MUMBAI, Nov 27: As commandos of India’s elite anti-terrorism force, the National Security Guard (NSG), were engaged in fierce battles with terrorists at some places till late Thursday night, officials claimed that terrorists had been flushed out from the five-star Taj Hotel, one of the landmarks of the country’s financial and commercial capital.
The commandos who went into action immediately after the city was attacked on Wednesday night, were engaged in clashes with the terrorists holed up in the Taj, another five-star hotel, Oberoi-Trident, and a synagogue-cum-Jewish education centre, all located in south Mumbai.
The terrorists, whose identity is still not known, although one of them told a TV channel that they belonged to the so far unknown Deccan Mujahideen, launched the audacious attack, firing indiscriminately from their AK-47 rifles at about half a dozen places.
The toll was put at 119 at Thursday midnight with about 300 people having been injured. The dead included about 15 policemen, including two top officers, 10 foreigners and seven terrorists.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that about 25 terrorists were suspected to be involved in the attack on the mage-city, which was virtually crippled on Thursday with government and private offices, banks, schools, colleges and other establishments remaining closed. Stock markets also remained shut.
NSG commandos began hunting the terrorists who had occupied the Taj Mahal Hotel and Oberoi-Trident Hotel in south Mumbai, besides Nariman Bhavan, which houses a Jewish study centre and also serves as a synagogue. About seven militants had occupied the five-storeyed residential building on Wednesday, holding an Israeli rabbi, his wife and child as hostage. The local head office of the orthodox Jewish group, Chabad-Lubavitch, is popular among Israeli tourists visiting India, and many of them stay there for a few weeks.
When the commandos planned to launch an attack on the building, one of the terrorists panicked and tried to escape to an adjoining building. But he fell, got injured and later died. However, the remaining six terrorists continued firing at the commandos, delaying their entry into the building.
The commandos were successful at the Taj Mahal Hotel, where all the hostages were rescued and most of the guests were evacuated.
According to A.N. Roy, Maharashtra’s police chief, there were no more hostages at the Taj Mahal Hotel, though about two or three terrorists were still there in one of the rooms.
But at the Oberoi-Trident Hotel, there were about 40 hostages being held by nearly a dozen terrorists. Another 200 guests were also stranded in the high-rise hotel, adding to the problems of the NSG commandos.
According to an Indian Navy spokesman, about two dozen terrorists had landed in Mumbai after travelling in a merchant vessel, the MV Alpha, from Karachi. The Indian Navy intercepted the vessel on Thursday. The Navy spokesman said that further probe was under way.
Police sources say the terrorists landed in rubber boats near the Gateway of India and headed straight for the half a dozen destinations, armed heavily with weapons and explosives. They even commandeered two police vehicles, firing indiscriminately on the way.
Agencies add: Indian security forces arrested three militants, including a Pakistani national, inside the Taj Mahal hotel, the Press Trust of India news agency reported early Friday.Quoting official sources, the agency report identified the Pakistani national as Ajmal Amir Kamal, a resident of Faridkot, Multan. It also said the militants were members of Lashkar-i-Taiba -- a Pakistan-based group best known for an assault on the Indian parliament in 2001.
The report said the Pakistani detainee told Indian investigators that the group of 12 militants had been dropped off by a merchant vessel 10 nautical miles outside Indian waters, and had reached Mumbai in a small speedboat.
Helicopters buzzed overhead and crowds cheered as the commandos, their faces blackened, moved into the Trident-Oberoi, where 20 to 30 people were thought to have been taken hostage and more than 100 others were trapped in their rooms. Huge flames billowed from an upper floor.
Dipak Dutta told NDTV news after being rescued that he had been told by troops escorting him through the corridors not to look down at any of the bodies. “A lot of chef trainees were massacred in the kitchen.”
Security officials said that seven hostages had been rescued from the Jewish complex. But an Israeli diplomat said that those freed had come from “other buildings” and that there remained an uncertain number of people still trapped in the Jewish centre.
“We’ve recovered seven hostages from the complex. Sweeping operations are ongoing,” a security told reporters outside the complex.
A militant holed up at the complex phoned an Indian television channel to offer talks with the government for the release of hostages, but also to complain about abuses in Kashmir.
“Ask the government to talk to us and we will release the hostages,” the man, identified by the TV channel as Imran, said.
“Are you aware how many people have been killed in Kashmir? Are you aware how your army has killed Muslims? Are you aware how many of them have been killed in Kashmir this week?”
Australian actress Brooke Satchwell, who starred in the Neighbours television soap opera, said she narrowly escaped the gunmen by hiding in a hotel bathroom cupboard.
“There were people getting shot in the corridor. There was someone dead outside the bathroom,” the shaken actress told Australian television. “The next thing I knew I was running down the stairs and there were a couple of dead bodies across the stairs. It was chaos.”
“We threw ourselves down under the reception counter,” Esperanza Aguirre, head of Madrid’s regional government, said.
“I took off my shoes and we left being pushed along by the hotel staff,” she said.
“I didn’t see any terrorists or injured people. I just saw the blood I had to walk through barefoot.”
Commandos battle to regain Mumbai: Blame game begins, allegations levelled against Pakistan; death toll put at 119 with over 300 injured
MUMBAI, Nov 27: As commandos of India’s elite anti-terrorism force, the National Security Guard (NSG), were engaged in fierce battles with terrorists at some places till late Thursday night, officials claimed that terrorists had been flushed out from the five-star Taj Hotel, one of the landmarks of the country’s financial and commercial capital.
The commandos who went into action immediately after the city was attacked on Wednesday night, were engaged in clashes with the terrorists holed up in the Taj, another five-star hotel, Oberoi-Trident, and a synagogue-cum-Jewish education centre, all located in south Mumbai.
The terrorists, whose identity is still not known, although one of them told a TV channel that they belonged to the so far unknown Deccan Mujahideen, launched the audacious attack, firing indiscriminately from their AK-47 rifles at about half a dozen places.
The toll was put at 119 at Thursday midnight with about 300 people having been injured. The dead included about 15 policemen, including two top officers, 10 foreigners and seven terrorists.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that about 25 terrorists were suspected to be involved in the attack on the mage-city, which was virtually crippled on Thursday with government and private offices, banks, schools, colleges and other establishments remaining closed. Stock markets also remained shut.
NSG commandos began hunting the terrorists who had occupied the Taj Mahal Hotel and Oberoi-Trident Hotel in south Mumbai, besides Nariman Bhavan, which houses a Jewish study centre and also serves as a synagogue. About seven militants had occupied the five-storeyed residential building on Wednesday, holding an Israeli rabbi, his wife and child as hostage. The local head office of the orthodox Jewish group, Chabad-Lubavitch, is popular among Israeli tourists visiting India, and many of them stay there for a few weeks.
When the commandos planned to launch an attack on the building, one of the terrorists panicked and tried to escape to an adjoining building. But he fell, got injured and later died. However, the remaining six terrorists continued firing at the commandos, delaying their entry into the building.
The commandos were successful at the Taj Mahal Hotel, where all the hostages were rescued and most of the guests were evacuated.
According to A.N. Roy, Maharashtra’s police chief, there were no more hostages at the Taj Mahal Hotel, though about two or three terrorists were still there in one of the rooms.
But at the Oberoi-Trident Hotel, there were about 40 hostages being held by nearly a dozen terrorists. Another 200 guests were also stranded in the high-rise hotel, adding to the problems of the NSG commandos.
According to an Indian Navy spokesman, about two dozen terrorists had landed in Mumbai after travelling in a merchant vessel, the MV Alpha, from Karachi. The Indian Navy intercepted the vessel on Thursday. The Navy spokesman said that further probe was under way.
Police sources say the terrorists landed in rubber boats near the Gateway of India and headed straight for the half a dozen destinations, armed heavily with weapons and explosives. They even commandeered two police vehicles, firing indiscriminately on the way.
Agencies add: Indian security forces arrested three militants, including a Pakistani national, inside the Taj Mahal hotel, the Press Trust of India news agency reported early Friday.Quoting official sources, the agency report identified the Pakistani national as Ajmal Amir Kamal, a resident of Faridkot, Multan. It also said the militants were members of Lashkar-i-Taiba -- a Pakistan-based group best known for an assault on the Indian parliament in 2001.
The report said the Pakistani detainee told Indian investigators that the group of 12 militants had been dropped off by a merchant vessel 10 nautical miles outside Indian waters, and had reached Mumbai in a small speedboat.
Helicopters buzzed overhead and crowds cheered as the commandos, their faces blackened, moved into the Trident-Oberoi, where 20 to 30 people were thought to have been taken hostage and more than 100 others were trapped in their rooms. Huge flames billowed from an upper floor.
Dipak Dutta told NDTV news after being rescued that he had been told by troops escorting him through the corridors not to look down at any of the bodies. “A lot of chef trainees were massacred in the kitchen.”
Security officials said that seven hostages had been rescued from the Jewish complex. But an Israeli diplomat said that those freed had come from “other buildings” and that there remained an uncertain number of people still trapped in the Jewish centre.
“We’ve recovered seven hostages from the complex. Sweeping operations are ongoing,” a security told reporters outside the complex.
