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After Mosul, Iraq rebels take Saddam’s home town Tikrit An image grab shows the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants near the central Iraqi city of Tikrit.
AFP Uzbek militants claim Karachi airport attack |
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Putin accuses Ukraine of sabotaging gas talks European Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger arrives for an EU-Russia-Ukraine trilateral energy meeting in Brussels. Reuters
15-yr jail for icon of Egypt’s 2011 revolt Russia ready to sell MI-35 copters to Pak
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After Mosul, Iraq rebels take Saddam’s home town Tikrit Tikrit, June 11 Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took control a day earlier of much of Mosul, the country's second-largest city, in a major blow to the authority of the country's Shiite government and a sign of Iraq's reversals since US forces withdrew in late 2011. The Sunni militants also gained entry to the Turkish consulate in Mosul and held captive 48 people, including diplomats, police, consulate employees and three children, according to an official in the office of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. An estimated half a million fled the economically important city. Tikrit residents reached by telephone said the militant group had taken over several police stations in the Sunni-dominated city. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of their safety. As night fell, several hundred gunmen were in Tikrit, with clashes still taking place between the insurgents and military units on its outskirts, said Mizhar Fleih, the deputy head of the municipal council of nearby Samarra. Two Iraqi security officials confirmed that Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin province, was under the control of the ISIL, and said the provincial governor was missing. Tikrit is 130 kilometres north of Baghdad. The major oil refinery in Beiji, located between Mosul and Tikrit, remained in government control, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to talk to reporters. Turkish officials trying to free the captives at the consulate in Mosul have been in direct contact with the militants as well as Iraqi officials and believe that the hostages are safe, said an official in Erdogan's office. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of he was not authorised to comment to reporters on the sensitive issue. Security officials in the Turkish consulate in Mosul had allowed the militants in after being threatened with explosives, the official said. Turkish officials trying to free the captives have been in direct contact with the militants as well as Iraqi officials and believe that the hostages are safe, he added. US vows more aid The United States today vowed to boost aid to Iraq as it scrambled to respond to a lightning offensive by jihadists sweeping closer to Baghdad after seizing two cities. Washington is committed to "working with the Iraqi government ato support a unified approach against ISIL's continued aggression," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. — AP Bombings in Shiite areas kill 37 Baghdad: Bombings that included a suicide attack on tribal leaders in Baghdad hit Shiite areas of central and southern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 37 persons, officials said. They targeted three Baghdad neighbourhoods as well as Karbala and Basra provinces, south of the capital. Turkish consul, 47 others kidnapped in Mosul Ankara: Militants stormed the Turkish consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday and kidnapped 48 persons, including the head of the diplomatic mission, a Turkish government official said. "Fortyeight Turks including the consul, staff members, guards and three children were abducted," the official said. The kidnappings came a day after the Mosul consulate said fighters from the powerful jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized 28 Turkish truck drivers.
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Uzbek militants claim Karachi airport attack Islamabad, June 11 Ten Uzbek militants entered the Jinnah International Airport on Sunday night from different directions in two groups, resulting in a bloody standoff lasting for about 13 hours. Taliban has claimed responsibility of the attack. Shahidullah Shahid, Taliban spokesperson, told media that it was a joint operation by the TTP and Uzbeks. He said the groups had also cooperated in the past as they are fighting for a common purpose. Al-Qaida linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) said in a statement today that its fighters attacked the airport. “Ten brave martyrdom-seeking mujaahids of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan wearing their explosive-filled vests attacked a very special section of Karachi International Airport of Pakistan,” the group said. It said the attack was in revenge to the May 21 air strikes by army in North Waziristan which had targeted the Uzbek rebels’ hideouts. Earlier, Director General paramilitary Rangers had said that the attacker did not look like locals and had facial resemblance with people from Uzbekistan, Chechnya and Afghanistan. IMU fighters, who are not more than a few hundreds, are hosted by Pakistan Taliban in the tribal region and they are known for their ruthlessness and ferocity. — PTI Pak police registers FIR against Taliban
Karachi: The police on Wednesday registered a criminal case against outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leaders under the Anti-Terrorism Act for carrying out an assault on Karachi's international airport this week. The FIR was registered in Karachi's airport police station under the Anti-Terrorism Act, nominating the top brass of the militant outfit, including its chief Mullah Fazlullah, spokesman Shahidullah Shahid and other militants. |
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Putin accuses Ukraine of sabotaging gas talks Brussels, June 11 The dispute is part of a broader stand-off between Ukraine and its former Soviet master, as Kiev’s new West-leaning leadership struggles to contain a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in its eastern provinces. Arguments over what Russia charges for its gas have rumbled on for years and led to supply cut-offs in 2006 and 2009. Putin, meeting his government outside Moscow, said Russia had offered a discount of $100 per 1,000 cubic metres by removing an export duty. That would roughly bring it in line with the price paid by other European consumers. “The reduction is too little for our Ukrainian partners, they want more, although it’s not clear on what basis,” he said. “If this is the case, then it seems that the issue is being driven into a dead end.” The latest crisis flared with the overthrow of Ukraine’s Moscow-leaning president Viktor Yanukovich in February, after which Moscow annexed its neighbour’s Crimea region and nearly doubled the price Kiev has to pay for gas. — Reuters
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15-yr jail for icon of Egypt’s 2011 revolt Cairo, June 11 The sentence against Alaa Abdel-Fattah is by far the toughest against any of the liberal, pro-democracy activists behind the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak’s 29-year regime. It is also the first conviction of a prominent activist since former Army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took office as the President on Sunday. In the 11 months since el-Sissi ousted the country’s first freely elected President, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi, authorities have launched a massive crackdown on Islamists, detaining at least 16,000 and killing hundreds. That crackdown has overshadowed another, albeit smaller, campaign against secular activists opposed to what they see as the return of Mubarak-era policies. Security officials said while Abdel-Fattah was convicted and sentenced in absentia, he did turn up at the Cairo courtroom later today and was detained by the police. The absentia sentencing means that he now faces an automatic retrial, although the conviction stands in the meantime. The case against Abdel-Fattah dates back to late last year when he was accused of taking part in an “unauthorised” demonstration against a controversial law that places rigid restrictions on street protests. According to prosecutors, Abdel-Fattah was accused of taking part in an illegal demonstration, using force to take possession of a two-way radio held by a policeman and blocking traffic. — AP
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Russia ready to sell MI-35 copters to Pak Islamabad, June 11 Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Alexey Dedov announced this at a news conference held in the embassy yesterday, ahead of next week’s visit of Pakistani Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz to Russia. “Pakistan has expressed its interest in buying MI-35 helicopters and we have shown our willingness to provide them,” said the ambassador. He said the deal was not finalised yet but the two sides were in touch over the issue. “There is ongoing cooperation with Pakistan in the field of defence and counter-terrorism and security,” Dedov said. — PTI
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Indian-origin professor awarded for education Japan accuses China of ‘dangerous’ flights Pak brothers sentenced to 12 yrs in jail for cannibalism Rowling donates £1 m to keep Scotland within UK Indian-origin doctor accused of ‘serious failings’ in UK US mom held after son brings grenade to school Indian worker jailed for Saudi man's death in Bahrain
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Al-Qaida-inspired militants today seized effective control of Saddam Hussein's hometown of
Tikrit, expanding their offensive closer to the Iraqi capital as soldiers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Wednesday of forcing gas talks into a “dead end” by rejecting a price cut offer made amid a row threatening supplies to the rest of Europe. As Kiev demanded contract changes to lower the highest prices in Europe for Russian gas supplies, Moscow also dug in its
heels.
