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143 die in Indonesian plane crash
India watching developments
in Nepal
7/7 bomber’s video was shot in Rawalpindi
Britain may ban forced marriages
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Pak minister rules out poll before 2007
Three Pak security men killed in gunfire
Gunmen raid Iraq’s ministry
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143 die in Indonesian plane crash
Mandala Airlines officials said 13 passengers sitting in the tail section of the Boeing The plane was carrying 112 passengers and five crew on a flight to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. “The plane actually had taken off, but somehow it started to shake heavily and swerved to the left and then wham, a ball of fire came from the front of the plane toward the end,” survivor Rohadi Sitepu told Metro Television from his hospital bed. “From our side of the plane there were may be 10 persons who survived and although they suffered some injuries, thank God they managed to escape.” Rudolf Pardede, Deputy Governor of North Sumatra province, told a news conference in Medan that 99 passengers and all crew had died. He said the number of dead on the ground was 39. Mandala director Asril Tanjung said the cause of the crash was being investigated, but added foul play was highly unlikely. The plane slammed into the heart of the residential area in Medan, breaking apart, setting fire to homes, cars and motorbikes. It triggered panic as survivors on the ground frantically screamed the names of missing relatives and friends. Many of the dead were taken to Medan’s Adam Malik hospital and laid out on plastic sheets under a tent in the grounds as rain poured down. Relatives walked gingerly around the bodies, trying to identify their loved ones although most were burned beyond recognition. One woman wailed uncontrollably. A neighbour said she was looking for her 5-year-old daughter who had been walking to school along the road where the plane came down. Another woman crying hysterically found her sister after recognising her bangle and ring. Among the survivors was a 17-month-old girl and her mother. Those killed included the North Sumatra Governor and his predecessor, who were both on board. |
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India watching developments
in Nepal
Kathmandu, September 5 “We hope that the ceasefire announced by the Maoists will contribute towards creating an environment in which a peace process can begin,” Indian Embassy quoted a statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry. “The Government of India has taken note of the recent developments in Nepal, including the decisions taken by the Nepali Congress and the UML,” it said. Meanwhile, dozens of party leaders and workers were arrested today in Kathmandu during a demonstration. The police fired some round of teargas to control the demonstrators as they were trying to enter into restricted areas. Leaders and workers of seven political parties were briefly detained from various parts of Kathmandu today during a demonstration against King Gyanendra demanding restoration of democracy. The activists, including former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, leaders of the Nepali Congress Arjun Narsingh KC, Ram Sharan Mahat, former junior Home Minister Devendra Raj Kandel, Rajendra Pandey of the CPN, UML were arrested and later released, sources said. Mr Koirala (82) fainted and he was later taken to his residence at Maharajgunj by the police, the sources added. The police baton charged and arrested leaders and workers who were taking out a peaceful demonstration. The demonstration would continue despite the arrest and suppression, they said.
— UNI |
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7/7 bomber’s video was shot in Rawalpindi
London, September 5: Quoting a London Sunday Telegraph report, the Washington Times said the chilling video message was recorded in the "hotbed of terrorism" Rawalpindi after Sidique Khan was given orders to attack London.
Sidique, who died in the Edgware Road Circle Line blast, had travelled to Pakistan to get final instructions on what targets to attack in Britain, said the paper. The British security service is probing the theory that Khan was filmed during his three-month stay in Pakistan with fellow bomber Shehzad Tanweer. The visit began in November last year. According to the paper, the British intelligence officials think that the attacks were a handiwork of Al- Qaida. It quoted one MI5 official as saying, "Even the picture background used when the interview of Khan is recorded before he carried out his suicide bombing is a typical Al-Qaida signature. They have used a cloth on the wall, and this is what Al-Qaida guys do whenever they have to record a statement." The video, broadcast last week by Al-Jazeera TV, shows Khan as saying in his Yorkshire accent: "We are at war, and I am a soldier." He blames Britain's involvement in Iraq for his intended suicide mission. The paper further said that in another part of the video, which has not yet been given to Al-Jazeera TV, Khan is said to have been filmed with Tanweer (22). Soon after the blasts, Tanweer's uncle confirmed that the duo -
Sidique and Tanweer - had spent much time together in Pakistan before returning to Britain in February. "They used to be up all night talking to each other whenever Khan visited Tanweer during this period," Tahir Pervez, Tanweer's maternal uncle, said in an interview. Describing Rawalpindi as a notorious hotbed of Islamic militancy, the paper said that Al-Qaida's third-in-command and the architect of 9/11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was arrested from there two years ago.
