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| March 07, 2008 | Friday | Safar 28, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Musharraf says ''no differences between me and Army'' JACOBABAD, Pakistan, March 7 (PPI) : President Pervez Musharraf said Friday there are “no differences between him and the Army. There is no distancing between me and the army.” Inaugurating the Jacobabad drinking water supply scheme he said media should be free but also responsible. He said on completion of the electoral process, the country should move towards governance which is connected with wellbeing of the people through good governance, sense of responsibility and peace. The important point is to maintain economic stability, continue war against extremism, terrorism. The incoming government should also be conscious that presently development schemes worth billions of rupees are underway and these should continue and completed within time “It is my wish that incoming government should be stable and complete its term. I will continue to fully support incoming government”. Even today there were elements engaged in false propaganda. “This band of people is currently spreading propaganda that there is a distancing between me and the army, which is totally unfounded. There is no distancing between me and army. It is my army. It is the army of Pakistan.” (Posted @ 21:00 PST)
Eight die, 15 injured as bus overturns near Jhal Magsi SHAHDADKOT, Pakistan, March 7 (PPI): Eight persons were killed and 15 others injured as the tie-rod of a passenger bus broke down at Mat Sundar near Jhal Magsi, in Balochistan province, near here on Friday. The bus fell into a ditch, leaving eight persons dead and injuries to 15 others, police said. (Posted @ 20:52 PST)
PPP Co-Chairman condemns thrashing of MQM legislator in AJK Assembly ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Mar 7 (APP): Co-Chairman od Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Asif Ali Zardari has condemned the roughing up of MQM’s legislator Tahir Khokar in the AJK Assembly “as a shameful act that will continue to haunt the Assembly and the MLAs'. Asif Zardari said In a statement that the incident was all the more shocking and deplorable as malpractice, and misuse of public funds was sought to the covered up through resort to violence inside the House. “This is unpardonable and calls for strict action against the perpetrators in accordance with the law and the Assembly rules”, he added. The ministers and treasury members involved in the incident must not only be censured and their membership suspended under the rules but action should also be taken under the law against them for causing physical injury to the opposition member, he continued. (Posted @ 20:42 PST)
Pakistani cartoon protesters burn Danish flags ISLAMABAD, March 7 (AFP) – Protest strike, demonstrations and rallies were held across Pakistan on Friday to condemn the re-printing of blasphemous cartoons in Denmark and the anti-Islam film by a leading Dutch parliamentarian. Protesters torched effigies of the Danish premier and his country's flag and marched through the streets after Friday congregations, demanding the government to snap diplomatic relations with Denmark. In Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, hundreds of university and college students, joined by political leaders and workers of religious parties held demonstrations at five different venues. They torched an effigy of Danish Prime Minister wrapped in his country's flag amid chants of “Hang the cartoonist” and “Expel the Danish ambassador”. Rallies were also held in the central city of Multan, where also the protesters chanted slogans against Dutch parliamentarian for producing an anti-Islam film. In Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, about 1,000 people, including students, organized a protest march and were addressed by former provincial health minister Hafiz Hamidullah who said this was an organized campaign to incite Muslims to violence. “If the West is not involved it should ban such publications, and Muslim world should take a joint stand to foil such acts in future,” he added. In Islamabad, the leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami party, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, addressing a rally criticised the government for not taking the matter seriously. Protesters torched the Danish flag and portraits of the Danish premier. In Karachi, several rallies were organized and were largely attendedThe business community of Karachi joined the protest and closed down shops and major shopping areas. Public transport was also thin. Similar rallies, demonstactions were also held in all big and small towns across Pakistan. In Karachi, the business community joined the protest and closed down shops and major shopping areas, reports said adding that the protests remained peaceful and no reports of any untoward incident were received from anywhere. (Posted @ 20:34 PST)
