W O R L D

500 Taliban flee in Afghan jailbreak
* Kandahar prisoners dig 360-m tunnel
* Bomb used to blow up gates
* Escape happened around midnight
Kabul, April 25
Nearly 500 Taliban prisoners have escaped from Kandahar prison in southern Afghanistan through a tunnel hundreds of metres long, officials said today. The Taliban said it was behind the huge jailbreak and that all of those who escaped were members of the militant organisation. "A tunnel hundreds of metres long was dug from the south of the prison into the prison and 476 political prisoners escaped last night," said prison director General Ghulam Dastageer Mayar.

THE GREAT ESCAPE: An Afghan cop sits next to the entrance of the tunnel. — AFP

Air strike flattens building in Gaddafi compound * Gaddafi government official says leader was target * Kuwait to contribute $177 million to rebels: Rebel leader * Heavy artillery and mortar fire reported in Misrata

Tripoli, April 25 NATO forces flattened a building inside Muammar Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziyah compound early Monday, in what a press official from Gaddafi's government said was an attempt on the Libyan leader’s life. Firefighters were still working to extinguish flames in part of the ruined building a few hours after the attack, when foreign journalists were brought to the scene in Tripoli. Gaddafi loyalists at the site of his bomb-damaged office in Tripoli on Monday. — AFP

US considers ISI a terror organisation, claims report
London, April 25
US authorities have described Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency as a terrorist organisation and considered it as much of a threat as Al Qaida and the Taliban.

Govt panel clears Yunus of mishandling foreign funds
Dhaka, April 25
Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus was today cleared of misappropriating Norwegian aid money for his Grameen Bank by an official committee but the finding is unlikely to change the Bangladesh government's decision to see his ouster.

500 Taliban flee in Afghan jailbreak
* Kandahar prisoners dig 360-m tunnel
* Bomb used to blow up gates
* Escape happened around midnight

Kabul, April 25
Nearly 500 Taliban prisoners have escaped from Kandahar prison in southern Afghanistan through a tunnel hundreds of metres long, officials said today. The Taliban said it was behind the huge jailbreak and that all of those who escaped were members of the militant organisation. "A tunnel hundreds of metres long was dug from the south of the prison into the prison and 476 political prisoners escaped last night," said prison director General Ghulam Dastageer Mayar.

The acting police chief of Kandahar, Shair Shah Yousufzai, also confirmed the escape, saying: "Last night some political prisoners broke out of the prison and have escaped."

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said the militant Islamists were responsible for the mass break-out. "Prisoners dug a 360-metre-long tunnel to the south of the prison. "They started getting out of the prison at 11:00 pm (1830 GMT) last night and by early morning today, 541 prisoners escaped the prison," he said.

"They all have made it safe to our centres and there was no fighting." Ahmadi that 106 were Taliban commanders while the rest were footsoldiers. The Taliban are known to exaggerate their claims in relation to incidents during the insurgency. The jail break is the second major escape in three years to hit Kandahar prison.

In 2008, around 1,000 prisoners including Taliban militants escaped after the Taliban used a truck bomb to blow open the gates. — AFP

Air strike flattens building in Gaddafi compound
* Gaddafi government official says leader was target
* Kuwait to contribute $177 million to rebels: Rebel leader
* Heavy artillery and mortar fire reported in Misrata

25 killed in Syria Damascus: Syrian troops backed by tanks stormed the flashpoint town of Daraa on Monday killing at least 25 persons witnesses said, as a leading rights activist accused Damascus of opting for a “military solution” to crush dissent. Troops also launched assaults on the towns of Douma and Al-Muadamiyah near Damascus, witnesses said, as the head of the UN human rights agency slammed what she said was the Syrian security forces' disregard for human life. — AFP

Tripoli, April 25
NATO forces flattened a building inside Muammar Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziyah compound early Monday, in what a press official from Gaddafi's government said was an attempt on the Libyan leader’s life. Firefighters were still working to extinguish flames in part of the ruined building a few hours after the attack, when foreign journalists were brought to the scene in Tripoli.

The press official, who asked not to be identified, said 45 persons were hurt in the strike, 15 of them seriously, and some were still missing. That could not be independently confirmed.

Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam said the Libyan government would not be cowed by such attacks. Gaddafi’s compound has been hit before, but NATO forces appear to have stepped up the pace of strikes in Tripoli in recent days. A target nearby, which the government called a car park but which appeared to cover a bunker, was hit two days ago.

The US, Britain and France say they will not stop their air campaign over Libya until Gaddafi leaves power. Meanwhile, government troops bombarded the western rebel bastion of Misrata again on Sunday, two days after announcing their withdrawal following a two month siege. Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference in Kuwait that the Gulf state had agreed to give 50 million Kuwaiti dinars ($177 million) to his rebel council to help pay workers in the eastern part of the country under its control. — Reuters

US considers ISI a terror organisation, claims report

London, April 25
US authorities have described Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency as a terrorist organisation and considered it as much of a threat as Al Qaida and the Taliban.

Recommendations to interrogators at Guantanamo Bay rank the ISI Directorate alongside Al Qaida , Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon as threats, The Guardian reported quoting secret US files obtained by it.

“Being linked to any of these groups is an indication of terrorist or insurgent activity,” the documents dated September 2007 said.

“Through associations with these organisations, a detainee may have provided support to Al Qaida or the Taliban, or engaged in hostilities against US or coalition forces (in Afghanistan),” the document stated.

The fresh revelation on ISI links with terror groups, The Guardian said, comes on the heels of its own “published evidence” that US intelligence services had been receiving reports of ISI support for the Taliban in Afghanistan for many years.

In the Threat Indicator Matrix in the new document, the ISI is listed among 36 groups, including Egyptian Islamic Jihad, led by Al Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs; the Iranian intelligence services, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Though the document dates from 2007 it is unlikely the ISI has been removed from the current Threat Indicator Matrix, the report said. — PTI

Govt panel clears Yunus of mishandling foreign funds

Dhaka, April 25
Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus was today cleared of misappropriating Norwegian aid money for his Grameen Bank by an official committee but the finding is unlikely to change the Bangladesh government's decision to see his ouster.

The report comes nearly two months after Yunus, a celebrated pioneer of micro-finance, was forced out on March 2 from the Grameen Bank which he founded nearly three decades ago. Bangladesh Finance Minister AMA Muhith today said the committee appointed by the government to investigate Grameen Bank’s operations has found no evidence of financial irregularities.

“The (government) review committee said it did not find any irregularity in handling of the foreign fund,” he told newsmen as the committee submitted its 50-page report.

He said the committee also found that the effective interest rate of the micro financier - 20 per cent on basis loans - was the lowest compared to other micro lending agency of the country. “The committee has given its report within its purview and now the government will take the next step,” Muhith said. The panel also found no truth in allegations that the Bank charged excessive interest rates on loans to the poor. Yunus’ dismissal was upheld by the high court and Supreme Court on the grounds that he had overstayed in his position and ignored requests to step down. — PTI