 |
|
Pak gives arms list to USA US General witnessed prison abuses Shia, Sunnis unite against USA Coalition troops to enjoy immunity in Iraq
Libya got uranium from N Korea |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Pak gives arms list to USA Washington, May 23 Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, who concluded his three-day visit to Washington yesterday, urged the USA to help boost Pakistan’s conventional defence capabilities and delivered a list of military hardware to US officials, the Dawn reported. “We also asked them to consider our defence requirements. We told them that the people of Pakistan expect the USA to help boost our defence capabilities,” he said. Mr Kasuri further said since “Pakistan cannot even think of” using nuclear weapons, it needed to build up its conventional defence and sought America’s help for this purpose. The Foreign Minister, while talking to mediapersons, was also asked to respond to Thursday’s US incursion into North Waziristan. Mr Kasuri said he had raised the issue in the USA. “It cannot go unnoticed by senior US officials and lawmakers,” he added. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told reporters in Washington on Friday that the incursion, the second in two weeks, was nothing more than “an unfortunate accident”. “I’m sure it was an accident and we’ll take precautions to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. On Thursday, US troops crossed over to North Waziristan during a search operation in a village that straddles the Afghan border. Mr Kasuri, while speaking at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank that is known to have a major influence on policy makers in the Bush administration, said Pakistan was considering sending troops to Iraq under the UN umbrella. While answering a question about the rising anti-Muslim sentiment, Mr Kasuri said he had told Mr Powell that Islamic nations were upset with the USA for alleged shabby treatment meted out to Muslim tourists and students. He said Mr Powell told him that he understood the problem and was striving to resolve it.
— Agencies |
|
US General witnessed prison abuses Washington, May 23 A military lawyer for the soldier charged with abuses at the prison testified that a captain at the Abu Ghraib prison said General Ricardo Sanchez was present during some “interrogations of the prisoner abuse,” a report citing the recording of a military hearing said today. The lawyer said that General Sanchez and other senior military officials were aware of what was taking place on Tier 1A of the prison. He said the company commander Captain Donald Reese was prepared to testify in exchange for immunity, The Washington Post reported.
— PTI |
|
Shia, Sunnis unite against USA Najaf, May 23 “The Muslim who wants to defend his country’s honour doesn’t care if the battle is in Najaf or Falluja. We are fighting the same enemy,’’ said Jbouri, a Sunni fighter standing outside the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest mosques in Shi’ite Islam. With an Arab headdress that hides his face and an AK-47 assault rifle slung over his shoulder, Jbouri is clad in typical anti-American insurgents’ gear. But even without his face cover, it is impossible to tell if he was Sunni or Shia. Iraqis, who had taken pride for rising above their sectarian differences, found themselves split into Shias and Sunnis after the US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein. The split appeared to deepen as insurgents from the “Sunni triangle’’ began attacking U S forces, raising Shia fears that Saddam loyalists were trying to win back power for the Sunnis that dominated the country for decades. But the line dividing Shi’ites and Sunnis has increasingly been blurred since Shia firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr launched his uprising last month. Many fighters from both communities say defence of their country and their Muslim faith now comes before any sectarian division, a split they blame the US occupiers for aggravating. Fighters from Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia say volunteers from mainly Sunni cities of Ramadi, Falluja and Mosul are now fighting alongside recruits from cities across southern Iraq, where Shi’ites are dominant. They say they are among thousands of volunteers who have come to Najaf and Karbala to wage jihad (holy war) against the Americans. “In Falluja there were fighters from the Shi’ites and now in Najaf there are Sunnis fighting alongside the Mehdi Army,’’ said Kazem Assadi, commander of a group of Sadr fighters in Kerbala. “The resistance in the street is neither Sunni nor Shia it’s an Islamic resistance,’’ he added. Some senior Shia guerrillas say they see a broad-based Iraqi resistance emerging, composed of a joint leadership. “We are brought together by one religion, one faith and one enemy,’’ said Abu Zahra, a Shia guerrilla leader in Najaf attending the funeral of a comrade.
— Reuters |
|
Coalition troops to enjoy immunity in Iraq London, May 23 The coalition troops will be protected against any legal action despite widespread allegations of torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners by the occupying forces, the Observer newspaper said, citing unnamed military sources. The concession was agreed due to fears that the legal situation in Iraq could become complicated following the handover of sovereignty, the British Sunday newspaper said. “We wanted to ensure that British troops maintained the immunity they already have under Order 17,” a London-based official told the newspaper. |
|
Libya got uranium from N Korea New York, May 23 According to reports, a giant cask of ‘uranium hexafluoride’ was handed over to the USA earlier this year as part of Libya’s agreement to abandon its nuclear programme, and the authorities here identify Pakistan as the likely source. But strong evidence was found by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) investigators recently that the uranium came from North Korea, basing its conclusion on interviews of members of the nuclear network set up by disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, a media report quoting US officials and European diplomats said.
— PTI |
|
Injured Saif Ali fails to ‘yahoo’ Singapore, May 23 Saif Ali was scheduled to start off the performance blitzkrieg last night with a tribute to Shammi Kapoor, but only looked on as Arshad Warsi stepped into the cobbling Khan’s shoes and rendered songs from the legendary Kapoor’s films. On his arrival in Singapore early last week, Saif Ali, basking in the success of his role in the blockbuster Kal Ho Na Ho, had said he was very pleased to be able to perform to Shammi Kapoor’s songs. “The songs are so fast paced and peppy that they fell contemporary even now’’, he said. Saif Ali, son of former captain of the Indian cricket team Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, though had enough reasons to smile on the night, taking home two of the statuettes. He bagged both the ‘Style Icon’ award as well as the award for Best Actor in a
supporting role in Kal Ho Naa Ho. — UNI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
US President George W. Bush suffered minor abrasions after falling off a mountain bike while cycling on his Texas ranch, the White House said.
Mr. Bush had cycled 16 miles of a 17-mile afternoon bike course
when he toppled over while riding downhill on what the White House
described as soil loosened by recent rainfall yesterday. ‘’He
had minor abrasions and scratches on his chin, upper lip, nose,
right hand and both knees,’’ White House spokesman told
reporters. — Reuters
In
video (
