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| May 25, 2006 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 26, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Indian PM proposes group to examine Kashmir's 'special status' SRINAGAR, May 25 (AFP) - India's prime minister Thursday proposed forming a group to examine occupied Kashmir's special status under the constitution as he wound up a roundtable conference with state politicians. The group "will deliberate on matters relating to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian union and methods of strengthening democracy, secularism and the rule of law in Kashmir," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the conference. "This group will also deliberate on effective devolution of powers among different regions to meet regional, sub-regional and ethnic aspirations," Singh said at the end of the talks. An insurgency against New Delhi's rule has raged in occupied Kashmir since 1989. Kashmiris have consistently ruled out autonomy as a solution to the nearly six-decade-old dispute, saying Kashmiris have no desire to stay within the Indian federation.(Posted @ 19:18 PST)
India, Pakistan open more talks on Sir Creek NEW DELHI, India, May 25, 2006 (AFP) India and Pakistan launched a fresh round of talks Thursday to try to demarcate Sir Creek, officials said. "The Indian and Pakistani sides have started the talks. The talks end tomorrow (Friday)," a government spokesman said. Sir Creek is a contested narrow strip of marshland that separates India's western Gujarat state from Pakistan's Sindh province.The Surveyor General of India, Major General M. Gopal Rao is leading the Indian delegation. The Pakistani side is headed by Admiral Ahsan-ul-Haq Chaudhri, additional secretary in Pakistan's defence ministry.(Posted @ 11:00 PST)
38 injured in six grenade attacks ISLAMABAD, May 25 (APP): In occupied Kashmir six grenade attacks were made injuring at least 38 people, including 14 troops, on Thursday. The first grenade attack was carried out at Qammerwari, in Srinagar city, causing injuries to ten persons including two CRPF jawans. In the second attack in the city, two civilians and a CRPF jawan were injured. Another grenade attack took place at Zadibal in interior of the city and four police personnel and five civilians were injured. A sub-inspector of CRPF was injured in an attack on a military vehicle at Batingoo-Khanabal, in Islamabad district. There was another grenade attack on a police picket in Badgam district but no casualties were reported, KMS reported. (Posted @ 23:52 PST)
Pakistan favours diplomatic solution to Iranian nuclear issue: PM ISLAMABAD, May 25 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Thursday, Pakistan favours a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, with firm belief in Iran's legitimate right to peaceful uses of nuclear technology. "While we oppose nuclear weapons proliferation, we firmly believe that Iran's legitimate right to peaceful uses of nuclear technology under appropriate IAEA safeguards should be respected," the Prime Minister said addressing the banquet hosted in honour of visiting Iranian First Vice President, Dr. Parviz Davoudi here. Prime Minister Aziz in his address covered a whole range of bilateral relations in various fields of life and economy in the regional as well as international perspective. He said, peace and stability in Afghanistan are in the interest of Pakistan and the entire region. "We are confident that the government and people of Afghanistan shall overcome the remaining challenges and we will continue to extend our support to them." In South Asia, the Prime Minister said, Pakistan has been pursuing a just and durable solution of the longstanding Kashmir dispute in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people.(Posted @ 23:40 PST)
Major power cut stops trains between New York and Washington NEW YORK, May 25, (AFP) - A "major power outage" severely affected train service between New York and Washington, a key northeast route, and other regional services early Thursday, rail operator Amtrak said. Amtrak said it did not know what had caused the huge power outage at the height of the morning rush hour, but said it was investigating.(Posted @ 23:20 PST)
Iran agrees to open land route for Pak agri, fruit exports ISLAMABAD, May 25 (APP): Iran on Thursday agreed to openTaftan/Mir Javah land route for export of Pakistani agricultural products including fruits, with the two sides showing determination to enhance the volume of bilateral trade. Eng. Hosain Yusefi, Iranian Deputy Minister for Horticulture and Pakistan's Secretary for Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Muhammad Ishamil Qureshi signed the Agreed Minutes of the Pak-Iran Joint Working Group's deliberations at Islamabad on May 23-24. Both sides also discussed and agree on modified Work Plan for cooperation in agriculture especially in Horticulture, Plant Protection, Animal Health and Food Safety.(Posted @ 22:02 PST)
Railways Minister announces 50 percent discount in freight of cargo train PESHAWAR, May 25 (APP): Federal Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad Thursday announced 50 per cent discount in freight charges by cargo trains on Karachi-Peshawar sector. Talking to the members of the business community of NWFP during his visit to Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry he said railways would provide the facility after signing of agreement for running cargo trains between Peshawar and Karachi. He said if businessmen fail to provide business to railways, they would have to pay the penalty. In case of delay in transportation of goods, railway would pay the fine. The Minister also offered to hand over the new dry port at Azhakhel (Nowshera) to SCCI on BOT basis. The Minister also announced reduction of demurrage on parked imported cars at Peshawar dry port from Rs. 500 per day to Rs. 400.(Posted @ 21:46 PST)
