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| August 05, 2006 | Saturday | Rajab 9, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
UN Security Council to meet Saturday on Lebanon UNITED NATIONS, Aug 5 (AFP) - The UN Security Council will meet Saturday at 1900 GMT on the Lebanon crisis, after the United States and France reached an accord on a resolution, the council president's office said. The meeting will present to the other 13 council members the resolution that Washington and Paris have agreed upon, a diplomat said. According to council procedure, a resolution could be adopted no earlier than Sunday. French President Jacques Chirac's office announced earlier Saturday that "an accord has been found between the French and Americans on the draft resolution prepared by France to call for a complete cessation of hostilities and work towards permanent ceasefire and long-term solution." It did not reveal the wording. (First Posted @ 19:56 PST Updated @ 21:06 PST)
Pakistan expels Indian diplomat: official ISLAMABAD, Aug 5 (AFP) - Pakistan on Saturday ordered an Indian diplomat to leave the country for indulging in undesirable activities, the foreign office said. A security official, who did not want to be identified, said the said diplomat had exchanged "sensitive" documents with an unidentified man. Deepak Kohl, Counsellor at the Indian High Commission (embassy) in Islamabad, was "caught indulging in practices incompatable to his status", foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said. "We have asked that he should be withdrawn from Pakistan by the beginning of next week," she said. The security official said Kaul, a visa officer, was on his way to the Wagah border near Lahore Saturday morning when he stopped his car and exchanged documents with a man. The documents were "sensitive," the official said, adding that the diplomat was brought back and handed over to the Indian embassy. "The Indian embassy was explained the circumstances leading to his detention." He has been told to leave the country within 48 hours, the official said requesting not to be identified by name. An Indian embassy official said that the diplomat was enroute to the Wagah border when his car was intercepted on the highway and he was detained. "He was taken out of his car, blindfolded and kept under detention for several hours before the embassy was informed," the official said. (First Posted @ 17:40 PST Updated @ 19:02 PST)
India orders out Pakistani diplomat in tit-for-tat expulsion NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (AFP) - India announced the expulsion of a Pakistani diplomat on Saturday after Islamabad ordered out an Indian diplomat,a foreign ministry official said. The Pakistani was identified as Sayed Mohammed Rafq Ahmed and the official said he held the rank of councillor at the Pakistani High Commission (embassy) in New Delhi. India gave no immediate reason for his expulsion. Pakistan had earlier ordered Indian diplomat Deepak Kaul to leave by the start of next week after being "caught indulging in practices incompatable to his status." (Posted @ 19:04 PST)
Israel pounds south Lebanon with heaviest bombardment yet TYRE, Lebanon, Aug 5 (AFP) Israel on Saturday launched its heaviest bombardment of southern Lebanon since its offensive began, carrying out 250 air raids and firing some 4,000 shells on the region, police said. The barrage lasted seven hours from dawn with the worst hit region the area around the village of Aitaroun which was hit by 2,000 shells. Police said that 15 villages some five kilometres from the border were being systematically destroyed by the bombardments, which come after Israel vowed to create a security zone free of Hezbollah fighters in the area. Fourteen people were wounded in the raids, with more casualties only avoided because the villages had already largely emptied of residents in the face of persistent Israeli bombardment. (Posted @ 15:45 PST)
Hezbollah repulses Israeli commando attack; kills one, wounds eight soldiers JERUSALEM, August 5 (AP) Israeli naval commandos tried to land near Lebanon’s southern city of Tyre early Saturday but were repelled by Hezbollah fighters who killed an Israeli member of the force and wounded several others, Hezbollah said in a statement. A Lebanese soldier and a civilian were also killed in the clash, local officials said. Israeli defense officials acknowledged that its commando force staged an attack on Tyre, saying that eight soldiers were wounded after landing near Tyre from the sea before dawn Saturday. The army said the mission was to take out the launching sites of rockets. Two wounded soldiers were in serious condition. (First Posted @ 09:30 PST Updated @ 13:55 PST)
