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| February 22, 2008 | Friday | Safar 14, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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 14 killed by Pakistan wedding party bomb PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 22 (AFP) - A roadside bomb ripped through cars carrying wedding guests near the town of Matta in Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan Friday, killing at least 14 people including the bride and wounding a dozen others, including women and children, police said. “There was a remote-controlled bomb explosion which targeted a wedding party. Two cars were destroyed including the car in which the bride was travelling. She died,” local police officer Haroon Khan told AFP. “Almost everyone in the family had injuries. Many had shrapnel in the head and face,” said Javed Khan, a doctor at the hospital in Saidu Sharif, the main town in Swat Valley. Swat Valley was a famed tourist spot until the middle of last year when it became a flashpoint for violence between the military and followers of hardline pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah. (First Posted @ 17:54 PST Updated @ 20:24 PST)  U.S., Pakistan in secret plan to attack al-Qaeda targets New York, Feb 22 (PPI): United States officials have reportedly reached a quiet agreement with Pakistani leadership to step up secret air strikes against suspected terrorists.The New York Times says the strikes would use pilotless Predator aircraft launched in Pakistan. But the Bush administration is said to be concerned the plan may be curtailed or scuttled by changes in Pakistan's government. The new arrangements allow, among other things, an increase in number, scope of patrols and strikes by armed surveillance aircraft launched from a secret base in Pakistan. This is reported to be a far more aggressive strategy to attack al-Qaida and Taliban than had existed before, according to New York Times. (Posted @ 21:42 PST)   
New Pakistan government must free judges: HRW ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (AFP): Pakistan's new government must swiftly release all the top judges President Musharraf detained last year after street protests against his rule, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday. The New York-based watchdog wrote a letter to Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Nawaz Sharif, urging them to restore an independent judiciary. HRW Asia director Brad Adams also accused Britain and the United States of refusing to speak out against Musharraf. “The refusal of the United States and the United Kingdom to press Musharraf to restore the judiciary is shameful,” he said. “Now is the test: will they continue to support Musharraf at all costs, or will they support the rule of law?” HRW also called on the new administration to rescind curbs on the media and all other legal measures put in place under the powers of emergency rule. “Your parties have provided an important opportunity to start a transition towards a rights-respecting government that abides by the rule of law,” Adams wrote in the letter to Zardari and Sharif. (Posted @ 12:30 PST) Kurdish rebel official claims 2 Turkish troops killed, 8 wounded in border clashes SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, Feb 22 (AP) - Kurdish rebels claimed that two Turkish troops were killed and eight wounded Friday in border clashes after the Turkish military launched a limited ground incursion against their bases in northern Iraq. Turkish officials did not immediately confirm the report. Ahmad Danas, a spokesman for the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, said “there were two Turkish soldiers killed and eight others wounded during clashes with our troops.” “The PKK forces are defending the Iraqi lands of Kurdistan and will prevent Turkish army from entering deep in the Iraqi land.” (Posted @ 21:05 PST) Lawyers: British troops may have executed up to 20 Iraqis LONDON, Feb 22 (AP) - Lawyers released evidence Friday that they say shows British soldiers may have tortured and executed up to 20 Iraqis after a battle in 2004 _ the most serious allegations of abuse made against British forces in Iraq. Attorneys for five Iraqi men detained by British troops after the battle say witness testimony, death certificates and video footage of mutilated bodies all support the claims. They are demanding a public inquiry. The British military strongly denies the accusations, and says the dead were insurgents killed in a gun battle after ambushing British troops. (Posted @ 21:00 PST) Blasphemous cartoon: hundreds of Pakistanis burn Danish flags KARACHI, Feb 22 (AFP) - Hundreds of angry Muslim youths rallied in major cities in Pakistan on Friday and torched Danish flags to protest against the recent republication of a blasphemous cartoon. Witnesses said about 150 supporters of Jamaat-i-Islami gathered outside a mosque in Karachi, flying banners demanding Pakistan sever diplomatic ties with Denmark. In Islamabad, cries of “Say no to Denmark” rang out as about 300 students from colleges and Islamic schools crowded outside the city's biggest mosque, witnesses said. They burned an effigy of the Danish cartoonist amid chants of “Crush Denmark” Up to 200 madressah students held similar rallies in the central city