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| June 09, 2008 | Monday | Jamadi-us-Sani 04, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 Lawyers, activists kick off anti-Musharraf protests aimed at reinstating judges KARACHI, June 9 (AP): Thousands of activists and lawyers gathered in major cities Monday to kick off a series of protests aimed at pressuring the new government to reinstate judges deposed by President Musharraf. The “Long March” is planned to culminate in a rally in Islamabad later in the week. In Karachi, Sabihuddin Ahmed, the deposed chief justice of the high court in Sindh province, saw off a convoy of dozens of vehicles headed Monday to the main gathering point of the rally, the central city of Multan. “Today is the historic day that the lawyers and judges have come out to protect the country and the constitution,” Ahmed said. Some 4,000 political activists from parties including the PML-N gathered and chanted anti-Musharraf slogans. Security forces were also out in large numbers, but the rally was peaceful. Karachi Bar Association secretary Naeem Qureshi said convoys of lawyers from other cities including Hyderabad, Nawabshah and Sukkur will merge with the Karachi procession, all heading to Multan. A convoy of some 350 lawyers and political workers left the city of Quetta for Multan. Before leaving, the lawyers gathered outside Quetta District Bar where they chanted anti-Musharraf slogans. Aitzaz Ahsan said deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry would greet the protest convoys as they reach Multan Tuesday and see them off the following day as they head to Lahore. The Interior Ministry chief, Rehman Malik, said Monday that the government would not try to stop the demonstrators from marching on Islamabad. “This is the right of people to demonstrate. As long as they are peaceful, we will be peaceful, and we are assured by them that they will be peaceful,” Malik said. (First Posted @ 13:25 PST, Updated @ 14:35 PST)  No bar on Gazzen Marri's return, NA told ISLAMABAD, June 9 (APP): Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik Monday told the National Assembly there was no bar on Nawabzada Gazzen Marri's return to Pakistan. Gazzen, the son of Baloch leader Nawab Khair Bux Marri, “can return home any time as the government has issued him a new passport and his name has been removed from the Exit Control List and Interpol,” the Advisor said during the questions hour. He said the government is committed to restoring peace in Balochistan, but there is involvement of hostile countries for creating unrest in the province”. “We are taking action against such elements as well as interacting with concerned quarters for curbing these anti-state activities.” Rehman Malik said extremism in Pakistan is the consequence of the Afghan war of the eighties and Pakistan had to pay a very heavy price. He said “the lesson we have learnt from eight years war on terror is that use of military instrument alone will not produce the desired results. We have to create space for the political process.” He said the government has established new counter-terrorism structures at the Ministry of Interior, Intelligence agencies and Law Enforcement Agencies with emphasis on inter-connectivity, central depositary and desired human and technical expertise. He also said the government has planned to introduce massive socio-economic development on a fast track in FATA, to give scholarship to FATA people for higher education, compensate affected people and provide technical training by setting up institutes in FATA. (Posted @ 22:02 PST) Militants kill four policemen in ambush near Peshawar PESHAWAR, June 9 (AFP): Suspected Taliban militants killed four policemen in an ambush on their van in northwestern Pakistan despite peace talks in the troubled region, police said Monday. The attack happened on Sunday night in Matani, near Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, senior police investigator Nasirul Mulk told AFP. “The militants hid near a gas station and opened fire on the police van. It was a surprise attack, the police party could not even retaliate because the hail of bullets was so sudden,” Mulk said. Four policemen were killed and a senior police officer was wounded in the attack, he said, adding that a hunt was under way for the killers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. (Posted @ 12:10 PST) Pakistan People’s Party calls for President Musharraf to be tried for treason ISLAMABAD, June 9 (AFP): President Pervez Musharraf should be impeached and tried for treason, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Monday. “Musharraf violated the country's constitution, he should be impeached. As far as I am concerned, I would even urge that he should not only be impeached but tried for treason,” Babar told AFP. “Political problems will persist as long as he is in power,” Babar added. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)  Ordnance explosion kills 4 children in Chitral ISLAMABAD, June 9 (AP): Police said four children died in Chitral in northwestern Pakistan after they picked up an old ammunition shell that exploded. Police officer Qazi Ataur Rehman said the boys, aged 10 to 13, found the shell at the site of a former Afghan refugee camp in Chitral district and may have wanted to sell it to a scrap metal dealer. The blast happened late Sunday. He said old ordnance had been found at the site before. (Posted @ 10:50 PST) 9 dead, 2 missing after falling into Chinese river while watching dragon boat race BEIJING, June 9 (AP) - Nine villagers were dead and two remained missing after falling into a river while watching a traditional dragon boat race in eastern China, Xinhua News Agency reported Monday. The group had been standing along a muddy, slippery riverbank in Jiangxi province's Tonggubao village on Sunday evening when they fell into the water, it said. (Posted @ 21:54 PST) 20 Taliban, five policemen, three British soldiers dead KABUL, June 9 (AFP) Five Afghan policemen and nearly two dozen Taliban fighters were killed in clashes Monday, officials said. Military aircraft from the NATO force were called in overnight after insurgents were seen gathering in the eastern province of Paktia, deputy provincial police chief Ghulam Dastgir told AFP. “NATO planes and artillery targeted them and killed 20 Taliban. Several others were wounded,” Dastgir said. Separately, a roadside bomb blew up a police vehicle in the province of Ghazni early Monday, killing a highway commander and two of his men. Police also reported Monday that Taliban rebels had attacked a post in the province of Ghor on Sunday, sparking a gunfight that left two policemen and three rebels dead. Another policeman and six of the attackers were wounded in the fighting, provincial police chief Shahjahan Noori told AFP. Meanwhile, insurgents in the province of Nuristan attacked a supply helicopter as it came into land at an ISAF base, the force said in a statement. The chopper was damaged but no one on the base was hurt. Meanwhile, three British soldiers were killed Sunday while on a routine foot patrol near their base in the province of Helmand, the British defence ministry said. (Posted @ 21:50 PST) Abbas says settlements main obstacle to peace CAIRO, June 8AFP) -Pa lestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Monday that continued Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank was the biggest obstacle to peace. “We consider (the building of) settlements the main obstacle to progress on any of the issues being negotiated, because we feel that settlements are eating Palestinian land bit by bit,” Abbas said after Cairo talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Israel last week announced plans to build 884 more houses in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, in a move that enraged the Palestinians who have demanded it as the capital of their promised state. (Posted @ 20:06 PST) US forces must quit Iraq, Iran's Khamenei tells Iraqi PM TEHRAN, June 9 (AFP): The presence of US forces in Iraq is the country's main problem, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Monday. “The most fundamental problem of Iraq is the presence of the foreign forces,” Khamenei said, according to state television. “We are certain that the Iraqi people will pass the difficult circumstances and reach the status they deserve. For sure, the American dream will not be materialized,” he added. (Posted @ 17:00 PST) Belgium thrash Pakistan 4-2 in second hockey test KARACHI, June 09 (APP)- Olympic qualifier Belgium wrapped-up their two-match series against Pakistan with a 4-2 win in the second hockey Test at Antwerp on Sunday. Belgium who led 3-0 at half time had beaten Pakistan 5-3 in Azlan Shah Cup last month followed by 3-2 victory in the first Test on Saturday. (Posted @ 16:30 PST) Five killed in Iraq raids; car bomb kills four in Baghdad BAGHDAD, June 9 (AP): U.S. soldiers called in airstrikes and killed five Al Qaeda in Iraq suspects Monday after coming under heavy fire during a raid in northwest Iraq, the military said. Meanwhile, a parked car packed with munitions exploded near a passing Iraqi army patrol in eastern Baghdad, killing three civilians and an army lieutenant, police said. The explosion wounded seven others, and damaged several cars and shops in a busy commercial district of Karrada, an officer said requesting anonymity. The U.S. military said it also detained 13 suspects and destroyed a “foreign terrorist hideout” in two days of operations targeting Al Qaeda in Iraq across the country. American soldiers approached a suspected militant safehouse Monday in a remote area of northwest Iraq, the military said. Troops immediately came under heavy fire from a fortified enemy position. When U.S. forces called in airstrikes, “secondary explosions erupted from the target buildings, indicating weapons and bomb materials inside,” a military statement said. Five men were confirmed dead, and multiple suicide vests and heavy machine guns were also discovered in the ruins of their hideout, it said. An alleged Al Qaeda in Iraq bomber was captured with another suspect Monday in Mosul, and another five men were arrested south of the city, the military said. (First Posted @ 15:40 PST, Updated @ 16:10 PST) Shahbaz Sharif secures confidence vote in Punjab Assembly LAHORE, June 9 (APP): Chief Minister Punjab Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif secured vote of confidence of the provincial legislature by getting 266 votes from the members of the Punjab Assembly during its special session Monday. The opposition members led by PML-Q continued their boycott of this session. The session, chaired by Speaker Rana Mohammad Iqbal, started at around 11:30. (Posted @ 15:50 PST) Militants kidnap eight military in Nigeria LAGOS, June 9 (AFP): Militants attacked an oil security vessel off the Nigerian coast early Monday and seized eight navy personnel, the military said. The Altra G, owned by oil servicing firm Addax Petroleum, was hijacked just after midnight at Scrateo rig, near the Okun oil field, Lieutenant Colonel Musa Sagir told AFP. (Posted @ 14:55 PST) Soldier, three rebels killed in eastern Turkey