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40 killed in Siberian mine blast
Fierce fighting between Dostum, Rabbani troops US ‘occupation’ in Iraq denounced
Tigers declare truce with rebels |
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Poland offers to upgrade Indian missiles
Karzai calls for more aid Jordan finds cars laden
with explosives Jordan’s Princess Haya engaged
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40 killed in Siberian mine blast Moscow, April 11 Only eight miners could be rescued from the Tayzhina coal mine in Siberian Kemerovo region shortly after the powerful methane blast yesterday, media reports said. Rescuers continued the search for the seven missing miners who still remain trapped underground, they said. The blast left a pile of rubble that blocked rescuers, forcing some of them to take a longer route to the epicentre through a neighbouring mine while others tried to dig through the blasted shaft. Tuesday has been declared the day of mourning in Kemerovo region, Russia’s biggest kuzbass coal mining centre. Russian Deputy Chief Prosecutor-General Valentin Simuchenkov, who arrived in Kemerovo with a high-level investigation team, said at the time of the blast 55 miners were working at the depth of 650 m. Earlier, the prosecutor’s office launched a criminal case of negligence in observing safety rules.
— PTI |
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Fierce fighting between Dostum, Rabbani troops Islamabad, April 11 There were no reports of damages or casualties. Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted unnamed sources as saying that Rabbani’s forces had seized control of the Dehdadi area, considered to be a Dostum stronghold, 5 km south of Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of the Balkh province. “The troops looted several houses and set them on fire in residential colony of Kod-e-Barq,’’ a local told AIP, who added that the situation was tense in the region. Dostum’s fighters had also attacked and taken control of Maimana city in neighbouring Faryab province a few days ago. The offensive prompted the Central Government to send 750 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers to regain control of the key northern provincial city. Yesterday, the Afghan Government in Kabul said ANA troops had regained control of the city after Dostum’s forces withdrew from the area, but provincial Governor Qazi Inayatullah on Saturday denied the government’s claim that Dostum forces had retreated.
— DPA |
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US ‘occupation’ in Iraq denounced Washington, April 11 One year after the fall of Baghdad, protesters decried the US-led occupation of Iraq here in Washington and in some 50 other US cities. The war opponents met at midday in front of the White House where a succession of speakers mounted a platform to denounce President George W Bush’s policies in the region. “This is occupation, not liberation,” a speaker said. “If Bush was lying, what should happen to Bush? He should be impeached because he lied to the Congress.” The Bush administration’s main argument for ousting former President Saddam Hussein was that the Iraqi leader was hiding an arsenal of chemical, biological, and possibly nuclear weapons. Saddam always denied having such weapons and after the collapse of his regime US arms hunters failed to find the alleged weapons. “This war is total injustice, it’s madness, it’s imperialism,” said Barbara Stapel, a protester in her 50s. “They destroyed the infrastructure and left nothing else,” she said. “Is it the way they’re going to gain the heart of the people”? Some protesters holding signs demanding the withdrawal of US troops compared the conflict to the Vietnam war. |
US-raised Iraqi
troops refuse to fire on compatriots Washington, April 11 The battalion refused to fight on Monday after members of the unit were shot in a Shiite Muslim neighbourhood in Baghdad while enroute to Fallujah a Sunni Muslim stronghold, The Washington Post quoted US Army Major-Gen Paul Eaton as saying. “We did not sign up to fight Iraqis,” the
soldiers said and turned the convoy around and returned to the battalion’s post on a former Republic Guard base in Taji, north of Baghdad. General Eaton declined to characterise the incident as a mutiny, but rather called it “a command failure.” — PTI |
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Tigers declare truce with rebels Kajuwatte (Sri Lanka), April 11 Rebels from the main Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, based in Sri Lanka’s north, launched an offensive on Friday to regain control over some 6,000 breakaway Tamil rebels in the east led by Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Karuna. Military officials have said the unconfirmed death toll from heavy fighting between the rival factions was 33, including civilians. At least 13 persons were reportedly wounded. “The Liberation Tigers took control of the areas held by the Karuna group on Saturday night,” TamilNet, a Website that supports the mainstream rebel group, said today. TamilNet said the LTT was “consolidating strategic positions” in the area surrounding the Verugal river, some 240 km northeast of Colombo. “Troops under the LTT are urging scattered remnants of the Karuna group in the district to surrender,” TamilNet said. J. Ruben of Dutch relief organisation ZOA Refugee Care said the Tamil Tigers had announced a ceasefire for tomorrow and Tuesday so civilians could return to their homes to celebrate the Buddhist and Hindu New Year, celebrated on the same days by the country’s majority Sinhalese population, which is Buddhist, and minority Tamil Hindus.
