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Iraq executes two Saddam aides
Anger, suspicion at ‘beheading’
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Kuwaiti royal gets death for drug trafficking
Qinghai-Tibet Rly to move closer to India
Cebu Diary
Hillary meets Musharraf
Nepal parliament clips King’s wings
Maoists poised to enter parliament
‘Kabul Express’ kicks up row
in Pakistan
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Iraq executes two Saddam aides
Baghdad, January 15 An Iraqi government official said there had been "no violations" during the early morning executions but that the head of Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti had been ripped from his body. Former intelligence chief Barzan and Iraq Revolutionary Court former head Awad Ahmed al-Bandar died before dawn, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told a news conference. Dabbagh said that Barzan had been decapitated during his hanging, while Basem Ridha, advisor to Prime Minister Mr Nuri al-Maliki called the "incident" an "act of God". "There was an incident that happened -- that is the separation of Barzan’s body and head. This happens seldom, but it did happen and that was an act of God. It's happened before," said Ridha. The two condemned men had been found guilty of crimes against humanity -- for the killing of 148 Shiites from Dujail village in the 1980s. They were sentenced to death on November 5 by a special court along with Saddam. Ridha told the media that "the execution took place in a very high manner, there were no violations reported." The two officials declined to reveal where the execution was carried out. — AFP
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Anger, suspicion at ‘beheading’
Tikrit, January 15 Saddam’s two co-defendants were hanged before dawn today, the Iraqi Government said, but it admitted that the head of his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti was also torn from his body by the force of the rope during the execution. In Saddam and Barzan’s home town of Tikrit, a Sunni Arab stronghold north of Baghdad, a black banner was raised on the main mosque named after Saddam saying: “The people of Tikrit mourn the two martyrs ... killed by sectarian hands.” “There is no way a head would be ripped off the body during a hanging. I’m sure they mutilated the bodies after they hanged them,” said Ahmed Mustafa, a 30-year-old student in the northern city of Mosul, accusing Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government of “sucking the blood of the people.” Shias celebrateNajaf: Iraqi Shiites in the holy city of Najaf beat drums and sang today after hearing that two of Saddam Hussein’s feared henchmen had been hanged for crimes against humanity. Hundreds in this majority Shiite city took to streets with drums to celebrate the occasion. They walked from the headquarters of the Shiite Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution (SCIRI), some holding Iraqi flags, Islamic banners and pictures of top Shiite clerics. Many chanted slogans urging death to Baathists, the political party lead by Saddam Hussein for roughly 35 years before he was deposed by a US-led invasion in April, 2003. — AFP
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Indonesian bird flu toll rises to 61
Jakarta, January 15 Indonesia has seen four fatalities this year after a six-week lull in cases, taking the number of human deaths from bird flu in the country to 61, the highest in the world. Nine people with bird flu symptoms are being treated at Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital and its isolation rooms can no longer accept any more patients, said Muchtar Ichsan, the head of the hospital's bird flu ward. An 18-year-old man being treated in Persahabatan has been confirmed to have bird flu after his mother died of the disease on Thursday. The man's father, from Serpong in west Java, was also being treated for similar symptoms but two tests found he did not have the deadly virus. More tests will be conducted on the father. Nyoman Kandun, director general of communicable disease control at the health ministry, said on Saturday the positive test of the son signaled a cluster case but there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus so far. The largest known cluster of human bird flu cases worldwide occurred in May 2006 in the Karo district of North Sumatra province, where as many as seven people in an extended family died. — Agencies
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Kuwaiti royal gets death for drug trafficking
Dubai, January 15 The court, also fined the royal, whose name was given as Sheikh Talal, about $35,000. The ruling of the court can be challenged. Three other people were sentenced to life in jail, including a Bidoon (stateless Arab), a Bangladeshi and an Indian. Two others, a Lebanese and an Iraqi were sentenced to seven years in jail each. Kuwaiti police arrested the group in April last year with a large drugs haul, including at least 10 kilograms of cocaine and 120 kg of hashish. The arrest was made on the orders of Kuwait’s Interior and Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah, who is a leading figure in the ruling family. — PTI
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Qinghai-Tibet Rly to move closer to India
