International

‘ISI helped Omar to flee from Quetta to Karachi’

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:34:28 GMT

Lalit K. Jha

Washington

Nov. 20: Fearing that Taliban supremo Mullah Omar might be targeted by US drones, Pakistan's ISI has helped him to flee from the border town of Quetta to the mega port city of Karachi, where he has established a new Shura council.

One-eyed leader of the Afghan Taliban recently found refuge from potential US attacks in Karachi with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) assistance, the Washington Times reported quoting US intelligence officials.

"Mullah Omar travelled to Karachi last month after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan. He inaugurated a new senior leadership council in Karachi, a city that so far has escaped US and Pakistani counter-terrorism campaigns," the officials said.

The paper said the ISI helped Mullah Omar move from Quetta, where they felt he was exposed to attacks by unmanned US drones.

"The development reinforces suspicions that the ISI, which helped create the Taliban in the 1990s to expand Pakistani influence in Afghanistan, is working against US interests in Afghanistan as the Obama administration prepares to send more US troops to fight there," the daily said.

Mr Bruce Riedel, a CIA veteran and analyst on Al Qaeda and the Taliban, confirmed that Mullah Omar had been spotted in Karachi recently, the daily said.

"Some sources claim the ISI decided to move him further from the battlefield to keep him safe" from US drone attacks, Mr Riedel was quoted as saying.

"There are huge madrasas in Karachi where Mullah Omar could easily be kept," he said. Mr Riedel noted that there had been few suicide bombings in Karachi, which he attributed to the Taliban and Al Qaeda not wanting to "foul their own nest". -PTI

US missile strike kills 8 in Pakistan

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:29:44 GMT

Age Correspondent

Islamabad

Nov. 20: A US drone fired two missiles in Pakistan’s lawless North Waziristan tribal region on Friday killing eight alleged militants, officials said.

"The US drone fired two missiles in North Waziristan killing eight people," a security official said.

This was the second such attack this week. The earlier attack killed four alleged militants in the same region.

The Pakistani Army has been battling militants in the neighbouring South Waziristan region since last month. The militants have responded with intensified attacks in towns and cities. Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province, has borne the brunt of the attacks.

Of eight bomb attacks in the country this month — six of them have been in Peshawar which is near the Afghan border and is also close to militant strongholds in tribal areas.

In the latest attack, three policemen were killed and six wounded when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle in Peshawar shortly after midnight. Hours earlier, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court building in the city, killing 18 people. "This is literally a war going on," provincial chief minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti told reporters after the funeral of policemen killed in a attack.

"But we will be not pressurised ... we will confront this situation," he said.

The United States, weighing options for how to stem an intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan, has welcomed the Waziristan offensive but is keen to see Pakistan tackle Afghan Taliban factions based in lawless enclaves along the border.

In a relevant development, director US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Panetta arrived in Islamabad on two-day visit.

The CIA chief reached Pakistan on Thursday night on a two-day visit.

Fonseka signals bid for Lanka presidency

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:29:31 GMT

Ranga Sirilal

Colombo

Nov. 20: Sri Lanka’s top general, who quit amid speculation he could run for President, pledged on Friday to fight for democracy and human rights after the end of a 25-year separatist war, suggesting he would soon announce his candidacy.

General Sarath Fonseka, widely credited for the Army’s role in defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels in May, urged the Army to rebuff any bid to politicise it.

"Don’t allow anybody to tarnish the reputation of the Army and politicise the military," Gen. Fonseka said in a letter addressed to soldiers and their families and made public on Friday.

"We should keep in mind that we are the real owners of the war victory even though certain people try to insult us."

Gen. Fonseka, expected to announce his candidacy this week, pledged to uphold democracy and human rights, areas in which the opposition and Western nations say the administration of President Mahinda Rajapakse has done too little. "Despite any hurdle that may come my way, I assure you that I will stand by to protect democracy, human rights, media freedom, social equality and ethnic harmony, which are fading away from the motherland, and to protect the nation’s integrity for a better future for you," he said in the letter.

Gen. Fonseka stepped down last week from the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). He accused Mr Rajapakse of unjustly sidelining him over unfounded fears that a coup was being planned.

The Army Chief and Mr Rajapakse’s government have since said it was the country’s top politicians who helped secure victory over the Tigers, discounting Gen. Fonseka’s role in ending the conflict that killed more than 80,000.

Political analysts say the 39-year Army veteran, who oversaw a 34-month offensive to defeat the rebels, could split Mr Rajapakse’s voter base and capture the votes of Sri Lankans happy that the conflict is over.

