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| April 08, 2008 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Sher Afgan manhandled by lawyers LAHORE, April 8, (APP): A mob of furious lawyers on Tuesday evening manhandled former Federal Minister Sher Afgan Khan Niazi who had detained in a local hotel here at Mazang road. The incident occurred when Sher Afgan went to meet a local advocate Malik Noor Muhammad Awan for some personal matter where a large number of angry lawyers gathered and tried to attack him. The lawyers also threw rotten eggs on Sher Afgan. However he rushed to escape and took shelter in a nearby local hotel where he remained for more than three hours. After hearing the news of the incident Aitzaz Ahsan President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Anwar Kamal President Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), Manzoor Qadir President Lahore District Bar Association (LDBA) and other lawyer leaders reached the spot and tried to solve the issue. SSP Operation Lahore and high officials of police also remained present to tackle the situation. Aitzaz and other leaders talked for a long time with the lawyers and Sher Afgan but when Sher Afgan came out from the hotel some persons again assaulted him. Sher Afgan was also assaulted by some persons while he was being shifted in an Edhi Ambulance. The mob broke the sidescreens of the ambulance while some persons also manhandled Aitzaz Ahsan. After hectic efforts of police officials, Rescue 1122 and the lawyers, Sher Afgan was shifted to a safe place. (First Posted @ 21:06 PST Updated @ 23:22 PST)
Freak hailstorm kills five in central China BEIJING, April 8 (Reuters): A freak hailstorm that lasted only half an hour killed five people, injured 66 others and damaged thousands of homes in central China on Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said. The storm, with wind gusts of over 100 kilometres per hour, hit Dangyang city, Hubei province, in the early hours of the morning and doused it with 6 centimetres of rain. More than 4,600 homes collapsed, were flooded or lost roofs under the onslaught, Xinhua quoted local officials saying. (Posted @ 22:48 PST)
Too early for more sanctions against Iran: Russia MOSCOW, April 8 (AFP): Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that it was too early to talk about tougher sanctions against Iran over its contested nuclear programme. New sanctions are not “on the agenda,” said Lavrov on Echo of Moscow radio station, shortly after the United States warned Iran risks new sanctions. (Posted @ 22:30 PST)
Elite Sri Lankan commandos kill three troops in mishap: police COLOMBO, April 8 (AFP): Sri Lanka's elite police commandos shot dead at least two soldiers and a civilian in a case of mistaken identity during a search in the restive east of the island, police said. The Special Task Force commandos opened fire at a group of men they believed were members of the Tamil Tiger separatist movement, but turned out to be troops on a similar mission in Ampara district, a police official said. (Posted @ 22:18 PST)
One-day curfew imposed on Baghdad BAGHDAD, April 8 (Reuters): Iraqi authorities have imposed a one-day curfew on Baghdad for Wednesday, an official in the Baghdad operations command for Iraqi security forces said. Cars and motorcycles will be banned from the streets of the Iraqi capital between 5:00 a.m. and midnight (0200-2100 GMT) on Wednesday, the official said. (Posted @ 22:00 PST)
Huge explosion in Somali capital injures 7 people MOGADISHU, April 8 (AP): A car rammed into a building where Burundian peacekeepers are based in the Somali capital in an apparent suicide bombing on Tuesday, causing a huge explosion and wounding seven people, witnesses and an African Union official said. The military wing of Somalia's Islamic group claimed responsibility for the attack in a southern neighborhood of Mogadishu. (Posted @ 21:45 PST)
Three dead, 11 injured in continuing Kurram Agency skirmishes PESHAWAR, April 8 (APP): The ongoing skirmishes and firing incidents in various areas of Kurram Agency have left three persons dead and 11 others injured. Political administration sources said Tuesday the fresh violence started on Saturday following bomb explosion-cum-firing incidents at a passenger convoy at Khar Kalay in Sadda area that killed two persons and injuring 18 others. (Posted @ 21:22 PST)
Ex-minister Dr Sher Afghan beaten in Lahore LAHORE, April 8: A group of angry lawyers beat Dr Sher Afghan, former parliamentary affairs minister in the PML-Q coalition government. The lawyers surrounded Dr Sher Afghan and manhandled him in Mozang, a locality in Lahore. He was rescued by Aitazaz Ahsan and police, and taken away in an ambulance. (Posted @ 21:06 PST)