Beijing, January 15 The new 1,956-km line will be the first feeder line for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, director of the Regional Development and Reform Commission, Jin Shixun said yesterday in Lhasa. Jin told a session of the regional legislative body that the government is racing against time in its preparations so that the construction work to build the railway line to Xigaze, some 280 kilometres southwest of Lhasa, could be kicked off as early as possible. If everything goes well, the authorities hope that the feasibility study could be completed by the end of this month, and the preliminary design by the end of May, while the actual construction could be started within the year, Xinhua news agency reported last night. According to the current plan, the railway is expected to be operational by 2010. Xigaze is the base of the Panchen Lama, Tibet's third highest Buddhist spiritual leader after the Dalai Lama and Karmapa Lama. However, the Dalai Lama and Karmapa Lama are on exile in India. Tibet entered into the world railway map in July 2006 with the operation of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The railway has prompted a huge surge in the number of tourists to the region, bringing billions of yuan as tourism revenue. — PTI
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Cebu Diary Cebu (Philippines), January 15 China dwarfs India A few months ago, a Chinese commentator likened India to the tortoise and China to the hare and predicted that this time the tortoise was not going to win the race because the hare is not going to sleep. The ominous Chinese warning rings out to be true in the context of ASEAN. While India is tom-tomming the fact that it is likely to reach the targeted India-ASEAN trade of $ 30 billion this year, China’s trade with ASEAN is already in excess of a whopping $ 160 billion. And this figure is bound to go up dramatically as only yesterday China signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with ASEAN. The hare is certainly not sleeping! Cebu’s American era As the spouses’ bus reached Cebu Capitol, they found the building like a virtual film set. Parked in front of the building, the bus of visitors got a glimpse of Cebu’s colonial past. The visitors watched dancers’ performance for about ten minutes while remaining seated inside the bus. The dancers wore period costumes designed by Cebu’s well-known couturiers, Philip Rodriguez and Protacio
Empasis.
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Islamabad, January 15
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Nepal parliament clips King’s wings Kathmandu, January 15 “The proposed interim constitution has been unanimously approved after no ‘nays’ were heard during the voice voting,” said Mr Subash Nembang, Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR). The interim constitution was provisionally approved in the last session of the HoR, Mr Nembang said. The interim constitution has 25 Parts, 167 Articles and three Annexes. The new interim parliament, with 83 Maoists members, is due to meet for the first time later in the evening. According to sources, Prachanda is also scheduled to visit parliament. The new 329-seat interim legislature will also sit for another session to ratify the interim constitution later in the evening. The new MPs will soon take oath of office and secrecy before the interim legislature parliament.
— UNI
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Maoists poised to enter parliament
Kathmandu, January 15 The sight of 83 rebel nominees sitting alongside those they opposed for so long may comfort even the most cynical Nepalis, who have seen their country brutalised by state and rebel killings and its tourism-dependent economy shattered. Parliament Speaker Subhash Nemwang said the existing House of Representatives would approve a new temporary constitution, prepared by the ruling seven-party alliance and the rebels. It would then declare the setting up of a new interim legislature, in which the Maoists would be the second biggest group, perhaps the most significant step towards cementing a lasting peace since the rebels put down their guns in April. The Maoists began fighting the monarchy in 1996, but declared a ceasefire last year after mass street demonstrations forced King Gyanendra to give up direct rule.
— Reuters
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‘Kabul Express’ kicks up row
in Pakistan
Islamabad, January 15 The Hazara community in Balochistan is offended by the "derogatory language" used in the film and demand its immediate ban, Mr Ibrahim Hazara, secretary general of Pakistan's Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), was quoted by the Daily Times as saying today. "We want the movie director to apologise to the Hazaras of the world and urge the government of Pakistan to ban the movie and prevent it from being marketed in the country," Ibrahim said. The movie not only makes an effort to defame the Hazara community but also creates a negative image of Pakistan and Afghanistan, he added. The members of the Hazara community, with an estimated population of around two lakh, are Shia Muslims living mostly in Pakistan's Balochistan province.
— PTI
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10 Indian fishermen held India Week Kidnapped 
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