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Tension grips Baghdad on election eve

Baghdad, January 29 A gunbattle in one of the best-protected parts of Baghdad today heightened the tension for the nervous population of the capital on the eve of the landmark elections. An Iraqi girl holds up a sign bearing her country's flag with Arabic writing in it, which reads 'Vote for Iraq', in central Baghdad on Saturday. — Reuters photo

Rocket hits US Embassy, 2 Americans die
Baghdad, January 29
A rocket hit a US Embassy compound in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone today, killing two Americans and wounding four, an Embassy spokesman said.

Bush issues warning
Washington, January 29
US President George W. Bush today said terrorists will do everything in their power to thwart tomorrow's elections in Iraq, but the "courage of the Iraqi people will allow the vote to take place.

UN to coordinate tsunami warning centres
Phuket (Thailand), January 29
The United Nations emerged today as a coordinator for a regional tsunami warning centre after officials from 43 nations, including India, Indonesia and Thailand failed to agree who should run it.

Pak newspaper office attacked
Islamabad, January 29
The office of the Jang group was attacked by unidentified armed men in Karachi last night, according to the group officials. The group officials believe that the attack was apparently triggered by the publication of an interview with an Israeli leader in the group’s daily ‘The News’ and aired by their television channel, GEO, in which he said his country and Pakistan should have “direct and personal contacts publicly without being ashamed about it’’.

Taiwanese passengers board onto China Eastern jet, the first direct Chinese plane to fly from Shanghai to Taiwan, as lion dancers perform to celebrate at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China. In a historic move, China and Taiwan on Saturday launched first-ever direct commercial flights since their split in 1949, significantly reducing across-straits tensions ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year. — AP/PTI

Shahbaz seeks free, fair elections 
New York, January 29
The leader of Pakistan Muslim League (N), Mr Shahbaz Sharif, on Friday called upon President Pervez Musharraf to hold free, fair and transparent elections in the country at the earliest. This, Mr Sharif said, was a pre-requisite for the "long-term stability of the country."

WB asks Pak to provide record on Baglihar
Washington, January 29
The World Bank has asked Pakistan to share with it a record of the actions taken prior to its request for the appointment of a neutral expert for its dispute with India over the Baglihar hydro-power project.

More than 70 hurt in Bangladesh police action
Dhaka, January 29
More than 70 people were injured and about 100 detained in Bangladesh today as police battled Opposition protesters during a nationwide general strike.
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Tension grips Baghdad on election eve

Baghdad, January 29
A gunbattle in one of the best-protected parts of Baghdad today heightened the tension for the nervous population of the capital on the eve of the landmark elections.

Heavy bursts of gunfire erupted at the Sanak bridge, which is near the Green Zone, the high security area that houses the USA and British Embassies and Iraqi Government offices.

The origin of the shooting was unclear. But Iraqi soldiers responded with a sustained flurry in several directions. The US soldiers at a roadblock on the bridge leapt behind their vehicles.

The shooting broke the silence in central Baghdad, which has been transformed into a virtual ghost town because of the stringent security measures on the capital for tomorrow's poll.

The thick grey haze hanging over the metropolis of seven million people and the absence of diesel-spewing taxis and honking minibuses gave an eery atmosphere to the city centre.

A lone taxi driver apparently unaware of the restrictions drove aimlessly on one main road through southern Baghdad.

“What is this? what’s going on, where are all the people? no one ever told me I couldn’t drive my taxi,” said the bewildered driver as this antiquated car rattled cautiously towards the city centre.

Virtually all shops were closed with only a handful of small food stores daring to cash in on residents who rushed for last-minute food supplies. — AFP

Rocket hits US Embassy, 2 Americans die

Baghdad, January 29
A rocket hit a US Embassy compound in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone today, killing two Americans and wounding four, an Embassy spokesman said.

The rocket struck shortly after dark on the eve of Iraq’s watershed election, causing an explosion heard across Baghdad. Sirens sounded in the Green Zone shortly after the attack.

“It hit near the Embassy building,” spokesman Bob Callahan told Reuters, referring to Saddam Hussein’s sprawling former Republican Palace where most US officials work. “There are two dead and four who are wounded ... all Americans.”

US Ambassador John Negroponte and other senior staff work in the main Embassy in a different part of the Green Zone.

Callahan said he believed the explosion at the Embassy annexe was caused by a rocket, not a mortar round, adding that an investigation had been launched. — Reuters

Bush issues warning

Washington, January 29
US President George W. Bush today said terrorists will do everything in their power to thwart tomorrow's elections in Iraq, but the "courage of the Iraqi people will allow the vote to take place.

"The terrorists and those who benefited from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein know that free elections will expose the emptiness of their vision for Iraq," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "That is why they will stop at nothing to prevent or disrupt this election. "Yet in the face of this intimidation, the Iraqi people are standing firm," the President continued.

"Tomorrow's elections will happen because of their courage and determination. All throughout Iraq, these friends of freedom understand the stakes." Bush said terrorist violence will not end with the elections. But he insisted that terrorists will fail, because the Iraqi people reject their ideology of murder.

"This election is also important for America," said the president. "Our nation has always been more secure when freedom is on the march”, said Bush. — AFP

UN to coordinate tsunami warning centres

Phuket (Thailand), January 29
The United Nations emerged today as a coordinator for a regional tsunami warning centre after officials from 43 nations, including India, Indonesia and Thailand failed to agree who should run it.

