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Violence flares in Athens on anniversary of teenager's death

2009-12-06T14:29:00.000-08:00

Police clashed with hooded demonstrators in central Athens today as protesters marked the first anniversary of a teenager's fatal shooting that triggered riots in the city a year ago.

The anniversary was a test of resolve for Greece's two-month-old socialist government which, unlike its conservative predecessor, has ordered the police to take a zero-tolerance stand.

Street violence would be suppressed before it developed into wider mayhem, said Michalis Chrysochoidis, the Minister for Citizens' Protection and administrative head of Greece's law enforcement agencies. More than 60 people were arrested.

There were moments when the cordoned-off streets around Syntagma Square in the centre of the city became battlegrounds. Protesters occupied the headquarters of Athens University, seriously injuring Christos Gitas, the university rector, and a janitor, who were taken to hospital with head wounds. A department store front was set on fire.

More than 6,500 policemen fended off stone-throwing demonstrators with teargas. Several officers were slightly injured.

On December 6 last year Alexis Grigoropoulos, 15, was killed by a police bullet during a late-night standoff between a group of hooded youths and two policemen in the Exarchia district, the inner-city home of Greece's active student anarchist movement.

The shooting sparked two weeks of destruction in central Athens as the police were ordered to maintain a passive stance so as not to enrage the rioters further.

"We will not allow a commemoration of the youth's death to turn into mass violence," Mr Chrysochoidis warned last week, amid reports that foreign youths were heading for Athens to join the planned protests. On Sunday five Italians and two Albanians were arrested for committing acts of violence.

Despite the minister's tough words, Exarchia remained tense at nightfall. Two days earlier, 24 anarchists had attacked a police patrol, seriously wounding a policeman in the head. Athens has seen a spike in militant far-left attacks on police in the past year, sometimes with bombs, pistols and Kalashnikov machine guns.

Students' and teachers' organizations, and leftwing civil servants' unions, have planned solidarity marches in Athens for tomorrow.

Iran’s students prepare for battle as regime imposes Students’ Day crackdown

2009-12-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

December 7 is traditionally the date when the Iranian Government stages rallies to commemorate the deaths of three student demonstrators killed by the Shah’s security forces in 1953. The tables have now turned. Today the security forces will attempt to crush student demonstrations against its own brutality and repression.

On campuses across Iran, students outraged by the regime’s alleged theft of the presidential election in June, and the subsequent suppression of the opposition, will attempt to hijack the state-sponsored Students’ Day rallies — just as they did last month’s commemoration of the US embassy siege and the annual Palestinian solidarity rallies in September. The regime cannot cancel these events without losing face, but it is doing its utmost to stop today’s protests.

Yesterday security forces began to seal off campuses in Tehran and warned nearby householders not to open their doors to protesters or let anyone take pictures from their roofs. The regime has cut internet services to hamper the opposition’s preparations, and banned journalists employed by foreign news organisations from working on the streets. Dozens of student leaders are understood to have been arrested.

Police, military and clerical leaders have warned that they will deal mercilessly with unlicensed demonstrations, and Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, the hardline leader of the Guardian Council, used his sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran to warn Iranians against doing “anything that pleases the United States”.

The regime declared Saturday and Sunday public holidays to encourage students to go home, and there were reports of cuts to water and power supplies at some student dormitories. It has sent text messages warning people not to demonstrate. One pro-government website has even claimed that foreign agents will use “poison ampules” to kill students and blame the regime for their deaths.

More broadly, the regime is said to be imposing a “cultural revolution” on Iran’s universities, which are traditionally seats of unrest and have been smouldering since June’s disputed election. The volunteer Basij militia has recruited students to inform on their peers, with troublemakers facing expulsion or arrest. It is campaigning against female students wearing what it considers un-Islamic dress and men with long hair.

Students say that some Western-orientated courses have been replaced with Islamic ones, and there is talk of segregating universities by gender.

Forced underground, opposition activists have been waging their own battle to ensure a big turnout today. Kaveh, 27, a mechanical engineering graduate, told The Times how his cell of 40 activists sent out 5,000 e-mails a day, using internet cafes to avoid detection.

