|
In the name of
Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Inews
Daily
Wednesday 5th April 2006 - 6th Rabi' al-Awwal 1427
Bombs in
Baghdad kill at least 12
A car bomb exploded yesterday in eastern Baghdad, killing at least 10 and wounding 28, police said. Another blast killed a woman and two of her young sons in the capital, officials added. The car bomb went off in the poor, mostly Shia area of Habibiyah, and damaged several cars and nearby sandwich stands, police said. In New Baghdad, bombing hit shortly after 7 am, killing the woman and two boys, ages 9 and 12. A third son, aged 13, was wounded, as were two brothers of a different family living in the same home, police said. Meanwhile, assailants gunned down a judge driving in eastern Baghdad and killed a receptionist who worked at the UAE Embassy and his friend as they were leaving the embassy in Mansour. In southern Iraq, gunmen killed a policeman and wounded another as the two were driving in the city of Basra, police said. Iran, US "to
begin direct talks on Iraq in a week"
Tehran and Washington will open direct talks over Iraq by early next week in Baghdad, ISNA news agency reported yesterday. The United States and Iran expressed willingness last month to hold talks about Iraq. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki termed the scheduled talks an opportunity for Iran, and a challenge for the US. For the first time in 27 years, Iran last month put direct talks with its political arch-enemy on the official agenda of the SNSC, which is the highest decision-making body in Iran. Ali Larijani, the secretary of the SNSC, said Iran always wanted a stable Iraq and was willing to meet with the US to help achieve that goal. Previous negotiations between the two states were either held indirectly through interest groups in Tehran and Washington, or on an informal basis. Hamas FM says
ready to live 'side by side' with neighbours
The Hamas-led Palestinian government is ready to live side by side with its neighbours, the foreign minister said in a letter to the UN Secretary General on Tuesday that referred to a 'two state resolution' for the Mideast conflict. "We are looking for freedom and independence side by side with our neighbours and we are ready for serious discussions with the quartet," said a copy of the letter addressed to UN chief Kofi Annan. The quartet of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, are the sponsors of the stalled Middle East peace process and the drafters of the roadmap seeking to create a Palestinian state alongside Israel. "Israeli procedures in the occupied territories will put an end to all hopes to reach a final and peaceful settlement based on the two-state resolution," the letter continued. Iran tests
‘flying boat’ in Gulf wargames
Iran yesterday successfully tested a super-modern flying boat in Persian Gulf waters, state television said. The futuristic boat was tested during an ongoing massive wargame which Iran has launched on Friday. The military boat was designed locally by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. The high-speed boat which has a rare maneuvering power is capable of missions everywhere in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. The radar-evading flyer has such a design that it capably embarks on different missile firing with a highly accurate aiming, even on move. The domestically-built boat has been made by experts of Iran's Ministry of Defence. Iraq, Jordan
sign UN-backed audit agreement
Iraq has signed a UN-sponsored agreement with the Audit Board of Jordan in a 'much-needed step' to modernise the fight against corruption, the UN Developent Programme (UNDP) said in a statement on Tuesday. The UNDP described the agreement as a 'landmark' scheme and said it would improve Iraq’s audit bureau in its efforts to combat allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement. The project worth 4.8 million dollars is brokered and financed by UNDP-Iraq through international funding and will take 18 months to be completed, the statement said. In line with the agreement Jordan will train Iraqi auditors in dealing with money laundering, fraud detection, public procurement and privatisation. Reports of widespread corruption have gripped Iraq’s post-war authorities, particularly in the multi-billion reconstruction drive across the country. Bahrain charges
boat captain with manslaughter
Bahrain said on Tuesday it had charged with manslaughter the captain of a cruise boat that capsized off its coast last week, killing 58 passengers, and detained its owner. The owner of the twin-decked boat, which officials say was not licensed to sail, was ordered detained for seven days for questioning. Prosecutors said the captain and his assistant had been charged with manslaughter and other offences. Organisers of the dinner cruise told officials the captain told them the vessel could carry 200 passengers. The traditional wooden dhow was carrying 130 passengers, of whom 72 survived. It had a capacity of about 100. The dead included 22 Indians and 13 Britons. The remaining victims were from the Philippines, South Africa, Singapore, Thailand, Pakistan, Germany, Ireland and Sri Lanka. UN watchdog to