Industrial load shedding in Karachi KARACHI, March 7 (PPI): Karachi Electric Supply Company has announced that all industrial feeders will be shed from 7 to 11 pm daily on account of the wide gap between the supply and demand of electricity. This is extremely disturbing as the industrial sector is already facing various problems and serious competition in international market, Zubair Tufail, Vice President of FPCCI said Friday. In a statement he urged the Government to ensure that present owners of KESC either fulfill their promises or improve electric supply or otherwise the company may be handed over to some other efficient and financially sound company. (Posted @ 20:04 PST)
College principal shot dead in Pakistan KHUZDAR, Pakistn, Feb 7 (PPI): The Principal of Divisional Public College Khuzdar, Prof Ashiq Hussain, was gunned down while returning home with his two sons after offering Juma prayers. Reports said unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car killing him on the spot but his two sons escaped unhurt. Prof Ashiq Husain has been serving in the college for about 20 years. (Posted @ 20:00 PST)
Shujaat supports independent judiciary QUETTA, Pakistan, Feb 7 (PPI): Pakistan Muslim League (Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said here Friday that all political parties must support bill for independence of judiciary if and when presented in the coming assembly, but opined that restoration of deposed judges was only a slogan and he didn’t see it coming. Talking to newsmen at the airport after brisk political activity during the short visit to the provincial capital he said the PML-Q parliamentary party in Balochistan assembly had empowered the party’s central leadership to choose the party's nominee for the post of chief minister and this will be done “ within two days”. Chaudhry Shujaat earlier presided over a meeting which was attended by 19 MPAs. He said the PML-Q had a right to form the government in Balochistan because it won majority in the province. PML-Q secretary general Mushahid Hussain Syed agreed that deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry should be released from house detention. We made a few mistakes which caused our defeat in elections. “Lal Masjid, Jamia Hafsa, operation in Balochistan, Swat, Waziristan and other areas created negative impression in the minds of the masses while the judicial crisis was not handled correctly”, he said. Mushahid also said that judicial crisis be solved on the floor of the assembly. (Posted @ 19:48 PST)
Sri Lanka says 66 combatants killed in fresh fighting COLOMBO, March 7 (AFP) - At least 61 Tamil Tiger rebels and five government troops were killed in fresh fighting across Sri Lanka's embattled north, the defence ministry said Friday. Heavy fighting along the de facto border with territory held by LTTE saw fierce clashes on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving a total of 66 combatants killed, the ministry said. It said security forces had captured key locations from the Tigers in the coastal district of Mannar over the past two days. (Posted @ 19:32 PST)
Indian prisoner released by Pakistan admits to spying NEW DELHI, March 7 (AFP) - An Indian who insisted he was not a spy during more than three decades on Pakistan's death row has admitted he was a secret agent after his return to his home country, a report said Friday. Kashmir Singh, 61, was freed by Pakistan after 35 years and crossed the border to India on Tuesday, where he was given a hero's welcome and showered with rose petals. “I was a spy and did my duty,” admitted Singh, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, adding he was paid about 400 rupees (10 dollars) a month for his work.“ I went to serve the country,” he told reporters in Chandigarh, the capital of northern Punjab state, but declined to say which Indian agency employed him and how he entered Pakistan. “Even Pakistan authorities failed to get this information from me,” he said. Singh, who hails from a village in Punjab, criticised the Indian government for failing to help him after he was caught in 1973, the report said. Singh was arrested in Rawalpindi at the age of 26 and was sentenced to death by a military court. (Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Five of family in Pakistan roof collapse HANGU, Pakistan, Mar 7 (APP): Four young girls and their mother died when the roof of their house caved in during the night at Khazeena Banda in North West Frontier Province late Thursday night. The father received serious injuries. The accident occurred when the victims were fast asleep and was caused by heavy rain which soaked the mud- structure. (Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Seven family members killed in road accident south of Cairo CAIRO, Egypt, March 7 (AP) - Seven members of one family, all males, were killed Friday when their car plunged into a canal near Nagaa Hammadi, a town 460 kilometers south of Cairo, police said. The accident occured owing to tyre burst The car flipped and skidded off the road and fell into the canal. (Posted @ 17:35 PST)
