The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Zardari: Pak committed to better relations with India
Islamabad, August 13
Asserting that Pakistan is committed to better relations with India, President Asif Ali Zardari said he hopes that the search by the two countries for peaceful resolutions to all disputes through sustained and productive dialogue will bear fruit.

Spain wildfires kill 2; 1,000 evacuated
Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire in Torre de Macanes near Alicante, Spain, on Monday.
Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire in Torre de Macanes near Alicante, Spain, on Monday. Two firefighters died from injuries sustained in battling the fire. Nearly 1,000 tourists and island residents were evacuated by boat from a fire raging on the Canary Island of La Gomera. — AFP

Will fight against Hina, ready to replace Ashraf
Islamabad, August 13
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is facing a challenge from within her party, with PPP leader and parliamentarian Jamshed Dasti saying he will contest the next general election from her constituency in Punjab.

Egypt President defends sacking army generals
Cairo, August 13
Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Mursi has defended his surprise move to retire his two powerful generals, saying the decision, described as "revolutionary" by local media, was in the "benefit of this nation".

UN aid chief to visit Syria, but options limited
Geneva, August 13
United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos will go to Syria on Tuesday to discuss ways of increasing emergency aid to civilians, but fighting must ebb before there is any real hope of gaining access to hot spots, diplomats said on Monday.

Unconstitutional SC orders will be resisted: Gilani
Islamabad, August 13
As a fresh confrontation appeared imminent between Pakistan's PPP government and the judiciary, former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has warned that this time the ruling party will not take any "unconstitutional" move by the Supreme Court against his successor "lying down".

Syria rebels ‘shoot down’ jet, army advances in Aleppo

Damascus, August 13
Syrian rebels claimed they downed a fighter jet today in what would be a major coup for the opposition, but the regime seized the upper hand in Aleppo as it advanced into a new rebel-held district.

Government forces also bombarded areas around Damascus and launched a wide sweep of the capital, including its once-bustling historic Old City, while shocking videos emerged showing alleged rebel atrocities in the Aleppo area.

State media said a military plane had crashed in the east of the country while on training patrol after suffering a technical malfunction and that the pilot had ejected.

But the Free Syria Army (FSA), which has been calling for the international community to arm it with anti-aircraft weapons as it battles escalating regime attacks from the sky, claimed it shot down the plane in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

"Yes, we can confirm that an MiG-21 has been downed," said FSA spokesman Kassem Saadeddine. "It was hit with 14.5-calibre anti-aircraft machinegun," he said.

A group of rebels calling itself the "Revolutionary Youth of the Land of the Euphrates" distributed a video showing a man identified as pilot Mufid Mohammed Suleiman, surrounded by three armed men.

"My mission was to bomb the town of Muhasen," said the purported pilot.

If confirmed, the attack would be the first time the rebels have succeeded in downing a Syrian plane since President Bashar al-Assad launched an increasingly brutal crackdown on protests 17 months ago. — AFP

Iran quakes toll reaches 306; disease scare for survivors

An Iranian resident of Baje-Baj village near Varzaqan town sits on the rubble of his destroyed home. — AFP

Tehran, August 13
Twin earthquakes that devastated rural villages in north-western Iran on the weekend killed 306 persons, most of them women and children, and have sparked fears of disease outbreak, officials said today.

Another 3,037 persons were injured, of whom 2,011 were given first aid at the scene and the rest were taken to hospitals, where 700 surgeries were performed, Health Minister Marzieh Vahid told lawmakers in a report published on the Parliament's website.

"We are continuing the search for bodies," she said.

The authorities called off rescue operations yesterday after saying that all possible survivors had been recovered.

Another official addressing the lawmakers, Hassan Ghadami, a deputy interior minister in charge of crisis management, said: "Many of the victims were killed in the first hours (after the quake) due to the mass of muddy rubble... and the old structure of houses in the region."

Head of Iran's emergency services Gholamreza Masoumi warned of a possible outbreak of infectious diseases as homeless survivors huddled in unsanitary conditions, lacking water and portable washrooms, the Fars news agency reported. — AFP

Zardari: Pak committed to better relations with India

Islamabad, August 13
Asserting that Pakistan is committed to better relations with India, President Asif Ali Zardari said he hopes that the search by the two countries for peaceful resolutions to all disputes through sustained and productive dialogue will bear fruit.

