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Toll in Pakistan floods, avalanches rises to 260
PPP denies talks over seat adjustment
Pervez should give up dual role: USA
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Church asks Prince to choose between
love and throne
Indefinite blockade by rebels in Nepal
Israeli minister attacked
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Toll in Pakistan floods, avalanches rises to 260
Quetta, February 12 The authorities concerned rushed in thousands of troops to help rescue efforts in the remote province of Baluchistan. Local government spokesman Razak Bugti said 500 persons were missing after a dam burst following the country’s worst deluge in 16 years. Villages near the coastal town of Pasni bore the brunt of the destruction when waters breached the Shadikor dam, sweeping away people and houses. Provincial minister Sher Jan Baluch said the death toll from the disaster had risen to 71. Pasni is situated about 800 km (500 miles) south of the provincial capital, Quetta. More than 40 persons have been killed in other rain-affected parts of the province. President Pervez Musharraf said he was going to visit the area to personally take charge. Officials said at least five villages, home to around 7,000 people, had been submerged by waters pouring from the ruptured dam, a 35-metre high and 300-metre long embankment constructed just two years ago. Avalanches, flash floods and roof collapses wrought havoc in the north and northwest, where around 150 persons have been reported killed so far. In the worst single incident, 33 Kashmiri villagers perished in an avalanche that struck Mathawali Siri hamlet in the Neelam valley, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Faisal Saleh Hayat said. Five more persons were killed in an avalanche in another Kashmiri valley, and the authorities in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, evacuated people on the city’s outskirts as a precaution against landslides as the downpour continued. In North West Frontier Province, newspapers reported 97 persons had died in the rain and snow over the past week. An army helicopter on Saturday rescued 16 troopers caught in an avalanche in the province’s Teerah valley three days ago, and rescuers are trying to reach five more stranded soldiers but 23 are still unaccounted for. The Karakoram highway, linking Pakistan and China, has been blocked and flights in and out of the region have been suspended.
— Reuters |
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PPP denies talks over seat adjustment
Islamabad, February 12 Talking to The Dawn on Friday, the senator termed the claim “outlandish” and an attempt to create rift among the opposition parties. The Information Minister had claimed on Thursday that the government was in constant touch with the PPP and that there was every possibility that the ruling party would contest the election in collaboration with it. Senator Babar said it appeared that some elements in the regime were unnerved over the pledge made by PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) chief Nawaz Sharif to jointly struggle for the restoration of democracy, holding of free and fair election this year and restoration of the 1973 Constitution. Responding to a question, Mr Babar said the PPP had been in contact with government functionaries and elected representatives at different levels since 1999 but there was no direct contact with President Gen Pervez Musharraf or his representatives. In a statement, Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra alleged that the rulers were trying to create mistrust among the opposition groups. He said the PPP and the PML-N would soon prepare a charter of democracy and the ARD leadership, in its next meeting, would review the possibility of joining hands with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal. |
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Pervez should give up dual role: USA
Washington, February 12 State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday that “We think it would be a good step for him” when asked whether his department endorsed the Commonwealth’s view that President Musharraf should give up his dual role as President and Chief of the Armed Forces by 2007 at the latest. The spokesman said it was in “Pakistan’s interest to continue its transition towards a fully functioning and stable democracy”. “We expect to see continuing progress towards this goal, which is central to Pakistan’s becoming a modern and moderate nation, as democracy involves more than elections and more than uniforms”, Mr Boucher said. He said the chief American concern was that “national elections in 2007 come off as good and open elections”.
— PTI |
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Church asks Prince to choose between love and throne
London, February 12 The row is expected to intensify when the Synod, the highest decision-making body of the Church, meets next week. Although the issue is not on the agenda, three senior members have called for an emergency debate, which the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has rejected, the Daily Telegraph reported today. A liberal Christian think tank, Ekklesia, added to the furore by saying that the Church should be disestablished following the news that the prince is to marry Camilla in a civil ceremony. Jonathan Bartley, the director of Ekklesia, said it would be “anomalous” for the Church’s future governor and Defender of the Faith to be “a man whom even the Archbishop of Canterbury cannot permit to remarry in his own Church.” The growing dismay is in contrast to the way Church leaders welcomed Thursday’s announcement of the wedding. Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, had said the union would be good for the monarchy and the
Church.— PTI |
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Indefinite blockade by rebels in Nepal
Kathmandu, February 12 The Maoist rebels, trying to topple the monarchy, appealed to political parties and citizens to launch a resistance movement against Gyanendra after he sacked the government, detained top political leaders and suspended civil liberties. Rebel chief Prachanda rejected any possibility of talks with the government headed by the king, a day after the interior ministry said it was willing to discuss all demands including a constituent assembly to decide the future of the monarchy. Today was the first day of what the rebels said was an indefinite blockade and transport strike to coincide with the ninth anniversary of their revolt, in which more than 11,000 people have been killed. Until noon, barely 20 vehicles had entered hill-ringed Kathmandu from the Nagdhunga checkpoint on the main highway linking the capital with India.
— Reuters |
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Israeli minister attacked
Jerusalem, February 12 Mr Netanyahu was not injured in the attack. A hardliner, he has voted in Parliament and Cabinet in favour of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from the whole of Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements by the end of this year.
— AP |
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