Katsav becomes Israel's first ex-president to go on trial JERUSALEM, April 8 (AFP): Israel's ex-president Moshe Katsav appeared before a Jerusalem court on sexual harassment charges on Tuesday, becoming the country's highest-ranking former official to go on trial. Flanked by his wife and escorted by dozens of police officers, Katsav made his way into the courtroom to shouts of “rapist, rapist!” (Posted @ 20:54 PST)
Pakistan to implement top security for Olympics torch relay ISLAMABAD, April 8 (AFP): Pakistan will provide the same security it gives to the country's head of state to the Olympics torch relay when it passes through the capital Islamabad this month, the government said Tuesday. The flame passes through Islamabad on April 16. “All security arrangements for the torch relay participants will be that of the head of the state,” a government statement said quoting sports minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif. (Posted @ 19:54 PST)
Police fire teargas near Paris student protest PARIS, April 8 (Reuters): French police fired teargas during a protest by school students in Paris on Tuesday against plans by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government to cut education jobs. Minor scuffles also broke out and police detained at least six high-school students after youths threw bottles and rocks at security forces in the Port Royal area just south of the touristic Saint-Germain-des-Pres area. (Posted @ 19:50 PST)
Two killed in leak at Pakistan atomic energy site in Khushab ISLAMABAD, April 8 (Reuters/AP): A gas leak killed two workers on Tuesday at a heavy water plant run by Pakistan's atomic energy agency in central Punjab province, a spokesman for the agency said. The leak at the Khushab heavy water plant took place during its annual maintenance. The plant was closed at the time. The spokesman said an inquiry had been ordered. “The Khushab heavy water plant was under annual maintenance and was under shutdown status,” the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission said in a statement. “All necessary steps were taken, including evacuation of personnel as a precautionary measure. Situation was immediately brought under control. There is no threat to public life,” the statement said. (First Posted @ 18:22 PST Updated @ 19:34 PST)
Cricket: Pakistan 322 for five in first ODI v Bangladesh LAHORE, April 8 (Reuters): Pakistan were 322 for five from their 50 overs in the first one-day international against Bangladesh at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Tuesday. Score: Pakistan 322 for five (M. Yousuf 108 not out, Shoaib Malik 85). (Posted @ 19:32 PST)
Kenya opposition halts talks, protests flare NAIROBI, April 8 (Reuters): Kenya's opposition suspended talks with President Mwai Kibaki's party on Tuesday and police fired teargas to scatter opposition supporters protesting at the deepening deadlock over a power-sharing cabinet. Kibaki and rival Raila Odinga delayed naming the new cabinet on Monday after disagreeing over how to share out ministries and traded blame over who was responsible. The cabinet is central to a deal on ending Kenya's post-election crisis. (Posted @ 19:30 PST)
Militants escape Mauritania raid: security source NOUAKCHOTT, April 8 (AFP): Police and troops in Mauritania, armed with tear gas and automatic weapons, Tuesday stormed a building here hunting for extremists but their quarry managed to escape, security sources said. An operational bomb factory was found in the abandoned house, indicating the presence of a “terrorist” cell in Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania in northwest Africa, police said. The raid followed a shootout between police and extremists Monday night at the same house. (Posted @ 18:58 PST)
Egypt scrambles to appease workers after deadly riots CAIRO, April 8 (AFP): A high-level Egyptian government team visited the city of Mahalla el-Kobra on Tuesday for talks with textile workers after two days of deadly riots over price hikes and low salaries. The violent demonstrations, which erupted ahead of nationwide Egyptian municipal polls on Tuesday, are seen as the latest threat to veteran President Hosni Mubarak's regime. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and two other ministers are to hold talks with employees of the factory who led the Mahalla protests which erupted on Sunday. (Posted @ 18:52 PST)
Pakistan officials say gas leak forces nuke plant site evacuation ISLAMABAD, April 8 (AP): Pakistani officials say a gas leak has killed two workers at a nuclear plant that was undergoing annual maintenance. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission says workers were evacuated. A commission statement says the situation was quickly brought under control with no threat to the public. Police near the Khushab heavy water facility southeast of Islamabad say they were advised Tuesday afternoon by officials at the plant to prepare buses for a wider evacuation, but then were told they would not be needed. (Posted @ 18:22 PST)
