Jerusalem, August 13
Israel's Cabinet today approved the UN ceasefire deal, paving the way for an end to its 32-day-long offensive against Lebanon.

The Israeli Cabinet approved the deal by a 24-0 vote, with one abstention, a government official said.

The UN resolution had already been approved by the Lebanese government yesterday and the Hezbollah had agreed to abide by its provisions.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who spoke at the meeting, said the resolution was “good” for Israel.

“The UN Security Council resolution 1701 is a good resolution that creates true conditions to implement UNSCR 1559 and prevent a return to the status quo,” he said.

“Hezbollah won't continue to be a state-within-a-state inside Lebanon and the Lebanese government will become the point of contact for the Israeli government,” Olmert told his ministers.

Defence Minister Amir Peretz backed the Prime Minister, saying his “management of the war was excellent and sufficiently aggressive”.

“His collaboration with me was precise,” Ynetnews quoted him as having said.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also expressed support for the UN resolution, saying it could not have been achieved militarily.

“No army can implement Security Council resolution demands by military means,” she said.

“The question that we must ask ourselves today is where we were prior to the outbreak of conflict, when the UNSC resolution 1559 had not been implemented, when Lebanese armed forces were not deployed in the south and when there was not an embargo on Hezbollah.”

The Foreign Minister said the empowerment of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora serves Israeli interests.

"Empowering Siniora does not conflict with Israeli interests, but rather the contrary," she said. — PTI

London, August 13
At least four major terror plots have been thwarted since July-7 attacks in London last year, British Home Secretary John Reid said today.

He said the terrorist threat to Britain was still “substantial” in spite of arrest of 24 suspects in connection with the foiled plot to blow up US-bound airliners.

All four plots since the deadly 7/7 bombings would have led to significant loss of lives and that “up to two dozen” terror investigations were currently being pursued, Reid told a television network.

Without giving details of the plots, Reid said the government believed that the first Al-Qaida plot in the UK was in 2000 in Birmingham, preceding the war in Iraq and the 9/11 bombings.

On Thursday, the British police arrested 24 persons over an alleged plot to blow up flights to the US emanating from the UK.

It is currently holding 23 of them, many of them with family ties in Pakistan.

“We think we have the main suspects in this particular plot. I have to be honest and say on the basis of what we know, there could be others out there... so the threat of a terrorist attack in the UK is still very substantial.”

Reid said he thought it was right to keep Britain at the highest possible level of terrorist alert. He said the current security measures at UK airports would be “time limited”.

Admitting the “terribly inconvenient regime” of curbs imposed on carrying hand luggage was affecting airlines and travelling public, he said these were being reviewed with a view to replacing them with a new regime to ensure safety.

Of the 24 suspects arrested in connection with the aviation plot, one person has been released, while another’s detention hearing has been deferred till tomorrow. Other 22 suspects will be in detention till next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, airlines cancelled almost a third of flights from Britain's busiest airport today, plunging travellers into a fourth day of travel chaos triggered by a thwarted alleged airplane bomb plot.

British Airways said it had scrapped 30 per cent of flights from London's Heathrow Airport on the instructions of airport operator, the British Airports Authority (BAA).

The airport operator said 70 per cent of flights on all airlines at Heathrow were expected to operate, but warned that tough new screening measures for passengers and luggage meant delays were inevitable.

BAA's chief executive for Heathrow, Tony Douglas, said the airport was doing its best, but that delays "will go on until the security threat level is reduced." Today, British Airways cancelled almost 100 flights to Europe from Heathrow and scrapped all its domestic flights from London's second airport, Gatwick. Most long-haul flights were operating, although 10 BA services to the United States were cancelled.

Scores of flights from Britain to Europe and the United States also were cancelled yesterday. Passengers were delayed so long by strict new security measures that many missed their flights.

British Airways said in a statement that it "cannot rule out the possibility that flights will once again depart without all their passengers because of ongoing problems with BAA's security search process and baggage operation at Heathrow Airport." — AP PTI

Karachi, August 13
Money sent to Pakistan for quake rehabilitation was used to fund the Heathrow bomb attack plot that was foiled by British authorities following inputs from their Pakistani counterparts, if an investigation by a leading Pakistani daily is to be believed.

According to the Daily Times, the Muslim Charity of UK remitted a huge amount of money to three individuals in three different bank accounts in Mirpur, Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) in December last year as earthquake relief.

But the money in the three accounts in Saudi Pak Bank, Standard Chartered and Habib Bank Ltd was solely for the purpose of financing the foiled bomb plot, the paper said.

According to the report, two of the recipients are British citizens of Kashmir origin while the third is an Islamabad-based builder, also of Kashmir origin.

Officials said all three have been arrested, but it is still not known whether the three had any links to militant organizations such as the Al Qaeda or Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

An official said UK National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit authorities asked them to carry out 'discreet enquiries' about large sums of money being transferred by charities to accounts in Pakistan.

Following the tip off, the three were arrested. Interrogation of the suspects revealed some key elements of the aircraft bombing plan. It was then that Pakistani officials informed British authorities about the plan and the terror attempt was successfully foiled, said an official.

"Had we been even slightly complacent, the perpetrators of this plot might have been able to carry out their operations without little or no problem in the UK," the paper quoted a senior government official, privy to the inquiry as saying.

The official said NTFIU had told them that a huge amount of money had been transferred from Britain to PoK for quake relief efforts two months after the quake.

"Neither the amount nor the purpose for which money was sent caused any concern in the British investigation unit. What raised alarm among British sleuths specialising in finances was the fact that the entire money was remitted to three individuals, not to any organisation or organisations involved in the relief work", he said.

"The entire transaction was in pound sterling. It was a huge amount. — ANI

Colombo, August 13
Sri Lanka today said it was read to revive peace talks with Tamil Tigers following a rebel offer to renew the negotiations even as heavy fighting raged in the island’s north a day after the LTTE was held responsible for the killing of a senior peace official.

Policy Planning Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said rebel of the LTTE approached the government through the Nordic truce monitoring mission on Friday to revive their stalled negotiations and it agreed.

“We have told them that the arrangements are already in place for our talks that should have been held sometime ago,” Mr Rambukwella told PTI.

“We are ready even now, and we hope they will now agree to start talks immediately.”

The government appeared conciliatory despite yesterday’s assassination of Deputy Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat Kethesh Loganathan at his home in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwala.

President Mahinda Rajapakse blamed the Tigers for the killing which came on the first anniversary of the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

The government said moves to open talks would not compromise military operations to defend against Tiger attacks.

“The government is committed to peace, but we will not compromise national security,” Mr Rambukwella said. “Talks can go on in spite of the fighting. We have such experiences in IRA, India and in South Africa.” — PTI