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Iraqis crowd around a destroyed car after a US military tank ran over it in northern Baghdad on Tuesday. One Iraqi civilian was killed and two others were injured, including a four-year-old boy, when the tank ran over their car. — Reuters photo

US Justice Dept justifies prison abuse
Washington, June 8
The US Justice Department today offered justification for the use of torture against Al- Qaida detainees in an August 2002 memo to the White House, The Washington Post reported.

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A young Afghan girl waits to receive toys being distributed by the ISAF troops at Dai Sabz village, about 10 km north-east of Kabul, on Tuesday.
— Reuters

Madrid bombs suspect nabbed in Italy
Milan, June 8
The police across Europe swooped on suspected Islamic militants and a man was arrested in Italy accused of playing a leading role in Madrid train bombings that killed 191 persons in March, judicial sources said today.

Former US First Lady Nancy Reagan (far left) looks on as a casket bearing the body of her husband, former US President Ronald Reagan, is carried to a hearse to leave a mortuary in Santa Monica, California, on Monday. — Reuters

Karachi bloodshed forces CM’s exit
Karachi, June 8
The Governor of the southern Pakistani province of Sindh dissolved the provincial cabinet and called an emergency session of the Parliament today, after the Chief Minister quit in the wake of a month of deadly violence in port city of Karachi.

Special article: Pakistan caught in violence

Indonesian officials guard Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira after he was sentenced to death on Tuesday. An Indonesian court sentenced Moreira to death after convicting him of trying to smuggle 13.4 kg of cocaine into the country in his hang-glider. — Reuters

4 killed in Afghan clash
Kabul, June 8
At least four fighters, loyal to opposing Afghan factions, were killed during an armed clash in northern Afghanistan, a spokesman for the interior minister said today.

British advisory on visit to Lucknow
London, June 8
Britain has warned its citizens against travelling to holy sites in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh following a recent statement issued by a Muslim cleric against the UK and two other countries in the wake of attacks by US-led allied forces on Najaf and Karbala in Iraq.

Graphics: European Union Structure
Indonesia Volcano Activity

Car bombs shake two Iraqi cities

Baghdad, June 8
Two car bombs today exploded in separate cities, killing at least 14 Iraqis and one US soldier. Dozens were wounded, including 10 American soldiers. A US marine was killed in action west of Baghdad.

Elsewhere, six coalition soldiers — two Poles, three Slovaks and a Latvian — were killed in an explosion while defusing mines south of Baghdad, the authorities said. The explosion occurred in Suwayrah, 40 km south of Baghdad. The Slovaks and the Latvians were the first deaths from either of the two countries in Iraq, Polish officials said in Warsaw.

One of the car bombs blew up as a convoy of provincial council members passed by in the northern city of Mosul. The council members escaped injury but the Mosul deputy police chief was hurt, but not seriously, officials said. Nine persons died and about 25 were injured, the US military said.

In the other attack, a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb during rush hour outside the American forward operating base War Horse in Baqouba, about 50 km northeast of Baghdad.

At least five Iraqis and one American soldier were killed, the US military and police said. Fifteen Iraqis and 10 American soldiers were wounded while standing at a security checkpoint.

A US Marine was also killed in action, the military said today. The death occurred yesterday in Anbar province west of Baghdad but the military released no further details.

In Ramadi, a Sunni Muslim city in Anbar province, gunmen opened fire on a convoy of Westerners today. The Westerners fired back, and several civilians were hit in the crossfire. witnesses said. — AP

US Justice Dept justifies prison abuse

Washington, June 8
The US Justice Department today offered justification for the use of torture against Al- Qaida detainees in an August 2002 memo to the White House, The Washington Post reported.

The memo said if a government employee were to torture a suspect in the captivity, ‘’he would be doing so in order to prevent further attacks on the United States by the Al- Qaida terrorist network,’’ the newspaper reported.

The legal reasoning in the 2002 memo covered treatment of Al-Qaida detainees in the CIA custody was used in a March 2003 report by Pentagon lawyers assessing interrogation rules for the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Post said.

Bush administration officials say despite the discussion of legal issues in the two memos, the United States has abided by the international conventions barring torture.