Iran expands uranium enrichment program, begins installing 6,000 new centrifuges TEHRAN, April 8 (AP): Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday, a move Western nations condemned as defiance of U.N. demands Iran halt enrichment. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called the move “dangerous” and said U.N. sanctions against Iran should be increased. (Posted @ 18:18 PST)
Militants kill 17 Afghan road workers KABUL, April 8 (AP): Militants killed 17 Afghan road workers in the country's south, said an interior ministry spokesman. He said insurgents attacked the road construction crew Tuesday morning in Zabul province. Sixteen other workers were wounded. Afghan and international security forces responded, killing seven militants and wounding 12, he added. (Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Olympic torch arrives in US SAN FRANCISCO, April 8 (AFP) The Olympic torch arrived here Tuesday for its only US stop amid a series of protests and calls for a boycott of the Beijing games over China's human rights record, US media said. Television networks showed the torch arriving around 4:00 a.m. amid intense security. (Posted @ 17:25 PST)
Bangladesh Air Force jet crashes, one killed DHAKA, Bangladesh, April 8 (AP) A Bangladesh Air Force pilot died Tuesday when his jet crashed into a banana plantation near Dhaka, officials said. The fighter jet on a training mission crashed in Paharipara village, Tangail district, 72 kilometers north of Dhaka, police officer Mehedi Hassan said. (Posted @ 17:15 PST)
NATO soldier killed in southern Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan, April 8 (AP) An explosion hit a NATO patrol in southern Afghanistan’s Ghazni province Tuesday, killing one soldier and wounding another, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. (Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Pro US Sunni leader assassinated near Baghdad BAGHDAD, April 8 (AP): Gunmen attacked early Tuesday the home of a Sunni tribal leader working with the U.S.-sponsored Awakening Council killing him and his three sons, Iraqi police said. The incident occurred in the town of Baqouba, 80 kilometers north of Baghdad. (Posted @ 16:50 PST)
At least 85 fall sick with cholera in Vietnam HANOI, April 8 (AFP): At least 85 people have fallen ill in a new cholera outbreak in Vietnam, sparking a campaign to clean up Hanoi's lakes, many of which are polluted with raw sewage, state media said Tuesday. With more than half those affected living in the capital, the Hanoi People's Committee has ordered the cleaning of 30 of the city's more than 100 lakes, which are also contaminated with refuse, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported. (Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Pakistan reiterates opposition to arms race at regional, global levels New York, April 8 (PPI) Pakistan’s Permenant Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram while speaking at the Substantive Session of UN Disarmament Commission here reiterated Pakistan’s opposition to arms race at the regional and global levels. He said Pakistan has always pursued the goal of effective, verifiable security at bilateral, regional and international levels and adhered to the policy of minimum credible deterrence to promote and pursue security in South Asia. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Chaudhry Shujaat meets Arbab Ghulam Rahim KARACHI, April 8 (APP) President PML (Q) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who flew in here from Islamabad in the wake of new political developments in Sindh vis-à-vis MQM’s boycott of Sindh Assembly, visited the residence of former Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim. Accompanied by party's senior Vice-President and former Caretaker Information Minister Nisar A. Memon, Chaudhry Shujaat held a meeting with Arbab and condemned his maltreatment at Sindh Assembly building Monday. Later Chaudhry Shujaat reached Kingri House for a meeting with President PML(F) Pir Pagara. (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Israel kills Palestinian militant in Gaza raid GAZA, April 8 (Reuters) Israeli troops killed a Palestinian militant and wounded another during a raid into the northern Gaza Strip Tuesday, medics said. The Popular Resistance Committees group identified the dead gunman as Awad al-Tahrawi and said he was one of its members. (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
US, North Korea hold key nuclear talks SINGAPORE, April 8 (AFP) The United States and North Korea wrapped up key talks here Tuesday over the communist state's nuclear disarmament, as the US warned they were running out of time to resolve an impasse. US envoy Christopher Hill and North Korea's Kim Kye-Gwan - who are the chief negotiators for six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programmes - met at the US embassy in Singapore for about seven hours, a US official said. Ahead of the meeting, Hill said: “I will be discussing the fact that we are kind of running out of time…we're not looking for an agreement. I think we're looking to have a consultation on some of the issues that have kept us apart for several months and certainly I will be discussing them.” (Posted @ 15:45 PST)
