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Seven Chinese kidnapped in Iraq Japan hostage crisis drags on Pak oppn leader given 23-year jail term
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Boy raised by dog dead
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Seven Chinese kidnapped in Iraq
Beijing, April 12 The kidnappings on Sunday came days before a visit to China by US Vice-President Dick Cheney, a key force behind the US-led invasion of Iraq, which China had opposed. The seven entered Iraq via Jordan yesterday morning and were most probably kidnapped in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Xinhua quoted a Chinese diplomat as saying. The hostages were all from the coastal province of Fujian, the oldest 49 and the youngest 18, Xinhua said. It did not say what they were doing in Iraq or why they should have been targeted. The People’s Daily newspaper said today many Chinese companies which returned to Iraq after the war had stepped up security after a wave of hostage-taking. Newspapers showed pictures of armed Iraqi security guards on duty at a branch of the China Luzhou Petroleum Co Ltd in Iraq. Yesterday, a British contractor and eight others held by Iraqi kidnappers were freed, but the fate of three Japanese and an American remained unclear. Japan has about 550 ground troops in Iraq involved in reconstruction and humanitarian work. China has none. Xinhua said Al Arabiya TV’s correspondent in Fallujah reported that he had interviewed foreigners released yesterday who said they had met seven Chinese passport holders in captivity. They were in good health and not handcuffed, Xinhua said. AMMAN:
A Japanese diplomat said here on Monday that no progress had been made for the release of the three Japanese hostages held by insurgents in Iraq, contradicting reports from a self-described Iraqi mediator. Asked if there were any new developments in the hostage crisis, the diplomat told AFP: “No progress at all”.
— AFP, Reuters |
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Japan hostage crisis drags on Tokyo, April 12 “There is a variety of information. We have not yet been able to confirm the facts clearly,” a subdued Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters after another day of hope and despair. “So many facts have come in, it’s hard to know what is fact and what is false. We can’t verify things,” he added. Japan, sharply divided over Mr Koizumi’s dispatch of troops to help rebuild Iraq, has been on tenterhooks since kidnappers released a video on Thursday showing the three civilians, one just 18-years old, blindfolded and with guns to their heads. |
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Pak oppn leader given 23-year jail term Islamabad, April 12 While passing the sentence on the president of the 15-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), District and Sessions Judge, Adila, Chaudhry Asad Reza, also imposed a fine of Rs 42,000 and ruled that Hashmi would serve an additional eight months’ jail term if he failed to pay the amount. Hashmi, a close associate of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif and also the acting president of Mr Sharif’s PML-N, was arrested in October last year after he reportedly distributed to the media a letter
purportedly written to him by an unknown army man voicing opposition to President Pervez Musharraf’s involvement in the country’s politics. The letter written on the letterhead of the Army headquarters also complained about the alleged appointment of corrupt army officers to civilian posts. After hearing the judgment, a large crowd of PML-N activists, who were gathered on the court premises in Rawalpindi, shouted anti-government slogans. Terming the judgment against Hashmi as “subversion of justice,” senior PML-N leader Qaza Rafiq told reporters that the party would appeal against the judgment and hold rallies and meetings all over the country to oppose Musharraf’s rule.
— PTI |
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Buddha statue found damaged in Pakistan Islamabad, April 12 Pieces of the statue were found scattered around the museum run by state-owned cultural organisation Lok Virsa this weekend, an Online news agency reported. The police raided a nearby madrasa or Islamic religious seminary, thoroughly searched it and subsequently asked the resident students and administration to leave the school. The Lok Virsa management, which was planning to install the Buddha statue within its premises, believes the students were behind the incident, the report said. The night watchman of the museum, who was recently sacked, resided in the madrasa, it added. In another incident in Peshawar, a mob headed by leaders of local religious outfits raided Balakahanas, shops where musicians sell musical instruments as well as perform music and dance shows, at the local Dabgari Bazaar and set the musical instruments on fire on Saturday night, Pakistan newspaper ‘Daily Times’ said. Those arrested included the movement’s president, Zahir Shah, and the nazim of a local union council, Haji Muhammad Iqbal, it said.
— PTI |
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US Sikhs celebrate Baisakhi Los Angeles, April 12 Organisers said more than 10,000 SiKhs from across southern California were in the city yesterday to celebrate Baisakhi, which marks their New Year and commemorates Guru Gobind Singh. “We’ve always been a very quiet community,” said Nirinjan Singh Khalsa, executive director of the California Sikh Council. “But that hurt us since 9/11 because people don’t know who we are, so we’re trying to reach out more.” Thousands of Sikhs marched through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, many chanting “God is one,” along side floats adorned with scenes from Sikh history. Drummers kept up a steady beat and men dueled with long sticks to simulate sword fights. Daljit Khokhar, 43, of Burbank, said he often fields questions about his turban and religion. “We explain it to the people. They are always asking me, but it’s getting better,” said Khokhar. At a press conference earlier in the day, Assemblywoman Judy Chu said Sikhs have been the target of hate crimes by extremists in the United States who mistake them for being from the Middle East. “We must be more even more proactive in fighting this,” said Chu, whose resolution condemning hate crimes against Sikhs, Arab-Americans and others has been approved by the Assembly.
— AP |
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Boy raised by dog dead
Bangkok, April 12 Two-year old Prateep Chumnoon made headlines in the Thai media last year when he was taken from his impoverished 60-year old grandmother who regularly left him in the care of her pet. The toddler’s body was discovered early yesterday morning inside a high plastic container used for laundry at a welfare centre in the southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, local police said. Welfare officials reportedly removed Prateep from his grandmother’s care after neighbours alerted them that the boy had begun making dog, rather than human, sounds. “She left him at home with the dog while she went out for work,” chief provincial welfare officer, Theerasak Kwanphet told AFP. Theerasak said an internal investigation had been ordered into the boy’s death. A police spokesman said the boy had died from injuries that might have been caused by a fall into the container.
— AFP |
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Islamabad, April 12