‘’The president directed the military to treat Al-Qaida and Taliban humanely and consistent with the Geneva Conventions,’’ a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office said.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal said a classified Pentagon report on the interrogation methods concluded that the President was not bound by the laws prohibiting torture.

The report, compiled by the military lawyers, came after commanders at Guantanamo Bay complained in the late 2002 that they were not getting enough information from prisoners using conventional methods, the Journal reported. — Reuters

Madrid bombs suspect nabbed in Italy

Milan, June 8
The police across Europe swooped on suspected Islamic militants and a man was arrested in Italy accused of playing a leading role in Madrid train bombings that killed 191 persons in March, judicial sources said today.

The arrest in Italy, which took place in the country's business capital, was part of an international police operation that was continuing in other countries, the sources said.

Another suspected Islamic militant was also arrested by Italian police but the sources gave no details.

''It is an international operation,'' one source told Reuters.

Another judicial source said: ''It's coordinated at the European level.'' The sources did not say how many countries were involved.

The arrest of the Madrid bomb suspect was first reported earlier today by Milan's Corriere della Sera newspaper and state television RAI. — Reuters

Karachi bloodshed forces CM’s exit

Karachi, June 8
The Governor of the southern Pakistani province of Sindh dissolved the provincial cabinet and called an emergency session of the Parliament today, after the Chief Minister quit in the wake of a month of deadly violence in port city of Karachi.

Ali Mohammad Maher resigned as Chief Minister on Monday following the 'Bloody May' in Karachi, the provincial capital of 14 million people and Pakistan's largest city.

"The provincial cabinet has been dissolved," Deputy Speaker Rahila Tiwana told AFP. Governor Ishratul Ibad has also summoned the Sindh assembly to meet tomorrow to elect a new house leader, Tiwana added. Two suicide bombings of minority Shiite mosques, the assassination of a senior Sunni Muslim cleric, a deadly parcel bomb and the double car bomb attack near the USA Consul General's residence plus three days of riots killed a total of 51 people.

Karachi's police chief was sacked last week over his failure to stem the violence and subsequent riots. President Pervez Musharraf had pledged "significant steps" to curb further violence, and was reported by an aide to want "heads to roll" in the Sindh administration.

Three candidates are under consideration to replace Maher, all from the same ruling coalition of secular parties supporting Musharraf at the federal level.

"Karachi is burning and politicians are lobbying for the top slot," said political analyst Tauseef Ahmed, a professor at Karachi's Federal Urdu University. — AFP

Rise in Pak defence budget imminent

Islamabad, June 8
Pakistan is poised to increase its defence budget by about Rs 25 to 30 billion, bringing it to Rs 190 billion, to meet pressing requirements of the air force and the navy as well as supporting military operations in Waziristan and other border areas to flush out Taliban and Al-Qaida activists.

The massive military operations against Taliban and Al-Qaida supporters in the tribal areas have forced the Pakistan government to increase the budget to facilitate the modernisation and upgradation of the defence technology, The Nation reported.

The increase in the budget is, primarily, to fulfill requirements of the air force and the navy. The budget will be to the tune of Rs 190 billion, the paper quoted senior defence officials as saying. The government had allocated Rs 160 billion for the defence during the ongoing fiscal year, which ends on June 30.

The hike in the budget outlay will not affect the desired fiscal deficit target of 4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the current financial year.

The USA has also extended financial assistance for operations against Taliban and Al-Qaida remnants, hiding in South Waziristan. The current budget of Rs 160 billion was perceived as not sufficient to meet the growing expenditure on the military operations launched in volatile areas to apprehend the terrorists

Quoting experts, the report said the continuing conflict in the subcontinent may also have led to an increase in the defence budget, adding that Pakistan's defence outlay had been declining or remaining stagnant, like India. It claimed that India's defence budget would also increase in a reciprocal move. — UNI

4 killed in Afghan clash

Kabul, June 8
At least four fighters, loyal to opposing Afghan factions, were killed during an armed clash in northern Afghanistan, a spokesman for the interior minister said today.

The spokesman Mr Lutfullah Mashal said that the clash between the two factions occurred five kilometers south of Mazar-e-Sharif city late yesterday morning.