A militant holed up at the complex phoned an Indian television channel to offer talks with the government for the release of hostages, but also to complain about abuses in Kashmir.
“Ask the government to talk to us and we will release the hostages,” the man, identified by the TV channel as Imran, said.
“Are you aware how many people have been killed in Kashmir? Are you aware how your army has killed Muslims? Are you aware how many of them have been killed in Kashmir this week?”
Australian actress Brooke Satchwell, who starred in the Neighbours television soap opera, said she narrowly escaped the gunmen by hiding in a hotel bathroom cupboard.
“There were people getting shot in the corridor. There was someone dead outside the bathroom,” the shaken actress told Australian television. “The next thing I knew I was running down the stairs and there were a couple of dead bodies across the stairs. It was chaos.”
“We threw ourselves down under the reception counter,” Esperanza Aguirre, head of Madrid’s regional government, said.
“I took off my shoes and we left being pushed along by the hotel staff,” she said.
“I didn’t see any terrorists or injured people. I just saw the blood I had to walk through barefoot.”
Terror attacks test peace agenda
A few interpretations of the Mumbai terror attacks are doing the rounds. One of these came from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who shot off a thinly veiled warning to Pakistan on Thursday of costs if it cannot stop cross-border terrorism. And if Pakistan-based terrorists did in fact mastermind the bloodbath in Mumbai, as he implied, then they may have hit the bull’s eye. Whoever has carried out the attacks has dispatched relations between the two countries, after they had shown significant signs of improvement, back to the more familiar square one.
Disruption of India-Pakistan ties at this juncture entails serious fallout in Afghanistan. That’s what one sequence of recent events indicates. It began with US President-elect Barack Obama signalling interest in an early resolution of the Kashmir dispute. An implicit India-Pakistan rapprochement would relieve pressure on Pakistan’s army, which would get a freer hand to meet the challenges posed by the Taliban.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi reflected how far this rapprochement could go to the detriment of extremists such as the Taliban. In his condemnation of the horrific bloodbath in Mumbai, Mr Qureshi, who was in Delhi on Thursday, disclosed that Islamabad wanted to set up a hotline between the intelligence chiefs of the two countries and he had said so to his Indian counterpart. On Tuesday, the home secretaries of the countries had wound up a successful meeting in Islamabad with a somewhat similar agenda. Were those that felt threatened by an India-Pakistan strategy on terrorism watching all this closely? Was the Mumbai massacre needed to drive a wedge between the two? Dr Manmohan Singh’s masked warning to Pakistan indicated he did not see the trap. In a televised address, prompted by relentless opposition criticism in an election year of his alleged softness against terrorism, he declared. “The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably (had) external linkages”. They were intended to create a sense of panic, by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners.
“We are not prepared to countenance a situation in which the safety and security of our citizens can be violated with impunity by terrorists,” Dr Singh asserted, his voice frail with lack of sleep. But his words were unusually sharp. “We will take up strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them.”
Dr Singh promised to curb the flow of funds to suspect organisations and went on to warn that India would “restrict the entry of suspects into the country”.
Did he mean India had been thus far giving visas to suspects or did he imply a suspension of people-to-people contact with neighbours, possibly as an acceptable cost for the additional security, if that is what he gets?
Dr Singh threatened to use a draconian National Security Act to go “after these individuals and organisations and make sure that every perpetrator, organiser and supporter of terror, whatever his affiliation or religion may be, pays a heavy price for these cowardly and horrific acts against our people.”
That is one immediate fallout of the Mumbai tragedy. At another level the method of the violence can be seen as a combination of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid standoff for the easy endurance displayed by the terrorists and the recent attack on the Marriott Hotel, which underscored sheer brazen precision. Imprints are also discernible of the murderous attack on Kabul’s Serena Hotel followed by the more devastating attack on the Indian embassy in Afghanistan.
The militants’ seizure of Mumbai’s iconic Taj Mahal hotel and another five-star property in the posh Colaba district, the taking of dozens of foreign and domestic hostages with reported focus on American, British and Jewish foreigners, the hijacking of a police car by the armed men, their slow, defiant ride in it and the casual, brutal spraying of bullets into panic-stricken people on the street add a new dimension to the terror that stalks India today. Most TV channels blamed the Lashkar-i-Tayyaba though the group has denied any role. There was mention also of an unheard of group called Deccan Mujahideen as possible perpetrators.
The scale of the terror attack was military-like in its scope, inviting comparisons with an Al Qaeda plot. But military training is not the preserve of Muslim extremists any longer, as the recent arrest of a lieutenant colonel of the Indian army has revealed. Before the Mumbai terror plot unfolded on Wednesday night, Maharashtra’s Anti Terrorist Squad was pursuing solid leads into the involvement of the colonel and several Hindu extremists in bombing incidents eslewhere. Two of the police officers killed in Wednesday’s shootout at the Taj Mahal hotel had been heading the probe into the anti-Muslim Malegaon blasts. The suspects were also being questioned for apparent involvement in the Samjhauta Express bombing, for which Pakistan was initially blamed. That probe may now remain shrouded in mystery.
Obama Says His Girls Will Have To ‘Scoop The Poop’ if they want a Pup
Washington : U. S. President-elect Barack Obama has revealed that his two daughters will be having a new pup as their companion at the White House.
He revealed plans about having a doggy to play with his daughters Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, during a conversation with Barbara Walters on Wednesday.
They’ll “scoop the poop,” he told Barbara Walters.
“We”ve been talking to them about that. We don”t want litter on the White House lawns. They”re going to have to do their job,” Us weekly quoted him as saying during the
20/20 interview.
Obama revealed that they had yet to settle on a dog.
He rejected the idea of having a Havanese like Walters’ dog Cha Cha, saying that it sounded like a “little yappy dog” and seems a little “girly”.
Michelle Obama then interrupted, “We”re girls, we have a house full of girls!”
Her hubby, however, wanted “a big, rambunctious dog”.
Barack will be sworn in on January 20. (ANI)
Gilani calls Manmohan Singh, Condemns Mumbai Attacks
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday telephoned Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh this morning and strongly condemned the terrorist incidents in Mumbai.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism, and extended his government’s full support to jointly combat extremism and terrorism.
The Prime Minister also expressed sympathy on behalf of the people and government of Pakistan with the families of those who lost their dear ones in the unfortunate acts of barbarism.
Oberoi Operation have Rescued 93 Hostages
Mumbai: In a daredevil operation, commandos involved in the Trident Oberoi operation have rescued 93 hostages. The Army is sanitising the entire building even as one terrorist, reportedly, is still inside the hotel. Many of the people who have been rescued are foreign nationals.
A series of explosions have taken place at the hotel, with the latest, last night, causing a huge fire which has put the building in danger of collapse.
Final assault at Nariman House
The final assault at Nariman House has begun. NSG commandoes, who were airdropped onto the roof of the Nariman House are now cautiously descending down into the building. The commandoes have taken positions and are exchanging fire.
Commandos aboard a helicopter first carried out aerial firing on the top floors of Nariman House and then slid down on ropes onto the roof of the building. Close to 20 commandos are part of the daredevil operation.
The direct attack on the terrorists comes after three fresh explosions were heard from the building. The operation is being carried out as the security forces have now supposedly sure that no more hostages are present in the building.
The latest were the three Israelis who were freed early this morning from the building. 2-3 terrorists are reportedly holed up inside the building. Incidentally, the Nariman House is a place that is mostly frequented and used by Israelis and Jews.
Final assault at Taj
Meanwhile, the security agencies appears to be preparing for the final assault at the Taj Hotel as the media covering the event has been asked to switch off the camera lights and stop the live coverage.
A major fire had engulfed a part of the Taj. With flames reaching as high a 10 ft, it is the biggest so far and may seriously damage the building.
One injured terrorist is reportedly holding out at the Taj, with almost all guests having been rescued. The remaining terrorist is reported to be injured and is trading fire with the security forces trying to bring him down.
Zeenews got in touch with Lal Mani, Bahujan Samaj Party MP from Basti, who is holed up in Taj hotel since Wednesday.
In an exclusive conversation, he described the scene inside Taj. The MP said that he can still hear some sporadic gunshots but has not ventured out of his room and has not seen any terrorists.
The death toll has mounted to 132, while 327 people have been injured.
The NSD-DG has said that 7 terrorists have been shot down in the Taj.
Heavy casualty is reported among the Taj hotel staff, including 6 chefs. 17 other staff members may also have been killed.
All communication channels inside all the hotels have been blocked, though it is learnt that terrorists might be keeping in touch with the outside world through satellite phones.
Over 26 explosions have taken place at the Taj, leaving the entire hotel badly damaged 14 policemen including Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare and two other top cops apart from two Army jawans had to sacrifice their lives.
Ten terrorists have been killed throughout the city. Three terrorists have been apprehended so far, with one being identified as Abu Ismail from Faridkot, Pakistan. The other is called Ajmal Amir Kamal.
The Navy and Coast Guard are also aiding the operations every step of the way. INS Kunjali has caught the vessels M V Alpha and Kabir both of which have been caught. They were allegedly used by the terrorists to arrive on the Mumbai coast. Naval choppers Dornier and IAF’s IL 72s have also been deployed.