—Reuters

Back-channel talks with India on, says Pak

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:29:13 GMT

Age Correspondent

Islamabad

Nov. 20: India and Pakistan have been engaged in back channel diplomacy as leaders and interlocutors are also in contact with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), official sources said.

Foreign office in Islamabad confirmed that former foreign secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan has been engaged in dialogue with Indian representatives in Hong Kong.

President Asif Ali Zardari has given responsibility of restoration of the track II dialogue to Riaz Mohammed Khan, the sources said. "In the first phase the sides are focusing on restoration of the composite dialogue and back channel diplomacy to create a consensus over the mechanism," an official at the foreign office said.

In the second phase Kashmiri leaders will also taken into the fold of the dialogue and a Hurriyat delegation led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooque will visit Pakistan after Eidul Adha, being celebrated on November 28.

"We will be visiting Pakistan immediately after Eidul Adha. We want the separatist leadership other than Hurriyat to join us as well. Pakistan wants to get input from Kashmiri leadership before entering into any sort of composite dialogue with New Delhi," Mr Mirwaiz Umer Farooque said. On Thursday, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna held a meeting in Kabul and discussed bilateral relations, specially the prospects of revival of the composite dialogue process between the two countries.

The two foreign ministers had the opportunity of interaction, as they joined the foreign ministers of Nato and Western countries at a roundtable on Afghan security.

In Washington, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said her country is encouraging Pakistan and India to resume their dialogue to address Kashmir and other outstanding disputes but any solution must come from the two countries.

She stressed in an interview that it is important the two South Asian nations resume talks.

The top US diplomat noted that before the dialogue came to a halt in 2008, in the wake of Mumbai attacks, the two sides had made progress toward sorting out some of the difficulties.

Karzai 2nd term marked by explosions, 23 killed

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:28:07 GMT

Herat (Afghanistan), Nov. 20: Bomb attacks on Friday killed 23 people in Afghanistan, a deadly start to President Hamid Karzai’s second term that underscored spiralling insecurity nine years into the US-led war.

The attacks brought to 35 the number of people killed since Mr Karzai was sworn in for another five years on Friday, pledging to try to bring peace to the nation and take over security from foreign forces in five years.

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck the capital of the south-western province of Farah, killing 15 people near the governor’s home.

A roadside bomb targeted a controversial warlord, who escaped unscathed but killed five of his bodyguards northwest of Kabul, while a similar device, of the type favoured by Taliban insurgents, killed three civilians in the east.

The Taliban-led insurgency against the Western-backed government is at its deadliest in the eight years since US-led troops ousted the Islamists, and is slowly encroaching into once peaceful parts of the north and west.

The suicide bomber damaged buildings in Farah in an area where heavy trucks were being loaded, officials said. "The bomber riding on a motorcycle detonated himself at a main square near my working office in my home," provincial governor Rohul Amin Amin said. "Fifteen people have been killed," the governor said. Apart from a police officer, all the dead were civilians, Mr Amin added.

About 38 other people were wounded, officials said. —AFP

Low-profile leaders picked for top EU posts

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:23:53 GMT

Brussels/Washington, Nov. 20: After years of effort the European Union named its first full-time president and powerful foreign policy chief on Thursday — but handed the jobs to two little-known compromise figures instead of global heavy hitters. The choice by national leaders behind closed doors broke a stalemate in choppy, often pained negotiations intended to give Europe a voice on the world stage commensurate with its economic heft. That hope was apparently dashed by a desire for consensus instead of a potentially divisive figure who could have overshadowed leaders of nations such as France and Germany.

Belgian Premier Herman Van Rompuy — a soft-spoken technocrat who shuns the public eye and has written haikus about European unity — will be the EU’s new president. EU trade commissioner Catherine Ashton of Britain, recognised by few in her home country and never elected to public office, was named foreign policy chief.

Mr Van Rompuy and Ms Ashton are meant to give the EU a bigger role on issues such as climate change, terrorism and trade amid the rise of China, Brazil and India. They were chosen from about 10 candidates, some, such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, boasting more eye-catching backgrounds.

Britain’s Labour government pushed for Mr Blair but France and Germany scotched him.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama welcomed the appointment of the EU’s first president on Thursday, saying it would make Europe an "even stronger partner" for the United States.

