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| June 11, 2008 | Wednesday | Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 11 Pakistan soldiers killed in border missile strike: officials PESHAWAR, June 11 (AFP): At least 11 Pakistani troops were killed and nine wounded early Wednesday when a missile fired from Afghanistan hit their border post after clashes with Afghan forces, officials said. The incident followed intense fighting between Pakistani paramilitary troops deployed in Mohmand tribal region and Afghan forces who claimed the area was part of their territory, the Pakistani officials said. “Sometime after midnight a missile fired from the Afghan side struck our post resulting in the martyrdom of at least 11 soldiers including a commanding officer. Nine soldiers were wounded,” one security official told AFP. “The injured and the dead bodies have been retrieved. The troops are still holding on to the post.” Officials said Pakistani forces repulsed an attempt by Afghan forces to capture strategic heights in the Soran Dara area, which borders the Afghan province of Nangarhar. The paramilitary Frontier Corps sent reinforcements to the area on Tuesday. Pakistani and Afghan military spokesmen were not immediately contactable while the US-led coalition in Afghanistan declined to comment. (First Posted @ 09:50 PST, Updated @ 12:45 PST)  Pakistan slams 'cowardly' US-led forces attack killing 11 soldiers PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 11 (AFP): Pakistan Wednesday said a “cowardly” air strike by US-led forces killed 11 Pakistani troops Wednesday near the Afghan border and warned it could undermine cooperation in the war against terrorism. The army accused the US-led coalition in Afghanistan of launching the unprovoked attack on a checkpost in Pakistan's Mohmand tribal zone, while the foreign office called for an immediate investigation. In Kabul, the coalition admitted carrying out an air strike in Pakistani territory but said it was targeted against militants firing at them from near the Pakistani paramilitary outpost. A Pakistani army spokesman “condemned this completely unprovoked and cowardly act.” “The incident had hit at the very basis of cooperation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in the war against terror,” the statement quoted the spokesman as saying. “We condemn it strongly. We will take a stand to preserve the sovereignty, dignity and respect of the country,” Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told parliament. Pakistan foreign office issued a statement condemning the “senseless use of air power” by the coalition. “The attack also tends to undermine the very basis of our cooperation with the coalition forces and warrants a serious rethink on their part of the consequences that could ensue from such rash acts,” it said. Heavily armed Pakistani tribesmen brandishing rocket launchers and Kalashnikov rifles gathered near the checkpost in the mountainous Gora Prai area to show their support to condemn the attack. The US-led coalition said an investigation was ongoing. In a statement, it said its soldiers had repelled a militant attack during an operation in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province that was previously coordinated with Pakistan. Coalition forces informed the Pakistani army that they were coming under fire from “anti-Afghan” forces in a wooded area near the Gora Prai checkpoint in Pakistan, it said. Unmanned drone aircraft identified the militants and, “in self defence,” the coalition fired artillery rounds and then used close-air support “until the threat was eliminated.” However, Pakistani security officials said the deaths came after Afghan troops crossed the porous frontier and tried to occupy the strategic Pakistani post in the tribal belt. Pakistani troops repulsed the Afghan soldiers and the coalition then bombed the area. Coalition aircraft also killed around 15 Taliban militants about a kilometre away, the officials said. A spokesman for Pakistani Taliban militants, Maulvi Omar, said eight “mujahedeen” were killed by coalition helicopters. (Posted @ 20:40 PST) Iftikhar Chaudhry, Aitzaz flag off lawyers’ rally at Multan MULTAN, Pakistan, June 11 (Reuters): Hundreds of lawyers and political activists began a cross-country rally Wednesday to press the new government to reinstate deposed judges. The rally set off from the southeastern city of Multan bound for Lahore on way to Islamabad, where they are due on Friday. Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry addressed the lawyers before they left, calling for the independence of the judiciary. “If the courts are allowed to work independently then I assure you, this country ... does not need to worry about any danger,” Chaudhry told about 1,500 lawyers and activists. Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said Musharraf's days as president were numbered and the protest was aimed at pressing parliament to reinstate the judges. (Posted @ 16:30 PST) Nawaz Sharif returns as lawyers' rally leaves Multan for Lahore ISLAMABAD, June 11 (Reuters) Authorities stepped up security in Islamabad on Wednesday as lawyers from across the country gathered in Multan for a rally to press for the restoration of judges. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif whose Pakistan Muslim League is supporting the lawyers flew back from a visit to London on Wednesday to take part in the protest. “This is a national cause and we are fully participating in this cause. The future of Pakistan depends on the restoration of the judiciary,” Sharif told reporters at Islamabad airport. Meanwhile, deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who spent nearly four months under house arrest after he was purged, addressed the rally in Multan shortly after mid-day Wednesday to mark the start of the rally for Lahore where they were expected to reach late Wednesday night, and then onwards to Islamabad . Both sides have vowed to keep the peace, with the government saying the lawyers have the right to protest. But trouble can not be ruled out. Authorities in the capital have placed shipping containers across a main road leading to parliament and blocked other roads with barbed wire barricades. More shipping containers are at the ready on side roads. Paramilitary troops have been deployed at government buildings near parliament, where lawyers plan to stage a sit-in. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)  Saudi oil-price meet to be at head-of-state level: OPEC chief LONDON, June 11 (AFP) A meeting due June 22 in Saudi Arabia for the world's biggest oil producers and consumers to discuss record-high crude prices will be at head-of-state level, OPEC chief Abdullah al-Badri said Wednesday. “The meeting in Jeddah will be the head of states and they will discuss why we have high energy prices,” Badri told AFP on the sidelines of an energy conference in London. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintains that the oil market is well supplied and that current prices do not reflect market fundamentals of supply and demand. “We are concerned about the high price of energy,” Badri told AFP on Wednesday. “The price has nothing to do with a shortage of oil. There's a lot of oil on the market. It's because of speculation and OPEC cannot control speculation,” he added. (Posted @ 21:45 PST) Nepal's deposed king leaves palace for last time KATHMANDU, June 11 (AFP) Nepal's former king Gyanendra left his main palace in Kathmandu late on Wednesday to live as a commoner in a former hunting lodge on the outskirts of the capital. Gyanendra and his wife Komal Shah left in the back of a black Mercedes as hundreds of riot police surrounded the main gate of the sprawling palace complex in the heart of the ancient temple-studded city. “Former king Gyanendra Shah and his wife Komal Shah have left the palace and are headed to Nagarjun,” the forest reserve on the edge of Kathmandu, police officer Bharat Lama told AFP. (Posted @ 21:45 PST) Bush arrives in Rome ROME, June 11 (AFP) -US President George W. Bush arrived in Rome on Wednesday for talks his longtime ally Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi expected to focus on Iran and Afghanistan, Telenews reported. (Posted @ 20:45 PST) Pakistan, Afghanistan must face challenges together: President Musharraf RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, June 11 (APP): President Musharraf Wednesday said Pakistan and Afghanistan must move on together to face the challenges and benefit from the tremendous economic opportunities owing to their geo-strategic location. He was talking to a delegation of Afghan parliamentarians that called on him here at the President's Lodge. The Afghan Parliamentarians vowed not to allow foreign intruders spoil relations with Pakistan, nor do anything to cause destabilization of its neighbour, and said they were committed to open a new chapter between the two countries. The President stressed that without peace and stability in the region the two countries cannot prosper and progress and urged measures to counter extremism and terrorism so as to focus on development activities. (Posted @ 20:20 PST) Chinese relief helicopter makes forced landing, injuring three BEIJING, June 11 (AP): A relief helicopter in China's quake-hit Sichuan province made a forced landing