Rashaya (Lebanon), July 26
Three of the corpses of four UN observers killed in an Israeli air strike on their post in south Lebanon have been recovered and efforts are underway to recover the fourth body from beneath the rubble, a security source said today.

Fifty of the victims’ former comrades from the Indian contingent of UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were desperately trying to extract the remaining corpse with their hands or using improvised shovels, the source said.

The bodies of the three other soldiers were taken out some hours after the Israeli raid that destroyed their two-storeyed building in Khiam, equipped with an air raid shelter, which had served as their post.

Attempts to bring in a bulldozer were in vain but the Lebanese security source said Israel had agreed to cease its bombardment to allow the recovery operation to continue.

The police said four UN observers were killed late last night in the Israeli bombardment of their position in the south Lebanon border town, while the United Nations said up to four were killed.

The raid has provoked widespread international condemnation with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan saying he was “shocked” at Israel’s “apparently deliberate targeting” of the UN post.

Israel expressed deep regret over the incident but its ambassador to the UN said he was distressed by Mr Annan’s “hasty” statement and surprised by the “premature and erroneous assertions”.

Mr Annan said the attack in Khiyam took place “despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire.”

Calling on the Israeli government to hold a “full inquiry,” he asked Tel Aviv to stop further attacks on world body personnel and positions.

Though the United Nations has not yet revealed the nationalities of the peacekeepers, reports from the region said that they were nationals of Austria, Canada, China and Finland. — AFP/PTI

Islamabad, July 26
The United States has handed over to Pakistan a fresh list of 21 most wanted persons and sought their immediate extradition to face trial for committing crimes against America and its citizens.

The US move comes close on the heels of India seeking deportation of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Hizbul Mujahideen leader Sayed Salahuddin and arrest of Jamat-ud-Dawa leaders, including its chief Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed, in the wake of the Mumbai train blasts. Jamat-ud-Dawa is known to be front organisation of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Washington has forwarded the list of 21 wanted terrorists out of which 14 were wanted for smuggling of drugs and narcotics, Daily Times reported today quoting Pakistani officials.

It said the US had also offered to help Islamabad “sensitise” Pakistani judges by arranging seminars in Pakistan to facilitate early extradition of these wanted men as delayed judicial proceedings resulted in delayed justice.

Pakistan’s Interior Ministry had received the names from Washington, but kept these as a secret to avoid any adverse fallout in the country, it said.

The list was given to members of a Pakistan delegation led by Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao that visited Washington recently to attend a joint working group meeting on terrorism and narcotics.

During the talks, the US side headed by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz raised the issue of extradition of these “most wanted men”. Washington, at the same time, expressed gratitude for the personal attention given by senior Pakistani officials in previous extradition cases and thanked Pakistan for its cooperation, the report said. — PTI

Islamabad, July 26
Pakistan would cooperate with India to root out terrorism but would pay back in the same coin if any “punitive action” was initiated against it in pursuit of terrorists, President Pervez Musharraf has said.

“Nobody should have this wishful thinking that Pakistan will bear any kind of adventure inside its territory. No one is there who can take any punitive action against Pakistan, as its defence is in strong hands,” Musharraf was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s Online news agency.

This was stated by the Pakistan President while inaugurating an oil refinery and laying the foundation stone for a liquid cargo terminal at Port Qasim near Karachi yesterday.

“Nobody should be under any illusion or cast an evil eye at us or talk of punitive action,” he said referring to reports in the Pakistani media in this regard.

The news agency reported that Musharraf said his country was ready to cooperate with India to root out terrorism.

For the past few days, Pakistani leaders and officials have been referring to Pakistani media reports about the possibility of India carrying out punitive strikes or hot pursuit of terrorists. The references were to “some reports” from India without specifying who actually said what.

On Monday, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, in response to a question about such “reports”, also said “nobody should make (this) mistake...Pakistan will not allow hot pursuit into its territory”.

“Pakistan wants to pursue the path of peace, wants peace process to resume and is ready to discuss all issues,” Aslam had said recalling India’s move to mass troops along Pakistan’s borders in 2001 in response to attack on Indian Parliament. “Even then we had to return to the negotiations table and that is the option before us.”

She had also termed the media reports in this regard as “extremely irresponsible”. In his speech, Musharraf said peace would be achieved through strength and not by weakness.

Pointing to the Israeli strikes on Lebanon to attack Hizbullah positions, he said Israel could act like that because of weakness of Beirut.

On Pakistani’s defence allocation, he also claimed that despite the Rs 18 billion increase in this year’s defence budget, Pakistan’s defence expenditure had come down.

“If you keep in mind the increase in the gross domestic product (GDP), you will note that Pakistan’s defence budget has decreased,” he said. — PTI