TUNCELI, Turkey, June 9 (Reuters): Three members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed in clashes with Turkish troops in eastern Turkey, while a soldier was killed by a mine near the Iraqi border, army sources said. The PKK guerrillas were killed in the eastern province of Tunceli late Sunday and an operation against the rebels continued Monday. Also late Sunday, the sources said a Turkish soldier was killed when he stepped on a mine in Hakkari province, in the far southeast corner of Turkey. (First Posted @ 13:45 PST, Updated @ 14:20 PST) Attacks in Russia's Caucasus region kills one soldier, one policeman MAKHACHKALA, Russia, June 9 (APP/AP): A soldier and a police officer were killed in attacks in Russia's Caucasus region. The soldier died early Monday when unidentified gunmen fired at a train carrying troops from Chechnya which pulled to a stop in the town of Khasavyurt in the republic of Dagestan. Regional police spokesman Mark Tolchinsky said that another soldier was wounded in the raid. An unidentified gunman late Sunday also shot and killed a police officer in Ingushetia province’s Nazran city. (Posted @ 12:55 PST) Fighting in northern Sri Lanka kills 31 Tamil rebels, 11 soldiers COLOMBO, June 9 (AP): Battles between government forces and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels across northern Sri Lanka killed 31 rebels and 11 soldiers, the military said Monday. Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said army troops fought insurgents Sunday on three fronts separating the government-held territory and the rebels' de facto state in the north. He said soldiers pushed into rebel-held territory in the Welioya area and captured five positions close to a major guerrilla base after a battle that killed 20 rebels and eight soldiers. The same battle wounded 41 rebels and 30 soldiers, he said, adding that one soldier was missing. Separate clashes in the Vavuniya district killed 10 rebels and wounded three soldiers, while in the Jaffna peninsula another confrontation killed three soldiers and one rebel, Nanayakkara said. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not immediately be reached for comment. The pro-rebel TamilNet website said rebels “thwarted three repeated attempts by the Sri Lanka Army” to break into the rebel-controlled territory in Vavuniya throughout Sunday. The site did not give details of casualties. (Posted @ 12:45 PST) Bangladesh court clears ex-PM Hasina to go abroad DHAKA, June 9 (Reuters): A Bangladesh court said on Monday the trial of detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on graft charges could continue in her absence, paving the way for her to go abroad for medical treatment. Hasina asked the court on Sunday to allow lawyers to appear on her behalf, after a government-appointed medical board suggested she should be sent abroad immediately for treatment. Her arch-rival and fellow former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who is also facing corruption charges, said Sunday she would not seek medical treatment abroad, accusing the government of setting a trap ahead of an election planned in December. (Posted @ 11:10 PST) Suicide car bomb kills US soldier, wounds 20 others at US base in northern Iraq BAGHDAD, June 9 (AP): A suicide truck bomber who concealed his explosives under tanned animal hides struck a U.S. patrol base Sunday in northern Iraq, killing one U.S. soldier and wounding 18 other Americans, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Two Iraqi contractors working at the base in Tamim province were also wounded, according to a f statement from the military. (Posted @ 10:00 PST) Medical helicopter crash kills four in Texas WASHINGTON, June 8 (AFP): A medical helicopter rushing a patient to hospital crashed Sunday in Texas, killing all four people on board, US media reported. The patient was being transported in predawn hours from Huntsville to Houston, a distance of 112 kilometers, but ground control lost contact with the pilot minutes after takeoff, CNN television said. Around 8:30 am local time, Texas authorities spotted the wreckage of the Bell 407 helicopter in a densely wooded area of Sam Houston National Forest, just southwest of Huntsville, the reports said. (Posted @ 09:35 PST) 13 people killed in bombings at Algerian train station ALGIERS, June 9 (AP): Thirteen people were killed in two bombings at a train station, an Algerian security official said. The first bomb killed a French citizen and his Algerian driver. A second bomb minutes later was apparently timed to explode as security forces and rescue workers arrived at the train station in Beni Amrane, just over 100 kilometers east of the capital. (Posted @ 09:20 PST) Severe weather kills 5: winds, lightning, flooding from Midwest to Connecticut INDIANAPOLIS, June 9 (AP): Wicked weekend storms pounded America from the Midwest to the East Coast, forcing hundreds of people to flee flooded communities, spawning tornadoes that tore up houses and killed at least five people. Rescuers in boats continued to pluck people from rising waters in Indiana on Sunday, a day after more than 25 centimeters of rain deluged much of the state. More than 1,500 people were evacuated from their homes. (Posted @ 09:15 PST) Karachi Stocks down 226.34 points: KARACHI, June 09: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 12908.22, down 226.34 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, June 09: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 68.5 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
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