Israel's vaunted tanks are succumbing to Hezbollah's powerful missiles JERUSALEM, Aug 5 (AP) _ Hezbollah's sophisticated anti-tank missiles are perhaps the guerrilla group's deadliest weapon in Lebanon fighting, with their ability to pierce Israel's most advanced tanks. Hezbollah has fired Russian-made Metis-M anti-tank missiles and owns European-made Milan missiles, the army confirmed on Friday. On Thursday and Friday alone, these missiles killed seven soldiers and damaged three Israeli-made Merkava tanks _ mountains of steel that are vaunted as symbols of Israel's military might, the army said. Israeli media say most of the 45 soldiers killed in four weeks of fighting were hit by anti-tank missiles. ``They (Hezbollah guerrillas) have some of the most advanced anti-tank missiles in the world,'' said Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior military intelligence officer who retired earlier this summer.``This is not a militia, it's an infantry brigade with all the support units,'' Kuperwasser said. (Posted @ 16:50 PST)
At least 25 dead after bridge collapses in Pakistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 5 (AFP) - At least 25 people died and many more are missing after a bridge collapsed in Mardan town, about 50 kms northeast of Peshawar as torrential rains battered the area on Saturday. "So far 25 bodies have been recovered" from a river swollen by heavy rains, mayor Himayatullah said. "Rescuers are trying to find the other missing people," he said adding that more than 100 people had gathered on a bridge to watch the flooded river when part of it caved in, plunging "almost all of them" into the swirling waters. He said army troops had been called out to join the rescue work. More than 40 people have died in landslides and floods caused by rain torrents in Pakistan over the past two days. (First Posted @ 17:22 PST Updated @ 20:50 PST)
Seven Iraqi troops killed in war on insurgency KIRKUK, Iraq, Aug 5 (AFP) - Iraqi insurgents gunned down five soldiers and killed two police in a separate bomb attack Friday. Captain Mahmud al-Jiburi of the Kirkuk police said gunmen ambushed an Iraqi army patrol in Hawija and killed five of them. "This clash came after police had captured 23 insurgents, he said. Further south in Khalis, 80 kilometres northeast of Bagdhad, a roadside bomb killed two Iraqi police and wounded eight people, police said. And in Baquba, three bombs detonated in a crowded street market, wounding 10 people. In the southern town of Amara the body of a policeman who was also a former member of Baath party was found floating in Tigris river while at least 11 more tortured corpses were found in and around the capital. Meanwhile, the US air force announced that F-16 fighter jets dropped several 500 pound (227 kilo) GBU-12 laser-guided and GBU-38 satellite-guided bombs on an insurgent position near Baghdad "achieving the intended effects".It gave no further details. (First Posted @ 18:10 PST Updated @ 21:34 PST)
Muslim scholars call for backing Lebanese, Palestinians DUBAI, Aug 5 (AFP) - Some 170 Muslim scholars, thinkers and politicians called Saturday for backing the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples in the face of Israeli onslaughts and urged Arab and Muslim rulers to cut any ties with Israel. "We call on all the Muslim and Arab peoples to stand by their brethren in Palestine and Lebanon and ... support them by all moral and material means available and in keeping with Islamic rules," they said in a signed statement. They urged "wise Jews in the world and the wise and free among the American people ... not to allow your reckless (rulers) to .... destroy your future relations with the Muslim peoples". The resolution has been sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Arab League and the European Union. The signatories came from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian territories, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bosnia and Senegal among others. (Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Diplomat's expulsion to hit India, Pakistan ties: New Delhi NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (AFP) - India warned Saturday the expulsion of one of its diplomats from Pakistan would "undermine" an ongoing peace process between the two countries. "Such action as has been taken by the government of Pakistan could not but undermine the bilateral relations between the two countries," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Nevtej Sarna said in New Delhi. (Posted @ 21:28 PST)