Musharraf to convene Pakistan parliament within ten days JACOBABAD, Pakistan, March 7 (AFP) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Friday he would convene the country's new parliament within ten days and vowed his full support to the incoming coalition government. Speaking at the opening of Rs 1.2 billion water-supply project for Jacoabad district headquarter town in Sindh province, the constituency of caretaker prime minister Mohammadmian Soomro, President Musharraf said the international community recognised that he had fulfilled his pledge to hold free and fair elections. “The national and provincial assemblies sessions will be called in a week or one and half weeks. There will be no hurdle to this,” state-run Pakistan television showed him as saying. “I promise if peace is maintained, I will fully support the new coalition governments,” Musharraf said, without elaborating. Musharraf said that moderate forces. “All political parties should demonstrate prudence and focus on governance and this is possible only if all of them demonstrate peace,” Musharraf said. The new federal and provincial governments should also sustain the process of development and fight the scourge of extremism and terrorism, he added. (First Posted @ 15:05 PST, Updated @ 16:35 PST)
Bus in China collides with truck, killing 10 BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) - Ten people were killed and four injured following a collision between a bus and a truck loaded with coal in China's northern Hebei province Friday morning, Xinhua News Agency said. The bus was carrying 14 people against the authorized load of only eight people. (Posted @ 1610 PST)
Protest in Pakistani cities over blasphemous cartoon KARACHI, Pakistan, March 7 (Reuters) - Protest demonstrations and rallies were organized across Pakistan on Friday against the republication in Danish newspapers of blasphemous cartoon that caused outrage across the Islamic world two years ago and the anti-Islam film made by a Dutch parliamentarian. The strike call was given by various religious and political groups and was endorsed by the business community in Karachi, the country's commercial capital. Shops closed and public transport was sparse, but banks and most offices remained open. There were more protests taking place after Friday prayers in other cities, including Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Quetta, Peshawar etc. (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Musharraf to convene Pakistan parliament within ten days KARACHI, Pakistan, March 7 (AFP) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Friday he would convene the country's new parliament within ten days and vowed his full support to the incoming coalition government. Inaugurating a water-supply project in southern Sindh province, Musharraf said the international community recognised that he had fulfilled his pledge to hold free and fair elections. “The national and provincial assemblies sessions will be called in a week or one and half weeks. There will be no hurdle to this,” state-run Pakistan television showed him as saying. “I promise if peace is maintained, I will fully support the new coalition governments,” Musharraf said, without elaborating. Musharraf also said that moderate forces had triumphed in the elections. The election winning Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) are demanding the parliament and four provincial assemblies are convened immediately to speed up transfer of power to elected representatives. (First Posted @ 15:05 PST, Updated @ 15:30 PST)
Musharraf says will back new Pakistan coalition ISLAMABAD, March 7 (Reuters) - President Pervez Musharraf said Friday he would support an incoming coalition government, so long as peace was maintained. “Durable, stable governments should be formed in the centre and provinces for five years,” Musharraf said while inaugurating a water supply project in southern Sindh province. “And if peace is maintained, I assure that I will fully support the coalition that is being formed.” TV news channels reported that Musharraf said in Sindh that it would be a week or two more before the new national and provincial assemblies were convened. The Election Commission on Thursday night officially announced results of 331 of 342 seats in the National Assembly. It confirmed the PPP came on top with 120, though 11 seats in the new assembly will be filled later because of court disputes or the death of candidates. (Posted @ 15:05 PST)
Field Hockey: India shocked by England in Olympic qualifier SANTIAGO, March 7 (AFP) – Great Britain shocked India by three goals to two in the 2008 Olympic Games men's field hockey qualifying tournament played here Thursday. In the other two matches, Austria defeated Mexico 3-1, and Russia humbled Chile 2-1. (Posted @ 14:53 PST)
Two children, grandfather killed in occupied Kashmir violence SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, March 7 (AFP) - Two girls, aged nine and 13, were among three members of a Muslim family killed in a grenade attack by suspected militants in southern Reasi district late Thursday, police said Friday. “Suspected militants hurled a hand grenade at the house of a village defence committee member, injuring eight people,” a police spokesman said. Three of the wounded died before they could be transported to hospital, he added. The condition of the injured survivors was not immediately known. The father of the two dead girls belonged to a village defence committee, set up by the Indian government to counter separatists in remote villages. The father was also injured in the attack. The militants have in the past targeted defence committee members and their families. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Musharraf will back new govt “if peace maintained” ISLAMABAD, March 7 (Reuters) President Musharraf said Friday he would support an incoming coalition government that could seek his resignation, so long as peace was maintained. “Durable, stable governments should be formed in the centre and provinces for five years, and if peace is maintained, I assure that I will fully support the coalition that is being formed,” Musharraf said while inaugurating a water supply project in Sindh province. (Posted @ 13:55 PST)
