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| August 17, 2008 | Sunday | Sha'aban 14, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 Rice says US asylum for Musharraf 'not on the table' WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday granting asylum to embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was not currently under consideration by the United States. “That's not an issue on the table, and I just want to keep our focus on what we must do with the democratic government of Pakistan,” Rice told Fox News on Sunday when asked if Washington would give the Pakistan president asylum. Asked if it would be in the best interest of Pakistan to have Musharraf resign, Rice said: “This is a matter for the Pakistanis to resolve. “We have been supportive of democratic elections that took place in Pakistan. In fact, advocated for them.” She said the United States had showed its support for the new government, citing President George W. Bush's recent meeting with Pakistani premier Yousuf Raza Gilani. Rice said “President Musharraf has been a good ally” but that Washington had disagreed with his decision to declare a state of emergency. (First Posted @ 20:08 PST Updated @ 21:00 PST)  Pakistan edges toward Musharraf impeachment ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug 17 (AP) - President Pervez Musharraf will not resign, his spokesman said Sunday, even after Pakistan's coalition agreed a host of charges with which to impeach the former general. On Sunday, a committee of the ruling coalition finalized a list of impeachment charges against Musharraf after five days of talks, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said. Sen. Raza Rabbani, a senior coalition leader, said the charges included “a plethora of actions” taken by Musharraf in “gross violation” of the constitution. “He should tender his resignation, pack up his bags, and go,” he told reporters after the committee meeting in Islamabad. “Whatever little moral authority was left has now been completely eroded.” However, the officials released no details of the charges, which now go to coalition chiefs for a final decision on launching impeachment proceedings in Parliament. They also were vague about the timing _ leaving space for more back-channel talks aimed at smoothing a possible Musharraf exit and avoiding an unprecedented impeachment process. If coalition leaders give a green light, “we will be presenting (the list) as part of a resolution and charge sheet in the joint houses and, God willing, that should happen this week,” Sherry Rehman said. Senator Raza Rabbani insisted the coalition will easily secure the required two-thirds majority in a joint sitting of the upper and lower houses of Parliament to oust Musharraf. Presidential spokesman Maj-Gen (retd) Rashid Qureshi on Sunday insisted: “This thing must be clear to everyone that President Musharraf is not going to resign, period,” He told The Associated Press he was unaware of any secrets talks. (First Posted @ 17:02 PST Updated @ 21:22 PST) Death toll nears 200 in Pakistan sectarian clashes PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 17 (AFP) - Almost 200 people have died and 286 injured in nearly two weeks of fierce sectarian clashes in Pakistan’s Kurram tribal region, officials said Sunday. The toll rose after 23 people were killed in fresh fighting overnight, they said. Local newspapers said that Taliban militants from the neighbouring North Waziristan tribal zone had entered Kurram to back the Sunni tribes involved in the fighting, now in its 12th day. Residents said Sunni tribesmen torched three villages belonging to Shiite tribes and both sides used rockets, heavy machine guns and mortars in the fierce clashes. “In today's and yesterday's clashes at least 23 people have been killed on both sides and 28 others were injured,” a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. According to reports gathered through local intelligence officials and hospitals, the overall death toll from the days of fighting has risen to 194, with 286 others injured, the official said. The government earlier this week warned the tribes to end the fighting within three days or face military action. Local administration officials said that elders from both tribes have been approached to restore peace in the area and local residents are also supporting the initiative. The deadline ends Monday. (Posted @ 17:28 PST)  PM Gilani meets Balochistan cabinet members ISLAMABAD, Aug 17( PPI):- Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday the coalition government is committed to restore supremacy of the parliament, independence of judiciary, media and 1973 Constitution in its true shape. Talking to Balochistan cabinet delegation led by Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani, he said “we are not against any individual or personality but want to strike a balance between Parliament and the office of the President. People have voted for a change in the system.” He said without law and order no nation can progress. Balochistan's development is the top priority of the government. Prime Minister announced a special grant of Rs six billion for development projects in Balochistan from his discretionary funds. (Posted @ 21:44 PST) Life returning to normalcy in Bajour Agency PESHAWAR, Aug 17 PPI: Law and order situation has improved in Bajaur Agency's headquarters Khaar. Business centers reopened on Sunday after 10 days closure and people started returning to the area. Federal government would provide Rs 100 million and 50 trucks loaded with relief goods for internally displaced people of Bajaur Agency. NWFP government has established 16 camps in different parts for internally displaced people of Bajaur Agency. Nearly 60,000 displaced people have been accommodated in these camps. Meanwhile, according to reports from Swat, security forces have taken control of most of troubled area. ISPR sources said security forces were patrolling the area for security of people and avert any untoward incident. Curfew was again relaxed in entire Swat from 7.