The White House also sought to allay fears that US-EU relations will become less important as China rises and perceptions linger of Europe as a divided continent. —AP, AFP

US citizen held and mistreated

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:22:36 GMT

CHARLES HUTZLER

BEIJING

Nov. 20: Sometime into his long detention by China’s feared state security agents, American geologist Xue Feng had something to show United States consular officials on their monthly visit.

He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the burns where his interrogators pressed lit cigarettes into his arm.

Dr Xue also had something to say: He wanted his previously unpublicised detention made public in hopes that the outcry would win his release.

But Dr Xue did not get his wish. His wife balked, as did the Unite States-based consultancy that employed him until months before he was detained, both saying that going public might hurt rather than help his case.

The United States embassy, caught between his desire to go public and his wife’s wish for privacy, worked behind-the-scenes for his release. So two years after disappearing into custody, the University of Chicago-trained Dr Xue (pronounced shway) remains held at an unknown location in Beijing, charged with stealing state secrets over the purchase of a commercial database on the oil industry.

His case has been batted inconclusively between prosecutors and the courts, which twice asked for more evidence, according to a summary of the case prepared by Dr Xue’s wife and seen by the Associated Press.

On Tuesday, the United States President Barack Obama raised Dr Xue’s case at his Beijing summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao in the latest and highest-level intervention, said a White House official on the trip, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release the information.

—AP

5 killed in Pacific island rampage

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:22:19 GMT

Saipan, Nov. 20: A gunman went on the rampage in the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific on Friday, killing at least four people and wounding eight mostly Korean tourists, officials and reports said.

Five bodies were in the hospital morgue on the US-administered territory’s main island of Saipan, including the alleged shooter, who had killed himself, hospital staff said.

The Saipan Tribune reported the gunman first shot and killed two men in their late 20s and early 30s, both local residents, and two children under the age of 10.

He then went to a popular tourist site and shot a group of mostly South Korean tourists, wounding eight people, including two Korean children, the newspaper said on its website.

The man then shot himself at another popular tourist site, the report said.

Governor Benigno R. Fitial was due to hold a press conference to provide further information.

In a statement, which gave no details about the shootings, Mr Fitial said the situation was under control and he confirmed the gunman had taken his own life.

Schools had been locked down after the situation unfolded about 1.30 pm, Mr Fitial said.

"I want to extend my heartfelt remorse and sadness to the individuals and families that were affected," he said. —AFP

US reopens probe into Watergate

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:22:14 GMT

Washington, Nov. 20: The US is said to have reopened the investigation into the Watergate saga more than 35 years after the biggest political scandal in the country’s history forced the then President Richard Nixon to step down.

Forensic investigators have now been called in to investigate exactly what Nixon knew about the Watergate break-in, particularly the extent of his knowledge of the raids on the Democratic National Committee’s offices in Washington. Investigators appointed by the US National Archives are to analyse notes taken by the White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman at a meeting with the late President just three days after Nixon campaign members were arrested for breaking into the Watergate building.

Their mission is to find out what Nixon and Haldeman discussed during the 18-and-a-half minutes missing from tape recordings of the meeting and from the aide’s large yellow note book, the online edition of British newspaper the Daily Telegraph reported. Experts have given up trying to unlock the mystery from the erased tape. The search will instead scour Haldeman’s notes for incriminating clues.

Investigators will use electrostatic detection analysis, which is capable of detecting and highlighting indented images, such as those left on a sheet of paper when a pen has written on a sheet above it. This might show evidence that certain pages were destroyed.

—PTI

US President answers Cuba blogger queries

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:17:23 GMT

WILL WEISSERT

HAVANA

Nov. 20: US President Barack Obama has answered questions submitted by a celebrated Cuban blogger, saying he isn’t interested in "talking for the sake of talking" with Raul Castro and indicating he won’t visit the island until the communist government changes its ways.

In an unusual written response to Yoani Sanchez, who has gained international acclaim for daring to criticise her government online, Mr Obama also said it is up to Cuba to act if it wants normal relations with Washington, saying that a true thaw in nearly 50 years of deep-freeze "will require action by the Cuban government." His comments were posted on Thursday on Ms Sanchez’s blog, "Generacion Y," which like most sites critical of the Cuban government is blocked on the island.

Ms Sanchez uses caustic, often witty posts to provide an inside look at a communist state, writing about such daily hardships as food shortages and tensions caused by a lack of freedom of expression and assembly. Mr Obama assured Ms Sanchez that the United States "has no intention of invading Cuba". —AP

Masked man murders priest in Russian church

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:17:03 GMT

Moscow, Nov. 20: A masked gunman entered a church and murdered a Russian Orthodox priest who had received death threats for converting the Muslims to Christianity and criticising Islam and its teachings, prosecutors and church officials said on Friday.