At night they place flyers on car windscreens, stick up posters and daub green paint on portraits of Ayatollah Khamenei. Sympathetic printing shop owners produce the posters and flyers for free.

“We want to send a message to the people that we’re here, and join us, and to the regime that you have lost as we will not be silenced,” Kaveh said. “We are not like many of our Middle Eastern neighbours, whose people have succumbed to dictatorship. The more [President] Ahmadinejad and Mr Khamenei beat the nation, the more people will stand up and bring about their end.”

Although the protests in Tehran are much smaller than they were after the elections, Kaveh claimed that they had spread to many other cities. The goal was not to overturn the Islamic Republic, simply to remove its illegitimate leaders, he said.

2008-08-14T06:21:00.001-07:00

FLYING LIKE A PIGEON:

China

's Deng Linlin performs on the floor during the women's team final of the artistic gymnastics event in the 2008 Beijing Olympics yesterday. China won the gold while United States won the silver and Romania, the winners in this event at Athens four years ago, took the bronze. Photo:

2008-08-14T04:46:00.000-07:00

Olympics' new king is Phelps

Now Five Down, Three More To Go: US swimming superstar Michael Phelps roars after winning the men's 4x200m freestyle relay in the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the National Aquatics Centre yesterday. Photo:

2008-08-13T02:24:00.000-07:00

Karadzic's arrest: Victory for human rights

There is a joke in the corridors of the UN that if a man who kills a person goes to prison, the man who kills 20 goes to insane asylum, but the man who kills 200,000 goes to Geneva for peace negotiations.
The days of such immunity for mass murderer have gone and states have been alert to ensure that the alleged mass murderers are accountable to law and punished.
One of the recent examples is the arrest on 21st July last, on a bus in Belgrade, of the former Bosnian Serb president, Radovan Karadzic,(63) one of the world's most wanted men, almost 13 years after going into hiding.
Serge Brammertz, the prosecutor of the UN Tribunal, hailed the arrest as an important step in bringing to justice one of the architects of Europe 's worst massacre since the Second World War.
The news of his arrest brought people out to celebrate on the streets of Sarajevo , the city his troops shelled mercilessly during a 44-month siege between 1992 and 1995.
A judge has ordered Karadzic's transfer to the United Nations war crimes court on charges including genocide.
Officials said Karadzic had been posing as a doctor of alternative medicine and working at a medical centre under a false name, Dragan Dabic. He had apparently been able to walk freely around Belgrade .
Karadzic's wife Ljiljana was quoted as saying:�"As the phone rang I knew something was wrong. I'm shocked and confused. At least now we know he is alive."
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said:�"This is good news. I am glad that the Serbian authorities have successfully captured Karadzic, who has evaded arrest for over 10 years.
"This arrest will help close the region's decades of conflict, and pave the way for a brighter, European future for Serbia and the region."
The former EU High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina , Paddy Ashdown, described the arrest as an "extremely important piece of justice for the world at large".
Lord Ashdown, who spent time chasing Karadzic, said he was accused of being "the architect of the worst war crimes that have been perpetrated in Europe since the Nazis".
Why arrest?
According to Amnesty International, certain crimes pose so serious a threat to the international community as a whole, that states have a logical and moral duty to provide no safe haven for those who have committed genocide, crimes against humanity, extrajudicial executions, war crimes, torture and forced disappearances.
The concept of such terrible crimes is therefore closely linked to the idea that certain international norms are erga omnes, or owed to the entire world community, as well as the concept of jus cogens - that certain international law obligations are binding on all states and cannot be modified by treaty.
The jurisdiction of an international tribunal, such as the International Criminal Court, established in 2002 (the US is not signatory to the treaty), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1994) and International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (1993), or the Nuremberg Trials (1945-49) is try the suspected criminals for justice.
The legal jurisdiction of an international tribunal is dependent on powers granted to it by the states which established it.
The creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002 by the UN reduced the perceived need to create universal jurisdiction laws, although the ICC is not entitled to judge crimes committed before 2002.
On Jul 31 former Bosnian Serb military commander charged with 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Karadzic appeared before the tribunal and would defend himself, although he receives legal advice from a lawyer. He said to the Court that he was first kidnapped and then arrested.
The arrest of Karadzic gave badly needed credibility of the international War Tribunals that have struggled for years to bring fugitives to justice. The arrest, some lawyers argue, strengthens multilateral diplomacy, patience and effectiveness of tribunals.
Karadzic will be the third high-profile figure to be brought to the UN Tribunal, following in the footsteps of President Charles Taylor of Liberia and the Serbian President late Slobodan Milosevic
In recent times, the prosecutor of the UN Tribunal filed charges against Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir for crimes against humanity in Darfur .
His arrest validates that justice has a long memory and a long reach. It demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of law and that sooner or later all fugitives will be brought to justice.
The military leader of Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic still remains a fugitive but observers believe that he will soon be caught. It is rumoured that he is seriously ill.
Karadzic's arrest is no small feat, given that many architects of human rights conventions never intended those conventions to be enforced at all because of lack of political will of great powers.
There is a political dimension in the arrest of Karadzic by Serbia 's pro-West government. Serbia wants to join the European Union and the arrest may pave the way to start negotiations on the modalities of joining with the European Union.

