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| May 28, 2008 | Wednesday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 22, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Five die, seven injured in tribal clash in upper Sindh Shikarpur, May 28 (PPI): At least five persons were killed and seven injured in an armed clash between Shar and Khosa tribes at Madd Khosa and Muharam Shar villages on Wednesday morning. Police said the Shar and Khosa tribesmen attacked each others villages with automatic weapons in dispute over farm land. Five persons died in the gunbattles while seven people including a woman were seriously injured. (Posted @ 00:00 PST)
Two die, 27 injured as coach overturns near Shikarpur Shikarpur, May 28 (PPI): Two passengers were killed and 27 others injured when a coach overturned near toll plaza on Shikarpur - Khanpur road on Wednesday. The driver of the coach coming from Thul via Rahimabad lost control of the vehicle when its tyre burst. Two passengers were killed while 27 others were injured. The accident occurred in the jurisdiction of New Faujdari police station. (Posted @ 23:25 PST)
Ten hurt in Utility Store brawl SHAHDADPUR, May 28 (PPI): Ten persons were injured, two of them seriously, as two groups clashed outside a utility store here on Wednesday, witnesses and police said. Witnesses told police two rival groups of the Rajput clan joined a queue to purchase flour. One of them jumped the line which led to an exchange of hot words. The argument soon turned into a brawl and clubs and firearms were used by both groups. The violence caused injuries to 10 persons who were taken to hospital. The utility stores was closed for safety after the incident. (Posted @ 23:00 PST)
16 Tamil rebels killed in northern Sri Lanka fighting COLOMBO, May 28 (AP): Fighting between government soldiers and Tamil rebels along the northern front lines of Sri Lanka killed 15 rebels, the military said Wednesday. The latest battles broke out Tuesday in Vavuniya, Mannar and Welioya regions, a military spokesman said. Army troops, in the worst fighting, killed seven rebels in Welioya region, he said. The same battle wounded 14 rebels and two soldiers, he said. Other clashes in Vavuniya and Mannar killed nine rebels and wounded four soldiers, he said. The rebel spokesman could not be reached for immediate comment. (Posted @ 22:30 PST)
Two dozen militants, civilians killed in Afghan strikes: officials KHOST, May 28 (AFP): Air strikes and ground fighting in Afghanistan killed more than two dozen militants and two civilians, officials said Wednesday, amid counter claims that several women and children were also killed. A Paktia government spokesman told AFP 17 Taliban fighters and two civilians, including an elderly woman, died in a strike in Zurmat district. A separate NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said it had killed several insurgents in action Tuesday in the eastern province of Kunar. “Precision munitions” were dropped on various insurgent positions in Korengal district, ISAF said. But a villager said he had lost 14 relatives. “My home was bombed last night. Fourteen members of my family including six women, four children and four men were killed,” he told AFP from a hospital in nearby Jalalabad city where he had brought some of the wounded. (Posted @ 22:00 PST)
Three personal injured in Quetta blast Quetta, May 28: Three personal were injured when bomb was thrown on Kalat road in the city said a local tv channel. (Posted @ 21:40 PST)
Algerian police fire tear gas at rioters in Oran ALGIERS, May 28 (Reuters): Police fired tear gas at stone-throwing rioters for a third straight day in Algeria's second city of Oran on Wednesday, residents said. Youths ransacked shops and set fire to rubbish in central streets in what residents said was the worst public disturbance in years in the usually tranquil Mediterranean port city. The immediate trigger was public anger over the relegation on Monday of the western town's soccer team to the country's second division. But some newspaper commentators suggested the underlying cause was growing discontent over unemployment, lack of housing and what critics call an unresponsive political elite. More than 70 percent of Algerians under 30 are unemployed. (Posted @ 21:10 PST)
Small blasts hit Kathmandu as Nepal prepares to abolish monarchy KATHMANDU, May 28 (Reuters): Two small bombs exploded in the Nepal's capital on Wednesday only hours before political parties were due to abolish its once-revered Hindu monarchy at a special assembly session. Two people on a motorcycle drove up to the venue where politicians were gathering to vote on the future of the 239-year-old monarchy and lobbed a small bomb. No one was injured, police said. Another homemade bomb exploded in a park, injuring one person. Five bombs have exploded in the last three days. No one has been killed in the blasts but the attacks, some blamed on royalists, have added to tension in the capital. (Posted @ 20:30 PST)