The fighting took place between the loyalists of Hezb-e-Wahdat, a Shia faction, and supporters of the Jamiat-e-Islami party, led by Ustad Atta Mohammad, a powerful commander in northern Afghanistan, according to eyewitnesses.

‘’The clash was over the distribution of land property in the area,’’ according to Mr Mashal.

“Three armed men from Wahdat and one from Jamiat were killed in the fighting,’’ Mr Mashal said, adding that the police had been dispatched to the area and the situation was currently under control. — DPA

British advisory on visit to Lucknow

London, June 8
Britain has warned its citizens against travelling to holy sites in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh following a recent statement issued by a Muslim cleric against the UK and two other countries in the wake of attacks by US-led allied forces on Najaf and Karbala in Iraq.

In a brief travel advisory issued last night, the Foreign Office cautioned travellers to take extra care and consider postponing visits to holy sites in Lucknow after the Shia cleric and his followers had warned British, American and Israeli citizens to stay away.

“You should exercise caution in visiting such sites and may wish to consider postponing visits until the situation becomes clearer,” the Foreign Office statement said.

The unnamed cleric and his followers issued statements in connection with the war in Iraq and attack on holy places there by US-led alliance forces. They had also displayed notices at some holy sites “banning” British, American and Israeli visitors. The sites were not identified.

Shia cleric Kalbe Jawwad in Lucknow on June 3 declared that the citizens of the USA, Britain and Israel would not be allowed to enter the famous Imambaras in the city.

“This protest is to force the allied forces out of Iraq where they have crossed all limits of decency and have stooped to bombing the holy places, besides humiliating even the prisoners,” Jawwad alleged. The ban would continue till the allied forces were pulled out of Iraq, he said. — PTI

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Volcano erupts, kills two
Jakarta: Two volcanoes in separate parts of Indonesia spewed out plumes of hot smoke and showers of stones on Tuesday, killing two hikers and forcing the evacuation of 5,000 villagers, the police and officials said. The two hikers were killed when they were hit by hot rocks expelled by Mount Bromo in east Java, said vulcanologist Atje Purbawinata. At least seven other hikers were injured by the blast, which sent a plume of smoke 3,000 metres into the air. — AP

‘Speed’ rage among gays
NEW YORK: Tina, crank, chalk and ice may sound like innocuous monikers for a “party’’ drug but the substance that is all the rage in New York’s hedonistic gay bathhouses is eroding progress made in the fight against AIDS. Use of crystal meth, or methamphetamine — what used to be known as “speed’’ — has become rife among the sexually-promiscuous in the gay community. Highly addictive and readily available, the drug’s effects when smoked include impaired judgment, loss of control and a voracious sexual appetite. Coupled with a sense of invulnerability, it creates a perfect environment for spreading AIDS, experts say. — Reuters

One killed in explosion
Tokyo: An explosion at a fertilizer plant in northern Japan killed one worker and injured three others, the police said. The accident occurred on Tuesday, in the city of Akita while workers were welding plant equipment, an Akita Prefectural (state) Police spokesman said. Four workers suffered burns and were taken to a nearby hospital but one died later. — AP

Richest man back in court
Moscow: Russia’s richest man and Kremlin foe, Mr Mikhail Khodorkovsky, today began a new round of preliminary court hearings that could keep him in jail for up to 10 years. The Yukos oil giant’s founder is charged with avoiding taxes and defrauding the state of billions of dollars. The hearings are expected to last for several months. Mr Khodorkovsky stands accused of avoiding tax payments of nearly $ 3.5 billion through an offshore scheme that many banking analysts agree was legal under existing Russian law. — AFP

Zubin passes on baton to brother
New York: Mumbai-born Zarin Mehta, Executive Director of the New York Philharmonic, has been named the organization’s president. Zarin is the younger brother of Zubin Mehta, who directed the philharmonic from 1978 to 1991. He is the son of Mehli Mehta, who himself was a violinist and conductor. Among Zarin’s achievements was the hiring of a noted conductor Lorin Maazel as the orchestra’s music director in September 2002. Before joining the New York organization, Zarin was the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Ravinia Festival, the oldest outdoor music festival in North America. — UNI