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| June 07, 2008 | Saturday | Jamadi-us-Sani 02, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 President Musharraf resists pressure to quit, but says he won't accept reduced role ISLAMABAD, June 7 (AP) President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday rejected calls for him to resign. The former army strongman said Saturday he would not quit under pressure. However, he indicated that he would go if the new government succeeds in reducing his still considerable powers to the point where he feels like a “useless vegetable.” “Parliament is supreme. Whatever the Parliament decides I will accept it,” Musharraf told reporters. “If I see that I don't have any role to play, then it is better to play golf.” Musharraf said he was speaking out because the rumors about his future were harming the country. He said the government should focus on addressing economic woes, which include trade and budget deficits as well as double-digit inflation fueled by rising world oil and food prices. “To take the country out of this crisis, I think reconciliation is the key. Confrontation would take the country further down,” he said. “I have no doubt the government and prime minister want to confront all these issues. My support will be with them.” Musharraf said he would accept the reinstatement of the judges through a constitutional amendment. He said he had no intention of dissolving the current Parliament “in the current circumstances.” Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) claimed that a remark by Musharraf that he would “not sit idle” was a signal that he would try to block moves to weaken his powers. “Such hollow warnings would not deter the democratic forces from restoring the powers of the Parliament,” PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said in a statement. Asked if U.S. support had enabled him to cling to power, Musharraf demurred, saying he maintained close ties with Bush “only in the interests of Pakistan ... my going or staying depends on Pakistan and me and nobody else.” (First Posted @ 15:45 PST Updated @ 20:34 PST)  PM Gilani blames long dictatorial spells as fallout of unstable democracy MADINA, June 7 (APP) Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday said the prevailing political instability in Pakistan was the fallout of inconsistent democracy in the past, but hoped that the PPP leadership was capable enough to take the country out of crisis. “Long spells of dictatorship contributed to the current state of political instability,” Gilani said in response to a question at a joint press conference here with PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. Addressing the media before leaving for Jeddah to hold talks with the Saudi King today, he said the government was making every possible effort to revive the spirit of democracy by taking along all coalition partners on board. Gilani said, “Under the able leadership of Asif Ali Zardari, the party will emerge powerful and strong, and there will be a balance between the Prime Minister and the President.” Zardari, commenting on President Musharraf's statement on not to resign in current situation said Parliament was always supreme and had the powers to send home any President or Prime Minister. “The Parliament always has the power that whenever they want, they can send home democratically a President or a Prime Minister,” Zardari said. When asked about relations with coalition partner Nawaz Sharif, Zardari said he was part of the coalition, both in the government and in Punjab, and only PML(N)'s ministers withdrew from the cabinet. Terming extremism and terrorism as great threats to the world, Gilani said, “Pakistan is fighting its own war against these evils and not someone else's war.” He said it was the government's priority to control law and order in the country to strengthen the economy. (Posted @ 20:12 PST) Shahbaz Sharif files papers for Punjab CM slot LAHORE, June 7 (APP) PML-N President and MPA Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif filed his nomination papers for the election of Chief Minister with Secretary, Punjab Assembly here Saturday. (Posted @ 18:58 PST)  Twin car bombs explode separately in Baghdad; US military kills four in raids BAGHDAD, June 7 (AP) A suicide car bomb and another car packed with explosives targeted police patrols Saturday on opposite sides of Baghdad, killing at least five people, police said. The suicide attacker rammed into a police patrol mid-afternoon in Nisoor Square on the capital's west side, killing a civilian and a policeman, police said. Another five people were wounded. The other explosion took place at nearly the same time across town at a crowded bus stop, though police said the target was the passing convoy of a top Iraqi police general. Three people were killed and 15 wounded, Brig. Gen. Nazar Majeed among them, said an officer requesting anonymity. Also Saturday, Iraqi police said they found five bodies in a mass grave south of Baghdad. The bodies were believed to be those of Iraqi soldiers, an officer said requesting anonymity. Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it killed four suspected militants, captured five others and destroyed two safehouses Saturday in northern Iraq. American soldiers called in airstrikes and killed the four men after coming under small-arms fire southwest of Mosul, a military statement said. They also destroyed two buildings filled with weapons, ammunition and graffiti indicating they were used for foreign militants, it said. Five men were captured Saturday in a separate raid in Mosul, including two accused of conspiring with senior Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders in the city, the military said. (First Posted @ 18:48 PST Updated @ 21:05 PST) Five killed in northwest Pakistan bicycle blast PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 7 (AFP) Five people, including three police officers, were killed when a bomb apparently targeting police exploded in northwestern Pakistan overnight, police said Saturday. The remote-controlled device, planted on a bicycle, detonated late Friday in Dera Ismail Khan town, local police chief Ghaffar Qaisarani told AFP. The bicycle was parked near an open place where another bomb had earlier exploded without causing harm, he said. The bicycle bomb exploded soon after police arrived to investigate the first incident, he said. More than a dozen people were wounded, including nine police officers. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. (Posted @ 21:02 PST) Sarkozy urges healing on post-crisis Lebanon visit BEIRUT, June 7 (AFP) French President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed his country's support for newly elected Lebanese President Michel Sleiman and for reconciliation through dialogue, during a brief visit to Beirut Saturday. A source close to Sarkozy’s office, meanwhile, said two senior envoys would soon visit Syria, as ties which Paris suspended last year during a protracted political crisis in Beirut start to thaw between the two countries. Sarkozy said the former army chief had “a great responsibility to drive this national reconciliation forward.” ”It is essential that all Lebanese political forces display their commitment to dialogue,” he added at a luncheon at the presidential palace with Sleiman, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, parliament speaker Nabih Berri and representatives of all major Lebanese political factions. (Posted @ 21:00 PST) Blasts in Multan MULTAN, Pakistan, June 7 (AFP) Two bombs exploded in a house in the central city of Multan Saturday, police said, adding that the premises was being used for making explosive devices. A search of the residence led to the recovery of two unexploded homemade bombs, local police officer Nawaz Waraich told reporters. He said a young man identified as Abdul Rauf fled the house after the blasts. Police have detained two people working with Rauf who said he belonged to an outlawed sectarian outfit. “He got bomb-making training in Afghanistan,” the officer said. (First Posted @ 18:00 PST Updated @ 20:58 PST) Egyptians protest bread shortages, clash with police CAIRO, June 7 (Reuters) Hundreds of Egyptian demonstrators sealed off a road and burned tyres Saturday to protest at bread shortages in the northern coastal town of Burullus, security sources said. Police used teargas, batons and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds and three protesters were hospitalized suffering from teargas inhalation, the sources said. Protesters accused local officials and bakeries of stealing flour earmarked for subsidized bread, causing shortages. (Posted @ 20:50 PST) Mushahid Hussain criticizes government for not fulfilling promises made to nation ISLAMABAD, June 7 (APP) Secretary General Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) Mushahid Hussain Syed Saturday criticized the PPP-led coalition government for not fulfilling promises made to the nation during their election campaign for 2008 polls. “The basic problem is that the coalition government has been unable to resolve issues and they have compounded the confusion,” the PML-Q leader told Dawn News TV. Senator Mushahid said his party supported the coalition government and gave unanimous vote of confidence to the Prime Minister, enabling them to resolve masses' problem on priority basis, but it was focusing on non-issues. Commenting on the proposed constitutional package, he said the package gives indemnity both to the PCO of November 3 and the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). (Posted @ 20:44 PST) Parliament “can send home democratically a President or a Prime Minister:” Asif Zardari MADINA, June 7 (PPI) The Parliament is supreme and has powers to send home democratically any President or Prime Minister, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari