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Qaida names Adel as interim chief
China, Pak will always be good friends, says Wen
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Roth wins Man Booker International Melbourne, May 18 Philip Roth, the most decorated living American novelist, today won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize, beating off competition from 12 other contenders, including India-born Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry.
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Qaida names Adel as interim chief
New face of
terror He is believed to have served as a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the group responsible for the assassination of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981 Adel fought the Soviets in Afghanistan
during the 1980s and after the fall of the Taliban in the winter of 2001, he fled to Iran
Washington, May 18 Adel is believed to have served as a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the group responsible for the assassination of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981 and is also believed to have fought the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. “Al-Qaida’s interim leader is Saif al-Adel, who has long played a prominent role in the group,” CNN said citing Noman Benotman, who has known Al-Qaida leadership for more than two decades. He was once a leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a militant organisation that used to be aligned with Al-Qaida, but has in recent years renounced Al-Qaida’s ideology, the news channel reported. Benotman told CNN that based on his personal communication with militants and discussions on jihadist forums, Adel, also known as Muhamad Ibrahim Makkawi, had been chosen interim chief of Al-Qaida because the global jihadist community had grown restive in recent days about the lack of a formal announcement of a successor to bin Laden. The presumed successor to bin Laden is his long-time deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is also Egyptian. Benotman, who has long been a reliable source of information about Al-Qaida, said the appointment of Adel as the “caretaker” chief may be a way for the leadership to gauge a reaction to the selection of someone from beyond the Arabian Peninsula as the group’s leader, CNN reported. According to the news network, Adel fought the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 1980s. After the fall of the Taliban in the winter of 2001 he fled to Iran. According to senior Saudi counterterrorism officials, from there Adel authorised Al-Qaida’s branch in Saudi Arabia to begin a campaign of terrorist attacks in the Saudi kingdom that began in Riyadh in May 2003, in a campaign that killed scores. US prosecutors say Adel is one of the Al-Qaida's leading military commanders and helped plan the bomb attacks on the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in 1998. They also say he set up Al-Qaida training camps in Sudan and Afghanistan in the 1990s. But reports have suggested Adel viewed the September 11 attacks as a mistake and criticised bin Laden over them. Mustafa Alani, a political analyst based in Dubai, said he doubted Adel had taken on a temporary leadership role, citing past disputes between Adel and the charismatic Saudi leader. "This man was an opponent of bin Laden and the Sept. 11 attacks. He criticised bin Laden personally, describing him as a dictator who took decisions without referring to his colleagues," he said. Alani also said bin Laden was a symbolic leader who did not need to be replaced. "I am questioning the credibility of the need to replace him. Osama bin Laden is not a leader, he's an ideologist. The idea of replacing bin Laden as a manager, it doesn't work this way," he said. — Agencies
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China, Pak will always be good friends, says Wen
‘Friendly’ display irks US lawmakers Washington: Pakistan’s display of camaraderie with China during Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani’s ongoing visit to the country has left some US lawmakers agitated and asking why Islamabad seeks more and more aid from America even when it calls China its “best friend”. Gilani landed in China on Monday amid strains in ties with the US, and hailed Beijing as Islamabad’s “best” and “most trusted friend”. China in turn “unswervingly” backed Pakistan’s anti-terror efforts. The display has not gone unnoticed in Washington and has raised eyebrows.
Beijing, May 18 “I want to stress that no matter how the international situation changes, China and Pakistan will always be good neighbours, good friends, good partners and good brothers,” Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao assured visiting Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Gilani. Praising Islamabad’s fight against terrorism, China vowed to continue its “’all-weather” friendship with its South Asian ally. The two premiers met on the second day of Gilani’s visit to China that follows the May 2 killing of the Al-Qaida chief by US commandos on Pakistani soil, a raid that has rattled US-Pakistan ties and prompted Islamabad to court ally Beijing. Gilani who arrived here today held talks with Wen detailing at length the Pakistan’s predicament in the aftermath of the killing of bin Laden and pressure being exerted by US to crackdown hard on Taliban groups. He also apprised Premier Wen of several challenges facing Pakistan. For his part Wen highlighted great contribution made by Pakistan in anti terror efforts, a report put out by Chinese state television said. “Pakistan has made great sacrifices and important contributions in the global fight against terror,” Wen said.
— PTI
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Roth wins Man Booker International
Melbourne, May 18 Roth, 78, one of the world’s most prolific, celebrated and controversial writers won the biennial $97,500 award for a body of work stretching over more than half a century. He is the fourth recipient of the award. The prize is awarded for an achievement in fiction on the world stage. It is presented once every two years to a living author for a body of work published either originally in English or widely available in translation in the English language as opposed to the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction, which is awarded for a single book. The prize was first presented in 2005. Roth, who could not travel to Sydney to receive the award because of back problems, said it was a great honour to be recognised, Booker’s website said. “One of the particular pleasures I’ve had as a writer is to have my work read internationally despite all the heartaches of translation that that entails,” the Connecticut-based author said in a statement. “I hope the prize will bring me to the attention of readers around the world who are not familiar with my work. This is a great honour and I’m delighted to receive it.” Roth is best known for his 1969 novel Portnoy’s Complaint, and for his late-1990s trilogy comprising the Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘American Pastora’l (1997), ‘I Married a Communist’ (1998), and ‘The Human Stain’ (2000). He won the National Book Award at 26 for his first book, ‘Goodbye’, ‘Columbus in 1960’, and in 1995 for ‘Sabbath’s Theatre’. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1998 for his novel, American Pastoral. — PTI
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Stars descend for Oprah’s farewell show
Washington, May 18 Billed as "Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular" because Winfrey was kept in the dark about the guest list, the show will air in two parts on May 23 and 24. Winfrey's final original "Oprah Winfrey Show", whose contents are still under wraps, will air on May 25. Videos of viewers talking about how their lives had been positively impacted by the talk show that’s lasted 25 years was screened at the event. “You are surrounded by nothing but love,” Tom Hanks, who acted as master of ceremonies, told Winfrey before introducing the video. Tom Cruise who made a grand entrance on the stage by walking out to the theme music from Mission Impossible, quoted Glinda the Good Witch of the South from The Wizard of Oz and said: “You always had the power [to change lives], and that is the lesson you brought.” Madonna appeared to be the least sensitive one at the ceremony. “A lot of people are inspired by Oprah. I am one of those people, she has balls and a wealth of compassion, and I have learned so much from her,” the singer said. However, the end of the show does not mean the end of her positive impact. John Legend said that 25 new libraries would be built across the US in Winfrey’s honour, and Diane Sawyer took the stage to say that 25,000 oak trees will be planted across the country “to remind everyone to live their best lives.”
— ANI
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I hope the prize will bring me to the attention of readers around the world who are not familiar with my work.