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. on Sunday. (Posted @ 21:35 PST) Pakistani protesters torch US flag over Dr Aafia arrest KARACHI, Aug 17 (AFP) - Thousands of people rallied in Karachi Sunday, burning a US flag and an effigy of President George W. Bush to protest the arrest of Dr Aafia Siddiqi by US authorities in Afghanistan. The call for the rally was given by Jamaat-i-Islami to demand the release of scientist Aafia Siddiqui, charged with trying to murder US officials in Afghanistan. Dr Aafia, 36, a mother-of-three who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was arrested on July 17 in Afghanistan, extradited to New York on August 4 and indicted the next day on a charge of attempted murder. About 4,000 people attended the rally, while organisers claimed three times that number were present. “The US should immediately release Dr Aafia Siddiqui. God knows how many of our daughters like Aafia Siddiqui are languishing in US jails,” Mohammad Hussain Mehanti, chief of Jammat-i-Islami, Karachi chapter, told protesters. (Posted @ 20:56 PST) Ghaus Ali Shah returns after 8 years exile KARACHI, Aug 17 (APP): Former Chief Minister of Sindh and President PML-N Sindh, Syed Ghaus Ali Shah returned to Kaqrachi Sunday after almost 8 years in exile. Talking to newsmen at the airport he said people want change and the coalition parties took the President's impeachment decision at the right time. In fact, he said, the President should have resigned after the February 18 election verdict. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) Shutdown continues in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, August 17 (PPI) -- Complete shutdown was observed on the seventh consecutive day, Sunday, to protest against the killings of innocent Kashmiris by Indian troops' indiscriminate firing on demonstrators and to press for the opening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road for trade. According to Kashmir Media Service, all shops and business establishments remained closed and public and private transport remained off the roads. (Posted @ 18:48 PST) Olympic Hockey: Pakistan beat S. Africa 3-1 BEIJING, Aug 17 (AFP) – Pakistan defeated South Africa by three goals to one but lost all hopes to make it to the Olympic field hockey semi-finals when Holland held Australia to a two-all draw later in the day on Sunday. Collated results: Pool A-- South Korea 3 (You Hyo-Sik 46, 51, Jang Jong-Hyun 50); Belgium 1 (Jerome Dekeyser 20); China 2 (Song Yi 3, 17), New Zealand 2 (Simon Child 34, Shea McAleese 54); Germany 1 (Moritz Fuerste 34), Spain 0. Pool B--Britain 1 (Matt Daly 67), Canada 1 (Ken Pereira 47); Pakistan 3 (Muhammad Javed 9, Shakeel Abbasi 44, Saqlain Muhammad 60pen), South Africa 1 (Austin Smith 31), Australia 2 (Eddie Ockenden 58, Luke Doerner 61), The Netherlands 2 (Taeke Taekema 55, 70). (First Posted @ 20:16 PST Updated @ 21:52 PST) Olympics: Phelps eight confirms legendary status BEIJING, Aug 17 (AFP) - Michael Phelps (USA) cemented his place in Olympics history Sunday, capping a sensational week by becoming the first athlete ever to win eight gold medals in one Games. Phelps brought the curtain down on a record-breaking week of swimming when he directed the US team to victory in the 4x100m medley relay and overtook fellow US legend Mark Spitz's seven gold medals at Munich 36 years ago. The 23-year-old Phelps also broke seven world records through the week and became the most successful Olympian of all time with a career 14 gold medals. (Posted @ 19:52 PST) More than 60 killed in Afghan violence KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Aug 17 (AFP) - Violence raged across southern Afghanistan with about 60 people killed in a series of bombings and clashes, authorities said Sunday. In the deadliest weekend incident, Afghan security forces killed at least 28 Taliban-linked rebels who attacked a convoy that was delivering supplies to international troops in southern Afghanistan, the defence ministry said. The clash occurred 10 kilometres from the town of Qalat in Zabul province. Deputy provincial governor Gulab Shah Alikhail put the rebel death toll at 32, and added that five private security guards were also killed in the four-hour battle. Also in the south, a roadside bomb hit a police jeep late Saturday and killed 10 officers, said the police chief of Kandahar province, Mutiullah Khan. In other fighting, a dozen rebels, most of them Al-Qaeda-linked foreign fighters, were killed in an operation by Afghan and foreign troops in central Ghazni province late Saturday, said a provincial spokesman. The defence ministry confirmed the incident but put the death toll at five militants, including three Pakistanis. The ministry also said an Afghan soldier was killed and six others were wounded in two bomb blasts on Saturday, one of them