Israeli offensive kills at least 993 in Lebanon: latest toll BEIRUT, Aug 5 (AFP) - Israel's 25-day-old bombardment of Lebanon has killed at least 993 people, mostly civilians, and wounded 3,322, according to an AFP count on Saturday. The Lebanese state High Relief Commission (HRC) said at least 904 of those killed were civilians while 29 Lebanese soldiers and police have been killed since the start of the offensive on July 12. Hezbollah has said 48 of its fighters have died and its ally, Amal, said it lost seven fighters. The confrontations have also forced 915,672 people from their homes, including 220,000 who left Lebanon, according to the HRC. The figure includes 100,000 foreigners and dual nationals who were evacuated. (Posted @ 20:44 PST)
Mother, two daughters killed by rockets in northern Israel JERUSALEM, Aug 5 (AFP) - A mother and her two daughters were killed Saturday in northern Israel by rockets fired from south Lebanon, rescue services reported. The 68-year-old woman and her daughters, thought to be in their 30s, were killed when a rocket slammed into the courtyard of a house in the Israeli Arab village of Al-Aramsha, just over the border from Lebanon, they said. Some 140 rockets slammed across northern Israel on Saturday, army radio reported. Five other people were lightly wounded in the attacks, it said. (Posted @ 20:40 PST)
Thousands of British protesters demand Lebanon ceasefire LONDON, Aug 5 (AFP) - Thousands of placard-waving activists demanded an immediate Middle East ceasefire Saturday as they rallied in London to demand a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon. The marchers passed the US embassy and Downing Street, as British Prime Minister Tony Blair worked inside. London Police said 15,000 people were on the protest, while the organisers, the left-wing Stop the War Coalition, claimed a turn-out around 100,000-strong. The demonstrators massed opposite the Houses of Parliament. Stop the War spokesman John Rees said: "It's about telling the British and US governments that we want an unconditional ceasefire. Their silence is permitting mass murder in Lebanon by the Israeli forces." Salma Yaqoob, chairwoman of Stop the War in Birmingham, said: "We're here to protest because of Israel's attack in Lebanon and the fact that Britain, America and Israel are on one side and 160 countries are on the other side." Among the placards were ones branding US President George W. Bush "World's number one terrorist". Demonstrators booed and chanted "George Bush, terrorist" and "murderers" as the rally passed the heavily-guarded US embassy, and some waved the green and yellow banners of Hezbollah. Protesters stopped at the entrance to Downing Street and whistled, while others hurled children's shoes to represent the youngsters killed in the conflict. A letter bearing 40,000 signatures was also to be handed in at Downing Street, calling on Blair to work towards ending the conflict. Other organisers behind Saturday's protest included the British Muslim Initiative, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Lebanese community associations. (First Posted @ 17:36 PST Updated @ 20:30 PST)
Two police killed, eight wounded in southern Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Aug 5, 2006 (AFP) - Two police officers were killed and eight others wounded Saturday in a roadside bomb aimed at a district governor in Afghanistan's troubled south, an official spokesman said. Shadi Khan, the governor of Mianshin district in Kandahar province, was on his was to Kandahar city when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Shawali Kot area killing two police guards and wounding eight others, provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said. In a separate incident, Taliban attacked a police patrol in Ghazni province overnight which left an intelligence official and a rebel killed and two police wounded, provincial police chief Tafsir Khan said Saturday. (Posted @ 20:14 PST)
Middle East ceasefire, Security Council resolution vital: Kremlin MOSCOW, Aug 5 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan underlined the need for an immediate Middle East ceasefire and for a corresponding Security Council resolution Saturday, the Kremlin said. "The crisis situation in Lebanon and the whole Middle East was at the centre of the discussion" in a phone conversation, the Kremlin said. "Both sides voiced their extreme concern at the course of events. The Russian president underlined the fundamental need for an immediate stop to military action and for a political resolution of the conflict with the participation of all sides," the Kremlin said in a statement. "It was underlined that the United Nations Security Council should behave in a fully responsible way, approving a resolution aimed at these goals," the statement said. (Posted @ 20:10 PST)
