Security forces continued operation in Khyber Agency on the second day on Sunday and claimed to have taken control of two important centres of militants, destroyed houses of top leaders but all of them were reported to have already escaped to safe places.

While soldiers were setting up checkposts in the northwestern Khyber tribal district without much resistance as they occupied Shalobar and Akakhel area in Bara. One militant was reported killed in exchange of fire.

The house of top militant leader Mangal Bagh was destroyed but Bagh had fled reportedly to Tirah on the Afghan border. He does not have any direct link to the Taliban but is accused of leading sectarian violence. “The situation is under control. There has been no resistance,” senior local administration official Mehmood Afridi told reporters. Eyewitnesses said security forces destroyed all the key-points and private jails of Tanzeem Lashkar-e-Islam.

More troop movement to reinforce paramilitary presence in the area was witnessed. Curfew in Bara Bazar market town located on the edge of Peshawar city and reputed to be the biggest market of smuggled goods has been relaxed unannounced. Local people were allowed to move to Peshawar through the Bara Bazar road. There was no immediate official response to media reports that tribal militant leader Baitullah Mehsud has snapped all contacts with the government and threatened to strike in Punjab and Sindh if the operation continued.

Security has also been tightened at Landi Kotal and Jamrud, the other two tehsils of Khyber Agency in view of Army operation at Bara besides the Torkham checkpost on the Khyber Pass gateway to Kabul.

In Lahore, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani dismissed the suggestion that militant offensive near the Afghan border was aimed at easing US fears over Islamabad’s talks with tribal insurgents.

“Terrorism is a real threat and Pakistan is fighting to curb in its own national interest,” Gilani said while responding to questions from reporters. He said Benazir Bhutto was killed by terrorists which indicated the extent of threat to Pakistan’s stability.

He said the government has not given up the option of engagement with militants desiring peace but it was determined to establish its writ wherever it is challenged. The operation is the first by the new government since it began negotiating with Taliban militants after elections in February. 

Harare, June 29
Once feted as a champion of democracy and a liberation hero, Zimbabwe’s ruler Robert Mugabe was declared the winner in a one-candidate election and sworn in again as President on Sunday.

The 84-year-old veteran of the fight against the white minority rule has been defiant since losing to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the first round of voting in March, accusing western countries that criticise his leadership of being responsible for Zimbabwe’s woes.

The opposition and other critics say Mugabe is a dictator who has ruined a once prosperous country. He has come under increasing criticism from African leaders for violence against opposition supporters and for not calling off the vote.

Nelson Mandela said in a rare political comment last week that he was saddened by “the tragic failure of leadership in our neighbouring Zimbabwe”.

But Mugabe ignored pressure from inside and outside Africa, and pressed ahead with the vote that extended his 28-year hold on power. Mugabe is the only leader many of Zimbabwe’s 13 million people have known but under his stewardship the economy has plunged into disaster.

Inflation is the highest in the world, officially at 165,000 per cent but some analysts say the real figure is now 9 million per cent. Millions of Zimbabweans have fled to neighbouring states to escape poverty and unemployment.

Tsvangirai handed him his first ever defeat in the first round of elections on March 29 but fell short of the majority needed for outright victory.

Tsvangirai pulled out of the vote a week ago because of a campaign of violence since the first vote that he says killed almost 90 of his supporters and injured scores of others.

“The world is hearing and the world is seeing that Mugabe is asking Zimbabweans to maim, abduct and kill other Zimbabweans as a campaign strategy ...,” Tsvangirai wrote in a letter to supporters on Friday.

Mugabe was known in liberal circles in the 1970s as the thinking man’s guerrilla. He was jailed for 10 years in 1964 for opposing the white minority rule in the then-Rhodesia.

After a seven-year bush war ended in a negotiated settlement with Britain and white leader Ian Smith, Mugabe was elected as the first black Prime Minister. He offered forgiveness and reconciliation and was hailed in the West. He expanded schooling for blacks and presided over a booming economy.

After two terms as Prime Minister, he rewrote the constitution and won election as President in 1990.

Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth group of mostly former British colonies after Mugabe’s re-election to a third six-year term in March 2002 amid charges of poll fraud. Mugabe withdrew from the group in December 2003.

Last week, Britain stripped Mugabe of an honorary knighthood awarded in 1994 “as a mark of revulsion at the abuse ofhman rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe”. — Reuters

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has asked the authorities concerned to defreeze and release all bank accounts and properties of Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, which were attached in connection with corruption cases against him.

