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Suicide attacks claim 40 lives in Casablanca

          Dubai, May 17: Forty people were killed and 100 injured in a wave of suicide attacks in Casablanca, Morocco. The dead included 10 suicide bombers. The four attacks took place in separate places, including a restaurant near Belgian embassy, Jewish cemetery, Hotel Fraain and Hotel Median, says the News. (Contd)

Riaz Mohammad appointed as Pak high commissioner to India

          Islamabad, May 17: Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali has appointed Riaz Mohammad Khan as Pakistan High Commissioner to India, a news agency reported Saturday quoting officials. Jamali disclosed the appointment of Khan, who is currently ambassador to China, in an interview to foreign television. The nomination of Khan for the key assignment in India comes as the two countries move closer to resuming long-stalled dialogue after recent peace overtures.

3-day Indo-Pak meeting on Indus water in Delhi

          Islamabad, May 17: The annual meeting of the Indus Water Commissioners of Pakistan and India has been convened by the Indian Commissioner in New Delhi from May 28 to 31, official sources said here on Friday. Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters, Syed Jamaat Ali Shah, will lead the nation's delegation to India. The team will include technical experts and a legal adviser from the foreign office, says a Dawn report.

          The PCIW meets once every year to exchange data on water and weather-related issues. A special meeting of the PCIW was held here early in February on Pakistan's request. It was convened to address Pakistan's reservations on the Baglihar hydroelectric project being constructed by India on Chenab river. However, talks failed and Islamabad decided to seek intervention of neutral experts for arbitration of the dispute. The Indian officials' refusal to change the project design as proposed by the Pakistan experts led to the breakdown of talks between the two sides.

No formula on Kashmir solution yet: Pak official (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, May 17: Pakistan has said that there is no formula on Kashmir under consideration and the solution of the issue would be only settled in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir. "Pakistan has been not considering any formula on Kashmir including one reported as Chennab Formula on Kashmir and the only formula is to settle Kashmir issue according to the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," Foreign Secretary Riaz H. Khokhar told NNI on Friday. "When Pakistan and India will resume formal talks, may be some suggestions would be discussed for the resolution of Kashmir dispute but it would be premature to name any such formula at this stage," he said.

Pak to hand over 20 Indian prisoners on Sunday (Go To Top)

          Islamabad, May 17: Pakistan delayed the release 20 Indian prisoners by a day here on Saturday. They would now be released on Sunday, official sources said. The 20 prisoners include 14 crew members of the stranded Indian boat 'Raj Lakshmi' and six Sikhs who were apprehended for allegedly crossing into Pakistan from Iran without valid documents.

           The much awaited release was reportedly delayed due to some logistical problems in transporting the prisoners from their respective jails in Baluchistan to Wagah border point in Punjab. Confirming the delay, sources at the Indian High Commission here said the Pakistani officials had informed them that the prisoners would be released at the Wagah Border at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. According to the sources, the main reason had been the delay in bringing the prisoners from Mach and Quetta prisons to Lahore by train. Since the Wagah Border closes by 4 p.m., the Pakistani government decided to keep them in Lahore and hand them over to Indian authorities on Sunday morning.

          As a part of confidence-building measures, Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had early this month announced that his government would release 22 Sikh youths, and 14 crew members of Raj Lakshmi along with around 300 Indian fishermen. However, only six of the 22 Sikh prisoners would be released on Sunday as they have been identified as Indian nationals by New Delhi. The rest of the prisoners and fishermen would be released only after completion of the identification process undertaken by the Indian High Commission here.

Madhumita murder: UP minister sacked (Go To Top)

          Lucknow, May 17: Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi, who had been linked with the murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla, was sacked on Saturday. It has been alleged that the minister had "personal" connections with the poetess, who was reportedly pregnant at the time of her death. The murder has caused much embarrassment to the Mayawati government even as the Opposition alleged that Tripathi was being "shielded" by the state government. Announcing the dismissal here at a press conference on Saturday, Chief Minister Mayawati said the minister was being removed "to prevent the opposition parties from taking political advantage from the case."

          The investigation into the murder has now been handed over to the Crime Branch, she said. The agency has been ordered to submit its report within a month. The chief minister also announced the removal of Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar Agarwal, saying the family members of the deceased had accused him of tampering with the evidence. "If Tripathi is cleared in the CB-CID inquiry, he will be reinducted into the ministry. If he is found guilty, I will expel him from the Bahujan Samaj Party," Mayawati added.

          Meanwhile, the Opposition commented that Tripathi's removal was mere a eyewash. Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh said, "I am sure the Mayawati government will ensure that he is given clean chit by CB-CID. And, thereafter he will be back in the Cabinet".

Two Bihar judges suspended (Go To Top)

          Patna, May 17: Two judges of lower courts in Bihar have been suspended after they were found guilty of irregularities and gross misconduct in discharging of their duties, it was reported on Saturday. The decision to suspend the duo was taken at a meeting of the standing committee of the Patna High Court on Thursday, official sources said. The two judges are Brinda Pathak (Additional District and Sessions Judge, Aurangabad) and S.K. Srivastava (Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patna). While Srivastava was suspended on the charge of irregularities in granting bail, Pathak was charged with gross misconduct in discharge of his official functions, the sources said. The seven-member committee headed by the Chief Justice of the High Court, which took the decision, looks after administrative matters of the judiciary in the state.

