153 words , 27 January 2005 , 08:08


 KATHMANDU, Jan 27 (AFP) -

 Maoist rebels fighting to topple Nepal's monarchy have abducted 325 students and 25 teachers for indoctrination sessions, a local rebel official said Thursday.


 The local leader who identified himself as Prabhat said the students and teachers were abducted Wednesday in the Sankhuwasabha district, 390 kilometres (244 miles) east of the capital Kathmandu.


 "We have taken 325 students including 25 teachers for our orientation programme and they will be released unharmed after completing the programme," he said by telephone.


 The students are aged between 12 and 16.


 Police said 250 students and teachers were also kidnapped from Salyantar in Dhading district, 110 kilometres west of Kathmandu, on Sunday but had been set free on Tuesday.


 The rebels have been fighting for a communist republic since 1996. The uprising has already claimed more than 11,000 lives.


 Agence France Presse

Thursday, November 04, 2004 Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post/Makassar The Makassar District Court in South Sulawesi sentenced eight police officers on Wednesday to between seven months and one year in prison for their involvement in an attack on students in May. defendants: First Brig. Nur Hasyim and second brigadiers Rahmat Hidayat, Arwin Arief, Dian Ardiawan, Varrurrasyid, Arisa, Yudi Apriyanto and Marthen Kandek. Nur received a one-year term, Rahmat and Arwin nine months each, while Dian, Varrurrasyid, Arisa, Yudi and Marthen were jailed for seven months each. The sentences are retroactive and include the time they spent in detention during the investigation. The policemen were be held responsible for the May 1 attack on the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) in Makassar that injured at least 65 students, two of them with gunshot wounds. The panel of three judges presided over by Jassolo Situmorang said the eight defendants were proven "legally and convincingly" guilty of violating Article 170.1 of the Criminal Code on collective violence in public. The court also ordered the convicts to return to the South Sulawesi Police a .38 caliber pistol that was allegedly used during the attack. A police disciplinary committee had earlier punished the eight officers over the violence by detaining them and delaying their promotions, and Nur Hasyim was dishonorably dismissed on Oct. 1 from the police force for disciplinary violations. The committee said Nur no longer deserved to be a policeman because he had failed to protect the people and he had tarnished the police's image. The attack on UMI was carried out after a policeman was taken hostage by students during an off-campus protest on Jl. Urip Sumihardjo. The protesters demanded the release of their classmates, who had been arrested during an earlier rally at the South Sulawesi General Elections Commission, in exchange for the policeman. The rally ahead of the July 5 presidential election was held to protest the two retired senior military officers who were running for president, former top security minister Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and former military chief Gen. Wiranto, who had emerged as leading contenders in the poll. During the rally, the students tried to burn a military uniform, but were prevented from doing so by police who beat and dispersed them. At least 26 students were arrested in the incident. The police rejected the students' demand, and instead stormed the university campus to free the abducted officer. A team of policemen charged up to classrooms on the third floor, where the students had set up camp, and beat them with batons. Dozens of students were also forced to undress and duckwalk downstairs, most of them covered in blood from head injuries. The policemen also yelled at and beat lecturers who tried to intervene and protect the students or reason with the police. Manggabarani was dismissed as the South Sulawesi Police chief, as well as Makassar Police chief Sr. Comr. Jose Rizal Effendi, East Makassar Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Suprianto and Panakukang Police chief Adj. Comr. Namora Simanjuntak..