said at a joint news conference Saturday with Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. When asked to comment on President Musharraf's statement that he was not resigning in the current situation, Zardari said “the Parliament always has the power that whenever they want, they can send home democratically a President or a Prime Minister.” (Posted @ 20:36 PST) Gas leak kills six in India’s Gujrat ISLAMABAD, June 7 (APP) In the Indian state of Gujrat, six labourers were killed after a poisonous gas leaked from a ceramic unit near Morbi town in Rajkot early Saturday. The incident occurred when six labourers entered an underground tank for cleaning, All India Radio reported. (Posted @ 20:36 PST) Cricket-England enforce follow-on v New Zealand NOTTINGHAM, England, June 7 (Reuters) England enforced the follow-on after New Zealand were bowled out for 123 on the third day of the third and final test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England on Saturday. Scores: New Zealand 123 (Anderson 7-43) v England 364 (Pietersen 115, Ambrose 67, Broad 64). (First Posted @ 19:52 PST Updated @ 20:25 PST) Rainstorm kills two in Hong Kong; causes landslides and floods HONG KONG, June 7 (AP) Heavy rains in Hong Kong on Saturday killed two people and triggered dozens of landslides and widespread flooding, officials said. The storm injured at least 16 other people in the Chinese territory, the government's Hospital Authority said in a statement. Nearly 12 inches of rain fell Saturday morning according to the Hong Kong Observatory, which issued rainstorm and landslide warnings. The storm, fueled by a low-pressure system over the South China Sea, caused 79 landslides and flooded 539 areas across Hong Kong, government spokeswoman Suzanne Lee said. (First Posted @ 15:05 PST Updated @ 20:22 PST) Iraq PM in Tehran talks amid debate over US pact TEHRAN, June 7 (AFP) Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Tehran Saturday for talks with Iranian leaders amid debate over a mooted deal on a long-term US troop presence in Iraq, state television footage showed. He was met by First Vice President Parviz Davoudi on his third visit to Tehran since taking office two years ago. “The prime minister's visit to Iran is considered a step in a series of visits ... and to form a strategy committee to develop the relationship between the two nations,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AFP. He will brief Iranian leaders on “the Iraqi vision, which is that it will not serve as a base or staging ground to launch attacks against neighbouring countries,” said Dabbagh. (Posted @ 20:18 PST) Three brothers killed in Pakistan bus-motorcycle collision KASUR, Pakistan, June 7 (PPI) Three brothers were killed in a passenger bus and motorcycle collision at Mustafabad stop on Lahore-Kasur Road here Saturday. The brothers riding on a motorcycle were on their way to Lahore when a speedy bus struck with their vehicle from behind. (Posted @ 19:42 PST) One killed, two injured in Jaranwala road accident JARANWALA, Pakistan, June 7 (APP) A man was killed while two others sustained injuries when their car turned turtle near Jaranwala here Saturday, police said. The driver lost control of the vehicle after it smashed into an under construction bridge. (Posted @ 19:40 PST) Pakistani engineer kidnapped in Afghanistan KABUL, June 7 (AFP) Gunmen Saturday kidnapped a Pakistani engineer working on a road in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb told AFP. The engineer, employed by an Afghan road construction company, was abducted after the gunmen opened fire and injured his driver as they were travelling outside the city, Saqeb said. “A Pakistani engineer was kidnapped on the road between Kandahar city and Gereshk,” Saqeb said, referring to a town in neighbouring Helmand province. “We have launched an operation to track the kidnappers and free the Pakistani national,” he said. The police commander could not say who may have been responsible for the kidnapping. (Posted @ 19:30 PST) Italian film director Dino Risi dead at 91 ROME, June 7 (Reuters) Italian film director Dino Risi, who chronicled the bittersweet and lighter side of Italy's post-war economic boom, died on Saturday, the residence i where he lived said. Risi, who was 91, was known as one of the masters of the Commedia all'Italiana (Italian comedy). He had been ill for some time and died in a Rome residence. Among his most famous films were Poveri ma Belli (Poor Girl, Pretty Girl) and Il Sorpasso (The Easy Life). His 1974 film Profumo di Donna (Scent of a Woman), won two Oscar nominations. (Posted @ 19:28 PST) 450 Tibetans detained in Nepal KATHMANDU, June 7 (AFP) Police Saturday detained 450 Tibetan activists as they staged a protest in Nepal's capital, officials and witnesses said. Police rounded up the activists as over 500 Tibetans staged a rally near the royal pink palace, an area out of bounds to demonstrators. “We detained around 450 