Iran issue: Seismic shift or non-decision by Bush?

The U.S. decision to send the State Department's third-ranking official to sit in on the meeting between European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana and Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was hailed as a major diplomatic breakthrough, but it is too soon to pop the champagne cork.
The caveats associated with decision and the circumstances surrounding it suggest that it may be yet another in a string of non-decisions on diplomatic talks and other Iran policy issues by George W. Bush over the past three years.

Double shift
The New York Times led news media interpretation of the announcement by calling it a "double shift in the policy struggle". That was a reference to the administration's previous position that the United States would not talk with Iran until it had suspended uranium enrichment and to past general disparagement of talks with Iran by the six global powers- Britain , France , China , Russia , the United States and Germany .
William J. Burns, the undersecretary of State for political affairs, who will join the Geneva meeting, called it a "major change" in U.S. policy. That is the also the line embraced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other advocates of diplomatic engagement in Washington, who are eager to convey to Iran a new flexibility on the part of the administration.
The Guardian went even further, saying that the presence of Burns at the meeting "suggests that a deal is in the offing".
But viewing the Burns trip to Geneva as a decisive breakthrough on Iran certainly exaggerates the victory of Rice and Gates over Vice President Dick Cheney, who wants to steer U.S. policy away from any serious diplomatic negotiations.
White House spokesperson Dana Perino and State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack both described the Burns participation as "a one-time" offer. McCormack said no further meetings were planned unless Iran suspended its uranium enrichment programme.
McCormack also said Burns's role in the meeting would be limited to one of listening rather than actually negotiating. That combination of a one-time participation and the absence of any negotiating brief sharply reduces the diplomatic significance of the decision.
The decision falls short of what had been planned by the six powers, also known as the P5+1, last spring. They had agreed informally on a "freeze or freeze" proposal that would allow preliminary talks to take place involving the United States and Iran on the nuclear programme over a six week period.
Diplomatic sources have described the "freeze for freeze" as requiring that Iran would not add any more centrifuges and the six powers would not act to increase its sanctions during the six-week period.
According to an EU source with direct knowledge of Solana's meetings with Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki and nuclear negotiator Jalili, on Jun. 14, however, what Solana presented was different from the "freeze for freeze" proposal that had been discussed among the six powers.
The source was not authorised to explain the difference between the two proposals, but it now appears that Solana could not present the original freeze for freeze proposal on behalf of all six powers because the most important actor of all -- the United States-had objected.
When State Department spokesman McCormack was first asked about an EU "freeze for freeze" proposal on Jul. 3 and whether it was acceptable to the United States , he twice avoided addressing it altogether. But when a reporter asked in regard to the proposed informal talks, "You do it then via the EU-3 [ Britain , France and Germany ], right, not the P5+1?" McCormack answered, "Via Mr. Solana".
When a reporter asked whether he could "flatly state" that it was Bush's policy to refuse to sit down with the Iranians unless they stopped the enrichment programme completely, McCormack made no effort to nuance his answer. "That is our policy," he replied.
The United States was thus insisting that it would not participate in the six weeks of informal talks based on the "freeze for freeze" proposal. That position would defeat the main point of holding preliminary informal talks, which was to get around the existing barrier to substantive negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme-the demand for a complete suspension of enrichment by Iran .
The Iranian decision to accept the Solana formula for informal talks was conveyed to Solana by a letter from Mottaki and a phone call from Jalili on Jul. 4. But when Solana announced a meeting with Jalili in Geneva to take place on Jul. 19, he was carefully ambiguous about what other states would be involved, if any.
It is now clear that this ambiguity was necessary, because he was waiting for the results of Rice's efforts to get Bush to agree to Solana formula.
When Bush finally did agree to the participation of Burns in the Jul. 19 meeting, it was on terms that were very different from what Solana had proposed to Tehran . The limitation of the U.S. commitment to a single meeting and the tight constraints imposed on Burns suggest that the decision was heavily influenced by Cheney, who has had overall control of Iran policy since 2005.
Those constraints on the U.S. diplomatic role in the coming talks with Iran are reminiscent of series of Bush decisions on diplomatic engagement with Tehran that were either tightly circumscribed, or reversed altogether because of Cheney's intervention with Bush.
In March 2006, Bush gave his approval to talks with Iran on the crisis in Iraq , which had been proposed by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. Rice had given her blessing to the talks when they were first announced, but by the time she arrived in Sydney , Australia , she had been informed that such talks were unacceptable to someone in the administration. In May, she was told by Khalilzad that "it wasn't the right time to meet" with Iran .
In May 2006, Rice was working with the other five members of the coalition to craft a proposal aimed at signaling that they were willing to deal with Iran 's security and regional political and security interests. But language to that end proposed by the Europeans was taken out at the insistence of the United States , reflecting Cheney's determination to ensure that the process failed to reach agreement.
Bush also wavered and reversed a decision he had originally made in late 2005 to negotiate with Sunni insurgent groups. Khalilzad actually met with the Sunni insurgent leaders seven times over a period of six weeks beginning in January 2006. But Bush ordered a halt to the negotiations after senior officials objected, even though the Sunnis had offered a draft peace proposal.
Any sign of U.S. interest in negotiations has encouraged Iranian leaders to be more forthcoming on talks. Even Rice's willingness to sign the six-power incentives document was reported by the Times to have "visibly stunned" Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki. So Iran may well seek to exploit Burns's presence in the meeting to offer a new proposal for a deal in order to extend the talks.
But against Bush's history of pulling back from negotiating decisions under Cheney's influence, the approval of the Burns trip to Geneva for a single meeting with Iran 's negotiator seems more like a Bush non-decision on Iran policy than it does a fundamental policy shift.
*Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam ", was published in 2006.

