|
| February 26, 2008 | Tuesday | Safar 18, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
|
 If Afghanistan fails, Pakistan could follow-Biden NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The United States must focus on securing and rebuilding Afghanistan because if it fails then neighboring Pakistan could follow, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden said on Monday after returning from a tour of both countries. Biden said Pakistan's cooperation in the fight against extremism was also critical to the success of Afghanistan but had so far been “sporadic at best,” adding that Washington had to move from a policy focused on a personality -- Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf -- to one focused on the country. He said the United States needed to triple its nonmilitary assistance to Pakistan and sustain it for a decade focusing on schools, roads and clinics, give the government a “democracy dividend” above this to jump-start progress, help Islamabad develop the country's northwest provinces and demand transparency and accountability in the military aid provided. Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said more troops are needed in Afghanistan and called for greater focus on basics like roads and power plus giving the military cash for quick projects like digging wells. “Afghanistan's fate and Pakistan's future are joined and America's security is tied to both,” Biden told the Council on Foreign Relations. “If Afghanistan fails, Pakistan could follow, because extremists will set their sights on the bigger prize to the east.” Biden, Democrat Sen. John Kerry and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel visited Pakistan, India, Turkey and Afghanistan. Biden also said that if the United States makes Afghanistan its priority, then so will its allies. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)  Pakistani general's killing linked to tribal belt offensive: army ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (AFP) - A suicide attack which killed Pakistan army’s surgeon-general Mushtaq Baig and seven others on Monday was likely in retaliation for operations against militants along the Afghan border, the army said Tuesday. Pakistani intelligence and security agencies have started a joint investigation, and Initial indications pointed to a link to the military's struggle against militants in the troubled tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, chief military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said. “I think apparently it is in response and reaction to the Pakistan army's operations against militants in South Waziristan and other places in FATA (the federally administered tribal areas),” Abbas told AFP. Exact details would be known once the investigation is over, he said. Baig was the most senior Pakistani military officer to be killed in a militant attack since President Pervez Musharraf joined the “war on terror” after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the army said. (Posted @ 11:15 PST)   Al-Qaeda suspect arrested over Karachi bombing that targeted Benazir ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (AP): A suspected Al-Qaeda militant has been arrested in connection with the October suicide bombing in Karachi that narrowly missed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto but killed about 150 others, a top government official said Wednesday. Qari Saifullah Akhtar, who has been in Pakistani custody before, was arrested on Monday in Lahore in connection with the bombing that hit Bhutto's homecoming parade when she returned from exile, before her killing in a second suicide attack Dec. 27, Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said. “He is involved in the blasts in Karsaz. Therefore he has been arrested,” Nawaz told AP. (Posted @ 20:02 PST) PML-Q Senators form forward bloc ISLAMABAD, Feb.26 (PPI): Six senators of Pakistan Muslim League-Q announced forming a forward bloc within the party on Tuesday. Talking to newsmen, Neelofar Bakhtiar said, “we only wish to bring democracy within our party and Pakistan and we will support all those organisations, which desire democracy in Pakistan.” She said the group wants to play an effective role in the senate. (Posted @ 18:36 PST) Time ripe to strengthen democratic institutions: Zardari ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (APP): The time is ripe for political forces to strengthen the democratic institutions and bury the conspiracies of anti democratic forces forever, co-chairman of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Asif Ali Zardari Monday said. Addressing a meeting of losing PPPP candidates from Sindh at his house, Asif Ali Zardari said that it was incumbent upon the democratic dispensation to strengthen the institutions rather than individuals as the public has given them mandate for maintaining the supremacy of constitutional institutions in the country. Playing its role, Pakistan People's Party will also pursue its manifesto objective of setting up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to recognize and accord respect to the victims of injustices, the PPPP co-chairman said, and, “apology to the people of Balochistan was the first step in this direction.” (Posted @ 21:46 PST) 
