9 die in attacks on Iraqi security forces

(CNN) -- A string of attacks targeting Iraq security forces killed at least nine people, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

Two Iraqi soldiers died and 10 others were wounded when a bomb attached to a military bus exploded inside a base in al-Habaniya, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of Baghdad in Anbar province.

South of Baghdad, five people died and 41 others were wounded when a car bomb exploded outside a restaurant in Hilla, which is frequented by Iraqi security forces.

The blast damaged the restaurant and other nearby buildings.

In Baghdad's al-Qahira neighborhood, gunmen opened fire at a police checkpoint, killing two officers and wounding a bystander.

In addition to the attacks, a raid on a house by a military counter-terrorism unit left a man dead in al-Habaniya. Three of his family members were wounded during the raid. Read more at CNN

Images: ibtimes

Train collision in south India kills 10

A passenger train collided with another train stopped at a signal in southern India, killing 10 people and injuring dozens more, police said Wednesday.

Five train cars derailed in Tuesday’s accident, about 50 miles southwest of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, said Shalendra Babu, a senior police official.

By early Wednesday, the death toll stood at 10, police official K.M. Babu told The Associated Press. Another 52 people were injured, he added.

S. Nagarajan, the district administrator, said rains initially hampered rescue efforts but all the injured had been moved to hospitals.

The Press Trust of India reported that several trains were cancelled or delayed because of the accident.

The accident’s cause was being investigated, said Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi.

India’s railroad network is one of the largest in the world and carries about 14 million passengers each day. Accidents are common, with most blamed on poor maintenance and human error.(AAJ.tv)

Karachi situation to improve after SC verdict, says CJ

KARACHI: A special bench of the Supreme Court was hearing the suo motu case on the violence in Karachi on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The special bench is headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and includes Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Ghulam Rabbani and Amir Hani Muslim.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar remarked that after the apex court’s decision on the case, the government would become alert and Karachi’s conditions would improve.

He moreover said that if Karachi’s situation was worse than that of Waziristan, then how could the government be termed as successful.

Also during today’s proceedings, counsel for the federal government, Babar Awan, said that international powers were trying to prove that Pakistan was a failed state and if the court’s judgment was along similar lines then that would have a negative impact.

To that, the court said that a government’s failure was not the failure of the state.(Dawn.com)

Four types of dengue reported in Pakistan

KARACHI: The recent outbreak of dengue fever confirmed the presence of all four types of dengue viral infections in Pakistan. Experts also warned that dengue could spread severely throughout the country as it has in the province of Punjab.

This was stated by Dr. Javed Akram, the Head of Jinnah Hospital Lahore and chairman of dengue expert committee.
Until date, officially more than 3,500 people have been infected and over a dozen have died from the recent dengue outbreak in Pakistan.

“These are the official figures but I think the number of unreported dengue patients is more than 500, 000,”Akram told Dawn.com.

Akram said that in the past they had warned the authorities about the worst possible outbreak of dengue fever in Pakistan but this time they seemed to have been too late. Next year, the epidemic will be even more catastrophic than it has been now, he added.

Akram, along with others contributed a research paper about the 2008 dengue outbreak study in two hospitals of Lahore. The paper was published in 2009 in the International Journal of Infectious Disease.

An estimated 100 million persons worldwide get infected with dengue annually, a resurging viral infection spread by the mosquito Aedes aegyptii. In Pakistan Aedes aegyptii is mainly responsible for this disease.

Several hundred thousands of patients develop dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) — a more severe, usually fatal form in which bleeding and shock occurs.

A study of two outbreaks in Lahore in 2008, conducted on 110 patients from two hospitals, showed more than half of them had developed the more severe form which is now confirmed by the current dengue outbreak in Punjab.

Malik Asif Humayoun, then the head of the department of medicine at Allama Iqbal Medical College and the Jinnah Hospital, and his colleagues describe this increase in the more severe form as compared to previous years as alarming.