Taliban ambush kills two policemen in Herat KABUL, Afghanistan, April 8 (AP) Taliban militants killed two police officers and wounded another at a checkpoint in western Afghanistan’s Heart province’s Shindand district Monday, Rauf Ahmadi, spokesman for the western region police, said. Separately, in Shindand, eight people were killed Tuesday morning during a six-hour gunbattle between two tribes, Ahmadi said. (Posted @ 15:45 PST)
Cricket- Pakistan win toss and bat in first Bangladesh one-dayer LAHORE, Pakistan, April 8 (AFP) Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik won the toss and elected to bat in the first day-night international against Bangladesh at the Gaddafi Stadium here Tuesday. Teams: Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (captain), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanveer, Rao Iftikhar, Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan, Dhiman Ghosh, Abdur Razzak, Mahmudullah Riad, Farhad Reza, Roqibul Hassan. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Qaim Ali Shah takes oath as Sindh CM KARACHI, April 8 (APP) Chief Minister-elect, Syed Qaim Ali Shah Tuesday took oath as 23rd Chief Minister of Sindh. Sindh Governor, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan administered the oath to Qaim Ali Shah at a swearing-in ceremony held at Governor House. Later, talking to the newsmen, Syed Qaim Ali Shah recounted his priorities as Chief Minister being maintenance of law and order, health, education, social problems, job opportunities, power crisis. To a question, Shah regretted the absence of MQM from the oath taking ceremony. He told reporters that PPP would pursue and hold talks with MQM to end their boycott of Sindh Assembly. He told another questioner that initially a small Sindh cabinet will be formed. (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Six Yemen soldiers wounded in attack amid protests SANAA, April 8 (Reuters) Six soldiers were wounded, two critically, in a bomb attack on their checkpoint in a town in south Yemen late Monday where violent job protests have raged for 10 days, a security official said. Separately, one soldier was killed and seven people were wounded Monday when government forces clashed with protesters in Dalea province. (Posted @ 14:55 PST)
Pakistan's nuclear command stays unchanged: official ISLAMABAD, April 8 (Reuters) The command and control system for Pakistan's nuclear weapons will stay unchanged under the country's new government, an official said Tuesday. Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is overseen by a National Command Authority (NCA) headed by the president and with the prime minister as its vice chairman. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said there would be no change to the NCA under the new government. “It's a constitutional body and there's no change in it,” Sadiq told Reuters Tuesday. “Overall command authority is headed by the president as a head of state.” A source close to the new coalition, led by the Pakistan People's Party, said the government had no plans to change the nuclear command structure. “There's no reason to change anything in a hurry,” the source told Reuters. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Iran sentences ex-nuclear negotiator for harming national security TEHRAN, April 8 (AFP) Iran has handed former nuclear negotiator Hossein Moussavian a two-year suspended jail sentence for harming national security, the Fars news agency said Tuesday. “Hossein Moussavian was sentenced to two years suspended in jail and a five year ban from holding state posts for harming the country's security,” an informed source told the agency. Moussavian was a leading nuclear negotiator in the team that held talks with EU countries during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami until 2005. He was briefly detained and then released on bail in 2007 on accusations of handing secrets about Iran's controversial nuclear programme to the British embassy in Tehran. (Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Maoists kill eight in eastern India RANCHI, India, April 8 (AFP) Suspected Maoist rebels ambushed and set ablaze a civilian vehicle Tuesday in eastern India, killing all eight people on board, police said. The attack took place in a forested area of Gumla district, 170 kilometres from Jharkhand state capital Ranchi, said police spokesman Raj Kumar Mallik. The victims were members of the civilian “Shanti Sena,” or “Peace Force,” created by authorities more than two decades ago to counter Maoist rebels. (Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Cricket- ICC sleuth