Nawaz, Shahbaz Sharif to contest by-election ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (AFP): Pakistan's former premier Nawaz Sharif is planning to contest by-elections, his spokesman said Tuesday, which could make him eligible to run for prime minister in the newly-elected government. His brother Shahbaz Sharif will also stand, said Siddiqul Farooq, spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), which emerged as the second biggest party in last week's parliamentary elections. “There is no dearth of vacant seats and the Sharifs can contest by-elections without any problem,” Farooq told AFP. (Posted @ 19:10 PST) Pakistan says more than 440 militants seized in three months ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (AFP): Pakistani security forces have arrested more than 440 “terrorists”, including 60 would-be suicide bombers, in the last three months, the interior ministry said Tuesday. “Law enforcement and intelligence agencies have arrested 442 terrorists and militants during the past three months,” interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema told reporters. Large quantities of explosives, weapons, suicide jackets and hand grenades were seized from the suspects, Cheema said. “From 60 of these terrorists, suicide jackets and other material was confiscated, which shows the law enforcement agencies are in protective mode and stopped them from launching suicide attacks,” Cheema said. (Posted @ 16:50 PST) Pakistan lifts ban on YouTube: official ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (AFP): Pakistan has lifted a ban on YouTube after the video-sharing website removed content that was offensive to Islam, a telecommunications official said Tuesday. Authorities in the conservative Muslim country ordered the blocking of the website at the weekend, but the move prompted worldwide problems with access for a few hours. “We have issued instructions to all Internet service providers that YouTube should be unblocked as the specific content has been removed by the website,” Pakistan Telecommunications Authority spokesman Khurram Mehran told AFP. (Posted @ 17:12 PST) 
Bomb wounds politician in Parachinar PESHAWAR, Feb 26 (AP) A bomb blast injured an opposition election candidate Tuesday. The bomb went off near a vehicle carrying Syed Riaz Hussain from Parachinar to a nearby area to stump for votes, said Eisa Khan, an aide who was travelling in a following car. Hussain, an independent candidate aligned with the party of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and four supporters were injured, Khan said. A paramedic at Parachinar's hospital confirmed that Hussain and four others had been admitted. He said none had suffered life-threatening injuries. (First Posted @ 16:30 PST Updated @ 18:00 PST) Pakistan police claim arresting four Al-Qaeda linked militants ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (AP): Police have arrested four people, claiming they are al-Qaeda linked militants who were planning to attack foreign missions. The four men belonged to the al-Qaeda linked Lashker-i-Jhangvi, Masood Aziz, chief of Anti Terrorist Cell of Lahore police said Tuesday. He said they were captured Monday night in Lahore while riding in a public bus. He said the arrests followed an intelligence report but did not elaborate. Aziz identified one of those arrested as Fahad Munir, a nephew of Riaz Basara, who was wanted on terrorism charges but was killed by the police several years ago while on the run. Aziz claimed that Munir has confessed to helping the militants involved in the November 1 suicide bomb attack on a Pakistan Air Force bus that killed eight people in Sargodha. The four are suspected of planning attacks on foreign missions, Aziz said, but again declined to give additional details. Aziz said police recovered 4 kilograms of explosives, other bomb making material, an assault rifle and a wireless handset from the four men. (Posted @ 15:20 PST) Pakistan launches hunt for British aid group attackers PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 26 (AFP) - Pakistani police on Tuesday launched a manhunt for the suspected militants who attacked a British children's charity in the northwestern town of Mansehra, killing four local staff. Up to 12 armed men stormed the Plan International office on Monday, spraying gunfire and setting off grenades. Local police chief Zulfiqar Jadoon told