Four strains of the dengue virus circulate worldwide, including South Asia, and the fatal DHF form occurs when a previously infected and cured dengue patient gets re-infected again, usually with a different strain of the virus.

Two of these were reported in previous outbreaks in Karachi city, while a third has been reported in the Lahore outbreak of 2008. Now all four types of dengue serotypes have been confirmed in Punjab.

“There is urgent need to have a countrywide epidemiological survey for multiple dengue serotypes (strains),” said Humayoun.

There is also a need for larger clinical studies in Pakistan and other South Asian countries to better understand the range of infections, endemic patterns and genetic susceptibility of different populations to the dengue virus, the researchers concluded.Read more at Dawn.com

PESHAWAR: Four children killed in Peshawar school bus attack

Express Tribune: Four schoolchildren and a van driver were killed in an ambush by militants in the Mattani area of Peshawar on Tuesday.

The school van was carrying the children back home to Kala Khel when it came under attack in Ghaziabad. The attack killed four on the spot and 17 others sustained injuries.

Police immediately cordoned off the area and the injured were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

All the school children belong to Kala Khel village, an area where locals have formed a peace militia against militants.

Speaking to the media, police official Sahibzada Sajjad said the attack was an act of revenge against the residents of Kala Khel as they were committed to rooting out militancy from the area.

“Yes, I am sure, Kala Khel people are being targeted due to the Lashkar they have formed against militants”, Sajjad added.

Shoeb, a 10th grade student, said the students were on their way back home when they came under attack.

“We were hardly 15 miles away from our home when we heard a blast and then they started firing upon our vehicle. I received bullet injuries but I don’t know remember anything after that”, Shoeb added.

The vehicle belonged to the private Khyber School, a police official told AFP.

The school told AFP it had taken some precautions but that it had never been openly threatened by militants who have a presence in the area.

“We received no threatening letter,” said deputy head Salman Ahmed.

“We ourselves adopted measures for the safety of the children. We stopped singing classes and the school band playing music during the morning assembly because we know militants are active in the area,” he said.

This is not the first time Kala Khel residents have come under attack.

Earlier, a Kala Khel bound passenger vehicle was blown up at a bus stand in Mattani, killing 8 persons including women and children. The attack was followed by an IED explosion 15 days later, which claimed four lives.

Blast in lower Dir kills local ANP leader

LOWER DIR: A remote-controlled bomb blast in the Maidan area of Lower Dir on Tuesday killed a local leader belonging to a political party, DawnNews reported.

Sources told DawnNews that the bomb, believed to be detonated through a remote-controlled device, killed the Awami National Party’s (ANP) district president. The blast also injured three other people.(Dawn.com)

Heavy rains cripple Karachi; businesses, schools closed

KARACHI: Floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains crippled Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub of Karachi on Tuesday, with few people able to make it to work or school.

In Karachi, the capital of Sindh, rain was forecast through Wednesday at least.
Rains that began Monday evening still continuing in the city. The convoy of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was also stuck.

Many streets were impassable, cars were stuck, several fuel stations were inundated and no visible efforts were underway to drain water.

"We have recorded 50-100 mm (2 to 4 inches) of rain in Karachi and the situation is pretty bad. Many main roads and areas are inundated at the moment and it can turn even worse," said Mohammad Hussain Syed, the city's district coordination officer.

He said no casualties had been recorded.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) will close at the usual 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, reversing an earlier decision to close at noon because of floods in Pakistan's commercial capital, an exchange official said.

"I thought I would be able to make it to work, but it was a wrong decision. Now I am stuck. My car has broken down and I can't even find anyone for help," said banker Khalid Hussain, standing knee-deep in water. (The News Pk)

UN kicks off relief effort in flood-hit Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations on Monday began a drive to feed half a million people affected by torrential rains in Pakistan where a second year of flooding has killed more than 200, officials said.

The crisis came just weeks after aid agency Oxfam accused the government of failing to invest in prevention measures after floods last year hit 21 million people and cost the economy $10 billion in the country's worst natural disaster.