Tibetan exiles as they tried to march into the off-limits area for protests,” police officer Bharat Lama told AFP. (Posted @ 18:40 PST) Pakistan frees seven militants under peace agreement PESHAWAR, June 7 (AP) Authorities freed seven militants as part of a peace accord covering part of northwestern Pakistan, Wajid Ali Shah, a minister in the North West Frontier Province government said. He said the first batch of militants was released from a jail in the Swat valley Saturday. (Posted @ 18:32 PST) Abbas to stand again for president: Fatah official NABLUS, West Bank, June 7 (Reuters) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will stand in presidential elections scheduled for 2010, a senior official said Saturday. “President Abbas is Fatah's candidate for the Palestinian presidency,” said chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurie, a member of Abbas's secular Fatah group. Qurie said the Palestinians were still conducting talks with their Israeli counterparts despite “wide gaps” in positions. The two sides agreed in their last meeting to begin drafting a position paper in an attempt to narrow those gaps, he said. (Posted @ 18:26 PST) Three shot dead in Pakistan’s Dadu ISLAMABAD, June 7 (APP) A group of armed men shot dead three Bhind tribesmen, who were on their way back from a court in Dadu, a private television channel reported. (Posted @ 18:14 PST) Senegal's President Wade meets Hamas, Fatah reps DAKAR, June 7 (Reuters): Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has begun talks with representatives of Hamas and Fatah, hoping to establish common ground in the Palestinian factions' approach to Israel, Senegalese media reported Saturday. “The head of state of Senegal is talking with the delegates from Hamas and Fatah one after the other,” Senegal's daily Le Soleil quoted Wade's spokesman El Hadj Amadou Sall as saying of the talks, which began Friday. Sall was unavailable for immediate comment on Saturday. (Posted @ 18:05 PST) Assailants attack home of Kosovo's prime minister PRISTINA, Kosovo, June 7 (AP): Armed men attacked the home of Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, Kosovo police said Saturday. Thaci was away at the time; his wife and son were in the house but were unhurt, police said. The government condemned the assault as a “direct attack upon the prime minister and his family.” Police said Thaci's security guards spotted one person trying to break into the two-story house from the balcony of the top floor. They exchanged fire with an unknown number of assailants, who did not manage to get into the house. The attackers escaped but at least one was believed to be injured as traces of blood were found. (Posted @ 17:00 PST) Death toll rises to 16 in Mogadishu violence MOGADSIHU, June 7 (Reuters): Eight more people died in Somalia's capital on Saturday, residents said, bringing the death toll in Mogadishu from two days of violence to 16. The calm was shattered Friday when at least eight people were killed, and locals said eight more died on Saturday. A witness said Ethiopian troops supporting the government shot dead three students who were in school uniform in Waberi district. Elsewhere, residents said five people, including two government troops, died overnight in a fierce battle in northern Mogadishu's Industrial Area. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) Sri Lanka reports 13 rebel deaths in fighting COLOMBO, June 7 (AFP): Security forces killed at least 13 guerrillas in separate attacks in the north and bombed a rebel base, the military said Saturday. Air force jets pounded a rebel base in Pooneryn late on Friday, hours after the guerrillas set off bombs in the southern suburb of Colombo and central district of Kandy, the defence ministry said. The military said the rebels were responsible for the bus blasts. There was no immediate comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The latest 13 reported rebel deaths came in fighting across the embattled north on Friday, the military said. (Posted @ 16:25 PST) Russia's finance minister says NATO should become history ST PETERSBURG, June 7 (Reuters): Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Saturday he believed that the NATO alliance should be consigned to history and called for better coordination between global financial institutions. “Global institutions are reacting slowly to challenges, which exist today... But of course I don't mean such institutions as NATO. I think such institutions should become history,” he told the St Petersburg Economic Forum, Russia's main annual event for foreign investors. Kudrin, seen as one of the main liberals in the government, repeated earlier criticism made by President Dmitry Medvedev of international financial institutions, saying they needed major changes because they had failed to deliver in past crises. (Posted @ 16:00 PST) LRA rebels kill 14 troops in south Sudan: minister JUBA, Sudan, June 7 (Reuters): Ugandan