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MiG jet crashes on Punjab village: Five killed

          Ludhiana, Apr 4: At least five people were killed and two dozen injured when an Indian Air Force fighter jet crashed on Friday into three houses in a Punjab village. The pilot bailed out safely from the Russia-designed MiG-23 which was on a routine training mission when it hit the houses in Mullanpua, just missing a nearby school. The single-seater plane crashed a ... (Contd)

Is Saddam hiding in a Mediterranean resort?

          Dubai, Apr 4: Where is Saddam Hussein? This question brings into focus a large 1600-room luxury resort with 600 m of private sandy beach in the Mediterranean coastal town of Latakiya called Cote d'Azur De Cham Resort, prepaid and chartered in toto by Baghdad. People living there may include Hussein or his sons, but this is not confirmed, says News24 quoting military sources in Jerusalem. Top Iraqi officials are reported to have been hiding there since March 23, four days after the US-led coalition invaded Iraq. They are guarded by a Syrian commando unit armed with anti-air missiles while Syrian naval missile boats secure the port.

          Sources also report that the Iraqi troops sent to reinforce Baghdad's international airport are members of the Iraqi 26th Brigade's special commando unit, whose sole task is to defend the lives of Hussein and immediate family members. These commandos take orders from no one but the Iraqi ruler and his sons, who are unlikely to have stripped themselves of this protection if they were still present in the Capital. On Wednesday, two weeks after the Gulf war started, the Saddam regime looked as though it had breathed its last. Its primary military props, Special Republic Guards divisions, Fedayeen suicide squads and Iraqi intelligence's special commando units were clearly losing their grip.

           Iraqi elite units were letting key positions drop into the hands of the coalition forces already dangerously close to Baghdad, The SRG, Baghdad Division, did nothing to stop allied forces crossing the Tigris bridges from west to east although it was their job to blow them up and prevent the allied advance. Available information suggests that Saddam Hussein and his sons departed Baghdad some days ago. But "where, how and why" are the unanswered questions.

Airport captured, claims US; 5 killed in suicide attack (Go To Top)

          Baghdad, Apr 4: The US military claims that its forces have captured Baghdad's international airport although. According to BBC, the battle there is not quite over. In another development, three coalition troops and two other people have been killed in an apparent suicide car bombing at a checkpoint north-west of the Capital city. It is the second such case in the Gulf war. As people in Baghdad remained largely without electricity and water after another night of sustained bombing, President Saddam Hussein urged them to defend their city.

           In a statement read out on Iraqi television by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, the President vowed to defeat US-led forces. Further, US troops have said they found thousands of boxes containing vials of unidentified liquid and powder as well chemical warfare manuals at the Latifiyah industrial site south of Baghdad. Further south, British soldiers continue operations to secure the second city of Basra, establishing what they say is a holding position across the southern most bridge into the city

           Meanwhile, Saddam International Airport now has a new name after being "taken" by US troops, Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a news conference at US Central Command in Qatar. It is now called Baghdad International Airport, the "gateway to the future of Iraq." The attack on the airport began on Thursday evening with troops, backed by F-15E and F18 warplanes, moving in to seize the runway. On the way to the airport, soldiers had to negotiate a single- lane road with Iraqi fighters firing from all sides, according to a news agency report.

           To the south-east of the Capital, US marines are advancing on the south-eastern outskirts of Baghdad after pushing up the River Tigris from Kut overnight. The suicide attack, according to the US Central Command in Qatar, occurred on Thursday evening 18 km from the Haditha Dam and about 130 km from the Iraq-Syria border.

Britain floats suggestion of Bonn-style conference for Iraq (Go To Top)
-by Trevor Barnard

          London, Apr 4: As controversy rages about how Iraq will be run after Saddam Hussein's regime has been ousted by military force, Britain has floated an idea that a conference representing a wide spectrum of Iraqi society should be convened to help the victorious coalition and the United Nations draw up a plan of action. Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Jack Straw went public with the idea, albeit in muted tones, in a little reported speech in London this week. He is known to have discussed it with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and other leaders, but it is stressed in Whitehall that at the moment it is no more than an idea, and that reports suggesting that Britain plans to call a conference in Geneva are pure speculation.

           The inspiration behind the idea appears to be the Bonn conference of December, 2001, that formulated an interim regime for Afghanistan, after the defeat of the Taliban regime. That conference was UN-led, and a similar gathering would fit in with British views on defining Iraq's future. Again and again British ministers and spokesmen have recalled with emphasis the joint statement by President Bush and Prime Minister Blair at the summit meeting in the Azores when they committed themselves to seeking a key role for the UN in the reconstruction of Iraq.

           Straw issued a written statement this week confirming that Bush and Blair had made clear at their meeting at Camp David last week that they would "seek new UN resolutions to affirm Iraq's territorial integrity, to ensure rapid delivery of humanitarian relief and endorse an appropriate post-conflict administration for Iraq." The statement added: "President Bush made clear US commitment to the establishment of a new Iraq government chosen by the Iraqi people themselves."

