Pakistani civilians, fleeing from a military operation in North Waziristan tribal agency, arrive in Bannu district on Wednesday. Pakistan eased curfew in a tribal area to allow civilians to flee a major offensive against the Taliban. AFP

Ukraine Prez offers ceasefire 
Kiev, June 18
Ukraine’s President said today that government forces will unilaterally cease fire to allow pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country a chance to lay down weapons or leave the country, a potential major development to bring peace to the country. Petro Poroshenko’s plan, announced following conversations with Russian and German leaders, aims to end two months of fighting in eastern provinces that form the nation’s industrial heartland. It could also help ease the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

Banting, June 18
An overcrowded wooden boat carrying Indonesians home in a storm sank in choppy seas off Malaysia’s west coast early today, leaving 28 people missing and eight dead, Malaysian officials said. At least 61 people survived.

The boat capsized shortly after midnight about 3.7 km from shore on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur while trying to leave Malaysia illegally for Aceh province in Indonesia, maritime agency official Mohamad Hambali Yaakup said.

Tens of thousands of Indonesians work without legal permits in plantations and other industries in Malaysia, and they travel between the countries by crossing the narrow Strait of Malacca, often in poorly equipped boats.

The passengers in the boat that sank were believed to be heading home before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Hambali said survivors were rescued at sea and found on land after swimming to safety; they included 12 women and a child. Those dead were a woman and seven men, he added.

The survivors were being questioned by the police and immigration authorities, and Indonesian embassy officials were also on the scene. A rescue department photo showed about two dozen survivors, who had little belongings with them, sitting outside a building.

Hambali said a ship and several boats with search lights will continue to search for further survivors throughout the night. A helicopter, which earlier scoured the sea, will stop for the night and resume searching tomorrow, he said.

Rescuers were seen recovering a body from sea, laying the dead onto a boat desk and carrying a body on land in Pantai Kelanang, near the sinking.

Police Superintendent Azman Abdul Razak said 100 personnel were involved in the rescue effort.

Hambali said authorities are still investigating why the boat sank but rough seas and an overloaded boat could have been factors. It could also have hit an object as some survivors claimed the boat was leaking, he said. Police told local media the boat capsized during a storm.

He said chances of survival for more than 24 hours without a life vest were very slim.

The boat’s capacity was 50-60 people, but it was believed to be carrying 97. Hambali said some survivors may have swum to shore and gone into hiding. — AP

Kabul, June 18
Afghan presidential run-off candidate Abdullah Abdullah today alleged massive election fraud and demanded an immediate halt to vote-counting amid reports that his rival had a million-vote lead, plunging the war-torn country’s first democratic transition of power into question.

“We suspend engagement with the (election) commission and we have asked our monitors to leave their offices. We are asking for the counting process to be stopped immediately,” Abdullah told reporters.

Ballot boxes had been stuffed and the whole system was working to benefit his rival Ashraf Ghani, the former foreign minister said.

Abdullah, 53, said he had lost trust in the electoral authorities as important concerns he had raised over the election had been ignored.

He complained that there had been no clarification over what he had called inflated turnout figures - and no explanation for the sacking of several thousand election workers after the first round.

A run-off vote to choose who replaces Hamid Karzai was held on June 14. The preliminary result is expected on July 2 and the final result on July 22.

None of the candidates polled more than 50 per cent of votes during the first round in April. Abdullah got 45 per cent of the votes while Ghani received 31.6 per cent, as per the final results, which came amid fraud allegations.

Abdullah yesterday said Ghani’s apparent million-vote lead in the second round elections was due to massive fraud.

Based on initial reports received by Abdullah’s staff, results from Saturday’s vote put Ghani, an ex-World Bank economist in his mid-sixties, in the lead by close to a million votes, Afghan media reported.

Analysts fear allegations of fraud could lead to a lengthy struggle for power, threatening to derail attempts to transfer power democratically for the first time in Afghanistan’s history. — PTI

demanding freedom: People shout for independence during a rally in support of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday. AFP

Kiev, June 18
Ukraine’s President said today that government forces will unilaterally cease fire to allow pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country a chance to lay down weapons or leave the country, a potential major development to bring peace to the country.

Petro Poroshenko’s plan, announced following conversations with Russian and German leaders, aims to end two months of fighting in eastern provinces that form the nation’s industrial heartland.

It could also help ease the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War, which was triggered by Moscow’s annexation of Crimea that followed the ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Russia President.

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a possible cease-fire in a phone conversation with Poroshenko late yesterday. Poroshenko’s office said he also discussed his peace plan with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“The plan will begin with my order for a unilateral cease-fire,” Poroshenko told reporters in Kiev. “I can say that the period of the cease-fire will be rather short. We anticipate, that immediately after this, the disarming of the illegal military formations will take place.” He said that those who lay down arms and haven’t committed grave crimes will be granted amnesty, and there will be joint patrols against looters and other criminals.

Poroshenko didn’t say when the ceasefire could be declared, but the country’s defence minister, Mykhailo Koval, was quoted as saying the ceasefire could begin “literally within days.” — AP

Colombo, June 18
Fifty persons were arrested overnight in Sri Lanka over deadly riots between the majority Sinhala Buddhists and the minority Muslims in a popular tourist region that has killed at least four persons.

“We have arrested 50 of them and are looking to make more arrests,” police spokesman and Superintendent Ajith Rohana said. At least 30 of them have been remanded in police custody.

On Sunday night communal clashes broke out between the nationalist BBS or the Forces of Buddhist Power and the minority Muslims, who constitute about 10 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million population, during a rally.

The BBS over the last two years have been running a counter campaign against what they have termed an extremist campaign by the Muslim community. They accuse minorities of enjoying undue political and economic influence.

At least four Muslims were killed in the clashes since Sunday in the south western coastal areas of Aluthgama, Beruwala and Dharga Town.

Meanwhile, a curfew imposed in the Beruwala and Aluthgama areas on Sunday following violence, was lifted from 8 am today. The police said the curfew would be re-imposed if required.

“These incidents were very unfortunate. Everyone must realize that the country has faced international action so this is not the time to give room for such action,” military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya said.

The UN Human Rights Council’s international investigation on Sri Lanka’s alleged human rights accountability is to commence soon. The action sanctioned by the UN rights body’s three successive resolutions since 2012.

Sri Lanka’s lack of action to control inter-religious tensions was highlighted by the UN rights chief Navy Pillay during her visit to the island last year. — PTI