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Thumping majority for
Hamas in Gaza
World Bank chief to take up Baglihar issue
UK cop tells of forced sex simulations
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Thumping majority for Hamas in Gaza
Gaza, January 28 Results collected by Reuters for the 118 seats on 10 councils showed that candidates from the Hamas list had won just over 65 percent against nearly 30 percent for Abbas's Fatah movement and its allies. Some seats went to independents. Abbas has been trying to win a ceasefire from militants spearheading a 4-year-old revolt and prevent a chaotic power vacuum in Gaza when Israeli troops and settlers withdraw this year under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement plan". The local poll was seen as a key test of support for the Islamists, who boycotted the January 9 Presidential elections that Abbas won by a landslide on a platform of ending violence in order to allow new statehood talks with Israel. The Hamas, sworn to the Jewish state's destruction, has won many hearts not only for being at the forefront of the fighting but also for charities that help the needy Palestinians in the absence of government support. "It was a competition for the purpose of serving the Palestinian people and creating a better life," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, reacting to the poll results. "We see this as a victory for the Palestinian people." Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, did not comment immediately on the unofficial results. The Electoral Commission was due to make an official announcement later today. Voter turnout topped 80 percent for the local poll-considerably higher than at the Presidential elections for a successor to Yasser Arafat. The Hamas made a strong showing in the Municipal elections in the West Bank last month and the group had been expected to do even better in Gaza, where 1.4 million Palestinians live in often dire poverty. Political analysts say that by taking part in the Municipal elections, the Hamas is also demonstrating its claim to a share of power ahead of Israel's planned withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Gaza. The Hamas is still debating whether to take part in July Parliamentary elections that could also bring the group closer to the political mainstream, but officials were upbeat after the Gaza poll. "The results showed that our people are insisting the Hamas take part in the upcoming ballot," Abu Zuhri said. Jerusalem: Israel's Army chief today ordered his troops to halt operations in all areas of the Gaza Strip where Palestinian police are deployed. The Army chief, Leut Gen Moshe Yaalon, issued the order after hundreds of Palestinian police completed their deployment across Gaza earlier today.
— Reuters/AP |
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Iraqi exiles cast vote in landmark election
Amman, January 28 “I have been waiting for this day, I have been dreaming of this day to tell my grandchildren that in the first election in the history of Iraq I was the first woman to vote,” Lamaa Jamal Talabani, (60), a Sunni Kurd married to a Shi’ite who lives in Baghdad, said outside an Amman polling station. Security was tight around polling venues in Syria and Jordan with police cutting off traffic and setting up roadblocks. Guards with hand-held metal detectors searched every person going into the stations. “I am ecstatic to have passed through this experience at last. This (election) might cause a difference, not necessarily right away but eventually,” said Sara Masoud, a student who has lived in Syria for eight years.
— Reuters |
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World Bank chief to take up Baglihar issue
Washington, January 28 "Although the visit was already scheduled, it is obvious that the water dispute between India and Pakistan will dominate some of the discussions," said a World Bank official. Sources in the bank also confirmed that Pakistan's Ambassador to the USA Jehangir Karamat met Mr Wolfensohn in Washington on Wednesday and urged him to help settle the dispute. Ambassador Karamat is believed to have informed the WB President that Pakistan had already exhausted all possible means for bilaterally settling the issue with India and that's why it was appealing to the bank for arbitration. Mr Karamat also conveyed a message from Islamabad which said that under the Indus Water Treaty the World Bank was a party to the agreement for the distribution of water resources between India and Pakistan and it was required to arbitrate whenever there was a dispute. Pakistan believes that the treaty does not require an arbitration request to be endorsed by both Islamabad and New Delhi, as speculated by some World Bank officials. It is the first time Pakistan has sought arbitration in the World Bank-brokered water-sharing treaty, which it signed with India in 1960. Meanwhile, a leading expert of the bank in Washington has predicted a 'prolonged' and 'complicated' legal battle over Baglihar project. |
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UK cop tells of forced sex simulations
Osnabrueck (Germany), January 28 Fusilier Gary Bartlam was giving evidence at the court martial of three fellow British soldiers accused of abusing and sexually humiliating detainees caught in an operation to deter the theft of aid supplies from a base near Basra in May 2003. Describing a scene he witnessed after more than 20 suspected looters had been captured and brought into the base to tidy up the mess they caused by pillaging, Bartlam said two detainees had been taken to a warehouse in the base complex. "Basically, there was one in front and one behind, with their thumbs up, pretending to do it," he said.
— Reuters |
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Shah Rukh gets best actor award
Dubai, January 28 At the gala awards ceremony at the Al Wasl Stadium which came as a fitting finale last night to the three-day extravaganza held here to coincide with the Dubai Shopping Festival, Shah Rukh got the best acting awards for 'Swades' while 'Main Hoon Na' which is Shah Rukh's production received awards for best film, best director (Farah Khan) and best villain for Suneil Shetty. 'Swades' also won the best newcomer award for Gayatri Joshi while 'Veer Zaara' was awarded for best supporting actress Divya Datta, and best story by Aditya Chopra. Rani Mukherjee who was in the nominations in two categories received the best actress award for 'Hum Tum' whose director Kunal Kohli also received the best screenplay award. Rani had also been nominated as supporting actress for 'Veer Zaara'. The popular awards were chosen on the basis of votes polled by overseas Indians.
— UNI |
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