SARS pneumonia came from chicken (Go To Top)

           Hong Kong, Apr 4: The killer virus causing global outbreak of the deadly pneumonia is likely to be a new hybrid that mutated in the intensively farmed livestock of China's Guangdong province. Researchers at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention have revealed that bird vendors or chefs were the first people to fall ill with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

           The vice-director for viral diseases at the centre, Bi Shengli, told the South China Morning Post that collaboration with health officials in Guangdong had found that the earliest SARS patients had been in close and continued contact with chickens, ducks, pigeons and owls. Researchers have identified a coronavirus as the cause of SARS, but have yet to publish full details. However, early work suggests the virus is related to one that causes bronchitis in birds, including chickens. "Coronaviruses can cause respiratory diseases in birds, so we might think they could do the same in people," notes Yvonne Cossart, a virologist at the University of Sydney, Australia

           Bi said tests on 30 Guangdong patients did not find evidence of a coronavirus. According to New Scientist some virologists say coronaviruses are notoriously difficult to grow in culture, which is the main way scientists try to isolate them from patients. Susan Poutanen of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and colleagues reported on Wednesday that they had isolated a coronavirus from five Toronto SARS patients that was genetically identical in all of them, and identical to viruses isolated from SARS patients in Hong Kong and Thailand.

Boat sinks in Narmada, 17 pilgrims feared drowned (Go To Top)

          Dahej (Gujarat) Apr 4: Seventeen pilgrims were feared drowned in Narmada when the boat in which they were travelling capsized in the river on Thursday due to strong winds. The rest of passengers swam to safety. Rescue and fire brigade workers were searching for the bodies at a point where the Narmada, regarded as holy by Hindus, runs into the Arabian Sea at the Gulf of Cambay. Hundreds of pilgrims from all over India reach the confluence of Narmada and the Arabian Sea to take a dip during the holy Navaratri festival which began on Wednesday.

Bengal petrol dealers on strike, want higher commission (Go To Top)

          Kolkata, Apr 4: Petrol retailers in West Bengal went on a 24-hour strike on Friday to protest against the low commission paid to them by oil companies. State Petroleum Dealers' Association, which called the strike, is demanding an increase to 4.25 per cent in commission from the current 0.75 per cent. The strike caused great inconvenience to motorists, most of whom were caught unawares. Petrol dealers say that despite a steep rise in petrol prices in the last two years, there was no increase in the commission paid to them.

Decomposed bodies of 23 Assamese tribals found (Go To Top)

          Guwahati, Apr 4: The Guwahati police on Friday claimed to have recovered as many as 23 bodies of persons belonging to 'Dimasas' tribe. The tribals were abducted by militants belonging to Hmar Peoples' Convention on March 31. Official sources said the tribals were killed a day after being abducted. They said search was on to locate the bodies of the rest. The abductions were said to be the result of enmity between the two militant organisations - HPC and Dima Halam Daoga (DHD). The highly decomposed bodies were recovered from the jungles at Nastul hills in Assam's Cachar district on Thursday night, the police said.

Militants gun down SPO in Tripura (Go To Top)

          Agartala, Apr 4: Tribal guerrillas shot dead a Special Police Officer and injured four others at Maithulum Bari in south Tripura late on Thursday night, police said here on Friday. Police said the militants attacked the SPO camp in the interior tribal-dominated area under Killa police station . Though the SPOs retaliated, the guerrillas managed to escape. One SPO was killed and four others sustained bullet injuries in the encounter.

MiG jet crashes on Punjab village: Five killed (Go To Top)

          ... (Contd) short distance away from where it had taken off at the Halwara Air Force Station, about 100 km northwest of Chandigarh. An eyewitness said the incident occurred at around 10.15 in the morning. "It was around 10.15 a.m. when the MIG crashed at our neighbour's house. Their family, and other relatives were there", said Bachitar Singh. Anuraag Aggarwal, Deputy Administrative Commissioner, said firemen fought for two hours to control a blaze caused by the crash. "The MIG 23 that has crashed was on a training mission. It fell at about 10.25. The fire has been brought under control. At least five to six people have been killed and four to five are still trapped inside the houses. Hence the casualty may be around 10. There is not much injury though," he said. Rescuers planned to use cranes to lift the wreckage from the concrete houses that were reduced to rubble.

          The reason for the accident was not immediately known. It was the third time since mid-2002 that an Indian combat jet has crashed into a residential area in the state. Last July, an MiG-21 ploughed into houses in Jalandhar, killing seven people on the ground. In November, a British-made Jaguar crashed into houses in Ambala, killing four. India's Air Force, the world's fourth largest, has come under criticism for woeful safety record. Defence officials say at least 170 Russia-made MiG combat planes, the backbone of the air force, have been lost in accidents over the past decade.