Suicide blast raises political heat in Iraq

Negotiations over key election legislation have stalled as a result of the political fallout from a suicide bombing that killed up to 22 protesters in Kirkuk this week, according to an Iraqi lawmaker.
The draft law - which Iraq's presidential council sent back to parliament - is unlikely to move forward soon because of rising political tensions between parliamentary factions following the bombings, said Muhammad Tamim of the Sunni-led Iraqi Front for National Dialogue.
On July 28, a female suicide bomber reportedly targeted a crowd of Kurdish protesters, who were demonstrating against the proposed law on local elections, killing 22 and injuring at least 150.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, it bares similarities to previous bombings by Sunni Arab extremists. According to reports, many people blamed Turkoman extremists for the bombing - and, soon afterwards, a crowd of angry Kurds began attacking Turkoman political offices.
Reports that Turkoman guards had shot Kurds running toward a Turkoman building sparked a row between rival Kurdish and Turkoman members of parliament who were debating the election legislation in parliament that day.
Ongoing disputes over the legislation have been holding up provincial council elections, which were slated for October 1, but are expected to be delayed. Khalid Al-Attiya, a deputy parliament speaker, told the Associated Press last week that they could be pushed back until early 2009.
The United States is pushing for the provincial elections to take place in an effort to boost the representation of Sunni Arabs, who boycotted 2005 provincial polls.
The presidential council, led by Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, rejected the draft law which parliament passed controversially last week.
A major source of conflict as lawmakers debate the draft is how to allocate local council seats in the disputed city of Kirkuk , to which both Kurds and Turkomans lay claim.
The proposed law guaranteed an equal number of provisional council seats for each of the three main ethnic groups in Kirkuk - Kurds, Turkomans and Arabs. If passed, it also would have delayed provincial elections and moved Iraqi forces into Kirkuk , which is now politically and militarily controlled by the Kurds.
Kurdish and some Shia Arab lawmakers boycotted the original parliamentary poll, saying a secret ballot vote held by MPs held on a provision of the law dealing with Kirkuk was unconstitutional.
The Kurds believe they are the majority in Kirkuk and argue that a referendum, rather than power-sharing agreements, should decide who controls the oil-rich province.
This week's suicide bombing and subsequent skirmishes have exacerbated tension between the ethnic groups.
There's disagreement between Kurds and Turkomans over what happened following the bomb attack.
Kurds claim that protesters ran toward the Turkoman Front's building to seek shelter, while Turkoman representatives claimed that Kurds had stormed and set fire to the office, injuring party officials.
Tamim said the Turkoman Front was attacked, leading to "an extremely embarrassing situation", and creating a setback to negotiations over Kirkuk .
"The incident [following the bombing] has severely affected the ongoing negotiations with the Kurdistan Alliance to reach a consensus solution for the issue of Kirkuk ," he said.
He went on to say that lawmakers had decided "to find another time for negotiations". Parliament will begin a month-long recess on July 31.
However, Kurdistan Alliance MP Khalid Shwani denied that Kurds attacked the Turkoman office.
He said the Turkoman Front was dodging demands by Kirkuk police to turn over Turkoman guards who fired shots from the building, and accused the party of "breaking the law and violating democratic expression".
Saadeddin Ergec, a lawmaker who heads the Turkoman Front, stormed out of parliamentary negotiations after learning that Kurds had attacked the Turkoman offices, according to The New York Times.
