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| May 24, 2008 | Saturday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
 Two hurt in blast in ordinance factory in Pakistan KARACHI, May 24: At least two persons were injured in an explosion in an ordinance factory in Attock district, a private television news channel reported. Reports said there had been an explosion in Subjawal ordinance factory in which at least two persons were injured. The factory is located about 5 kilometres from Attock. (Posted @ 20:18 PST)  Pakistan ruling party moves to clip Musharraf's power ISLAMABAD, May 24 (AFP): Pakistan's main ruling coalition party Saturday unveiled a proposed package of constitutional amendments designed to clip President Pervez Musharraf’s wings. Announcing the package, Pakistan People's Party leader Asif Ali Zardari told a news conference the amendments would remove the president's powers to dismiss the government and strengthen parliament. He said the government would open talks with Musharraf on the package and would also discuss it with all political parties. “We intend to walk him away, rather than impeach him,” Zardari said when asked if his government wanted to remove Musharraf. Zardari said the proposed bill, which would require a two-third majority in the parliament for approval, will be presented to parliament as soon as possible. (Posted @ 19:14 PST) Baitullah Mehsud vows jihad in Afghanistan KOTKAI, Pakistan, May 24 (Reuters): The leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, vowed Saturday to carry on fighting NATO and U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan regardless of negotiations for a peace deal with the government of Pakistan. The Taliban leader told a group of journalists, invited to his stronghold in the tribal lands of South Waziristan, that he wanted to stop fighting the Pakistan army. “Fighting between the Taliban and Pakistan is harming Islam and Pakistan. This fighting should come to an end immediately,” Mehsud said. But he made no commitment about halting attacks in Afghanistan, and said the jihad would carry on. “Jihad in Afghanistan will continue,” Mehsud said, as guards carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles looked on. Mehsud said he was proud to be an enemy of the United States. He said Afghans were leading the fight against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, while Pakistanis and other foreigners made up only five percent of the insurgents. Mehsud denied involvement in Benazir Bhutto's assassination. The Pakistan People’s Party-led government plans to seek a U.N. investigation of the assassination, but Mehsud said he would not cooperate with any such probe. (Posted @ 15:45 PST)  Lawyers, anti-Musharraf parties pile pressure on govt ISLAMABAD, May 24 (AP): Pakistani lawyers stepped up their campaign Saturday for the return of judges purged by President Pervez Musharraf. Hundreds of vehicles packed with black-suited lawyers escorted ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry from his home in the capital, Islamabad, toward a convention far to the south. The convention is a prelude to street protests of the kind which undermined Musharraf last year and could now buffet a civilian government already struggling to confront serious economic problems and militancy. (Posted @ 18:38 PST) Bomb blasts kill three in northwest Pakistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 24 (AFP): Two roadside bombs Saturday killed two policemen and a civilian in northwest Pakistan, police said. The policemen died when the vehicle they were travelling in was blown up in Nasir Bagh neighbourhood of provincial capital Peshawar, local police officer Majid Khan told AFP. The bomb, apparently detonated by remote control, also injured two police officers, he said, adding that a police investigation was underway. A bomb also struck a vehicle carrying civilians in Khyber tribal district just outside Peshawar, killing one person and injuring three others, local official Ghulam Habib said. (Posted @ 11:55 PST) Growth of Al-Qaeda safe havens in FATA 'troubling': Pentagon WASHINGTON, May 24 (AFP) - A Pentagon report said Friday that the growth of Al-Qaeda safe havens in Pakistan's tribal areas is “troubling” and warned it may take Pakistan several years to turn around the situation. The report to Congress by the US Department of Defence said Pakistan increased its troop levels in the border areas by 30,000 last year, and made “significant and costly” efforts to eliminate safe havens. “It is troubling that despite these efforts, safe havens in the FATA have grown in recent years,” the report said. The report made no reference to an apparent change in strategy by the new Pakistani government favouring negotiations with militants in the federally administered tribal areas. The Pentagon report noted that 700 Pakistanis have been killed in suicide attacks since July 2007. It said “Al-Qaeda and other violent extremists continue to hide in the FATA, where they are able to recruit, train, and target US and western interests. ”religious schools, “continue to promote jihad and martyrdom, and provide potential operatives for acts of violence in Afghanistan,” it said. “Despite successful