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| February 17, 2006 | Friday | Muharram 18, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan fire tear gas to disperse blasphemous cartoon protestors KARACHI, Feb 17, Reuters: Police fired tear gas and detained more than 100 demonstrators on Friday as the country saw a fifth day of protests against publication of blasphemous cartoons in European newspapers. Police detained at least 10 protesters after they blocked the main highway north of Karachi city and began hurling stones at vehicles. "We fired tear gas to disperse them," police said. Police also detained about 130 members of the Shabab-e-Milli group who tried to stage a rally in Multan. Many markets in Karachi were closed and and few buses and trains were running after Pasban, the youth wing of Jaamat-i-Islami, called a general strike against the cartoons. Schools and colleges were also closed in the city. In Lahore, police detained Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, to prevent him from leading protests, aides and police said. (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Denmark shuts its Pakistan embassy on safety fears COPENHAGEN, Feb 17 (Reuters) Denmark said on Friday it had temporarily closed its embassy in Islamabad as a result of days of protests over publication of blasphemous cartoons. "We are not satisfied with the security situation and have temporarily closed the embassy," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lars Thuesen said. The ministry also issued a new travel warning for Pakistan, urging Danes in the country to leave as soon as possible. "The demonstrations that are currently being held in Pakistan have created an atmosphere of very strong antipathy against Denmark and Danes," the ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile Pakistan's foreign ministry said it was recalling its ambassador to Denmark for consultations, but did not elaborate. "Pakistan's ambassador in Copenhagen, Mr. Javed A. Qureshi, has been called to Islamabad for consultations over the cartoon controversy," foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said Friday. (First Posted @ 17:25 PST Updated @ 21:05 PST)
India, Pakistan to expedite process of IPI gas pipeline project NEW DELHI, Feb 17 (APP): India and Pakistan on Friday expressed their desire to accelerate the dialogue and consultation process on the multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India(IPI) gas pipeline project. Addressing a joint press conference here at the conclusion of Pak-India Ministerial Meeting, oil minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon and his Indian counterpart Murli Deora said they agreed that the IPI project was important to the energy and security interests of both countries. "We need energy and want to expedite this project", Jadoon said adding that other options including Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) project and gas supply from Qatar were also being pursued. According to the joint press statement the two delegations had in-depth discussions on various aspects of the project including project structure and gas prices. The statement added that their officials would participate in a tripartite meeting to be convened on March 13-15 this year, after which the ministers of the three countries would meet in Tehran in April, 2006 to address any outstanding issues. Earlier Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the parliament on Friday that "we are committed to the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline". Singh also discussed the proposal with Deora, and Jadoon. (First Posted @ 15:20 PST Updated @ 21:14 PST)
Clinton meets Aziz, Musharraf in day-long trip to Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Feb 17, 2006 (AFP) Former US president Bill Clinton said Friday that printing the blasphemous cartoons was a mistake but that violent protests had also wasted a chance to build bridges with the West. Clinton was speaking in Pakistan where he was visiting survivors of last year's South Asian earthquake and launching an HIV/AIDS project. "I strongly disagree with the creation and publication of cartoons that are considered blasphemous by Muslims around the world. I thought it was a mistake," he told reporters, adding that "I had no objections to Muslims who were demonstrating in a peaceful way.” Clinton, who arrived in Pakistan early Friday for a day-long trip, held talks with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. He signed an agreement under which the Clinton Foundation will help Pakistan with HIV/AIDS treatment, care and prevention. Musharraf thanked Clinton for the HIV/AIDS programme and the help extended after the October earthquake, while Clinton praised Musharraf's efforts to promote peace and stability in South Asia, the foreign ministry said in a statement. "The two leaders exchanged views on a wide range of subjects. The President (Musharraf) underscored the importance that Pakistan attaches to a broad-based, long-term sustainable relationship with the United States," the statement added. Clinton later left by a special plane from Chaklala airbase near Islamabad, officials said. (First Posted @ 15:30 PST Updated @ 21:34 PST)