Egyptian judges protest for independence CAIRO, May 25 (Reuters) - At least 300 Egyptian judges stood in silence outside the high court Thursday in protest against what they say is state interference in the judiciary. Hundreds of police, some in riot gear, surrounded the court and blocked about 200 other activists outside Egypt's Journalists' Syndicate building nearby from joining the judges. The activists, penned in by the riot police, protested on the steps of the building. Two were beaten and dragged away by plain clothes security men as they left the protest, George Ishak, a leader of the anti-government Kefaya movement said. "No political reform without freedom for the press and independence for the judiciary," one banner posted outside the syndicate said. Elsewhere, about 100 activists protested in support of the judges outside Cairo University.(Posted @ 20:58 PST)
UN envoy says Timorese troops killed nine police DILI, May 25 (AFP) - East Timorese troops killed nine police officers and wounded 27 other people Thursday, a top United Nations envoy said as violence raged in the fledgling nation. Sukehiro Hasegawa, the UN mission's head in East Timor, said the soldiers started shooting after UN officers had tried to broker a peace deal between the two sides near the mission's office in the capital Dili.(Posted @ 20:54 PST)
UAE to rebuild quake-hit hospital in Azad Kashmir MUZAFFARABAD, May 25(AFP) - The United Arab Emirates will rebuild the main 400-bed hospital in earthquake-ravaged Azad Kashmir capital Muzaffarabad at a cost of up to 20 million US dollars, Juma Mubarak Al junaibi, a representative of the UAE president, told AFP in Muzaffarabad. The UAE would also help rebuild other health and education facilities in the region, he said.(Posted @ 20:50 PST)
Three Afghan truck drivers killed in ambush KABUL, May 25 (AFP) - Three Afghan truck drivers were killed when their convoy was ambushed by militants in Paktika province, the US-led coalition said Thursday. The three-truck convoy was going from Bagram Airfield north of Kabul to a coalition base in Wazi Khwa district of Paktika province Wednesday when it was attacked, spokesman Lt-Col Paul Fitzpatrick said. The attackers used small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.One driver survived and one was missing, Fitzpatrick said in a statement. The survivor drove his heavily-damaged truck with the bodies of two of his colleagues to a military base used by coalition troops, he said. "A coalition quick reaction force arrived at the scene, discovered two trucks set on fire, and recovered the body of a 15-year-old. Search continues for the missing driver," Fitzpatrick said.(Posted @ 20:38 PST)
Blast rips tourist bus, four dead, six wounded in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, May 25 (AFP) - At least four tourists, all from the western Indian state of Gujarat, were killed and six wounded Thursday when a bomb blew up a tourist bus in Srinagar, police said. The blast occured minutes after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ended two-day roundtable peace talks. Three tourists, including an infant, were killed on the spot and a doctor said one of the wounded died in hospital. Two others were in critical condition, the doctor said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack but police said it was "believed to have been carried out by militants." On Monday, an Indian tourist and his taxi driver were killed and four tourists wounded in another grenade attack in Srinagar.(Posted @ 20:32 PST)
Iran Vice-President Parviz Davoudi arrives in Islamabad ISLAMABAD, May 25 (PPI): Iran's First Vice-President Parviz Davoudi, leading a high-level politico-economic delegation, arrived in Islamabad Thursday on two-day visit to hold wide-ranging talks with Pakistani leaders. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, already in Islamabad for the Joint Economic Commission session, will join Mr Davoudi.(Posted @ 20:08 PST)
Pakistan and Iran decide to establish Joint Investment Company ISLAMABAD, May 25 (APP): Pakistan and Iran Thursday decided to establish a joint investment company, to be based in Karachi, with a capital of US$ 25 million to promote trade and economic relations between the two countries. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki at a meeting with Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri conveyed his country's determination to join Pakistan in the expansion of road and railway infrastructure between the two countries, and the establishment of a branch of Iranian Melli Bank in Karachi. The two leaders also discussed other aspects of bilateral relations and reviewed regional developments, including the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the Iranian nuclear issue, Foreign Minister Kasuri reiterated Pakistan's established position that the matter should be resolved through diplomatic means alone, and underlined the need for flexibility by all sides, to achieve a mutually acceptable solution.(Posted @ 20:04 PST)
Iranian FM holds talks with Petroleum Minister on gas pipeline ISLAMABAD, May 25 (APP): Iranian Foreign Minister Manochehr Mottaki called on Pakistan Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Amanullah Khan Jadoon, here Thursday and reviewed progress on the ongoing negotiations on Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) Gas Pipeline project. They appreciated the progress and understanding achieved by the Joint Working Group on the project during the last couple of months and hoped that modalities pertaining to the issue of gas pricing would be worked out to arrive at a mutually acceptable formula.(Posted @ 19:24 PST)
