W O R L D

Rockets strike as Kabul polls
Kabul, September 18
Afghanistan began voting for a new parliament today after a flurry of insurgent rocket attacks, with security forces on full alert following Taliban threats to derail the high-stakes election. The vote is the latest step in a US-led process to bring democracy to the impoverished and deeply conservative Muslim country ravaged by 30 years of war and gripped by a brutal nine-year Taliban insurgency.

Sorry, ashamed of sex abuse: Pope to UK
London, September 18
Pope Benedict XVI today said he was deeply ashamed of the "unspeakable" sexual abuse of children by priests, telling the British faithful during Mass in Westminster Cathedral that he hoped the church's humiliation would help victims heal.

Pope Benedict XVI chats with Catholic youth in central London on Saturday. — Reuters

A cart with beer barrels takes part in a parade during the opening of the 177th Oktoberfest in Munich on Saturday. Millions of beer drinkers from around the world will come to the Bavarian capital over the next two weeks for the world’s biggest beer festival. — Reuters

Don’t slacken in war on terror: US to Pak army
Islamabad, September 18
The US will not accept any "slackness" on the part of the Pakistan army in the fight against the Taliban due to the military's engagement in flood relief efforts, America's special envoy for the Af-Pak region Richard Holbrooke has said.

Nepali Cong urged to withdraw candidate
Just a day after the chairman of Unified CPN-Maoists, Puspha Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, announced to withdraw his candidature from the prime ministerial runoff, the CPN-UML, the third largest party in Parliament, on Saturday requested the Nepali Congress to withdraw its candidate.

Rockets strike as Kabul polls

Karzai votes for a ‘female-Hindu’ Kabul: Afghan President Hamid Karzai chose a female, Hindu candidate when he voted in Saturday's parliamentary election, two palace officials close to him said. Just two Hindu candidates were on the list of about 600 vying for parliamentary seats in the Afghan capital. Karzai's choice could annoy supporters in deeply conservative, Muslim Afghanistan. "It was Anar Kali Honaryar," one palace official said. — Reuters

Kabul, September 18
Afghanistan began voting for a new parliament today after a flurry of insurgent rocket attacks, with security forces on full alert following Taliban threats to derail the high-stakes election. The vote is the latest step in a US-led process to bring democracy to the impoverished and deeply conservative Muslim country ravaged by 30 years of war and gripped by a brutal nine-year Taliban insurgency.

It comes at a pivotal time for 144,000 US-led NATO troops trying to implement a counter-insurgency strategy to reverse increasing Taliban momentum and allow American troops to start leaving next year.

Insurgents fired off a rocket near the NATO mission's central Kabul headquarters shortly before polls opened at 0230 GMT (0800 IST), but no casualties or damage were reported, a spokeswoman for the alliance said.

Another six landed on the outskirts of the eastern city of Jalalabad near the Pakistan border but there were no injuries, provincial police spokesman Abdul Ghafor said.

Tens of thousands of Afghan and US-led NATO forces are involved in a massive security operation to guard against attack during the election, which many fear may also be marred by fraud and vote-rigging. The Islamist militants - who have been extending their insurgency into once relatively peaceful areas - have called for a boycott, and threatened to attack polling centres, election workers and security forces.

On the eve of the poll, Taliban militants kidnapped an Afghan parliamentary candidate and were blamed for snatching another 18 election workers. The vote is seen as a test of the US-led campaign against the Taliban and the commitment by President Hamid Karzai - whose own re-election last year was mired in massive fraud - to crack down on rampant corruption.

"We do look forward to successful elections," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, but he added there were "serious security concerns in many areas of the country". — AFP

Sorry, ashamed of sex abuse: Pope to UK

London, September 18
Pope Benedict XVI today said he was deeply ashamed of the "unspeakable" sexual abuse of children by priests, telling the British faithful during Mass in Westminster Cathedral that he hoped the church's humiliation would help victims heal.

Benedict also said he hoped that the church would be able to use its contrition to purify itself from the “sins” of its ministers and be able to renew its commitment to educating the young.

Benedict confronted the abuse scandal head-on during his homily, a day after six people were arrested in an alleged terrorist plot against him. They remained in custody Saturday.

The sex abuse scandal has clouded Benedict's four-day state visit to this deeply secular nation with a centuries-old history of anti-Catholic sentiment. Polls have indicated widespread dissatisfaction in Britain with the way Benedict has handled the crisis, with Catholics nearly as critical of him as the rest of the population.

The pontiff issued his comments in the seat of British Catholicism amid speculation that he might meet with British abuse victims, and as abuse survivors and others opposed to his visit prepared a march on Saturday afternoon in London's Hyde Park to demand more accountability. — AP

Don’t slacken in war on terror: US to Pak army

$20 million India aid to Pak through UN United Nations: India has handed over a cheque of $20 million to UN chief Ban Ki-moon for relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected in Pakistan, after Islamabad's insistence that the aid be routed through the world body. India decided to send the money through the UN after Pakistan requested it to do so. — PTI

Islamabad, September 18
The US will not accept any "slackness" on the part of the Pakistan army in the fight against the Taliban due to the military's engagement in flood relief efforts, America's special envoy for the Af-Pak region Richard Holbrooke has said.

"Neither the security situation has changed fundamentally, nor has the Taliban threat receded. With the Americans placed in a difficult situation in Afghanistan, we certainly will not like to see slackness on the part of the Pakistan army in the war on terror," Holbrooke told reporters yesterday.

Responding to a question about the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's claim that Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar is in Pakistan, Holbrooke said, "Yes, the (US) Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) has also said the same thing, but I don't know where Mullah Omar is." The US has always contended that Taliban elements who renounce Al-Qaida would be welcomed back into Afghan politics, the visiting US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan said.

Holbrooke said he did not "believe that the Americans are losing any battles or war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Rather, a recent surge of US forces would improve the situation in eastern Afghanistan soon," he said.

He praised the resilience of the Pakistani people during the unprecedented floods and commended the role of the Pakistan army in rescue and relief operations. The civilian government was doing a "tremendous job" of taking along all political forces at this difficult juncture, he said. — PTI

Nepali Cong urged to withdraw candidate
Bishnu Budhathoki in Kathmandu

Just a day after the chairman of Unified CPN-Maoists, Puspha Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, announced to withdraw his candidature from the prime ministerial runoff, the CPN-UML, the third largest party in Parliament, on Saturday requested the Nepali Congress to withdraw its candidate.

According to UML leader Pradeep Gyawali, the parliamentary party meeting held this morning decided to make an appeal to the Nepali Congress, which has fielded Ram Chandra Poudel as prime ministerial candidate, in this regard.