The killing could threaten delicate relations between the powerful majority Russian Orthodox Church, which has close ties to the Kremlin, and the country’s growing Muslim minority of about 20 million.

The gunman approached priest Daniil Sysoyev, 34, in St. Thomas Church in southern Moscow on Thursday night, checked his name and then opened fire with a pistol. —Reuters

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Rudy Giuliani may contest for US Senate

Albany (New York), Nov. 20: Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, encouraged by many Republicans to run for governor in 2010, is instead leaning towards a run for United States Senate, according to two party advisers.

"From staff, we have been hearing that he has been indicating quietly and privately recently that governor might not be the best fit for him now," one adviser said on Thursday. "But the US Senate could be a perfect fit for him."

The adviser noted that nobody is saying Mr Giuliani has decided, but it "certainly sounds" like he is less interested in running for governor. Another adviser echoed that. —AP

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Media not allowed at Palin event

Washington, Nov. 20: The US Army plans to restrict media coverage of an appearance by Sarah Palin at a military base to prevent the event from turning into a political protest against President Barack Obama, officials said. Ms Palin is due to visit Fort Bragg Army base in North Caro-lina on Monday as part of a tour promoting her book.

After initially prohibiting reporters from covering the book signing, which spar-ked protests from news org-anisations, Army later ann-ounced a pool arrangement with a handful of journalists allowed on base "due to space and safety considerations." "The intent of restri-cting media coverage is to stop this event from turning into a political platform that is critical of our Comm-ander-in-Chief," a spokes-man for the base, Thomas McCollum, said. —AFP

Floods hit UK tourist region, 200 rescued

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:16:40 GMT

SCOTT HEPPELL

COCKERMOUTH (ENGLAND)

Nov. 20: Britain’s Air Force and emergency workers using inflatable boats rescued about 200 people on Friday as rising floodwaters caused widespread havoc in northern England’s picturesque Lake District. A search was under way for a police officer missing after a bridge collapsed during floods in Cumbria, northwest England, police said on Friday.

The officer disappeared when one of a number of bridges collapsed under the weight of water following rapid rainfall in a short period of time.

British soldiers were called in to conduct house-to-house searches and the Air Force deployed helicopters, dropping down and breaking through rooftops to winch people to safety. About 960 homes were flooded, the police in the northern region of Cumbria said. Among the hardest hit communities was Cocker-mouth, a market town 530 kilometres northwest of London. The town sits at the junction of the rivers Cocker and Derwent and is known as the birthplace of poet William Wordsworth.

"It’s desperate," hotel owner John Carlin told Britain’s Press Association. "The town centre is completely flooded. The only people out there at the moment are the emergency services. The water is up to the waists of the firefighters."

Floodwaters had stopped rising by the early morning hours on Friday, giving rescuers a chance to reach trapped people by boat. Debris swirled around the boats as they pulled people to safety. More than eight million people visit the Lake District National Park every year.

Forecasters said rainfall in the region of Cumbria was unprecedented, with parts of the county seeing 9.8 inches (25 centimetres) in some areas. "It looks like a very historical event," said Julian Mayes, a forecaster with MeteoGroup UK.

Environment secretary Hilary Benn told the BBC that flood defences were meant to withstand a one-in-100-years flood, but could not cope with the volume of water.

"What we dealt with last night was probably more like one-in-a-1,000 (years), so even the very best defences, if you have such quantities of rain in such a short space of time, can be over-topped," he said. PM Gordon Brown that he had spoken to Cumbria chief constable Craig Mackey to offer any help necessary.

—AP

200 websites spread Qaeda message in English

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:16:38 GMT

DONNA ABU-NASR and LEE KEATH

RIYADH,Saudi Arabia

Nov. 20: Increasing numbers of English-language websites are spreading Al Qaida’s message to Muslims in the West.

They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of emails with the US Army psychiatrist accused of the shootings at the Fort Hood military base in Texas.

The US-born Al Awlaki has been an inspiration to several militants arrested in the United States and Canada in recent years, with his Web-based sermons often turning up on their computers.

"The point is you don’t have to be an official part of Al Qaeda to spread hatred and sectarian views," said Evan Kohlmann, a senior investigator for the New York-based NEFA Foundation, which researches Islamic militants.