Explosives seized from Gwalior house, 3 arrested (Go To Top)

          Gwalior, May 17: Police have recovered a huge cache of explosives from a house in the central part of this city. The house of Om Prakash yielded, following a raid, 13,000 detonators, 7,000 metre wires and 1,700 dynamite sticks and bombs. Mohammad Syed Afzal, Superintendent of Police, Gwalior, said "Right now we cannot say anything till investigation is over. All we know is that these people had kept a tenant in their house but they don't now know his whereabouts. They say that their tenant is absconding. But we are not sure. So this is a non- bailable offence."

          According to him, the seized explosives were worth about Rs 10 lakh. Om Prakash, however, denied having any role in the eposide. "The explosives are not mine. I had rented a room to a man called Ramesh Gupta. He brought all this here. I don't know anything about him except for the fact that he was working in some factory," he added. Prakash, his son Lakshman and neighbour Annu Kachi have been arrested. A manhunt has been launched for Gupta.

Those living along Nepal border to get ID cards (Go To Top)

          Maharajgang, May 17: India has begun a project to issue multi-purpose identity cards to its citizens along the porous borders with Nepal in Uttar Pradesh. As part of the project, a survey is under way in Maharajgang border district. The multi-purpose national identity cards also aim to help check illegal immigration along the 1,600 km border with Nepal.

          Local residents have welcomed the move. "Yes, this (ID Cards) will definitely yield results because many people from across the border are coming here who claim to be citizens of India and thus cannot be identified. These cards will enable everybody to recognise such people," said Krishna Murli Singh, a local resident.

          The cards would also serve as a single-point reference for various indentification needs. "We can get our passport made through this ID card. We can also use this card for obtaining bail orders or in banks or other government works," said Sanjay Naik, another local resident. District Magistrate of Maharajganj Sanjay Prasad said, "We will definitely be facing a lot of problems during the survey, but I think the infiltration problems occurring in the border areas can be avoided to a great extent through the project" The 180 million rupees project would initially cover a few selected districts. Besides Pakistan and Bangladesh, India says illegal immigration thrives through third countries like Nepal and Bhutan with which India has no bar on citizens' travel, even without passport.

A touch of Mars of Earth? (Go To Top)

          London, May 17: Researchers have found a "striking" match between microscopic features on underwater rocks and mineral deposits from Earth and microbe-like structures in the famous Martian meteorite ALH84001. Such a discovery may bring scientists closer to knowing whether the 3.9 billion-year-old meteorite contains fossilised alien life. The evidence comes from volcanic rocks and underwater geological formations called calcareous pinnacles found below the surface of Lake Van in Turkey, the world's biggest alkaline lake. The research was carried out by Professor Jozef Kazmierczak of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Professor Stephan Kempe of the Technische Universitdt Darmstadt, Germany. According to them, the Lake Van samples were the best match for the structures in ALH84001. The findings support a growing body of evidence that lakes and shallow seas were once commonplace on Mars.

          According to a report in BBC, Kazmierczak and Kempe draw no conclusions about the nature of the nano-bodies. But other researchers have made claims that ultra-small microbes called "nannobacteria" exist. The existence of nannobacteria is fiercely disputed by many scientists, who believe in a lower size limit for life. One recurrent criticism against the Martian life theory is that nano- bodies in ALH84001 are simply too small to be fossilised life forms. Professor Hojatollah Vali, a planetary scientist from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who has worked on ALH84001, said there was no evidence for the existence of nannobacteria, says the report. The controversy may only be solved once space missions return to Earth with rocks from the Red Planet.

Al Qaida splinter group may be behind Riyadh blasts  (Go To Top)
-by Ioannis Solomou

          Nicosia, May 17: Saudi information sources believe that an Islamic group called Al Muwahidoun, led by Saudi nationals who fought with Al Qaida in Afghanistan may be behind the coordinated terrorist attack at the al-Hamra, Jadawal and Vinelli Compounds in Riyadh last Monday. The bombing which killed at least 29 people, including eight Americans, was the deadliest terror attack against Americans since September 11.

          Al Muwahidoun is reportedly led by three Saudi nationals who took an active part in the war in Afghanistan in 2001 as members of the Al Qaida terrorist network and who returned to their country last year, seeking to change the regime. They were identified as Ali Bin Khadir Al Khadir, Nasser Bin Hamad Al Fahd and Ahmed Bin Hamoud Al Khaldi. The group is one of Al Qaida splinter groups that emerged last year.

          Although US officials had claimed that Al-Qaida is in decline and disarray, the synchronised deadly bombings at three residential compounds in Riyadh proves that some of the leaders of the terrorist network are still in business. Al Qaida has always been a loose-knit network, made up of units that have considerable autonomy. So even if the main organisation is disbanded, the splinter groups will always pose a threat.

Suicide attacks claim 40 lives in Casablanca (Go To Top)

          (Contd) Police have arrested four suspects but no group has claimed responsibility for the bombings which, according to Moroccan Interior Minister Mustafa Sahel, bear the hallmark of international terrorism. The explosions were triggered just hours after US President George Bush sounded a terror warning of "killers on the loose". According to a government official, there were probably foreigners among the victims in the attack just after 10 pm GMT (3.30 am IST).

          The blasts on Friday night followed suicide attacks on Monday in the Saudi capital Riyadh in which bombers killed 34 people. The explosions Spanish targets and damaged the Belgian consulate, Morocco's official agency MAP said. Police and rescue workers rushed to the sites to care for dazed, blood-splattered survivors. The shattered bodies of victims were scattered on the wreckage-strewn streets. The latest terror alerts to ring out across the world included Britain's ban on flights to and from Kenya and warnings about dangers elsewhere in Africa and Southeast Asia.