India protests diplomat's expulsion from Pakistan NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (AFP) - India on Saturday lodged a protest against Pakistan's expulsion of an Indian official who Islamabad accused of undiplomatic activities. The Indian foreign ministry in New Delhi summoned Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner Afrasiab and gave him an official protest letter, said an Indian official, who did not disclose the letter's contents. (Posted @ 18:56 PST)
Rockets wound 5 north of Israel's Haifa -medics HAIFA, Israel, Aug 5 (Reuters) - A barrage of Hizbollah rockets wounded five Israelis north of the city of Haifa on Saturday, medics said. Police said 10 rockets smashed into the northern outskirts of Israel's third largest city, damaging cars and buildings. Hizbollah later fired dozens more rockets that struck northern Israeli villages including Kiryat Shmona and Maalot as well as the city of Nahariya, officials said. The guerrillas have fired some 2,600 rockets into northern Israel, killing 30 civilians. (First Posted @ 11:25 PST Updated @ 18:56 PST)
Israel army warns Lebanon's Sidon to evacuate JERUSALEM, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Israel's military Saturday warned all residents in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon (population about 100,000) to evacuate ahead of planned air strikes on Hizbollah rocket launching sites, the army said. It also dropped leaflets on the coastal city. Tens of thousands who have fled villages in southern Lebanon to escape Israeli air strikes have also taken refuge in Sidon. (Posted @ 18:40 PST)
One NATO soldier dead, three wounded in Afghanistan traffic accident KABUL, Aug 5 (AFP) - A solider with NATO-led peacekeepers died Saturday and three others were wounded in a traffic accident in Kandahar province, a statement said. The soldiers were traveling in an armoured jeep as part of a convoy when the accident took place. The cause is not known but "enemy action has been ruled out", it said. (Posted @ 17:44 PST)
US wants Lebanon violence 'behind us forever': envoy BEIRUT, Aug 5 (AFP) - US Middle East envoy David Welch on Saturday said after talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora the United States was determined to "put behind us forever" the violence that has hit Lebanon over the past three weeks. "The challenges facing Lebanon today are much more difficult than we imagined," he said, emphasising that President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were "determined" to support Lebanon. (Posted @ 17:38 PST)
Twenty-one killed in road accident in Saudi Arabia RIYADH, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Twenty-one people were killed when two vehicles collided on a highway near Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port city of Jeddah, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported Saturday. The accident occurred on Friday when a vehicle carrying 14 Yemenis and two Saudis tried to avoid a police checkpoint by going around it, and rammed into an incoming car carrying five passengers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan. (Posted @ 16:58 PST)
KUWAIT warns war in Lebanon could breed 'new terrorists' KUWAIT CITY, Aug 5 (AP) The war in Lebanon could breed ``new terrorists'' and further complicate the security situation in the Middle East if it is not promptly stopped, Kuwait's prime minister warned in an interview with Egyptian magazine el-Mussawar published Saturday. The killing and destruction by Israeli forces in Lebanon are``unprecedented,'' Sheik Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah said. ``And I believe that if this Israeli war on Lebanon goes on, it could contribute to creating new terrorists, and that of course would pose a new danger in the area.'' (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Typhoon Prapiroon kills at least 48 in China BEIJING, Aug 5 (AFP) Typhoon Prapiroon killed at least 48 and left 15 others missing after crashing ashore in southern China, state media reported Saturday, as flash floods and torrential rains continue to plague the region. At least 38 people in Guangdong province perished while 14 more were missing, Xinhua news agency said. Some 3.7 million people in Guangdong were hit while 7,000 buildings collapsed, Xinhua said. (Posted @ 15:55 PST)
