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| February 28, 2008 | Thursday | Safar 20, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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 PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari meets JUI-F chief ISLAMABAD, Feb. 28: The co-chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Mr Asif Zardari reiterated his hope of forming a government of national consensus and taking all political parties along to ensure democracy thrives in the country. Mr Zardari made these remarks while talking to the media after holding talks with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The JUI-F chief said that the MMA was ready to hold talks in this respect. A local TV channel reported said the JUI-F chief said that his party was ready to sit with other political parties for the sake of the country’s prosperity. (Posted @ 21:42 PST)  Missile strike kills 13 in Pakistan tribal belt PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 28 (AP): A suspected US missile strike destroyed an Al-Qaeda and Taliban hideout in a Pakistani tribal area Thursday, killing 13 alleged militants including several Arabs, security officials said. Residents of Azam Warsak village in South Waziristan told AFP that a house was blown up by a missile fired from a pilotless drone and the loud blast was heard miles away in the rugged valley. “A house used as a den by Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban militants was hit by a missile. Thirteen people were killed and around 10 were wounded,” a senior Pakistani security official told AFP. “There was no immediate information about the presence of any high-value target,” the official said. A security source based in Peshawar said the missile was fired by a US drone at about 2:00 am Thursday. Another security official said most of the dead were Arabs. Armed militants cordoned off the site after the missile strike, residents said. They said four unidentified “guests” had arrived late Wednesday at the destroyed house, although their identities were not known. A spokesman for the US-led coalition force based in Afghanistan said it had “no reports” that either it or the separate NATO-headed force were involved in the strike. Pakistani forces were not immediately available to comment on the incident. (First Posted @ 10:00 PST, Updated @ 15:30 PST) Pakistan army says explosion led to militant deaths ISLAMABAD, Feb 28 (AFP): The military said the suspected militants killed Thursday died in an explosion in South Waziristan. Chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP that information from the area indicated that the deaths were caused by explosive material stored in a house. “As per our information it was an explosion caused by explosive material in a house,” Abbas said. (Posted @ 21:56 PST)   PPP, MQM leaders meet in Karachi KARACHI, Feb 28 (PPI): A three-member Pakistan Peoples Party delegation led by PPP Sindh President Syed Qaim Ali Shah visited the MQM secretariat in Karachi and met MQM leaders, led by Haider Abbas Rizvi. PPP leader Prof. N D Khan told the media after the talks that the meeting was not agenda-specific, but aimed at creating harmony in the political atmosphere. MNA-elect of MQM Haider Abbas Rizvi told newsman that they would extend cooperation to solve the issues faced by the people of Sindh. (First Posted @ 19:54 PST Updated @ 20:34 PST) Negroponte signals US distancing itself from Musharraf WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (AP): A senior U.S. diplomat, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is signaling that the Bush administration is distancing itself from President Pervez Musharraf after opposition victories in last week's elections. He told senators Thursday that the U.S. is supporting Pakistan's people as they choose their leaders after the parliamentary elections. Negroponte said the elections reflected the will of the voters. But he did not mention Musharraf in his initial testimony. U.S. lawmakers and Pakistani opposition leaders have criticized the Bush administration for its steadfast support of the former army general despite his crackdown on the opposition, judiciary and media. (Posted @ 20:45 PST) Prince Harry serving on front line in Afghanistan: UK officials LONDON, Feb 28 (AFP): Prince Harry, the youngest son of Prince Charles and the late princess Diana, has been fighting the Taliban on the front line in Afghanistan, the defence ministry in London said Thursday. The 23-year-old prince, an officer in the Household Cavalry regiment, has spent the past 10 weeks secretly serving in the volatile southern province of Helmand, where most of Britain's troops are based. Harry, who is third in line to the throne, has been in Afghanistan since December. The deployment was not reported due to an agreement between the Ministry of Defense and news organizations, including The Associated Press. The story was leaked by an Australian magazine and a German newspaper. (Posted @ 23:36 PST) 
