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US soldier killed as rockets hit Baghdad
USA
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USA
redesignates Pakistan-based terror groups 60 killed
in plane crash World
shuts door on American beef
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US soldier killed as rockets hit Baghdad Baghdad, December 25 Two hotels used by Westerners and an apartment block were struck, as well as the area where the headquarters of the US-led administration was situated. A residential building next to the German Embassy was also hit. A rocket missed the Interior Ministry and landed in a nearby street, witnesses said. The US military said the American soldier was killed in Baghdad yesterday, bringing to 206 the number of US military deaths from hostile fire since Washington announced the end of major combat in Iraq on May 1. Washington blames attacks on Saddam Hussein supporters and foreign Islamic militants. Officials had warned insurgents would launch spectacular attacks during the Christmas holiday season. The lift area between the eighth and ninth floors of the Ishtar Sheraton Hotel was struck. Debris and shattered glass littered the hotel’s lobby. A manager at the hotel said there were no casualties. The hotel, where US contractors and Western journalists stay, was hit in another attack late on Wednesday, but there were no casualties. “This is a regular day for us,” said US First Lieutenant Kurt Muniz, as he led several soldiers on a foot patrol in the area. He said the attackers left behind leaflets urging staff at the Ishtar Sheraton to stop working at the hotel. Another rocket hit the Bourj al-Hayat Hotel, also used by the Americans. The hotel was used by UN weapons inspectors before the war. No one was hurt. A US military spokesperson said three to four rockets struck in the vicinity of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority complex in the centre of Baghdad on the western bank of the Tigris. Blasts and heavy machinegun fire echoed across the city as the US military’s Operation Iron Grip went on into early Thursday to flush out suspected guerrillas.
— Reuters |
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USA deploys jets, missiles to check terror attacks New York, December 25 American security officials also sent out alerts to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen and Kenya that Al-Qaida may be planning attacks especially against Americans interests or the places, like restaurants and clubs, that they frequent. Officials said that Los Angeles and its international airport appeared to be at the greatest risk and police patrols were intensified around the perimeter of the airport because of fears that terrorists might try to shoot down an airliners using shoulder launched missile. American officials said their major worry was that terrorists might hijack some foreign airliner to use it as weapon and reports say they were especially worried about Mexico. However, they were worried about the effectiveness of background checks on pilots carried out by foreign airlines. The Los Angeles police arrested one person in, what was described as, ongoing effort to disrupt terrorist activities, but the man was charged with fraud and not terrorism. CNN quoted an official as saying that “massive investigative effort ” had been launched in the area to “beat the ticking clock.” ISLAMABAD:
Extra police and commando units were being deployed at churches and other Christian centres around Pakistan ahead of tomorrow’s Christmas holiday, but officials said they had no intelligence reports indicating any specific threats. In the capital, plainclothes policemen as well as several specially-trained units would protect the four main churches, said Mr Wasim Raza, a police spokesman. “Additional policemen have been deployed at the four churches in Islamabad for Christmas. Men and women commandos have also been posted there,” he said. In Karachi, police chief Tariq Jamil said his forces were following a “comprehensive security plan,” including posting police at some 180 city churches, as well as at diplomatic buildings, major hotels and other sensitive sites. “Patrolling has been intensified and bomb sniffing dogs will be used to check vehicles for explosives and firearms,” he said.
— PTI, AP |
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Six flights cancelled for terror fears New York, December 25 The US was also trying to get some more flights grounded, one or two of which may be connected to Air Mexico, NBC news reported yesterday quoting American and French officials. Three of the cancelled Air France flights were scheduled to depart yesterday and three today. The report quoted a senior Homeland Security official as saying that Secretary Tom Ridge and other top officials from various agencies were consulting with their French counterparts. A senior State Department official said the State Department was also consulting with the French Ambassador and that Secretary of State Colin Powell had spoken personally with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin to discuss airline security, including specific flights. The US has been in a state of
heightened alert after intelligence reports warned that terrorists could attack American targets over the holiday season. Officials had said Los Angeles and its international airport appeared to be at the greatest risk.