"I can't practice democracy at the parliament while the dictatorship is attacking and burning the headquarters of the Turkoman Front in Kirkuk and burning and looting other Turkoman establishments," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Ergec called for Turkomans to act with restraint and demanded that parliament investigate the Kirkuk bombings. He said that "certain parties are trying to destabilise Kirkuk ", but did not name any political groups.
Following the bombings, Kirkuk leaders called for additional security forces to be deployed in Kirkuk, while Turkoman leaders are demanding that a United Nations peacekeeping force be brought in.
Usama Al-Najafi, an MP with the Iraqi National List, said in a press conference that the attacks could make Kirkuk vulnerable. He suggested that Iraqi forces, rather than Kurdish Peshmerga, be deployed to prevent further violence.
"Most of the forces in Kirkuk are Kurdish and cannot impose security considering their affiliation to [Kurdish] parties that created them," he said.

Khaleda refrains from enlisting herself as a voter
She may be disqualified for contesting next elections

Detained former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia refrained from being enlisted as a voter on the last day for the purpose taking the risk of losing the chance of contesting next parliamentary elections.
Although the government had set August 11 as the deadline for the detained politicians who did not become voters to be enlisted as voters, Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman both have refused to become voters remaining in the jail.
Coming out of sub-jail after talking to Khaleda Zia, DIG (Prisons) Maj. Shamsul Haider Siddiqui said, "I went to the sub-jail to request Khaleda Zia to become voter explaining the fact that without enrolling her name in voter list she will be precluded from contesting the coming general election."
But DIG (Prisons) quoted Khaleda Zia to have said that she and her elder son Tarique Rahman will be enlisted as voter only when they will be released from their confinement.
According to DIG (Prisons), few days ago CEC Dr ATM Shamsul Huda had telephoned the jail authorities to inform Khaleda Zia that she would not be able to contest the parliamentary election without being voter and after being informed she wanted to see what is in the new electoral laws. For this on Sunday DIG (Prisons) went to the sub-jail at the Parliament Complex premises to convince Khaleda Zia about the necessity of her voter registration. Khaleda told DIG (Prisons) that she has just seen the new electoral rules and she will inform him of her decision the next day.
Accordingly DIG (Prisons) went to the sub-jail again yesterday to know whether she will be voter but she clearly expressed her stand against enrolling her and Tarique Rahman's names in voter list in the jail.
However about deadline of voter enrollment by August 11, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain told reporters that the time will say whether Khaleda Zia will be able to be voter after the deadline is over.
Earlier on Sunday Election Commissioner M Sohul Hussain told reporters that the commission would not extend the timeframe for anyone being voter as the deadline was set for August 11.
"August 11 is the last time. Then there is no chance for becoming voter and there is nothing special in the laws," Commissioner Sohul Hussain expressed the EC's view on the matter of recalcitrant VIPs in reply to a query.
Total number of VIP politicians whose names have not been included in the voter roll, DIG (Prisons) stated that around 30 VIP prisoners including Salauddin Quader in Dhaka central jail, Kashimpur jail and other prisons have not become voters earlier. But recently nine of them have applied to the jail authorities for including their names in the voter list and the jail authorities is working in this behalf.