NATO soldier dies in Afghan blast: ISAF KABUL, May 28 (AFP): A soldier with the NATO-led force in Afghanistan was killed and four others injured when their vehicle hit a landmine on Wednesday, the alliance force said. The soldiers were on a patrol in the eastern province of Paktika when their vehicle was struck, an International Security Assistance Force spokesman told AFP. “One ISAF soldier died of wounds and four others were wounded in eastern Afghanistan today,” the force said in a statement. (Posted @ 20:10 PST)
Eight held in France over mosque arson attack TOULOUSE, May 28 (AFP): Eight people, including several French soldiers were arrested over an arson attack on a mosque in southwestern France, judicial officials said Wednesday. Aged 18 to 30, the suspects were taken into custody for questioning over the April 20 attack in Colomier near the city of Toulouse, in which arsonists started a fire in the mosque entrance and trashed a next-door prayer room. Local newspaper La Depeche du Midi said the arrests took place near the cities of Toulouse, Castres and Carcassonne, where two soldiers were reportedly detained at their barracks. (Posted @ 20:05 PST)
Court convicts powerful Indian politician's son in 2002 murder NEW DELHI, May 28 (AP): The son of a wealthy Indian politician was found guilty Wednesday of murdering his sister's boyfriend because he disapproved of their relationship, in a case seen as a test of courts' ability to take on the powerful. A New Delhi court found Vikas Yadav guilty in the 2002 abduction and murder of Nitish Katara and of destroying evidence of the crime. His cousin, Vishal Yadav, was also convicted on the same charges. Vikas Yadav's father, Dharam Pal Yadav, is a wealthy and powerful lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh state, notorious for strongmen who dominate state politics using money, power and harassment to further their interests. (Posted @ 19:55 PST)
Ahmadinejad to visit Rome in first Europe trip ROME, May 28 (Reuters): Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to make his first trip to Western Europe as president next week when he attends a U.N. conference in Rome on global food security, Italy's government said on Wednesday. Iran has not announced President Ahmadinejad's travel plans, but the Italian Foreign Ministry said the Iranian leader had already advised Rome that he intends to come for the June 3-5 summit. (Posted @ 19:53 PST)
Amnesty slams India communists for land violence NEW DELHI, May 28 (Reuters): Militias of a communist party ruling an eastern Indian state have killed people and raped women with impunity after farmers refused to give their land for industry, Amnesty International said on Wednesday. The human rights abuses occurred after the West Bengal government failed to persuade farmers of Nandigram to sell their land for a chemical industry complex, the organisation said. “People who abused, attacked, took recourse to violence to establish their political dominance were neither booked nor arrested by state agencies,” Mukul Sharma, head of the group's India chapter, told Reuters. (Posted @ 19:50 PST)
Three killed in Ethiopia blast: govt ADDIS ABABA, May 28 (AFP): A bomb exploded Wednesday in a hotel in southern Ethiopia, killing three people and wounding five others, an information ministry spokesman told AFP. “According to security reports, there has been an explosion in Negelle Borena today killing three people and injuring five. The government suspects a terrorist group,” he said. (Posted @ 19:45 PST)
Iraqi troops kill 10 militiamen: US military BAGHDAD, May 28 (AFP): Iraqi security forces shot dead 10 militiamen in a clash in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Wednesday, the US military said. “There were operations against special groups in eastern Baghdad resulting in 10 special group criminals being killed,” a US statement said. The US military has coined the term “special groups” to describe gunmen it claims have been trained by Iranians. The statement said one more militia member was wounded in the pre-dawn operation. Iraqi security officials said three more people were killed and five wounded on Wednesday in two separate roadside bomb attacks in Diyala province. (Posted @ 19:30 PST)
Seven killed in Thai south: police YALA, May 28 (AFP): Three Thai soldiers and four rebels were killed in a series of incidents across Thailand's far south, including a shootout at a wedding party, police said Wednesday. One soldier was killed and two injured in a blast in Pattani province late Tuesday, police said. A man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the attack but he fought with the soldiers driving him to a military camp, causing a car crash which killed a sergeant major and a private. The suspect was also injured, authorities said. Later Wednesday in Yala, militants ambushed a wedding convoy, but some of the villagers were armed and fought the attackers, killing one rebel, police said. Ten members of the wedding party were injured. (First Posted @ 13:30 PST; Updated @ 19:05 PST)