Allies back Musharraf, but some call for clipping his powers ISLAMABAD, Feb 28 (AP): President Pervez Musharraf's allies rejected demands Thursday for his ouster but some called for clipping his powers to ensure democracy can flourish in the country. The divisions in the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q party reflected the precarious position of Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, a close confidant of Musharraf and a senior PML-Q member, who insisted that Musharraf would not quit. But PML-Q Secretary-General Mushahid Hussain said he would support any move aimed at the revoking controversial article to ensure the supremacy of the parliament. “The ground realities have changed. We want to institutionalize democracy,” Hussain told The Associated Press. “The new beginning needs to be consolidated,” he said. (Posted @ 23:18 PST) ANP set to nominate NWFP CM PESHAWAR, Feb 28 (APP): The Awami National Party (ANP), the single largest party in the incoming assembly of the North West Frontier Province, is to nominate its chief minister for the province on Friday. The probables for the slot are Bashir Ahmed Bilour, Amir Haider Khan Hoti and Wajid Ali Khan. The newly elected ANP parliamentarians are meeting on Fridayto decide about the provincial chief executive. (Posted @ 23:04 PST) Election Commission to notify elections winning candidates till March 3 Islamabad, Feb 28 (PPI): The election commission will issue notification of the winning candidates of the February 18 elections till March 3, said Law Minister Syed Afzal Haider on Thursday. He said the election process for reserved seats for Women and Minorities seats of National Assembly will be completed on March 5. He said after completion of National Assembly elections on reserved seats, the law ministry will send a summary to the President for convening the National Assembly. On the first day the newly elected MNAs will take oath and the next day elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of National Assembly. (Posted @ 22:48 PST) Afghan govt controls only 30 per cent of country: US official Washington, Feb 28 (AP/AFP): United States Director of National Intelligence, Michael McConnell, says the Afghan government controls only 30 percent of the country. McConnell told Senate Armed Services Committee that a recent review by U.S. intelligence community shows that government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai controls just under one-third of the country. McConnell said most of Afghanistan is under local tribal control, while “the Taliban control about 11 percent of the country,” he said. Afghanistan rejected as “far from reality” the US assessment that the Taliban had regained control of a tenth of the country and the government was in charge of just a third. The Afghan government was in control of all 34 provinces and most districts, the defence ministry said in a statement issued in Kabul. “The defence ministry considers such statements far from reality,” it said. (Posted @ 22:16 PST) MPs are working to finish democracy: Speaker Lok Sabha ISLAMABAD, Feb 28 (APP): Annoyed by the repeated disruption of parliamentary proceedings by the Opposition, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chaterjee on Thursday criticised the unruly parliamentarians. “I am sorry, you are working over time to finish democracy. It is a matter of great sorrow.” With these words Somnath Chatterjee berated the opposition members just before he adjourned the House, NDTV reported. (Posted @ 22:08 PST) Turkish troops kill seven Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq ANKARA, Feb 28 (AP): The Turkish military said Thursday its troops killed seven Kurdish rebels, bringing the total claimed death toll to 237 rebels since Turkey's ground incursion into Iraq's north began a week ago. The military said earlier that two dozen of its troops and three government-paid village guards have been killed in the fighting.(Posted @ 22:04 PST)
Bush says US not headed into a recession WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (AP): President George W. Bush said Thursday that the United States is not headed into a recession and, despite expressing concern about slowing economic growth, rejected for now any additional stimulus efforts. Bush's view of the economy was decidely rosier than that of many economists, who say the U.S. is nearing recession territory or may already be there. (Posted @ 21:46 PST) Helicopter crash kills five in Kazakhstan ALMATY, Feb 28 (Reuters): A Soviet-designed helicopter crashed in southern Kazakhstan on Thursday, killing five of the passengers, state media reported. Thirteen other people including the governor of the southern Kyzyl-Orda region and several journalists were injured in the crash, the official Kazinform news agency reported. (Posted @ 21:06 PST) Algerian army surrounds Maghreb Al-Qaeda chief: papers ALGIERS, Feb 28 (Reuters): The leader of Al-Qaeda's wing in North Africa is believed to be among several Islamist militants besieged by Algerian government soldiers in the Kabylie region east of Algiers, two newspapers reported on Thursday. Abdelmalek Droudkel, also known as Abu Mus'ab Abd el-Wadoud, leader of the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, may be among other rebels troops have been surrounding for a week in a mountainous area between the two eastern provinces of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia, Liberte and El Watan said. (Posted @ 21:00 PST) Russia, Hungary sign South Stream pipeline deal MOSCOW, Feb 28 (AP): Russia and Hungary signed a major deal Thursday to build a new natural gas pipeline that will strengthen Russia's domination of European energy supplies. President Vladimir Putin was joined by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany at the Kremlin for the signing ceremony for the South Stream pipeline. The agreement calls for a section of South Stream to be built