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US warplanes pound Saddam’s hometown Al-Qaida intends to use cargo planes to target US N-plants Arafat cedes security powers to revive talks
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Indo-Nepal pact on
first rail link
Muslims welcome PM’s pledge to punish guilty
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US warplanes pound Saddam’s hometown
Tikrit (Iraq), November 8 In a new attack by insurgents in the volatile town of Falluja, west of Baghdad, two soldiers were killed and one wounded when a roadside bomb was detonated near their convoy. Since Washington declared major combat over on May 1, at least 149 US soldiers have been killed in action in Iraq, including the six killed in yesterday’s downing of the Black Hawk. Lieut-Col Steve Russell of the 4th Infantry Division based in Tikrit, 175-km North of Baghdad, confirmed the Black Hawk had been brought down by guerrillas. “We do believe it was brought down by ground fire,” he said. Soldiers said the Black Hawk was probably hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. It was the third US helicopter to be shot down in Iraq in the past two weeks. Last Sunday a Chinook was downed west of Baghdad, killing 16 soldiers. The US response was swift. After dark yesterday, F-16 fighter planes swooped over Tikrit, dropping several 500-pound bombs near the helicopter crash site. Then raids were launched around the town - a hotbed of anti-US resistance. Troops backed by Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles destroyed several abandoned houses which the US military believed had been used by insurgents. “We are targeting those areas where we have had attacks on coalition forces,” Colonel Russell said. A US Army statement said the raids were part of “Operation Ivy Cyclone”, a new drive to root out guerrillas in the hostile territory around Tikrit. It said 16 persons had been detained in the past 24 hours as part of the operation, and five killed. |
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Al-Qaida intends to use cargo planes to target US N-plants New York, November 8 In Afghanistan, officials warned journalists to be careful as there were reports that Taliban were looking out for American mediapersons. Homeland Security Department officials said the most imminent threats were aimed at US targets overseas, but the possibility of attacks on American soil could not be ruled out. The threat was strikingly similar to the September 11, 2001 attacks in which 19 Al Qaida operatives had hijacked four planes, crashed two into the twin towers of World Trade Center and one into Pentagon in Washington. The fourth plane had crashed as passengers struggled with the hijackers, they said. The New York State Advisory said “soft targets” such as shopping malls, power plants, nuclear power plants and marine facilities and vessels reachable by scuba were of primary concern. Similar warnings were also sent to law enforcement agencies in other parts of the country. Patrols along bridges, tunnels and airports have been increased and security across the state strengthened.
— PTI |
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Arafat cedes security powers to revive talks Ramallah (West Bank), November 8 The breakthrough, which is hoped to satisfy US calls for reforms in a ‘’road map’’ for peace with Israel, coincided with fresh violence in which Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie had proposed that Hakam Balawi, favoured by Mr Arafat’s dominant parliamentary faction Fatah for interior minister, give up the portfolio’s control over Palestinian security forces. That authority would instead go to the Palestinian National Security Council, which is under Mr Arafat’s auspices but includes Gen Nasser Yousef, Qurie’s original choice for Interior Minister who was rejected by Fatah. “The interior minister will most likely be Hakam Balawi, with responsibility for administrative affairs while security issues will be conducted by the National Security Council headed by Mr Arafat,’’ Qurie told reporters after meeting Mr Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah today. The Qurie-Arafat power struggle had held up formation of a permanent Palestinian government after the 30-day mandate of a emergency Cabinet expired this week, further stalling the road map that has been battered by renewed bloodshed. |
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Indo-Nepal pact on
first rail link Kathmandu, November 8 A railway agreement for the operation of the multi-million dollar Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Birgunj, bordering India, was signed here yesterday. The agreement, inked by Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shyam Sharan and Nepalese Commerce Secretary Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel, clears the plying of cargo trains between the two countries, to and from Birgunj, according to sources in the Commerce Ministry here. India has constructed a 5.4-km-long railway line from Raxaul to Birgunj at a cost of Rs 170 million, according to Indian Embassy sources here. The World Bank has provided a soft loan of $ 13 million for the construction of the ICD, Pyakurel said. It is estimated that Nepal will save $ 16 million in transport cost annually as a result of the ICD. “Nepal’s international trade as well as bilateral trade with India is expected to increase manifold after the ICD comes into operation. This will reduce the transport cost of raw materials imported by Nepal from a third country by 30 to 40 per cent, which will ultimately help increase Nepal’s export trade,” Pyakurel said. The Nepalese Government is considering proposals from private companies to operate the ICD, which would come into operation within four months, Pyakurel said. Some eight to nine joint venture companies were participating in the global tender to operate the dry port on lease basis and Nepal’s Multimodal Transport Board would soon hand over the management to an Indo-Nepal joint venture company, he said.
— PTI |
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India, Uzbekistan to jointly combat terrorism: Sinha Tashkent, November 8 Mr Sinha, who is on a three-day visit here, said at a joint press conference with his Uzbek Foreign Minister Sadiq Safayev yesterday that he had “very productive” discussions with President Islam Karimov on bilateral and regional issues. “Both our countries continue to face the threat of terrorism because the epicentre of terrorism is in our common neighbourhood. We will therefore make joint efforts to counter this menace.” Discussions on the setting up a new road and rail corridor from Central Asia up to Chahbahar port were also held, he said.
— PTI |
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Muslims welcome PM’s pledge to punish guilty London, November 8 “Although in the light of the continuous and ongoing harassment and detention of Muslims under POTA in Gujarat genocide will ever be punished, we welcome Mr Vajpayee’s pledge to give justice to the victims,” CM’s Chairman, Mohamed Munaf Zeena said in a statement. The fact that the main organiser of these crimes, (Chief Minister) Narendra Modi, continues to be at the helm of affairs in Gujarat and the fact that Muslims continue to be put behind bars under POTA need no proof of what the Hindutva forces would have done if they were not being watched by the public, media and judiciary,” the statement added.
— PTI |
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Tikrit (Iraq), November 8
Ramallah (West Bank), November 8
