30 die in Afghan hospital car bomb: officials

PULI ALAM: Thirty people were killed in a suicide car bombing Saturday targeting a hospital in Afghanistan's Logar province, just south of the capital Kabul, a provincial official said.

"A suicide car bomb attacker targeted a hospital in Azra district of Logar province," Din Mohammad Darwaish, the Logar provincial spokesman, said. "The suicide blast killed 30 people and wounded another 45. The casualties are all patients, their visitors and relatives and hospital personnel."

He added: "The blast was caused by an SUV packed with explosives and driven by a suicide attacker. "The target of the blast is not clear but what is obvious is that a hospital was attacked and civilians were killed."

The head of Logar's provincial council, Abdul Wali Wakeel, confirmed the toll and said local officials had contacted foreign forces to ask for help in evacuating the wounded to hospital.

A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul said he was "not aware" that ISAF had been approached for assistance. Militants in Afghanistan frequently target the Afghan police and other government employees as well as foreign forces in their near decade-long insurgency. But civilians are the biggest casualties in the war, with 2,777 killed last year, according to the United Nations.

 

MQM’s Sindh Assembly walkout MQM’s Sindh Assembly walkout on AJK seat polls put off

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)’s members of Sindh Assembly staged a walkout in protest against the putting off of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) seats’ polling in Karachi.

Sindh Assembly went into session here today with Speaker Nisar Khuhro in the chair, when the MQM members of the assembly led by the party deputy parliamentary leader, Faisal Sabzwari chose this occasion to ventilate their grievances and express their protests against the postponement of tomorrow’s polling on AJK seats in Karachi by staging a walkout from the assembly.

Later talking to the media, Faisal Sabzwari said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) wanted that MQM should give up contesting on anyone of the two seats. He said that it was absolutely against the democratic norms to use Election Commission and Sindh IG for getting the elections deferred on these two seats only on the pretext of bad law and order situation.

On the other hand, efforts by the Sindh assembly PPP members Jam Mahtab, Ayaz Somroo and Murad Ali Shah to bring back the hurt MQM members into the assembly through talks failed. 

 

Osama weighed name change for Al-Qaeda: US official

WASHINGTON: Osama bin Laden was so worried about Al-Qaeda's image that he proposed changing the group's name to try improve its ‘brand,’ a US official said Friday.

In a letter found at his compound, the late Al-Qaeda mastermind contemplated new names for his network that he hoped would better reflect his vision of war with the West, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told this news agency. "It was sort of like brand-imaging," the official said.

Bin Laden's proposals for alternative names were not exactly dynamic.

He suggested possibly Taifat al-Tawhed Wal-Jihad, or Monotheism and Jihad Group, and Jama'at I'Adat al-Khilafat al-Rashida, translated as Restoration of the Caliphate Group, the official said.

News of the letter, which was first reported by the Associated Press, quickly sparked a flurry of online parodies, including satiric contests to select Al-Qaeda's new name.

The defense blog Danger Room's contest included entries for "League of Extraordinary Beards," "iQaeda" and "Kandahar Ardent Brotherhood Of Orthodox Muslims (KABOOM)."

Danger Room proposed a new slogan: "Now With 20 Percent Less Eschatological Violence."

Bin Laden debated the name change because he was unhappy that the original name of his group -- Al-Qaeda Al-Jihad, or The Base of Holy War -- had been widely referred to only as Al-Qaeda, dropping the reference to religious war, the US official said.

"His concern was that the al-Jihad part was dropped and it was short-handed to just al-Qaeda," the official said. "From his perspective, that sort of separated the religious aspect of Al-Qaeda's mission. And that allowed the West to portray it as an organization and not tied to a ...religious movement," he said.

Bin Laden, who was killed in a raid by US Navy special forces last month, comes across in the letter as a leader struggling to get the upper hand in the "information war" against the United States, the official said.

"What he was being frustrated by was that most people were seeing the fight against Al-Qaeda for what it really is -- it's an effort stop a violent organization not a war on religion," he said. "That bothered him."

It was not clear who the letter was addressed to or whether or not it was delivered, but the document appeared to be written in the last couple of years, according to the official.

In other letters, bin Laden also wrote to his then number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to voice his concern that attacks that had left Muslims dead -- especially in Iraq -- had harmed Al-Qaeda's image, the official said. (AFP)

Freed Pakistanis: Daughter, father reunite

KARACHI: Emotional scenes were witnessed when Laila Wasi, the daughter of Captain Wasi reunited with her father. It took ten months for this moment to happen and included several obstacles. Laila Wasi burst into tears when she met he father after the ordeal he went through.