China okays use of Japanese soldiers to help deliver post-quake relief aid TOKYO, May 28 (AP): China has asked Japanese soldiers to deliver earthquake relief aid in what would be the first significant military dispatch between the two countries since World War II, officials said Wednesday. It would involve Japanese defense forces airlifting tents and other relief supplies to quake-hit areas in central China, defense and foreign ministry officials said. Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Japan is considering using a military plane and surplus tents and blankets. (Posted @ 18:55 PST)
Burundi army and rebels clash despite truce, 2 dead BUJUMBURA, May 28 (Reuters): Burundi troops shot dead two rebels on Wednesday in a clash just two days after both sides declared an end to fighting, the military said. Fighting between the Forces for National Liberation (FNL) and government troops had killed nearly 100 people in recent weeks. But they agreed on Monday to halt hostilities. Both sides tried to play down Wednesday's incident. (Posted @ 18:30 PST)
15 Afghans killed, 56 injured in truck accident KABUL, May 28 (AP): A passenger truck ran off the road in a remote mountainous region of Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing 15 people and wounding 56, 20 of them seriously an official said. The truck ran off the road in the northeastern province of Badakhshan. President Hamid Karzai ordered Afghan army helicopters to help evacuate the wounded to better hospitals in Kabul, the capital, but bad weather was hindering that effort, said the provincial health director. (First Posted @ 11:50 PST, Updated @ 18:00 PST)
Three protestors killed by Nepal police, says official KATHMANDU, May 28 (AFP): Three people in western Nepal were shot dead by police Wednesday after a dispute between residents spiralled out of control, a local official said. The row began when a journalist was beaten by a group of locals after writing about a conflict between villagers on the usage of a pond in Dhangadi town, Kailali district, the official said. “A mob attacked the local district office and the police had to use force to stop them. They opened fire and three people were killed,” a senior official from the remote district told AFP. (Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Four Copts killed in Cairo drive-by shooting CAIRO, May 28 (AFP): Four Coptic Christians were killed on Wednesday when two men on a motorbike fired shots at a jewellery shop in the Egyptian capital where they worked, a security official told AFP.The drive-by shooting happened at around 0930 GMT in the mixed Christian-Muslim district of Zeitoun in northeast Cairo, the official said, adding that the attackers escaped. There was no immediate indication that the killing was sectarian. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Four Copts killed in Cairo drive-by shooting CAIRO, May 28 (AFP): Four Coptic Christians were killed on Wednesday when two men on a motorbike fired shots at a jewellery shop in the Egyptian capital where they worked, a security official told AFP.The drive-by shooting happened at around 0930 GMT in the mixed Christian-Muslim district of Zeitoun in northeast Cairo, the official said, adding that the attackers escaped. There was no immediate indication that the killing was sectarian. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Pakistan hails 'historic' nuclear tests 10 years on ISLAMABAD, May 28 (AFP): Pakistan hailed the tenth anniversary of its first nuclear tests on Wednesday, saying it marked a decade of “responsibility and restraint” by the world's only Islamic atomic power. The foreign ministry issued a statement marking the anniversary of the detonations on May 28, 1998, which were carried out in response to nuclear tests by regional rival India and caused worldwide alarm. “It was a historic day in the nation's quest for security,” the statement said of the tests. “Pakistan has taken its responsibilities as a nuclear weapon state seriously. We have not relented in our pursuit for creating a peaceful global and regional environment,” it added. The foreign ministry said Pakistan had set up an elaborate nuclear command and control mechanism in February 2000 and also established strong export control mechanisms which met international standards. Pakistan was “opposed to a nuclear arms race in South Asia”, but it added: “while continuing to act with responsibility and avoiding an arms race, Pakistan will neither be oblivious to its security requirements, nor to the needs of its economic development.” STUDENTS RALLY: Pakistani students protested Wednesday after police stopped them meeting nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan on the 10th anniversary of the country's nuclear tests, witnesses said. The group of around 50 students from Jamaat-i-Islami party chanted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf after they were prevented from handing gifts to Khan at his Islamabad home, an AFP reporter witnessed. (Posted @ 17:20 PST)