The terrorists had arrived in Gujarat from Karachi and left for Mumbai last night in M V Alpha. From there they had jumped into speed boats to touch shore in Mumbai.
There were charges that Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba may be involved, but the organisation has denied it.
How it began
Wednesday, 9.30 pm: First attack at Café Leopold:
It all started just before the 9.30 pm on Wednesday at the Café Leopold in Colaba district of Mumbai. Three men pulled out machine guns from heavysacks and started firing indiscriminately, whoever present there.
10 pm: After Leopold, the attackers took a lane which leads to the prestigious Taj Hotel which is just few meters away. The assailants entered the ground floor area and started firing indiscriminately.
10 pm: At around same time when the Taj was under attack, four men with automatic rifles entered the the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) around 10 pm. Two of them started firing towards the crowd, while two others spotted rushing towards the Metro Cinema multiplex via the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation offices and the nearby Azad Maidan.
10.15 pm: Terrorists came outside the Cama hospital fired erratically.
10.30 pm: Just ten minutes after Trident, a loud bang was heard in Vile Parle, which was occurred in a taxi.
Colaba: At Colaba, men carrying assault rifles opened fire inside the Leopold restaurant and also threw grenade at the innocent civilians. Firing also reported from Hotel Marriott in Colaba.
Nariman House: Exchange of fire at Nariman House, a residential complex with a Jewish prayer hall, was also reported. This was the second place that was attacked in Mumbai, where two men came on a scooter and hurled a grenade at nearby petrol pump.
Meanwhile, a suspected terrorist is being interrogated, who was held this morning. He is said to be associated with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a militant group based in Pakistan.
Cache of arms
A huge cache of arms have been recovered outside the Taj, including AK-47s, grenades, bullets and other assorted armaments. Lots of dry fruits were also recovered from the same place.
In a related development, the City mall and the Gallenia mall in Navi Mumbai have been evacuated over fears that terrorists who escaped yesterday might target them.
LeT, LTTE deny involvement
Meanwhile, both the LeT and the LTTE have denied responsibility for the attacks.
Abdullah Ghaznavi spokesperson for the LeT has said that the LeT strongly condemns the strike on Mumbai. He said that though the LeT is often blamed for the such incidents, they have no hand in the strike. He said that an Indian group may be behind the attack.
ISI Chief Shuja Pasha To Visit India
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani accepted a request from his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on Friday to send the ISI chief to India for sharing of information related to the terrorist attack in Mumbai.
According to A Pakistan News, the PM Gilani directed ISI chief to visit India for probe into Mumbai carnage.
The Prime Minster’s spokesman Zahid Bashir said Singh had made a request to Gilani, asking him to send the ISI chief to India to “cooperate in the investigation of the Mumbai attacks and for sharing certain information”.
Bashir told a news agency: “The Pakistani Prime Minister accepted this offer. The two sides will work out modalities for the visit of the Inter Services Intelligence chief which is expected to take place soon.”
Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha was recently appointed chief of the ISI by Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
This would be the first instance of a chief of Pakistan’s spy agency visiting India in connection with the investigation of a terror attack.
Gilani had earlier said he was “really hurt” over the loss of innocent lives in Mumbai.
“And from the people of Pakistan, and from the government of Pakistan, I really want to share the sorrows with the people of India and the government of India,” he told a news channel.
Singh had on Thursday blamed elements outside the country for the terror strikes in Mumbai, warning that India will not tolerate the use of territories of its neighbours for attacks in Mumbai.
India will take up “strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them,” Singh had said in an address to the nation.
Champions League postponed over Mumbai attacks
NEW DELHI: The inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament scheduled for next week has been postponed in the wake of terror attacks that have left more than 100 people dead in Mumbai.
Addressing a press conference, IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said that the event has been postponed due to Mumbai attacks. He said new date for the league would be announced later.
Next month's two test matches in Ahmedabad and Mumbai are also in doubt.
The inaugural Champions League tournament, featuring provincial champions from five countries, was postponed.
Zardari, Gilani denounce Mumbai attacks
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani have "strongly" deplored the attacks in India's financial capital Mumbai that killed 82 people and left over 900 injured.
"Today's attacks in Mumbai which have claimed many innocent victims remind us, yet again, of the threat we face from violent extremists," they said in a statement and added that India together with Pakistan has now seriously fell victim to global terrorism.
"I condemn these attacks strongly”, Gilani said.
"Our grieves are with the families and friends of those killed and injured. Pakistan and India will continue their joint struggles to counter the actions of terrorists."
Indian media said that as many as 900 people had been injured in the attacks, which saw heavily armed men with automatic weapons and grenades target luxury hotels in the south of the city and the main railway station.
Decision to form grand tribal Lashkr in Bajaur
KHAR: The grand Jirga of Salarzai Tribes which met here Thursday decided to form a national Lashkr comprising 20,000 tribesmen to maintain peace in the area.
Eight hundred tribal elders attended the meeting which concluded in Tehsil Headqaurter Pasht.
The Jirga also decided to set up a number of check posts in different locations in the area where volunteers will be deployed while one of such check post has already been set up at Pak-Afghan border where armed volunteers have been stationed.
It was also decided to set on fire the houses of those who harbour militants besides sending them on exile along with their family members and imposing of a fine of Rs2 million.
101 killed in Mumbai violence, curfew imposed
MUMBAI: Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station and a Jewish group's headquarters in India's financial capital, killing at least 101people, taking Westerners hostage and leaving parts of the city under siege Thursday, police said.
A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility. Police and gunmen were exchanging occasional gunfire at two luxury hotels and dozens of people were believed held hostage or trapped in besieged buildings.
Pradeep Indulkar, a senior official at the Maharashtra state Home Ministry said 101 people were killed and 287 injured.
Officials said at least eight militants had also been killed since the overnight attacks that targeted at least 10 separate sites began around 9:30 p.m.
Gunmen also seized the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch, the New York-based group said.
Indian commandos surrounded the building in the morning, and media reports said gunfire was heard from the building.
Police loudspeakers declared a curfew around Mumbai's landmark Taj Mahal hotel, and black-clad commandos ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area, apparently the beginning of an assault on gunmen who had taken hostages in the hotel.
mbulances were seen driving up to the entrance to the hotel andjournalists were made to move even further back from the area.Soldiers outside the hotel said forces were moving slowly, from roomto room, looking for gunmen and traps.
A series of explosions had rocked the Taj Mahal just after midnight. Screams were heard and black smoke billowed from the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront.
Early Thursday, state home secretary Bipin Shrimali said four suspects had been killed in two incidents in Mumbai when they tried to flee in cars, and Roy said four more gunmen were killed at the Taj Mahal. State Home Minister R.R. Patil said nine more were arrested. They declined to provide any further details.
``We're going to catch them dead or alive,'' Patil told reporters. ``An attack on Mumbai is an attack on the rest of the country.''
The state government ordered schools and colleges and the Bombay Stock Exchange closed Thursday.
Police reported hostages being held at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, two of the best-known upscale destinations in this crowded but wealthy city.
Officials at Bombay Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a Japanese man had died there and nine Europeans had been admitted, three of them in critical condition with gunshots. All had come from the Taj Mahal, the officials said.
Early Thursday, several European lawmakers were among people who barricaded themselves inside the Taj, a century-old seaside hotel complex and one of the city's best-known destinations.
Obama wants Gates to retain post
Seeking experience in wartime, President-elect Barack Obama intends to retain Defence Secretary Robert Gates as head of the Pentagon — if only temporarily — and has chosen a retired Marine general to be White House national security adviser, officials have said.
Gates and retired Gen James Jones would bring decades of experience to the administration of a 47-year-old commander in chief who campaigned on a pledge to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months while simultaneously ramping up the US military presence in Afghanistan.
While Gates has accepted Obama’s appointment, it was not clear that Jones had done the same.
Obama has also offered the post of secretary of state to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, his rival in the Democratic presidential primary campaign. Officials have not yet disclosed whether she has decided to give up her seat in Congress to join the Cabinet.
Whatever Clinton’s decision, aides to the president-elect say he intends to announce members of his national security team next week, after disclosing his top economic advisers in recent days.
Keeping Gates might afford Obama a sort of extended transition, in which critical military issues are left in trusted hands while Obama focuses most intensely on the financial crisis.
Gates, who has served as President George W Bush’s defense secretary for two years, will remain in the Cabinet for some time, probably a year, according to an official familiar with discussions between him and the president-elect. His appointment would fulfill an Obama pledge to include a
Republican in his Cabinet.
Suicide Blast in Kabul Near US ESuicide Blast in Kabul Near US Embassymbassy
A large explosion apparently caused by a suicide bomber occurred near the US embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul Thursday, causing some casualties, witnesses said. The blast was at the Massoud Circle about 40 metres (yards) from the heavily secured entrance of the US embassy. The body of what appeared to be a suicide bomber was at the scene, the reporter said.