Observing 100th anniversary of Khudiram's execution

After the deaths of her two children, a mother sold her third son at a price of three handfuls of khud (fragments of rice grains) to her elder daughter, Aparupa Devi, believing this ritual might save the boy. The child survived the apparent threat, but at the age of 18, nothing could stop him from sacrificing his life for the sake of his motherland. This is the story of Khudiram, the immortal hero from Agnijug.

August 11 marked the 100th anniversary of Khudiram's execution by the British Raj. To mark this occasion, a memorial programme was held on August 10 at BIAM Auditorium. The event was organised by Ummey films, which is set to make a film on the brave hero titled Khudiram.

Adviser to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Rasheda K. Chowdhury, the chief guest at the event, formally announced the launch of the film. Eminent theatre personality Nasiruddin Yousuff presided over the programme while Dr. Anisuzzaman, noted litterateur Selina Hossain, filmmaker Soovash Dutt, Professor Dr. Israfil Shahin (Chairman, Department of Theatre and Music, Dhaka University) were present as special guests.

Habibur Rahman, producer, Ummey Films welcomed the audience. Director Nurul Alam Milki shared his thoughts on the film. Recitor Laila Afroz moved the audience with her rendition of the poem Bongeshwar (written by Manish Ghatak). Bongeshwar was another young revolutionist who died at the hands of the British police after almost two and half decades of Khudiram's death.

“After Khudiram was executed by hanging, The Empire, a contemporary leading English newspaper wrote 'He was cheerful and smiling' at the moment of his death. What an undying spirit the young man possessed! The spiritual power of a nation lies on how it treats its history. An initiative which is taken to present the story of Khudiram to this generation is a great task in this regard,” Selina Hossain said in her speech.

Dr. Anisuzzaman Said, “Khudiram was the product of a certain period that we know as the Agnijug. Similar characters are Prafulla Chaki, Binoy-Badal-Dinesh, Shurjo Sen, Preetilata, Kalpana Dutt who vowed to confront British imperialism. While there is controversy whether their way was right or wrong, their idealism and valour are unquestionable. Even Rabindranath Tagore, who did not support their philosophy, said that no one could deny the honour they deserve. Indeed, when we honour these heroes, we make a homage to their patriotism and self-sacrificing courage.”

Noted singers Mita Haque, Sharmin Sathi Islam and recitor Hassan Arif performed at the event. The classic, Ekbaar bidaye de maa ghurey ashi (made famous by Lata Mangeshkar) featuring the trial and sacrifice of Khudiram, was also played at the event.

Observing 100th anniversary of Khudiram's execution

Bomb targeting Pakistan air force bus kills 13

A powerful bomb blast ripped through a Pakistan air force bus in the northwestern city of Peshawar Tuesday, killing at least 13 people and wounding another 15, police said.

The explosion happened as the bus passed over a bridge on the outskirts of the city. An AFP photographer saw a large crater in which the mangled wreckage of the bus was lying, while the scene was spattered with blood.

"Thirteen dead bodies and 15 injured have now been brought here," Khan Abbas, a police official deployed to Peshawar 's main Lady Reading hospital, told AFP.

The vehicle was used for carrying rations and was travelling from the Badaber base to Peshawar when it was hit by the bomb at about 11:00am (0500 GMT), a Pakistan Air Force spokesman said.

"There were some PAF civilians as well travelling in the vehicle, we are trying to ascertain exactly how many were inside," the spokesman told AFP.

"We don't know whether it was a suicide attack or a roadside bomb."