“In the light of court orders, NAB has directed the authorities, including the Sindh chief secretary, to defreeze all bank accounts and properties of Zardari, as cases against him have already been dropped under the National Reconciliation Ordinance,” NAB chairman Navaid Ahsan told reporters.

He said the decision was taken a couple of days ago by NAB on the directive of an accountability court. The Sindh chief secretary has been given the task to defreeze the bank accounts and properties wherever they existed. “I cannot give you the exact details of Zardari's frozen bank accounts and properties,” he said, adding that the chief secretary was in a better position to say anything on the issue.

A former federal minister, Faisal Saleh Hayat, had alleged that the frozen cash money totaled about Rs 1.77 billion.

The Rawalpindi accountability court had quashed seven corruption cases against Zardari. Under the NRO, all corruption cases against politicians and bureaucrats registered since the October 1999 takeover had been dismissed.

The move had paved the way for Benazir Bhutto's return from exile before she was assassinated in December last year.

The cases dropped against Zardari include illegal payments relating to the purchase of tractors and construction of a polo ground inside the Prime Minister's House, kickbacks and commissions in several government contracts.

However, a money-laundering case is still pending against him in Switzerland. Zardari spent over eight years in jail without being convicted and has been insisting that the charges were politically motivated.

Kabul, June 29
A NATO soldier has been killed in a bomb blast in the troubled southern Afghan province of Helmand, the military said today.

The soldier, whose nationality has not been revealed, died when the improvised bomb exploded in Lashkar Gah, capital of the restive province yesterday, the force said.

"An ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) soldier died in an explosion while on a security patrol with an Afghan national army unit," the force said in a statement.

The latest death takes the number of international soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 109 this year. Fortytwo of them have died since the start of June, the deadliest month for NATO deployment since 2001.

It was not known who was behind the attack but similar bombings have in the past been blamed on the Taliban, a militant group that has been leading a bloody insurgency since their ouster in a US-led invasion in 2001. — AFP

Kuala Lumpur, June 29
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim today took refuge in the Turkish Embassy here amid high drama after the police began probing fresh sodomy charges against him, nearly a decade after a similar case led to his sacking from the cabinet and imprisonment.

In a statement, Anwar (60) claimed he had taken the step as he feared for his personal safety and thanked the Turkish Ambassador for “extending an invitation to seek refuge within the embassy”. A 23-year-old Malay man, reportedly an aide to Anwar, lodged a police report yesterday accusing the opposition leader of sodomy.

Claiming that the charges against him were fabricated, Anwar said since the March 8 elections, which saw the ruling alliance suffer its worst ever electoral performance in decades, he had been advised by some sources from within the government and military intelligence that “certain agents” from within the ruling Barisan Nasional leadership had “initiated plots” to harm him or his family or supporters.

“I have been told that my assassination has not been ruled out as means to subvert the people's will and bring an end to the transformational changes taking place in Malaysia,” the statement issued on his blog said.

Anwar, who was once part of the powerful ruling coalition, was sacked by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad for sodomising his driver and trying to cover up the act in 1998, but the beleaguered leader claimed that he was framed to stop him from challenging Mahathir's leadership.

The development sparked fresh political tensions in the country where the main ruling party United Malays National Organistaion is witnessing a power struggle between Premier Abdullah Badawi and his mentor Mahathir. — PTI

Upholding the historic declaration of May 28 taken at the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly that had declared Nepal a federal democratic republic state by abolishing the 239-year old monarchy, the Nepal Supreme Court on Sunday said that it was fully constitutional.

Issuing a verdict on a petition filed by a lawyer Ram Prasad Ojha challenging the May 28 declaration, a bench of the apex court said the Assembly’s declaration was made in the due process as per the constitutional provision.

Last week, Ojha had filed a case against the government, Constituent Assembly and its acting chairman saying that the May 28 declaration was unconstitutional as the government has yet to nominate 26 members in the Assembly.

However, Sharma said there was no need to halt other activities in the Assembly on the pretext of not nominating 26 members in the assembly.

On last Sunday, the Supreme Court had issued a show-cause order in the name of the government regarding its decision to provide Nagarjun Palace to the dethroned king Gyanendra and Mahendra Manjil to his mother Ratna and security personnel for their security arrangement.

Kuala Lumpur, June 29
In a movie-like attack, an armed group gatecrashed a Hindu wedding moments before the bride and groom were about to marry, but a detective among the guests opened fire on the assailants adding to the real-life drama.