Zardari made the remarks in a message issued on the occasion of a seminar to be organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) in Lahore and Amritsar on August 13.

The democratic government and the people of Pakistan "wish to see peace and cooperation flourish in the subcontinent", he said.

India and Pakistan need durable peace and security to focus on the social and economic development of their people, Zardari said.

"On this occasion, I wish to express my full support to the endeavours of SAFMA to bring the people of the two countries closer together and help build bridges of understanding, cooperation and trust," he added.

Zardari said he hoped that the endeavours of SAFMA will encourage "bold steps to make South Asia an economic powerhouse that will benefit" over one billion people.

He further said he hoped SAFMA's efforts would bring the people of the two countries closer together and make them the "building blocks of the architecture of durable peace and cooperation in the region".

Besides organising the seminars simultaneously in Lahore and Amritsar on the theme "In pursuit of shared destiny in the subcontinent", SAFMA has organised the exchange of delegations and a candlelight vigil on both sides of the Wagah border on the eve of the Independence Days of India and Pakistan.

Zardari recently invited Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit Pakistan in November to boost the peace process between the two countries.

India and Pakistan resumed their bilateral dialogue last year after a gap of over two years in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that were blamed on the outlawed Lashkar-e-Toiba. — PTI

Will fight against Hina, ready to replace Ashraf

Islamabad, August 13
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is facing a challenge from within her party, with PPP leader and parliamentarian Jamshed Dasti saying he will contest the next general election from her constituency in Punjab.

Dasti has also offered to replace Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf if he is disqualified by the Supreme Court for refusing to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Dasti, who is known to have widespread grassroots support, told reporters in Multan yesterday that he would contest the upcoming polls from the parliamentary seat currently held by Hina.

"This is not my decision but the voice of the people," he said. — PTI

Egypt President defends sacking army generals

Mohammed Mursi

Cairo, August 13
Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Mursi has defended his surprise move to retire his two powerful generals, saying the decision, described as "revolutionary" by local media, was in the "benefit of this nation".

Mursi was speaking after replacing powerful head of the armed forces Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi and chief-of-staff Gen Sami Anan.

Egyptian media today hailed 60-year-old Mursi's move as "revolutionary" and aimed at curbing the power of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

Tantawi (76) was the head of SCAF, which ruled the country following ouster of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Tantawi was defence minister for nearly two decades under Mubarak.

"The decisions I took today were not meant ever to target certain persons, nor did I intend to embarrass institutions, nor was my aim to narrow freedoms," Mursi said hours after presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali announced the move in a televised statement. — PTI

UN aid chief to visit Syria, but options limited

Geneva, August 13
United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos will go to Syria on Tuesday to discuss ways of increasing emergency aid to civilians, but fighting must ebb before there is any real hope of gaining access to hot spots, diplomats said on Monday.

During her three-day trip, Amos will also visit Lebanon to meet Syrian families who have fled the violence and hold talks on providing support to the growing number of refugees, a UN statement said.

The humanitarian situation in Syria has worsened in recent weeks as fighting spread to Damascus and Aleppo. "Two million people are now estimated to have been affected by the crisis and over one million have been internally displaced," it said.

Amos' schedule of meetings was not released, but the statement said she would meet the Syrian authorities, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and other aid agencies. She went to Syria in March to seek unhindered access for aid workers to the worst-hit areas and secured an agreement from the government for a joint but limited assessment of the humanitarian situation.

But UN efforts to launch a major aid operation since then have been stymied by both bureaucracy and insecurity. The escalation in the 17-month conflict between government forces and rebel fighters means that there are few options for boosting relief operations unless the guns fall silent, diplomats said. "As long as you have violence going on areas with the greatest needs, it becomes an access question. You can't do it with bullets flying," said a Western diplomatic source. — Reuters

Assad’s envoy to visit Beijing

BEIJING: China said on Monday that an envoy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would visit Beijing from Tuesday. The envoy, Bouthaina Shaaban, would meet Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, the ministry said in a statement, adding that China was also considering inviting members of the Syrian opposition to visit.