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| February 11, 2008 | Monday | Safar 03, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Pakistani envoy to Kabul goes missing in Khyber ISLAMABAD, Feb 11 (Reuters): Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan went missing on Monday while travelling by road through a Pakistani tribal region where Taliban militants have become increasingly active in recent months, officials said. Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin was being driven through the Khyber region on his way back to Kabul when he disappeared, according to officials who requested anonymity. “He's been missing since 0600 GMT,” said a security official in the Khyber region. The envoy was due to have changed cars at the border, but is not believed to have reached the frontier. Four Pakistani ICRC workers went missing in the same area a few days ago. (First Posted @ 20:50 PST Updated @ 23:20 PST)
Taliban no threat to US, Europe: Mullah Omar KABUL, Feb 11 (AP): The Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, said Monday the Taliban are not a threat to other countries and he called on NATO nations’ citizens to pressure their governments to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. He also said the U.S. military had failed in Afghanistan, that is why the Pentagon was pressuring other NATO countries to send more troops, a Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid quoted Omar as saying. “It is our right to defend our country. We are no threat to other countries. But we have to use our rights when our country is occupied by foreign forces,” Mujahid quoted Omar as saying. “We want the people of other countries to pressure their governments not to send troops to Afghanistan.” (Posted @ 19:08 PST)
Suicide blast kills ten including Pakistan election candidate MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Feb 11 (AFP): A suicide bomber killed at least ten people, including election candidate Nisar Ali, and wounded 13 others in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region Monday, tribal police said. The attacker rammed a car laden with explosives into the candidate's convoy as it headed to a rally ahead of general elections due in a week's time, police officials said requesting anonymity. “Ten people were killed, including election candidate Nisar Ali and an administration official, while 13 others were wounded in the attack on their convoy,” one official said. “The suicide attacker drove his bomb-filled car into the candidate,” the official added. It was not clear which party the candidate was linked to. Police said there was no claim of responsibility for the bombing in the village of Aidak, near Mir Ali town. (First Posted @ 15:40 PST, Updated @ 16:15 PST)
Mansoor Dadullah caught wounded in Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan, Feb 11 (AP) Security forces critically wounded top Taliban militant Mansoor Dadullah among six militants captured after a firefight near the border Monday, the army said. Mansoor Dadullah, brother of the Taliban's slain military commander Mullah Dadullah, and the five others were challenged by security forces as they crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan's Balochistan province. They refused to stop and opened fire, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. ''Security personnel returned fire. As a result all of them sustained injuries and all of them were captured,'' Abbas said. ''Dadullah was arrested alive but he is critically wounded.'' Earlier, a senior military official, requesting anonymity, said Dadullah died of his wounds while being flown to a hospital with the other injured men. (First Posted @ 14:35 PST, Updated @ 17:20 PST)
Lawyers begin nationwide strike to pressure Musharraf to reinstate suspended judges ISLAMABAD, Feb 11 (AP): Lawyers began a nationwide boycott Monday to pressure President Musharraf to reinstate senior judges he suspended under a state of emergency more than three months ago. The boycott of the courts was called by the Pakistan Bar Council and is to continue through next week's parliamentary elections. ''We demand restoration of the judiciary. It is a single point demand to restore the judiciary as it was on November 2,'' said Qazi Mohammed Anwar, chairman of the council's executive committee. In Karachi, hundreds of lawyers milled around the courthouse while judges stayed in their chambers. Mahmudul Hasan, president of the Karachi Bar Council, said lawyers would remain on strike until the February 18 elections. Nahid Afzal, a senior lawyer, accused authorities of trying to create divisions within the legal community but said they would fail to suppress the protest movement. ''The establishment's attitude toward lawyers is getting harsher and harsher day by day,'' said Nahid Afzal, a senior lawyer. ''They cannot foil our struggle.'' (First Posted @ 12:35 PST, Updated @ 13:25 PST)
Police fire tear gas, arrest 30 as Kashmiris strike to honour Maqbool Bhat SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Feb 11 (AP): Police fired tear gas as dozens of Kashmiris threw stones and smashed cars during a strike Monday in occupied Kashmir to mark the execution of freedom fighter Maqbool Bhat 24 years ago. Nearly 100 Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front activists marched through Srinagar, chanting, ''we want independence from India.'' Trouble began when police stopped protesters from delivering a petition to the local U.N. office and arrested 30 people, said police officer Parwaiz Ahmed. Protesters started to throw stones at police and passing cars, and police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, Ahmed said. No casualties were reported. The petition was to demand the remains of Maqbool Bhat to be returned to his family for burial in Kashmir. Bhat's remains are interred in New Delhi's high security Tihar Jail where he was hanged in 1984. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Pentagon to announce 9/11 charges WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (AFP): The Pentagon will announce charges Monday against six alleged September 11, 2001 co-conspirators, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the attack on the United States, a spokesman said. Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann, a legal advisor on the prosecutions, was to announce the charges at a 1600 GMT news conference, he said. Hartmann “is going to talk about charges against 9/11 co-conspirator KSM (Khalid Sheik Mohammed) plus five,” the spokesman said, adding that prosecutors will seek the death penalty against them. (Posted @ 23:44 PST)