Police say 68 dead from Thursday's Baghdad blasts BAGHDAD, March 7 (Reuters) Iraqi police said Friday the death toll from coordinated bombings blamed on al Qaeda in a central Baghdad shopping area had risen to 68. Another 120 were wounded when two bombs exploded within minutes of each other Thursday evening in Baghdad's Karrada district, police said. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
Four policemen killed in Iraq suicide attack MOSUL, Iraq, March 7 (AFP) A suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station and other government offices in the Iraqi city of Mosul Friday, killing at least four policemen, medics and police officers said. The bomber attacked the Al-Waqhas police station in the northern city's Ras al-Jadha neighbourhood at around 7:00 am. Another 17 people, including 15 policemen were wounded. “We have received bodies of four policemen killed,” doctor Ghanim Ahmed at the Mosul general hospital told AFP. Another medic there confirmed admitting 15 wounded policemen wounded. (Posted @ 12:50 PST)
Palestinian farmer killed in Gaza GAZA, March 7 (Reuters) A Palestinian farmer was shot and killed Friday in the northern Gaza Strip near the border with Israel, Palestinian medical officials said. Palestinian medics said the farmer was killed by the Israeli army. (First Posted @ 09:20 PST, Updated @ 12:45 PST)
Pakistan opposition parties win over independents to tighten grip on parliament ISLAMABAD, March 7 (AP) Parties opposed to President Musharraf have won the allegiance of 11 lawmakers who contested last month's elections as independents, the election commission said Friday. Seven independents have joined Pakistan People’s Party while four have lined up with Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz, according to a breakdown provided by the commission. No lawmakers have joined pro-Musharraf parties. The election commission said 18 parliamentarians will remain independent after Thursday's deadline to sign up for a party. The cutoff also triggered the allocation of additional seats reserved for women and non-Muslims. PPP now has 120 lawmakers in the 342-seat National Assembly, the commission said. The PML-N has 90, while the PML-Q has 51. The election commission said 11 seats in the National Assembly remain vacant. The results in seven constituencies are in litigation, while voting in three places has been delayed by either security concerns or the death of a candidate. One seat reserved for a woman will be decided by drawing lots because two parties - the PML-Q and an alliance of religious parties - have an equal claim on it. (Posted @ 12:25 PST)
Sri Lanka says 47 combatants killed in fresh fighting COLOMBO, March 7 (AFP) At least 42 Tiger rebels and five government troops were killed in fresh fighting across northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Friday. Heavy fighting along the de facto border separating territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) saw fierce clashes Wednesday and Thursday, leaving a total of 47 combatants killed, the ministry said. It said security forces had captured key locations from the Tigers in the coastal district of Mannar over the past two days. (Posted @ 12:05 PST)
300,000 march in Colombia against paramilitary violence BOGOTA, March 7 (AFP) Some 300,000 people in Bogota and other major Colombian cities marched Thursday in support of the thousands of victims of right-wing paramilitary groups and “state crimes.” The demonstrations aimed at drawing attention to the “four million people displaced, 15,000 missing and 3,000 buried in common graves” in more than 20 years of violence by paramilitary and government forces, its organizers said. In the city, where some 200,000 people demonstrated, some 1,500 riot police took to the streets and had to step in to confront a group of masked individuals throwing stones and home-made bombs at them. Two people were injured in the melee and 24 people were arrested, police said. (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
Qaeda seeking big attack in U.S.: senior U.S. general WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) Al Qaeda is looking to attack the United States, perhaps urgently, so that its leadership can show tangible results after repeated threats, senior U.S. general Gene Renuart said Thursday. Renuart, head of the U.S. military command responsible for homeland defence, said recorded messages from al Qaeda leaders such as Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri show al Qaeda is “looking for a way to have a big impact again.” “I do think they are continuing to work at it, maybe harder than ever,” he told reporters at the Pentagon. Renuart said he believed groups sympathetic to al Qaeda were operating inside the United States. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