Philippines: 15 killed in road accident MANILA, May 28 (AP): At least 15 people were killed and six others injured when a passenger minibus slammed into a hillside and overturned in a southern Philippine town early this week, a police official said Wednesday. Nine people, including three children, were killed Monday when the driver lost control of the vehicle while driving through Hinatuan township in Surigao del Sur province, regional police chief Jaime Milla said in a report Wednesday. He said six other people later died from their injuries in the hospital. (Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Two Kurdish rebels killed in clash with Turkish soldiers ISTANBUL, May 28 (AP): Turkey's state-run media say soldiers killed two Kurdish rebels during a clash near the country's border with Iran. Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday that the two rebels were killed in Van province. It was not clear when the clash took place. (Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Floods kill 50 in China after torrential rains BEIJING, May 28 (Reuters): Torrential rain in southern and eastern China has killed at least 50 people in the past week and left 4,000 stranded, state media said on Wednesday, a fortnight after a big earthquake rattled Sichuan province. The poor and remote southwestern province of Guizhou has been hardest hit, with 36 dead and another 14 missing, the official Xinhua news agency said. (First Posted @ 13:20 PST, Updated @ 16:30 PST)
British submarine hits rocks in Red Sea LONDON, May 28 (Reuter): An investigation has been launched after a Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine hit a rock in the Red Sea, damaging its sonar equipment, the defence ministry said Wednesday. HMS Superb hit the submerged pinnacle earlier this week after passing through the Suez Canal, forcing it to surface. Its nuclear reactor was unaffected and there was no water leakage or environmental impact, defence officials said. The 272ft long Swiftsure-class attack submarine was about 80 miles south of Suez when the incident happened. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Four killed in Thai south: police YALA, May 28 (AFP): Three Thai soldiers and a militant were killed following attacks across Thailand's far south, including a shootout at a wedding party, police said Wednesday. One soldier was killed and two injured in a blast in Pattani province late Tuesday, police said. A man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the attack but he fought with the soldiers driving him to a military camp, causing a crash, which killed a 48-year-old sergeant major and a 22-year-old private. The 34-year-old suspect was also injured, authorities said. Later Wednesday, militants ambushed a wedding convoy, but some of the villagers headed to the celebration were armed and fought the attackers, killing one rebel, police said. Ten of the wedding party were injured. (First Posted @ 13:30 PST, Updated @ 16:15 PST)
Indonesia to pull out of OPEC: minister JAKARTA, May 28 (AFP): Indonesia will withdraw from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries after years of declining exports, the energy minister said Wednesday even as other producers cash in on soaring oil prices. The only Southeast Asian member of the cartel has become a net oil importer and will not bother to renew its OPEC membership at the end of this year, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said. “When I get back to the office ... I will sign that we withdraw from OPEC,” Yusgiantoro told a group of foreign reporters at a lunch in Jakarta. (Posted @ 16:10 PST)
China quake toll surpasses 68,000 BEIJING, May 28 (AFP): The death toll from China's earthquake rose to 68,109 on Wednesday, with another 19,851 missing, a government spokesman said. The confirmed death toll, given by cabinet spokesman Lu Guangjin at a press conference, is a rise of more than 900 from Tuesday. (Posted @ 13:35 PST)
Three soldiers killed in Thai south YALA, Thailand, May 28 (AFP): Three Thai soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack and a car crash in southern Thailand, police said Wednesday. One soldier was killed and two of his colleagues injured in a blast in Pattani province late Tuesday, police there said. A man was arrested Wednesday in connection with the attack but the suspect fought with the soldiers driving him to a military camp, causing a car crash which killed a 48-year-old sergeant major and a 22-year-old private. The 34-year-old suspected rebel was also injured in the crash in Yala province, local authorities said. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Heavy rain kills 28 in southern China BEIJING, May 28 (AP): Torrential rains that killed 28 people in southern China were forecast Wednesday to continue for the next three days. Eighteen people have died in flooding in southern Guizhou province since Sunday, the Xinhua News Agency reported late Tuesday. Twelve were missing. More than 500,000 people in 17 cities and counties in Guizhou were affected, the news agency said. About 6,700 houses were damaged since rains started to fall. Meanwhile, three people were killed by thunder and lightning after a storm in central Hubei province. Seven people were also killed in weather-related incidents in Hunan province Monday, Xinhua said, and heavy precipitation in Jiangxi province stranded 4,000 people. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Snowstorms kill 21 people in Mongolia ULAN BATOR, Mongolia, May 28 (AP): Snowstorms killed at least 21 people and left 100 others missing in Mongolia, the government said. The State Emergency Authority said Wednesday heavy snow and strong winds have hit three provinces in eastern Mongolia. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Israeli air strike kills two Gaza militants GAZA, May 28 (Reuters): An Israeli air strike Wednesday killed two Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical workers said. In addition to the two dead, six other militants and three Palestinian civilians were wounded in the Israeli strikes. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