Pakistan has now seen vast swathes of farmland inundated for a second year in the southern province of Sindh, the nation's breadbasket. One official said the situation there was even worse than last year.

"So far, 209 people have been killed and 5.3 million affected," Zafar Qadir, head of the country's disaster management authority, told reporters.

"Around 1.7 million acres of agricultural land has also been affected by the rains and floods."

The UN food agency said Monday it had started to provide emergency supplies to the first of half a million people, following a weekend appeal from Pakistan, which already relies on billions of dollars of international aid.

World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman Amjad Jamal said that the agency had provided food packages to more than 600 families in Badin, one of the worst affected districts of Sindh.

"This is the first UN food response after Pakistan's government's appeal. We will expand this program to half a million people in coming days," he said.

China, Pakistan's most trusted foreign ally, said it had pledged $4.7 million for urgent humanitarian assistance and its ambassador on Monday handed over a cheque worth $50,000 to the disaster management authority.

The authority said it was working to quantify "huge" losses with cash crops such as sugar cane, banana and cotton now under water.

The government was last year pilloried by flood victims who accused civilian authorities of a delayed and inadequate response to the disaster.

A special parliamentary committee, formed by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to coordinate relief efforts this time round, said it was facing huge problems.

"We have provided 80,000 family food packages and 45,000 tents. We have procured 10,000 more tents but there are serious distribution problems," Qamar Zaman Kaira, a member of the committee, told reporters.

"The helicopters are unable to fly in the continuous rains and roads have been flooded. The crisis is worse than last year in Sindh province. There are huge losses."

Gilani has said recent rains in Sindh were nearly two-and-a-half times normal levels, and inundated 4.1 million acres, including 1.7 million acres of crops.

He said 700,000 houses had been damaged, 150,000 people in relief camps needed immediate assistance and that 64,000 livestock had been lost.

The UN children's agency said up to 2.5 million children in southern Pakistan had been affected by the floods. (AFP)

Source: The News Pk

Pakistan must do more in al Qaeda fight, Biden says

(CNN) -- Pakistan has been an unreliable ally of the United States in the war against al Qaeda and other extremist organizations, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told CNN in an interview set to air in full Monday night.

Biden, who spoke to CNN's John King on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, said Pakistan has failed "on occasion" when forced to choose between the United States and al Qaeda.

The price of Pakistan's choices has been the "loss of life of American soldiers in Afghanistan," the vice president said. Islamabad has "been very helpful in other times," he added. "But it's not sufficient. They have to get better. We need a relationship that is born out of mutual interest. And it's in their interest that they be more cooperative with us."

"We are demanding it," he said.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May. Pakistan's government -- which has struggled with significant pro-al Qaeda sentiment within its borders -- was not informed of the attack beforehand.

Pakistani authorities insist they did not know bin Laden's location.

Despite troubles in Pakistan and elsewhere, the United States is "getting close" to bringing about an end to organized, legitimized terrorist activities, Biden said. Read More at CNN

Clashes flare at Kadhafi strongholds, son in Niger

NEAR BANI WALID: Former rebels clashed on Sunday with pro-Moamer Kadhafi forces at Bani Walid and were closing in on Sirte, poised for all-out attacks on his final bastions, as one of his sons arrived in Niger.
The deputy head of the National Transitional Council (NTC), meanwhile, told reporters in Tripoli that a new transitional government will be formed within 10 days.

"A new government will be formed within one week to ten days," said Mahmud Jibril, who serves as NTC "prime minister."

Rebel forces are still "in the process of liberating Libya, and revolutionary combatant are still on the fronts," Jibril said, adding that another government will be formed once "Libya is liberated."

An AFP correspondent said at least three fighters were killed and 15 wounded in the skirmishes on the outskirts of Bani Walid, near to where forces loyal to Libya's new rulers were massed, waiting for the signal to storm the oasis town.

Interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil on Saturday gave the green light to attack Bani Walid southeast of Tripoli, Kadhafi's hometown Sirte to the east and Sabha in the deep south after declaring the deadline for pro-Kadhafi enclaves to surrender over.

Saadi Kadhafi arrived in Niger on Sunday, government spokesman and Justice Minister Marou Amadou said.

"Today, September 11, a patrol of the Nigerien armed forces intercepted a convoy in which was found one of Kadhafi's sons," Amadou said, identifying him as Saadi.

"At this moment the convoy is en route to Agadez (northern Niger). The convoy could arrive in Niamey between now and tomorrow," he added.

Saadi, 38, the third of Kadhafi's seven sons, is a playboy who renounced a football career in 2004 to join the army, where he led an elite unit.

The whereabouts of Kadhafi himself remain a mystery. Niamey has insisted Kadhafi was not on Nigerien soil.

Streams of NTC fighters backed by armoured vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft guns arrived during Sunday on the edge of Bani Walid, 180 kilometres (110 miles) from Tripoli, an AFP correspondent said.

The fighters said they had routed Kadhafi loyalists and snipers from Wadidinar, a valley in the shadow of Bani Walid, as they pushed towards the town.

Clashes erupted in the afternoon in the neighbourhoods of Al-Mansila and Al-Hawasim, according to fighter Ahmed al-Warfalli.

Military commanders insisted that the main assault had yet to begin.

"Today we are still on standby and waiting for orders," said one commander, General Atiya Ali Tarhuni.

A pro-Kadhafi radio station all afternoon broadcast an appeal to residents to rally against the attackers.

"They want to spread corruption and destruction everywhere. Go today, today, today -- now you are armed there is no excuse. This is the time for jihad (holy warfare)," it said.

By evening, ambulances were rushing to and from the front line, amd an AFP reporter counted three fighters killed and 15 wounded.

An emergency services doctor operating a field clinic in the hamlet of Wishtata, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Bani Walid, said most of the wounded were treated for "sniper shots and explosions."

"There are Kadhafi military people in the heights of Bani Walid shooting down at rebels," said Dr Mehdi Barut.

After dark a pick-up truck arrived with four men the fighters said were pro-Kadhafi prisoners. They were locked in a room at the clinic.

Similar skirmishes on Friday night saw four NTC fighters killed and 26 wounded.

Sami Saadi Abu Rweis, a fighter returning from Bani Walid, reported snipers everywhere.

"They are shooting at us from two kilometres away. Bani Walid is full of arms -- every household has them.

"There is some type of treason going on. People pretended to be with the rebels but are really with Kadhafi."
(The News Pk)

Zardari undergoes tests, angiography

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari underwent a medical check-up in a London hospital on Sunday and his doctors gave him a clean bill of health.
“After carrying out tests the doctors gave a clean bill of health as President Asif Ali Zardari is absolutely fine,” said President’s Spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

He said that according to a medical bulletin issued by Dr Major General Azhar Kiani, personal physician of the president, from London, Mr Zardari underwent a medical check-up in a hospital as planned in advance. “He underwent some routine medical tests and angiography,” the spokesman said.

According to AP, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan said in a statement that Mr Zardari underwent an angiography and some routine medical tests at London’s Royal Brompton Hospital.

He said the angiography was performed by Royal Brompton Hospital’s head of cardiology, Carlo Di Mario, with assistance from leading US cardiologists.

Dr Di Mario was also assisted by Dr Major General Azhar Kiani, Dr Javed Suleman and Dr Samin Sharma.

Mr Babar said the president would stay in London for another three to four days before returning to the country.

Sources close to the president said Mr Zardari took prescribed diet because of some health problems.

Answering a question, the spokesman ruled out the possibility of President Zardari’s meeting Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s chief Altaf Hussain in London.

Meanwhile, an MQM delegation comprising Saleem Shahzad, Raza Haroon and Izhar Ahmed Khan visited the hospital to inquire after the health of President Zardari.