"If you look at the most influential documents in terms of homegrown terrorism cases, it’s not training manuals on building bombs," Mr Kohlmann said. "The most influential documents are the ones that are written by theological advisers, some of whom are not even official Al Qaeda members." Most of the radical Islamic sites are not run or directed by Al Qaeda, but they provide a powerful tool for recruiting sympathisers to its cause of jihad, or holy war, against the United States, experts who track the activity said.

The number of English-language sites sympathetic to Al Qaeda has risen from about 30 seven years ago to more than 200 recently, said Abdulmanam Almushawah, head of a Saudi government programme called Assakeena, which works to combat militant Islamic websites. In contrast, Arabic-language radical sites have dropped to around 50, down from 1,000 seven years ago, because of efforts by governments around the world to shut them down, he said.

Al Qaeda has long tried to reach a Western audience. Videotaped messages from its leader usually have English subtitles. But translations of writings and sermons that form the theological grounding for Al Qaida’s ideology mostly eliminate the language barrier.

Al Awlaki’s sermons have turned up on the computers of nearly every homegrown terror suspect arrested in the US, Mr Kohlmann said.

Members of a group of Canadian Muslims arrested in 2006 for allegedly forming a training camp and plotting bombing attacks in Toronto listened to his online calls for jihad, according to the case against them in court.

—AP

Muslim nations seek blasphemy ban

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:12:23 GMT

FRANK JORDANS

GENEVA

Nov. 20: Four years after cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed set off violent protests across the Muslim world, Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an international treaty to protect religious symbols and beliefs from mockery, essentially a ban on blasphemy that would put them on a collision course with free speech laws in the West.

Documents obtained by the Associated Press show that Algeria and Pakistan have taken the lead in lobbying to eventually bring the proposal to a vote in the UN General Assembly.

If ratified in countries that enshrine freedom of expression as a fundamental right, such a treaty would require them to limit free speech if it risks seriously offending religious believers.

The process, though, will take years and no showdown is imminent. The proposal faces stiff resistance from Western countries, including the United States, which in the past has brushed aside other UN treaties, such as one on the protection of migrant workers.

Experts say the bid stands some chance of eventual success if Muslim countries persist. And whatever the outcome, the campaign risks reigniting tensions between Muslims and the West that President Barack Obama has pledged to heal, reviving fears of a "clash of civilisations."

Four years ago, a Danish newspaper published cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammed, prom-pting angry mobs to attack Western embassies in Muslim countries, including Lebanon, Iran and Indo-nesia.

In a counter-movement, several European newspapers reprinted the images.

The countries that form the 56-member Organisation of the Islamic conference are now lobbying a little-known Geneva-based UN committee to agree that a treaty protecting religions is necessary.

The move would be a first step toward drafting an international protocol that would eventually be put before the General Assembly, a process that could take a decade or more.

The proposal may have some support in the General Assembly. —AP

Iceberg cluster moves towards NZ

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:12:19 GMT

Wellington, Nov. 20: A cluster of Antarctic icebergs were heading towards New Zealand after being spotted around 400 kilometres south of the country, scientists said on Friday.

Icebergs are a rare sight in the sub-Antarctic waters south of New Zealand but in 2006 a number floated to within 25 kilometres of the coastline, the first such sighting since 1931.

Oceanographer Mike Williams said currents and winds would determine whether the latest icebergs, estimated to be up to 80 metres in length, would come close to the New Zealand coastline.

The icebergs were spotted by a tourist ship, Spirit of Enderby, near the Auck-land Islands and expedition leader Rodney Russ said it was the first time in 37 years of visiting the area that he had seen icebergs.

"They currently appear to be moving north at about 1.25 km an hour," Mr Russ said in a statement. "It is possible that they might reach New Zealand intact - but they are showing signs of deteriorating and breaking up." -AFP

UK legislator quits post amid probe

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:11:07 GMT

London, Nov. 20: A British legislator, charged with probing expense claims of colleagues, quit his position as a newspaper on Friday raised allegations about his own expenses worth thousands of pounds.

Opposition legislator David Curry claimed almost £30,000 from the public purse for the cost of running a second home that he was barred from using, according to the Daily Telegraph on Friday.

Mr Curry, from the Conservatives, stood down as head of the House of Commons committee cha-rged with policing legislators’ expenses on Thursday, and now faces a formal inquiry. "I used the cottage to carry out my duties as a constituency MP and am content with my arrangements," he said. "However, given the particular responsibilities of the chairman of the Committee of Stand-ards and Privileges, I shall refer my case to the commissioner on parliamentary standards John Lyon and will stand down from the chairmanship during the course of his inquiries," he said. The newspaper said Mr Curry’s wife had barred him from using the cottage as a condition of their marital reconciliation. The long-running expenses scandal has sparked a wave of resignations of legislators. —AFP

Abbas: Jan. polls postponed

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:10:40 GMT

Ramallah (West Bank), Nov. 20: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said presidential and legislative elections scheduled for January will be postponed, confirming that he has accepted advice not to hold the vote.

