Greek PM survives trust vote
Athens, June 22
After surviving a crucial confidence vote, Greece’s struggling Prime Minister George Papandreou prepared today for his next political battle — getting a new austerity package through Parliament to avoid a default on the national debt.

Aden, June 22
More than 60 Al-Qaida prisoners escaped from a south Yemen jail today after they clashed with guards, killing one and wounding two others, security and medical officials said.

The prisoners fled from the central jail in Al-Mukalla, capital of the Hadramawt province, into the nearby mountains after they overpowered the guards and seized some of their arms, a security official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had initially said the prisoners fled after heavily-armed Al-Qaida fighters raided the prison to free them.

The jail is believed to house more than 100 Al-Qaida militants, 58 of whom have been tried in court and have received jail sentences, the official said.

Spokesman for the civil society organisations in Hadramawt, Nasser Bakazzuz, however, accused authorities of assisting the Al-Qaida prisoners to escape. “The regime is living its last days and wants to create chaos in Hadramawt province ... there was no attack by Al-Qaida on the jail to free prisoners,” Bakazzuz said.

Another security official told AFP that of the 62 prisoners who escaped, two were re-arrested.

A medic at Iben Seena hospital in the city said a security force member was killed and two others wounded, while an Al-Qaida militant arrived at the hospital in critical condition.

Yemen’s army has been fighting heavy gunbattles with Al-Qaida militants in several parts of the Arab nation that has also been witnessing a massive uprising against the 32-year-old rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Battles are also raging between Yemen’s army and suspected Al-Qaida militants for control of the southern city of Zinjibar.

At least 100 soldiers have been killed since the violence in Zinjibar erupted more than three weeks ago, and 260 have been wounded, according to a military official.

Alleged Al-Qaida militants, who have named themselves Ansar al-Sharia (Supporters of Islamic Sharia law), have been controlling most of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, since late May.

Fighting between government forces and suspected Al-Qaida fighters in southern Yemen have displaced 45,000 people, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday.

“The OCHA is concerned about this conflict situation in southern Yemen in Abyan province,” Elisabeth Byrs, an OCHA spokeswoman, told reporters here. “We are concerned about the resulting displacement of people.” She said humanitarian agencies estimate that roughly 10,000 people have been displaced in Lahj province, 15,000 in Aden province and more than 15,000 around Abyan. — AFP 

Washington, June 22
As part of efforts to tighten the noose against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, the US has slapped sanctions against nine Libyan entities, including a Karachi-based company which is jointly owned by the Governments of Libya and Pakistan.

The US Treasury Department said yesterday that it had targeted three foreign Libyan-owned banks and identified six additional companies, including four foreign firms, subject to sanctions.

The four foreign companies include Ghana Libya Arab Holding Co and its tourist subsidiary Glahco Hotels and Tourism Development Co; a Pakistan fund, Pak-Libya Holding Co; and a Norwegian chemical company, Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Co.

Pak-Libya Holding Company is a Pakistan-based entity that is 50 per cent owned by Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO), a subsidiary of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA).

The Government of Pakistan owns the remaining 50 per cent of the company’s shares, the US Department of Treasury said in a statement, declaring sanctions against nine companies.

“The Treasury Department is carefully monitoring Libyan-associated entities worldwide to ensure that they are not attempting to evade sanctions and assist the Gaddafi regime,” US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Director Adam Szubin said. “We will remain vigilant in our efforts to isolate the Gaddafi regime from international financial system,” he said. The Treasury Department was blocking their right to have transactions with US businesses or citizens.

The Treasury also removed sanctions against Libya’s former Oil Minister and former chairman of the National Oil Corporation of Libya, Shukri Mohammed Ghanem, who had defected from the Gaddafi regime in May 2011.

“Our sanctions are intended to prevent harm and change behaviour… To the extent that sanctioned individuals distance themselves from the Gaddafi regime, these measures can be lifted,” the official added. The Treasury also issued a license to specifically exclude three banks - Arab Turkish Bank, North Africa International Bank, and North Africa Commercial Bank - from certain authorisations.

With the exception of the three banks, General License No 1B continues to authorise transactions involving banks that are owned or controlled by the Government of Libya and organised under the laws of a country other than Libya provided that the transactions do not otherwise benefit the Gaddafi regime or any other person whose property and interests in property are blocked.— PTI

It was in mid-July last year that the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan met in this picturesque capital of Pakistan. The meeting, which was widely expected to revive the dialogue process between the two neighbours, however, ended in a disaster with the then Pakistan Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmud Qureshi, going ballistic at the joint press conference with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and showing discourtesy to his guest from across the border.

However, much water has flown down the Jhelum since then. Qureshi is no longer the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden has been killed by US forces, the wave of terrorism in Pakistan has intensified and the NATO-led forces in neighbouring Afghanistan are preparing for a phased withdrawal from July, despite further deterioration in the security situation in the embattled nation.

The only thing that perhaps can be called a “positive development” is that India and Pakistan have returned to the negotiating table after a hiatus of more than two years in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. The two countries have held, what Indian officials describe as “fruitful”, talks on Siachen, security, trade and commerce, water and Sir Creek issues since February when the frozen dialogue process was reopened.