attacks against some terrorist training facilities in the tribal areas, it is believed other camps remain active and safe havens have grown in recent years,” it said. The report described a six-year US program to help strengthen the Pakistani military and security forces' ability to secure the border with Pakistan, but cautioned that it will take time to implement, the report said. The United States is helping Pakistan build new training facilities for the Frontier Corps, and is also supporting special forces elements of the Pakistani army, the report said. Frontier Corps instructors are supposed to be trained this fiscal year, to be followed next year by the training and equipping of a 700-member “wing” of the border force, according to the report. The Pentagon has funded the program with 150 million dollars this year, and is seeking another 200 million dollars for it next year. (First Posted @ 09:50 PST, Updated @ 17:00 PST) Chinese leader says quake death toll may top 80,000 YINGXIU, May 24 (AFP): China warned Saturday the death toll from its worst earthquake in a generation could climb past 80,000, as visiting UN chief Ban Ki-moon pledged the world's support. The UN secretary general travelled to Yingxiu, epicentre of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake which turned this former town of 10,000 people in southwestern Sichuan prefecture into rubble. Ban met with Premier Wen Jiabao as nearby workers in protective suits sprayed disinfectant to curb disease and the stench of corpses. Wen said the death toll from the tragedy had crossed 60,000. Fatalities “may further climb to 80,000 or more,” said the premier. (First Posted @ 10:20 PST Updated @ 19:02 PST) Indian president's visit to occupied Kashmir marred by strike SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmi, May 24 (APP/AP)- _ A strike called by separatists to protest the Indian president's visit to occupied Kashmir paralyzed life in the region on Saturday. Shops, businesses and schools were shut for the day and public transport was thin. Chief of All- Parties Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Shah Geelani says that by observing strike the Kashmiris want to convey to the Indian president that they are against New Delhi's rule of Kashmir. India's President Pratibha Patil began a five-day visit tothe region Friday by meeting soldiers. (Posted @ 13:00 PST) Pakistani, Maltese oil worker kidnapped in Nigeria LAGOS, May 24 (AFP) - Unidentified gunmen on Friday kidnapped two foreign oil workers, one Pakistani and one Maltese, in southern Nigeria, the military said. They were kidnapped in the town of Omoku, outside the main oil city Port Harcourt, a spokesman said. No details of the attack were available and no group claimed immediate responsibility. (Posted @ 10:00 PST) Frontier Post newspaper owner Rehmat Afridi released after nine years Islamabad, May 24 (PPI): Rehmat Shah Afridi, owner of Frontier Post English newspaper was on Saturday released after nine years in jail for drug trafficking, his family said. He was arrested on 12 April 1999 for trafficking and possession of drugs by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) personnel in 1999. Afridi was sentenced to death by hanging in June 2001 but the capital punishment was commuted to life imprisonment in June 2004 by the court in Lahore. According to prosecution, ANF, on a tip-off, impounded Afridi's car outside a five-star hotel in Lahore on April 12, 1999 and found 20 kilograms of hashish inside. (Posted @ 23:28 PST) Afghan officials outraged at decision not to charge US Marines after 19 civilians’ murder KABUL, May 24 (AP); Afghan officials expressed outrage Saturday at the decision by the U.S. military not to charge U.S. Marines involved in a shooting spree that left 19 Afghan civilians dead in 2007. U.S. military officials said Friday that no criminal charges will be brought against two U.S. Marines officers in a unit accused of firing indiscriminately at vehicles and civilians after their convoy was hit by a suicide bomber on March 4, 2007, in eastern Nangarhar province. “I am very angry,” said Kubra Aman, a senator from Nangarhar. “This is too much. They are killing people. First, they say it is a mistake, and after that they let them go without charges.” (Posted @ 23:05 PST) Estonian soldier dies in accident in Afghanistan TALLINN, May 24 (AP): Estonia's military said one of its soldiers died in southern Afghanistan after being injured while unloading equipment from a truck. The military said Saturday that 30-year-old Sergeant Major Ivar Brok died in a military hospital in Kandahar overnight after a spare wheel of a heavy armored vehicle rolled over him at the British Camp Bastion. Brok is the third Estonian soldier to die in Afghanistan since the small Baltic country joined the NATO-led coalition in 2003. (Posted @ 22:48 PST) Man commits suicide after killing his four children QUETTA, May 24 (APP): A man committed suicide after killing his four children due to domestic disharmony here Saturday, police said. Advocate Sulman son of a senior police official shot himself dead after killing his four children, 18-month old Saira, three-year old Manahil, five year-old Saleha and seven-year old Saad. (Posted @ 