Afghanistan hit by two suicide blasts KHOST, Afghanistan, May 28 (AFP) :Two separate suicide bomb attacks were staged in Afghanistan Wednesday, one of them targeting a US-led military base, leaving at least two policemen and two civilians hurt, officials said. A suicide car bomb exploded outside the small base in a district of Khost province, the deputy provincial chief Mohammad Yaqoub told AFP. No policemen were hurt in the attack in Gurbuz district but it was not clear if there were other casualties, he said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast. In Helmand province, a suicide attacker on foot blew himself up near a police vehicle in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, wounding two policemen and two civilians, police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. (Posted @ 13:10 PST)
Pakistan strikes peace deal with small Taliban militant group in Mohmand tribal area KHAR, Pakistan, May 28 (AP): Pakistan has signed a peace deal with a small Taliban militant group in the Mohmand tribal region, Syed Ahmad, a deputy administrator in region said Wednesday. The deal includes a pledge from the militants led by Umar Khalid not to target security and government officials, Ahmad said. Both sides also swapped prisoners, he said. He declined to give details about the number of prisoners exchanged, but said the militants had been holding some government officials. “We started efforts for the peace agreement months ago, but we managed to sign it on Monday,” said Ahmad, who also noted the militants promised not to display weapons in the region. A local tribal elder, Fazal Manan Kodakhel, said the deal enjoyed the backing of Baitullah Mehsud. (Posted @ 12:10 PST)
Blast kills six suspected Taliban in Bajaur KHAR, Pakistan, May 28 (AFP): At least six suspected Taliban were killed and several others wounded Wednesday when a blast ripped through their vehicle in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal area, local administration official Adalat Khan told AFP. The suspects were travelling in a pick-up truck when it blew up near the town of Salarzai, Khan said. He said the explosion was probably caused by hand grenades loaded in the truck. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)
Truck plunges into ravine in Badakhshan, kills 14 Afghans FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, May 28 (Reuters): Fourteen Afghans were killed and 52 injured Wednesday when a truck packed with mostly women and children plunged into a ravine in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, Mohammad Ibrahim, head of provincial traffic, said. The early morning accident happened on a narrow road in a district of the province. “It was a truck carrying 70 mostly women and children who wanted to find a place for finding pasture for their herd. The report we have is that 14 have lost their lives and 52 more have been hurt,” he told Reuters. (Posted @ 11:50 PST)
Clashes near Karbala kill two BAGHDAD, May 28 (AFP): At least two people were killed in clashes between Iraqi police and unidentified gunmen near Karbala, police said Wednesday. Heavy fighting erupted Tuesday evening between police and gunmen in the district of Al-Rafee, some 30 kilometres from Karbala, local police chief General Shakir Jowdat told AFP. He said a search operation had been launched in the area. There were no further details about the identity of the attackers or their motive. (Posted @ 11:15 PST)
Ali Larijani elected speaker of Iran parliament TEHRAN, May 28 (AFP): Iran's new parliament Wednesday overwhelmingly elected leading conservative and former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani as its speaker, the ISNA news agency reported. Larijani won 232 votes out of a total of 263 ballots cast in parliament, which has a total of 287 members. Larijani has held posts including top nuclear negotiator, state broadcasting chief, culture minister as well as unsuccessfully standing for president against Ahmadinejad in 2005. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