‘China uneasy with India’s growing global role’
Wary of US plans to support India’s position in Asia, Beijing will seek to blunt Washington’s overtures towards New Delhi, driving home the point that America has to pay close attention to the dynamics of the relations between India and China, a top South Asia scholar has said.
“The completion of the civil nuclear deal will likely raise the confidence of the Indian defence establishment in the US as a reliable supplier, and therefore, set the stage for a much broader and deeper defence relationship between India and US over the next several years,” Lisa Curtis of The Heritage Foundation has said in a Web Note.
Beijing may discuss, in private and public forums, the importance of simultaneous development of both India and China to try to show it welcomes India’s rise. New Delhi, however, will pay closer attention to Beijing’s actions along the disputed Indo-China border to gauge Chinese overall strategic intentions towards India.
“China’s unhelpful stance at the recent NSG meetings on the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement was a reminder that Beijing remains uncomfortable with India’s growing global role,” Curtis said.
Washington needs to pay close attention to the dynamics of the Indo-China relations while the relationship between the world’s oldest and the world’s largest democracies grows.
“The future direction of relations between China and India, two booming economies that together account for one-third of the world’s population, will be a major factor in determining broader political and economic trends in Asia directly affecting US interests,” the South Asia scholar of the Conservative Think Tank said.
Trade between India and China has increased eight-fold in the last six years to almost $40 billion, but both harbour deep suspicions of the other’s strategic intentions.
Despite improvements in economic and trade relations, border disputes continue to bedevil Indo-China ties. India accuses China of illegally occupying more than 14,000 square miles of its territory on its northern border in Kashmir, while China lays claim to more than 34,000 square miles of India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.
“India is a long-term host to the Dalai Lama and about 100,000 Tibetan refugees, although the Indian government forbids them from participating in any political activity” Curtis remarked.
Out of concern for Chinese sensitivities, the Indian government placed restrictions on Tibetan protesters in India during the uprising in Tibet, and Beijing praised New Delhi for preventing Tibetans from marching to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
The Indian political opposition, however, criticised Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for appeasing the Chinese and for not defending Tibetans’ human rights.
“Renewed tensions in Tibet would likely put pressure on New Delhi to show greater solidarity with the Tibetan people. China has recently started to raise the issue of the Dalai Lama’s status in India in diplomatic talks for the first time in several years, indicating its increased concern over the issue,” she added.
US’s increasing attention to India over the past five years, especially Washington’s decision to extend civil nuclear cooperation to New Delhi surprised Chinese policymakers and led them to reassess their policies towards India.
“Chinese officials have developed a more serious policy towards India and now acknowledge that India is becoming a major Asian power” Curtis said in her research note.
Fresh Expolosion Rocked Mumbai In Curfew
MUMBAI: More than 100 people have been killed, including nine foreigners and at least 287 injured in a series of well-coordinated terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Terrorists, who apparently came in by boats, struck at 10 places in south Mumbai including five-star hotels, hospitals and train stations.
There is hostage situation in at least two locations — the Taj and the Trident hotels. In the Taj Colaba, at least 100 people are believed to be trapped probably held hostage by terrorists. Some of these are Israeli and Canadian nationals.
NSG and Military Commandos entered the Taj and Trident hotels. Five terrorists have been killed. Several staff members at the hotels have also been killed, including two at Trident. Gunshots continue to be heard.
NSG Commandos have launched operations in the Nariman House building in Colaba. This was the second place that was attacked in Mumbai. Two men came on a scooter and hurled a grenade at nearby petrol pump.
Though the grenade missed the petrol reservoir, it destroyed a facade of the station. The terrorists then ran into Nariman House building behind petrol pump into a Jewish residential building. Here, the terrorists murdered two people and then went silent for several hours till early this morning. This is another place apart from the Taj and the Trident, which are under siege.
According to latest reports, policemen have succeeded in flushing out terrorists from the Cama hospital and everything seems to be calm now. Curfew has been imposed at Colaba and Gateway of India. At least 800 Army personnel have been deployed at various locations in Mumbai.
At least 14 policemen have been killed across the city, including the head of the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad Hemant Karkare, who was shot three times in the chest.
Well-known encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar is also dead. Additional Commissioner of Police Sadanand Date is critical. Every top line anti-terror force in the country has been pushed into Mumbai including commandos of the National Security Guard, Marine Commandos and Army commandos.
There are also reports of low intensity blast in Ville Parle and grenade attack in Santa Cruz. Two blasts have been reported in Napean Sea road area of south Mumbai.
“Encounter is on between police and terrorists at Taj and Trident. Our people have surrounded them and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) team has arrived at the Taj hotel,” A N Roy, Deputy Police Commissioner.
Many foreigners have been held hostage by the terrorists. “Gunmen took 15 hostages and half of them foreigners,” said an eye-witness at Taj hotel.
“Gunmen wanted anyone with British or American passport,” said another eye-witness.
Five terrorists are killed, two escaped and nine have been arrested. An unknown organisation called the Deccan Mujahideen has taken the responsibility for the terror attacks.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be addressing the nation later in the day and he has called an emergency Cabinet meeting. Home Minister Shivraj Patil is back in Delhi from Mumbai for the meet.
Cabinet Committee on Security will meet before the full Cabinet meet. The Prime Minister’s election rally in Delhi scheduled for Thursday has been cancelled.
Maharashtra Cabinet is scheduled to meet at 2 pm and there is also an all-party meet at 3 pm. State government has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for those killed and Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured in the attacks.
Speaking to media, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil said, “There is no plan for talks with the terrorists. Claiming to have some “vital leads”, the minister expressed confidence of a breakthrough soon.
Intelligence sources say that foreign hand is fully evident in these attacks. They have arrested a Pakistan national from Chowpatty area in the city.
Speaking to local media, Maharashtra Director General of Police A N Roy said, “There is no indication so far of the identity of the terrorists.”
He said that the terrorists were highly armed, level of weapons and training suggest that they are not locals. He said, “There is hostage situation at Trident and the police were trying to capture the ultras alive.”
“Fifty per cent operation is complete at Taj. There is no hostage-like situation at Taj anymore,” he further said.
Police have seized a rubber boat, which anchored off Mumbai harbour. It all started with incidents of firing in Colaba and near CST station.
Meanwhile, train services have resumed at the CST station. Lufthansa, Northwest and Air France have cancelled their flights.
On their part, hotels in Mumbai have been asked not to take new guests
Mumbai Attacks Responsibility Taken By Deccan Mujahideen
Mumbai Attacks Responsibility Taken By Deccan MujahideenNEW DELHI: An organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed it was behind attacks in Mumbai that left at least 80 people dead, television channels reported on Thursday. The previously unknown or little known group sent an email to news organisations claiming responsibility. Indian journalist Ameet Sha told a private TV channel there was no confirmation but the pattern suggested involvement of Laskar-e-Tayyaba. She said terrorist attacks of such a magnitude and the participation of such a large number of gunmen raised questions on the security situation in India. agencies/daily times monitor
U.S. missile kills five in North Waziristan
PESHAWAR: At least five militants, including three foreigners, were killed and six others injured when a suspected US drone fired a missile on a house early Saturday in North Wazirsistan.
The strike destroyed a militant hideout in the village of Alikhel in North Waziristan, killing at least five militants and injuring six others.
The attack on a house in Alikhel village came just two days after Pakistan lodged a strong protest with the U.S. ambassador over missile attacks on its territory.
3 More Pakistan Detainees Held in Indian Jails
LAHORE: As many as three more Pakistani nationals have been found detained in separate Indian jails here on Friday.
According to sources, Punjab’s resident Sohail Ashraf (15) is detained in Fareed Por jail (India) while Gohar Rehman (17) and Aamir (16) are held in Bhawal city jail in India.
Both later were arrested after they had lost their way and entered mistakenly into Indian territory.
No Threats To Sindh From Talibanization: Shazia Marri
KARACHI: President Asif Zardari during his ongoing visit to the provincial capital was briefed on the law and order situation in the province and he expressed his satisfaction with the suggestion that conditions be further improved as it is the government’s responsibility to protect the life and property of people.
The President was given briefings on various provincial issues at a special two-day long meeting of the Sindh Cabinet which he chaired on Thursday and Friday at Chief Minister House.
Giving the details of the event in a press conference later on Friday, Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri said the President was briefed on law and order by PM’s Advisor on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik and Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza.
Shazia Marri said Sindh Chief Minister gave a briefing to the President on various issues and prevailing situation in the Province.
She said the Chief Minister apprised President Asif Zardari about development, infrastructure and various programmes while provincial ministers briefed them on their respective departments and highlighted various development programmes particularly the road sector and construction of dams.
The Sindh Minister said in the Cabinet meeting, the President was informed about the formation of Coal Energy Board and the progress achieved since its establishment.
She said the issue of water was also brought to his notice and he was told that Sindh is facing problems due to water shortage and his help was sought.
Replying to a question, the Minister said in the meeting the President did not show any displeasure against any Minister. However, the cabinet members did get his support and guidelines with his presence and the suggestions which came to fore would help improve their performance.
About revival of Commissionerate system in Sindh, the Minister said it is the beauty of democracy that issues are sorted out through the process of dialogue to develop a consensus.