The police chief of North West Frontier Province , Malik Naveed Khan, said the bomb appeared to have been remotely detonated.

"So far, according to my information, it was a security vehicle and an IED (improvised explosive device) was planted under the bridge," Khan said.

Investigators were seen gathering evidence and material from the blast site. Two damaged motorcycles and bicycles also lay at the scene along with scattered debris, the AFP photographer said.

Medical board to be
convened for Tarique

The government is set to form a medical board for BNP joint secretary general Tarique Rahman, currently undergoing treatment at the prison ward of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, a government official said.
‘A medical board will be formed today (Monday). The director general of the health directorate will be directed to make necessary arrangements,’ health secretary AKM Jafar Ullah Khan told the news agency.
The medical board will be asked to submit its report as early as possible.
Tarique was arrested on March 8 last year. There are a number of cases including extortion and bribery against the ailing elder son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

Iran nuclear work will go on: Tehran

The president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday told visiting the Algerian president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, that Tehran will press on with its nuclear programme, despite the risk of fresh sanctions.
‘They’ve deeply understood that Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme will never be halted and of course they have no choice but to keep on talking to Iran,’ Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling Bouteflika.
‘Despite threats and sanctions by a number of big powers, our nation is robust and is continuing living its own life as they cannot put obstacles in the path of our progress,’ Ahmadinejad added, according to the state run television web site. Bouteflika on Sunday started a visit to Iran at the head of a high-level political and economic team of ministers.
Bouteflika, who last visited the Islamic republic in 2003, is expected to meet Monday with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and parliament speaker Ali Larijani. He is to leave Tehran on Tuesday.
Iran is facing a possible fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to halt enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but also the core of an atomic bomb.
Algeria is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which supports Iran’s civilian nuclear activities, feared by the West as a cover for developing nuclear weapons.
Ahmadinejad’s comments came as Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, agreed to pursue talks aimed at resolving the nuclear crisis, state television reported. Six major powers have offered Iran a package of incentives in return for a freeze in uranium enrichment activities, to no avail until now.

Zawahri tape says Musharraf appeases US
An audio tape purportedly made by al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al Zawahri has accused the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, and other politicians of trying to destabilise Pakistan at the behest of the United States.
The English-language tape was dropped off by an unidentified man at an office of Pakistan’s ARY One television channel on Saturday, the station’s news director said, but its authenticity could not be immediately verified.
An Arab journalist based in Islamabad who has met Zawahri said it appeared to be the al-Qaeda deputy leader’s voice.
‘I want to speak to you today regarding the miserable condition to which Pakistan has deteriorated,’ the voice believed to be Zawahri’s says in what would be his first English-language message.
Excerpts of the tape were obtained by Reuters on Monday.
‘Let there be no doubt in your minds that dominant political forces at work in Pakistan today are competing to appease ... the modern-day crusaders in the White House and are working to destabilise this nuclear-capable nation under the aegis of America,’ Zawahri said.
The whereabouts of Zawahri and al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden have not been known since US-led forces launched a hunt for them in Afghanistan after the al-Qaeda attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
Both are believed to hiding somewhere along the Pakistan-Afghan border.
In the excerpts of the tape obtained by Reuters and aired by the television channel, Zawahri did not say why Musharraf might want to destabilise the country. Zawahri has in the past called for him to be overthrown.
It was not clear when the tape was recorded but it was the first attributed to Zawahri to be released since he was rumoured to have been killed or wounded in a suspected US missile strike in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal region last month.
US television network CBS News based its report early this month on a copy of an intercepted letter from Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud requesting a doctor be sent to treat the wounded Zawahri.
The Taliban in Pakistani denied the report and the Pakistani military has said it had no such information. Intelligence officials and security analysts also dismissed the report.
In the message, Zawahri accused Musharraf of making disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan a ‘scapegoat’ to appease the United States.
Khan, the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, has been under house arrest since confessing in a televised address in 2004 to smuggling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
Zawahri also criticised Musharraf for ordering an army assault on Islamabad’s militant Red Mosque complex in July 2007.
Baker Atyani, the regional bureau chief of the Al Arabiya television channel, who met the Egyptian Zawahri in June 2001, said the tape appeared to be genuine.
‘I know his voice. I have heard his English. It’s his accent. It’s an Egyptian accent,’ he said.