rebels have killed 23 people including 14 south Sudanese soldiers on the remote Congo border, a south Sudanese minister said Saturday. Information Minister Gabriel Changson Chang said Lord's Resistance Army fighters attacked Nabanga village on Wednesday. “The LRA have started war,” he told Reuters. (Posted @ 15:45 PST) 3 communist rebels killed in northern Philippines MANILA, June 7 (AP): Communist rebels attacked a government militia outpost Saturday in the northern Philippines, provoking a clash in which three guerrillas were killed, police said. The rebels stormed the encampment outside the mountain township of Sallapadan, said the Abra provincial police chief. About 20 government militiamen resisted the dawn assault, killing three guerrillas, but abandoned the outpost hours later when a larger group of about 100 New People's Army guerrillas attacked, he said. The rebels fled the camp later Saturday when government troops counterattacked. (Posted @ 15:35 PST) Five UN helicopters arrive in Myanmar for cyclone aid YANGON, June 7 (AFP): Five UN-chartered helicopters arrived Saturday in Myanmar's former capital Yangon, to boost efforts to deliver aid to victims of the cyclone that tore through the country five weeks ago, a spokesman said. Two Puma helicopters and three Mi-8 choppers left early Saturday from Bangkok, where they had been waiting for days to fly into Myanmar, said a spokesman for the UN's World Food Programme. (Posted @ 15:15 PST) Austria: 1 dead, 10 injured in Czech bus accident VIENNA, June 7 (AP): Police said a Czech bus had crashed in southeastern Austria, killing one child and injuring nine others. One adult was also injured. They said the accident happened on a southbound highway near the city of Graz early Saturday. The driver told police he swerved to the right to avoid another vehicle, causing the bus to topple over. The bus was carrying 51 people, mostly children, and was headed to Croatia. (Posted @ 14:05 PST) Nepal urged to end attacks on Bhutanese refugees KATHMANDU, June 7 (Reuters): Seven Western governments have expressed “deep concern” over violent attacks on exiled Bhutanese seeking resettlement and aid workers assisting them, urging Nepal to stop the attackers. Several countries this year began resettling some of the 107,000 Bhutanese of ethnic Nepali origin who fled their homes in Bhutan or were expelled after demanding democracy and human rights there. Ambassadors from the United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and New Zealand said the attacks were a “fundamental disregard for the welfare of the people whose cause they claim to promote”. (Posted @ 13:30 PST) Several militants killed north of Kabul KANDAHAR, June 7 (AP): U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces raided several homes in a district north of the capital, killing several militants who shot at them, the coalition said Saturday. The operation in Tagab Valley of Kapisa province, 65 kilometers northeast of Kabul, targeted a militant leader, a coalition statement said. During the operation, militants fired on Afghan and U.S. forces. In the south, armed gunmen killed a tribal leader in a district north of Kandahar city. Gunmen on a motorbike killed Malim Akbar Khakrezwal, a pro-government tribal leader from Arghandab region, said Kandahar provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib. Khakrezwal's brother was the former police chief of Kabul. He was killed in a suicide bombing in 2005. (Posted @ 13:05 PST) Sri Lanka's military says 52 suspects arrested in deadly bus blasts COLOMBO, June 7 (AP): Sri Lanka's military says 52 suspects have been arrested in connection with Friday's twin bus bombings that killed 23 passengers and wounded dozens. The military spokesman said that 51 suspected rebels were picked up around Moratuwa, the suburb of capital Colombo where a roadside bomb ripped through a bus, killing 21 passengers. Another suspect was arrested in the hilly central district of Kandy, where a second blast tore through a bus, killing two passengers. (Posted @ 12:50 PST) Manila hospital unit closed after 25 babies die: report MANILA, June 7 (AFP): A Manila hospital has closed its neonatal intensive care unit and an investigation ordered after 25 babies died of a blood infection, it was reported Saturday. Local authorities ordered the Ospital ng Makati to close the unit after 45 babies contacted neonatal sepsis last month. The Philippine Daily Inquirer said the Department of Health had launched an investigation while the city's mayor asked for a report on the deaths by Monday. (Posted @ 12:45 PST) Five missing European divers found in Indonesia: police KUPANG, June 7 (AFP): Five European divers who had been missing for two days in treacherous waters east of Bali were found drifting but alive by fishermen on Saturday, Indonesian police said. Police in the Nusa Tenggara island chain where the divers went missing late Thursday said fishermen spotted them south