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| July 16, 2008 | Wednesday | Rajab 12, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 Afghan NATO force hits targets inside Pakistan KABUL, July 16 (Reuters) - NATO forces in Afghanistan attacked targets inside Pakistan with artillery and attack helicopters after coming under rocket fire from across the border, the alliance said on Wednesday. ISAF forces “received multiple rocket attacks from militants inside Pakistan, July 15,” the force said in a statement. “The troops identified a (compound) as the point of origin of the attacks and responded in self-defence with a combination of fires from attack helicopters and artillery into Pakistan.” It was not clear when ISAF troops launched the strikes and spokesmen for the force were not immediately available for comment. Most ISAF troops in eastern Afghanistan are American. ISAF and the Pakistani military “coordinated their operation closely from the outset. The Pakistani military agreed to assist and search the area if the border firing continued”. (Posted @ 20:48 PST)  Dr A.Q. Khan tells court media misquoted him ISLAMABAD, July 16 (AFP): Detained nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan Wednesday told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that the media often misquoted him on proliferation issues and denied that he was harming the country's interests. “I beg to submit that the media has misquoted me on several occasions and my rebuttals/disclaimers were published,” Khan said in a letter addressed to IHC chief justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam. As I am confined to my house/subjail and have no direct interactional control or power to influence the media, the charade goes on.” Khan blamed “the vested interests” that continue “disseminating disinformation as well as malicious propaganda” against him and added that he would not countenance making comments that would hurt Pakistan. “I cannot ever imagine making a statement detrimental to the interests of my beloved country for which I and my family made so much sacrifice.” The chief justice said that the court would announce a detailed judgment on Monday. (Posted @ 15:40 PST) Bomb blast wounds 14 in Balochistan QUETTA, Pakistan, July 16 (AFP): A bomb blast wounded 14 people, including eight security personnel on Wednesday in Mastung, 35 kilometres south of Quetta, police said. The bombing took place near a paramilitary vehicle parked outside a hospital in the town. “Six paramilitary soldiers, two policemen and six civilians were injured in the bomb blast, two of them seriously,” local police official Malik Arshad told AFP. He said it appeared that someone had planted the bomb near the paramilitary vehicle and detonated it by remote control. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. (First Posted @ 14:25 PST, Updated @ 15:45 PST) PM Gilani slams Afghan terror allegations ISLAMABAD, July 16 (AFP): Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday condemned Afghanistan's president for alleging that Islamabad's intelligence services were involved in a string of recent attacks. Gilani “has strongly condemned the Afghan president's statement that Pakistan is involved in a series of terrorist attacks inside Afghanistan,” a government statement said. “Afghan leaders should not give such statements as it will hamper the development process in the region,” it quoted Gilani as saying before a cabinet meeting in Islamabad. Gilani said Islamabad had “time and again declared on all forums that a stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan and entire region.” “Pakistan has provided all-out support for the establishment of a stable government in Afghanistan,” he was quoted as saying in the statement. (Posted @ 13:55 PST) Three killed, 14 hurt in occupied Kashmir clash SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, July 16 (AFP) - A policeman and two suspected militants were killed in clashes in revolt-hit occupied Kashmir that lasted almost 20 hours, police said Wednesday adding that a lieutenant colonel from the Indian army and two police officers were among the 14 injured in the fighting. “The fighting erupted last (Tuesday) evening when police and army soldiers ringed a hide-out on a tip-off,” a spokesman said. He said the “fierce fighting” raged through most of Wednesday near the town of Sopore, about 55 kilometres north of Srinagar. Early this month, six army soldiers and 12 militants were killed during a long-drawn battle along the de facto border dividing Kashmir between the nuclear-armed rivals. (Posted @ 19:25 PST)  Saudi king opens inter-faith conference with appeal for dialogue MADRID, July 16 (AFP) - Saudi King Abdullah appealed for “constructive dialogue” to end disputes between the world's major religions as he opened an inter-faith conference in Madrid Wednesday. “We all believe in one God... We are meeting here today to say that religions should be a means to iron out differences and not to lead to disputes,” he said in an inaugural speech at the three-day World Conference