22:32 PST) Bangladesh to plant 100 million trees to fight floods, cyclones DHAKA, May 24 (AFP): Disaster-prone Bangladesh announced on Saturday that it would plant 100 million trees to create a “natural fence” against frequent floods and cyclones. The head of the country's military-backed government Fakhruddin Ahmed launched the project in the capital, Dhaka, saying the trees would “fight storms, tidal surges, floods and droughts.” (Posted @ 22:08 PST) 10 killed in separate incidents of lightning in India ISLAMABAD, May 24 (APP): Six people were killed and two others injured when lightning struck them while four women were crushed to death when a banyan tree fell on a shed, in the north coastal districts of Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam in India. (Posted @ 21:44 PST) Rocket interrupts Kandahar concert KANDAHAR, May 24 (PPI): Hundreds of NATO soldiers got a dash of Canadian music and humour Friday night before a Taliban rocket attack forced a troupe of entertainers to temporarily douse the lights at Kandahar Airfield. The music and jokes had been flying for about an hour when the first explosion of 107 mm rocket fire and siren forced everyone to scurry for nearby bunkers.No one was hurt. (Posted @ 21:24 PST) Police, locals clash in Naples trash protest NAPLES, May 24 (AP): Police clashed with demonstrators in a poor quarter of Naples Saturday after a night of riots over the Italian government's attempt to end the chronic rubbish problem. Witnesses said two police officers and two protesters were hurt when police tried to remove a bus used as a barricade to block access to a landfill site at a quarry in the Chiaiano neighbourhood. New Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has made the crisis a top priority and passed a decree this week allowing new landfill sites and making them military zones, to dissuade protests. (Posted @ 20:52 PST) Troops detain 400 in Shiite areas of Baghdad BAGHDAD, May 24 (AFP): Iraqi police and US troops detained 400 people during search operations in two Shiite neighbourhoods of southwest Baghdad over the weekend and also seized weapons, the US military claimed Saturday. Police detained 400 people on Friday and seized four mines, an automatic weapon, ammunition and a host of other materials that could be used for making bombs and mines, the US military said in a statement. A spokesman for the movement of anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr put the number of people held at more than 400. The search operations lasted from 0800 to 1130 GMT in the neighbouring districts of Al-Amal and Al-Bayaa, a stronghold of Sadr's movement, the witnesses said. (First Posted @ 13:55 PST Updated @ 20:36 PST) Nepal PM asks Maoists to form new government KATHMANDU, May 24 (Reuters): Nepal's Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, has asked Maoist former rebels to form a new government after their election win, a minister said Saturday. Koirala's call to Maoist chief Prachanda to press ahead ends a month of unclear signals from Koirala's side after the former guerrillas' unexpected victory in April. The former rebels do not have an absolute majority in the 601-member assembly. They are urging other political parties to join a national coalition government headed by Prachanda, many have refused. They say the former rebels have not given up violent and intimidating practices honed during their decade-long war against the monarchy, despite striking a peace deal in 2006. (Posted @ 20:10 PST) Death toll rises to 20 in caste riots in western India JAIPUR, May 24 (AP): Police opened fire on a violent demonstration by members of one of India's lowest castes Saturday, killing four protesters and taking the death toll in two days of protests to 20, a senior police official said. Gujjars began protesting Friday in villages and towns across Rajasthan state in western India after the government refused to reclassify their caste at a lower social level. On Saturday, police in Sikandra town fired at protesters who torched a police station and two buses and shot and wounded a policeman, said Rajasthan state director-general of police. Protesters also burned a police station in the nearby village of Chandra Guddaji, he said. (First Posted @ 11:15 PST Updated @ 19:56 PST) More than 150 evacuated from North Sea oil platform after oil and gas leak OSLO, May 24 (AP): More than 150 people were evacuated from a North Sea oil platform on Saturday because of an oil and gas leak that rescuers feared could result in an explosion. “Oil is leaking from one of the shafts of the Statfjord A platform in the North Sea,” operator StatoilHydro ASA said. “The situation is serious and confused,” said a company spokesman. (Posted @ 19:45 PST) 13 rebels, one soldier die in Sri Lanka fighting COLOMBO, May 24 (AFP): At least 13 rebels and one soldier were killed in fresh fighting in Sri Lanka's north, the defence ministry said Saturday. The latest reported deaths followed rebel accusations that government forces had killed 20 civilians in separate attacks in the north on Friday. The military denied the accusation and accused the rebels of trying to “tarnish” the army's image to win international sympathy. The reported deaths brought to 3,834 