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Libyan rebels reject regime offer to talk
US drone kills Qaida’s No. 2 in Pakistan
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mumbai attacks
Maoist ideologue finally emerges from shadow
of Prachanda
Militants assail NATO base in Afghanistan
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Libyan rebels reject regime offer to talk
Tripoli, August 28 The opposition fighters have threatened to advance westward on the coastal road toward Gaddafi 's hometown of Sirte if tribal leaders there don't agree to surrender peacefully. The fighting in the east comes as the rebels consolidated their hold on the capital, Tripoli, some 560 km to the west of Bin Jawwad. With Gaddafi on the run, his spokesman Moussa Ibrahim called The Associated Press on Saturday to say Gaddafi is still in Libya and offering to have his son, al-Saadi, lead talks with the rebels on forming a transitional government. In the past, Gaddafi referred to the rebels as "thugs" and "rats." Ibrahim said he saw Gaddafi on Friday in Libya but would not give more details. Mahmoud Shammam, the information minister in the rebels' transitional council, rejected the offer. "I would like to state very clearly, we don't recognise them. We are looking at them as criminals. We are going to arrest them very soon," he said at a news conference. Meanwhile, more signs emerged of arbitrary killings of detainees and civilians by Libyan forces as the rebels swept into Tripoli earlier this week, including some 50 charred corpses found in a makeshift lockup near a military base that had been run by the Khamis Brigade, an elite unit commanded by Gaddafi's son, Khamis. Mabrouk Abdullah, who said he survived a massacre by Gaddafi 's forces, also told The Associated Press that guards opened fired at some 130 civilian detainees in a hangar near the military base, and fired again when prisoners tried to flee. Abdullah, who was at the site today, said he and other prisoners were told by a guard they would be released Tuesday. Instead, guards threw hand grenades and opened fire at detainees huddling in a hangar. Abdullah said he had been crouching along a wall and was shot in his side, lifting his shirt to show his injury. As survivors of the initial attack tried to flee, they came under fire again, he said. New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Sunday it has gathered evidence indicating that Gaddafi loyalists killed at least 17 detainees and arbitrarily executed dozens of civilians as rebels moved into Tripoli.
— AP
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US drone kills Qaida’s No. 2 in Pakistan
Rahman, a Libyan explosives expert, was killed on August 22 in Machi Khel village in North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan. “It’s been confirmed that Al-Qaida’s No. 2, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, was killed earlier this week in Waziristan,” a senior US Administration official said. Rahman, who was in his early 40s, presided over the remnants of Al-Qaida and served as a critical link between the lower ranks of the terror group and its top leaders, including bin Laden before his death on May 2 in Pakistan’s Abbottabad in a raid by a Navy Seals team. A senior US administration official called Rahman’s death “a tremendous loss for Al-Qaida” because the group’s new chief Ayman al-Zawahiri “was relying heavily on him to help guide and run the organisation, especially since bin Laden’s death.” American officials described his killing as very significant as compared with other Al-Qaida leaders, because he was one of a new generation of leaders that the network hoped would assume greater control after bin Laden’s death. Rahman had recently taken over as Qaida’s top operational planner and after bin Laden was killed, he became Qaida’s No. 2 leader under Ayman al-Zawahri. A cache of computer files seized from bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, showed that Rahman had emerged as perhaps the most important operational figure in Al-Qaida. A veteran militant who was in regular communication with the Al-Qaida chief, Rahman expressed frustration with the mounting toll of the CIA drone campaign. — PTI
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mumbai attacks
"Now the government of Pakistan will constitute the commission in the light of the court's order. The government will also speak to India and finalise modalities in this regard," said prosecutor Chaudhry Zulifqar, who had filed the application. The order for the setting up of the commission was given by Judge Shahid Rafique. Zulifqar said the visit of a Pakistani commission to India was necessary to make a headway in the trial of seven accused, including LeT commander Zakiaur Rehman, being held in Pakistan. The prosecution had informed the court that it wanted to record the statements of over 20 witnesses in India, but the defence was of the view that it would be a "futile" activity. The court has adjourned the case hearing, being held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi owing to security issue, till September 10. The prosecution had earlier informed the court that the Indian government had agreed in principle to allow the Pakistani commission to interview four persons - two doctors, a magistrate who had recorded the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving attacker, and the police officer who led the investigation into the Mumbai incident. Incidentally, the trial had been marred by repeated delays. Rafique is the fifth judge to hear the case since proceedings began in 2009. — PTI
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Irene fury reaches New York
New York, August 28 There was about a foot of water in the streets at the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan and the tide seemed to be rising, although there was less damage than many had feared. "It's not bad as we they said it would be. The streets are flooded but not as bad as I thought," said John Harris, 37, who defied an evacuation order and stayed home overnight in the Rockaways. "But I'm going to keep my eye on it. I know how to get out of here if I have to." Heavy rains and wind forced the closure of three bridges leading to the Rockaways peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean, and further east on Long Island sand berms built to hold off the flooding and protect coastal businesses appeared to have failed. Irene was blamed for at least nine deaths in North Carolina, Virginia and Florida as it headed up the East Coast.About 3.3 million homes were without electricity and several million people were under evacuation orders. New York City's normally bustling streets were eerily quiet after authorities ordered tens of thousands of residents to evacuate low-lying areas and shut down its subways, airports and buses. Forecasters said Irene still posed a serious threat of storm surge that could raise water levels by as much as 4 to 8 feet in coastal areas from Virginia to Massachusetts. Isolated tornadoes in the New York area were possible. Times Square, often called the crossroads of the world, was almost empty as Irene rolled into the city with full force. After Irene, weather watchers were keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Jose, which formed near Bermuda. — Reuters