Cricket-England 286-6 v New Zealand (470) - close HAMILTON, New Zealand, March 7 (Reuters) England were 286 for six in reply to New Zealand's 470 all out at the close of play on the third day of the first test Friday. Scores: New Zealand 470 (R.Taylor 120, J.How 92, D.Vettori 88, B.McCullum 51; R.Sidebottom 4-90); England 286 for six (M.Vaughan 63; C.Martin 2-53, D.Vettori 2-60). (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Rebels attack Philippine gold mine, burn equipment MANILA, March 7 (Reuters) Suspected communist rebels attacked a gold mine in the Philippines Thursday and set fire to equipment, police said Friday. At least 50 armed men, believed to be from the communist New People's Army (NPA) stormed the Apex Mines Company site in the Compostela Valley, Senior Inspector Adolfo Eyan said. They disarmed the mine's security guards and set fire to equipment, Eyan said. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Israeli strike kills four Palestinian militants in Gaza GAZA, March 7 (Reuters) An Israeli air strike killed four Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis Thursday, the Islamic Jihad militant group and the Israeli army said. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Nicaragua breaks Colombia ties, widens crisis MANAGUA, March 7 (Reuters) Nicaragua broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia Thursday, widening a Latin American crisis over a raid by Colombia on a rebel camp inside Ecuador last Saturday. Venezuela and Ecuador have also cut relations with Colombia and sent troops to their frontiers with the U.S.-backed state in reaction to the cross-border raid. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said he was breaking off relations “in solidarity” with Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, who was visiting Managua. (Posted @ 09:15 PST)
Ecuador says captures five Colombian guerrillas QUITO, March 7 (Reuters) Ecuador's military captured five suspected Colombian guerrillas on the Ecuadorean side of the border between the two countries, a government spokeswoman said Thursday. The announcement comes during a week of Colombian complaints that Ecuador has protected FARC guerrillas whose group has killed thousands of Colombians over four decades. Latin American nations are embroiled in a major diplomatic crisis over a Colombian raid into Ecuador's territory last weekend to kill more than 20 Marxist rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Never ending story Many seasoned observers convinced themselves a week ago that Hillary Clinton’s campaign was dead in the water. Riven by internal disputes, mired in debt, resorting to below-the-belt tactics and negative campaigning, Mrs Clinton was merely waiting, head bowed, for Ohio and Texas to deliver the coup de grace. It never came. To general shock and awe, Mrs Clinton won robustly in Ohio and narrowly in Texas.
The exit polls say she won 60 per cent of those voters in Texas and 55 per cent in Ohio who had left their decision to the last three days. In other words, all that aggression worked. She shored up her vote among blue-collar workers, white men, and lower-income families concerned about the impending, or actual, recession.
Obama supporters cried foul at her television ad (”It’s 3am and your children are safe and asleep. But there’s a phone ringing in the White House. Something’s happening in the world ... who do you want to answer that call?”). This was nothing more than old-fashioned scaremongering. The point is that this is what election campaigns are all about. They burnish and harden the candidate who survives them. Mr Obama is a better candidate now than he was at Christmas and he will be better still if he overcomes the resurgence of Mrs Clinton.
John McCain was Tuesday night’s indubitable winner, becoming the official Republican candidate. This can be argued both ways. Every blow that Mrs Clinton lands on Mr Obama makes Mr McCain’s case for him. On the other hand, publicity is everything. The media will be so riveted by a race that now looks like going down to the wire of the Democrat delegate conference in Denver in August, that Mr McCain’s general election speeches will struggle to gain the same amount of attention.
He will also want to delay his choice of running mate until he knows whom he is going to face. If the Democrat turnout consistently exceeds the Republican one, if the thrills and spills of the contest are all one-sided, the Democrat nominee will gather the spoils come November. Mr Obama should resist the temptation to switch from movement to maths, to stop talking about the broad coalition of voters he has assembled, and start talking about his advantage in delegate numbers. It is true that even after Mrs Clinton’s three victories, it is hard to see how she will assemble the votes to win the nomination.
––The Guardian, London
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