According to an MQM statement issued in Karachi, the Muttahida leaders presented flowers to the president on behalf of party chief Altaf Hussain.(DAWN.COM)

Greek police clash with anti-austerity protesters

THESSALONIKI: Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators Saturday as thousands took to the streets of Greece's second city of Thessaloniki in a mass protest against austerity measures.

Anti-riot officers used tear gas to contain the crowds as Prime Minister George Papandreou prepared to address the nation on the economic crisis from the city.

Barring the approach to the congress hall where Papandreou was scheduled to speak at 1730 GMT, police attempted to push back about 3,000 taxi owners picketing over changes to the industry.

The protest was kicked off earlier in the day by the group calling themselves "the indignants" after Spain's youth protest movement.

A huge banner read "We owe nothing, we pay nothing, we sell nothing, we fear nothing."

Members of Greece's private and public sector unions were also out in force, along with supporters of the local Heraklis football club protesting against their exclusion from the first division.

A record 7,000 police were on duty to prevent a predicted 20,000 demonstrators from surrounding the congress hall. They made two arrests after carrying out control checks on about 60 people.

Eurozone leaders announced a 159-billion-euro ($223-billion) rescue package for debt-ridden Greece in July, but many Greeks fear the stringent conditions set for the money to trickle down will only make unemployment worse. (AFP)

113 detained during search operation in Karachi

KARACHI: Rangers and Police carried out search operation in parts of metropolis, apprehending 113 suspects, Geo News reported.

According to the sources, the operation was carried out in residential buildings on M A Jinnah Road, Jalal Abad area of Nazimabad and Kimari.

Sources said that rangers and police detained 113 suspects during the operation. (The News Pk)

Pakistan reaches out to US on 9/11 anniversary

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: As a solemn nation observes the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Pakistan made a feeble attempt on Saturday to reach out to the American public, telling them that it was a victim, not perpetrator of terrorism.

In Washington, President Barack Obama said the attacks had made America stronger. “As a resilient nation, we will carry on,” he told Americans on the eve of the anniversary of the attacks.

Nearly 3,000 people died on 9/11 in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. On Sunday, Mr Obama will travel to all three sites to mark the anniversary. Former president George W Bush will join him in New York.

“Yes we face a determined foe, and make no mistake – they will keep trying to hit us again. But as we are showing again this weekend, we remain vigilant,” he said.

Mr Obama also noted that “across the Middle East and North Africa a new generation of citizens is showing that the future belongs to those that want to build, not destroy”.

On Saturday, America’s leaders dedicated a national memorial to the 40 passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Then president Bush, his predecessor Bill Clinton, current Vice President Joe Biden and their spouses joined families of the victims at the dedication.

Several hundred citizens – many in patriotic T-shirts or holding US flags – also paid homage.

Pakistan availed this opportunity to tell the Americans that it was with them in the fight against terrorists “Which country can do more for your peace?” asks an advertisement published in the Wall Street Journal. “Since 2001, a nation of 180 million has been fighting for the future of the world’s 7 billion.”

Pakistan had first offered this ad to The New York Times but they refused to publish it, forcing Pakistani officials to go to a business newspaper with a specialised but influential readership.

The ad informs the American public that since Sept 11, 2001, 21,672 Pakistani civilians have lost their lives or have been seriously injured in an ongoing fight against terror.

The Pakistani Army also has lost 2,795 soldiers while 8,671 soldiers have been wounded. There have been 3,486 bomb blasts and 283 major suicide attacks.

More than 3.5 million have been displaced while the country has lost $68 billion due to terrorism.

The Pakistani nation is “making sacrifices that statistics cannot reflect”, says a caption above a picture of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was also killed by the terrorists. “The promise of our martyrs lives on,” it adds.

Despite these sacrifices, the ad notes, the Pakistan stays engaged in “the war for world peace”, with 200,000 troops deployed at the frontline and 90,000 soldiers fighting on the Afghan border.