Indian spy lost on Pakistan death row for 35 years: minister ISLAMABAD, Feb 11, 2008 (AFP): Minister for Human Rights Ansar Burney said Monday he had discovered an alleged Indian spy who has languished on death row in Pakistan for the last three and a half decades. Indian national Kashmir Singh was arrested in 1973 on espionage charges and sentenced to death by a court martial, he said in a statement. Singh spent the following 35 years in a cell without ever receiving a single visitor. Burney said President Pervez Musharraf had expressed “shock and disbelief” and agreed to grant Singh his freedom in coming days. “Kashmir Singh has gone through hell during the last 35 years. He has suffered more than enough for his alleged crime,” Burney said. He added that he was now trying to trace Singh's family in India. (Posted @ 22:55 PST)
2009 Dakar Rally moves to South America PARIS, Feb 11 (AP): Argentina and Chile will host the 2009 edition of the Dakar Rally, which was canceled this year because of fears of terrorism in Africa. Organizers said Monday the race will start in Buenos Aires on Jan. 2 and finish in the Argentine capital on Jan. 18. The full route will be unveiled Tuesday in Argentina by Patrice Clerc, who heads the company that organizes the rally. (Posted @ 22:38 PST)
Sierra Leone police arrest 26 after oil depot shootout FREETOWN, Feb 11 (Reuters): Police in Sierra Leone have arrested 26 suspected armed robbers after a gunfight lasting several hours at an oil refinery in the capital Freetown late on Sunday, a senior officer said. Police had to call in paramilitary reinforcements after the gang opened fire when officers tried to prevent its members filling two tanker trucks with stolen fuel at the oil depot, on the east side of the city. (Posted @ 22:15 PST)
Russia forgives $12 billion Iraq debt MOSCOW, Feb 11 (AFP): Russia on Monday forgave nearly all the $12.9 billion debt owed it by Iraq and voiced hopes of increased Russian investment in the war-torn country, news agencies quoted Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin as saying. The amount forgiven came to 93 percent of the mainly Soviet-era debt owed by Baghdad to Moscow, Interfax news agency reported. The debt is being written off in stages, with the process probably completed next year, Interfax reported. The remaining $900 million will be restructured over a 17 year period. (Posted @ 21:50 PST)
19 killed in Baghdad car bombings BAGHDAD, Feb 11 (AFP): Two car bombs rocked Baghdad on Monday, killing 19 people and injuring 45 as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was winding up a two-day visit to the violent Iraqi capital, officials said. A security official said the two bombs exploded almost simultaneously at the busy Al-Huriyah square in southeastern neighbourhood of Jadriyah, near an office which handles the affairs of tribal sheikhs from across Iraq. “The latest toll we have is 19 people killed and 45 wounded,” a defence ministry official told AFP. (First Posted @ 14:50 PST Updated @ 20:40 PST)
23 patients die in Uganda after health workers go on strike KAMPALA, Feb 11 (AP): A strike by nearly 300 health workers demanding bonuses for working in Uganda's war-ravaged north has been blamed for the deaths of 23 patients, a health official said Monday. The Lira district health inspector said 20 people had died in Lira District Referral Hospital due to the strike and three in Alatong government health center. (Posted @ 20:34 PST)
Iran to launch two more research rockets TEHRAN, Feb 11 (AP): Iran will launch two more research rockets into space before putting its first domestically built satellite into orbit, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday. The president speaking at a rally marking the 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, said with the rocket launches and the recent unveiling of its first major space center, his country had the ability to send an Iranian-made satellite into orbit hopefully this summer. (Posted @ 19:44 PST)
Sanjay Dutt weds Manyata in Mumbai MUMBAI, Feb 11 (AP): Popular Indian actor Sanjay Dutt, who is out on bail in an illegal weapons possession case, married Manyata, his companion of two years, on Monday in a simple ceremony attended by close friends. Holding Manyata's hand, Dutt waved to fans and media outside the home where the wedding was held in a suburb of Mumbai. (Posted @ 19:06 PST)
Spanish police arrest 14 Basque nationalists MADRID, Feb 11 (Reuters): Spanish police on Monday arrested at least 14 Basques suspected of trying to reorganise the separatist Batasuna party, which is banned because of its links to ETA rebels, a court spokesman said. Batasuna was banned in 2003 because of its links to ETA, which has killed more than 800 people since the 1960s in its fight for independence of the Basque Country, which covers parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. (Posted @ 18:46 PST)
Israeli troops shoot dead Gaza militant GAZA CITY, Feb 11 (AFP): Israeli troops shot dead a militant from the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in the eastern Gaza Strip overnight, medics said Monday. The latest death brings to 6,133, most of them Palestinians, the number of people killed since the Palestinian uprising in 2000, according to an AFP tally. (Posted @ 18:40 PST)