Petrol taker blaze kills 35, injures dozens in Benin COTONOU, May 25 (AFP) - At least 35 people were killed and dozens injured overnight in northern Benin when a fuel truck burst into flames while they were stealing petrol, police and hospital sources said Thursday. "We took 80 people into hospital, among whom 12 died of their burns. At the scene, 23 charred bodies have been counted," hospital director in the town of Tanguieta said adding that "most of the survivors are in serious condition, with more than 80 percent of their flesh burned."(Posted @ 18:44 PST)
Fierce fighting engulfs Mogadishu, death toll soars MOGADISHU, May 25 (AFP) - Heavily armed gunmen fought pitched battles in the streets of Somali capital on Thursday, rocking the city with a fresh surge in the deadliest violence it has seen in years. Islamic militia and fighters loyal to a US-backed warlord alliance pounded southern and northern Mogadishu with heavy machine gun, rocket, artillery and mortar fire, sending the death toll soaring and hundreds fleeing for safety. At least 20 people were killed and 55 wounded in four residential districts where the fighting was most intense, according witnesses and hospital sources who stressed that the death toll could be far higher.(Posted @ 18:40 PST)
President Musharraf for sustained increase in PSDP allocations RAWALPINDI, May 25 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Thursday underlined the importance of public sector development programmes in setting pace for rapid socio-economic uplit of common man across the country, saying sustained increase in allocations for the PSDP would provide employment to people and improve quality of life. The President stated this during a meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who called on him and discussed various national and international issues including socio-economic development, and measures to offset price-hike impact on the common man in the forthcoming financial year.(Posted @ 16:58 PST)
Indian PM talks peace in Kashmir, rebels want in SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, May 25 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began the last of two days of peace talks here Thursday, but the main militant group warned there could never be peace as long as they were excluded. Srinagar was deserted after a strike call as all leading political separatists are boycotting the roundtable. Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman Junaid-ul-Islam said in a statement run in local newspapers that "as long as the mujahideen leadership is not included in .he dialogue process, peace will remain a distant dream." "A complete protest strike in Kashmir makes it clear that people want to get rid of India," he added. Senior Hurriyat leader Moulana Abbas Ansari referring to the TRC said: "It is crowded with people who are part of Indian system”. Kashmiris have been fighting Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989. The war has killed more than 45,000 people, by official mfigures. (First Posted @ 13: 45 PST Updated @ 16:48 PST)
Pakistani immigrant convicted in New York City subway bomb plot NEW YORK, May 25 (AP) _ A Pakistani immigrant was convicted Wednesday on charges he plotted to blow up one of Manhattan's busiest subway stations in retaliation for the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal. A federal jury in Brooklyn deliberated for two days before finding Shahawar Matin Siraj guilty of conspiracy and other charges. He faces up to life in prison. The defence had sought to portray Siraj, 23, as an impressionable simpleton who was lured into a phony plot by a paid informant. Prosecutors disputed that claim, arguing that even if it was not the defendant's idea to bomb a subway station, no law-abiding citizen would have gone along with it.( First Posted @ 10: 45 PST Updated @ 16:25 PST)
Warplanes join fresh fighting in southern Afghanistan KANDAHAR, May 25, 2006 (AFP) - Afghan troops backed by coalition planes and artillery battled a strong force of Taliban insurgents overnight and early Thursday in southern Afghanistan, already reeling from some of the heaviest fighting in years. New fighting erupted late Wednesday in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, a coalition spokesman said, as villagers reported a heavy bombardment that lasted until morning. Afghan soldiers clashed with a "sizeable Taliban force" in the Pashmal area of Panjwayi, Major Scott Lundy said. The coalition "used artillery and close-air support," he said. "There is no assessment of dead or wounded at this point." The fighting in Panjwayi had forced up to 3,000 people to migrate to Kandahar city for safety, an International Organisation for Migration official said.(Posted @ 16:05 PST)
Abbas calls for referendum if no Fatah-Hamas accord RAMALLAH, West Bank, May 25 (AFP) - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said Thursday he would submit to referendum a proposal from jailed faction leaders on how to end the Palestinian crisis should Fatah and Hamas not agree. Addressing cross-party talks aimed at drawing a line under deadly feuding between members of his Fatah party and the ruling Hamas, the Palestinian Authority president gave them 10 days to agree on a common programme. "If not, I will submit the document (drawn up by senior Palestinian political leader in prison) to a referendum in 40 days," he said. The initiative drawn up by the jailed faction leaders and made public on May 10 sets out ways to "preserve Palestinian unity" while reiterating "the right of the Palestinian people to independence".(Posted @ 16:02 PST)