“Can any other country do so? Only Pakistan,” says the advertisement published as an official notice from the government of Pakistan. In New York or Washington, officials further tightened security arrangements on Saturday, deploying hundreds of officers at bus and train stations and in shopping malls.

People carrying bags were stopped and searched while some without bags were also frisked. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles entering New York were searched as drivers waited patiently in lines.

The two cities were at the heart of the Sept 11 attacks and are now on high alert this weekend after the US government received a `credible’ tip that Al Qaeda plans to launch an attack on Washington or New York as the nation marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

“Al Qaeda possibly planned to carry out attacks…including a possible car bomb attack,” said a joint FBI, Homeland Security Intelligence Bulletin.

Al Qaeda may have sent American terrorists or men carrying US travel documents to launch the attack, it added.

The US media quoted intelligence officials as saying that they believed Al Qaeda had dispatched three men, at least two of whom could be US citizens, to detonate a car bomb in one of the cities. Should that mission prove impossible, the attackers have been told to simply cause as much destruction as they could, the officials said.

The tip came from a CIA informant in Pakistan who said the men had been ordered by new Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on Sunday by attacking Americans inside America.

Although the tip said the would-be attackers are of Arab descent and may speak Arabic as well as English, US security officials were searching all people, including Americans of European descent.

This Article Has Bee Published at Dawn.com

FIA keen on Mark Siegel’s testimony in Benazir case

RAWALPINDI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has decided to present late Benazir Bhutto’s friend and lobbyist Mark Siegel before an anti-terrorism court in the former prime minister’s assassination case.

The FIA’s chief prosecutor, Chaudhry Zulfikar, told Dawn on Saturday that Mr Siegel was ready to appear before the court as a prosecution witness. He said the FIA had even got Mr Siegel’s statement recorded under article 161.

According to Mr Zulfikar, the agency’s additional director, Azad Khan, recorded the statement in the US in which Mr Siegel said former president Pervez Musharraf had threatened Ms Bhutto with dire consequences if she returned home before the 2008 general election.

The statement said Ms Bhutto received a telephone call from Mr Musharraf at a time when she was with Mr Siegel. In the conversation that followed, the general allegedly told Ms Bhutto that he would not be responsible for her security if she returned before the election.

Mr Zulfikar said that one of Ms Bhutto’s emails on the matter and Mr Sigel’s statement would be made part of the court proceedings at “the right time”.

Mr Siegel would also appear before the court to verify the statement.(Dawn.com)

ANP: Altaf has Pashtun blood on his hands

ISLAMABAD / PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) leader Afrasiab Khattak on Saturday said Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain had the blood of Pashtun on his hands.

Responding to Hussan’s allegations of the ANP misleading Pashtuns, Khattak said “aap ka Pashtun-duhsman chehra sab kay samnay hay.” He said the MQM chief should consider what the people think of him looking at the number of Pashtun bodies coming to Khyber-Pashtunkhwa, FATA and Balochistan from Karachi.

“Nobody has killed more Pashtuns than the MQM,” said the ANP leader.

Speaking on the MQM chief’s allegations of US funding of the ANP during elections, Khattak said that the number of assets the MQM and its people owned in the United Kingdom and the letter written to then Prime Minister Tony Blair was something to be questioned.

“Where is the MQM getting the money for all this?”

Khattak said that the ANP would not rest until the killers of May 12 have been arrested.

The ANP leader said that Altaf Hussain had “verbally abused” all political parties during his press conference except for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and this was because the MQM could get “seats” from them.

“ANP does not need a certificate of patriotism from Altaf Hussain”

ANP leader Zahid Khan, speaking to the media earlier in Islamabad, said his part did not need a certificate of patriotism from Altaf Hussain or anyone else.

He said if anyone had any allegations against the ANP they should come to the courts.

Khan said everyone had seen the way Altaf Hussain had acted during the press conference yesterday.