Speaking to the media Laila Wasi said that the promise made by Governor Sindh Ishrat ul Ibad and Ansar Burney to bring her father back home was fulfilled. Captain Wasi also spoke and thanked the media for the role it played in bringing the crew back home. He also thanked Governor Sindh, Ansar Burney, naval Chief and the Captains and crews of the PNS Zulfiqar and Babur for bringing them back home.

Captain Wasi was among the 22 crew members who were kidnapped by Somali pirates and held hostage for ten months. They were released after a ransom was paid.

KARACHI: Emotional scenes were witnessed when Laila Wasi, the daughter of Captain Wasi reunited with her father. It took ten months for this moment to happen and included several obstacles. Laila Wasi burst into tears when she met he father after the ordeal he went through.

Speaking to the media Laila Wasi said that the promise made by Governor Sindh Ishrat ul Ibad and Ansar Burney to bring her father back home was fulfilled. Captain Wasi also spoke and thanked the media for the role it played in bringing the crew back home. He also thanked Governor Sindh, Ansar Burney, Naval Chief and the Captains and crews of the PNS Zulfiqar and Babur for bringing them back home.

Captain Wasi was among the 22 crew members who the MV Suez who were kidnapped by Somali pirates and held hostage for ten months. They were released after a ransom was paid.

Oil prices down in Asia

SINGAPORE: Oil prices dropped in Asian trade Thursday as investors took profits from an overnight rally powered by strengthening US energy demand.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light, sweet crude for delivery in August, was down $1.19 to $94.22 a barrel while Brent North Sea crude for August tumbled $1.00 to $113.21.

"This is just basically a consolidation of prices, especially after a 
strong rally last night," said Serene Lim, a Singapore-based analyst at ANZ Bank.

Crude prices rallied Wednesday after the US central bank decided to keep interest rates at near-zero levels "for an extended period" to boost the flagging US economic recovery.

Prices were also supported by data showing stronger-than-expected energy demand in the United States, the world's biggest economy and the largest oil-consuming nation.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) said in its weekly report that crude reserves sank 1.7 million barrels in the week ending June 17, much more than forecasts for a drop of 800,000 barrels.

Gasoline stockpiles fell 500,000 barrels, while analysts had forecast a 
gain of 800,000 barrels.

Gasoline figures are closely watched during the peak-demand driving season in the United States, with many Americans hitting the road for their summer holidays. (AFP)

Marvi Memon resigns from NA, PML-Q

ISLAMABAD: Marvi Memon has resigned from her seat in the National Assembly and from the PML-Q, Geo News reported. 
Speaking to the media, Memon said that she took the decision in protest of the PML-Q joining the government and in opposition of the budget which was against the aspirations of the people.

She added that current government was working against the people of Pakistan and the PML-Q leaders did not live up to the voters by leaving the opposition and joining the government.

“The PML-Q did not correct the disastrous course of the government” she said. The statement read out by Marvi Memon listed the government as being inadequate, not serving the people, not responding to natural disasters, not protecting the country’s sovereignty and depriving people of basic human rights. 
Memon added that under these circumstances she could no longer be a member of the National Assembly and that she would not take back her resignations under any circumstance. She however did say that her struggle for justice would continue on the streets and in courts.

Former Indian chief justice to face graft probe: report

NEW DELHI: India's home ministry has ordered revenue officials to investigate allegations of corruption levelled against a former Supreme Court chief justice, a report said Wednesday.

The ministry has called for a probe into the assets of K.G. Balakrishnan, who was India's highest ranked judge for more than three years from 2007 and currently heads the National Human Rights Commission.

The ministry's order followed a petition which alleged Balakrishnan had "acquired assets disproportionate to his known sources of income," the news agency said, citing unnamed home ministry officials.

"The petition with allegations has been sent to the secretary (of the) revenue department for inquiry," PTI said.

The home ministry's official spokesman was not immediately available for comment on the report.

A string of corruption scandals has dented the image of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party-led government and fomented outrage across Indian society at the apparent scale of graft by officials going unpunished.

The government has offered to draft an anti-graft bill in consultation with civil society activists who are pushing for tough provisions to punish corrupt bureaucrats, members of the judiciary and politicians.

India has a dismal record of bringing corrupt senior public officials to justice, with current laws requiring the government's approval before any sitting bureaucrat or minister can be prosecuted.

In six decades only one senior politician has been convicted of graft and served a jail term. (AFP)