A two-day All-Party Conference (APC) began in London on Saturday with top leaders of opposition parties seemingly converging on a consensus to forge a united front of the opposition for waging struggle to end military rule and restore democracy and sovereignty of the Constitution.

MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, secretary general Maulana Fazlur Rehman, cricketing legend Imran Khan, former premier Nawaz Sharif, nationalist leaders Asfandyar Wali and Mehmood Khan Achakzai in their opening speeches called for a united action programme to frustrate President Musharraf's bid to prolong his rule and resist attempts to manipulate the elections.

PPP chairperson, Benazir Bhutto was the only leading opposition figure missing though she was present in London till at least July 10.

The PPP was, however, represented by a 5-member delegation led by deputy chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim who also spoke on the need for unity of democratic forces for restoration of democracy and ensuring free, fair and transparent elections.

Fahim did not exactly endorse the APC and said it would be an illusion to believe Musharraf will allow free and fair elections.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the APC should culminate in the formation of a united platform to mobilise people for sending the army to barracks and restore the 1973 Constitution.

Fazl is under pressure to resign if Musharraf decides to get elected from present assemblies.

He added there should be a united strategy of the entire opposition.

Nawaz Sharif, who is hosting the conference, said all political parties must decide never to cooperate with generals in toppling the government or being its junior partner in the government. In an apparent reference to Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz said no opposition leader should enter into covert talks with Musharraf.

Imran Khan said Musharaff is deliberating dividing the nation into so-called liberals and extremists and encouraging bloody confrontation in order to convince the west that he alone is a bulwark against extremism. He appreciated the lawyers’ campaign for independent judiciary, rule of law and restoration of democracy.

Nationalist leader from Balochistan, Mehmood Khan Achakzai called for relentless struggle to establish for ever the principle that the people and not the army have a right to rule the country.

Kirkuk (Iraq), July 7
At least 105 persons were killed today when a truck bomb devastated a crowded Iraqi village market and demolished many homes, the top local security, administrative and health officials said.

Lieut-Colonel Saman Hamid, commander of the security coordination centre in nearby Tuz Khurmatu, told AFP a suicide bomber had detonated a powerful bomb on board a truck carrying bricks in the village of Emerli.

“105 Iraqis were killed and five are missing, we have registered their names. There are more than 250 wounded,” he said. The casualty toll was confirmed by Dr Wissam Abdullah, director of the main local hospital. The chief local civilian administrator, Hamad Rasheed, said he had seen reports that up to 125 people could be confirmed dead after rescuers finish digging through the rubble of dozens of buildings.

“The security reports that I have recieved from the scene confirmed that 115 were killed and five are missing and around five more collected as loose flesh. Some 40 homes, 20 shops and 10 vehicles were destroyed," Rasheed said.

“The corpses were under the debris of the collapsed buildings. Some were burnt and others were torn apart. This is a big disaster for the town, all of the casualties were civilians,” he added.

Abdullah said the dead and wounded had been brought to the emergency room at his hospital in Tuz Khurmatu, to two hospitals in the provincial capital Kirkuk and two more as far away as the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah.

The attack was the worst to hit Iraq since April 18, when 190 persons were killed in a spate of car bombings against Shiite districts of Baghdad. — AFP

Santa Clara, July 7
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is wooing wealthy entrepreneurs with ties to India, seeking to tap the growing political clout of Indian-Americans in California's Silicon Valley.

Clinton spoke yesterday by live video feed from New Orleans to nearly 4,000 businesspeople attending the annual alumni conference of the Indian Institute of Technology, one of the world's most elite university systems.

Clinton -- the only Republican or Democratic presidential candidate to accept an invitation from the IIT -- reiterated her call for more H-1B work visas for highly educated immigrants, an issue of deep concern to the Indian and Indian-American executives and engineers in the audience.

But she did not shy from characterisation of the pain of offshore outsourcing -- the exporting of technology jobs to low-cost workers in countries such as India, China and Russia.

Her appearance comes less than a month after rival Barack Obama's campaign sent a sarcastic memo to reporters criticising Clinton's ties to India. The memo characterised the New York senator as the "Democrat from Punjab" -- a reference to a joking introduction of Clinton by Rajwant Singh, national chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education.

Prominent Indian-Americans immediately demanded an apology from Obama. Within days, the Illinois senator conceded that their concerns over the campaign memo were "entirely justified."

Clinton's courting of Indian-American voters comes as the 2.3 million-member community in the US exerts more influence in the 2008 presidential election. — AP

Melbourne, July 7
Australian police and a British counter-terrorism official continued to question Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, detained in connection with the failed UK terror plots, in Brisbane today.

Haneef, who worked as a registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital, was detained at Brisbane airport on Monday as he allegedly attempted to leave the country on a one-way ticket.

Police have been granted a legal extension to detain the doctor for questioning until 11.30 pm Monday night (local time). The so-called “dead time” provisions allow police a custodial pause.

An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman, however, said there had been no fresh development in the case.

Haneef is reported to be the cousin of brothers Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed, two of the key suspects in the terror plots in London and Glasgow. Federal police is sifting through more than 31,000 documents - some in foreign languages - seized in raids on two West Australian hospitals yesterday.

“It is quite a complex investigation and the links to the UK are becoming more concrete,” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty had said yesterday.

While a larger number of people were being interviewed, it did not mean they were all suspects, he said. “Nobody has been arrested at this point of time.” It had also emerged yesterday that Sabeel Ahmed and Kafeel Ahmed had sought jobs in the Queensland health system as well as in Western Australia’s.

Sabeel Ahmed had registered his interest through the Queensland Health website on April 5 last year but was told he did not have enough experience nor did he meet the English-language requirements.

On June 30 last year, Kafeel Ahmed had contacted the department. He is accused of driving the Jeep Cherokee packed with petrol and gas canisters into the Glasgow airport terminal. However, he was also told to gain more experience in Britain.

Kafeel Ahmed is not a doctor, and Queensland Health was yesterday unable to list the qualifications provided to the website.

Mohammed Asif Ali, the associate of detained doctor Mohamed Haneef, who was interviewed by police but released without charge, was unsuccessful with a West Australian application in January last year but gained enough experience in Britain to be registered in Queensland in October. — PTI 

At least 13 people, loyal to Nepal’s King Gyanendra, sustained injuries when they entered a scuffle with the members of the youth wing of the Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist , a major constituent in the ruling eight-party alliance, at the heart of the capital on Saturday.

Eyewitnesses said that the cadres of Young Communist League (YCL) stormed at the royal supporters at New Road and Bir Hospital areas while the latter were heading toward the Narayanhiti Royal Palace in separate small groups to greet King Gyanendra on his diamond jubilee birthday celebration. The injured people have been admitted at Bir Hospital. Similarly, the YCL activist beat up two royalists at Durbar Marg, just 1.5 km south from the palace while they were waiving banners praising the monarch.

Despite harsh criticism from various sides, King Gyanendra celebrated his diamond jubilee birthday by organising a special ceremony at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace and received greetings from his supporters.

The Diamond Jubilee Celebrations Committee today felicitated the king “on behalf of the people” on his birthday.

Although the programme organisers were supposed to gather at Ratna Park and take out a rally towards the palace along with banners and placards this afternoon, the YCL activists and students affiliated to other political parties foiled the scheduled programme.