The group of six armed attackers, which included a woman, ordered the wedding be stopped before they began attacking the guests, The Star reported.

The detective among the guests then fired at them, seriously injuring one of them, it said. The group arrived just before the marriage ceremony was scheduled to begin and "began shouting and warning the crowd that the wedding should not be held before they started attacking the guests," the report said, quoting a senior police officer.

"A police detective ... who was invited as a guest identified himself as a policeman to the group and warned them to stop but they charged at him, forcing him to fire four shots," he was quoted as saying.

He said six guests suffered minor injuries in the incident, adding that the police was still investigating the motive of the attack. The wedding had been postponed indefinitely, the report said. — PTI

London, June 29
Islamist terror groups are mulling purchase of ambulances and phased-out police cars in a bid to carry out suicide attacks in Britain, according to the country's intelligence agency, MI5.

In a report to the chief constable with the British police, MI5's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has warned that terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida outfit might import the tactic already used by fundamentalists in Iraq and Israel, The Sunday Times reported.

Every year dozens of the police cars, ambulances and fire engines are sold in Britain. Some are fully marked and can be bought for as little as £1,500.

The MI5 report highlights recent attacks by the Al-Qaida in war-torn Iraq. In fact, it points to one in February in which a suicide bomber drove a stolen ambulance packed with explosives into an Iraqi police station.

The bomber tried to break through a checkpoint but the vehicle exploded when the police opened fire.

According to the report, terrorists have been using ambulances to transport bombs in Israel since at least 2002.

It has cited a secret report by the Israeli armed forces that the Palestinian terrorists have used ambulances to ferry the recruits and equipment around the West Bank.

Assistant chief constable Steve Watts of the Hampshire police, who's chairing a national security committee to tackle the terrorist threat, said, "What concerns me is the lack of legislation available for the police service to adequately address the threat of pseudo-emergency service vehicles used in such an environment." — PTI 

BRIEFLY

16 hurt after live firing at French army show
TOULOUSE, (FRANCE): As many as 16 persons, including four children, were wounded after a soldier fired live ammunition during a military show in the southern French town of Carcassonne, a local official said on Sunday. The accident occurred during a combat demonstration by the Third Marine Parachute regiment in which a soldier used live ammunition instead of blanks, said Bernard Lemaire, the prefect of the southwestern region of L'Aude. — Reuters

Protests over schoolgirl’s death turn violent
BEIJING: Rioters set a police station and government buildings on fire after protests by angry villagers over the probe into a schoolgirl's death turned violent in southwest China, officials said. The protesters ransacked and torched many offices and some cars in Weng'an county seat in the Guizhou province on Saturday. The agency did not explain the reason for the anger of the protesters, except saying that some people who did not know the exact content of what had happened were instigated. — PTI

Balochistan lawmakers oppose dam construction
Islamabad: Lawmakers in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan Assembly have demanded that the federal government drop plans to build a dam in the region as the structure will damage a Hindu temple visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. In a joint resolution members of the assembly wanted the federal government to cancel plans for building the dam on the Hangol river that would pass near the Makran coastal highway close to the Hinglaj Mata temple. — PTI

Supermodel falls to death from building
NEW YORK: Supermodel Ruslana Korshunova, whose face graced the cover of the Vogue magazine, fell to her death from her apartment building in an apparent suicide, just four days before her 21st birthday. Korshunova, known for her distinctive long hair and green eyes, died in the fall on Saturday, onto the busy Water Street in Manhattan's financial district,Newsday reported. — PTI

China rolls out upgraded regional aircraft
BEIJING: China has rolled out an upgraded version of its regional aircraft, Modem Ark (MA) 600, in its quest to be the world’s leading maker of turbo-prop regional aircraft. The 60-seat MA 600, an improved version of MA 60, is 300 kg lighter than the old model with enhanced energy-saving capacity, improved power system, cabin design and trans-ocean flight capacities, the aircraft maker Xian Aircraft industry said. — PTI

Pianist Leonard Pennario dead
LOS ANGELES: Pianist and best-selling classical recording artist Leonard Pennario has died. He was 83. Pennario died on Friday at his home in La Jolla, California, from complications of Parkinson's disease, his biographer Mary Kunz Goldman said. Pennario who won a Grammy in the 1960s, was a passionate performer who enjoyed playing in front of a live audience, Kunz said. Pennario was born in Buffalo, New York, on July 9, 1924. — AP