Taliban and Afghan police clash, two killed KANDAHAR, Aug 5 (AFP) Taliban attacked a police patrol in Ghazni province late Friday, with an intelligence official and a rebel killed and two police wounded in the ensuing gunfight, police said Saturday. Police arrested 15 suspects in a subsequent sweep of the area. (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Pakistan replaces hockey coach ISLAMABAD, Aug 5 (AFP) Pakistan on Saturday appointed former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh as manager-cum-coach of its hockey team, replacing Asif Bajwa following a dismal performance at the Champions Trophy last month, Pakistan Hockey Federation’s new secretary Akhtarul Islam told AFP. Shahid Ali Khan will be assistant coach, he added. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Moderate quake shakes northern India NEW DELHI, Aug 5 (AFP) A moderate earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook northern India and neighbouring Nepal on Saturday but there were no immediate reports of damage, the India Meteorological Department said. The epicentre was in the northern hill state of Uttaranchal. (Posted @ 15:35 PST)
Tigers kill 100 refugees: Sri Lanka defence ministry COLOMBO, Aug 5 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels blocked Muslim civilians fleeing fighting in the island's northeast and killed at least 100 of them, the defence ministry said in a statement Saturday. "While displaced families were fleeing Muttur seeking safety, the Tigers blocked them at Pachchanoor area and killed over 100, including women, youth and children during the night of Friday," the ministry said. It said the Tigers had targeted the civilians because they had been providing food to the security forces. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Sri Lanka says 152 Tiger rebels killed in clashes COLOMBO, Aug 5 (AFP) At least 152 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in north-eastern Sri Lanka’s coastal town as security forces established full control over it, the defence ministry said Saturday. (First Posted @ 09:40 PST Updated @ 11:10 PST)
Blast kills soldier in India's northeast GUWAHATI, India, Aug 5 (AFP) One soldier died and two were critically wounded in a grenade blast in India's revolt-hit Guwahati, Assam state's main city, police said Saturday. No rebel group claimed responsibility for the attack. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Man dies in mine blast, pipelines blown up in Balochistan QUETTA, Pakistan, Aug 5 (AFP) A man who had been working in the fields died late Friday when he stepped on a landmine in Gandoi village near Balochistan province’s Sui town, officials said Saturday. Unknown saboteurs also blew up two gas pipelines overnight near Dooli checkpost, 35 kilometres south of Dera Bugti town, a gas company spokesman said. The affected pipelines supply gas to Punjab province, said the spokesman, adding that while domestic consumers would not be affected, industrial supply had been stopped for the time being. Five power pylons in the same area were also blown up around the same time, an electric company official said, adding that the power supply to Dera Bugti had been cut. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
No big Pakistan nuclear build-up, envoy says: American press WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (AFP) A new Pakistani nuclear reactor could be used for "military purposes" as well as for civilian power needs but will not lead to a massive increase in the country's nuclear arsenal, according to Pakistan's new Ambassador, Mahmud Ali Durrani, The Washington Times reported Saturday. He dismissed a private Washington-based think tank's report on the reactor under construction at the Khushab nuclear complex as "grossly exaggerated", but declined to give production figures for the new plant, the newspaper said. On the Indo-US nuclear pact, he said "We know your administration is very keen for this deal, but we also don't want to see an imbalance with India that we would have to match". (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
Gas leak in Chinese coal mine kills 18 miners BEIJING, August 5 (AP) An underground gas leak in a coal mine killed 18 miners in north-western China, a government news agency reported Saturday. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Israel kills five Palestinians in Gaza GAZA, Aug 5 (Reuters) Israeli air strikes killed five Palestinians, including two suspected militants, in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Saturday, medics and witnesses said. A missile fired by an Israeli aircraft hit near a house killed three and wounded several members of a Palestinian family, who had been fleeing Israeli gunfire, witnesses said. Two children were also among the wounded, medics said. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
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