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Pak suspends NATO supplies to tackle ultras
Kasab could be Pak national: Durrani
UAE teachers swim for charity
Iraqi shoe-thrower’s trial postponed
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Vertical Wonder
Jamaat fares badly in B’desh polls
Fewer journos killed in 2008
Russia, China to help ease Indo-Pak tension
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Pak suspends NATO supplies to tackle ultras
Jamrud (Pakistan), December 30 Militants have launched a string of attacks in the recent months with an aim to choke off supplies trucked to foreign forces in landlocked Afghanistan through north-west Pakistan from the port of Karachi. Khyber’s top administrator Tariq Hayat told reporters that a curfew had been imposed and the main road leading to the Afghan border had been sealed. “Supplies to NATO forces will remain suspended until we clear the area of militants and outlaws who have gone out of control,” he said. Hayat said security forces, backed by helicopter gunships, artillery and tanks, began an offensive early today against 26 targets, including militant strongholds. “Our targets are very clear and specific. We're after them and will try our best to avoid civilian losses,” he told reporters in the town of Jamrud. The Khyber Pass runs between the north-western city of Peshawar and the border town of Torkham and is a vital supply line for more than 65,000 Western troops battling the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. The US military sends 75 per cent of supplies for the Afghan war through or over Pakistan, including 40 per cent of the fuel for its troops, the US defence department says. The supply route is likely to become even more important as the United States sends more troops to Afghanistan, perhaps doubling the number to about 60,000 next year. A spokesman for NATO's Afghan force welcomed the effort to make the route safer and played down the impact on supplies. “It will not have a major impact for it's temporary and we have stocks and supplies. Overall, it will be a good thing,” said the force spokesman in Kabul, Captain Mark Windsor. Two intelligence officials in the region, who declined to be identified, said troops were meeting pockets of militant resistance, while another government official said troops had captured two militant hideouts. Four civilians and one militant had been killed while seven people, including women and children, were wounded, the government official said. The offensive comes as tension with old rival India is running high after last month's militant attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai. The Pakistani military has moved some troops off its western border, where security forces have been fighting militants in several places, in response to the tension. Hundreds of trucks have been destroyed and several drivers have been killed over the past month and many truckers have stopped taking supplies along the route. The violence has exposed the vulnerability of the routes and forced NATO to look for alternatives, including through Central Asia into northern Afghanistan. There are two routes into Afghanistan from the Pakistani port of Karachi, one through the Khyber Pass and the other through the town of Chaman to the southwest, leading to the Afghan city of Kandahar. Hayat said ethnic Pashtun tribesmen in the region had been warned not to shelter militants. “It's very clear that we won't spare protectors or anyone who tries to give them shelter. We want to get rid of them and we mean business this time,” he said. — Reuters
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Kasab could be Pak national: Durrani
Islamabad, December 30 “Could be. I am not saying more than that because we don’t have... I hate to say this we don’t have proof,” Durrani told
CNN-IBN when asked if some of the Mumbai attackers, including Kasab, could be from Pakistan. Durrani’s remarks came in the backdrop of Pakistan’s constant denial that there was any Pakistani link to the Mumbai attacks. Durrani however, said that till now there was no evidence of involvement of Pakistani nationals in the November 26 carnage and that India should let the investigations into the attacks finish first. Durrani said the Pakistan government was looking at the letter written by Kasab in which he requested consular access, and also wanted to meet the Pakistani High Commissioner in India. Kasab has also asked for legal aid from Pakistan in the same letter. He said Pakistan was looking at the letter from Kasab and was trying to formulate its response. He also stressed that Pakistan was also a victim of terror, just like India.Seeking friendly ties with India, Durrani said both countries need to remove the “mistrust” and “put behind” the Mumbai attacks to jointly fight terrorism. “We want a nice friendly relationship with India so that we can both live in peace. This is not only good for the two countries, but good for the whole region,” Durrani said. “We are not making any demands, we are only suggesting that let’s put this behind us and jointly fight this menace,” he said. — PTI
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UAE teachers swim for charity
Dubai, December 30 Three teachers, Jean Linehan, Andrew O'Sullivan and Margo Tummel, all from Dubai Women's College (DWC), yesterday swam 1,000 metres in the iconic Burj Al Arab for Medecins Sans Frontiers' (MSF), an international independent humanitarian medical organisation, to assist in their relief programmes. The swim was the largest around the Burj. “I participated because I think MSF is a great organisation, which provides health care in areas where there is little to no health care available,” DWC faculty Jean Linehan said. Several DWC members have participated in the event over the years and were able to raise more than USD 6,807 for MSF. The event was organised by Sirius and supported by the Red Crescent, UAE. — PTI