of Multan. Similar rallies and protest marches were held in several other parts of the country. (Posted @ 20:28 PST)  'No survivors' in Venezuelan plane crash CARACAS, Feb 22 (AFP) - A domestic passenger plane carrying 46 people from the main Andean city of Merida to the capital Caracas was “practically pulverized” when it crashed into Venezuela's western Andes mountains overnight and the chances of finding survivors were nil, officials said Friday. “The plane was practically pulverized and it hit head-on,” a fire services officer told Globovision television after flying over the crash site in a rescue helicopter. An official at the national civil aeronautical institute, General Ramon Vina, said: “By the type of impact we presume that there are no survivors.” (Posted @ 20:20 PST) 16 people injured in Dargai road accident DARGAI, Pakistan, Feb 22 (APP): Sixteen people were injured when Peshawar- bound coaster met with an accident near Toorpul at Dargai in Swat valley on Friday. Reports said the accident occurred due to over-speeding on a rain-soaked track and crashed against the bridge wall which however withstood the impact and saved the vehicle from plunging into the river below. (Posted @ 18:12 PST) Cricket: U-19 World Cup KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb 22 (AP) - India reached the quarterfinals of the Under-19 World Cup by beating the West Indies by 50 runs on Friday, helped by a 74-ball century by captain Virat Kohli. The result eliminated West Indies from the tournament, making it the major casualty of the group stage. In other first round matches, Bangladesh scored a shock 13-run victory against England. Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 87 runs and Sri Lanka defeated Australia by five wickets. In Group A, Pakistan recovered from 21-4 to make 173-8 from its 50 overs against Zimbabwe. Wicket-keeper Ali Asad made an unbeaten 76 and captain Imad Wasim 22. Zimbabwe were dismissed for 86 in 29 overs, departing from the tournament with three losses in as many matches. Pakistan seamer Mohammad Rameez took 3-26, while Adil Raza, Imad Wasim and Ahmad Shahzad took two wickets each. Pakistan will now meet Australia and Sri Lanka will clash with New Zealand in the other two quarterfinals on Monday. (Posted @ 17:58 PST) Cricket-Australia 184-7 beat Sri Lanka 77-4 by 24 runs Melbourne, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Australia beat Sri Lanka by 24 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method after rain forced the abandonment of play in their triangular series one-day international against Sri Lanka in Melbourne on Friday. Scores: Australia 184-7 off 50 overs (M.Hussey 64 not out, M.Clarke 50) beat Sri Lanka 77-4 off 29.3 overs. (First Posted @ 09:15 PST, Updated @ 17:35 PST)
Cricket-South Africa 76-4 v Bangladesh 192 Dhaka, Feb 22 (Reuters) - South Africa were 76 for four in reply to Bangladesh's first innings of 192 at the close on the opening day of the first test at Dhaka on Friday. Scores: Bangladesh 192 (Morkel 5-50) v South Africa 76-4. (First Posted @ 15:00 PST, Updated @ 17:30 PST) Many killed in Iraq bombing incidents Baghdad, Feb 22(Reuters) - A suicide bomber Friday killed at least six policemen and wounded nine others when he detonated a vest packed with explosives outside a mosque near Falluja in western Anbar province, police said. In Garma, near Falluja, another suicide bomber on foot attacked an Iraqi security checkpoint, killing two people and wounding three while a suicide car bomber killed three policemen and wounded eight others at a police station in Tikrit, 175 km north of Baghdad, police said. Meanwhile, two bodies with gunshot wounds and signs of torture were found in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, while five bodies were found in different districts across Baghdad on Thursday, police said. (First Posted @ 13:25 PST, Updated @ 17:25 PST) Muslim rebel leader calls for referendum on autonomy for restive southern Thailand BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb 22 (AP) - An exiled Muslim rebel leader warned Thailand's new government that a violent Islamic insurgency in the south could worsen if the region is denied sovereignty, renewing debate Friday over a possible referendum on autonomy. The comments from Lukman B. Lima, who heads the Pattani United Liberation Organization from exile in Sweden, were the first from the Muslim rebel movement since Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his interior minister made conflicting remarks on the issue earlier this month. “The worst-case scenario can still be avoided, but only if Mr. Samak and the military forces allow the people of Pattani to determine their own future,” Lukman said in an e-mailed statement received by The Associated Press on Friday. Lukman's organization is one of several groups involved in a century-old struggle for independence in the south. Meanwhile, four small bombs exploded in the region Friday. One of the blasts wounded three people at Yala's Rajaphat University. Three other small bombs went off in different parts of Narathiwat but no casualties were reported. (Posted @ 16:10 PST) Iraq’s al-Sadr extends militia truce BAGHDAD, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr extended his Mehdi Army militia ceasefire by around six months on Friday, according to a statement read out on his behalf in a mosque in Baghdad. The move is likely to be widely welcomed by U.S. and Iraqi officials, who say the initial six-month truce helped to sharply reduce violence in the country. (Posted @ 15:37 PST)