Medical board to be
convened for Tarique

Iran nuclear work will go on: Tehran

Asian nations come good in Beijing

Asian nations firmly established themselves on the Olympic medal table Monday with Japan's Kosuke Kitajima setting a world record and Abhinav Bindra winning an historic gold for India.

Kitajima, the 100m breaststroke king, smashed American Brendan Hansen's world mark to touch in 58.91sec and successfully defend his Athens title in the futuristic Water Cube.

It was Japan's second gold of the Games after Masato Uchishiba retained his lightweight title on the judo mats on Sunday.

Bindra had an equally memorable day, clinching India's first ever individual Olympic gold medal by winning the men's 10m Air Rifle shooting title.

Athens champion Zhu Qinan of China took the silver. While India's success was historic, regional powerhouse China is set to overshadow every other Asian country's achievements here, and it leads the medal standings with six gold.

Japan and South Korea (three gold) traditionally battle for second best.

A rampant China had its best-ever performance in Athens, finishing second overall to the United States with 32 gold, while Japan with 16 came fifth. South Korea's nine gold earned them ninth place.

While the three Asian heavyweights should again take the bulk of the glory, smaller fry like Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and North Korea have already got themselves on the podium here with more in store.

Kitajima, who let out a piercing yell of triumph, said his victory was like a dream come true.

"My performance was perfect and ideal, my time was excellent. It's what I have been hoping for," said the Japanese star, who launches his defense of the 200m title on Tuesday.

"When I saw the screen I could see the time as 59.90 and I thought that was terribly slow, but when I looked again it was 58."

Elsewhere in the pool, China's Zhou Yafei finished just off the podium in a credible fourth in the women's 100m butterfly final which was won by Australian world record holder Libby Trickett.

Singapore had something to shout about with Tao Li in the same race. The 18-year- old student finished fifth after clocking a new Asian record of 57.54 en-route to the final.

In one of the most thrilling shooting finals in Olympic history, businessman Bindra overcame a two-point deficit against Finland's Henri Hakkinen and one point against Zhu after the qualification rounds to annexe the title.

The Indian trumped his rivals with the best finish of 104.5 in the 10-shot final as he went into the last shot level with Hakkinen on 689.7 points.

While Bindra secured his best score of 10.8 in the deciding shot, Hakkinen managed only 9.7 to concede the silver to Zhu, whose last shot was 10.5. Bindra finished with a combined tally of 700.5, a fair distance behind Zhu's Olympic record of 702.7 set in Athens.

Eminent citizens slate 'anti-people' activities of govt

Twenty-two eminent personalities yesterday called upon the caretaker government to stop its "anti-people, anti-constitutional and illegal activities" in dealing with the country's energy resources.

It is essential to establish people's control over country's energy resources as their prosperity largely depends on proper utilisation of those, they said in a joint statement yesterday.

"We are observing that the undemocratic government has been suppressing people's voice to go ahead with its anti-people agenda keeping the state of emergency in force," they said.

Referring to the proposals made by Prof Abdul Matin Patwary-led committee for making some amendments to the coal policy, they alleged that the move has been made to finalise the policy keeping the provisions of open-pit mining and leasing out coal mines to multinational companies for limited royalty.

"Although the state of emergency is in force, there have been protests against the anti-people activities of the government," they said.

Expressing solidarity with the resistance against the government attempt to explore oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal , they urged the government to refrain from making such move.

Prof Khan Sarwar Murshid, Badruddin Umar, Justice Golam Rabbani, Prof Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, Prof Kabir Chowdhury, Prof Jatin Sarkar, language movement hero Abdul Matin, Sultana Kamal, Kamal Lohani, Dr Sanjida Khatun, Syed Abul Maksud, Khodaker Ibrahim Khaled, poet Abu Bakar Siddique, Syeda Rezwana, architects Rabiul Hussain and Shamsul Wares, engineer Inamul Haq, Prof Ajay Roy, Dr T Ali, Mohsin Shastrapani, Abu Naser Khan and Mustafa Amin are the signatories to the statement.

Asian nations come good in Beijing

Eminent citizens slate 'anti-people' activities of govt