Wednesday, injuring three people, the Xinhua News Agency said. The helicopter was forced to land because of a mechanical malfunction. (Posted @ 19:25 PST) US national among four killed in Afghan jail accident KABUL, June 11 (AFP): A US national and three Afghans were killed when a gas tanker exploded in the Pul-i-Charki prison in Kabul Wednesday, the defence ministry said. “A gas tanker exploded while transferring gas to the prison's kitchen. Four people were killed - the deaths included an American, his (Afghan) interpreter and two contractors,” the ministry said in a statement. The explosion triggered a fire, it said. Two soldiers and a civilian were wounded, the statement said. The US-led coalition said the American was not a member of the force. “It was not a soldier,” a coalition spokesman told AFP. (Posted @ 19:00 PST) Trainer Jet aircraft crashes near Mardan, killing pilot ISLAMABAD, June 11 (APP): A T-37 Trainer Jet aircraft crashed near Mardan, killing its pilot, Pakistan Air Force said Wednesday. The pilot was on a routine training mission. No loss of life or property was reported on ground. The crash apparently occurred due to technical malfunction. (Posted @ 18:15 PST) Indian police, villagers clash near eastern steel plant, injuring 15 BHUBANESHWAR, India, June 11 (AP): Police used batons and tear gas to disperse angry villagers trying to storm a steel plant in eastern India in a protest over land compensation, officials said Wednesday. Five villagers and 10 officers were reported injured. Nearly 300 people surrounded the plant Tuesday demanding jobs as well as higher compensation for land the steel plant had acquired from them, police officer A.B. Swain said. The villagers tried to storm the plant and “the police had no other option” but to use batons and tear gas, Swain said. Twenty-seven people were arrested, he said. The plant is owned by an Indian company and is located in the Dhenkanal district of Orissa state, 62 miles west of state capital Bhubaneshwar. (Posted @ 18:10 PST) Two dead in Djibouti-Eritrea border clash DJIBOUTI, June 11 (Reuters): Two Djiboutian soldiers were killed and 21 wounded when troops clashed with Eritrean forces along their border overlooking strategic Red Sea shipping lanes, Djibouti said Wednesday. The fighting broke out Tuesday after a nearly two-month standoff. Djibouti said the clash began after Eritrean soldiers deserted and the Eritreans fired on them, prompting return fire. A second outbreak came when Eritrean soldiers later demanded their deserters back. Eritrean officials declined to comment. Fighting continued Wednesday in the Mount Gabla area of northern Djibouti, Djibouti's Defence Ministry said. (Posted @ 17:20 PST) 30 dead, dozens missing in Sudan plane inferno KHARTOUM, June 11 (AFP): At least 30 people died when a passenger jet caught fire after landing at Khartoum airport, officials said Wednesday, with dozens more still missing as authorities probed the cause of the accident. The bodies of 30 people who burned to death when the Sudan Airways Airbus A310 caught fire late Tuesday have been taken to Khartoum's morgue, an official said, adding that 121 people survived the accident. Airport authorities said an engine caught fire, spreading to the fuselage, while survivors said weather conditions at the time of the landing were poor, with the capital hit by a sandstorm and then heavy showers. “There was an explosion in one of the engines and the plane caught fire,” airport director Yussef Ibrahim said. “The plane landed at 8:45,” civil aviation official El-Sheikh el-Faki told AFP. “It landed okay and then it skidded and caught fire.” (First Posted @ 14:05 PST, Updated @ 17:10 PST) Police in Nepal detain 125 Tibetan protesters KATHMANDU, June 11 (AFP): Police in Nepal Wednesday detained at least 125 Tibetan exiles as they protested outside a Chinese embassy building, officials said. The protesters were prevented by police from reaching the building in the capital Kathmandu and were bundled into waiting vans, witnesses said. (Posted @ 17:05 PST) 31 killed in Afghanistan airstrikes; US says four civilians, 'several' militants killed KABUL, June 11 (AP): Airstrikes targeting two militant leaders in eastern Afghanistan killed 31 people early Wednesday, including several civilians, officials said. Most of the 31 killed were militants, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. But Khalid Farooqi, a lawmaker from Paktika, said at least nine civilians died. The U.S.