AFP that police had chased the gunmen into a forest but the militants escaped into the night. “We had an exchange of gunfire, it lasted two-and-a-half hours,” he said, adding that the police were now scouring the forests for the men. The NGO has been active in the area for 12 years, and helps provide education and healthcare to children in the region. (Posted @ 12:25 PST) Nawaz Sharif plans to contest by-election: spokesman ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (AFP): Former premier Nawaz Sharif is planning to contest by-elections, his spokesman said Tuesday. His brother Shahbaz Sharif will also stand, said Siddiqul Farooq, spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N). “Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif will contest by-elections,” Farooq told AFP. “There is no dearth of vacant seats and the Sharifs can contest by-elections without any problem.” Election officials barred the Sharif brothers from running in the general election, citing criminal convictions dating back to events surrounding a 1999 coup and pending criminal charges. They will now have to reapply to the authorities. A number of constituencies will hold by-elections in the coming weeks, mostly after candidates' deaths or because politicians gave up seats after winning in more than one constituency. (Posted @ 14:05 PST) 19 more suspected militants lay arms SWAT, Feb 26 (APP): At least 19 more suspected militants were surrendered and laid their arms here in the district. According to Peace Committee of Swat, and official sources here Tuesday, the militants appeared before the Peace Committee for surrender and laid their arms vowing that they would remain peaceful in future. Later, they were handed over to authorities. (Posted @ 23:16 PST) Burns says Pakistan is vital for US WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (APP): A senior US administration official has strongly defended American security assistance for Pakistan and vowed to seek congressional support on realizing economic assistance programs for development of the South Asian ally's border region with Afghanistan. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns observed at a Washington think tank discussion that no country is more important to the US than Pakistan in the campaign against terrorism. “So we would defend military assistance to Pakistan,” he stressed. (Posted @ 22:34 PST) Religious leader killed in Peshawar PESHAWAR, Feb 26 (AFP): Gunmen on Tuesday shot dead a religious leader in Peshawar. Haji Gulab Hussain, a Shia leader, was shot near a market in Peshawar city and died on his way to hospital, local police said. (Posted @ 19:20 PST) Philippine police uncover coup plot MANILA, Feb 26 (AFP): Philippine police said Tuesday they had uncovered a plot by junior officers to unseat the government of President Gloria Arroyo. Police said the officers had planned to take advantage of public unrest over corruption to overthrow the Arroyo government. The plot was cited in a motion to a Manila court to postpone the February 27 arraignment of rebel military officers who are facing charges over a 2003 mutiny against the government. (Posted @ 19:02 PST) 
Car slams into teenagers waiting for bus near Rome; five dead ROME, Feb 26 (AP) A car slammed into a group of teenagers waiting for a bus to school near Rome early Tuesday, killing four girls and the car's driver and injuring nine others, police said. The accident in Fiumicino, some 30 kilometres from Rome, occurred at about 8 a.m., said Daniele Caliano, an official with the Fiumicino traffic police. He said the car's driver lost control of the vehicle and slammed into the children. (Posted @ 18:10 PST) Bangladesh brings fresh graft charge against ex-PM DHAKA, Feb 26 (Reuters): Anti-corruption authorities in Bangladesh filed a new graft charge against detained former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia on Tuesday, police said. Fifteen others, including nine former ministers in her cabinet, were also charged in connection with alleged kickbacks in a deal with a Chinese coal miner during Khaleda's second term in power between 2001 and 2006. “An Anti-Corruption Commission official filed a case on Tuesday charging the ex-PM and her colleagues,” said a police official. (Posted @ 17:48 PST) Nigerian tribunal rejects challenges to president ABUJA, Feb 26 (Reuters) A Nigerian tribunal upheld the 2007 election of President Umaru Yar'Adua Tuesday, rejecting challenges from rivals who wanted the vote annulled because of massive rigging. The tribunal in Africa's most populous nation ruled that opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari, Yar'Adua's main opponent, had failed to prove that violations of the electoral law were substantial enough to invalidate the overall result. The five-judge tribunal also rejected a challenge