on Dialogue. He called for a “constructive dialogue to open a new page to reconciliation after so many disputes.” The conference is organised by the Muslim World League from an initiative by King Abdullah. Around 200 participants are attending, including representatives of the world's major religions. Among them are the secretary general of the World Jewish Congress, Michael Schneider, and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who is responsible for dialogue between the Vatican and Muslims. After Wednesday's inaugural session, four closed-door round tables will be held before a final communique on Friday. (First Posted @ 19:40 PST Updated @ 20:24 PST) McCain slams Obama talk on hunting terrorists on Pak territory WASHINGTON, July 16 (APP): Republican presidential candidate John McCain urged support for the Pakistani government in the war against terror and criticized Democratic candidate Barack Obama for his rhetoric on pursuing terrorists on Pakistani territory during a campaign speech in New Mexico. McCain voiced his support for the new Pakistani government, saying “We must empower the new civilian government of Pakistan to defeat radicalism with greater support for development, health, and education.” “Senator Obama has spoken in public about taking unilateral military action in Pakistan. In trying to sound tough, he's made it harder for the people whose support we most need to provide it,” he stated. McCain also indicated his support for the new government's policy to engage local tribesmen in isolating violent extremists. “A special focus of our regional strategy must be Pakistan. As you know the political situation in Pakistan is very unsettled. And terrorists today enjoy sanctuary. This must end. We must strengthen local tribes in the border areas who are willing to fight the foreign terrorists there. That's the same strategy that we use successfully in Anbar and elsewhere in Iraq. We must convince the Pakistanis that this is their war as much as it is ours.” (Posted @ 16:20 PST) Fazal for policy to tackle problems in tribal areas ISLAMABAD, July 16 (APP):- JUI-F chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman Wednesday said that in the present scenario his party would adopt a policy and discuss it in the joint meeting of the coalition parties on July 23. Talking to PTV he said the presence of the allied forces in Afghanistan is mounting regional tension and urged early withdrawal of allied forced from the region. Replying to a question he said,” We sent our delegation voluntarily for the peace talks in the tribal areas which would present its report in the meeting of JUI(NWFP) on Thursday”. He said the country was fighting the war against terrorism, adding that coalition forces were using Pakistan for their own purposes. “We have to develop national strategy for peace in the tribal areas”, he added. (Posted @ 21:04 PST) India beat Pakistan 3-1 in Jr. Asia Cup semi-final HYDERABAD, India, July 16 (APP): Dragflicker Diwakar Ram scored twice off penalty corners to guide India to a 3-1 victory over a guileless Pakistan in the first semi-final of the Junior Asia Cup Hockey Tournament here Wednesday. India will now meet either South Korea or Japan in Friday's final. (Posted @ 22:02 PST) Oil plunges after rise in US crude stocks LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) - Oil fell sharply on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a rise in crude oil and gasoline stocks last week. U.S. crude was $5.45 down at $133.29 a barrel by 1452 GMT. London Brent crude was $4.85 down at $133.90 a barrel. (Posted @ 21:28 PST) Hezbollah prisoners freed in exchange for dead Israeli soldiers NAQURA, Lebanon, July 16 (AFP) - Five Lebanese prisoners freed by the Israeli authorities arrived in Lebanon Wednesday, hours after Hezbollah handed over the bodies of two Israeli soldiers seized by its guerrillas two years ago. Among those freed in a prisoner swap greeted with triumph in Lebanon but anguish in Israel was triple murderer Samir Kantar, who was sentenced to five life terms for a 1979 triple murder. The four, Khaled Zidan, Maher Kurani, Mohammed Sarur and Hussein Suleiman -- along with Kantar -- were the last remaining Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails. The prisoners were brought across the border in a convoy of four ICRC vehicles. The five were released in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, captured on July 12, 2006. Israel was also to transfer to Lebanon the remains of 199 Palestinian and Hezbollah fighters exhumed over the past week. Among the first bodies handed over was Dalal al-Moghrabi, who led a bloody commando attack in 1978.She was killed in a battle with Israeli forces after her group blew up a bus they had hijacked on the road between Tel Aviv and Haifa, killing 36 people. (First Posted @ 19:34 PST Updated @ 21:20 PST) Bus and train crash kills at least 20 in Egypt CAIRO, July 16 (AFP) - At least 20 people were killed on Wednesday when a bus and train collided close to Egypt's northwestern town of Marsa Matruh, police said.The