-led coalition said four civilians were killed. The U.S. also said “several militants” were killed and that 12 were detained in the operation in Paktika' province's Mata Khan district. (First Posted @ 13:20 PST, Updated @ 17:05 PST) Israeli fire kills three Palestinians in Gaza GAZA, June 11 (Reuters): Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including a 9-year-old girl, in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, Palestinian medics said. The medical workers said the girl's remains were recovered from a house in the village of Qarara that was struck by tank fire. During the Israeli operation, soldiers shot and killed a Hamas gunman and an air strike killed a civilian, medics and Hamas officials said. (First Posted @ 10:05 PST, Updated @ 16:55 PST) Bomb defused at Iraqi envoy home in Tehran TEHRAN, June 11 (Reuters): A bomb was defused in front of the residence of Iraq's ambassador to Tehran Tuesday, Iran's Fars News Agency said Wednesday. The Iraqi ambassador said the device was in a package placed in front of the entrance of his residence but that neither he nor the embassy had received any threats, Fars said. “There has never been a threat against me or the Iraqi embassy in Tehran and we don't suspect any group,” the envoy, whose name was given as Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh, told Fars. (Posted @ 16:55 PST) Roadside bomb kills five on minibuses in Baghdad BAGHDAD, June 11 (AP): A bomb planted near a bridge in northern Baghdad killed five people on passing minibuses during rush hour Wednesday, Iraqi police said. A woman and a 7-year-old boy were among the dead, and at least 10 other people were wounded in the Hurriyah neighbourhood, an officer said requesting anonymity. Across town, two mortar rounds hit a busy street in the central Baghdad area of Karrada, killing a civilian and wounding five others, police said. The U.S. military said it captured an Iranian-trained bomb expert Wednesday southeast of Baghdad during a raid on the man's home. (Posted @ 16:45 PST) Bush urges diplomacy with Iran but all options open MESEBERG, Germany, June 11 (Reuters): U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he wanted to resolve the showdown over Iran's nuclear programme peacefully, but reiterated that all options were on the table and that new sanctions may be needed. “I just told you all options are on the table,” Bush told a joint news conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel north of Berlin during his week-long tour of Europe. “The first choice is to solve it diplomatically and that's exactly what we're doing. The message to the Iranian government is very clear.” Merkel backed Bush in saying new sanctions against Tehran may be necessary if it does not cooperate with western powers and suspend its nuclear enrichment work. Bush met Merkel at a government residence north of the German capital before heading to Rome, Paris, London and Belfast in Northern Ireland. He told reporters in Meseberg that he had no regrets about going to war to oust Saddam Hussein. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) Bush urges diplomacy with Iran but all options open MESEBERG, Germany, June 11 (Reuters): U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he wanted to resolve the showdown over Iran's nuclear programme peacefully, but reiterated that all options were on the table and that new sanctions may be needed. “I just told you all options are on the table,” Bush told a joint news conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel north of Berlin during his week-long tour of Europe. “The first choice is to solve it diplomatically and that's exactly what we're doing. The message to the Iranian government is very clear.” Merkel backed Bush in saying new sanctions against Tehran may be necessary if it does not cooperate with western powers and suspend its nuclear enrichment work. Bush met Merkel at a government residence north of the German capital before heading to Rome, Paris, London and Belfast in Northern Ireland. He told reporters in Meseberg that he had no regrets about going to war to oust Saddam Hussein. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) Pakistani Taliban hang woman accused of spying KHAR, Pakistan, June 11 (AFP): Pakistani Taliban in a remote tribal region Wednesday carried out their first reprisal killing of a woman, accusing the victim of being a spy, an official said. The militants hanged the woman and dumped her body on a roadside in the Bajaur tribal district with the noose still tied around her neck, the official, who requested anonymity, told AFP. A note left at the site said the woman had been punished for spying on Taliban members and running a brothel. “Her activities were against Islam and she was spying on Taliban and passing on information about them. She was also running a brothel,” said the