of the tiny island of Rinca. “Fishermen found them floating in the water. They are all safe,” Manggarai Barat district police chief Butje Hello told AFP. (Posted @ 12:35 PST) Top militant among six killed in Thailand's restive south TANYONG LIMO, Thailand, June 7 (AFP) - A man carrying a 1,000,000 baht (30,300 dollar) reward for his arrest died in a gunfight during a bloody night that claimed five more lives in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, police said Saturday. Alinsan Nikaji was killed after 100 police and soldiers sealed off the village of Tanyong Limo as they searched for a militant hideout, police said. A 20-minute gunfight broke out after they found four suspected rebels inside a home in the village. Alinsan, 25, was killed during the battle.Two other men, each with 500,000 baht rewards on their heads, were also arrested, police said. (Posted @ 11:00 PST) Drainage of China's quake lake begins BEIJING, June 7 (AFP) - An operation to drain water from a dangerously swollen “quake lake” in southwest China began on Saturday morning, state media said. Water poured through a hurriedly-dug drainage channel, releasing pressure from the lake which had built up behind a dam caused by the huge earthquake on May 12, Xinhua news agency reported. (Posted @ 10:20 PST) Israel, Palestinians agree to start drafting elements of a peace deal: negotiator JERUSALEM, June 7 (AP) - The chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia Friday said he and his Israeli counterpart have agreed to start drafting elements of a proposed peace accord. However, he made it clear that the decision does not necessarily reflect agreement on major issues. The two sides have talked about the future border of a Palestinian state in recent weeks, but gaps remain wide. (Posted @ 10:10 PST) Tunisian police fire on rioting youths, one dead TUNIS, June 7 (Reuters)- Police fired guns to disperse hundreds of youths rioting over joblessness and rising living costs in southwest Tunisia, leaving one dead and 22 injured, government and labour union officials said on Friday. Social unrest has rumbled on in Redeyef and the wider phosphate mining region of Gafsa for two months. (Posted @ 10:00 PST) Assailants attack police head in Russia's Chechnya MOSCOW, June 7 (Reuters) - An explosion ripped apart a car carrying a district police chief in Chechnya on Friday and gunmen then shot at the burning vehicle, a source told Interfax news agency. Police chief Shamil Kutsayev and two other policemen were wounded in the attack and taken to hospital. (Posted @ 09:55 PST) Tennis: It's Federer against Nadal again in French Open final PARIS, June 7 (AFP) - Top seed Roger Federer of Switzerland will play triple defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain in the French Open final on Sunday, the third straight year the pair have met for the title. In Friday's second semi-finals, Federer won through with an unconvincing 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win over unseeded Gael Monfils of France. Earlier, second seed Nadal had pounded Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3). Federer will be going for his 13th career Grand Slam title, one short of the record of 14 held by Pete Sampras. On the otherhand, Nadal will have a shot at equalling Bjorn Borg as the only man to win four straight French Open titles. The Swede achieved that feat in 1981. (Posted @ 09:45 PST) Islamic scholars urge centre for inter-faith dialogue Makkah, Saudi Arabia, June 7 (AFP) - Leading Islamic scholars proposed on Friday creating a centre that would promote relations among different religions, Saudi Arabia's state news agency SPA reported. Wrapping up a three-day international conference, the scholars urged the creation of the King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz International Centre for Connection between civilisations” in honour of their Saudi host. They also called for the creation of an international prize named after the king for “figures and international organisations that contribute to advancing the dialogue in order to reach its objectives,” a final statement said. The scholars called on the king to bring together specialists from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions and other beliefs “to agree on a format for a fruitful world dialogue that would contribute to solving problems faced today by mankind.” “A constructive dialogue and peaceful coexistence and cooperation between the followers of (God's) messages and others does not mean abandoning the axioms, or giving up the religion fundamentals,” the statement said. (Posted @ 09:40 PST) Earthquake hits west Algeria, 11 hurt ALGIERS, June 7 (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale hit the region of Oran 430 kilometres west of Algiers late Friday, injuring 11 people, public radio reported. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
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