NEW DELHI, Oct 31, 2004 (ODJ Select via COMTEX) -- (AP)--Insurgent attacks and incursions by Islamic rebels from Pakistani territory have declined in the Indian portion of Kashmir, easing tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals, India's home minister said in an interview published Sunday. "The situation in Jammu-Kashmir has improved," the Hindustan Times quoted Home Minister Shivraj Patil as saying. Patil's interview came six days before his planned visit to the Indian portion of Kashmir to meet leaders of various political groups and Indian troops along the Line of Control dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also is scheduled to visit Jammu-Kashmir state on Nov. 17. Patil said that as compared to an average of 11 Islamic rebel attacks a day in the Indian portion of Kashmir in 2002, the number has come down to six this year from nine in 2003. "Infiltration into Jammu-Kashmir also has come down." India accuses Pakistan of training and arming Islamic rebels and then pushing them into the Indian portion of Kashmir to attack government forces and targets and civilians. Pakistan says it only provides moral and diplomatic support to the insurgents fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. Patil also said in the interview that the question of holding talks with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella group of two dozen separatist political and religious groups, would depend on the attitude of the Hurriyat leaders. "If they come to talk, we will definitely talk," he said. Kashmiri separatist leaders held two rounds of talks with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist government early this year before it lost to the Congress party in April-May general elections. More than 65,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the insurgency since 1989. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over control of Kashmir, since they won independence from Britain in 1947. (C) Copyright 2004 ODJ

DHAKA (AFP) Oct 30, 2004 A forest guard was shot dead and four others critically injured Saturday in a clash with timber thieves in a remote area of southeastern Bangladesh, a report said. The violence happened early Saturday after forest rangers confronted a gang of more than 50 men illegally felling trees in the Chittagong region, the private UNB agency said. "As the forest guards challenged them, the thieves opened fire," a source told the agency. Motaleb Hossain, 45, died instantly and 10 colleagues were injured in the shooting. Among the wounded, four remained in hospital Saturday in a critical condition, the agency added. Enviornmentalists say timber thieves strip Bangladeshi forests of millions of dollars worth of trees each year, sometimes in connivance with forestry officials. An estimated 70,000 hectares (172,900 acres) is lost annually to illegal logging and other causes of deforestation such as urbanisation and the demand for agricultural land. Experts predict that if the rate of deforestation continues Bangladesh will have lost all forest cover within 40 years, threatening a range of bird, animal and plant species. Police have launched an investigation into the shooting.

Friday October 29, 08:02 AM ISLAMABAD (AFX) - The Pakistan government said an electrical short circuit and not a terrorist bomb was the most likely cause of a powerful explosion at the luxury Marriott hotel in Islamabad. At least seven people were injured, including two Italians and an American diplomat, in the blast, that occurred about yesterday evening and shattered virtually every window on the ground floor of the hotel. Hotel employees and guests reported a huge explosion that could be felt in rooms on higher floors, and the sound of the blast was heard from about a kilometer away. Pakistani authorities said immediately after the explosion that it was caused by a short circuit and this morning said further investigations had confirmed their initial analysis. 'We haven't found any evidence that would suggest that it was an act of sabotage,' the director general of the interior ministry's national crisis management cell, Brigadier Javed Cheema said. 'The evidence so far gathered indicates that the blast was caused by short circuiting. Our investigations are continuing. At the moment we rule out the possibility of any act of terrorism subversion.' The explosion caused extensive damage to the main entrance and blew out windows at the back of main lobby, at least 30 meters from the immediate explosion site, and as those in adjoining rooms. 'It seems to be a bomb explosion. The bomb was apparently hidden in one of the flower pots near the entrance of the hotel,' hotel employee Khurram Ahmed told Agence France-Presse at the scene. 'The blast was huge. It shook everyone in the hotel.' Hotel security guard Mohammad Salem told AFP he heard a powerful explosion. 'Broken glass flew around us. I felt a shock and fell down. There was blood on the floor around me. We don't know what was the source of the blast but it was a very powerful blast.' A Western guest who has worked for many years with international security forces was inside the hotel when the explosion occurred and said he doubted it was caused by an electrical short circuit. He said there was no interruption to the power supply in the hotel at the time of the explosion. When told on last night that hotel employees said they believed the blast was caused by a bomb, Information Minister Shaikh Rasheed said: 'That's not true. It was an electrical short circuit.' This morning, Rasheed said nothing had changed to alter his opinion. 'It was just an accident caused by short circuiting and nothing else.' Cheema said the source of the explosion appeared to be from an electrical unit above the entrance and said the fact the hotel lobby had a lot of air pressure built up. 'If your room is virtually airtight, even if one electricity bulb bursts, it produces a big sound,' he said. 'These buildings are under high pressure so hence the bang was created.' The Marriott is one of the most popular hotels in Islamabad for foreign diplomats, media and business people, and guests said US military troops were staying there but checked out immediately after the explosion. A US State Department official in Washington said 11 staffers from the US embassy in Islamabad were having dinner at the hotel and that one was injured. An embassy spokesman confirmed today that one staffer had suffered minor injuries. Cheema said at least seven people were injured in the explosion, one critically, with most of the wounds caused by shards of glass. He said the critically injured person was a local employee of the hotel, while two others were Italians.