Kashmir's Yasin Malik holds talks with Singh NEW DELHI (AP) Kashmir's top pro-independence leader Yasin Malik demanded Friday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh involve the people of Kashmir in peace talks between India and Pakistan aimed at ending the nearly six decades of strife in the Himalayan region. Yasin Malik also handed over to Singh, a box of compact discs which he said contained the signatures of 1.5 million Kashmiris seeking their engagement in the process between New Delhi and Islamabad. ``I have given the prime minister the transparent verdict of the Kashmiri people on the need to include their representatives in the talks on the future of Kashmir,'' Yasin Malik told reporters after meeting the prime minister. During the hour-long talks, Singh assured the Kashmiri leader that he was ``seeking a genuine, permanent reconciliation in the state,'' and wanted to involve ``as large a cross-section of public opinion as possible'' in the dialogue to end strife in Kashmir, the prime minister's media adviser said. (First Posted @ 15:45 PST Updated @ 22:00 PST)
Weapons seized, five Pakistani soldiers wounded PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 18, 2006 (AFP) Security forces seized a cache of arms and explosives intended to be used for "terrorist activities" in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said Friday. The seizure in the Dara Adam Khel tribal area included 122 mortar bombs, 37 rockets and different types of fuses and cartridges, said a military statement released in Peshawar. "The terrorists were planning to transport these lethal weapons to North Waziristan for terrorist activities," the officials in the statement said without giving more details. Also on Friday at least five Pakistani soldiers were injured when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device near Wana, the main town in South Waziristan tribal agency, officials said. The injured were moved to a nearby military hospital. No one claimed responsibility for the blast. (First Posted @15:15 PST Updated @ 22:00 PST)
Cricket-Pakistan thrash Australia to storm into youth World Cup final COLOMBO, Feb 17, 2006 (AFP) Man-of-the-match Riaz Kail hit a half-century under pressure to set up Pakistan's 163-run victory over Australia in the semi-final of the under-19 World Cup cricket tournament here on Friday. Pakistan will now meet India in the day-night final on Sunday. Scores (semi-final): Pakistan 287-9 in 50 overs (Riaz Kail 87, Ali Asad 66, Imad Wasim 29 not out, Rameez Raja 28; Moises Henriques 3-58, Simon Keen 2-46, Adam Ritchard 2-71) beat Australia 124 in 32.3 overs (Usman Khawaja 59; Imad Wasim 3-16, Usman Malik 3-17, Jamshed Ahmed 2-17) by 163 runs. (Posted @ 21:25 PST)
Cricket-Injured Shoaib ruled out of Sri Lanka tour KARACHI, Feb 17 (Reuters) Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was ruled out of next month's tour to Sri Lanka on Friday after doctors told him he would need two months to recover from a stress fracture in his ankle. Saleem Altaf, Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) director of cricket operations, said Shoaib had seen a specialist in Lahore, who had confirmed he needed upto eight weeks' rehabilitation. (Posted @ 21:15 PST)
India fears for its security if Iran row escalates NEW DELHI, Feb 17 (Reuters) India is deeply concerned at the growing rhetoric and possibility of a confrontation over Iran's nuclear programme, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday. "We are...deeply concerned by escalating rhetoric and growing tensions and the possibility of confrontation over this issue," Singh told the Indian parliament. "This is a matter of concern for us, as tensions in this region, where our vital political, economic and security interests are involved, affect us directly," he added. Singh also took a jab at Pakistan saying the source of proliferation lay in ``our own neighbourhood'', an apparent reference to Pakistan's discredited nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan. ``Honorable members are aware that the source of such clandestine proliferation of sensitive technologies lies in our own neighbourhood, details of which have emerged from successive IAEA reports,'' he said. ``This august house will agree that India cannot afford to turn a blind eye to security implications of such proliferation activities,” he added. (First Posted @16:50 PST Updated @ 20:58 PST)
West Bank mosque desecrated again NABLUS, West Bank, Feb 17 (Reuters) Blasphemous graffiti insulting the Prophet Mohammad(PBUH) was daubed on the wall of a Palestinian mosque in occupied West Bank for the second time in recent days, an Israeli military source and local residents said Friday. An Israeli police spokesman said it was investigating the incidents. He declined to comment on whether settlers were suspected. (Posted @ 20:55 PST)