quizzes Akhtar over fixing claims LAHORE, April 8 (AFP) An International Cricket Council investigator has questioned Shoaib Akthar over the fast bowler's claims that he was offered money to throw matches, Pakistani sources said Tuesday. Akthar, 32, was banned for five years a week ago for criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He later alleged that that he had refused offers of bribes to underperform in international games during his career. “Alan Peacock of the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) interviewed Akhtar and some other players on Sunday and will make recommendations to the ICC over any further action,” a PCB source told AFP. The source, requesting anonymity, did not identify the other players. Pakistan's representative in the ACSU, retired colonel Nuruddin Khawaja, assisted Peacock in the investigation, said the sources. (Posted @ 13:55 PST)
Cricket- ICC sleuth quizzes Akhtar over fixing claims LAHORE, April 8 (AFP) An International Cricket Council investigator has questioned Shoaib Akthar over the fast bowler's claims that he was offered money to throw matches, Pakistani sources said Tuesday. Akthar, 32, was banned for five years a week ago for criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He later alleged that that he had refused offers of bribes to underperform in international games during his career. “Alan Peacock of the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) interviewed Akhtar and some other players on Sunday and will make recommendations to the ICC over any further action,” a PCB source told AFP. The source, requesting anonymity, did not identify the other players. Pakistan's representative in the ACSU, retired colonel Nuruddin Khawaja, assisted Peacock in the investigation, said the sources. (Posted @ 13:55 PST)
At least six dead in Japan fishing wreck TOKYO, April 8 (AFP) Rescuers said Tuesday they have recovered the bodies of six fishermen after their boat sank off northern Japan, but two crew members were still missing. Eight crew members were on board the five-tonne Nikko Maru searching for scallops in strong winds and rough seas when the boat went missing Saturday off northern Aomori prefecture. Four bodies were found Monday, with another two recovered earlier, the Japan Coast Guard said. (Posted @ 13:55 PST)
Vietnam military plane crash kills five HANOI, April 8 (AFP) Five Vietnamese military pilots were killed Tuesday when their twin-engine light transport aircraft crashed into a field on the outskirts of the capital Hanoi, local officials said. “Around 10:00 am an airplane crashed in Thanh Tri, killing five military pilots,” Nguyen Quang Hieu of the Thanh Tri People's Committee in southwest Hanoi told AFP. “It crashed into a field and there are no civilian casualties,” Hieu said. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Iran to install 6,000 new nuclear centrifuges: Ahmadinejad TEHRAN, April 8 (AFP) Iran is starting work to install 6,000 new uranium-enriching centrifuges at its nuclear plant in Natanz, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday, state media reported. “Today, the phase for installing 6,000 new centrifuges at the facility in Natanz has started,” the state broadcaster's website quoted Ahmadinejad as saying at the atomic plant. Iran was Tuesday marking its “national day of nuclear technology”, which commemorates the April 2006 anniversary of Iran's first production of uranium sufficiently enriched to make atomic fuel. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
New fighting kills 26 rebels, one soldier in northern Sri Lanka COLOMBO, April 8 (AP) Fighting between government forces and Tamil separatists in northern Sri Lanka left 26 rebels and one soldier dead, the military said Tuesday. The worst fighting Monday broke out along with front lines in Vavuniya district, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. Government forces killed 17 guerrillas, and three soldiers were wounded, Nanayakkara said. Other fighting in Mannar and Welioya regions killed nine rebels and one soldier, and left three soldiers wounded, he said. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not be reached for immediate comment. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Iran kills at least 18 smugglers, gunmen TEHRAN, April 8 (Reuters) Iranian security forces killed at least 18 drug smugglers and six other armed men in northeastern Iran Monday, the Fars News Agency said Tuesday. The men were reportedly killed near the city of Taibad in Khorasan Razavi province. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Bus bombing kills six north of Baquba BAQUBA, Iraq, April 8 (AFP) A roadside bomb struck a passenger bus in the town of Bala Druz, north of Baquba Tuesday and killed at least six people, including four children, Police Major Mohammed al-Karkhi said. Five others were also wounded in the blast, including four children and a woman, Karkhi added. (Posted @ 12:55 PST)