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Iraqi shoe-thrower’s trial postponed
Baghdad, December 30 “The postponement came after Zaidi’s lawyers presented an appeal to a higher court,” Abdel Sattar Beyraqdar said. “The Supreme Criminal Court decided to postpone the trial of journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi until the higher court issues its decision,” he said, adding that a new trial date would be set later. The 29-year-old journalist for the Al-Baghdadia television channel had been due to appear in court this Wednesday on charges of “aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit.” Zaidi’s lawyer, Dhiya al-Saadi, said he had requested that the trial be cancelled because his client’s actions fell within his constitutional rights to express himself freely. “Our appeal is based on the fact that Zaidi simply expressed his rejection of the occupation and the policy of repression against Iraqis. Zaidi’s action falls within the framework of freedom of expression,” his lawyer said earlier this week. “If the court rejects our request for cancellation, the defence will appeal to a higher court,” Saadi said. Zaidi threw his shoes at Bush during the US president’s farewell visit to Iraq on December 14, an action considered a grave insult in the Arab world. He also insulted the American president, shouting: “It is the farewell kiss, you dog.” His action was hailed across the Arab world as an ideal parting gift to a president widely unpopular in the region. — AFP
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Vertical Wonder
Dubai, December 30 A company statement claimed today that the tower, which is on course to open in 2009, achieved the distinction of being the world’s tallest structure surpassing the KVLY-TV mast (628.8 metres) in North Dakota, US. The high-rise is already taller than Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which at 508 metres has held the tallest building in the world title since it opened in 2004. Burj Dubai also surpassed the 31-year-old record of CN Tower, which at 553.33 metres has been the world’s tallest free-standing structure on land since 1976. Ahmad Al Matrooshi, the managing director of Emaar Properties UAE, said, “This has been a landmark year for Burj Dubai as it consolidated its global leading position in the construction of high-rises. Every aspect of Burj Dubai, now, is a world-first and highlights the new aspects of construction technology employed for the tower. “A mixed-use tower, Burj Dubai will have residences and commercial spaces apart from The Armani Hotel Dubai and Armani Residences, luxury hospitality ventures by Emaar in association with haute couture major Giorgio Armani SPA. When completed, Burj Dubai will meet all four criteria listed by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which classifies the world’s tallest structures. Currently, some 8,500 professionals and skilled workers are employed on-site at Burj Dubai. Cladding work is nearing completion and work on interiors, spire and other support systems is progressing. “Burj Dubai also positioned Dubai in the global spotlight and several plans are currently underway to mark the opening of the tower in 2009,” Matrooshi
added. — PTI
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Jamaat fares badly in B’desh polls
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami were wiped out in Monday’s elections, winning only two seats out of the 300-seat national parliament, after suffering heavily from a nationwide campaign which highlighted their association with terrorism and war crimes in the country’s 1971 war against Pakistan. Monday’s humiliating loss came as a slap on the face of Jamaat, who had fought for decades to enter the political mainstream as the country’s premier Islamic party.
Often accused of patronising militants in Bangldesh, responsible for a rise in terrorist attacks since 2000, the party’s future is now uncertain. All of Jamaat’s top leaders were defeated by large margins, failing to hold on to seats they had maintained since 1991.
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Fewer journos killed in 2008
Paris, December 30 “The figures may be lower than last year’s, but this should not mask the fact that intimidation and censorship have become more widespread, including in the West,” the RSF report said. Iraq remained the deadliest country for reporters with 15 deaths over the past 12 months, but that was down significantly from 47 in 2007 and 46 in 2006. After Iraq, Pakistan, the Philippines and Mexico were the most dangerous countries for reporters, while the death toll in Africa dropped from 12 in 2007 to three in 2008. Then, some 673 journalists were arrested this year as compared to 887 in 2007 and 29 were kidnapped against the previous 67. RSF said for the first time in 2008, a man acting as a “citizen journalist” was killed. Chinese business man Wei Wenhua was beaten to death in rural China after he filmed police clashing with villagers. Online censorship was recorded in 37 countries, with China, Syria and Iran leading the way. In Myanmar, outspoken journalists and bloggers were jailed in a crackdown by the military government. — Reuters
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Russia, China to help ease Indo-Pak tension
Moscow, December 30 “The ministers expressed serious concern in connection with the rising tension in the relations between India and Pakistan,” Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. “They agreed that Russia and China, intensively coordinating their activities, will make every possible efforts to prompt New Delhi and Islamabad to find ways to the relaxation of tension, exclusively through political and diplomatic means,” it added. — UNI
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