— ANI |
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Britain may ban forced marriages
London, September 5 Under the proposed plan, parents who coerce their children into forced marriages could face prosecution and imprisonment. Currently families who compel their children to marry can be charged only with offences like assault or kidnap. But now ministers are holding a three-month consultation to decide whether to create a specific criminal offence of forcing someone to marry. “Forced marriage is marriage without freely given consent,” Home Office Minister Baroness Scotland told reporters, adding “it is an abuse of human rights and a form of domestic violence which cannot be justified on religious or cultural grounds.” She said a new offence would act as a preventive measure and “say to people this is wrong...it’s like a clarion call that this is not legal, you are not going to get away with it. I don’t know if it’s true that it will make it less likely that people come forward that’s why the consultation is so important.” She said the government recognised that this was “a very sensitive issue with no clear or easy answers,” adding that it is “not a south east Asian issue,” she argued, but affected communities, including, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Syria, Sri Lanka, US, Holland, Somalia, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Turkey and Bosnia. — PTI
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Pak minister rules out poll before 2007
Lahore, September 5 “They will all take part in the elections to be held in 2007, under the supervision of Gen Pervez Musharraf like they have contested recent local elections,” Information Minister and President’s spokesman Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said while talking to Dawn here on Sunday. The ARD wants the forthcoming general elections held under the supervision of a government of national consensus. Some parties think that the task should be entrusted to the United Nations as all state institutions had failed to ensure free and fair elections. Asked about the call that General Musharraf quit both as President and the army chief, Sheikh Rashid termed the demand daydreaming. This was not the first time that the Opposition parties had raised the issue, he said. Sheikh Rashid said the general elections would be held in 2007, when the present assemblies would complete their constitutional term. He made it clear that there was no possibility of holding the elections before their due date. The minister dismissed as a ‘‘hollow threat’’ ARD’s directive to its legislators to submit their resignations to the alliance leadership. The minister believes that the legislators would not submit their resignations. However, he said, in case they did, the government would hold by-elections on all seats vacated by them. In his opinion, the Opposition was not in a position to create any crisis. Answering a question about the Opposition’s demand that the Constitution be restored excluding all amendments made since October 1999, the minister said this was not possible. He reminded the religious parties that they had voted for General Musharraf as President, after which they were left with little justification to question his credentials or seek the restoration of the status quo ante. He said the Opposition was following no principles and this had been vindicated when they had made adjustments with the Awami National Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. |
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Three Pak security men killed in gunfire
Islamabad, September 5 The men opened fire when they were asked to surrender their automatic Klashnikov rifles to the security men, who were patrolling in Miran Shah in the North Waziristan tribal area. A passer-by was also injured in the shooting. The group of four gunmen fled after the incident and an operation has been launched to nab the culprits. Meanwhile, senior military and local officials in North Waziristan issued a shoot-at-sight order for those who carry weapons in the area. Announcements were made through loudspeakers in mosques, asking people not to carry arms. Reports from the area said the authorities had imposed a ban on carrying arms in the main Miran Shah Bazaar. They have also issued notices to a local tribe, asking them to hand over the attackers. Security of Miran Shah was handed over to
paramilitary Tochi Scounts after the incident and the authorities have imposed night curfew in the area.
— PTI |
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Gunmen raid Iraq’s ministry
Baghdad, September 5 The attack came as campaigning was getting under way for a referendum due by October 15 on a contentious new Constitution for the post-Saddam Hussein era, and of the trial of Saddam
himself, now confirmed for October 19. “Two policemen were killed and five wounded,’’ said an Interior Ministry source, adding that the gunmen, in 10 cars, had used rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and automatic rifles in the attack at 7.45 a.m. No other details were available. US helicopters were circling low over the city centre throughout the morning. The attack was the latest among a number of
large, military-style raids by insurgents, appearing on the streets in large numbers. The Interior Ministry has been accused by Iraq’s Sunni- Arab minority of close ties to sectarian Shi’ite militia and of running death squads. The ministry denies any involvement. Yesterday, the influential Muslim Clerics Association said it had discovered the bodies of two Sunni clerics and three other men in a morgue in Baghdad, three days after they were arrested by Interior Ministry troops. Iraq’s Shi’ite and Kurdish-led government, backed by
US forces, is facing a Sunni- Arab insurgency which attacks police and government forces on a daily basis. |
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Medan (Indonesia), September 5