She said any change in the present local government system would also be finalized through dialogue and naturally through the Assembly.
She told a questioner that no portfolio of any minister is being changed.
As regards the issue of Taliban and target killing of political workers in Karachi, Sindh Information Minister pointed out that there are still such forces which are working against democracy. She said although this is not the time to jump to a final conclusion, however, the Government is trying to expose and weaken them.
She said the Home Minister has already made it clear that there is no fear of Talibanization here or elsewhere in the Province.
To a question, Ms Marri said a report was presented to the President about construction of small dams. He directed that work on their construction be started immediately but with focus on road sector in areas where these are to be constructed.
She said it was informed that talks are being held with various Chinese and Korean companies and whatever proposal will come to the fore, it would be shared with the press.
As regards water accord, she pointed out that 1991 accord was an agreement and Sindh’s stand even today is that it should be implemented in letter and spirit.
Replying to a question, she said the NFC Award has already been constituted and now further headway is to be ensured. She said it is a constitutional requirement and PPP government in coalition with its partners would ensure the fulfillment of it.
She said the issue of closure of two tv channels also cropped up in the meeting, declaring that the government did not have any hand in this, but it did make efforts to get them reopened. She said in the meeting the role of cable operators on the matter was also discussed.
Thai Protestor Killed In Grenade Attack
Bangkok: Unknown assailants launched a grenade at anti-government protestors Saturday, killing one and injuring seven others, fanning worries that Thailand was heading for more political street violence this weekend, media reports said.
Witnesses said two young men fired the device from an M-79 grenade launcher at guards for the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) outside Government House, the seat of the Thai government.
One of the eight victims died in in hospital from shrapnel wounds to his body and neck, the Bangkok Post newspaper’s online news service said.
On Thursday, a similar early morning attack on the PAD killed one man and injured 24 other people.
The attacks on the PAD, a loose coalition of groups adamantly opposed to the return to power of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, have intensified in recent weeks.
The PAD seized Government House on August 26 and have occupied it since, demanding the resignation of the cabinet, which is now led by Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin’s brother-in-law, and packed with Thaksin nominees and political allies.
Thaksin, a former billionaire telecommunications tycoon who used his personal fortune and populist policies to dominate Thai politics during his premierships from 2001 to 2006, was toppled by a coup two years ago.
He has been living in self-imposed exile since August, and is a fugitive from Thai justice.
On October 21, the Supreme Court for Political Office Holders found Thaksin guilty of abuse of power for allowing his ex-wife, Pojaman, to successfully bid on a prime plot of Bangkok land at a government auction in 2003. Thaksin was sentenced to two years in jail.
Thaksin criticized the verdict as being politically motivated and last week vowed to return to Thai politics despite his conviction.
The threat, along with recent attacks, has emboldened the PAD, which vowed to stage a mass rally of 100,000 people on Sunday to demand the resignation of the cabinet.
At its last mass protest on October 7, police opened fire with tear-gas canisters, leading to a melee that left two PAD followers dead and hundreds injured.
More than 1,700 police have been assigned to keep the peace at Sunday’s rally. (dpa)
US Drone Attack in Bannu
MIRANSHAH: At least three militants have been killed and various injured in American drone missile attack at Alikhail area today morning, a foreign news agency claimed.
Qaeda Troubled in Pakistan, Former CIA Analyst
WASHINGTON: Al Qaeda is struggling to boost its appeal in Pakistan following former president Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf’s resignation, a United States terrorism expert concludes based on comments by the terror network.
Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Jarret Brachman said Musharraf’s departure in September had removed a target of Al-Qaeda’s anti-American campaign. His successor, Asif Ali Zardari, has been critical of the US.
Al-Qaeda “finds itself in a variety of predicaments with regard to the Pakistani government, its army and its Jihadi populations,” Brachman writes in the CTC Sentinel, a journal of the Combating Terrorism Centre at the US Military Academy at West Point to be published on Thursday.
Anti-Pakistan: “Even though Musharraf is now out of power, the inertia of Al-Qaeda’s anti-Pakistan policy has made it difficult for them to back-pedal without admitting strategic weakness,” wrote Brachman, the centre’s research director until recently.
“Certainly, Al-Qaeda’s headaches are US opportunities,” wrote Brachman, who this year became a security professor at North Dakota State University.
Brian Glyn Williams, a US professor who has testified against Al Qaeda at Guantanamo trials, said attacks on Zardari’s government had less resonance among Pakistanis than those against Musharraf because Zardari was seen as more legitimate.
Zardari has condemned stepped-up US airstrikes against the Taliban fighters in Pakistan’s border region with Afghanistan. Washington has shrugged off the protests, but it has not repeated an intensely criticised ground raid in September.
Govt. Aware of Safeguarding Children’s Rights: President Asif Ali Zardari
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has said the government is fully aware of its responsibilities in protecting the rights of children and providing them better facilities of life.
In a message on Universal Children’s Day being observed tomorrow November 20, President Zardari said the government was following the footsteps of its leader Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, who in her two terms as Prime Minister laid special emphasis on safeguarding the rights of children.
President Zardari said it was heartening to note that Pakistan joined the international community to celebrate the Universal Children’s Day with firm commitment and determination to accord high priority to safeguard rights of children.
He said Pakistan had the distinction of being one of the six-initiator countries of the World Summit for Children 1990 with foresight and conviction. “As a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Pakistan always remained in the forefront to advocate the child rights agenda and played a key role at regional and international levels to protect the rights of the child,” he said.
The President said the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was the most affectionate caretaker of children. He raised the status of children in general and of the female children in particular. He declared that all children are innocent and merciful and sympathetic attitude should be adopted towards them.
Bajaur Agency Operation: Nine militant killed
KHAR: At least nine militants were killed in the security forces operation in Bajaur Agency operation in its tehsil of Nawagai on Thursday.
According to media reports, seven Uzbek militants are also among the victims in the security forces action.
The security forces are shelling with heavy artillery on the hideouts of militants from Khar to Nawagai area and various dens of extremists have been wiped out.
1 Killed, 26 Serious injured in Haiti School Panic
PORT-AU-PRINCE: A noisy rumble sparked panic at a school outside the Haitian capital Wednesday, killing one student and wounding dozens as jitters remained nearly two weeks after a deadly school collapse, authorities said.
“The accident occurred when a trailer passing by caused a panic. Schoolchildren then rushed towards the exit,” civil protection director Alta Jean-Baptiste told the media.
One schoolgirl died and 26 people were wounded, officials said.
Witnesses told radio stations in Port-au-Prince that dozens of schoolchildren jumped from the upper floors of the building, fearing the school might collapse.
Ninety-one people were killed and 162 were wounded when a school collapsed on November 7 in Haiti. Another school collapse wounded nine people several days later.
On Tuesday, the Haitian government announced it had made a group of psychologists available to help school children affected by these recent events. School inspections by the authorities are also underway.
PML-N boycott for Industrial Relations Bill
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly passed the Industrial Relation Bill 2008 on Wednesday. Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) expressed reservations on some points in the bill and staged token boycott from the house.
When the bill was tabled in the house for passage, PML-N’s MNAs Ayaz Amir, Chaudhry Birjees Tahir and Rana Tanvir Ahmed voiced reservations on some clauses of the bill.
PML-N members said that Chairman National Industrial Relation commission used to be appointed by the Chief Justice of Supreme Court; but, the bill assigns this right to appointment to the federal government.
PML-N members also demanded that IRO 2002 should not be tampered with; instead, it should be handed over to the related standing committee.
N-League members opined that if the government wishes to do away with the draconian laws of the dictatorial era, it should also wipe out the Seventeenth Amendment, 58-2(b) and measures of November 3 Emergency.
On this occasion, Federal Minister Raza Rabbani said the government is quite resolute on the elimination of all these steps and all the wrong decisions taken by the former government will be repealed.
Later on, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani addressed the house and congratulated the MNAs on the passage of the said bill.
He said PML-N quickened with their move to criticize the bill and boycott the house, adding the repeal of IRO 2002 was included in the electoral manifesto of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Benazir Bhutto vowed to remove this bill.
The PM said all the parties unanimously approved the bill after elaborate discussion in the senate.
Balochistan
BLA claim killing security personnel
This undated picture shows Pakistani Balach Marri, identified by Pakistani authorities as the leader of the Balochistan Liberation Army, holding a gun in Kholo. (file photo) Marri was killed in a military operation in Baluchistan late 20 Nov 2007.
Pakistan climb to 4th in ODI ranking of ICC
DUABI: Pakistan cricket team has advanced on to fourth position in ICC One Day International ranking after it made a clean sweep over West Indies in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, winning three consecutive one dayers with ease.
Meanwhile, India have climbed to third spot after two back-to-back victories against England in the first two of five-match series. England now stands on despair sixth.
Pakistan got three rating points in ICC ratings after they white washed West Indies in Abu Dhabi series which promoted Pakistan up to two ranks.
Australia tops the rating with 131 points while South Africa came second bagging 129 points.
Bussiness
Rupee up by 40 paisa against dollar
KARACHI: The national currency appreciated by 40 paisa against the greenback and closed at Rs79.90 in the inter-bank today (Monday).