near Kabul. Meanwhile seven Taliban-linked militants were killed in another operation in Zabul, an official there said. (Posted @ 19:38 PST) Blast at Nepal vice president's home, one hurt KATHMANDU, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Unidentified assailants threw a small bomb at the house of Nepal's vice president Paramananda Jha in a Kathmandu suburb on Sunday, wounding at least one security guard, police said. Jha was unhurt in the blast that shattered the window panes of his private home. (Posted @ 22:02 PST) Iran says it launched satellite into space TEHRAN, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it had launched its first domestically made satellite into space, the official IRNA news agency reported. “Iran's Omid (hope) satellite was launched on Sunday using the Safir (ambassador) satellite-carrier rocket,” IRNA said, quoting a statement from Iran's armed forces. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad read out the launch countdown, said an official. The technology used to put satellites into space can also be used for launching weapons, but Iran says it has no plans to do so. (Posted @ 21:12 PST) Remains of ex-Afghan president's relatives found in mass grave KABUL, Aug 17 (AFP) - Afghan authorities announced Sunday they had found mass graves containing the remains of nine relatives of ex-president Mohammad Daud Khan, shot dead in a Soviet-backed coup three decades ago. The body of Khan, also killed in the 1978 military coup, is thought to be among those recovered from the two graves on the outskirts of the capital that were found to contain 29 bodies, deputy public health minister Faizullah Kakar told reporters. “We have identified nine members of Mr. Daud Khan's family but not that of himself,” said Kakar, head of a commission appointed by President Hamid Karzai in April to locate the body of Khan, Afghanistan's first president. Work to identify Khan's body was underway, he said. The nine included Khan's wife, a son, two daughters, his sister and an 18-month-old grandchild as well as other relatives, Kakar said. They were identified through their clothing, teeth, height and other characteristics, he added. “We're 100 percent sure about our findings,” he said. Some of the other 29 bodies in the graves, where they were neatly placed side by side, were in military uniform, he said. Khan and 18 members of his family were shot dead on the night of April 27-28, 1978 when Soviet-backed communists stormed into the presidential palace in the centre of Kabul. Their bodies were secretly buried and the graves were found after tip-offs from former soldiers. The following year the Soviet Union invaded, occupying Afghanistan for a decade before they were defeated by an Afghan uprising. Khan, who died when he was 68, had himself gained power in a coup, toppling King Zahir Shah, his cousin, in 1973 to end the monarchy and establish a republic. Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, died last year in Kabul. (Posted @ 21:05 PST) Indian-American governor says no to being VP pick WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (AFP) - Young Indian-American governor of Lousiana, Bobby Jindal, a rising Republican star, on Sunday ruled himself out of the race to be the party's vice-presidential pick. Asked if he would like to be John McCain's running mate, Jindal, 36, told NBC's Meet the Press “No. I've got the job I want.””I'm voting for Senator McCain. I'll do what I can to help him. I'll do it as good governor. We cut taxes, we're growing jobs, lowest unemployment in 30 years, but we have more work,” he said. “I don't want to be vice president. I'm not going to be the nominee,”Jindal, son of Punjabi immigrants, added Sunday. (Posted @ 20:50 PST) Wife of Dr Abdus Salam to teach at Karachi University KARACHI, Aug 17 (APP)- Prof Dr Dame Louise N Johnson, the British wife of famous Nobel laureate Pakistani scientist Dr Abdus Salam, will carry out teaching and research work at Dr Panjwani Center For Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), Karachi University. PCMD is the only institution of its type in the country focusing on training of students at M.Phil. and Ph.D. levels in the emerging fields of molecular medicine and drug research. (Posted @ 20:00 PST) Olympics: Umer finishes 49th in 50m Air Rifle BEIJING, Aug 17 (APP): Pakistani shooter Umer Siddique finished a disappointing 49th among 51 shooters in Air Rifle 50 meter three position shooting qualification competition of Beijing Olympics on Sunday. Firing in prone standing and kneeling position, Umer mustered the score of 1116 after rounds of 390, 359 and 367. Slovakian Rajmond Debevec finished on the top in qualification round by accumulating 1176 points with rounds of 399, 386 and 391. Matthew Emmons of USA was second at 1175 with rounds of 399, 389 and 387 while Jury Sukhorukov of Ukraine was third with total score 1174 having rounds of 398, 384 and 392. (Posted @ 18:18 PST) Russians cannot be 'peacekeepers' in Georgia TBILISI, Aug 17 (AFP) - President Mikheil Saakashvili on Sunday said that Russian troops cannot stay in the country as “peacekeepers” following this month's conflict over the separatist region of South Ossetia. “There is no such notion anymore in Georgia as Russian peacekeepers. There can be no Russian peacekeepers -- these are just Russian forces,” Saakashvili said at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Posted @ 21:08 PST) Georgia to become