— AP |
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Bangladesh leader claims Indian rebels’ camp in country Dhaka, April 11 Mayor of south-eastern port city of Chittagong A.B.M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury was quoted by media reports as saying yesterday that the huge cache of arms and ammunition seized on the night of April 1 as “shipped from the USA and Pakistan to arm Indian rebels camped in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)”. Bangladesh has repeatedly denied India’s charge that Indian insurgents were sheltered in its territory. Mr Chowdhury claimed the Indian secessionists were running 50 to 60 training camps in the CHT and the weapons were brought in to arm them under “a sinister conspiracy to create unrest in the sub-continent,” according to independent English-language newspaper Daily Star. “I’ve information that members of some Indian rebel groups are being trained in those camps on Bangladesh territory and (this is) known very well by our government too,” Mr Chowdhury told a news conference at his office. The Chittagong Mayor claimed the weapons were shipped from the US to create unrest in India by arming its secessionists and said “I challenged anyone to prove me wrong”. A letter written in Urdu from Batsebawui in Pakistan was seized from near the weapons consignment raising speculation about Pakistani connection with the incident.
— AFP |
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Poland offers to upgrade Indian missiles Warsaw, April 11 The offer comes as New Delhi struggles to replace thousands of Pechora ground-to-air missiles, which guard the country’s all vital installations and VVIP complexes. The missiles inducted over 20 years ago are ageing and many jam during live firing. Mr Janus
Zemke, the Polish Deputy Defence Minister, said here that Warsaw had recently undertaken a drastic upgrade of its own Russian supplied Pechora missiles system to bring these up to NATO standards and was keen to enter into an agreement with New Delhi for undertaking the project. Mr Zemke said the upgrades besides fitting in new target tracing radars and a digital fire control system would include installing a new fuel system and enhancing the range of the missiles from 25 km to over 100 km.
— PTI |
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Anti-royal protesters clash with cops Kathmandu, April 11 Baton-wielding police stopped the march of 200 persons carrying flaming torches, left-wing symbols that are banned in Nepal. No one was reported injured, but witnesses said protesters damaged two police vans by hitting them with sticks. The royalist government on Thursday banned demonstrations indefinitely in Kathmandu after Opposition parties, which had brought tens of thousands of people to the streets since the start of the month, threatened to storm the palace. Opposition parties said 2,000 activists remained in detention, but a Home Ministry spokesman put the figure at 308.
— AFP |
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Karzai calls for more aid London, April 11 “We’d be happier if we had more money,” he told Britain’s Jonathan Dimbleby programme.
— AFP |
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Jordan finds cars laden
with explosives Amman, April 11 The source yesterday had said an unspecified number of cars laden with explosives were found and the suspects who sought to use these had been arrested. “The group planned attacks on American interests, including the embassy and a number of US organisations based in Jordan,” he said. “There is no doubt in our minds they are linked with Al-Qaida,” he said, adding that the militant network led by Osama-bin-Laden sought to punish Jordan for supporting Washington’s goal of pacifying post-war Iraq. Senior security officials said earlier this month that cars carrying explosives had been driven into the kingdom from Syria.
— Reuters |
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Jordan’s Princess Haya engaged Amman, April 11 The ceremony at the palace yesterday was attended by the King and male members of the royal family, notably Crown Prince Hamzeh, half-brother of the Princess, Prince Faisal, brother of the King, and Prince Ali, the princess’ brother.
— AFP |
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Pope greets from wheeled throne Vatican City, April 11 Dressed in golden robes and a jewelled miter, he greeted the faithful from his wheeled throne as he celebrated the Roman Catholic Church’s most joyous holiday — the day according to the Bible that Jesus rose from the dead after crucifixion. The 83-year-old John Paul, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, appeared alert and spoke clearly at the start of the Mass, despite having struggled through a three-hour Easter Vigil that ended just a few hours earlier. On Friday, he braved the chilly night air to preside over a re-enactment of Christ’s Passion at Rome’s Colosseum. He delivered his annual Easter greetings in 62 different languages. The security was relatively tight around St Peter’s Square today, with the Italian police and Carabinieri officers checking the bags of pilgrims and tourists as they entered the piazza and a ring of police cars at its edge. PERTH: A statue of the Virgin Mary that has been drawing crowds since 2002, when it apparently began weeping rose-scented tears, has started crying again, in the week before Easter, its owner said. Patty Powell, who bought the statue 10 years ago in Bangkok, said it started shedding tears again on Palm Sunday. “I had no idea it was going to happen, but like all of this, I take whatever I am given,” he said. “I just accept it for what it is, but yes, I am surprised.” People flocking to see the statue, on display four days a week at Powell’s home. |
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