According to forex market dealers, stability in rupee value has given confidence to the people after which exporters have also started selling the US dollar in the market.
Meanwhile, the dollar was being purchased at Rs79.50 and sold at Rs80 in the open market.
The rupee has started to stabilize after State Bank’s recent measures on strict monitoring policy, according to the analysts.
KARACHI: The national currency appreciated by 40 paisa against the greenback and closed at Rs79.90 in the inter-bank today (Monday).
According to forex market dealers, stability in rupee value has given confidence to the people after which exporters have also started selling the US dollar in the market.
Meanwhile, the dollar was being purchased at Rs79.50 and sold at Rs80 in the open market.
The rupee has started to stabilize after State Bank’s recent measures on strict monitoring policy, according to the analysts.
World
Updated at: 0645 PST, Tuesday, November 18, 2008
LONDON: A son of the king of Bahrain took U.S. pop star Michael Jackson to court on Monday for reneging on an agreement to record a new album and write an autobiography.
Bankim Thanki, the lawyer representing Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Khalifa, told London's High Court that his client had made several payments to Jackson from 2005 onwards, including $35,000 (23,400 pounds) to pay utility bills at Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
The court heard that the following month, in April 2005, Jackson asked for one million dollars through an assistant, media reported.
"Sheikh Abdullah made many more payments on his behalf or to others," Thanki said.
"Sheikh Abdullah began to support Jackson financially after 2005 when it became clear that ackson was in very serious financial difficulties, much to Sheikh Abdullah's surprise," Thanki added.
The early financial support coincided with Jackson's 2005 trial on child molestation charges. Despite his acquittal, the case left the 50-year-old performer's reputation and financial status in tatters.
Jackson spent time in Bahrain as a guest of the royal family following the trial, and in April 2006 a statement was released on behalf of Bahrain music label Two Seas Records announcing he would record a new album for release in 2007.
The sheikh is suing the pop legend for allegedly reneging on a $7 million "pay-back" agreement designed to repay money he advanced to Jackson during his financial troubles.
He said he and Jackson entered into a "combined rights agreement" under which the star was committed to a recording contract, an autobiography and a musical stage play." under which the star was committed to a recording contract, an autobiography and a musical stage play.
World
Three soldiers, eight rebels killed in Philippine clashes
Updated at: 0802 PST, Tuesday, November 18, 2008
COTABATO: Three soldiers and eight Muslim separatist rebels have been killed in fresh fighting in the southern Philippines, local and military officials said Tuesday.
Soldiers clashed with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels near the town of Mamasapano on Mindanao island on Sunday evening after the guerrillas attacked an army base.
"The rebels attacked the army base while they (troops) were eating," town mayor Akmad Tato Ampatuan told reporters, adding that there were overnight exchanges of mortar fire between the two sides.
Running gun battles that followed left eight MILF rebels dead, said local army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando. Ampatuan said three soldiers were also killed in the gunbattles.
Troops recovered two automatic rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, MILF uniforms, and ammunition.
The government suspended peace talks with the MILF after two guerrilla commanders attacked several towns and provinces across Mindanao in August to protest a court order stopping a deal that would have given the rebels control over a Muslim autonomous region.
More than 600,000 people were displaced in fighting that followed, while dozens of civilians, guerrillas and soldiers have been killed so far.
Committee finalizes working plan to implement in-camera resolution: Sherry
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Sherry Rehman Monday said the committee formed to implement resolution of in-camera session of the parliament has finalized its working mechanism.
Talking to mediapersons outside the parliament house after the meeting, she said the committee has selected Leader of the House, Mian Raza Rabbani as its Chairman.
Giving details of the meeting, she said proceedings of the committee will be kept confidential and its decisions would be made public only after full consensus of the members through a joint declaration.
Sherry Rehman said the committee would also send its findings to Chairman Senate, Speaker National Assembly and provide guidelines to the government.
The Minister said the committee has been empowered to call ministers and government’s officials to find out progress on its recommendations.
She said to make the committee more effective, it is also empowered to ask the government to implement its recommendations at the earliest and the implementation period should not be more than one month.
The Minister said the committee itself will decide about its timetable and agenda, adding that next meeting would be held on November 20.
Today’s meeting was held in a congenial atmosphere in which resolutions passed on October 22 was discussed in detail, Sherry added.
“The formation of the committee indicates political maturity of the parliament and the joint resolution is representing the aspirations of entire nation,” Sherry said.
Dacoits’ firing on vehicle kills 3 in Taxila
Updated at: 0328 PST, Tuesday, November 18, 2008
TAXILA: At least three commuters were shot dead when they came under fire by dacoits attempting to kidnap them here on early Tuesday.
Unknown dacoits tried to kidnap people commuting towards Taxila in a ‘Carry’ vehicle and opened fire when the vehicle’s driver attempted to flee the scene, Geo T.V. reported.
Three people were died on the spot; CCPO Rawalpindi Rao Iqbal confirmed GEO T.V. adding that heavy contingent of police has been sent to the area in search of the bandits.
Two passersby also received bullet injuries and were rushed to the local hospital, he added.
All the three deceased were the residents of Rawalpindi and were going to Taxila for some personal business.
The residents of the area soon after the incident rushed the scene and blocked the road for traffic in protest.
150 mln cubic fit gas short due to intense winter in NWFP
Updated at: 0644 PST, Tuesday, November 18, 2008
PESHAWAR: 150 million cubic fit gas has been short in NWFP province due to increase in the intensity of winter season here on Tuesday.
In the first stage, the gas outage has started in CAPTO Power and other big industries.
According to Sui Northern Company sources, it has seized the gas supply to big industries due to gas impasse to avoid any disruption in gas supply to commercial and domestic consumers.
It added that notices have been sent to as many as 3000 countrywide industries of cutting gas supply to them.
India beat England in second ODI
INDORE: Yuvraj Singh plundered England's attack for his second successive century and then took four wickets to lead India to a 54-run victory Monday in the second one dayer.
Overcoming serious back pain to play in the match, Yuvraj scored 118 from 122 deliveries to help lift India to 292 for nine in 50overs despite a top-order slump.
He then claimed 4-28 with his left-arm spin as England was bundled out for 238 in 47 overs, giving India a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series.
England's batsmen faltered against part-time spinners Yuvraj and Virender Sehwag (3-28) who made the ball bite off a helpful track.
Yuvraj dismissed four of the five top-order batsmen, removing Andrew Flintoff (43) and skipper Kevin Pietersen (33) in his 10thover that took the fight out of England.
Batting first after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss, India's top order was rocked by pace bowler Stuart Broad's three-wicket burst.
Broad (4-55) removed opener Sehwag (1), Suresh Raina (4) and Rohit Sharma (3) in quick succession to reduce the hosts to 29-3 before Yuvraj and opener Gambhir combined.
Gambhir scored his second consecutive half-century against England, hitting one six and six boundaries in his 76-ball knock before he played a ball from Pietersen onto his stumps.
Dhoni made just 15 before Paul Collingwood (1-43) dislodged his stumps, then Broad returned for his second spell to have Yuvraj caught behind attempting an ambitious offside shot. All rounder Yusuf Pathan lifted the late scoring with an unbeaten50 from 29 deliveries.
England's innings started on a disastrous note as opener Ian Bellwas run out by Raina's throw in the first over. Prior (38) and Shah (58) then put on 96 runs for the second wicket, but both fell to Yurvaj in quick succession.
Yuvraj trappedS hah lbw and then bowled Prior in his next over. Flintoff and Pietersen kept England in the chase with a brisk 74-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Brought back into the attack to contain the free-hitting Flintoff, Yuvraj trapped him lbw on the second ball and then dislodged Pietersen's stumps three balls later to tilt the scales.
Sehwag ran through the lower order as he removed Patel (20), Broad (22) and Harmison (6) to spark Indian celebrations. The next match is Thursday at Kanpur.
IMF loan to surge recession and poverty: Business Forum
LAHORE: The loan pledged by IMF would inflate poverty and recession in economy while states production ratio would also slide, said President Pakistan Business Forum in a meeting at Lahore Chamber of Commerce.
He demanded the Ministry for Trade Development to reveal all the conceal conditions of IMF which based for IMF to lend this bailout package to Pakistan.
Another official Irfan Shaikh said that strict conditions of IMF for this package would worsen and harm the trade activities in Pakistan that could lead to negative impact on the growth of our economy.
Vice President Lahore Chamber of Commerce Shafqat Saeed said government was being continuously informed about the fragile state of economy for last November however he added, the government turned deaf year to the concerns raised by trade community.
UN chief convening summit on global crisis
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, with the help of the Emir of Qatar, has summoned more than 20 heads of state and governments to Doha November 28 to discuss the global financial crisis, the world body said Monday.
"The Secretary-General is convening a high-level retreat meeting, with leaders of G20 and non-G20 countries, to discuss the global financial crisis," said Marie Okabe, his deputy spokesperson.
The meeting will help pave the way toward the ministerial level meeting on finance and development November 29-December 2 in Doha with Ban on hand added Okabe. "Details of the preparation are still being worked out," she said.
