W O R L D

70 dead as suicide bomber attacks mosque in Pak
At least 70 people were killed and over 120 injured as a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Pakistani mosque during the Friday prayers in Jamrud town, near the Afghanistan border.

Thai protesters bar PM from entering office
Bangkok, March 27
Thousands of anti-government protesters stopped Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva from entering his office today and vowed to continue their siege until he stepped down.

A view of the damage after a flood hit Jakarta on Friday. A dam on the outskirt of the Indonesian capital burst early morning killing 50 people and flooding hundreds of houses. — REUTERS

BDR Mutiny
3 more ‘killers’ identified
Dhaka, March 27
As many as three more “killers” involved in last month’s carnage in Bangladesh Rifles headquarters have been identified after investigators examined the CCTV footage and recorded video clips captured during the mutiny, officials said.

Kalam chosen for Hoover Medal
New York, March 27
Former President Dr APJ Kalam has been chosen to receive the prestigious 2008 Hoover Medal for his outstanding public service.

70 dead as suicide bomber attacks mosque in Pak
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

At least 70 people were killed and over 120 injured as a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Pakistani mosque during the Friday prayers in Jamrud town, near the Afghanistan border.

Such was the impact of the blast that the mosque, located near a security check post, was almost decimated. The congregation was attended by around 250 persons, including many security personnel and truckers carrying NATO supplies.

Jamrud, situated near the main route to Kabul via the Khyber Pass, has been the target of recent military operations that were meant to secure the route from militants’ attacks for the NATO supplies.

The authorities arrested a suspect near the mosque, who was calling somebody on his mobile phone soon after the blast. He was apparently taken to an unknown place for interrogation.

The suicide attack was widely condemned by Pakistani leadership, including President Asif Zardari and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, who termed the militants and religious extremists as great threat to the country’s stability and durability of the democratic rule.

“The bomber and his operatives have once again demonstrated that this is not a war for Islam and Shariah,” Asfandyar Wali Khan, chief of Awami National Party (ANP) that rules the North-West Frontier Provinces, said. “This is not jihad, but war against humanity,” said Khan, asking people to unite against the enemies of Pakistan and humanity.

Placing much of the blame on foreigners present in the areas, Khan said: “If foreigners are allowed to live in tribal areas without passport and proper documentation, it will only lead to this kind of consequences.”

The bombing took place hours before US President Barack Obama unfolded a new strategy for the Afghan war, which recognised Pakistan as key to eliminating Al-Qaeda and Taliban havens along the Pak-Afghan border and progress in the seven-year military operation in Afghanistan by the United States and its allies.

Most analysts, however, described Obama’s plan as almost a rehash of Bush administration’s policy against the expectations of most Pakistanis.

Prior to the Obama speech, President Asif Zardari told reporters in Quetta that the US President stands for change and was likely to initiate a new approach in the region.

Thai protesters bar PM from entering office

Bangkok, March 27
Thousands of anti-government protesters stopped Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva from entering his office today and vowed to continue their siege until he stepped down.

The campaign, that began yesterday, does not pose a serious threat to Abhisit’s three-month-old government, analysts say, but may distract policy makers from reviving an economy hit by the global downturn and Thailand’s long-running political crisis.

Leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) accuse Abhisit of being a pawn of the military, which ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless 2006 coup. He denies the charge.

“We will stay here as long as it takes to get Abhisit out of office,” Jatuporn Prompan, a UDD leader and member of parliament for the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai opposition party, told.

Abhisit, who easily survived a no-confidence vote in parliament last weekend, and his ministers avoided the government house compound to minimise the risk of clashes between the police and the red-shirted demonstrators.

The compound was occupied for three months last year by the anti-Thaksin People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which also seized Bangkok’s main airport for more than week in a bid to force out a government loyal to the former premier.

Thaksin, who lives in exile after being convicted on conflict of interest charges by a Thai court last year, was due to address the 30,000-strong UDD rally by video link later today. — Reuters

BDR Mutiny
3 more ‘killers’ identified

Dhaka, March 27
As many as three more “killers” involved in last month’s carnage in Bangladesh Rifles headquarters have been identified after investigators examined the CCTV footage and recorded video clips captured during the mutiny, officials said.

The killers of two army colonels were identified on the basis of tapes, the Shamokal newspaper said quoting officials familiar with the investigation even as dramatic pictures of the first few minutes of the mutiny were splashed by several newspapers today.

The pictures, available on the Facebook, showed two armed men failing to fire their guns on the now slain BDR chief Major General Shakil Ahmed as he held a “darbar” or open meeting with officers and soldiers.

A BDR soldier is seen rushing out to call in other armed rebels to kill the officers after their initial attempt failed.

The rebels, in the first few hours of the mutiny, had claimed that Ahmed first shot at the troops.

However, the survivors’ account and the video footages subsequently negated this, proving that the two soldiers came from behind the curtains with sub machine guns to shoot the DG, but failed, apparently, in fear. — PTI

Kalam chosen for Hoover Medal

New York, March 27
Former President Dr APJ Kalam has been chosen to receive the prestigious 2008 Hoover Medal for his outstanding public service.

The citation announced here today said he was being recognised for making state-of-the-art healthcare available to the common man at affordable prices, bringing quality medical care to rural areas by establishing a link between doctors and technocrats, using spin-offs of defence technology to create state-of-the-art medical equipment, and launching telemedicine projects connecting remote hospitals to super-specialty hospitals.

A pre-eminent scientist, a gifted engineer, and a true visionary, he was also a humble humanitarian in every sense of the word, it added. The award, given by representatives from the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, will be presented to Kalam on April 28. — PTI

Row over Hindu-style funeral pyres in UK

London, March 27
As the three-day hearing in the Royal Court of Justice on allowing Hindu-style funeral pyres in Britain concluded yesterday, the judicial review has raised the hackles of many who believe such practices were harming Hinduism and should not be allowed here.

Newcastle-based Davender Kumar Ghai, 70, has approached the high court to repeal a 1903 Act so that Britain’s Hindu community can cremate their dead according to ancient rituals here instead of taking bodies to India for last rites.

Ghai, founder of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society, has been campaigning for a change of British laws to allow funeral pyres conforming to Hindu rites.

The case has been supported and opposed by several people within the Hindu community as well as from the wider British public.

According to Jay Lakhani, director of the Hindu Council, UK, the demand for such a ritual was illogical, morbid and risked damaging the credibility of Hinduism in the UK. He added that Ghai’s argument that his human rights were being compromised since he could not have a Hindu-style funeral pyre was harming Hinduism. — PTI