Mr Abbas, speaking to BBC Arabic, said the Palestinian leadership would take measures to avoid a constitutional vacuum when the term of the current legislature and his term as President expire on January 25.

Mr Abbas also said he would not seek a second term as President. He had previously said he had no desire to run in the elections which had been scheduled for January 24.

His announcement reflected frustration with the stalled peace process and what the Palestinians see as the failure of the United States to put pressure on Israel to halt settlement activity in land occupied in the 1967 West Asia war. The interview was broadcast on Thursday.

The Central Election Commission announced last week it had advised Mr Abbas to put off the election because Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip where some 1.5 million Palestinians live, had warned it would not allow them to vote. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007. The Islamist group disputes Mr Abbas’s legitimacy. "Now for a realistic reason, due to certain conditions, because of the rejection of Hamas and its threat to prevent (voting) by force, naturally they will be delayed, or the time of the elections will come later," Mr Abbas said.

"It is better for us that Hamas accepts the holding of elections. But if that doesn’t happen, then the Palestinian leadership must take measures," he said.

—Reuters

Transsexual in Italy political scam killed

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:07:04 GMT

Rome, Nov. 20: The transsexual prostitute at the centre of the sex, drugs and extortion scandal involving former governor Piero Marrazzo was on Friday found burned to death in a fire at her apartment in the Italian capital Rome.

Mr Marrazzo’s lawyer Luca Petrucci described the death as "disturbing" in an interview with Adnkronos.

"An inquiry has to be launched to see if there is anything bigger that hasn’t come to light yet," said Mr Petrucci. According to investigators quoted by Italian media, Brenda told her transsexual "colleagues" late on Thursday that she was afraid, telling them she had been threatened and saying she wanted to kill herself. Brenda’s friends also said that she was sober but depressed, telling them she "couldn’t go on any more".

The body had no signs of foul play and a bottle of whisky was found next to her, early reports said.

By arrangement with AKI

Peruvian gang kills people for their fat

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:06:36 GMT

ANDREW WHALEN

LIMA (PERU)

Nov. 20: The police says a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists.

Three suspects confessed to killing five people, but the gang may have been involved in dozens more, said Col. Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru’s anti-kidnapping police. He said one suspect claimed the gang wasn’t the only one doing such killings.

Col. Mejia said two of the suspects were arrested carrying bottles of liquid human fat and told the police it was worth $60,000 a gallon ($15,000 a litre). The fat was sold to intermediaries in Peru’s capital, Lima, and the police suspects it was then sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, Col. Mejia said on Thursday, but he could not confirm any sales.

Medical experts expressed doubt about an international black market for human fat, though it does have cosmetic applications. A dermatology professor at Yale University, Dr Lisa Donofrio, speculated that a small market may exist for "human fat extracts" to keep skin supple, but she said that scientifically such treatments are "pure baloney."

At a press conference, the police showed reporters two bottles of fat recovered from the suspects and a photo of the rotting head of a 27-year-old male victim.

—AP

Google got its name from googol

Asian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:06:00 GMT

London, Nov. 20: Google got its name from googol — the number one followed by 100 zeroes which represents the amount of information the site was expected to cover, and Nike’s name come from a Greek goddess, reveals a new book.

The book narrates the weird and wonderful ways some of the world’s top firms got their names.

While many companies like Sainsbury’s or Marks & Spencer are named after real people, others have bizarre beginnings, reports the Sun newspaper.

Google is a reworked form of googol, and tyre giant Bridgestone sounds English but is a translation of the founder’s surname, Ishibashi — Japanese for stone bridge. Nike is named after the Greek goddess of victory.

However, computer company Oracle does not have any connection with mythology. Instead it comes from a top secret CIA project that founders Larry Ellison, Ed Oates and Bob Milner were working on before they started the firm.

Ikea is a combination of the initials of founder Ingmar Kamprad and his home, a farm called Elmtaryd in the Swedish town Agunnaryd. And Aldi is a cross between the Albrecht family who began the firm and the word discount.

The stories are revealed in the latest edition of the Economist book, World of Business. —ANI