in Hungary, after going through Bulgaria and Serbia. The project will undercut the prospective US- and EU-backed Nabucco pipeline. The deal also called for building a major gas storage facility in Hungary. (Posted @ 20:48 PST) Two killed, at least 10 wounded in Georgia's separatist region TBILISI, Feb 28 (AP): An explosion on Thursday in Georgia's Russia-backed separatist region killed two police officers and wounded at least 10 civilians, an official said. The explosive device, hidden in a television set, was planted at a polling station that was set up for Russia's presidential vote Sunday, a South Ossetian government spokeswoman said. (Posted @ 20:12 PST) 31 dead as Bangladesh ferry sinks DHAKA, Feb 28 (Reuters): At least 31 people died when a ferry was hit by a cargo vessel and capsized in a river near the Bangladesh capital on Thursday, police and witnesses said. “So far 31 bodies have been recovered,” a police officer said, adding the ferry was carrying more than 100 people. Rescue efforts are on and the death toll could climb, witnesses said. (First Posted @ 16:00 PST Updated @ 20:00 PST) Cyprus' new president pledges to re-unify island NICOSIA, Feb 28 (AP): New Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias said Thursday that his first priority will be to negotiate a settlement to reunify the island, which was divided by war in 1974. Christofias, who heads the communist-rooted AKEL party, said new talks with the Turkish Cypriot community would also be aimed at demilitarising Cyprus. “I firmly believe the time has come for the problem to be solved,” Christofias said, outlining policies for his five-year term. (Posted @ 20:36 PST) Cyprus's communist president sworn-in NICOSIA, Feb 28 (AFP): Communist party head Demetris Christofias was sworn in as president of Cyprus and unveiled his cabinet on Thursday after vowing to renew efforts to end Cyprus's three-decade division. The 61-year-old, who won a presidential runoff in the Greek-Cypriot south of the divided island on Sunday, took the oath of office before parliament after unveiling his new coalition cabinet. (Posted @ 19:36 PST) One dead, 36 injured in gas blast in Lyon PARIS, Feb 28 (AFP): An explosion caused by a gas leak rocked the French city of Lyon on Thursday, killing a firefighter and injuring 36 people, police said. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene on the Cours Lafayette shopping street in the heart of Lyon where the blast occurred around midday during road maintenance. Fire engulfed several buildings in the city centre and police were evacuating the area. A firefighter, who was investigating the gas leak in the basement of a building, was killed in the blast, said Lyon Mayor Gerard Colomb. (First Posted @ 18:42 PST Updated @ 21:48 PST) 
Nepal agrees to autonomy for southern plains KATHMANDU, Feb 28 (Reuters): Nepal's government agreed on Thursday to give autonomy to its southern plains after the forthcoming national election in a deal to end an ethnic strike that had strangled the capital, officials said. The move, which came after days of talks between government negotiators and ethnic Madheshi protest leaders, has cleared the way for a twice-delayed election set for April 10. The election will choose a special assembly meant to map the country's political future and write a new constitution. (Posted @ 19:26 PST) Israelis kill four Palestinians youth playing football GAZA CITY, Feb 28 (AP): An Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday killed four Palestinian youth, Palestinian medical officials said. A health ministry official said all of the victims were civilians under the age of 16. The incident raised the death toll in Thursday's fighting to 12 Palestinians, officials said. (First Posted @ 19:12 PST Updated @ 19:18 PST) 200 Gypsies clash in Romanian village over children's marriage BUCHAREST, Feb 28 (AP): About 200 Gypsies in a Romanian village fought each other with knives and other weapons after the family of a 14-year-old bridegroom canceled his wedding to a 12-year-old girl. Villagers in Sinesti, 30 kilometers east of Bucharest, clashed using swords, knives and hunting rifles, police said. They did not report injuries, but a newspaper said 12 people were hurt. (Posted @ 19:08 PST) 
Indian Muslim riot victims preserve houses as relic AHMEDABAD, Feb 28 (Reuters): Muslim survivors of one of India's worst religious riots plan to convert the burnt buildings where their relatives were killed into a museum. More than 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, were burned and hacked to death in a month of violence in Gujarat, western India six years ago. Human rights groups put the death toll at about 1,000. Twenty-six deserted and charred houses standing in the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim-dominated housing project in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city, are a reminder of one of the riot's more infamous episodes. “Pain, tears and wounds cannot be exhibited but burnt homes, blood spots, swords, stones will narrate the story,” said a man who lost his wife and two children in the riots. A voluntary organisation called Citizens for Justice and Peace is helping the victims design the museum, which will include exhibits about other religious riots since India's independence. (Posted @ 18:36 PST) Ex-German leader Kohl taken to hospital BERLIN, Feb 28 (AP): Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has been admitted to a hospital after a fall at his home. Kohl's office in Berlin confirmed reports Thursday in the online editions of the newspapers Bild and Die Welt that the 77-year-old Kohl was hospitalised after a fall at his house in the southwestern city of Ludwigshafen. (Posted @ 18:34 PST) Pakistan to export 15,000 tonnes sugar to Bangladesh ISLAMABAD, Feb 28 (APP): Pakistan will export 15,000 tonnes of sugar to Bangladesh from the surplus stock. Five sugar mills of Sindh have decided to export surplus amount sugar to make payments to farmers for sugar cane. The first shipment at $280 to $386 per tonne will leave Karachi for Chtitagong. (Posted @ 18:20 PST) 
