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Lanka Conflict
41 Tigers killed in Mullaittivu
26/11 report today
US backs South Asian anti-terror task force |
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Nearly 100 killed as bush fire rages in Australia 24 die in Brazil plane crash
Virus ‘grounds’ French fighter planes
Three ‘RAW spies’ held
Pak-origin UK ultras ‘biggest threat’ to US
Blast kills 4 in Afghanistan
US offers Iran incentives to give up nuclear ambition
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Lanka Conflict
Colombo, February 8 “Over 16,600 civilians have moved from the Wanni region into relief camps in Jaffna, Vavuniya and other areas between February 1 and 8,” an army spokesman said. Last month, 3,400 people had come to government-controlled areas. It was expected that at least 80,000 more people will move to government-controlled areas in the next few weeks, he said. President Mahinda Rajapakse last night warned the rebels, who are now limited to a narrow strip of land, to surrender or get killed. “They must let civilians go and then unconditionally give themselves up... I must warn them we will not halt our operations against terrorism until we reach our final objective,” he said. Speaking about the sudden increase in the number of civilians fleeing rebel-held areas in Wanni, a senior defence official said it was a result of a “well-planned rescue mission launched by the security forces”. “Army manoeuvres have been planned and executed with great care in order to increase the opportunity of the civilians to get out,” the official said.
— PTI
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26/11 report today
Islamabad, February 8 The interior ministry's report also states that the attacks were planned not in Pakistan or India but in a European country, Geo News channel quoted sources as saying. The conspirators kept in touch by using the internet, the sources said. The sources also said that cases would be filed against five Pakistanis, including Kasab. Action will be taken against them in the country, according to Pakistani laws and access to Kasab would be sought to identify his Indian “associates”, the sources said. The Pakistan government has not formally stated so far whether it would seek consular access to Kasab, though it has acknowledged that he was a Pakistani national. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said the government would finalise its reponse to the Indian dossier after the report is presented tomorrow. — PTI
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US backs South Asian anti-terror task force The United States has told Bangladesh it supports the proposal to set up a special task force to combat terror in South Asian region. “Terrorism is a global threat. To tackle it an effective manner, we should get organised and cooperate with each other,” said US Assistant Secretary for South Asia, Richard Boucher, who wrapped up a two-day visit Sunday. “So I think it is a good idea. We will see how other countries in the region react to it. The United States will look for ways to support it,”he said. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has proposed the formation of the task force. Boucher also vowed to work with Bangladesh to stop use of its territory by terrorists. “Obviously we all want to work in a way so that terrorists cannot use Bangladesh soil and that would be an important area of cooperation,” said Boucher. He also dismissed the possibility of a US base in Bangladesh any time soon, saying they are more likely to focus on cooperation with the military.
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Nearly 100 killed as bush fire rages in Australia Melbourne, February 8 Ninety-six persons are confirmed dead, surpassing the state’s toll of 75 in the 1983 Ash Wednesday blazes, as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described the inferno as “hell’s fury” unleashed on Victoria. The Australian Associated Press quoted the police as saying that the toll has climbed to 96. The number of dead may rise as blazes continue to ravage the state as 3,000 firefighters struggle to contain seven major fire fronts, the media reported. More than 2,00,000 hectares of area has been affected by the fires that have left at least 640 homes destroyed in more than 400 fires in every part of the state, it said. The Marysville and Kinglake townships have been nearly wiped out as the police suspects some fires were deliberately lit. However, investigators would not be able to establish how many of the fires were arson-related until the scenes are surveyed and the origin of the blazes located, the Herald quoted a police spokeswoman as saying.