Afghan television broadcasts footage of Al-Qaeda murders KABUL, Feb 17, 2006 (AFP) Afghan television broadcasted Friday what it said was exclusive footage of men murdered, some of them beheaded, in Pakistan. The images broadcasted on the evening news bulletin of private Tolo television station showed the decapitated heads of three men being held up in front of a crowd of onlookers. They also showed several bodies being dragged behind a pick-up truck. Tolo said the pictures were filmed in Pakistan's southern Waziristan province. The men were killed because they "allegedly opposed the presence of Al-Qaeda and Taliban operators in Waziristan province", the television station said in a statement. "The footage…shows half a dozen dead bodies being dragged by a vehicle through the streets of Mandrakhel while a uniformed Pakistani military officer drives past without interfering," the statement said. (Posted @ 20:20 PST)
Bodies of three Chinese workers gunned down flown home ISLAMABAD, Feb 17 (Reuters) The bodies of three Chinese workers gunned down last Wednesday were flown home from Islamabad on Friday, providing a sombre prelude to a visit by President Pervez Musharraf to China. Musharraf will leave on Sunday for China, one of Pakistan's traditional allies, for a five day trip meant to mark the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations. "It is an act of terrorism which was meant to create problem between Pakistan and China and we are mindful of that," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said. Senior Pakistani foreign and interior ministry officials accompanied the bodies of the victims on the flight back to China, the foreign ministry said in a statement. (Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Good Pak-Afghan ties vital for combating terrorism: Karzai WALI BAGH (Charsadda) Feb 17 (APP): Good Pak-Afghan relations were vital for combating terrorism effectively as both sides were suffering from the menace, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said here Friday. He was talking to reporters at Wali Bagh after offering condolences for the late Khan Abdul Wali Khan. "We want good neighbourly relations with Pakistan and I have expressed these views during my meetings with President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad", he added. Answering to another question he said peace and stability in Pakistan has a direct effect on Afghanistan. (Posted @ 17:35 PST)
U.N. says US$24 million urgently needed for Pakistan’s quake aid ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) A U.N. aid agency said Friday that US$24 million is urgently needed to keep flying supplies by helicopter to thousands of victims of Pakistan's earthquake until the end of August. The World Food Program is moving 300 tons of aid to the Oct. 8 quake survivors every day in the biggest helicopter relief operation in U.N. history, the agency said in a statement. The 20-helicopter airlift is assisting 400,000 people in remote areas cut off by landslides, it said. ``Winter is not yet over and hundreds of thousands of people still urgently need to be reached,'' a WFP official said. The US$24 million is needed to get through the last stages of Pakistan's winter and early spring, the program said. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
200 dead, 1,500 missing in Philippine landslide MANILA, Feb 17(AP) A massive landslide rumbled down a mountainside on an eastern Philippine island Friday, burying hundreds of houses and a school packed with elementary students. Red Cross officials estimated 200 people were dead and 1,500 others missing. Sen. Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said an entire village appeared to have been buried on Leyte island, killing perhaps 200 people and leaving 1,500 others missing. The governor of Southern Leyte province, Rosette Lerias, told radio DZBB that 500 houses in Ginsahugan village in St. Bernard town were feared buried after nonstop rains for two weeks. An elementary school was in session when the landslide struck, he said. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
About 3,000 Hong Kong Muslims protest march against cartoons HONG KONG, Feb 17 (AP) Thousands of Hong Kong Muslims marched Friday to condemn the publication of blasphemous cartoons. The Muslims, mostly Pakistanis, Indians, Indonesians and Sri Lankans living in the territory, chanted slogans as they marched from a downtown mosque to the local office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. ``Don't play with our religion,'' read a placard. (Posted @ 12:15 PST)