Fighting rages in Baghdad Shiite bastion BAGHDAD, April 8 (AFP) Fierce fighting raged Tuesday as US and Iraqi forces battled heavily armed Shiite militiamen in their Baghdad bastion of Sadr City for a third straight day, an AFP correspondent and witnesses said. Witnesses said clashes erupted soon after midnight as American tanks attempted to push into Sadr City. They were met by fighters of Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia armed with rockets, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, witnesses said. (Posted @ 12:50 PST)
Pakistan calls for new consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation UNITED NATIONS, April 8 (APP): Reaffirming its opposition to arms race at the regional or global lebvel, Pakistan has called for a new consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation to respond to new realities and challenges. Speaking in the U.N. Disarmament Commission on Monday, Ambassador Munir Akram said unless there was broad agreement on goals and parameters that needed to be pursued, it would be difficult to achieve breakthroughs. Such a new consensus should, he said, among other things, revive the commitment by all States to the goal of complete nuclear disarmament, with no ambiguity on that objective. (Posted @ 11:35 PST)
Balochistan PA speaker, Deputy speaker sworn in ISLAMABAD, April 8 (APP): Mohammad Aslam Bhootani and Syed Mutiullah Agha,who were elected as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Balochistan Assembly on Monday , were administered oath of office when the assembly proceedings resumed on Tuesday morning. The provincial assembly will elect the leader of the house on Wednesday. PPP’s nominee Nawab Aslam Raisani is all set to be elected unopposed. Meanwhile, in Karachi, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan was due to administer oath of office to Syed Qaim Ali Shah who was elected unopposed as the leader of the house on Monday. On the other hand, there was no change in the position of Muttahida Quami Movement and other opposition parties who had decided to boycott the Sindh Assembly proceedings in protest against the manhandling of the former chief minister Arab Ghulam Rahim when he arrived to take the oath on Monday. (Posted @ 11:35 PST)
Big Five and Germany to meet soon on Iranian nuclear program WASHINGTON, April 8 (AP) - Germany and the five permanent U.N. Security Council nations viz the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France are set to meet in mid-April to discuss ways to confront Iran's nuclear efforts, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday. McCormack had few other details on the gathering. (Posted @ 10:55 PST)
Truck carrying illegal migrants plunges into Mexican reservoir, kills 8 LA CONCORDIA, Mexico, April 8 (AP) - A truck carrying Central American migrants in a hidden compartment plunged into a reservoir in southern Mexico, killing at least eight people. The majority of victims were believed to be from Guatemala. Crews recovered the bodies of six men and two women, and police said at least four more are believed to have been aboard the vehicle. The migrants had been hidden under a floorboard beneath a load of kitchen goods and were trapped when the driver apparently lost control and the vehicle sank in 65 feet of water, police said. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
High food prices to persist for several years: World Bank chief WASHINGTON, April 8 (AP) - Rising food prices, which have caused social unrest in several countries, are not a temporary phenomenon but are likely to persist for several years, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Monday. Strong demand, change in diet and the use of biofuels as an alternative source of energy have reduced world food stocks to a level bordering on an emergency, he told reporters. Zoellick said the 185-member World Bank would work with other organizations to deal with the crisis by seeking ways to help farmers, especially in Africa, to increase productivity and improve access to food through schools or workplaces. “This is not a this-year phenomenon,” he said, referring to the price spike. “I think it is going to continue for some time.” (Posted @ 10:35 PST)