— PTI
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Sao Paulo, February 8 The dead were found inside the twin turboprop plane, which went down about 50 miles from the jungle city of Manaus, firefighter Maj Jair Ruas Braga said. Seven children were killed, along with nine women and eight men. A 9-year-old child was among four persons who survived yesterday afternoon crash. Relatives of the survivors told media that one of the engines stopped just before the pilot tried an emergency landing in the Manacapuru river. The Brazilian air force said the flight plan showed 20 persons were on board, but some of the children may not have been listed. — AP
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Virus ‘grounds’ French fighter planes
London, February 8 According to the ‘Liberation’ newspaper, the virus infected the navy’s flight databases and Rafale aircraft were “nailed to the ground” on January 15 and January 16 because they were unable to “download their flight plans”. Though Microsoft had warned several months beforehand that the “Conficker” virus, transmitted through Windows, was attacking computers, media reports claimed the French military ignored the warning and failed to take necessary measures, British newspaper ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ reported. However, the French navy has admitted that during the time it took to eradicate the virus, it had to return to more traditional forms of communication - telephone, fax and post. “It affected exchanges of information but no information was lost. It was a security problem we had already simulated. We cut the communication links that could have transmitted the virus and 99 per cent of the network is safe,” navy spokesman Jrome Erulin told ‘Ouest France’ newspaper. In fact, the virus attacked the non-secured internal French navy network called Intramar and was detected on January 21. The whole network was affected and military staff was instructed not to start their computers. According to the ‘Liberation’, two days later the chiefs of staff decided to isolate Intramar from military’s other computer systems, but certain computers at Villacoublay air base and in the 8th Transmissions Regiment were infected. However, naval officials said the “infection” was probably more due to negligence than a deliberate attempt to compromise French national security. “The virus problem had no effect on availability of our forces.” — PTI
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Three ‘RAW spies’ held
Islamabad, February 8 The three men were arrested at the Baidian Road in Lahore Cantonment and fake passports, identity cards and maps were found in their possession, SSP (operations) Chaudhry Muhammad Shafiq said last night. He claimed that the trio — Muhammad Kamran, Muhammad Umer and Sarfraz — were suspected to have been providing information about religious leaders to RAW and were involved in other illegal activities. The arrested men were taken to an unspecified place for interrogation. The announcement of the arrest came 10 days after the Pakistani police claimed they had arrested three “RAW-trained” Pakistani citizens in the eastern Punjab province for allegedly spying for India. However, there was no word from the authorities on this after that.
— PTI
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Pak-origin UK ultras ‘biggest threat’ to US
London, February 8 According to CIA, which has recruited a number of informants in the Pakistani community, a British extremist of Pakistani origin entering the US is the most likely source of a terror attack on America, Britain’s leading newspaper The Sunday Telegraph reported. A former CIA officer who has advised President Barack Obama, told the British newspaper that the agency has in fact stepped up its efforts after the Mumbai mayhem “laid bare the threat from Lashkar-e-Taiba”, the militant group which has an extensive web of supporters in UK’s Pakistani community. “In the aftermath of the Mumbai attack the US and the UK intelligence services now have to regard Lashkar-e-Taiba as just as serious a threat to both of our countries as al-Qaeda. They have a much more extensive base among Pakistani Diaspora communities in the UK than al-Qaida,” Bruce Riedel said. The CIA has already briefed President Barack Obama about the threats, according to Riedel, who served three US presidents as a Middle East expert on the White House National Security Council. Riedel said: “The British Pakistani community is recognised as probably al-Qaeda’s best mechanism for launching an attack against North America. “The American security establishment believes that danger continues and there’s very intimate cooperation between our security services to monitor that.”
— PTI
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Blast kills 4 in Afghanistan
Kabul, February 8 The other two died were an Afghan interpreter and a policeman. The officials said the group was checking an improvised explosive device today in the Nad Ali district that they believed had been defused. The International Security Assistance Force confirmed there had been a remote-controlled explosion in the district. The US embassy also said it could not confirm the casualties.
— ANI
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US offers Iran incentives to give up nuclear ambition
Washington, February 8 The Obama administration is reviewing its Iran policy and it is willing to talk to Tehran, US Vice-President Joe Biden said in his speech at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy. “We’ll be willing to talk to Iran and to offer a very clear choice, continue down the current course and there will be continued pressure and isolation, abandon the illicit nuclear programme and your support for terrorism and there will be meaningful incentives,” Biden said. According to a transcript of the speech released by the White House, he appealed to the world community for a collective effort to convince Iran to give up its nuclear ambition. “The Iranian people are great people, the Persian civilisation is a great civilisation,” he said, adding, “but Iran has acted in ways that are not conducive to peace
in the region or to the prosperity of its own people”. — PTI
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