NATO member: Merkel TBILISI, Aug 17 (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday in the Georgian capital that the ex-Soviet republic, currently mired in conflict with Russia, will join NATO. “Georgia will become a member of NATO if it wants to -- and it does want to,” she said before talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi. (Posted @ 19:44 PST) Russia will start pulling troops from Georgia Monday: Sarkozy GORI, Georgia, Aug 17 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had told him by telephone that forces would begin leaving around midday on Monday. Sarkozy, representing the European Union, said failure to pull out under a ceasefire deal would have “serious consequences” for ties with the EU. The Kremlin confirmed Sarkozy's announcement made in Paris. “From tomorrow Russia will begin the withdrawal of the military contingent which was moved to reinforce Russian peacekeepers after the Georgian aggression against South Ossetia,” it said in a statement. (Posted @ 18:58 PST) Russian peacekeepers replacing regular troops: general GORI, Georgia, Aug 17 (AFP) - General Vyacheslav Borisov, Russian commander in the Gori area, Sunday said that peacekeepers are starting to replace regular troops occupying the flashpoint town of Gori, opening the way for badly needed humanitarian aid. However, a senior Georgian official said the Russians were still refusing to hand back control of Gori to Georgian police and accused them of failing to honour a commitment to withdraw across the country. “All the roads are free for humanitarian aid and Georgians,” Borisov said. However, Borisov did not clarify when the Russian pullout from Gori, required under a French-brokered peace deal between Moscow and Tbilisi, would be completed. (Posted @ 17:16 PST) Nadal wins gold medal in Olympic tennis BEIJING, Aug 17 (AP) - Rafael Nadal won the Olympic men's singles gold medal Sunday, overcoming two set points in the second set and holding every service game to beat Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3. The gold medal was the first ever for Spain in Olympic tennis. Elena Dementieva earned the gold in women's singles, taking advantage of 17 double-faults by fellow Russian Dinara Safina to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. In women's doubles, Venus and Serena Williams of the United States won the gold, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-2, 6-0. (Posted @ 19:30 PST) 2 small planes crash in England, 5 reported dead LONDON, Aug 17 (AP) - Two small planes crashed in mid-air Sunday near Coventry airport, about 90 miles northwest of London, killing five people. No further details of the crash were immediately available. (Posted @ 19:08 PST) Egypt: 10 dead, 11 hurt in road accident CAIRO, Egypt, Aug 17 (AP) - Ten people were killed and at least 11 injured in a traffic accident on the Nile delta on Sunday. Police said the accident occurred when the truck driver lost control and plowed into a minibus in the opposite lane of a highway near the town of Benha, some 130 miles north of Cairo. (Posted @ 17:46 PST) Sri Lanka fighting kills 56, rebel base captured COLOMBO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Almost 50 Tamil Tiger fighters and seven soldiers have been killed and an important rebel training base in Mullaitivu district has been captured in fighting in Sri Lanka's north over the past two days, the military said on Sunday. “Troops have captured one of LTTE training bases with 100 underground bunkers,” said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. Meanwhile, the military said 49 Tamil Tiger rebels had been killed in fighting since Friday and another 59 wounded. It said seven soldiers were also killed and 32 wounded. The military claims its forces have entered the Vanni region in the north where the rebels' de facto capital Kilinochchi is located, amid a barrage of land, sea and air attacks. (Posted @ 17:30 PST) Israel to free 200 Palestinians prisoners JERUSALEM, Aug 17 (AFP) - Israel's cabinet voted on Sunday to release some 200 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to president Mahmud Abbas aimed at bolstering slow-moving US-backed peace talks. A spokesman for Abbas called the decision a “step in the right direction,” but said the Palestinians had hoped to see more prisoners freed. There are currently more than 11,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, including at least 85 women and children and 11 seriously ill people, according to the Palestinian Authority. (Posted @ 16:48 PST) Seven killed in ambush by Philippine militants MARAWI, Philippines, Aug 17 (AFP): Four soldiers and three pro-government militiamen were killed in an ambush by separatist rebels in southern Philippines Sunday, the military said. Eight soldiers and three militiamen were also wounded in the attack near the town of Malundo in Lanao del Sur province, the military said. Troop reinforcements had been sent to the area to hunt Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) militants who carried out the attack, the military said. (Posted @ 12:00 PST) NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan KABUL, Aug 17 (AFP): A NATO-led soldier was killed in a bomb blast in eastern Afghanistan Saturday, the alliance's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement that gave no other details. (First Posted @ 09:25 PST Updated @ 20:22 PST)
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