Washington Post wins six Pulitzer prizes NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) - The Washington Post won six Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, including the prestigious Public Service award for its reporting on conditions of U.S. war veterans at America's flagship military hospital. The newspaper also won for breaking news reporting, national reporting, international reporting, feature writing and commentary. Reuters won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for a picture of a Japanese videographer killed during a demonstration in Myanmar. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Cement truck crashes into China park, kills eight BEIJING, April 8 (Reuters) - A loaded cement truck lost control on a mountain road in Nanyang, Henan province, in central China, crashed through the gate of a park and ran down more than 20 people, killing eight, a newspaper said on Tuesday. Many of the victims were students. “Get out of the way!,” the Beijing News, quoting witnesses, said the driver was shouting out the window when he realised his brakes had failed. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Five US soldiers killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, April 8 (AFP) - The US military Monday announced the deaths of five American soldiers in Iraq. Two soldiers were killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on Monday, the military said but did not specify the exact location of the attack in Baghdad. One soldier was killed by small arms fire, also on Monday, after his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad, while another soldier was killed in east Baghdad on Sunday, during a “route-clearing patrol,” the military said. The fifth soldier died on Sunday from wounds sustained in a roadside bombing in Diyala province. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Cricket: Windies name squad for ODIs PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, April 8 (AFP) - West Indies announced a 16-member squad on Monday for the three-match One-day International series against Sri Lanka. The first ODI will be played on Thursday at Queen's Park Oval which also hosts the second ODI on Saturday. The third and final match will be a day/night contest next Tuesday, April 15, at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia. Squad: Chris Gayle (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain), Sulieman Benn, Patrick Browne, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Fidel Edwards, Runako Morton, Keiron Pollard, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Beijing Olympic organisers vow no force can stop torch relay BEIJING, April 8 (AFP) - The Beijing Olympic organisers vowed on Tuesday that “no force” could stop the Games torch relay, after a wave of protests disrupted its early legs in London and Paris.“The torch relay will continue its journey with the support of people all over the world,” Beijing Olympic organising committee (BOCOG) spokesman Sun Weide told reporters.“No force can stop the torch relay of the Beijing Games.” (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Resource geopolitics & security By Zeenia Satti
ISLAMABAD needs to reorient its strategic vision by correctly assessing the goals of significant actors in the region. For Washington, Afghanistan and Pakistan are an important transit route for Central Asian energy resources and one that circumvents Russia, China, and Iran.
Washington’s objective is the stabilisation of this ‘route’. Washington’s long-term objectives in Afghanistan and Pakistan should be discerned from its acts of omission and commission in the region since 1989 instead of its verbal proclamations.
In 1989, Afghanistan was a nation triumphant with the pride of having vanquished a superpower. Ahmad Shah Massoud, an acclaimed national hero and pro-West politician, could become its leader. Instead of facilitating the formation of a nationalist government and investing in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, the CIA chose to continue gun-running for different warring factions.
The claim that US intelligence disengaged itself from the region after l989 is false. While the formation of the Taliban is squarely blamed on Pakistan, a study of how the organisation suddenly rose from oblivion in 1993 and possessed staggering amounts of dollars is yet to emerge. Secondly, with the rise of the Taliban, the Uzbeks and the Tajiks were formally separated from the Pashtuns.
Zahir Shah, or a member of his family, would have been better for rallying post-9/11 disparate Afghans than an expatriate Pashtun with CIA affiliations. Thirdly, while Afghanistan is declared central to the war on terror, Washington’s financial commitment to its reconstruction is paltry and lacks a coherent plan.
The Bush administration did not request any reconstruction aid for Afghanistan in its 2003 budget proposal. It slashed reconstruction aid to Afghanistan from one billion dollars in 2005 to $623m in 2006, just when reconstructive effort cried for more funding and better implementation.
Similarly, Washington did not commit its resources to long-term de-radicalisation in Pakistan, akin to its policy in Egypt after the Camp David Accords. Washington’s policy in Egypt sustains Cairo’s peace with Israel and prevents the resurgence of Nasserite pan-Arabism. The systematic religious radicalisation of the NWFP and Balochistan during the 1979-1989 Soviet-Afghan war was carried out under the auspices of the US intelligence agencies.
