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Israel destroys 100 houses in
Gaza Strip
Cop blasted Karachi mosque, suspects police
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Kasuri leaves for USA today Sonia’s relatives fear for her life US hand behind BJP, Cong ads 10 Maoists, cop killed in Nepal
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Israel destroys 100 houses in Gaza Strip
Gaza City, May 15 “The army has completely destroyed more than 100 houses in Rafah,” said Raji al-Sourani, head of the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), told AFP shortly after Israeli troops pulled out of the town. A day earlier, Israel said it would bulldoze “hundreds of houses” to widen the buffer zone in a bid to secure its patrols and prevent militants from using tunnels to smuggle weapons. The move was reportedly green-lighted by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who said Israel find new accommodation for the homeless. But according to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Israel’s demolitions in Rafah’s refugee camps have left more than 11,000 people homeless since September 2000. An official from Sharon’s office warned the demolition would commence in earnest after troops completed the search for the remains of the five soldiers. The search ended early today, the army said shortly after troops withdrew from the town. Two more soldiers and a Palestinian were killed in the area yesterday, and the body of another Palestinian was discovered early today under the rubble of his destroyed home, medics said. Senior Islamic Jihad militant escaped unharmed from an Israeli helicopter missile strike in Rafah today, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said. The strike came just hours after Israeli helicopter gunships pounded targets in Gaza City in a failed attempt to eradicate the Islamic Jihad’s top leader, Mohammed al-Hindi, who also escaped unharmed.
— AFP |
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Baghdad, May 15 Two British soldiers were wounded in the attack when their two Land Rovers came under gun and grenade attack 30 kilometres south of the city, said Sqn Ldr. Jon Arnold. “The convoy returned the fire and was able to drive through the ambush,” he said, adding they were attacked several more times as they headed north on the main road from Basra. They called for reinforcements who were attacked with rockets, roadside bombs and machineguns, sparking a series of clashes that left 20 insurgents dead. “There have been 20 confirmed enemy dead, 13 have been wounded and nine taken into custody,” said Arnold. He said it was too early to say if those captured near Amara, 365 km southeast of Baghdad, where members of the Mehdi Army of young firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr who has led an insurgency for more than a month in southern Shiite areas of the country. “We sent a clear sign that we are not going to tolerate hostile action against our people by a minority of militia forces who are intent on causing harm and preventing the progress of what we are doing,” said a ministry of defence spokesman in London.
— AFP |
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Cop blasted Karachi mosque, suspects police
Islamabad, May 15 Reports from Karachi quoting police officials said the man, Mohammad Albar, who had blown himself up in the Hyderi Mosque during the Friday prayers on May 7, was an activist of Sipha-e-Sabha, the Sunni extremist group banned by President Pervez Musharraf. Akbar joined the police to be an informer to his group. He previously took part in “jehad” in Afghanistan and later joined the police as a constable, the reports said. “We have almost identified this man as the suicide bomber and statements of witnesses also substantiated his presence in the mosque,” local daily Dawn quoted a police investigator as saying. Akbar went into the mosque to pray. He was wearing the police uniform and was identified by the buckle of the police belt, which bore the number “8242”. “We have obtained samples of Akbar’s belongings from his home and these samples, along with specimen of the limbs of an unidentified person, were sent for DNA tests. Meanwhile, suspected extremists killed five members of a Shia family, including an infant and their maid at their house-cum-school in Lahore.
— PTI |
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PAF to get new fighter aircraft
Islamabad, May 15 Stating that the acquisition of F-16 fighters from USA was an “emotive issue,” Air Marshal Saadat told Pakistan daily The News that the PAF plans to get 60 new aircraft in the near future for enabling it to bring about a some sort of balance with the Indian Air Force. Asked about the fate of F-16 fighter plane for which Pakistan paid money to the USA but failed to get them due to sanctions in 1980s, he said he was not sure whether the PAF would manage to get a fleet of F-16s. Pakistan is currently the persuading USA to permit it acquire them now in view of close relations with Washington.
— PTI |
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Islamabad, May 15 Mr Kasuri would leave for Washington tomorrow to hold talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice and other officials on the Indo-Pak peace process, Pakistan’s response to US request to send troops to Iraq and the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, Foreign Office officials said here. Mr Kasuri’s US tour comes immediately after US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca’s visit to Pakistan, during which she reportedly urged Islamabad to decide on US request to send troops to Iraq.
— PTI |
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Sonia’s relatives fear for her life
London, May 15 “We in the family cannot hide our worries about her. There’s no point in hiding it; we fear for her life. She is an exceptional woman and will meet all challenges. But she is running a huge risk,” said Ms Aruna Vinci, Ms Sonia Gandhi’s niece. Ms Vinci, 35, said her aunt had “formidable staying power, especially when you think that half her family has been exterminated. She is a woman to admire”. She told The Times that instead of returning to Italy after the assassination of Mr Rajiv Gandhi, she had stayed in India with their children “because she feels herself to be a Gandhi. She knows she is a foreigner but was accepted by Indians, as the results have proved.” Ms Sonia Gandhi’s relatives still live at Orbassano, in the Piedmont hills, near Turin, where Sonia Maino spent her adolescence and attended a Roman Catholic school run by the Salesian order. Ms Vinci runs a shop for Indian clothing and fabrics in the town, which has a street named after Mr Rajiv Gandhi. Ms Paola Maino, Ms Sonia Gandhi’s mother, has returned to Orbassano from India, where she assisted her daughter during the election campaign. Ms Maino said that she was exhausted by the Indian heat “and all the excitement” and has retired to the family home, a three-storey villa built by Sonia’s father, Stefano, a building contractor who died in 1983.
— UNI |
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US hand behind BJP, Cong ads New York, May 15 Grey Global Group’s Indian division, which worked for the BJP, highlighted what it called a “feel-good factor” through a campaign called “India Shining”, highlighting the government’s role in the country’s economic upswing. The campaign — estimated to cost as much as $ 100 million — was so dominant on television that the phrase has worked its way into daily life, headlines and even other ads, the Wall Street Journal reported. In the other camp, Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett, via a wholly-owned local subsidiary called Orchard, worked for the Congress party. In its ads, the Congress pulled a different emotional lever, reaching out to poor rural voters who have not shared India’s recent boom.
— PTI |
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10 Maoists, cop
killed in Nepal Kathmandu, May 15 Three Maoists were killed during an operation carried out by the security forces in Khakling village of Taplejung district, state-run The Rising Nepal said. Five Maoist rebels have died during an encounter with the security force in Chitwan district, the daily reported. One Maoist died in Morang and another in Dolakha district, it added. A soldier died when the Maoists fired at a team of security personnel carrying out a search operation at Mustang Chowk in Pokhara municipality. The Maoists exploded a powerful bomb at Fishtail Lodge at Baidam in Pokhara municipality last evening. A group of Maoists barged into the dining room of the lodge at 7 pm and exploded the bomb, the police said. The building of the lodge was partially damaged by the explosion. However, no one was injured in the incident.
— PTI |
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