent on NATO sending 1,000 additional troops to team up with the Canadians in Kandahar province. As well, allies must commit for its use in the field medium lift helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft. Parliamentarians have a choice to either “strengthen the military mission in Afghanistan or abandon the commitment we made to the people of Afghanistan and our international allies,” said Conservative House leader Peter Van Loan. (Posted @ 09:05 PST)

Six people killed in Brazilian bank holdup RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb ( (Reuters): Six people, including three police officers, were shot dead during a bank holdup in a small town in Brazil's northeast on Friday afternoon, Globo television reported. The victims included two bystanders and one of the robbers. It quoted local police as saying that at least 10 assailants robbed the bank in Aracoiaba town in Ceara state. (Posted @ 09:00 PST)

'Greatest ever' downpour floods Tonga: officials NUKU'ALOFA, Feb 9 (AFP): A freak storm -- that dumped more than a month's average rainfall in less than 24 hours -- has swamped the Pacific island nation of Tonga, forcing evacuations, officials said Saturday. Buildings, including the Australian High Commission, and houses in the main city of Nuku'alofa were flooded after roads turned into rivers during the storm, officials said. Climatologists called it “an extreme event” with up to 289.2 millimetres of rain falling on parts of the main island of Tongatapu in 24 hours. Most of the rain fell in a seven-hour period on Friday evening causing flash-flooding across the island. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)

Nebraska court rules electric chair unconstitutional WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (AFP): The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday that the electric chair, the only method used for executions in the state, violated human dignity and therefore unconstitutional. “Electrocution's proven history of burning and charring bodies is inconsistent with the concepts of evolving standards of decency and the dignity of man,” the court said in its unanimous decision. Confirming the death penalty imposed on a man convicted for the murder of a three-year-old boy, the court said however, that he should not be electrocuted. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)

French assistance for Chad president may backfire By Pascal Fletcher

DAKAR: France’s rush to prop up Chad’s president compromises the neutrality of a European peacekeeping force bound for the central African state and appears to offer no lasting political solutions to the civil war there.

Chadian President Idriss Deby won the latest battle for the capital N’Djamena against his rebel foes “courtesy of the French”, said Alex de Waal, a writer who specialises in oil producers Sudan and Chad and their deeply entangled conflicts.

Backed by French warplanes and troops offering logistics, intelligence and protection, the Chadian leader, himself an ex-rebel dubbed the “cowboy of the sands” by his former French instructors, beat back the latest rebel assault a week ago.

Battered but reported to be regrouping in the centre of the former French colony, the rebels have vowed to fight on, a warning they also directed against “neo-colonialist” France.

Chad accuses its eastern neighbour Sudan of arming and backing the insurgents, a charged denied by Khartoum.

De Waal and other analysts predicted that the rebel campaign to topple Deby would go on despite France’s announcement sanctioned by United Nations Security Council support for the Chadian leader that it could intervene more directly in Chad.

“Deby is intrinsically unsustainable,” de Waal said.

French officials have said in the past they see no viable alternative to Deby among the squabbling rebel leaders.

There were concerns that the unequivocal French support for Deby voiced this week by President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ministers stripped any pretence of neutrality from a European Union peacekeeping force (EUFOR) due to deploy in eastern Chad.

France is providing half the troops of the 3,700-strong EU force, whose UN mandate foresees a strictly neutral mission to protect thousands of refugees and civilians from violence spilling over the border from Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region.

“EUFOR and the UN mission are deploying into the middle of an active civil war,” said International Crisis Group’s Horn of Africa project director David Mozersky, who also covers Chad.

“If the EU force deploys under these circumstances, with France as a belligerent, it can’t seriously be considered neutral,” said de Waal, who works at the US-based Social Science Research Council.

LEGITIMACY QUESTIONS

Few doubt the rebels, and their patron Sudan, launched the attack on N’Djamena to pre-empt the EU deployment, which will increase surveillance of their Chad/Sudan border strongholds.

“Sudan clearly feels threatened by the European peacekeeping mission right at its doorstep, across the border from Darfur,” said Philippe de Pontet, an analyst with the Eurasia Group.

EU commanders postponed the main deployment operation, but say it could take place next week. European diplomats report misgivings among some EU states about France’s single-minded support for Deby, whose legitimacy many question.

Opponents accuse the Chadian leader, who seized power in a 1990 eastern revolt and has enjoyed French patronage since then, of ruling like a corrupt dictator, squandering Chad’s new-found oil resources and favouring his family and Zaghawa ethnic clan.

He won elections in 1996, 2001 and 2006, but the 2006 polls were boycotted as rigged by the main opposition and only a trickle of voters cast their ballots.

Mozersky and de Waal said they were surprised to hear Sarkozy and his ministers endorsing Deby’s “democratic” credentials so wholeheartedly.

“There is still no one talking about the governance issue in Chad ... it’s astonishing that people are not asking lots of questions about the deeper issues,” Mozersky said.

Amnesty International and other rights groups have demanded that Deby’s government reveal the whereabouts of opposition figures they said were dragged from their homes by security forces during the weekend fighting. Amnesty said they were at risk of being “tortured or forcibly disappeared”.De Waal said he was astonished that France was not openly using its diplomatic and military leverage over Deby to push him to open a political dialogue with his foes.

Rebel leaders say they are willing to accept a ceasefire and all-inclusive dialogue, but the government has rejected talks with “mercenaries”.

Despite the UN Security Council mantle for Deby, de Waal saw France’s latest moves in Chad as harking back to its old “Francafrique” policy, where Paris regularly intervened in French-speaking Africa to prop up leaders of its choice.

“Francafrique was looking pretty sick, but it’s been given an injection of testosterone, it’s alive and kicking,” he said.—Reuters

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