brought by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who came third in the election that local and international observers said was marred by massive fraud. “Umaru Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan remain the president and vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the ruling said. (Posted @ 17:46 PST) Indian Railways posts record $6.3billion surplus NEW DELHI, Feb 26 (AFP): State-run Indian Railways, once on track for bankruptcy, posted a record $6.3-billion surplus on Tuesday, announced new lines and cut fares. “The world today acknowledges I've done a tremendous job,” said the wisecracking Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, presenting his fifth railway budget since the Congress-led coalition government took office in 2004. The railway budget for the fiscal year to March 2009 is seen as a harbinger of the national budget, which comes on Friday and is the last expected to be presented before the next general elections due within 12 to 15 months. (Posted @ 17:44 PST)
France may send troops to Afghan combat zone: report PARIS, Feb 26 (Reuters): France may send hundreds of ground troops to eastern Afghanistan where NATO-led forces are fighting Al-Qaeda-backed insurgents, Le Monde newspaper reported on Tuesday. It said the move could be part of a new Afghan policy being worked out by President Nicolas Sarkozy. About 1,900 French soldiers are based in relatively calm Kabul. Le Monde said the fresh troops would be deployed outside the Afghan capital. “Their destination would be zones of potentially fierce fighting, probably the eastern region close to the tribal areas of Pakistan,” the newspaper said, giving no source for its story. (Posted @ 17:42 PST) Bomber kills 14 in Iraq's Mosul BAGHDAD, Feb 26 (Reuters): A suicide bomber killed 14 people in an attack on a bus in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Tuesday, security sources said. Another seven people were wounded. Another police source said the initial death toll was five. Iraqi police in Mosul, 350 km north of Baghdad, said the bus was carrying passengers to Syria to Iraq's west. (Posted @ 16:55 PST) 21 bus passengers kidnapped near Iraqi town BAQUBA, Iraq, Feb 26 (AFP): A group of armed men set up a fake checkpoint north of Iraq's Baquba town and kidnapped 21 civilians travelling in two minibuses Tuesday, police said. Police Lieutenant Colonel Najim al-Sumaidaie from Baquba told AFP the checkpoint was set up in an area called Al-Adaim, 60 kilometres north of Baquba in the Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. “At about 10:00 am several armed men stopped a minibus carrying 11 men and three women at the checkpoint. They released the women but abducted the men,” Sumaidaie said. He said minutes later another minibus was stopped by the kidnappers and 10 men travelling in it were also abducted. “All the 21 men were taken away in the same minibuses,” Sumaidaie said. He said the two buses had come from the northern oil city of Kirkuk and were on way to Baghdad passing through Diyala. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) Gunmen kidnap three in Nigeria oil hub LAGOS, Feb 26 (AFP): Gunmen in Nigeria's oil hub Port Harcourt kidnapped three Nigerians - one oil company employee and two toddlers - in two separate incidents Monday night and Tuesday, a military officer said. The oil worker kidnapped late Monday was identified as the secretary to an executive with French oil company Total. The two children - whose father is a local businessman, were seized in a separate incident Tuesday morning. (Posted @ 16:10 PST)
India test-fires sea-based nuclear-capable missile NEW DELHI, Feb 26 (AFP): India Tuesday successfully conducted its first test of a nuclear-capable missile from an undersea platform, the defence ministry said. The launch from a submerged pontoon took place off India's southeast coast near the port city of Visakhapatnam around 1:00 pm, a defence ministry spokesman said. “The test was successful,” said the spokesman who requested anonymity. (Posted @ 14:18 PST) Fierce fighting as Turkish troops move on rebel camp in Iraq AMADIYAH, Iraq, Feb 26 (AFP): Turkish troops were engaged in fierce clashes with Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq as they closed in on one of the main separatist camps, security sources here said Tuesday. Members of the Kurdish security force in the autonomous north of Iraq told AFP sustained fighting continued unabated since late Sunday as troops, backed by artillery and air cover, fought to seize a main rebel camp in the Zap area. Clashes also continued since late Monday in the eastern Hakurk area, where the Turkish army air-dropped troops and helicopter gunships pounded rebel positions, the sources said. (Posted @ 14:15 PST) Sri Lanka says 16 more killed in clashes COLOMBO, Feb 26 (AFP): At least 