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65 killed in central Baghdad
No timetable for pullout of US troops from Iraq: Bush
Umer’s call his personal view: Pakistan
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Anti-satellite test: China’s silence puzzles Americans
Terrorism a ‘core’ issue for China
Lloyd may be booted out from Big Brother
Islamic Conference calls for unity
Musharraf's re-election plans opposed
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65 killed in central Baghdad
Baghdad, January 22 The first blast occurred shortly after noon when a bomb left in a bag placed among the stalls of vendors selling DVDs and secondhand clothes exploded in the Bab al-Sharqi area between Tayaran and Tahrir squares. It was followed almost immediately by a parked car bomb just meters away. Police and hospital officials said at least 65 people were killed and 113 wounded. The explosions came hours after gunmen killed a female teacher as she was on her way to work at a girls' school in the mainly Sunni area of Khadra in western Baghdad, police said, adding that the teacher's driver was wounded in the drive-by shooting.
— AP
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No timetable for pullout of US troops from Iraq: Bush
Washington, January 22 "We don't set timetables in this administration because an enemy will adjust their tactics based upon perceived action by the United States," Bush told the USA Today newspaper. The comment followed a prediction made last week by the US commander of coalition forces in Iraq, General George Casey, that reinforcements currently being sent to Iraq could begin to leave the country by August or September. Flanked by visiting Defence Secretary Robert Gates, the general told reporters, "I believe the projections are late summer," provided security in Baghdad showed signs of steady improvement. But Bush stopped short of repeating the same assurance. In fact, he refused to rule out US forces remaining in Iraq even after January 20, 2009, when a new president will take over from Bush. "This will be a long struggle," he remarked when asked if Iraq was going to be a problem for his successor. In his address to the nation on January 10, Bush announced his decision to boost the US force level in Iraq by 21,500 troops, arguing the surge was needed to help the embattled Iraqi government bring the situation under control. The first elements of the promised contingent have already begun arriving in Baghdad. In the interview, the president said he was confident that two years from now the Iraqi capital will be a place where Iraqis will be increasingly taking the lead in operations against insurgents and sectarian militias, but avoided predictions that the war would be over.
— AFP
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Umer’s call his personal view: Pakistan Islamabad, January 22 “There are intra Kashmiri discussions. They are holding talks with Pakistan and Indian leadership. I would not comment on any specific proposals by Mirwaiz or anyother,” she said. The spokesperson’s comments come close on the heels of severe criticism from militants and hardline Kashmiri spearatist leaders. On President Pervez Musharraf’s reported comments during his meeting with the visiting Hurriyat delegation led by Farooq that elements hostile to his proposals on Kashmir needed to be countered and rejected, she said he had asked them to remove the “misperception” about Pakistan’s stand. According to her, the President said there “is a need to understand Pakistan’s position, which is that any solution to the Kashmir dispute that is not acceptable to Kashmiris, cannot be acceptable to Pakistan. Despite that there are some misunderstandings, he is referring to those (and that) they should not be encouraged.” In reply to a question on Pakistan’s proposal for re-location of Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir, she said this would be a breathing space and there was no contradiction between Musharraf’s idea of de-militarisation and re-location of troops. She also said Pakistan favoured liberalisation of procedures of travel between the two parts of Kashmir. “We are aware and mindful of problems,” she said and added that the issue figured during the last November’s Foreign Secretaries-level talks in New Delhi.
— PTI
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Anti-satellite test: China’s silence puzzles Americans
New York, January 22 Bush administration officials have said that they have not been unable to get even the most basic diplomatic response from China after their detection of a successful test to destroy a satellite 10 days ago They were also uncertain whether China's top leaders, including President Hu Jintao, were fully aware of the test or the reaction it would engender, the New York Times quoted the officials as saying. American officials with access to the intelligence on the test told the paper that the USA kept mum about it in hopes that China would come forth with an explanation. It was more than a week before the intelligence leaked out. But protests filed by the USA, Japan, Canada and Australia, among others, were met with silence and quizzical looks from officials in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, who seemed to be caught unaware, the paper said. The American officials presume that Hu was generally aware of the missile testing programme, but speculate that he may not have known the timing of the test. China's continuing silence would appear to suggest, at a minimum, that Hu did not anticipate a strong international reaction, either because he had not fully prepared for the possibility that the test would succeed, or because he did not foresee that American intelligence on it would be shared with allies, or leaked. Stephen J. Hadley, President Bush's national security adviser, raised the possibility that China's leaders might not have fully known what their military was doing. The question on something like this is, at what level in the Chinese government are people witting, and have they approved? Hadley asked. He suggested that the diplomatic protests were intended, in part, to force Hu to give some clue about China's intentions. The threat to the US interests, the Times said, is clear: the test demonstrated that China could destroy American spy satellites in low-earth orbit (the very satellites that picked up the destruction of the Chinese weather satellite). Chinese military officials, the paper said, have extensively studied how the USA has used satellite imagery in the Persian Gulf war, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in tracking North Korea's nuclear weapons programme an area in which there has been some limited intelligence-sharing between Chinese and American officials. "This is a wake-up call," Robert Joseph, the under secretary of state for arms control and international security told the Times. As a result, officials said, the Chinese test is likely to prompt an urgent new effort inside the Bush administration to find ways to counter China's anti-satellite technology. Among the options, according to the paper, are efforts to "harden" vulnerable satellites, improve their manoeuvrabilities so that they can evade crude kinetic weapons like the one that destroyed the Chinese satellite and develop a backup system of replacement satellites that could be launched immediately if one in orbit is destroyed.