The compromise dealt a blow to Thailand, host of the two-day tsunami ministerial meeting on the resort island of Phuket, which was itself hit by the December 26 killer waves that devastated Indian Ocean coastal regions. It had wanted to run the centre itself.

Bangkok’s proposal to set up a regional tsunami trust fund, to which it pledged an initial 10 million dollar contribution, was not welcome at the conference, where Cabinet Ministers of only six countries took part.

“It will be premature to ask them to make a financial commitment after they received the proposal yesterday,” Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told the media when asked how delegates had responded to the proposed fund.

“All of these arrangements should be under the umbrella of the United Nations’ specialised agencies that should be able to provide expertise and technological input into the arrangement.”

Sri Lankan Minister of Environment and Natural Resources A.H.M. Fowzie said on the sidelines of the conference that Bangkok would be “one of the focal points” under the U.N.

As with a similar meeting in Kobe, Japan, a week ago, where numerous tsunami warning proposals were put before panels of politicians, national egos appear to be getting in the way of international cooperation.

Thailand wanted the system to be built on the existing structure of the U.N.-backed Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), which has around 30 member-countries in Asia and is located in Bangkok.

India and Indonesia also wanted to host the regional centre.

The compromise came after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a written statement to the conference urging all nations to coordinate their regional efforts. — Reuters

Pak newspaper office attacked

Islamabad, January 29
The office of the Jang group was attacked by unidentified armed men in Karachi last night, according to the group officials. The group officials believe that the attack was apparently triggered by the publication of an interview with an Israeli leader in the group’s daily ‘The News’ and aired by their television channel, GEO, in which he said his country and Pakistan should have “direct and personal contacts publicly without being ashamed about it’’.

Around 35 armed men attacked the office of the Jang group last night and set on fire the main reception at the ground floor and ransacked newspaper and GEO TV offices on the first floor, said the officials.

The staff was threatened with dire consequences as armed men resorted to firing.

Police officials reached the spot soon after the incident. Home Minister Sindh Raoof Siddiqi has ordered an inquiry into the incident. — UNI 

Shahbaz seeks free, fair elections 
Masood Haider
By arrangement with The Dawn

New York, January 29
The leader of Pakistan Muslim League (N), Mr Shahbaz Sharif, on Friday called upon President Pervez Musharraf to hold free, fair and transparent elections in the country at the earliest. This, Mr Sharif said, was a pre-requisite for the "long-term stability of the country."

In an informal conversation with Dawn, Mr Sharif, who has come to New York for a follow-up medical checkup after a life saving abdominal surgery two years ago here, said that the leaders of the two mainstream parties -Pakistan People's Party and PML (N) should be allowed to participate in the process.

Mr Sharif said that his elder brother Nawaz Sharif now in exile in Saudi Arabia, was holding talks with PPP leader Benazir Bhutto in order to adopt a joint strategy to restore genuine democracy in the country.

Mr Sharif who was circumspect in his comments on his return to Pakistan and eventual deportation to Saudi Arabia, last year, said: "I believe that new elections with the participation of mainstream parties will provide long-term stability in the country." 

WB asks Pak to provide record on Baglihar

Washington, January 29
The World Bank has asked Pakistan to share with it a record of the actions taken prior to its request for the appointment of a neutral expert for its dispute with India over the Baglihar hydro-power project.

Confirming that it had received a set of documents from Pakistan in support of its request, the bank said in a statement yesterday that the record of actions taken was needed to ensure meticulous compliance with the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, in the application of which the difference has arisen, by all parties.

The World Bank is a signatory to the treaty for certain specified purposes, but is not a guarantor. — PTI

More than 70 hurt in Bangladesh police action

Dhaka, January 29
More than 70 people were injured and about 100 detained in Bangladesh today as police battled Opposition protesters during a nationwide general strike. Witnesses said the strikers halted at least five trains on their way to and from the capital, Dhaka, damaged scores of rickshaws and mini-cabs, and scuffled with security forces.

Authorities deployed hundreds of police, paramilitary troops and auxiliary forces in Dhaka and other main cities trying to keep order.

The main Opposition party, the Awami League, called a three-day national strike starting at dawn today after an explosion took place at a rally on Thursday.
— Reuters

BRIEFLY

Pak gas pipeline blown
ISLAMABAD: Unidentified attackers blew up a natural gas pipeline in eastern Pakistan, disrupting supplies, officials said on Saturday. A spokesman for the Sui Northern Gas Co Limited which distributes gas to central and northern Pakistan, said an 18-inch diameter pipeline was ruptured on Friday night near the main eastern city of Lahore, causing disruption in supplies to the city and several other areas. Engineers had repaired the damage and supplies had been largely restored, he said. — Reuters

Execution of killer delayed
SOMERS (USA): The execution of a serial killer who has become the strongest advocate for his own death was postponed at the last moment on Saturday delaying what would be the first execution in 45 years in the north-eastern USA. State officials delayed the lethal injection until Monday morning to address a possible conflict of interest with serial killer Michael Ross’ attorney, T.R. Paulding. Ross, an Ivy League graduate who terrorised eastern Connecticut and New York in the early 1980s, had been scheduled to die by injection on Saturday. Ross hired Paulding last year to help expedite his execution. — AP

Setback to Jackson’s trial
SANTA MARIA (California): Michael Jackson was dealt a blow just ahead of the start of his child molestation trial when a judge ruled that jurors can see a collection of erotica seized at his home. At the last pre-trial hearing ahead of the start of jury selection on Monday, Judge Rodney Melville on Friday allowed prosecutors to present a collection of sexually oriented books, magazines and movies seized at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. — AFP