‘Iraq will not pursue relations with Israel’
* Allawi denies Israeli presence in country
BEIRUT: Baghdad will not make any moves to normalise relations with Israel before other Arabs do as part of a Mideast settlement, interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said on Monday.
The US-backed prime minister, speaking to reporters... 
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Japan developing military capability to attack enemy bases
TOKYO: Japanese defence officials were considering giving the nation’s military the capability to attack enemy bases, in a proposal that could radically change Tokyo’s defence policy, a news report said on Monday.
A Japan Defence Agency panel headed by director general Shigeru Ishiba was discussing...
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Taiwan cancels visit by US military delegation
* Internal rift deepens over Taipei’s plan to buy US weapons
TAIPEI: Taiwan has quietly cancelled a visit by a US military delegation due to growing domestic objection to a controversial plan to buy advanced US weaponry worth billions of dollars, it was reported on Monday.
The trip...
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China holds military exercise in Fujian
BEIJING: China has held a military exercise in its southeastern province of Fujian as part of its stepped up preparedness for conflict with Taiwan, a report said Monday. According to China News Service, the drills took place over the weekend in Zhangzhou near Xiamen, a coastal city in Fujian. More than...
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US brought terrorism to Iraq: UN
VIENNA: The US-led invasion brought terrorism to Iraq and caused more problems than it solved, UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said in an interview published on Monday by the Austrian daily Salzburger Nachrichten. He also said he believed that Iraq could become a normal country that but the interim government...
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Sharon vows to go ahead with Gaza plan
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was determined on Monday to forge ahead with his plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip despite a mass protest by settlers and opposition within his own party.
A statement from his office said that the premier believed he had no option...
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EU FMs threaten Sudan with sanctions
BRUSSELS: European Union foreign ministers said on Monday they would push for United Nations sanctions against Sudan if it does not move to end the conflict in the Darfur region.
The EU ministers, in a draft statement, said they would take “appropriate further steps” if Sudan does not take action...
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Envoys say Norwegian politician insulted Muslims
OSLO: Anti-Muslim remarks by a far-right Norwegian political leader have sparked an unprecedented furore in Norway and a sharp reproof from envoys from Muslim countries.
Diplomats from Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco and Tunisia said in a joint letter to the daily Aftenposten that opposition...
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Nuke whistleblower loses bid to leave Israel
JERUSALEM: Israel’s top court rejected Mordechai Vanunu’s appeal to be allowed to leave the country, saying on Monday the nuclear whistleblower freed in April after 18 years in jail was still a security threat. “This is a very sad day and shameful day,” Vanunu said after the High Court of Justice rejected...
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Ex-general wins Indonesia vote, blasts marred count
JAKARTA: Ex-general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono topped round one of Indonesia’s first direct presidential election and faces incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri in a September 20 run-off, election officials said on Monday. The election commission announced the results of the July 5 poll hours after a blast...
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Britain launches publicity campaign on home security
LONDON: Britain launched Monday a major publicity campaign on home security with a booklet instructing citizens how to prepare for a terrorist attack and civil emergencies such as floods and fires. The 22-page pamphlet includes details on mass decontaminations after a chemical, biological or radiological...
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China’s Li calls Powell over border beating
BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing urged the United States to make “serious and thorough” investigations into reports that US customs officers at the US-Canadian border attacked a Chinese businesswoman last week. In a telephone call with US Secretary of State Colin Powell Li demanded that...
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Bush set to act on 9/11 panel’s reccomendations
WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush plans to begin making decisions about restructuring the US intelligence machinery within days and may enact some changes without waiting for Congress, The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing White House officials. Aides suggested for the first time that...
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South Korea sacks general over North Korean naval incident
SEOUL: South Korea dismissed a top military intelligence official on Monday for leaking information to the media about an internal dispute over a recent naval incident involving North Korea, the defence ministry said. Lieutenant General Park Seung-Shoon was relieved of his duties as director of intelligence...
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‘Philippine withdrawal not comparable with Spanish exit’
LONDON: Australia made a clear distinction Monday between Spain’s withdrawal of troops from Iraq following the Madrid train bombings and the Philippines’ withdrawal this month to secure the release of a hostage. “The Spanish position is a particularly complex situation because of the election” straight...
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John Kerry’s wife tells reporter to ‘shove it’
BOSTON: Minutes after telling her husband’s supporters to restore a more dignified tone to politics, Teresa Heinz Kerry told a reporter to “shove it.” In a reception on Sunday in Massachusetts, the wife of Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry told Democratic Party delegates from her home state of Pennsylvania...
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REGION: Karzai to face new challenge in election
KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai registered his candidacy on Monday for the October presidential election, as a new, potentially strong rival emerged to try and upset the overwhelming favourite and his UN backers.
“I went to the Election Commission office ... and presented them my form for...
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US military investigates botched Afghan raid
KABUL: The US military has launched an investigation into a wayward aerial attack last week that wounded eight Afghan soldiers in central Afghanistan, a spokesman said on Monday. “We are currently investigating to determine how the event occurred,” Jon Siepmann, spokesman for the US military in Afghanistan,...
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Iraq warns Iran not to infiltrate spies, saboteurs
* Iran warns US after armed opposition claim protected status
WASHINGTON: Iraq’s defence minister Hazem al-Shaalan said that neighbouring Iran remains his country’s “first enemy” in an interview with the Washington Post published Monday.
“I’ve seen clear interference in Iraqi issues...
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18 injured, dozens trapped in Afghan hospital collapse
KABUL: An under-construction Afghan hospital building caved in here Monday injuring at least 18 people and trapping many others in the debris, officials said. Building work was in progress on the Jamhoriat hospital in the central part of the Afghan capital when the structure collapsed.
Rescue...
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Indian rescuers find 143 bodies
PATNA: Relief workers have found 143 bodies as waters receded in the flood-ravaged eastern Indian state of Bihar, an official said on Monday.
Government officials in the state capital of Patna said 109 bodies were retrieved from the worst-hit district of Darbhanga and 34 more from Madhubani district...
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Iran says it’s ready to find journalist’s killer
TEHRAN: Iran’s reformist government on Monday volunteered to help the hardline judiciary find out who killed a Canadian journalist who died in custody last year after being struck on the head.
The judiciary on Saturday acquitted an Intelligence Ministry agent accused of killing Kazemi and moved...
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Canada slams Iran over trial
OTTAWA: Canada is not satisfied with an Iranian court’s acquittal of the man accused of killing Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi and is mulling possible penalties against Tehran, Ottawa said on Sunday. Intelligence Ministry agent Mohammad Reza Aqdam was cleared of “semi-intentional murder” due to...
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Family appeal for hostage’s release
MAKRAUN KALAN: Anguished relatives of a Sikh being held hostage with six other truck drivers in Iraq have pleaded with New Delhi to urgently establish direct contact with the kidnappers, who have threatened to start killing the captives from Monday.
The ageing parents and cousins of 26-year-old...
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Two killed as Hindu-Muslim riots erupt in Gujarat
AHMEDABAD: At least two men were killed and eight others injured Monday after riots erupted when Muslim men allegedly harassed a Hindu woman in the western Indian state of Gujarat, the police said.
Police imposed a curfew and opened fire on the rioters, killing one of them, a police spokesman...
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Indians willing to risk Iraq to escape poverty
By Sanjeev Miglani
India has emerged as one of the major suppliers of manpower for US military forces in Kuwait and Iraq, many of them paying recruiting agents substantial sums to get visas and jobs. The reward: wages up to five times as high as they could get at home
Undeterred...
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