On Saturday Ban welcomed the G20 response to the global economic crisis after the White House-hosted summit of top economies closed with a pledge to cooperate more to restore global growth and to reform the world's financial system.
"The secretary-general welcomes the Declaration of the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, held in Washington DC today, which committed leaders to joint action," a statement issued by his office said.
"He noted the agreement on the international coordination of stimulus packages, a move he had advocated in his remarks at the White House, also new market regulation to avoid future crises, more inclusive new economic governance, and the need to avoid trade and investment protectionism."
Ban, who attended the summit of the Group of 20 developed and developing nations, said the stimulus programs were an opportunity to promote "green economic development", mentioning more support for renewable energy, conversion to more carbon-friendly systems, and investing in climate change adaptation measures in the most vulnerable developing economies.
Dengue patients’ number rises to 1050
LAHORE: The number of patients suffering from dengue fever has climbed to over 1000 here on Monday.
According to official figures, dengue patients in Punjab have risen to 1050, majority of them hails form the provincial capital.
More patients were brought to various government hospitals in Lahore with the complaints of high fever on Sunday. Their blood samples were taken and sent to laboratories for the verification.
Meanwhile, District Administration has stepped up anti-mosquito drive in the city.
Deposed CJP awarded lifetime membership of New York Bar
Updated at: 0602 PST, Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Deposed CJP awarded lifetime membership of New York Bar WASHINGTON: Deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Chaudhry Iftikhar has been awarded the life time membership of New York Bar here on Tuesday, Geo T.V. reported.
According to sources, deposed CJP said addressing the New York Bar the lawyer would continue their struggle until the success of their movement and added that war on terrorism in Pakistan could never be accomplished without the independent judiciary.
He thanked for receiving lifetime membership of NYB and termed it an honor for him.
Earlier, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, deposed chief justice of Pakistan, was given a rousing citizens’ reception in New York on Sunday night. Some Pakistanis had travelled from as far away as California and various points in Canada to welcome the deposed judge, who arrived here earlier in the day to receive a number of awards.
The meeting arranged in his honour at a Brooklyn restaurant was jampacked but those who were expecting the judge to speak were disappointed when it was pointed out to them by Aitzaz Ahsan, who is here to attend these events and a Middle East conference in Washington, that because Chaudhry was still the chief justice of Pakistan, he could only address bar associations.
On arrival at JFK airport, Justice Chaudhry was received by a raucous crowd of around 500 as well as Pakistan’s Consul-General in New York, Mohsin Razi, who had been instructed by Ambassador Husain Haqqani to accord full protocol to the arriving dignitary. “The Embassy of Pakistan honours all important Pakistani citizens, regardless of their affiliations,” the ambassador told Daily Times.
Ahsan, in a spirited address, which was repeatedly interrupted by applause and full-throated slogans, called on the government to reinstate the chief justice and other independent judges. He added that the lawyers’ struggle would continue until such time as this goal was achieved. “We’ll not rest content until the pre-November 3, 2007, independent judiciary is restored,” he said.
Chaudhry, Ahsan declared, has become a symbol of the independence of judiciary and it is to his credit that all along, he has maintained judicial restraint. He has chosen not to respond to criticism either, emanating from those who attack him through statements or on television talk shows. Ahsan said without the chief justice’s return to his post, there will never be an independent judiciary in Pakistan, because only independent judges and an independent court system can fight corruption and lend strength to democracy.
Entertainment News
Aishwarya Ray VS Katrina Kaif , Let the battle begin!
MUMBAI: One is believed to be the most beautiful woman in the world; the other is a model-turned-actress who has been voted FHM’s Sexiest Woman Alive 2008.
One is the daughter-in-law of the first family in Bollywood; the other is the long-standing girlfriend of one of the biggest stars in Bollywood.
So is Katrina Kaif’s increasing popularity beginning to overshadow the reign of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan?
After winning Miss World in 1994, the Bachchan bahu put India firmly on the world map. Three years later, she made her debut in South Indian cinema, and has since won honours for her performances in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Mohobbatein and Devdas to name a few. Aishwarya is the first Indian actor to be a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, and is also the first Indian actress to have her own statue at London’s Madame Tussauds. She has become a firm favourite with audiences and has also become one of the most photographed women in the world.
After much speculation following the premiere of Guru in Toronto, Bachchan Junior asked for Aishwarya’s hand in marriage and the two tied the knot in April 2007. Since then, the actress has had just two Bollywood releases, Sarkar Raj and Jodhaa Akbar. The former architecture student has also just completed filming for the Hollywood sequel to Pink Panther, with a release set for 2009.
While the former Miss World has been somewhat lying low in the Bollywood arena, there have been other actresses who have jumped onto the popularity bandwagon in her absence. The most talked-about actress of the moment, mainly owing to her successful on-screen pairing with Akshay Kumar, is Katrina Kaif. She was initially known as Salman Khan’s girlfriend before her first release, Boom, but was first noticed on her own accord in Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya. Since then, Katrina has given audiences four consecutive hit films in 2007 alone, two of which were with Akshay.
She was loved in her role in Race, where she was paired opposite Saif Ali Khan, and Singh is Kinng gave Katrina her fourth successful movie with Akshay.
Katrina has also become very popular in Indian advertising. Earlier in the year she topped Aishwarya by superseding her in Internet search keyword popularity. As if that wasn’t enough, a few weeks prior to the release of Singh is Kinng, Aishwarya was replaced by Katrina as Brand Ambassador of Nakshatra, a world-renowned brand for diamond jewellery.
Katrina’s USP on screen is that she portrays a contemporary image of India, a blend which gives her the perfect NRI look. Aishwarya, on the other hand, has always represented herself as a conventional and well-rooted Indian woman.
Even on the international stage, Ash has never fallen back in promoting her Indian heritage. In 2003, as a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, Ash adorned the red carpet in a sari. Her statue at London’s Madame Tussaud’s also has her posing in an Indian dress as per her character in Gurinder Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice. Could this be the difference Kat can bring to Nakshatra diamonds? Could Kat’s modernity overshadow Ash’s traditional persona?
With Ash being the ex-girlfriend of Katrina’s current beau, Salman Khan, it’s no wonder there might be a little rivalry between the two beauties. Although her relationship with Salman can appear to be the most significant catalyst in Katrina’s career, nobody can deny that her last four films have been blockbusters.
Perhaps Ash will have to rely on her Hollywood roles to keep her standing within the hearts of the international audiences, while giving way to Katrina, who is a younger and fresher depiction of Indian beauty, in Bollywood. That said however, rumour has it that Hollywood has recently been knocking on Katrina’s door too. Although the exact details haven’t yet been revealed, if true, there’s no stopping Katrina overtaking Ash internationally too.
Meanwhile, as well as Hello! , which is in cinemas now, fans will be able to see Katrina and Salman, at what is tipped to be their romantic best, in Subhash Ghai’s Yuvraaj which is set to release in late October 2008.
Aishwarya Ray online videos ! Katrina Kaif online videos
world news
Suicide Bomb Blast In Kandahar
KANDAHAR: At least 15 people were wounded in a suspected suicide bomb attack near two government buildings in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar on Wednesday, a foreign news agency reported citing police and a government official said.
The blast hit between Kandahar’s main intelligence office and a compound used by the provincial government council, said Zalmai Ayoubi, a spokesman for Kandahar’s governor.
A provincial police officer said the blast was caused by a suspected suicide bomber and that at least 15 people were wounded.
pakistan
Bomb Blast rocked NGO office, CHECHAWATNI
CHECHAWATNI: A bomb blast rocked the local non-government organization (NGO) office situated at Girjaghar road here on Wednesday.
The handmade bomb planted under a tree went off outside the local NGO office, the police said. However, no loss of life was reported.
The explosion was so powerful that it was heard in far furling areas.
Entertainment
Catwalk or Comedy?
This week we see the release of two films "Fashion" and "Golmaal Returns". It should be quite easy to decide which one you want to go for, as each film is clearly very different from the other. Fashion; a behind the scenes look into the industry, Golmaal Returns a fun and frolics picture.ablo: Hope everybody had a fashion.jpgwonderful Diwali, ate lots, lit some sparklers and then gambled. But now it's time to get down to your local cinema, because the week's two releases are big. We have spoken a lot about Fashion, interviewed Priyanka and Kangna, seen the promos and heard the music. I'm still not bored of it, if anything I'm even more excited and can't wait to see this sexy catwalk flick, which promises some behind the scenes catfights!
Entertainment
Bolloywood Star Salman Khan all set to marry Katrina kaif.
Bollywood's Smart and Handsome boy Salman Khan is all set to knot to one of the smartest actress Katrina kaif, After many instances of rumours in the Film industry about these couple has been ended by declaring the wedding date by the Salman family.
Entertainment
Jodha Akbar’ to recreate 'Dhoom:2' magic
After leaving fans spellbound with their retro avatar in 'Dhoom-2', the classic pair of 'Jodha Akbar', Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, are yet again gearing up to work opposite each other, and the latest buzz is that the duo has signed their 3rd project together which will be directed by the maverick filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Post 'Saawariya' debacle, Sanjay decided to take a break prior to commencing his next project; the director is now ready to work on his next 'Heera Mandi', and Sanjay was keen to cast Hrithik and Ash in the lead.