20 missing in waters off east China: report BEIJING, Feb 28 (AFP): At least 20 people have gone missing in waters off China's east coast during the past week, state press said Thursday, with nine fishermen unaccounted for following the latest incident. The fishermen went missing after their trawler, registered in Zhejiang province, collided with an unidentified vessel and immediately sank on Wednesday night, Xinhua news agency said. (Posted @ 18:18 PST) India shrugs off US nuclear accord warning NEW DELHI, Feb 28 (AFP): India's foreign secretary said on Thursday he was working to seal a civilian nuclear deal with the United States, but cautioned he did not see a deadline based on the US political calendar. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said India would follow its own timeframe to implement the deal. The remarks came after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday that “the clock is ticking in terms of how much time is available to get all the different aspects of an agreement implemented” in a reference to US elections due in November 2008. (Posted @ 18:16 PST) Kenyan rivals strike coalition deal: Annan NAIROBI, Feb 28 (AFP/Reuters): Former UN chief Kofi Annan on Tuesday said Kenyan politicians had reached an agreement to form a coalition government to end the country's political crisis. Mediator Kofi Annan said Kenya's government and opposition had reached understanding on a power-sharing deal at talks on Thursday to end a deadly post-election crisis. “We have come to an understanding on the coalition agreement,” Annan told reporters after talks with President Mwai Kibaki, opposition leader Raila Odinga and African Union head Jakaya Kikwete. (Posted @ 17:20 PST) Israel kills six Palestinians in air strikes GAZA, Feb 28 (Reuters): Israel stepped up air strikes in the Gaza Strip Thursday, killing five Palestinian gunmen. A total of 16 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israel since Wednesday. The Palestinian dead included six-month-old Mohammed al-Burai, who was killed in an air strike on the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. (First Posted @ 10:45 PST, Updated @ 16:25 PST) Magnitude 5.0 earthquake in southern Greece ATHENS, Greece, Feb 28 (AP): An earthquake of preliminary magnitude 5.0 rattled southern Greece Thursday, seismologists said. No damage or injuries were reported. The undersea quake occurred at 6:54 a.m., off the southern city of Kalamata, some 280 kilometres southwest of Athens. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the magnitude at 4.5. (Posted @ 15:50 PST) Small plane crashes near California airport, killing three RIVERSIDE, California, Feb 28 (AP): A small airplane crashed in a residential neighbourhood west of Los Angeles, killing three people on board the plane, authorities said. No one on the ground was hurt in Wednesday night's crash, said Fire Battalion Chief Mike Esparza. Residents said the plane hit a palm tree and a car, and burst into flames. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Death toll in floods, landslides in Philippines climbs to 45 MANILA, Philippines, Feb 28 (AP): The death toll in floods and landslides that have lashed the eastern and southern Philippines for two weeks has climbed to 45, with eight people missing, officials said Thursday. Fed by heavy rains since February 12, floods have inundated entire towns and displaced more than 41,000 people in 12 provinces, destroying roads and bridges and triggering landslides, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported. (Posted @ 13:30 PST) U.S. troops kill Iraqi civilian BAGHDAD, Feb 28 (AP): U.S. soldiers killed an Iraqi civilian who failed to heed warnings to stop as he approached them on a foot patrol in the area around Muqdadiyah, about 90 kilometres north of Baghdad Wednesday, the military said Thursday. No weapon was found when the man was searched. Iraqi police in Diyala province said the slain man was elderly and suffered from mental disabilities and hearing problems. (Posted @ 13:00 PST) 29 Taliban killed in clashes, bombing in southern Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb 28 (AP): An ambush by militants of an opium poppy eradication force sparked clashes that killed 25 Taliban fighters and a policeman, a provincial police chief said Thursday. Four other militants died when a bomb went off. Insurgents ambushed the drug eradication force Wednesday in Marja district of Helmand province, killing one police officer and wounding two, said Gen. Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, the provincial police chief. Police attacked the militants afterward, killing 25 Taliban fighters, Andiwal said. Separately, four militants died and another was wounded Thursday when the roadside bomb they were planting on a main road in Helmand province exploded prematurely, Andiwal said. (Posted @ 12:55 PST) Bombs kill eight civilians in Sri Lanka: Tamil rebels COLOMBO, Feb 28 (AFP) - Two bombs killed at least eight civilians inside guerrilla-held territory in northern Sri Lanka, Tamil Tiger rebels said Thursday. The LTTE said Sri Lanka's military had infiltrated into the area and carried out two roadside bomb attacks against vehicles transporting civilians. (Posted @ 11:05 PST) Train crushes 15 people in western India AHMEDABAD, India, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A speeding train mowed down 15 people, including two children, at an unguarded railway crossing in the western Indian state of Gujarat, police said on Thursday. The victims, mostly labourers and their families, were crossing the tracks on Wednesday night when they failed to spot the rushing train. (Posted @ 10:55 PST) Rice tells Olmert of concern about Gaza civilians TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced concern about Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza. Rice, who met Olmert in Tokyo on Thursday, stopped short of an explicit call for Israel to exercise restraint in dealing with rocket attacks by Hamas. A rocket launched from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip killed a man in Israel on Wednesday, and Israeli air strikes killed six Palestinian militants and five civilians in the territory. Rice will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories next week to try to push along U.S.-brokered peace talks complicated by the growing violence. (Posted @ 10:50 PST) Turkey steps up Iraq onslaught as US urges quick pull-out ANKARA, Feb 28 (AFP) - Turkey stepped up its offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and refused to set a pull-out timetable, despite a US warning that the incursion should last no more than “a week or two.” The military said 77 militants were killed overnight in “the heaviest clashes” since its forces rolled over the border into the snow-bound mountains of northern Iraq last week. That brought the army toll of PKK dead to 230, while its own losses climbed to 27. As fighter jets continued to pound rebel positions on the sixth full day of the incursion, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates made it clear that US support for its NATO ally was not open-ended. The offensive must end quickly, he said. “I measure quick in terms of days, or a week or two, something like that. Not months,” he said in New Delhi before flying to Ankara for talks. (Posted @ 10:30 PST) Five dead in Tennessee shooting CHICAGO, Feb 28 (AFP) - Five people were killed, including the gunman, following a shooting in a small town in Tennessee, police said. The shooting took place in a public housing complex where a number of elderly people live. The killer sped away from the complex in a pickup truck, then crashed the truck and subsequently fled on foot. His body was discovered a short time afterwards, dead of “an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound,” police said. (Posted @ 10:20 PST) 11 killed, 25 injured as police plane crashes into Chile sports ground SANTIAGO, Feb 28 (AFP) - Five people in a busy sportsground in the Chilean capital Santiago died Wednesday when a police training aircraft fell out of the sky soon after taking off and exploded in a fireball, killing its six occupants, officials said. Hospital sources said another 25 people on the ground were hurt in the accident: one critically, four seriously and 20 with lesser injuries. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Israeli helicopter fires at Hamas interior ministry GAZA CITY, Feb 28 (AFP) - Three missiles fired by an Israeli helicopter seriously damaged the building housing the interior ministry of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night, witnesses said. (Posted @ 10:10 PST) Thailand's Thaksin returns home, ending exile BANGKOK, Feb 28 (AFP) -Ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra flew home Thursday to an ecstatic welcome from thousands of supporters, kissing the ground as he ended nearly one and a half years of self-imposed exile. Immediately after landing in Bangkok, he was driven under police escort to the Supreme Court to face corruption charges filed by the military regime that deposed him in a bloodless September 2006 coup.The court freed him on bail of eight million baht (250,000 dollars) after a 20-minute hearing over charges that he used his influence as premier to win a property deal for his wife in 2003. A statement from the court said Thaksin would have to ask permission from the judges if he wants to travel outside the country. The first hearing in the trial was set for March 12. Thaksin and his wife, Pojaman, each face up to 13 years in prison in the case. He was then escorted to the Attorney General's Office where he was to hear separate charges of making fraudulent filings to securities regulators in the listing of a property company. Speaking to reporters on the flight from Hong Kong, Thaksin insisted the graft charges were politically-motivated. “The allegations are made up. They are made to justify the coup.” (Posted @ 10:00 PST) Karachi Stocks up 60.02 points: KARACHI, Feb 28: At close of trading, the Kse-100 Index Was at 15079.71, Up 60.02 Points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, Feb 28: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 62.6 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
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