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Britain goes to the polls
Marine cleared of charges in taped killing
Attacks leave 25 dead in Baghdad
Arrest of Libbi critical victory in anti-terror war: Bush
Freed Pakistan Embassy official
returns from Iraq
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Pak arrests 9 Al-Qaida suspects
20,000 H1B visas for foreign workers
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Britain goes to the polls
Sedgefield (England), May 5 A prodigiously charismatic leader who brought his party to power after 18 years in the wilderness, he saw his personal trust ratings plummet after his decision to invade Iraq in 2003. His alliance with US President George W. Bush infuriated many traditional supporters of his Centre-Left Labour Party. But he has campaigned on the strength of the economy, which has blossomed throughout his eight years in the office. Blair walked across a football field to a polling station in a picturesque mining village near Sedgefield with wife Cherie and sons Euan and Nicky, both old enough to vote for the first time.
— Reuters |
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Marine cleared of charges in taped killing
Camp Pendleton (California), May 5 Maj-Gen Richard F. Natonski said that a review of the tape — which caused an international furore when it was broadcast — shows that the corporal’s action ‘‘was consistent with the established rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict.’’ While the tape does not prove that the Iraqi ,who was lying on the floor, was an actual threat to the corporal and the other Marines, it does confirm that the corporal could reasonably assume that the insurgent was a threat, the General said. Natonski, in a statement released here, said the tape shows the Iraqi concealing his left arm behind his head and that feigning death or surrender is a common tactic among insurgents who then arise to continue fighting. Insurgents during the Fallujah battle were also known to take injections of amphetamines and adrenaline, which gave them the ability to continue fighting although seriously wounded. After the video, taken by NBC correspondent Kevin Sites, was broadcast, the corporal was taken off the front lines, his weapons were confiscated, and he was sent back to Camp Pendleton to await an investigation. The tape, which was broadcast repeatedly on stations in the Arab world, brought outrage from some Arabs and calls for an investigation by international human rights groups. In his statement, Natonski, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, said that 22 Marines were interviewed from the 3rd battalion, 1st regiment, the unit that stormed the mosque during the fight to wrest control of Fallujah from insurgents. Also reviewed were ballistics tests, autopsy reports on Iraqis killed in the mosque, and an enhanced copy of the video. The corporal said he killed three Iraqis in the mosque ‘‘believing they posed a threat to him and his fellow Marines,’’ according to the Marine Corps investigation. Only one of the shootings is shown on the tape. Sites was an embedded reporter with the battalion during the Fallujah assault, providing pool coverage for other reporters. He left shortly after the tape was broadcast, amid anger from Marines who felt he had betrayed them. The mosque had been the scene of close-in fighting between insurgents and Marines on November 12. The next day, the Marines, told that the mosque was being used as a rallying spot for insurgents, returned to the complex and burst through the entrance with their M-16s ready to
fire. By arrangement with the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post |
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Attacks leave 25 dead in Baghdad
Baghdad, May 5 Besides, a guard was killed in a car bomb attack at the house of a Deputy Defence Minister in the capital. Six other persons were injured in the blast. Today’s attacks followed a suicide bombing which left some 50 dead and injured close to 100 at a police recruitment centre in the Kurdish city of Arbil in northern Iraq yesterday. In one attack in the south of the capital at about 6 am, gunmen opened fire on two police cars, killing six policemen. They then burned the cars. In a second attack, gunmen opened fire on two more police cars in eastern Baghdad, killing three policemen and setting fire to one of the cars. Three other policemen managed to flee. A suicide bomber, driving a car, detonated his explosives shortly before 8 am outside an army recruiting post at the former Muthanna airport in the centre of Baghdad, the official said. Fifteen died in the blast, but it was not immediately known how many were injured. Since Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari’s partial cabinet line-up was announced a week ago, at least 225 persons, both civilians and members of the security forces, have been killed in Iraq.
— AFP |
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Arrest of Libbi critical victory in anti-terror war: Bush
Washington, May 5 The announcement provoked a wild applause from the audience who were obviously jubilant to hear about the capture of a suspect authorities in Washington are describing as Al-Qaida’s number three. “Al-Libbi was a top general for Osama bin Laden. He was a major facilitator and a chief planner for the Al-Qaida network,” Mr Bush informed the audience amid applause. “His arrest removes a dangerous enemy who was a direct threat to America and for those who love freedom. I applaud the Pakistani government for their strong cooperation in the war on terror,” said Mr Bush. “I applaud the Pakistani government and President Musharraf for acting on solid intelligence to bring this man to justice.” President Bush also vowed to continue the fight on terrorism, declaring: “We’ll stay on the offensive until Al-Qaida’s defeated.” The pledge earned him another round of applause from the audience. Earlier, Mr Bush’s press secretary, Scott McClellan, told reporters at the White House: “We have brought to justice in one way or another some three quarters of Al-Qaida’s key leaders and associates.” “Al-Libbi’s capture is a great success in global war on terrorism,” Mr McClellan said. “He is one of Al-Qaida’s most senior operational planners and one of the terrorist organisation’s top leaders.” All small and major television and radio news channels in the USA began their broadcast on Wednesday with the news of Al-Libbi’s arrest. US counterterrorism experts, who appeared on these shows, described Al-Libbi as the No 3 Al-Qaida figure behind Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al Zawahiri. |
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Freed Pakistan Embassy official
returns from Iraq
Islamabad, May 5 Malik Mohammed Javed, a non-diplomatic assistant, was abducted on April 9 after he left home for evening prayers at a Baghdad mosque. “I am very happy to be in Pakistan. I have secured life for second time with the grace of Almighty,” Malik told reporters at the Islamabad international airport. He was received by his sons, daughter, brother and mother at the airport besides Pakistan’s Junior Foreign Minister Khusro Bhatiyar. Though Pakistan has not officially admitted it, Malik was reportedly abducted by Omar bin Khattab militia and demanded a ransom in exchange for his release. However, Malik said he did nothing about their demands.
— PTI |
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Pak arrests 9 Al-Qaida suspects
Islamabad, May 5 The group, picked up from two houses in the northwestern Rajaur tribal belt near the Afghan border included seven Pakistani tribesmen and an Uzbek couple, said the Interior Ministry official on condition of anonymity. “Acting on a tip-off, the security forces raided the houses yesterday and the nine were arrested without facing any resistance,” he said. Some firearms were seized from the houses. He said it was a separate operation and not linked with the capture of Libyan senior Al-Qaida operative Abu Faraj Al-Libbi, who was captured on Monday near the town of Mardan.
— AFP |
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20,000 H1B visas for foreign workers
Washington, May 5 US businesses can submit applications for additional H1-B visas beginning May 12, the Department of Home Security’s immigration agency said. An additional 20,000 such visas would be made available for foreign workers with advanced degrees from US institution. The announcement ended months of speculation on who qualified for the visas. The extra 20,000 visas were approved last fall by the US Congress. The largest number of such foreign workers have been Indian. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said the visas would be granted only to foreign workers with at least a master’s-level degree from a US academic institution.
— PTI
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Indo-American group raises $ 2 m for tsunami victims
New York, May 5 The AIF will give grants to the South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies.
— UNI |
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