Based on industry insiders, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has brought the rights to the book 'A Sudden Visit to Pakistan: Heera Mandi the Dream Home of the Whores' written by Mayank Austen Soofi which came with a steep price tag. The lead stars Hrithik and Aishwarya will be joined by eight leading ladies and six male stars of Bollywood.
Sources close to the director have revealed that Hrithik has already signed the movie and Bhansali is confident that Ash will get on board too.
So Hrithik-n-Ash fans can now rejoice as they would get to see the Bollywood's golden pair sweep you off your feet with 'Heera Mandi'
Entertainment
14 cartoons seek 3 Oscar berths
Fourteen films have been submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in hopes of securing one of the three nominations available in the best animated feature category.
The contenders are “Bolt,” “Delgo,” “Dragon Hunters,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Igor,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” “$9.99,” “The Sky Crawlers,” “Sword of the Stranger,” “The Tale of Despereaux,” “Waltz With Bashir” “WALL-E” and “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!”
Because there are at least eight but fewer than 16 submissions, a maximum of three movies can share the spotlight when Oscar nominations in all categories are announced January 22.
Disney/Pixar’s “WALL-E” is widely considered the frontrunner to win the Oscar. Competition for the other two nominee slots will include such box office hits as Blue Sky Studio’s “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!” and DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda” and “Madagascar” sequel, which is currently No. 1 at the North American box office.
The submissions also include Israel’s award-winning animated documentary “Waltz With Bashir,” which has emerged as this year’s “Persepolis.”
“Waltz,” Disney’s 3-D “Bolt,” CG fantasy films “Delgo” and “Dragon Hunters,” Australian stop-motion title “$9.99,” Japanese anime titles “The Sky Crawlers” and “Sword of the Stranger” and London-based Framestore Feature Animation’s first title “The Tale of Despereaux” from Universal still await their qualifying runs.
“Bolt” and “Fly Me to the Moon” are stereoscopic 3-D titles.
By next year, the majority of the leading competitors could be 3-D titles, as stereoscopic animated fare scheduled to open in 2009 includes Focus’ stop-motion “Coraline,” DreamWorks’ Animation’s “Monsters vs. Aliens,” Disney’s “Up,” Blue Sky’s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” and Sony Pictures Animation’s “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.”
Entertainment
Big B delighted over Indian team beating Aus
Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan is delighted over the Indian cricket team victory over the World Champion Australia. “What an achievement and what a victory. What was really wonderful was to watch the spirit of the team,” Bachchan stated in his blog posted on Tuesday (November 11). He was referring to India’s convincing 2-0 victory over Australian team.
Praising the team led by Captain M S Dhoni, Bachchan said, “It is a confident, strong and fearless team. It is a team that welcomes a challenge. A team that has the guts to take on the chin and gives two back. It is a team that has removed depreciating cynicism of it from the hearts and minds of its countrymen.”
Bachchan asked the media to glorify the victory and show the visuals of outstanding performance repeatedly. “We have won. Show Sachin, Laxman and Ganguly getting their hundreds. Show Ponting’s wicket being uprooted by the wily Harbhajan or Hayden groping in the dark on the magnificence of Zaheer’s out swinger,” he asked.
“Show Ishant and Misra and Sehwag rattling the Champions. Show our moment of glory, victory and win,” he added. Excited Bachchan even asked all the creative heads and brains of the advertising and marketing world to give catchy slogan for sporting heroes.
“You have the Pappu pass ho gaya!, the ‘Pappu can’t dance!’ and ‘Kuch meetha ho jai. Build a slogan and chant for our sporting heroes that the entire nation can scream in unison at all venues where our sportsman perform and play,” he asked advertising and marketing world heads. He even gave an example how the words ‘Yes we can’ reiterated by Barack Obama ensured him a victory in US presidential elections.
However, Bachchan was quite upset over the commentary. “When the Australian bats, the comments largely remain with the calibre and expertise of the batsman and where and how he should be handling the bowling to make runs,” he stated.
“And even though we have an Indian stalwart in the box, we hardly hear how well our bowlers are bowling or if they are not, what efforts they should be making to trouble the opposition. And it’s vice versa when India bats,” he added.
world News
Top 6 Powers To Meet Thursday Over Iran
PARIS: The six powers trying to scale back the nuclear ambitions of Iran, which is accused of trying to build an atomic bomb, will meet in Paris on Thursday, French officials said.
Political directors from the foreign ministries of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States will gather to discuss progress in their dealings with Tehran, said a foreign ministry spokesman.
He was confirming the meeting announced earlier Tuesday by a European diplomatic source in Berlin.
The six countries have put forward a package of technological, economic and political incentives if Iran suspends uranium enrichment, which they fear Tehran is pursuing to build a nuclear weapon.
Tehran strongly denies the accusation, saying its nuclear programme is aimed purely at producing civilian energy.
Tensions arose late last month within the group of six countries when the United States slapped sanctions on Russia’s main arms firm over the alleged sale of sensitive military technology to Iran.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the US move as “inadmissible” and warned the sanctions would affect talks between world powers on the Iranian nuclear programme.
world News
George W. Bush Says To Miss Being Commander-in-Chief
NEW YORK: US President George W. Bush, marking his last Veterans Day in office on a decommissioned aircraft carrier, said Tuesday he would miss being commander-in-chief of the US military.
“You know, oftentimes they ask me, ‘What are you going to miss about the presidency?’ And first reaction is I say, ‘No traffic jams in New York,’” he joked aboard the retired USS Intrepid in New York harbor.
“The truth of the matter is, I will miss being the commander-in-chief of such a fabulous group of men and women, those who wear the uniform of the United States military,” said Bush, who leaves office January 20.
Bush stands to leave successor Barack Obama the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the global campaign against Islamist terrorism, which the president declared after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Intrepid houses a sea, air and space museum that bears its name, home to generations of US military aircraft, as well as some from France, Israel, Italy and Russia, and one Concorde supersonic jet.
About 2,500 US veterans, 500 active duty personnel, US lawmakers and state and local officials were on hand at the museum, which reopened over the weekend for the first time after shutting September 31, 2006 for an overhaul.
The Intrepid was build in 1943, served in World War II and did three tours in the Vietnam War, then did a stint recovering NASA vehicles until it was finally retired in 1974. The museum opened in 1983.
Bush paid tribute to the ship’s role after the September 11th attacks, when it served as a makeshift command center and base for rescue efforts, then praised the US military’s role in the war on terrorism.
“The war on terror has required courage. It has required resolve, equal to what previous generations of Americans brought to the fields of Europe and the deep waters of the Pacific,” he said.
“And I’m proud to report to my fellow citizens: Our Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of this generation, have showed up for the fight, and America is more secure for it,” he said.
At Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, US Vice President Dick Cheney noted that the celebration originally marked the end of World War I, and paid tribute to the last surviving US veteran of the conflict.
“Well over four million Americans served in that conflict, and all of them are now gone except for one. He is Frank Buckles of Charles Town, West Virginia, who 90 years ago today was on active duty in the United States Army,” said Cheney.
“Our last Doughboy is nearly 108 years old, and on this Veterans Day we’re thinking of him with the greatest respect and pride,” he said.
Cheney also defended the badly sullied international image of the United States, insisting: “The America that liberated Europe six decades ago is still an active, hopeful presence in the affairs of mankind.”
“In a world of so many perils, from hunger and disease to political oppression to the spread of deadly technology, America remains the best hope of those who suffer and live in fear,” he said.
“Our cause is liberty, justice, and peace, and millions breathe free today because of American soldiers who fought and sacrificed for that cause,” said the vice president.
pakistan News
Curfew Continues To Remain in Force In Mathar, Machni
PESHAWAR: The unannounced curfew continues to remain in force in 25 villages of Mathar and Machni – areas lying in the outskirts of Peshawar – where security forces and police are carrying out a joint search operation to hunt down militants.
The curfew was imposed yesterday in the above villages in view of the increasing activities of the militants there.
However, no arrest has so far been reported, nor there is any report of resistance on part of the militants.
Additional check posts have been set up on all the entry points of the routes heading to Peshawar and entry is being allowed after thorough checking.
The local transport remains suspended and commuters are forced to travel on foot.
pakistan News
Eleven people involved in Khanani, Kalia Group
LAHORE: Javed Khanani and Munaf Kalia, accused of involvement in a major financial scam of the country, have during interrogation revealed that only in the last one month 11 people transferred Rs38 billion worth of dollars to foreign countries.
Out of these 11 persons, 9 belong to Karachi while 2 are from Lahore.
According to FIA sources, illegal business of transferring dollars, pounds and other foreign currencies has been going on in the country since 2006. The main centre of this business is Dubai where inflow and outflow of millions of dollars takes place on daily basis.
During interrogation the accused also disclosed that millions of dollars were also transferred abroad following declaration of emergency situation in the country by former president Pervez Musharraf last year, sources said.
The names of these eleven persons identified by the accused are being kept clandestine and they will be disclosed at an appropriate time later.
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