British PM defends Anglican leader over sharia storm LONDON, Feb 11 (AFP): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised embattled Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams as a man of “great integrity” as the Anglican church leader was set to defend remarks on sharia law. Hours before Williams was to address the General Synod of the Church of England's leaders on Monday, a spokesman for the prime minister said Brown understood the archbishop's “difficulty” amid a storm sparked by the comments. The Church of England's highest-ranking cleric has drawn heavy criticism since he said that the adoption of some parts of sharia law alongside Britain's legal system “seems unavoidable” in certain circumstances. (Posted @ 18:28 PST)
Gunmen kill Nigerian soldier escorting gas workers PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Feb 11 (Reuters) Unknown gunmen killed a member of Nigeria's navy who was helping to escort a boat carrying staff of Nigeria's natural gas export plant, a navy spokesman said Monday. A second attack occurred at around the same time in the same area on a security boat working for a French oil company. No one was killed in that incident, an oil industry source said. (Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Israel not aiming for peace deal in 2008 JERUSALEM, Feb 11 (AFP): A top Israeli minister said Monday the Jewish state was not aiming for a peace treaty with the Palestinians this year, but only a declaration of principles. “I believe it is possible to reach a declaration of principles ... nobody is expecting a detailed agreement on the first of January,” Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon told reporters. (Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Gates eyes pause in US troop cuts in Iraq BAGHDAD, Feb 11 (AFP): US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in Baghdad Monday he was in favour of a short pause in troop drawdowns from Iraq after about 30,000 American troops have been sent home by July. Gates said the security situation in Baghdad remained “fragile.” “I think that the notion of a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense,” he told reporters after a two-hour meeting with US commander in Iraq General David Petraeus. “I must say, in my own thinking, I am headed in that direction as well but one of the keys is how long is that period and what happens after that. It still has to be determined and decided by the president.” The 157,000-strong US force in the insurgency-wracked country is currently on track to come down from 19 brigades to 15 by July, a reduction of at least 20,000 troops plus another 7,000 to 10,000 members of support units, according to military commanders in Iraq. (First Posted @ 11:40 PST, Updated @ 15:40 PST)
Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh, Monet works stolen in Zurich ZURICH, Feb 11 (AFP): Armed robbers have stolen paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh and Monet worth more than 91 million dollars from a museum in Zurich, police said Monday. They did not reveal the name of the museum where Sunday's theft took place, saying only that it is in the city’s 8th district which is home to the Emil Buehrle Foundation. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Three killed, boy's arms severed in Tokyo TOKYO, Feb 11 (Reuters): Three people were found apparently stabbed to death and a fourth with his arms severed in a house in northeast Tokyo Monday, Kyodo news agency said. A woman in her eighties and two men were found dead in the house in Adachi Ward, Kyodo said. A teenage boy also found there was taken to hospital with severe injuries, including both arms being severed, the report said. “My father did this to me,” police quoted the boy as saying, Kyodo said. (Posted @ 14:55 PST)
Afghan governor survives roadside bomb attack KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb 11 (Reuters): The governor of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Asadullah Khalid, escaped unscathed from a roadside bomb Monday, but three civilians were wounded in the attack, his office said in a statement. Khalid was travelling to open several reconstruction projects in the Shah Wali Kot district, north of Kandahar city, when his car was hit by a roadside bomb, the statement said. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Sri Lanka says dozens killed as war death toll climbs COLOMBO, Feb 11 (Reuters): Two policemen were killed by a suspected Tamil Tiger roadside bomb in northern Sri Lanka Monday, while the death toll from weekend fighting rose to 75 rebels and seven soldiers, the military said. “In Vavuniya the LTTE exploded a Claymore mine targeting a police motor-cycle. One sub-inspector and a police constable died,” said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. A second roadside bomb in the northwestern Mannar district injured another police officer, he added. Nanayakarra said 35 Tamil Tiger rebels and one soldier were killed in a series of clashes Sunday, on top of 40 rebels and six soldiers the military said were slain Saturday. The rebels were not immediately available for comment on the latest fighting. (Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Afghan cleric making bombs at home killed KABUL, Feb 11 (AP): A militant cleric, Mullah Abdul Wasay, and two of his children were killed when a bomb he was preparing in his home exploded prematurely in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province late Saturday, provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal said Monday. Wasay's wife and daughter were seriously wounded, Andiwal said. Meanwhile troops from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force killed an Afghan civilian whose vehicle came too close to a military convoy in Farah province, ISAF said in a statement. (Posted @ 12:35 PST)