accident occurred in the Dabaa region, on the Mediterranean coast about 250 kilometres northwest of Cairo, police added. (Posted @ 21:12 PST) 20 Indian police killed in Maoist attack NEW DELHI, July 16 (AFP) - At least 20 Indian police commandos were killed Wednesday in a Maoist rebel attack in the revolt-hit eastern state of Orissa, federal officials said. The special counter-insurgency unit was hit by a landmine blast while patrolling in Malkangiri district, a known Maoist stronghold in the far south of the state, home ministry officials said. “Twenty policemen died instantly,” one of the officials told AFP on condition of anonymity. (Posted @ 20:12 PST) Afghanistan to look into allegations of Pakistan nuclear dumping KABUL, July 16 (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai appointed Wednesday a team of experts to investigate allegations that Pakistan had dumped nuclear waste in southern Afghanistan, his office said. In April, Afghan minister for parliamentary affairs, Farouk Wardak told the BBC that his government had evidence Pakistan had buried its nuclear waste in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar during the 1996-2001 Taliban regime but later denied it. Pakistan has also rejected the claim. Karzai however has now set up, through presidential decree, a team of experts to investigate “rumours” of nuclear dumping, a statement from his office said. (Posted @ 19:12 PST) Sri Lankan Army captures key rebel naval base in north COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, July 16 (AP) - Sri Lankan soldiers captured a key naval base used by the Tamil Tiger rebels in the northern part of the country, the military said Wednesday, a day after fighting in the region reportedly killed 51 rebels and a soldier. Separately, air force helicopters destroyed two rebel boats fleeing from the fallen base, according to the military. Soldiers overran the rebel-held coastal town of Vidattaltivu on Wednesday, a military spokesman said. Meanwhile Wednesday, helicopter gunships destroyed two fleeing rebel boats at sea about 2 1/2 miles from the fallen base, while fighter jets pounded another rebel naval base elsewhere in the region, said an air force spokesman. (Posted @ 18:56 PST) Philippines, Muslim rebels reach deal on homeland MANILA, July 16 (Reuters) - The Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim separatist group, reached a deal on Wednesday to create an ancestral homeland for 3 million Muslims in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic state, officials said. The agreement, while crucial for the resumption of formal peace talks, does not guarantee the end of a near 40-year conflict that has killed 120,000 people and displaced 2 million on the resource-rich southern island of Mindanao. “We have finally settled all the remaining issues on ancestral domain,” Mohaqher Iqbal, chief negotiator of MILF, told Reuters at the end of a one-day meeting brokered by the Malaysian government. “The real battle will be fought on the next level when we start talks on the political formula to end the conflict. But, at least we have hurdled the ancestral domain issue.” Retired general Rodolfo Garcia, the head of the government's peace panel, said: “Praise God. It's over.” “We are very positive that we could meet an earlier deadline to wrap up talks and sign a final peace deal with the MILF by next yea,” Hermogenes Esperon, the president's peace adviser, told Reuters in Manila after he was informed of the breakthrough. (Posted @ 18:44 PST) NATO forces abandon Afghan outpost after deadly attack KABUL, July 16 (AFP): NATO said Wednesday it had abandoned an Afghan outpost days after it was stormed by militants who killed nine US soldiers. The soldiers pulled out of the outpost in Wanat village in northeastern Kunar province on Tuesday, Afghan officials said. “We are confirming that we have vacated our combat outpost at Wanat,” NATO spokesman in Afghanistan, Mark Laity, told AFP. The area has since been taken over by Taliban militants, an Afghan official said. (Posted @ 17:58 PST) Afghan attorney general fired after announcing election bid KABUL, July 16 (AFP): Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday dismissed his attorney general the day after he announced his intention to stand in presidential polls due next year. Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabet, 62, criticised Karzai's decision, telling reporters it was unconstitutional. In a statement, Karzai said Sabet's announcement Tuesday that he would stand for election was considered his resignation because the attorney general should be neutral and free of “political influences.” Sabet responded by saying that he had not resigned, “I have not, he has removed me,” he said. (Posted @ 15:50 PST) Iraq takes control of Diwaniyah province from US-led forces DIWANIYAH, Iraq, July 16 (AFP): Iraq took control of security in the Shiite province of Diwaniyah on Wednesday, making it the 10th of Iraq’s 18 provinces to be regained by Baghdad from the US-led forces. (Posted @ 14:00 PST) Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim arrested KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (AFP): Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who has been accused of sodomizing a male aide, was arrested outside his home, his lawyer said Wednesday. “Anwar was arrested just five minutes ago. The police came and took him away,” said lawyer Sankara Nair, who witnessed the arrest. “He had just arrived home when about 10 officers detained him at the gate of his home,” he told AFP. Nair said the police did not specify what the opposition leader was being charged with, but that he would be taken to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters. Anwar's Keadilan party, which leads a three-member opposition alliance, issued an immediate call for his supporters to rally outside the headquarters in the city's downtown. (Posted @ 11:55 PST) Two US troops killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, July 16 (AFP): The US military announced Wednesday the deaths of two more troops killed by militants in Iraq. One soldier was killed Tuesday when a bomb hidden in a house exploded as he was conducting an operation in Diyala province. A marine died of wounds received during a firefight with militants in the western Anbar province Monday, the military added. (Posted @ 11:35 PST) Two Taiwan pilots injured in army chopper crash landing TAIPEI, July 16 (AFP): Two Taiwanese military pilots were injured when their army helicopter crash landed Wednesday, the defence ministry said. The pilots were in critical condition when they were pulled from the wreckage in northern Taoyuan county. The AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter was on a routine training mission when the accident happened at 10:15 am, it said. (Posted @ 11:30 PST) Two Russian cosmonauts make new space walk MOSCOW, July 16 (AFP): Two Russian cosmonauts on board the International Space Station made a new space walk Tuesday to finish off work begun during an earlier operation last week, the Russian space centre said. The cosmonauts remained outside the space station for six hours, the Interfax news agency cited space officials as saying. The spacewalk had the two cosmonauts install targeting equipment for the station's future docking with a Russian research module, as well as hardware for a new geophysical experiment. They also retrieved an explosive bolt believed to be the cause of the Soyuz spacecraft's dangerously high-speed descent and landing on two recent missions. (Posted @ 10:10 PST) US envoy to meet Iran officials on nuclear issues WASHINGTON, July 16 (AFP): A senior US diplomat will meet with a top Iranian representative at talks on Tehran's nuclear program in Geneva this weekend, a State Department official confirmed Tuesday. Undersecretary of State William Burns, the US State Department's number three official, will attend a meeting in Geneva Saturday between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Tehran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili “to receive the Iranian response to the latest offer of the P5 plus 1,” the official said, requesting anonymity. (Posted @ 09:35 PST) Bush can hold terrorist suspect indefinitely: US court WASHINGTON, July 16 (AFP): A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that President George W. Bush has the power to keep a terrorist suspect jailed indefinitely, but that the detainee has the right to challenge his detention as an “enemy combatant.” The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, took up the case of Ali Al-Marri, the only “war on terror” suspect arrested on US soil, and reversed a June 2007 decision by a lower court denying Bush the power to keep the suspect jailed indefinitely and ordering his release. By a 5-4 decision, the Richmond court said: “if the government's allegations about Al-Marri are true, Congress has empowered the president to detain him as an enemy combatant.” At the same time, the court also decided by a 5-4 vote that “al-Marri has not been afforded sufficient process to challenge his designation as an enemy combatant.” The high court concluded that the Guantanamo naval base can be treated as US territory where rights enshrined in the US Constitution must be respected. (Posted @ 09:25 PST) Blast kills nine Russian soldiers in Chechnya MOSCOW, July 16 (AFP): Nine soldiers were killed and four injured on Tuesday by an explosion of ammunition in the southern Russian province of Chechnya, Russian news agencies reported, citing defence officials. “Today at 5:15 p.m. ... an uncontrolled explosion occurred as ammunition was being transferred from a tank into a vehicle” near the town of Shali, a defence ministry statement was quoted as saying. (Posted @ 09:20 PST) Karachi Stocks down 467.99 points: KARACHI, July 16: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 10491.88, down 467.99 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, July 16: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 71.5 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
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