“First he reference the Holy Quran, then he spoke about the Prophet (pbuh). I am a layman, but if the muftis keep quiet on the way he spoke, it will be damaging for the religion and society.”

The ANP leader said there was shadow of fear around Altaf Hussain during the press conference and he acted like “a person who does not know what to say.”

He alleged that the MQM leader had tried to impress the judiciary and had tried to create pressure by saying he would set his workers free in Karachi. Keep Reading at Express Tribune

Heavy rains hit Karachi

KARACHI: Many roads and streets in the city went inundated as heavy rains lashed Karachi on Saturday afternoon.

Inundation of a number of roads was creating problems for motorists.

Areas near flyovers and underpasses were also badly affected.Read more at The New Pk

11 alleged terrorists arrested in Lahore

LAHORE: CID carried out secret operation at a local hotel near Railway Station in the jurisdiction of Nolakha police station, arresting 11 suspected terrorist.

According to the sources, four of the arrested suspects were most wanted terrorists who were involved in various incidents in the country.

More than 50 personnel of CID took part in the secret raid. During the operation, CID personnel in civilian dresses put the security cordon around the area.

Arrested suspects have been taken to unidentified location for interrogation.(The News Pk)

Obama thanks Canadians for help after 9/11

MONTREAL: US President Barack Obama has thanked the Canadian people for their support in the days following the 9/11 attacks, in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made public Friday.

“In one of the darkest moments in our history, Canada stood by our side and showed itself to be a true friend,” Obama wrote.

“On the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001, we remember with gratitude and affection how the people of Canada offered us the comfort and friendship and extraordinary assistance that day and in the following days, by opening their airports, homes and hearts to us.”

In the letter, dated Thursday, the US president pays special tribute to the city of Gander in Newfoundland, which only has a population of 9,600 – but took in about 6,600 air passengers diverted when US airspace was shut down.

“As airspace over our two countries was shut down, hundreds of flights en route to the United States were landed safely by Canadian air traffic control in seventeen Canadian airports from coast to coast,” Obama wrote.

“For the next 3 days – before our airspace was reopened – those displaced passengers were treated like family in Canadian homes, receiving food, shelter, medical attention, and comfort.”

Harper is due to speak in New York on Sunday at a ceremony honoring the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Britain, US lost some ‘moral authority’ after 9/11: Cameron

LONDON: Britain and the United States lost some of their moral authority through some of the measures they put in place after the September 11th attacks, Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday.

Some measures, such as the establishment of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, had been a mistake, Cameron told Al Jazeera television in an interview to mark the 10th anniversary of the al Qaeda attacks on the United States.

“We can certainly see with hindsight and in some ways at the time, mistakes were made in that we lost some of our moral authority, which is vital to keep when you’re trying to make your case in the world,” Cameron said.

As he spoke, fresh allegations were emerging about the complicity of British intelligence agents in the illegal transfer of terror suspects following 9/11 to countries where they faced torture.

The Guardian newspaper on Saturday published claims by Libyan Islamist Sami al-Saadi, also known as Abu Munthir, that in 2004 he and his family were detained by MI6 and handed over to authorities in Libya, who allegedly tortured him.

They follow last week’s claims by Abdelhakim Belhaj, now a rebel military commander in Libya, who said Britain and the US were complicit in a plan that led to his illegal transfer to Libya and subsequent torture.

Cameron set up an inquiry last year to probe allegations of British complicity in the torture of terror suspects after 9/11. It announced this week that it would examine Belhaj’s claims.

Asked about the case, Cameron insisted: “Britain does not torture people.

We do not believe in torture. We think torture is wrong.” But he said he set up the inquiry to “go through all the cases, including this Libyan case, to get to the truth”.

According to the Guardian, Sami al-Saadi’s case is the first in which British agents have been accused of orchestrating so-called extraordinary rendition, rather than simply helping US-led operations.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office declined to comment, telling the newspaper: “Our position is that it is the government’s longstanding policy not to comment on intelligence matters.”(Dawn.com)