China announces plan to develop high-tech weapons BEIJING, May 25(AFP) - China on Thursday announced a plan to develop its own high-tech "new-generation" weapons, reflecting a growing recognition that it must become self-reliant instead of depending on foreign purchases. The plan calls for stepping up innovations in high and new technology weaponry over the coming 15 years to reinforce a "mechanized and information-based army," the Xinhua news agency said. The focus would be on weapons for the space industry, aviation, ship and marine engineering, nuclear energy and fuel, and information technology, the plan said. China would also upgrade its defense industry with digital technology, according to Xinhua. Specifics were not given.(Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Palestinian factions discuss ways to end crisis RAMALLAH, West Bank, May 25 (Reuters) Palestinian movements began a two-day 'national dialogue' on Thursday, an urgent attempt to bridge differences that have pushed the Hamas-led government and its opponents into open conflict. The meeting is being attended by various factions including representatives of Hamas and members of Abbas's Fatah movement. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, will join the meetings via video link from his base in Gaza, which he can't leave due to Israeli travel restrictions.(Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Five Kuwaiti women register to run in election KUWAIT CITY, May 25, 2006 (AFP) Five Kuwaiti women made history Thursday by becoming the first females to register as candidates for parliamentary elections, ending a 44-year-old ban on their political participation. "It's a historic day. It's a dream come true and the actual beginning of Kuwaiti women's participation in public life," leading women's rights activist Rula Dashti said after filing her papers at the election department. Registration opened on Thursday for the election on June 29 which was called by the emir on Sunday in a bid to end a deep political crisis over an electoral reform bill.(Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Gunmen wound senior Iraqi Defence Ministry official BAGHDAD, May 25 (Reuters) Gunmen shot and seriously wounded a senior Iraqi Defence Ministry official and his driver on Thursday, police sources said.General Khalil al-Ibadi was attacked outside his home in southwestern Baghdad.In another attack in the capital on Thursday, a bomb planted on the second floor of a building housing both shops and apartments in central Baghdad wounded 13 people, police said.(Posted @ 11:00 PST)
US Military orders probe into killing of Iraqi civilian BAGHDAD, May 25, 2006 (AFP) The US Military has ordered an investigation into the wrongful killing of an Iraqi civilian by marines, it said in a statement late Wednesday. Major General Richard Zilmer, commander for Multi-National Force-West ordered the probe over the April 26 incident in which "Marines allegedly killed an Iraqi civilian in the area of Hamandiyah, west of Baghdad," the military said. Several marines from the 3rd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment were involved in the incident and have been returned "to the United States pending the results of the criminal investigation," the statement said.(Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Nepal frees hundreds of Maoist prisoners, calls for peace talks KATHMANDU, May 25, 2006 (AFP) Nepal's government said Thursday it had freed 467 Maoists from prison and called on rebel leaders to join talks to help end a decade-long insurgency that has left more than 12,500 people dead. Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula told reporters the government had finalised a three-man team that he will head for discussions with the Maoists about elections to a new body to rewrite the country's constitution.(Posted @ 10:25 PST)
Four policemen killed in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, May 25 (Reuters) Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed four police in a claymore fragmentation mine ambush in Sri Lanka's east on Thursday, officials said. "The Special Task Force officers were travelling in a van to go on duty when the blast happened," a police source in the east said.(Posted @ 10:20 PST)
China criticises Pentagon's military report BEIJING, May 25 (Reuters) China has criticised a U.S. report on its military power, saying it exaggerated the country's defence capabilities and showed a "cold war mentality". China's Foreign Ministry said the Pentagon's 2006 China Military Power Report released on Tuesday spreads the "China threat theory" and endangers international relations. The (report) has a 'cold war mentality', deliberately overstates China's military power and expenditure, continues to spread the 'China threat theory' endangers international relations and brashly interferes in China's domestic affairs," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement. "China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition," he said a day before Christopher Hill, the U.S. chief negotiator to talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear programme, arrived in Beijing on Thursday to meet his Chinese counterpart.(Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 97.92 points: KARACHI, May 25:At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 11018.96 , down 97.92 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, May 25: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.5 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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