— PTI |
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USA redesignates Pakistan-based terror groups Washington, December 25 By redesignating the two outfits, whose initial designation is due to expire on Friday, “we preserve the US government’s ability to take action against them in accordance with the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement yesterday. He said Secretary of State Colin Powell, who made the decision in consultation with the Attorney-General and the Secretary of the Treasury after a thorough review of these groups’ terrorist activities over the past two years, has renewed their designations in the Federal Register, a gazette of government business. In addition, Powell has “amended the designations of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Toiba ... to add new aliases currently in use by these terrorist organisations,” Boucher said. “As we carry on the global campaign against terrorism, we hope this list will help to isolate these terrorist organisations, to choke off their sources of financial support and to prevent their members’ movement across international borders,” he said.
— PTI |
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Cotonou, December 25 The witnesses said they seen bodies lined up on the beach near the plane, which crashed into the sea near the runway just after take off from Benin’s capital Cotonou at around 2.55pm local time. Some 200 passengers were on board, rescue workers said. One of the crew members on board, who survived the disaster, said the plane was heading to Beirut and that most of the passengers were Lebanese. The plane belonged to a Lebanese charter airline called UTA, according to airport sources in Beirut. Other unconfirmed reports in Beirut said there were 140 passengers on board.
— AFP |
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World shuts door on American beef Mexico City, December 25 Japan, South Korea and Mexico, the three largest importers accounting for a total of about $ 2 billion of $ 2.6 billion in US beef export sales in 2002, were among about a dozen countries that halted US beef imports yesterday. Some of the countries stressed that their bans were temporary, until the extent and scope of any infection was confirmed. “The information we get will help us determine whether the ban stays or is lifted,” said Javier Trujillo, director of safety and inspection for Mexico’s Agriculture Department. But others, like Taiwan and Singapore, said if the outbreak was confirmed, they would ban US beef for six to seven years, given the long incubation period for the disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Jamaica have declared temporary bans, as did Brazil and Australia, beef producing countries that stand to gain economically from the ban. Chile also announced a ban, although it does not currently import US beef. Canada announced a limited ban covering some US processed meats. Singapore said it would not lift its ban until the US certified that it had been free of the disease for six years. If an outbreak was confirmed, Taiwan said it would impose a seven-year ban on US beef, in line with international norms. Turkey has also banned the import of livestock from the USA following the discovery of a suspected case of mad cow disease there, the agriculture ministry said. Washington:
Awaiting final proof that the USA has its first case of mad cow disease, state and federal officials worked to prevent a potential outbreak of the deadly disease and calm public fears about the nation’s food supply. Conclusive test results on the cow from the Washington state were expected by the end of the week from a British laboratory. In the meantime, government and cattle industry officials voiced assurances that the beef on American Christmas holiday tables was safe to eat. “The risk to human life is extremely low,” Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said.
— AP |
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Blow
for Europe’s Mars mission
Darmstadt, December 25 Scientists insisted, though, it was still entirely possible that
the tiny lander, Beagle 2, had survived and noted the bigger part of
the 260 million euro ($ 325 million) mission had been placed right on
track.
“I’m afraid it’s a bit disappointing but it’s not the end
of the world,” Beagle 2’s chief scientist Colin Pillinger told
mediapersons in London.
“Please don’t go away from here believing we’ve lost the
spacecraft.”
Just earlier, Beagle’s mothership, Mars Express, had been steered
into orbit at the end of a 400-million-km odyssey lasting more than
six months, causing jubilation at the European Space Agency’s
mission headquarters here.
“We now have an operational Mars mission. This is the most
extraordinary Christmas present I’ve ever head,” ESA
Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain said.
German Research and Education Minister Edelgard Bulmahn, noting it
was the first time ESA had ever sent a solo mission to another planet,
declared: “It’s a great day for Europe.” — AFP |
Blast near UN
guest house Swallowed
ring shows up Protest against Chirac’s ban call Woman told to pay
$1.1 m damages |
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