Baghdad, September 13
A Sunni tribal leader instrumental in driving al Qaida out of Iraq’s Anbar province was killed by a bomb attack on Thursday, less than two weeks after he met U.S. President George W. Bush.

Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was killed near his home in Ramadi, capital of Anbar. He was the most influential leader of an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that joined forces with U.S. troops to push al Qaida from much of the western region.

Two bodyguards and Abu Risha’s private secretary were also killed in the attack on the day Iraq’s Sunni Muslims marked the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. “The sheikh’s car was totally destroyed by the explosion. Abu Risha was killed,” Ramadi police officer Ahmed Mahmoud al-Alwani told Reuters.

Police sources said he was killed by a roadside bomb. But one bodyguard who was not with Abu Risha at the time said a bomb had been planted in his car.

“We believe Abu Risha was one of the most important security personnel in Iraq,” said Brigadier-General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

“The minister of interior has made an order that a statue be erected where he was killed or in any other place that the people of Anbar select.”

Abu Risha set up an alliance of tribal sheikhs in Anbar last year to fight Sunni Islamist al Qaida, an effort which has been held up by U.S. leaders as one of the biggest success stories in improving security after more than four years of conflict.

During his unannounced visit to Anbar early last week, Bush said security gains in the vast desert region were an example of what could happen elsewhere in Iraq.

From 2003 until last year, Anbar was the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency and the most dangerous part of Iraq. Abu Risha was instrumental in getting young men in Anbar to start joining local police forces, a development that has sharply reduced levels of violence and forced many al Qaeda fighters to flee. — Reuters

Indonesia, September 13
Three powerful earthquakes jolted Indonesia in less than 24 hours, sending a three-metre tsunami crashing to shore, damaging hundreds of houses and terrifying residents. At least 10 people were killed in the tremors, which were followed by dozens of aftershocks.

One Australian seismologist said the region was fortunate to have escaped a tragedy like the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen nations.

The 8.4-magnitude quake that shook Southeast Asia yesterday was the strongest this year. But the huge force of water it spawned was pushed to sea rather than land, said Mike Turnbull of Central Queensland University.

“Then I ran to find my children, but they had already run to the hills.”

Two other powerful tremors - magnitudes 7.8 and 6.2 - followed on Thursday in western and eastern Indonesia, the US Geological Survey said. Several tsunami warnings were issued and later lifted.The worst destruction was caused by the jolts along the coast, especially in the city of Padang, 185 kms from the epicentre. — AP

The much-awaited schedule for presidential election will be announced within next 72 hours, secretary Election Commission Chaudhry Dilshad disclosed here amid speculations that President Gen Musharraf is contemplating dissolution of the National Assembly in view of his legal problems to get elected from president assemblies.

Dilshad said president election is due September 15-October 15. He said the schedule will cover a period of more than three weeks involving filing of nomination papers, scrutiny of objections, withdrawals, campaign and actual voting.

Ruling party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain talking to a select group of people said something extraordinary is expected on September 17 when the Supreme Court resumed here in a petition challenging the eligibility of Gen Musharraf as a candidate.

The statement about the schedule came amid growing criticism that the Election Commission is delaying the announcement of the schedule to suit the convenience of President General Musharraf whose eligibility as a candidate has been challenged in the Supreme Court. "The commission does not envisage more than one candidate," The Nation said while pointing out that Musharraf's rivals would require sufficient time to canvass support from hundreds of members of the parliament and provincial assemblies who constitute the electoral college for presidential election. Eminent jurist Aitzaz Ahsan has said any rival candidate could move the court to contend that he needs at least one month for his campaign.

Under the Constitution, as amended by Musharraf, the present assemblies have to elect the president between September 15 and October 14. The schedule for election would require time for filing nomination papers, scrutiny of papers, withdrawal and then election campaign before the date of polling. The Supreme Court will take up the petition against Musharraf's candidature on September 17.

Islamabad, September 13
After going on an overdrive to scuttle his attempts to end his exile, Pakistan government has barred former Premier Nawaz Sharif from contesting elections saying he has already been convicted and sentenced in a case, but put the corruption cases against him in the cold storage.

The deposed Prime Minister was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of preventing the plane of General Pervez Musharraf from landing in October 1999, Advocate General Mallik Qayyum said.

Therefore, Sharif, the leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), is not eligible to participate in the general elections scheduled to take place towards the end of this year, he was quoted in the local media as saying.

Qayyum’s comments came three days after the deportation of Sharif to Jeddah on Monday following his arrival here from London to end his seven-year exile. His return was reduced to a stopover only as within hours he was packed off to Jeddah. The government has also put the corruption cases against Sharif in the cold storage as authorities informed an anti-corruption court in Rawalpindi that the cases, which it tried to reopen before Sharif’s arrival here, need not be pursued because he was no longer in the country.

In another development, the SC has not yet given a date for hearing the two petitions filed by Sharif’s family. — PTI

Washington, September 13
Immigrants from Asian nations like India and China, nearly half of them holding at least a bachelor’s degree, are raising average education levels in many American states, according to latest official statistics.

Although the number of immigrants in America has reached an all-time high of 37.5 million in 2006, there is significant disparity in education and income levels, the Census Bureau, which released the data, said.

Immigrants from India and China are driving the Asian percentages up in the realm of education either arriving with a bachelor’s degree or getting a higher degree upon arrival, the Bureau pointed out.

Asian immigrants are raising average education levels in many states, with nearly half of them holding at least a bachelor’s degree. “There is no one-size-fits-all policy that you could apply for all immigrant groups. I think most of the attention has been on low-skilled workers coming from Mexico. But we have 10 million immigrants from Asia, a number that’s growing,” Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau said.

About 48 per cent of Asian immigrants held at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with about 11 per cent of immigrants from Latin America. Among people born in the US, about 27 per cent were college graduates.

“Driving this are people coming from China and India,” Mather said. “They are either coming with a bachelor’s degree, or they are coming with visas and getting degrees once they arrive.” — PTI

Dubai, September 13
Higher than the CN Tower, which is the current holder of the title of the world’s tallest freestanding structure, Burj Dubai, an iconic tower here with residential, commercial and leisure outlets has now become the world’s tallest building.

At 555.3 metres (1,821.85 ft), Burj Dubai has now also scaled 150 livable levels, the largest number of storeys for any building in the world. The tower already holds the distinction of being taller than Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which at 508 metres (1,667 ft) has held the tallest-building-in-the-world title since it opened in 2004.

Burj Dubai now surpasses the 31-year-old record of CN Tower, which at 553.33 metres (1,815.5 ft) has been the world’s tallest freestanding structure on land since 1976.

“Burj Dubai is setting new world records in construction of super tall buildings, and the accomplishment of being the world’s tallest freestanding structure is another defining moment for the multinational team of over 5,000 people who are using their collective intelligence to make this iconic structure a symbol of human achievement,” said the chairman of Emaar Properties, Mohamed Ali Alabbar.

When completed, Dubai’s landmark tower will be the tallest structure in the world in all four of the criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). — UNI