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Singapore elects new Prez after recount
Singapore, August 28 Tan (71), former deputy prime minister and a member of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), was declared elected as the city state’s seventh president after he defeated his nearest rival Tan Cheng Bock by a margin of 0.34 per cent, or 7,269 votes. Tan garnered 744,397 votes or 35.19 per cent of the 2.15 million ballots cast yesterday. This election was Singapore’s first contested vote for President, who has mainly a ceremonial role in the country’s parliamentary government since 1993. Tan will take over from President SR Nathan at the end of this month when the Indian-origin leader retires. Nathan did not face any competition when he became President in 1999 and was returned unopposed to a second term later. “I plan to work my utmost for Singaporeans whatever be their political affiliation,” Tan said after the results were announced. “The presidency is above politics.” The returning officer in charge of the election ordered a recount because the difference in the number of votes cast for Tan and Bock was fewer than 2 per cent. Bock, 71, a former PAP member of parliament, received 737,128 votes or 34.85 per cent of the votes, while two other presidential hopefuls went out of the race earlier. Tan comes with the experience of having served as minister with various portfolios, being the Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Chairman of Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation. Welcoming the results and election of Tony Tan, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, “This is the first presidential election in 18 years. It is good that Singaporeans have had the chance to vote for their next President, and to focus on what the elected President is about.”
— PTI
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London carnival kicks
off amid riot concerns
London, August 28 The two-day extravaganza in west London attracts up to a million revellers to watch troupes of dancers in exotic costumes perform on floats as powerful sound systems pump out music. But the festivities almost did not take place at all following England's worst riots for decades and Scotland Yard is deploying 5,500 officers today and 6,500 tomorrow, about a thousand more than last year. The urban unrest, which started in north London on August 6 before spreading across the capital and to other cities, caused enormous damage and left five people dead. Add to this, the Notting Hill Carnival's reputation as a magnet for troublemakers, and many questioned whether the event should go ahead. However, organisers were not ready to admit defeat, especially because the carnival itself originated as an act of defiant celebration in response to race riots in the 1950s. As the parades got underway, festival-goers expressed their delight that the carnival went ahead. "It's a chance to show we can do other things and have a good time," social worker Graham Randall told AFP. "It's healing for the riots. It shows everybody who comes here that we can have a good time in the streets." Revellers milled between the stalls and thumping sound systems, drinking, dancing, and tasting jerk chicken as the smells of open-cooked Carribbean food wafted through the air. In the thin sunshine, youngsters dressed up as dragons paraded through the Notting Hill neighbourhood on what is traditionally "children's day" at the carnival. "This year, carnival is very significant for us in light of the recent events in London," said Ansan Wong, a funding director for one of the bands taking part. "We are hoping that this theatre on the streets will engage several people from all communities to bring the celebrations of the diverse cultures of London." The carnival was founded in 1964 following the disturbances in Notting Hill six years earlier which saw clashes between whites and newly arrived immigrants from the West Indies. Ancil Barclay, the festival's co-director, said cancelling the event would have been the wrong response to the frenzy of rioting, arson and looting earlier this month.
— AFP
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Maoist ideologue finally emerges from shadow
of Prachanda
The 57-year-old Bhattarai, who has a doctorate from New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, has finally emerged from the shadow of his party supremo Prachanda. The vice-chairman of Maoist party, who is from a Brahmin family in western Nepal's Gorkha district, was the deputy PM and finance minister in the government led by Prachanda in 2008. Bhattarai, who is a key party ideologue, played a crucial role in mainstreaming the Maoist guerrillas after a decade- long insurgency following an agreement with the interim government led by GP Koirala in 2006. He earned praises for the surge in revenue collection as the finance minister. After finishing his schooling in Nepal, Bhattarai won a scholarship to study engineering in Chandigarh under the Colombo Plan. He completed his Bachelors in Architecture from there in 1977. In 1979, he enrolled in the New Delhi-based School of Planning and Architecture for Masters in Town and Country Planning, with specialisation in the urban and regional planning. Bhattarai obtained his PhD in Regional Development and Planning from the JNU.
— PTI
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Militants assail NATO base in Afghanistan
Kandahar, August 28 The gunmen then started to shoot toward the base. One was killed, another was captured and the third escaped, Ahsas said. No one else was killed, he said. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that three civilians were wounded one woman and two children. The attack occurred on the same day that a government health worker and his driver were killed in a roadside bomb blast in the north. Ahmad Jawed Karim and his driver hit an explosive as they were driving in Takhar province's Dahana Sangi district, the health ministry said. In the south, meanwhile, two international service members were killed one in an insurgent attack and the other in a bomb blast. NATO forces said the service members died today. NATO typically waits for national authorities to identify their dead and provide details of fatal incidents. The latest military death makes 78 international troops killed so far this month.
— AP
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