the number of rebels the government says it has killed since the start of the year when it pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce with the Tigers. The ministry said 295 soldiers have died during the same period. (First Posted @ 15:35 PST Updated @ 19:36 PST) PPP leader Farhatullah Babar moved to PIMS after heart problem ISLAMABAD, May 24 (APP): The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) spokesman Farhatullah Babar was moved to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) here on Saturday after suffering from heart problem, PTV reported. (Posted @ 18:50 PST) Three killed in Baghdad minibus bombing BAGHDAD, May 24 (AFP): Three people were killed and four wounded when a minibus was attacked with a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Saturday, an interior ministry security source said. All the dead and wounded were passengers in the vehicle which was hit at around 1200 GMT in Al-Mansur district in the capital's east, the source said. (Posted @ 18:48 PST) Police hurt as soccer fans, youths fight in Brussels BRUSSELS, May 24 (Reuters): About 500 soccer fans and youths of African origin clashed on Friday night in Brussels in fighting organised on the internet, a police spokeswoman said Saturday. Television pictures showed police using teargas and water cannon to defend themselves from a barrage of stones and bottles during the clashes near Anderlecht's stadium in the Belgian capital. Police said the violence had been organised through a website calling for an “attack on all white fans of football club Anderlecht”. “We detained 114 people, of whom seven will be arrested and face charges,” a police spokeswoman said. Fourteen police officers were injured during the clashes, two seriously, she said. (Posted @ 18:30 PST) Sudan oil region fighting could displace 90,000: UN ABYEI, May 24 (AFP): Up to 90,000 people could be displaced by fighting in Sudan's contested oil region of Abyei where the United Nations is racing against time to provide aid relief and prevent a return to civil war. Two rounds of fighting between government soldiers and the rebel southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) have largely obliterated Abyei's once bustling main town that was home to 30,000 people two weeks ago. The fighting is the worst crisis to beset the three-year peace accord that ended Africa's longest-running civil war between north and south Sudan, since the south walked out of the national unity government for two months last year. (Posted @ 17:55 PST) UN finds over 100 bodies in east Congo mass graves KINSHASA, May 24 (Reuters): United Nations peacekeepers have found over 100 bodies in three mass graves in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo, the country's U.N. mission said on Saturday. A patrol of South African soldiers discovered the graves on Friday near the village of Maboya in troubled North Kivu province. A U.N. spokesman told Reuters a preliminary excavation of the site indicated they had not been dug recently. (Posted @ 17:40 PST) Russian president Medvedev says Russia-China force to be reckoned with BEIJING, May 24 (AFP): Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday that the world could not ignore the joint voice of his country and China, even if their alliance was facing criticism. Medvedev was in Beijing as part of his first foreign trip since taking office. “Russian-Chinese cooperation has today emerged as a key factor in international security, without which it is impossible for the international community to take major decisions,” Medvedev told students at Peking University. “Maybe not everybody likes the strategic cooperation between our two countries, but we understand that this cooperation is in the interest of our people and we will boost it whether or not it pleases some people,” he said. (Posted @ 16:35 PST) Blast blamed on rebels derails train in Turkey; no casualties ANKARA, May 24 (AFP): A landmine explosion blamed on Kurdish rebels derailed several wagons of a train in the east of Turkey Saturday, but caused no casualties, the Anatolia news agency reported. The blast occurred when the train carrying both passengers and goods ran over a mine planted on the tracks in Bingol province by the “terrorist organization”, the agency said, using the official jargon for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The explosion derailed five of the train's 33 wagons, but not the passenger cars, Mehmet Habib Soluk, the undersecretary of the transport ministry, told the agency. (Posted @ 16:20 PST) PPP meets to discuss strategy to clip Musharraf’s powers, reinstate judges ISLAMABAD, May 24 (AP): Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) held a meeting Saturday on how to reduce President Musharraf's powers and to reinstate judges deposed by him, party spokesman Jamil Soomro said. The meeting came a day after the PPP announced a 62-point draft of constitutional amendments. Soomro said senior members would discuss the amendments before formally introducing them in the parliament. (Posted @ 16:00 PST) Three killed in Bosnia bus crash, over 50 injured SARAJEVO, May 24 (Reuters): Three people were killed and 53 injured when a bus carrying Roman Catholic pilgrims from