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Junior soldiers behind death plots, says Musharraf Major Al-Qaida strike in USA likely Prisoner-abuse charges hit UK troops
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Maoists set afire two Indian vehicles Iran to cooperate with European Union Over-exertion during jogging ‘harmful’
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Junior soldiers behind death plots, says Musharraf Islamabad, May 27 Speaking to a private television channel, Geo, in an interview broadcast on Thursday, he said several personnel had been arrested. They would soon be tried in an open court, he added. All those involved were 'very junior' and there had been no involvement of senior military figures, he added. He said these men were directly involved in the first of two attacks on him, on December 14, when an explosion blew up a bridge in Rawalpindi a few moments after his motorcade passed over it. He said these men were not directly involved in the second attack, also in Rawalpindi on December 25, in which 15 persons were had died. Diplomats had long suspected that the December attacks, both of which involved powerful explosions detonated close to General Musharraf's motorcade, were possible only if the attackers had the knowledge of the President's movement. Some Islamic elements in the army are thought to be angry over General Musharraf's policy of backing the US-led 'war on terror'. Asked if he was concerned that some senior ranks might have been involved, General Musharraf replied: "No, not at all. Hundred per cent sure. Two hundred per cent sure." He said all those involved in the attacks, apart from the Pakistani mastermind and the two suicide bombers, had been arrested. He declined to name the mastermind, whom he described as 'very clever', saying it would affect the investigation. "But we will get him," he said. Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan declined to say how many military personnel had been arrested or what they had been charged with. However, he said the number was 'less than 10'. "None of them is of officer rank - all of them are junior people, privates or corporal," he said. General Musharraf suggested that religion was not the motivation for some of the suspects. "Some of them did it for money," he said. General Shaukat said Musharraf had reiterated that the Al-Qaida had been the overall mastermind. But the spokesman said this did not mean the outfit had infiltrated into the military. "He did explain that there was a mastermind in the Al-Qaida, some foreigner, and he was the mastermind who had recruited some Pakistani people who recruited men to work for him," he said. "So those people who were working for him, whether in the air force or the army, might not have known exactly whom they were working for," he added. The Al-Qaida has vowed to overthrow General Musharraf. In March, the President had said that a Libyan, linked to the network, was a prime suspect in the plots against him. However, he did not identify the man. In February, authorities arrested a Tunisian, Khalifa bin Hussain, and a Pakistani, in connection with the attacks. The police had linked them with the Jaish-e-Mohammad, an outlawed militant group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. In the past 10 days, authorities have arrested seven members of the Harkat-ul Mujahideen Al-Alami, an Al-Qaida-linked group that tried to assassinate Musharraf in 2002.
— Reuters |
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Major Al-Qaida strike in USA likely Washington, May 27 Speaking at a press conference here yesterday, Mr Ashcroft also named seven individuals associated with Al-Qaida who "pose a clear and present danger to the USA". He asked Americans to help the government in looking for the seven "dangerous" Al-Qaida associates who "all are sought in connection with possible terrorist threats in the USA". Al-Qaida's own public statements suggest that it is almost ready to attack the USA. Just after the commencement of the New Year, Al-Qaida announced openly that preparations for an attack on the USA were 70 per cent complete. After the March 11 attack in Madrid, an Al-Qaida spokesman announced that 90 per cent of the arrangements for an attack on the USA were complete, according to Mr Ashcroft. The Madrid railway bombings, he said were perceived by Osama Bin Laden.
— PTI |
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Prisoner-abuse charges hit UK troops London, May 27 The death of Hassan Abbad Saied, thought to have been killed by the British troops in Basra last August, could draw Washington's closest ally deeper into an abuse scandal that has rocked the USA. The British army investigators have handed the case to state prosecutors, and it could result in civil murder charges. Sir Menzies Campbell, deputy leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat party, told the Independent newspaper: ''The immediate question in people's minds will be -- how many similar cases are there? But in truth, one is too many.'' Human rights group Amnesty International
says the UK troops have been involved in killing at least 37 civilians since May 1, 2003, when the war to topple Saddam Hussein officially ended, including an eight-year-old girl.
— Reuters |
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Shahrestani
declines to be Iraq PM United Nations, May 27 The "clarification" by the UN came as members of the Security Council began closed-door consultations yesterday on the draft resolution on granting sovereignty to Iraq submitted by the USA and Britain. The consultations, diplomats said, were taking place in capitals where the final decision would be taken. "Mr Shahrestani has himself clarified that he would prefer to serve his country in other ways," the UN spokesman in Baghdad said. Mr. Shahrestani had fallen out with
Saddam Hussein over the nuclear weapons issue and was then imprisoned in the now infamous Abu Ghraib prison. At the UN headquarters, chief UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said no decision had been taken on the representative who would serve in the transitional government. |
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Maoists
set afire two Indian vehicles Kathmandu, May 27 Suspected rebels threw a home-made bomb at a car distributing copies of the Nepali-language daily, Annapurna Post, near the western mountain resort of Pokhara. The driver was killed on the spot and two other passengers were seriously injured. They were flown to the capital for treatment. Rebels carried out similar attacks on two vehicles bearing Indian licence number plates in the south-western border district of Nawalparasi, but let the passengers out before detonating the bombs. Maoist rebels had demanded that all traffic stay off the roads in the west of the Himalayan kingdom today in one of a series of local strikes.
— AFP |
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Iran to cooperate with European Union
Teheran, May 27 The USA has insisted that Iran is building nuclear weapons, but a European-led initiative that began last autumn convinced Iran to sign an addendum to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to open its programme for inspection. Referring to reports that the IAEA inspectors in Iran were banned from checking military sites, Mr Khatami said they also visited military sites but unlimited access was not allowed for reasons of national security. Iran had on Tuesday harshly rejected reports that paramilitary revolutionary guards prevented IAEA inspectors from checking the country’s military sites. IAEA Director-General Mohamed El-Baradei is expected to submit his report early next week on the status of the inspections. The report will play an important role in the exchange between Teheran and the IAEA board in its June 14 meeting. Iran has already submitted a 1,000-page report to the IAEA with full details of its nuclear programme, which proved it had no secret nuclear programmes. But earlier this year, Viennese inspectors discovered highly radioactive material and modern centrifuges used to enrich uranium to weapons-grade which Iran had not declared it had.
— DPA |
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Over-exertion during jogging ‘harmful’ Hamburg, May 27 Professor Allmer advises runners to vary their pace and to take more breaks. The ideal pace is reached when a runner does not have to catch his breath and is able to talk normally with a training partner while running.
— DPA |
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Washington,
May 27
Karzai gets Medal