— PTI
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Terrorism a ‘core’ issue for China
Beijing, January 22 "There should not be double standards in counter terrorism. At the same time, no country wants to see another Al Qaida in China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said.
— PTI
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Lloyd may be booted out from Big Brother
London, January 22 Amid accusations of a "coached" peacemaking session between her and Indian movie star Shilpa Shetty by Channel 4, fans remain disgusted at the former Miss great Britain's role in the cruel taunts, the tabloid 'Daily Express' reported. Danielle, 23, is expected to face the chop this week. She and "fellow-bully" Jo O'Meara, 27, can expect the type of backlash that greeted Jade Goody whose career is in tatters. Danielle, like Jade, is almost certain to face a career meltdown when she steps out of the Big Brother house to face questions over the racism allegations. Her footballer boyfriend Teddy Sheringham is reported to have already dumped her over fears that his image could be ruined and modeling contracts cancelled. The West Ham player is concerned that her ignorant outburst will damage relations with his non-white teammates, the report said. In a TV interview, 25-year-old Jade, a former dental nurse, tearfully admitted that her behaviour had been the biggest mistake of her life. She said she was "shocked and disgusted " by her actions on the Channel 4 show "I hate myself, right now." But she admitted "Things that I may not think are racist can actually be racist". Jade said she needed psychological help and would have only herself to blame if it spelt the end of her career. She claimed she has given her 50,000 pounds appearance fee to charity along with another 50,000 pounds from the News of the World for her interview. The tabloid said she was being paid nothing for the interview. Jade said "I don't want money from something that is wrong." She said she had not realised before how she could be so "intimidating or bullying". The withdrawal of her perfume from stores and cancellation of her Living TV show, Jade said, meant "nothing".
— PTI
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Islamic Conference calls for unity
Doha, January 22 ''Iraq's unity is in peril and if collective efforts are not made, it will disintegrate and that will lead to escalation of tension in the entire Arab world,'' Muslim leaders from over 40 nations said at the conclusion of the conference for Dialogue of Islamic Schools of Thought. The conference was inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiya. In an obvious reference to Iran, top religious scholar of Yemen Dr Ibrahim Al Wazeer asked Iraqi neighbours of desisting from inciting violence in the troubled country. Iraq's disintegration will have serious geo-political ramification in the region, besides throwing the entire
Islamic world into the quagmire of sectarian and doctrinal violence. His thoughts were also shared by Dr Yousef Abdullah Qaradawi, president of the International Association of Muslim Scholars and Dr Ahmed Mohammed Al tayeb, head of the famous Al Azhar University of Egypt, who said Shiite literature was maligning Sunnis. However, Head of the Iranian delegation Sheikh Mohammed Al Taskhiri accused western nations of creating a divide among the Muslims on the lines of sects and race. ''The western countries are targeting Islamic community by trying to divide the Muslim world into different sects and groups.'' He also refuted allegations that Iran was formenting trouble in Iraq, stating that the Iranian government did everything to prevent bloodshed there. The conference witnessed a heated debate among Shia and Sunni leaders. The Shia particularly got offended by the remarks of Sheikh Yousf Abdullah Qaradawi, who called upon Iran to use its influence to end violence in Iraq. ''We did not expect a prominent scholar like Qaradawi to make provocative speeches,'' said Muhammed Al Athrashab of Iran. Sheikh Wibah Al Zubbayli of Syria justified Qardawai remarks, adding what he said were mere facts. Every efforts should be made by the Islamic countries to bring about reapproachments. Sectarian violence is dangerous for the peace and stability in the region. Prominent Shia scholar Ali M H Fadiallah of Lebanon said that there are fundamentalist in each Islamic sect and school of thought. The root cause of the problem between Shias and Sunnis is that there is no communication. ''What is needed is a free and frank discussion between religious scholars of the two sects. Unfortunately that doesn't happen.'' Dr Ali Agha of Lebanon attributed the difference between the two communities to political ambitions of the leaders. Dr Ahmed Mohammed Al Tayeb of Al Azhar University said that Shias were not
reciprocating gestures of unity among the Muslims. He also said that external forces are equally responsible for creating sectarian divide in the Muslim societies. ''lot of money is being poured in to forment trouble between the two sects of Islam. He also met Sheikh Taskhiri, who tried to remove misgivings on various issues. Mufti Zahid Ali Khan, Director of Islamic Studies of the Aligarh Muslim University, said that zionist and western forces were behind dividing the Muslim community on the basis of race, sects and region. ''We must work together to thwart their efforts.'' He said disunity among the Muslims is helping its enemies and causing destability in the Islamic world. Mr Saif Rehmani, General-Secretary of Islamic Fiqh Academy of India, also made his presentation at the conference, which decided to hold regular dialogue to bring about unity among the sects.
— UNI
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Musharraf's re-election plans opposed
Islamabad, January 22 Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP), one of the constituents of Islamist alliance Muthahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) that has members in both national and provincial assemblies, said the alliance had finalised a comprehensive strategy to stop Musharraf from succeeding in his plans to secure re-election using the present assemblies later this year. The MMA members would resign from North West Frontier Region and Balochistan assemblies and quit the governments, JUP leader Maulana Shah Mohammad Noorani said while interacting with mediapersons yesterday. "We will do the needful to sufficiently curtail the President's electoral college by seeking dissolution of the NWFP legislature and also by walking out of the coalition government in Balochistan, in addition to forcing en bloc resignations by Opposition MNAs and MPAs," Noorani said. As regards Musharraf holding the dual post of the Army chief and the head of the state, Noorani said he could not retain uniform and 'sherwani' together. The MMA would not allow itself to be deceived by Musharraf again, he added.
— PTI
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