Roadside bomb kills one civilian, wounds four in eastern Baghdad BAGHDAD, Feb 11 (AP): A roadside bomb apparently planted to hit an Iraqi police patrol missed its target and killed one civilian instead Monday in eastern Baghdad, police said. Four others were wounded in the blast, which hit the Mashtal area during the morning rush hour, police said. Most of the victims were in a civilian car driving behind a police convoy, they said. Across town, another bomb went off early Monday at an Iraqi Army checkpoint near a children's amusement park, police said. No one was hurt. Police later arrested a man who was spotted leaving the bomb, disguised in a plastic bag, near the checkpoint opposite the al-Zawraa amusement park in western Baghdad, they said. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
10 pilgrims killed in Myanmar boat accident YANGON, Feb 11 (AFP) - Ten people including nine women drowned in Tavoy river when the 36-foot boat sank early Friday while carrying them to a Buddhist pagoda, the state media said Monday. Five Buddhist monks and 26 other passengers were rescued. (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
East Timor president wounded in rebel attack DILI, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Rebel soldiers shot East Timor President and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta in the stomach at his home in Dili on Monday, while Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao escaped injury in another near simultaneous attack, officials said. Ramos-Horta was in a stable condition and was being operated on by an Australian military medical team in Dili. The President will be flown to the Australian city of Darwin for treatment, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters. James Dunn, a former adviser to Ramos-Horta said the president had been shot twice. One shot had passed through Ramos-Horta's back and into his stomach, he said. Rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado was also killed in the assault and an East Timor soldier was also seriously wounded, a military spokesman said. A Reuters reporter saw the bodies of the two dead attackers and identified one of them as Reinado. The military said attackers in two cars were involved in the early morning raid in which Prime Minister Gusmao was also attacked. “No one was wounded but Gusmao's car was damaged by bullets,” said the official. (First Posted @ 10:05 PST, Updated @ 11:00 PST)
Amy Winehouse wins Record of the Year Grammy LOS ANGELES, Feb 11 (APP/AFP) - British soul singer Amy Winehouse won the Record of the Year trophy at the 50th annual Grammy awards here Sunday for her single “Rehab,” picking up her fifth major award of the night. Winehouse beat Beyonce, Foo Fighters, Rihanna and Justin Timberlake to take home the prestigious award, which she dedicated to “my Blake, my incarcerated Blake, and for London, this is for London.” (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
'Atonement' named Best Film at BAFTAs LONDON, Feb 11 (AFP) - “Atonement”, the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's best-selling novel, was named Best Film at the star-studded BAFTAs, Britain's showpiece movie awards, on Sunday. Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for his role in “There Will Be Blood”, and French actress Marion Cotillard was the surprise winner of the Best Actress award for “La Vie En Rose”, in which she played singer Edith Piaf. The British Academy Film and Television Arts awards took on increased importance this year, after a writers' strike in the United States reduced the Golden Globes, traditionally the second-biggest film awards after the Oscars to a mere news conference. Overall, though “Atonement”, a romantic drama about life and love in World War II, had been nominated in 14 categories, it managed to win only two, with the other coming in the Production Design category. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Six wounded in Philippines dance hall blast ILIGAN, Philippines, Feb 11 (AFP) - At least six people were wounded when a homemade bomb tore through a song and dance contest late Sunday at the city square during the amateur singing and dancing contest, police said Monday. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Attack on stock exchange foiled, Indian police say NEW DELHI, Feb 11 (AFP) – Uttar Pradesh Police have held six alleged militants suspected of planning an attack on the Bombay Stock Exchange, a report in the Times of India said Monday. “The BSE was going to be their first target,” said Amitabh Yash, a police officer with Uttar Pradesh state's anti-terror force. “These terrorists have multiple targets. In case they fail in one, they quickly move on to the next.” The men are all believed to be members of the hardline Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of nearly a dozen groups fighting against Indian rule over a part of Muslim-majority Kashmir. Three of the suspects were planning to board a bus for Mumbai on Sunday. State police chief Vikram Singh said they received a tip-off leading them to the men, who were arrested Saturday. The men were carrying automatic rifles and grenades when they were arrested, the report said, adding that at least one man had a Pakistani passport. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 53.30 points: KARACHI, Feb 11: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13885.03, down 53.30, points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:12 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Feb 11: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 63 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:12 PST)
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