inspect nuclear sites Friday
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors are due in Iran on Friday to visit the country’s uranium enrichment facility and other sites, a top nuclear official said yesterday. He added the inspection at the site in Isfahan province of central Iran would take place "under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)", to which Teheran is a signatory. The UN Security Council, in a non-binding statement, called on Iran on March 29 to suspend all its enrichment-related activities in 30 days, a move promptly rejected by Tehran. "Iran will not suspend its research activities in the field of enrichment. These activities will go on under the supervision of the IAEA," an Iranian official said. Saudi Arabia
says not concerned by Iran war games
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it was not concerned about Iran’s Gulf war games, saying Tehran did not pose a threat to its neighbours. But Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal hinted Riyadh did not back possible Iranian talks with the United States on Iraq. Iran has tested military hardware in a week of naval war-games, including a land-to-sea missile that analysts say is designed to sink ships in the Gulf, the route for about two-fifths of the world’s globally traded oil. "It is not the first time they have had manoeuvres," Prince Saud told a news conference. "We do not believe that they are a threat to any of their neighbours." The missile tests come amid a standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme. Asked about possible US-Iranian talks on Iraq, he said Iraq’s neighbours should not interfere in its internal affairs. Afghanistan’s
Karzai defends release of convert
Afghan President Hamid Karzai defended the release of a Christian convert yesterday, saying the judiciary had acted properly and had not been swayed by the international outcry over the case. The convert, Abdur Rahman, was jailed in March for converting to Christianity and could have faced trial under Islamic sharia law that stipulates death as punishment for apostasy. After a storm of Western criticism, led by of course by the US, the judiciary released the 40-year-old and he was quickly taken out of the country to asylum in Italy. But his release - for which no legal justification was provided at the time - angered many conservative Afghans, who had demanded he be punished under Islamic law. Some clerics accused the government of caving in to Western pressure. Afghanistan is a deeply religious, conservative country and religious controversies have sparked violent protests over the past year. Pakistan court
sentences five militants to death
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court Tuesday sentenced five militants from an al Qaeda-linked group to death for a 2002 attack on a prison van which killed a policeman and a prisoner, officials said. The five, who are members of the feared Lashkar-e-Jhangvi organisation, were also fined by the court in the southern city of Karachi, the public prosecutor said. The convicts were charged with attacking a prison van carrying an alleged senior member of the group named Dildar. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is regarded as Pakistan’s fiercest Sunni Muslim extremist outfit. It is accused of killings of hundreds of Shiites after its emergence in the early 1990s. Police linked the group to the murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl in early 2002 and two suicide car bomb attacks on French engineers and the US consulate the same year, all in Karachi. Kuwaiti women
vote for first time
Kuwaiti women began casting votes for the first time yesterday in a by-election for a municipal council seat, less than a year after winning full political rights in the oil-rich Gulf state. Two women are among eight candidates running for the seat in the district of Salmiya, about 15 kilometres southeast of the capital. Voting began slowly as Tuesday is a normal working day was expected to pick up before ballots closed at 8 pm. The district has 28,000 eligible voters, 60 percent of whom are women. Men and women voted in segregated booths in accordance with a provision in the election law introduced last year. Many women voters were covered from head to toe but were required to show their faces to judges supervising the elections for identification. Inews Daily - No Copyright - http://www.fsphost.com/inewsdaily -
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe by sending an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of Hidayahnet unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from Hidayahnet, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recommended sites: Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia : http://www.abim.org.my Jamaah Islah Malaysia : http://www.jim.org.my Radio Islam Kuliyyah : http://www.kuliyyah.com Palestinkini Info : http://www.palestinkini.info Partai Keadilan Sejahtera : http://pk-sejahtera.org The Muslim Brotherhood : http://ikhwanweb.com YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
|