At least 15 killed, one injured in accident in west Nepal KATMANDU, Feb 17 (AP) A van veered off a mountain highway and plunged into a river in western Nepal, killing at least 15 people and injuring one other, officials said Friday. The van rolled at least 200 meters down the slope before it plunged into the Mahakali river late Thursday, Major Gen. Rajendra Thapa, commander of the Royal Nepalese Army's western division said. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Shipping accidents off Chinese coast leave 61 sailors missing SHANGHAI, Feb 17(AP) Two shipping accidents off eastern China's Fujian province have left 61 sailors missing, official media reported Friday. All 37 sailors aboard a Panamanian-flagged freighter were missing after it sank suddenly Thursday evening amid strong waves about five kilometers from Pingtan island in Fujian province, the Xinhua News Agency and state television reported. Within hours, a Chinese fishing boat with 27 people on board sank in the same area, reports said. Three sailors were rescued by another vessel but the others were still missing, they said. Rescue efforts were continuing said. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Guantanamo must be closed 'sooner or later': Annan UNITED NATIONS, Feb 17 (APP/AFP) UN chief Kofi Annan said Thursday that "sooner or later" the US Guantanamo Bay "war on terror" detention centre will have to be closed though he did not agree with all elements of a new report on the camp. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
U.S.-Pakistani terrorism trial opens in Calif. SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb 17 (Reuters) A 23-year-old California man never trained in Pakistan to become a terrorist as the federal government alleges, his defense lawyer said on Thursday during the opening of his trial. Attorney Wazhma Mojaddidi said Hamid Hayat was tired after a long trip from Pakistan when he told the FBI in June that he had attended terrorist training camps. Hayat, questioned along with his father, Umer Hayat, told investigators what they wanted to hear, Mojaddidi said. The fact of the matter is that Hamid Hayat "never attended a terrorist training camp." (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Rice says it will be tough to get UN sanctions against Iran WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (AFP) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conceded Thursday it would take tough diplomacy to agree UN nuclear sanctions on Iran and suggested worried countries take their own action. Rice made her comments in a day of congressional testimony where she also called Tehran the "central banker" for global terrorism and a partner with Syria in destabilizing the Middle East. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Iran confirms injecting gas into centrifuges TEHRAN, Feb 16, 2006 (AFP) Iran confirmed on Friday that its has injected gas into centrifuges, a crucial step in the process of uranium enrichment, a high ranking Islamic republic official told state television. "Yes, we have injected UF6 gas into a limited number of centrifuge machines, but it is even less than what is needed for a pilot project," said Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, without elaborating on the exact number of the centrifuges involved. "To get enriched uranium with 3.5 percent purity, you need to employ 164 machines, and I should say we are not at that stage yet. It could take several months for us to reach that point," he added. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Bush seeks 72.4 billion dollars for Iraq, Afghanistan WASHINGTON, Feb 17, 2006 (AFP) US President George W. Bush asked Congress Thursday for 72.4 billion dollars in additional funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, the White House said. The bulk of the money -- 34.7 billion dollars -- will go to cover the cost of maintaining 138,000 US troops in Iraq and about another 15,000 in Afghanistan. But billions of dollars more will go to train and equip Iraqi security forces, deploy better armour for US troops, replace equipment losses, and reorganize the US Army into more mobile combat brigades. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
US support of UN aid for Palestinian refugees will not stop: Rice WASHINGTON, Feb 17, 2006 (AFP) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the United States would continue to contribute to the UN relief fund for Palestinian refugees, even with a Hamas government in charge. "We want to be able to be responsive to very basic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people," Rice told the House of Representatives' International Relations Committee. Since 1950, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has supplied most of the basic services, including education, health care, social and food assistance, to Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 175.82 points: KARACHI, Feb 17: At close of trading, The KSE-100 index was at 11352.63, up 175.82 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:15 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Feb 17: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 59.95 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 10:20 PST)
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