Croatia collided with a truck in northern Bosnia late Friday, local media reported. Two passengers immediately died in the accident that took place some time after midnight, Fena news agency reported. The truck driver died in a hospital in the northern town of Doboj, where 19 passengers were kept for further treatment. (Posted @ 15:35 PST) South African army kills man during anti-immigrant unrest JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (AFP): South African troops killed a man in a Johannesburg township Friday evening during operations to quell anti-immigrant violence, the army said Saturday. “We unfortunately had an incident where a member of the public was shot when he pointed a firearm at a soldier. He was shot dead,” army spokesman General Kwena Mangope told AFP. The incident happened at about 6 p.m. in Johannesburg’s East Rand area. “A male was allegedly assaulting a woman. Our men confronted him and then he pointed a firearm at them,” Mangope added. (Posted @ 14:20 PST) Twenty killed in western Ethiopia land clashes ADDIS ABABA, May 24 (Reuters): More than 20 people were killed in three days of clashes over land in western Ethiopia last week, police said Saturday. “A long-standing dispute over land along the border between Oromia and Benishangule states in western Ethiopia erupted into violence claiming the lives of more than 20 people from both sides last week,” police spokesman Demsash Hailue told Reuters. (Posted @ 13:45 PST) Iran troops kill nine Kurd rebels TEHRAN, May 24 (AFP) Iran's Revolutionary Guards have killed nine Kurdish rebels, five of them women, in clashes in West Azarbaijan province near the border with Turkey, reports said on Saturday. “Revolutionary Guards clashed with a 10-member team and nine were killed,”Jomhuri Eslami newspaper said, describing the rebels as “members of a military arm of the PJAK terrorist group.” The paper said the clashes took place in the village of Gonbad, near the city of Orumieh. It said the 10th member of the rebel cell escaped across the border to Turkey. (Posted @ 12:45 PST) Militants kill 'US spy' in Pakistan tribal area MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, May 24 (AFP) Pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal district killed an Afghan after accusing him of spying for the US forces in neighbouring Afghanistan, an official said Saturday. The body of Akhtar Nawaz, 40, was dumped in the main bazaar of a border town in North Waziristan district, the official said. A note left on the body said the man was spying for US forces, he added. (Posted @ 12:40 PST) Strong quake shakes Indonesia's Maluku JAKARTA, May 24 (APP/AFP) - A 6.7-magnitude earthquake shook the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku on Saturday, the meteorology office here said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The quake was followed by an aftershock of magnitude 6.0. (Posted @ 11:10 PST) 75 climbers scale Everest CALGARY, Alberta, May 24 (Reuters): A record 75 climbers reached the summit of Everest on Thursday, CBC News reported, quoting Nepalese officials. Among them was Canada’s Andrew Brash who completed the 29,035 foot ascent of the world's tallest peak after an all-night final push to the summit. Brash reached the summit on Friday, two years after aborting an attempt when he and his team stopped to rescue another mountaineer who had been left for dead. (Posted @ 10:15 PST) Cricket-W.Indies 115 for 3 v Australia in 1st test Kingston, May 24 (Reuters) - West Indies were 115 for three in response to Australia's 431 all out at the close on the second day of the first test at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, on Friday. Scores: West Indies 115 for three v Australia 431 all out in 126.5 overs (Ponting 158, Hussey 56, Hodge 67, Symonds 70 not out -- F.Edwards 5-104) (Posted @ 10:05 PST) 10 killed in Colombia rebel clashes BOGOTA, May 24 (AFP) - Five soldiers and five leftist rebels were killed Friday in fierce clashes between government troops and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the military said Friday. The fighting took place near a mountain pass that links Bogota to the Pacific port of Buenaventura, when soldiers engaged a rebel patrol, the army said in a statement. (Posted @ 09:40 PST) Lebanon army chief set to become president BEIRUT, May 24 (AFP) - Lebanese lawmakers are poised to elect army chief Michel Sleiman as president on Sunday in a first step toward defusing a crippling and often deadly 18-month standoff between rival factions. Sleiman, 59, will be elected during a session attended by several foreign dignitaries, including Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa. Ali Hamdan, spokesman for parliament speaker Nabih Berri, told AFP that among the 200 dignitaries invited were also the foreign ministers of Syria and Iran. US-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and members of his current cabinet have also been invited to attend. The Doha accord calls for Sleiman's election, a national unity government in which the opposition has veto power and a new law for parliamentary elections due next year. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
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