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Militant carrying bomb dies in
blast
Pro-govt elder killed in Pak
Pak opens dialogue with
Benazir
UN accuses Sudan of crimes against
humanity
US guards kill 4 Iraqi
detainees
Tsunami baby to be reunited with parents
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Keanu
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Militant carrying bomb dies in
blast
Quetta, Pakistan, February 1 The man who died was carrying a bomb on his motorscooter when the device exploded, Baluchistan police chief Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob told reporters. “He was involved in planting bombs in the city,’’ he said, identifying him as a militant member of the Bugti tribe named Bahar Khan. ‘’He himself has fallen victim of his own bomb.’’ The police said two employees of a nearby shop were slightly hurt in the attack. Witnesses saw Khan’s headless body lying in a pool of blood on the road. Another blast was heard a short time later in Quetta, but the cause could not immediately be confirmed. A few hours earlier, a bomb planted by suspected tribal separatists exploded on a rail line leading out of Quetta, shattering windows on a passing train, the police said. Two railway policemen and two employees of Pakistan Railways were slightly hurt by flying glass. The police said they suspected the attack was the work of Baluch militants seeking greater autonomy. The militants have been resisting central rule for decades but have stepped up activities in recent weeks with repeated attacks on state infrastructure, including railway lines. In the worst of the recent incidents, 15 persons died on January 11 after tribesmen fired rockets at Pakistan’s main gas field at Sui, about 400 km southeast of Quetta, cutting off supplies for more than a week. In other incidents elsewhere in Pakistan today, two bombs exploded in the southern province of Sindh, which adjoins Baluchistan, but caused no damage or casualties. One exploded near a police station in the southern city of Hyderabad and the second near a military housing estate in the town of Larkana. Last night a bomb destroyed a section of rail line near Dera Ghazi Khan in the central province of Punjab, about 80 km from the Baluchistan border, but caused no injuries. Last week the railway authorities halted night train services in Baluchistan for security reasons. The province has been troubled for decades by small-scale tribal insurgency, but recent attacks have been unusually intense and the government rushed in extra troops to protect the vital gas field after the January 11 attack. Analysts have warned the unrest could explode into a full-scale insurgency if not handled carefully. The government has not ruled out taking military action against tribesmen but at the same time has said it is seeking a political solution to the crisis. —
Reuters |
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Pro-govt elder killed in Pak
Miran Shah, February 1 The attackers sprayed Shariat Khan's sports utility vehicle with gunfire, killing him instantly yesterday near his home village of Tal, south of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, said Mr Asmatullah Wazir, a local government official. Khan, who was in his late 30s, was alone in the vehicle and died instantly. The attackers fled, and no one claimed responsibility for the shooting, Mr Wazir said. An intelligence official in Miran Shah said on condition of anonymity that Khan had previously received threats from militants who suspected him of spying for the USA and Pakistani security forces. —
AP |
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Pak opens dialogue with
Benazir
Lahore, February 1 The sources said the government had decided to act fast in the wake of reports that Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had agreed to join hands with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) in its anti-government campaign during a meeting with Qazi Husain Ahmad and Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Jeddah on the eve of Id. Fearing that the PPP, a partner of the PML-N in the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), might also go along with the 'emerging alliance', the government decided to re-open the line of dialogue with Ms Bhutto, they said. As a damage control measure, Makhdoom Amin Fahim was approached to announce PPP's lack of interest in the new grouping. The initial round of talks between the two sides broke down because of the heavy price the PPP was seeking. It is reported to have demanded the office of Prime Minister for Asif Ali Zardari and that of Senate chairperson for Ms Bhutto. Asked why the PPP chairperson did not seek the Prime Ministership for herself, the sources said she had been told in categorical terms that the law barring holding of the office for more than two terms by any person would not be amended. They would not give details of the new proposals carried by the director-general level officer to Dubai. However, they said that the party would be assured of its entry into the corridors of power in 2007 elections in case it cooperated with the present set-up and dissociated itself from any move against the government. Local PPP leaders confirmed that the official was holding talks with the chairperson in Dubai. |
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UN accuses Sudan of crimes against
humanity
United Nations, February 1 It concluded that these acts constituted crimes against humanity, but did not amount to genocide as has been contended by the USA. However, the conclusion that no genocidal policy has been pursued and implemented by the Sudanese government should not be taken in any way as detracting from the gravity of the crimes perpetrated in the region, the UN commission added. It "strongly" recommended that the Security Council immediately refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC. The report, compiled by a five-member commission set up by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in October last year, also recommended that the Council establish a compensation commission to grant reparation to the victims whether perpetrators have been identified for not. The commission has compiled a list of "likely suspects", but says it is not passing "final judgment" and therefore, withholding their names from the public. Around 70,000 persons have died and more than 1.8 million driven from their homes in the conflict, which began when two rebels groups in Darfur revolted against alleged discrimination and government forces with the help of Arab Janjaweed militia. The Janjaweed (men on horses) militia are accused of killing, raping, burning villages and crops of Africans in Darfur, which is equal in area to France. Though the commission has recommended referring the cases to the ICC, the USA strongly opposes that as Washington does not recognise the court. Instead, it wants a new tribunal be set up to try these cases which the Europeans oppose. Since the Europeans pay for the ICC, they do not see rationale behind paying for another tribunal. Meanwhile, US-based Human Rights Watchdog has accused the Bush administration of creating a "deadly delay" for the people of Darfur in Sudan by attempting to block the UN Security Council from referring atrocities committed in the region to the ICC. —
PTI |
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US guards kill 4 Iraqi
detainees
Baghdad, February 1 US officers said six prisoners were also wounded in the violence, which affected hundreds of men at Camp Bucca on the day after Iraqis voted in their first free election in decades. There were no serious injuries among the Americans during 45 minutes of rioting, Lt Col Barry Johnson said. Troops shot the four dead with rifles . —
Reuters |
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Tsunami baby to be reunited with parents
Kalmunai (Sri Lanka), February 1 The district court in the eastern coastal town of Kalmunai ordered two weeks ago that the four-month-old baby, whose case attracted world headlines, be handed over to the only woman who claimed him as her son. But doctors had said the boy was too ill to be discharged from hospital. Kalmunai hospital Medical Superintendent K. Muruganathan said they would ask the court tomorrow for a DNA test to confirm that the woman, J.Jeyarajah, was indeed the mother of the child, even though no one else has claimed him. "Tomorrow we will ask for the DNA testing," Mr Muruganathan said, "How do we know that the one who has claimed the child is the real parent? We are very sure the judge will agree." Sri Lanka has no easy access to DNA testing which could take months, according to forensic experts in Colombo. A judicial-medical officer in Colombo said since there were no competing claims, the child could be given to Jeyarajah and her husband pending the DNA verification. Mr Muruganathan had told the court last month the child was too sick to be given to the woman pending testing. However, an AFP reporter said the baby today appeared in good health and doctors and nurses said there was nothing wrong with him. "The baby has gained weight. He is free from any disease and can leave the hospital," a doctor said of the playful child. — AFP |
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