US should rethink Pakistan policy unless Islamabad strengthens anti-terrorism: Senator Levin WASHINGTON, May 28 (AP): The United States should rethink its approach in Pakistan, including a multimillion dollar program aimed at training and equipping tribal militants, unless Islamabad does more to keep terrorists from crossing the Afghan border, Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told reporters Tuesday. Levin said after a three-day trip to the region that U.S. officials have little confidence that pieces of the Pakistan government, particularly its army, are working actively to stop the flow of Taliban fighters and weapons into Afghanistan. In some cases, these groups might even be supporting terrorists, he said. “If that's our intelligence assessment, then there's a real question as to whether or not we should be putting money into strengthening the Frontier Corps on the Pakistan side,” Levin said in a conference call from Qatar. Levin, who oversees a major policy bill authorizing more than $600 billion in annual defence spending, said he is interested in restricting $70 million designated for Pakistan's Frontier Corps, while his Democratic colleague, Senator Ben Nelson, Tuesday said that the U.S. should consider airstrikes on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan if Pakistan does not show more progress. Nelson was returning from a five-day trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Germany. “I don't think we ought to be focusing on moving our troops into Pakistan; we ought to be insisting that Pakistan remove those threats,” Levin said. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Former White House spokesman lambasts Bush, Iraq war in new book WASHINGTON, May 28 (AFP): Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan has taken up arms against his ex-boss in a new book, painting President George W. Bush as having “veered terribly off course” and “rushing” to an unnecessary war in Iraq, US media reported Tuesday. In his “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception,” the one-time presidential aide also blasted the White House staff over the disastrous handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 by saying they “spent most of the first week in a state of denial,” according to Washington-based Politico magazine. “The perception of this catastrophe was made worse by previous decisions President Bush had made, including, first and foremost, the failure to be open and forthright on Iraq and rushing to war with inadequate planning and preparation for its aftermath.” McClellan, 40, wrote that with Bush still in office the American public has already concluded “that the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic blunder.” He also accused former senior Bush strategist and advisor Karl Rove and Lewis “Scooter Libby,” the vice president's chief of staff, of deceiving him on their role in a CIA leak scandal involving the disclosure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. “Rove, Libby, and possibly Vice President Cheney allowed me, even encouraged me, to repeat a lie” that Rove and Libby were not involved in the leak, McClellan wrote. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
No sign Al Qaeda has WMD capability: US intelligence official WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters): There's no sign that Al Qaeda has acquired the capability to use weapons of mass destruction, a U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday, ahead of an anticipated release of a video by the group urging militants to use such arms. “At this point there isn't evidence they've obtained it,” the official said, referring to weapons of mass destruction capability. “But it's clearly their intent and it's something we need to be aware of and concerned about.” (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Iraq's main Sunni bloc suspends government talks BAGHDAD, May 28 (Reuters): Iraq's main Sunni Arab political bloc said Wednesday it had suspended talks to rejoin the Shi'ite-led government after a disagreement with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over a cabinet post. “We have suspended negotiations with the government and pulled out our candidates,” said Salim al-Jibouri, spokesman for the Accordance Front. He said the decision was taken after Maliki objected to a candidate for a cabinet position. The Accordance Front pulled out of Maliki's national unity government in August, demanding the release of mainly Sunni Arab detainees in Iraq's jails and calling for a greater say in security matters. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Drug gangs kill seven police officers in Mexico MEXICO CITY, May 28 (Reuters): Drug traffickers killed seven Mexican policemen and injured four more Tuesday. Police searching a drug hide-out in Culiacan in the Pacific state of Sinaloa were shot at from inside the building by the traffickers, who also threw a grenade, the government said. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)
Lebanon's majority picks Siniora to lead new govt BEIRUT, May 27 (Reuters): Lebanon's parliamentary majority coalition agreed Tuesday to nominate incumbent Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to form the country's first government under newly elected President Michel Suleiman. The coalition made the decision at a late-night meeting, senior officials from the coalition said. It will officially inform Suleiman of its choice during his consultations with parliament Wednesday. The president has to appoint the prime minister nominated by a majority of MPs. (Posted @ 08:45 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
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