note, attributed to Mujahideen Bajaur. Residents said they heard gunshots early Wednesday and found the woman's body lying on the roadside when they went to investigate. There was no bullet wound and the firing was probably designed to attract attention, the official said. (Posted @ 15:25 PST) Bangladesh govt frees ex-PM Hasina Wajed DHAKA, June 11 (AFP): Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed was released from detention on corruption charges Wednesday as part of an apparent political deal between her party and the army-backed government. The leader of the Awami League party, who has been held on graft charges for almost a year, is to leave the country early Thursday for the United States, where she will be treated for hearing problems, officials said. “She has just been released from a special prison and she is heading to her home,” additional deputy police commissioner Ruhul Amin told AFP. Sheikh Hasina left her jail in a heavily-guarded SUV, and was greeted by thousands of supporters gathered outside. Her secretary Hasan Mahmud told AFP she would leave for the United States Thursday morning. (First Posted @ 11:40 PST, Updated @ 15:20 PST) Karachi’s biggest encroachment voluntarily cleared by residents KARACHI, June 11 (APP): In the biggest ever operation of its kind, the demolition of nearly seven thousand homes, shops and other encroachments has been started by the owners/ residents on voluntary basis and without getting alternate plots of land or compensation. The City Government is constructing the 4.5 km long Road-3100 from Road-2000 to Road-6000 and needed removal of encroachments in its alignment. The encroachments include multi-storey residential units including bungalows.besides shops etc. The area is MQM's stronghold. Road-3100 will be 3-lane, 36 feet wide road and will cost Rs. 200 million.There will be a 36 feet dia storm water drain on either side besides new sewerage, electricity and telephone network. The project will be completed in 6 months. (Posted @ 15:15 PST) Pakistan militants most likely authors of future attack on US: Admiral Mullen WASHINGTON, June 11 (AFP) - Any future terror attack against US interests would most likely be carried out by militants based in Pakistan's restive tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday at a press conference. Tribal groups with ties to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan's FATA (federally administered tribal area) represent the worst security threat to the United States, he said. “I believe fundamentally if the United States is going to get hit, it is going to come out of the planning of the leadership in the FATA -- Al-Qaeda specifically,” he told reporters. “That is a threat to us that must be dealt with,” Mullen said. Pakistan's government, under the leadership of new prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, launched peace talks with the Islamist militants after coming to power in March. But Mullen said he was not satisfied with progress in subduing militants there. The new government, Mullen said, “has significant challenges as it gets under way, and at the same time is looking to the best way to best deal with this challenge,” he said. Mullen recognized that a solution to the problem is a long way off. “We're not going to solve it overnight,” he said. “There is no simple answer, no easy solution here,” Mullen said but added that at all cost, “it has got to be dealt with.” (Posted @ 14:20 PST) 28 dead, dozens missing in Sudan plane inferno KHARTOUM, June 11 (AFP) - At least 28 people died when a passenger jet caught fire after landing at Khartoum airport on Tuesday, officials said on Wednesday, with dozens more still missing as authorities probed the cause of the accident. A Sudanese official said that 121 people survived the accident. State television previously reported that nearly half of the 203 passengers were killed when the plane from Amman burst into flames after one of its engines exploded on landing. The plane was carrying 11 crew. “At present, we have 28 bodies at Khartoum morgue,” said Taher al-Haj Ibrahim, the general director of investigations. “For now, we have counted 121 survivors,” he said, adding that 22 of them were injured. “The rest we consider as missing, but according to our information, some passengers went home before they could be counted. (Posted @ 14:05 PST) Ahmadinejad to Bush: 'US cannot hurt Iran' TEHRAN, June 11 (AFP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday told US President George W. Bush he could not hurt “even one centimetre” of Iran's territory, after his latest warning over the contested Iranian nuclear drive. “I tell Bush ... that