Baghdad, January 4
A car bomb killed at least 13 people and wounded 22 near a gas station in western Baghdad's upscale Mansour district today, security officials said.

The explosion took place at around 10:30 am (1300 IST) in the mainly Sunni district, a defence ministry official told AFP.

A medic at Baghdad's Yarmuk hospital had earlier confirmed admitting those wounded in the blast.

Karachi, January 4
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday declared that Pakistan would go ahead with its plan of fencing and mining parts of its border with Afghanistan to check cross-border movement of extremists.

The Prime Minister, who is scheduled to have substantive talks with the Karzai government later this week, was responding to a question during his press conference at the Governor’s House here on Wednesday.

However, he parried response to the part of the question that pertained to Kabul’s objections to fencing and reservations on the status of the Durand Line between the two countries and said: “Afghanistan has its own point of view and we have ours. We attach great importance to our relations with Afghanistan and want friendly and cooperative relations with our neighbour.”

He referred to Pakistan’s efforts for furthering the composite dialogue with India for the resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and removing hiccups in other bilateral matters.

He made it clear that Pakistan would maintain minimum credible deterrence. “Our nuclear programme has effective command and control system. Our defence is impregnable and the government is meeting all requirements of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Pakistan and China will soon start joint production of fighter aircraft,'' he said.

He said the gas pipeline project with Iran was ‘very important’ as Pakistan needed more energy for development schemes. A team of Pakistani experts would visit Teheran later this month for talks on the project, he added.

On Iran's nuclear issue, he said Pakistan was against the proliferation of nuclear weapons but supported peaceful nuclear programme under IAEA safeguards.

Responding to various questions on the government’s performance, he said the ruling coalition did an ‘exemplary’ job during the past four years. He claimed that his party would do more in 2007 for betterment of the people across the country without any discrimination. “It will be for the first time in the history of Pakistan that parliament will complete its full five-year term,” he said, adding that Pakistan would be made stronger and more prosperous, and the ruling coalition would emerge victorious in the next general elections.

“The election of the President would be done in line with the Constitution, and the ruling PML will announce its candidate for the post of prime minister at the start of the electoral process. From where I will contest in the next general elections will also be decided at the start of the electoral process,'' he said in response to another question.

— By arrangement with The Dawn

Baghdad, January 4
The Iraqi authorities have detained two Justice Ministry guards on suspicion of secretly filming the execution of Saddam Hussein and then distributing it on the Internet.

“Two guards who are employees of the justice ministry have been held for questioning, but there are no charges against them yet,” said Sami al-Askari, a Shia MP who was present at the execution of the former President.

The grisly video captures a member of the execution party mocking Saddam by shouting the name of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a bitter opponent of the ousted dictator, minutes before he was put to death.

The two-and-half minute film shot on a mobile telephone camera has spread like wildfire on the Internet and triggered angry outbursts within the Sunni Arab community of Iraq and from international leaders.

The video clearly captures a voice shouting “Moqtada! Moqtada! Moqtada!” at a sneering Saddam, inspiring some observers to compare the execution to a sectarian lynching. — AFP

United Nations, January 4
In a damage control exercise, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed strong support for the demand by the top human rights officials that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani stop the execution of two high-ranking colleagues of former President Saddam Hussein, who was hanged on Saturday.

Ban, who was sharply criticised by rights organisations for not coming out as strongly as his predecessor Kofi Annan against death penalty, sought to explain his remarks and soften his stand on the issue.

UN Chief Spokesperson Michele Montas said Ban believes that the UN should move towards abolition of the death penalty but the member States have their own views.

He recognises that “there is no consensus at the United Nations over the issue of the death penalty,” she added, pointing out that there was a debate at the General Assembly a few years ago and it ended up with the majority of Member States opting for refusing to condemn the death penalty.

He recognises the fact that we are trying to work towards the abolition of that practice. However, he acknowledges also the fact that Member States have their positions on the issue, she added.

Until the matter is resolved, he respects the right of Member States to have their own positions on it.

Ban had landed himself into controversy right on his first day in office over what observers say were his attempts to dilute the world body’s strong stand against the death penalty.

“The concerns that I expressed just days ago with respect to the fairness and impartiality of Saddam Hussein’s trial apply also to these two defendants,” the statement said. “I have therefore today directly appealed to the President of the Republic of Iraq to refrain from carrying out these sentences.”

But Ban has not taken any stand on the fairness or otherwise of the trial. Noting that the death sentences on the two were upheld together with that on Hussein, she said that under Iraq’s international obligations, the country is bound to afford the two the opportunity to seek commutation or pardon of the sentences.

Until the matter is resolved, he respects the right of Member States to have their own positions on it. “However, the Secretary-General strongly believes in the wisdom of Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person,” she added. — PTI 

Kuwait, January 4
Shortly before the execution, Iraqi ex-President Saddam Hussein said a farewell to his American guards, a personal physician and an Iraqi translator, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman General William Caldwell has said.

Before his death, he talked to American soldiers who guarded him and thanked them for vicemen in Iraq in 2006. — Itar-Tass

Phnom Penh, January 4
A Cambodian court charged a 58-year-old American Vietnam War veteran today with sexually abusing two sisters aged 10 and 11 in a case that prosecutors said stretched back to 2005.

Roger Dale Green, who was arrested on Monday in a Phnom Penh hotel, denied the charges.

Keo Thea, deputy chief of Phnom Penh's anti-trafficking unit, said police had found Green, from Tennessee, in a hotel room with the two girls after a tip-off from child rights activists.

"The court has charged him with debauchery for abusing the girls," prosecutor Ngeth Sarath said, using a term which refers in Cambodia to sexual relations with a minor and carries a penalty of between 10 and 20 years in prison.

Green said he had travelled to Vietnam and Cambodia around Christmas for the past seven years and denied any wrongdoing, saying that he was the victim of a scam.

"I am innocent of all charges. I love and pity all of the misfortunate children. I gave them some money for basic needs," he told Reuters as police escorted him to the prosecutor's office.

Prosecutors said he would be held for up to six months, pending further investigations.

The girls' mother, who made a living selling books on the street, was questioned and released. — Reuters