14 Tamil Tiger guerrillas and two Sri Lankan government soldiers died in sporadic clashes in and around rebel-held territory in the north, the defence ministry said Tuesday. Security forces destroyed a fortified position of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the Weli Oya region Monday and killed 12 rebels there for the loss of one soldier. Another two Tigers and a soldier were killed elsewhere in the island's north, the ministry said. There was no comment from the rebels. (Posted @ 13:00 PST) Rice urges China to use maximum influence on North Korea BEIJING, Feb 26 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday urged China to use all its influence with North Korea to ensure the isolated nation moved ahead quickly with nuclear disarmament. “I'm expecting from China what I'm expecting from others -- that we will use all influence possible with the North Koreans to convince them that it's time to move forward,” Rice said while in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders. During a press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi after they discussed the stalled disarmament process, Rice said it was time to break the impasse. “We are at the cusp of something very special here. Now is the time to move on, time to continue the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, which is in everyone's interest,” she said. (First Posted @ 09:45 PST, Updated @ 12:20 PST) Cricket-India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets SYDNEY, Feb 26 (Reuters) - India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in Tuesday's tri-series one-day international at Hobart. Scores: Sri Lanka 179 all out from 47.1 overs (Chamara Kapugedera 57; Praveen Kumar 4-31, Ishant Sharma 4-41); India 180-3 from 32.2 overs (Gambhir 63 not out, Sachin Tendulkar 63) (First Posted @ 10:00 PST, Updated @ 11:20 PST) Bush predicts voters will replace him with Republican president to 'keep up the fight' in Iraq WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (AP) - President George W. Bush is predicting that voters will replace him with a Republican president who will “keep up the fight” in Iraq. “I'm confident we'll hold the White House in 2008,” Bush told donors at the Republican Governors Association annual dinner, which pulled in a record $10.6 million (euro7.1 million) for the party's gubernatorial candidates. “And I don't want the next Republican president to be lonely,” Bush said. “And that is why we got to take the House, retake the Senate, and make sure our states are governed by Republican governors.” He said Republicans still offer the bedrock positions that voters embrace: strong defense, low taxes and personal freedoms. Democratic governors have a 28-22 edge nationally, having regained a majority in 2006 after 12 years of Republican dominance in state capitals. Eleven seats are up for election this year. In Congress, Democrats took control of the House and Senate in 2006. (Posted @ 10:20 PST) 13 dead as Egypt microbus falls into canal CAIRO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - At least 13 people died in Cairo on Monday when the microbus they were travelling in fell into a canal, security sources said. (Posted @ 10:15 PST) Massive Mandalay market fire destroys 1,500 shops YANGON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A huge fire which raged for 13 hours through a big market building in Mandalay, Myanmar's second city, injured 21 people and destroyed more than 1,500 shops, official media and witnesses said on Tuesday. Four Buddhist monks and three women were among those injured in the fire which took 78 fire engines and more than 4,000 people to put out, they said. Altogether, 1,558 shops, including computer training schools, in the four-storey Yadanabon Market Building were destroyed in a fire started by an electrical fault on the ground floor, state-run newspapers said. (Posted @ 10:05 PST) 140,000 US troops to stay in Iraq: Pentagon WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (AFP) - The US troop presence in Iraq will remain bigger than it was before last year's “surge” in forces, even after the pull-out of some 20,000 troops by July, a top Pentagon official said Monday. “In Iraq we are now projecting approximately 140,000 troops there in July,” General Carter Ham, operations director of the Joint Staff, told reporters. He had earlier said that 8,000 support forces and trainers will need to stay on. “It is, by the end of July, bigger than when we started the surge” in January 2007. (Posted @ 09:55 PST) Karachi Stocks up 108.73 points: KARACHI, Feb 26: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 15056.27, up 108.73 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, Feb 26: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 62.6 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
|