your era has ended and thank God you will not be able to damage even one centimetre of the holy land of Iran,” He said in a televised speech in the city of Shahr-e Kord. “If the enemy thought they could break the Iranian nation with pressure they are wrong. The Iranian nation ... will wipe the smile off its face.” His comments came a day after Bush and European leaders warned Iran of new sanctions if Tehran refuses to halt its nuclear programme, which the West fears could be cover for a atomic weapons drive. (Posted @ 13:55 PST) Four civilians, several rebels killed in Afghan raid: US forces KABUL, June 11 (AFP): Three women and a child were killed along with several militants in an attack by US-led forces on a rebel compound in eastern Afghanistan, the force said on Wednesday. The incident happened on Tuesday when the US-led coalition which ousted the Taliban in late 2001 targeted a hideout in Paktika province from the ground and the air, it said in a statement. “Several militants were killed... Tuesday during a coalition forces operation to disrupt militant operations in Paktika province. The operation also resulted in four civilian deaths,” the statement said. (Posted @ 13:20 PST) Russian forces kill 5 in Ingushetia NAZRAN, Russia, June 11 (Reuters): Russian special forces killed five people, including one woman, in an operation against insurgents in the southern region of Ingushetia on Wednesday, a spokesman at the Ingush interior ministry said. Special forces surrounded a house in the village of Karabulak, about 10 kilometres north east of the main city of Nazran, and attacked when the rebels refused to surrender, the spokesman said. (Posted @ 13:10 PST) Family buried alive in India for witchcraft GUWAHATI, June 11 (Reuters): Villagers in India's northeast stoned four members of a family, including two women, and then buried them alive on suspicion of practising witchcraft, police said on Wednesday. The incident happened on Tuesday evening at Koilajuli Milanpur village in Assam. More than 500 people have been killed in the state in the past few years after being accused of being witches, police said. (Posted @ 12:50 PST) Reformist ex-Vietnam premier Vo Van Kiet dies HANOI, June 11 (Reuters): Former Vietnam Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, a major force behind economic reforms started in the late 1980s, died on Wednesday, his family and the government said. He was 85. Born on November 23, 1922, in the southern Mekong Delta, Kiet served as prime minister from 1991 until he stepped down to be replaced by his former deputy Phan Van Khai in September 1997. (Posted @ 12:00 PST) Tamil Tigers destroy Sri Lanka navy outpost: four rebels, three sailors killed COLOMBO, June 11 (AFP): Tamil Tiger rebels destroyed a navy outpost in north-western Sri Lanka Wednesday, killing at least three sailors and losing four fighters of their own, the two sides said. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mounted a surprise attack on Irukkalampiddi naval detachment and escaped with weapons and ammunition, a navy spokesman said. He said the navy destroyed a rebel boat in a counter-attack and killed four guerrillas, including a leader who led the assault. The spokesman said four sailors were also wounded in Wednesday's fighting. The Tigers, quoted by the pro-rebel Tamilnet website, admitted the operation. (Posted @ 10:05 PST) Morocco sentences 29 for recruiting Iraq fighters RABAT, June 11 (Reuters): A Moroccan court sentenced 29 people to prison terms of one to eight years on Tuesday for recruiting volunteers to fight U.S.-led troops in Iraq, court officials said. Police rounded what they called the “Tetouan Cell” in January last year and charged them with financial and ideological links to Al Qaeda and the Moroccan Islamic Fighting Group (GICM). (Posted @ 09:30 PST) Soviet literary legend Aitmatov dies aged 79 MOSCOW, June 11 (AFP): Chingiz Aitmatov, one of the best known writers of the Soviet Union, died in Germany Tuesday aged 79, a spokesman for Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced. The author of “The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years” had been in hospital in Germany after falling ill while visiting a film set for the novel. Aitmatov “succumbed to consequences of a serious inflammation of the lungs,” the spokesman told AFP, quoting German doctors. (Posted @ 09:10 PST) Karachi Stocks up 138.34 points: KARACHI, June 11: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13016.38, up 138.34 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, June 11: 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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