When Washington’s preoccupations were replaced by energy security concerns owing to the prediction that the world’s oil was depleting and demand for it rising, Pakistan and Afghanistan’s key location for Central Asian energy pipelines and Pakistan’s nuclear weapons rendered these states too important for the neglect each seemingly suffered in 1989-2001.
As Washington’s spheres of influence strategy gave way to the strategy of global power projection for a new world order, it is reasonable to assume that the US made a post-9/11 plan for Pakistan and Afghanistan. Washington seems to want to reconstruct the region not as it is structurally but as Washington deems it should be.
Pakistan needs to apply extreme caution to its role in what is presented to it as the ‘war on terror’. The US cannot continue to occupy Afghanistan for long. The Afghan insurgency, if supported by Russia and China, could make the US bleed à la the Soviet Union and could even break up Nato. Neither can it abandon Afghanistan due to the latter’s strategic location. In order to guarantee the safety of transiting pipelines, the US would go to the extent of breaking Afghanistan into separate, ethnically harmonious states.
Poverty aggravates ethnic differences which can explode into armed conflict. Pipelines have been blown up during such conflicts. Afghanistan’s break-up is therefore entirely plausible. The imperatives of global power projection require the existence of smaller states in strategic areas because these can be controlled militarily with comparative ease.
Should a Pashtun state emerge, the NWFP would become its political ligament if Islamabad continues with the war on terror. While Pakistan is building a wall along Sistan/Balochistan, it is overtaken by the events on its northwestern front. This political inertia could cost Pakistan dearly and may give further futuristic relevance to Jinnah’s expression ‘a truncated, mutilated, moth-eaten Pakistan’.
If Afghanistan is balkanised, Pakistan stands to lose on another count. The new Pashtun state will be hostile to Islamabad, given the latter’s treatment of the Taliban. Vendetta is ingrained in the Pashtun culture. Cordial inter-state relations are important to ensure the safety of transiting pipelines that are governed by multilateral, instead of corporate to a single government, treaties.
While Islamabad is driven to killing Pashtun Afghan insurgents and their local sympathisers, India is being invited to join in the reconstruction efforts of the Karzai government. Its soft power in Afghanistan is rising. In addition to its mission in Kabul, India’s consulates are functioning in Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar and Jalalabad.
Pakistan’s soft power is being washed away in the blood that the US is compelling Islamabad to spill in its Pashtun lands. In July 2003, Pakistan’s embassy was attacked by hundreds of Afghans in Kabul. In February 2008, its Afghan envoy was kidnapped from Fata.
Pakistan’s territory is of vital strategic importance to India. India is the second fastest growing economy in the world, dependent entirely on imported fuel. All of India’s supply from the Persian Gulf and Central Asia conveniently transits through Pakistan. India’s energy supply is greatly facilitated if Pakistan reunifies with it.
A hostile state sitting on the jugular vein of the Indian economy is not in India’s interest. The tying of unresolved bilateral issues to supplies can adversely complicate resource diplomacy. India has already learned its lesson with Bangladesh that obstructed the Indian-Myanmar Shwe gas pipeline deal long enough for China to jump in and clench it from under India’s nose.
India is foot-dragging on the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline deal which it previously pursued with interest. Besides anticipating Iran’s economic isolation, New Delhi seems to anticipate some development regarding Pakistan.
The state in Pakistan is being de-legitimised. Its ability to provide security and basic amenities to its people seems fettered. The severe shortage of key supplies has reached alarming proportions. The military is forced to defend the western front, leaving the eastern with less security. Its institutional integrity has come under strain over the NWFP operation which has made the Pashtuns restive.
They are the second largest ethnic contingent within Pakistan’s military. All this is happening against the backdrop of the convergence of Indo-US strategic interests vis-à-vis Pakistan.
During the Cold War, Washington built the elite military institution within Pakistan as an ally and ensured Pakistan’s survival at crucial junctures such as the 1971 India-Pakistan war. The US no longer wants a strong military, much less a nuclear military, in Pakistan. If Pakistan fails to devise a security policy that addresses the new imperatives of resource geopolitics, its inertia could lead to its undoing.
The writer is an energy consultant and analyst of energy geopolitics based in Washington DC.
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