U.S. says Turkish land incursion in Iraq bad news BRUSSELS, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Turkish land incursion into northern Iraq to attack Kurdish separatist guerrillas was “not the greatest news”. “A land operation is obviously a whole new level,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza told reporters in Brussels The Turkish General Staff said it had launched a cross-border land offensive backed by fighter jets on Thursday. Turkish television reported that 10,000 troops had entered Iraqi territory. (Posted @ 15:35 PST) Body found in US Belgrade embassy after rioters set it ablaze BELGRADE, Feb 22 (AFP) - Rioters set fire to the US embassy in Belgrade on Thursday, killing one person, while more than 90 people, including 32 policemen, were injured in clashes with Serbian police in unrest following Kosovo's independence. The burnt body found in the embassy was not identified, but an embassy spokeswoman said the person was not a staff member. With no police in sight, several hundred young men dressed in hooded sports tops and scarves threw flares and stormed the US mission, sparking a fire that blazed for more than an hour. Other embassies, mainly those of Western countries that have recognised Kosovo's independence, were also targeted . (Posted @ 15:25 PST) Communist rebels fatally shot three villagers in attack on eastern India village PATNA, India, Feb 22 (AP): Maoist rebels fatally shot three villagers Friday in eastern India’s Bihar state, a police official said. At least 30 rebels took part in the attack near the Nepal border, said Anil Kumar Sinha, the area's deputy superintendent of police. State police scoured the vicinity for the rebels and sealed off the border area in an attempt to keep them from slipping into Nepal, Sinha said. The rebels call themselves the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and are thought to have links with Maoists in Nepal. (Posted @ 13:20 PST) 14 rebels, one soldier killed in fighting in northern Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Feb 22 (AP): Scattered battles in northern Sri Lanka killed 14 separatist guerrillas and a soldier, while government jets pounded a rebel navy base in the area, the military said Friday. In fighting Thursday in the Mannar area, troops killed three rebels who were trying to cross the front lines and two others in a separate confrontation, the military said in a statement. In nearby Vavuniya, troops killed nine fighters in two clashes, the military said. A soldier was also killed in fighting on a third front in the Welioya area, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. Early Friday, air force jets hit an inland base used by the Sea Tigers, the rebels' naval arm, Nanayakkara said. (Posted @ 11:35 PST) 37 Somali migrants die when smugglers force them to jump into the Gulf of Aden SAN'A, Yemen, Feb 22 (AP): Some 37 Somali migrants drowned off the coast of Yemen when smugglers forced them to jump from boats to elude authorities, Yemen's SABA’ news agency reported Thursday. Seventy other migrants survived the ordeal, swimming through the Gulf of Aden's treacherous waters to reach the coastal town of Shabwa, the agency quoted a Yemeni security official as saying. The official said the bodies of the dead were buried in Shabwa, under United Nations supervision.(Posted @ 10:55 PST) Israeli air strike on Gaza kills two militants GAZA CITY, Feb 22 (AFP): An Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip Friday killed two Palestinian militants, Palestinian medical sources said. The attack near Bureij in the southern part of the Gaza Strip killed two 20-year-old members of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, Ayman Abu Said and Mohammed al-Hazin, said the medics. (Posted @ 09:40 PST) US marine killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Feb 22 (AFP): The US military announced early Friday that a US marine was killed in action in the western Iraqi province of Al-Anbar Thursday. (Posted @ 09:35 PST) 10 dead, eight missing after Amazon ferry sinks BRASILIA, Feb 22 (AFP): Rescuers were due Friday to continue a search for survivors from a ferry boat which collided with another vessel and sank on the Amazon River in northwest Brazil overnight Wednesday, killing at least 10 people. The boat, the Almirante Montero, was carrying around 110 people when it sank in the Amazon near Novo Remanso, a riverside hamlet close to the town of Itacoatiara. “We have found 10 bodies and 92 people have been recovered alive…eight people are still missing,” a river ports authority official told AFP. (Posted @ 08:55 PST) Karachi Stocks up 8.69 points: KARACHI, Feb 22: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 14980.66, up 8.69 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:02 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, Feb 22: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 62.3 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:02 PST) 
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
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