As many as 530 Pakistanis arrested in Oman on immigration violations returned home Thursday on a cargo ship, an immigration official said. The men, who were arrested over the past eight months, arrived in the port city of Karachi after leaving the Oman capital of Muscat on Tuesday, said Abdul Sattar Mansoori, an official in the Federal Investigation Agency, which deals with immigration issues in Pakistan. He said the deportees will be freed after "brief questioning." Mansoori gave no other details. Previously, officials have said that such people pay money to human traffickers for passage to Oman to find work. Oman deports thousands of Pakistanis every year after arresting them for illegally entering the country. Pakistan has said it is taking action against the human traffickers.

28/10/2004 The European Union has given Indonesia five million US dollars to help the country combat terrorism, a presidential spokesman said Thursday. "The European Union has given assistance for the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation Programme, about five million dollars," Dino Pati Jalal said. Jalal was speaking after talks between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency. The Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC) in Semarang, the capital of Central Java province, was inaugurated in July by then president Megawati Sukarnoputri. The center, which is funded primarily by Australia, provides anti-terrorism training for officials from the Asia-Pacific region. Yudhoyono and Bot discussed terrorism "in general terms" during their meeting, according to Jalal. The talks "were more oriented to the imminent efforts of the government of Indonesia to step up its handling of terrorism," he said. Bot is leading a visit by the so-called EU troika to congratulate Yudhoyono on his election as Indonesia's sixth president. He is scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda later Thursday before leaving the country.

Tribal elders in Pakistan have halted a hunt for a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner after a mortar attack killed 14 tribesmen near the Afghan border, residents and officials said Thursday. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan blamed "miscreants" for attacking the tribesmen, who had been meeting to discuss how to flush out militants and capture Abdullah Mehsud, the former prisoner who now leads a band of militants. Mehsud's men allegedly abducted two Chinese engineers on Oct. 9 in the lawless South Waziristan tribal region. One of the Chinese died in an Oct. 14 commando rescue raid. Mehsud's men are also accused of attacking Pakistani troops. The 14 tribesmen died Tuesday when a mortar barrage hit Sheikh Ziyarat village near Wana, South Waziristan's main town and the site of several military operations in recent months. Since the kidnapping, government forces have been hunting Mehsud, who was freed in March after about two years' detention at the U.S. military base in Cuba.

The police raided two houses in Beijing and detained 65 North Korean refugees, South Korean human right activists said. A Beijing newspaper said the North Koreans were preparing to seek asylum at the South Korean consulate. Two South Koreans were also detained in the raids. The arrests came amid a surge in attempts by large groups to gain access to diplomatic properties in recent weeks. Scores of North Koreans are in the Canadian and South Korean embassies and other foreign offices in Beijing, waiting for permission to leave for South Korea. On Tuesday, China appealed to foreign embassies to stop giving refuge to North Koreans, saying they are economic migrants led by people with "ulterior motives." (AP)

SRINAGAR, India, Oct 28, 2004 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Suspected rebels posing as villagers riding a tractor attacked a paramilitary base before dawn Thursday in India's insurgency-wracked Jammu-Kashmir state, killing a soldier and a villager, a police officer said. Four soldiers and a villager were also wounded, he said. The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attackers opened fire from the tractor and hurled grenades at a military camp in the village of Numtahaal. They fled on the tractor, driving away under the cover of darkness, he said. Militants often approach military compounds posing as local villagers. Numtahaal is about 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. Elsewhere, in the village of Manchanpora, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Srinagar, five homes caught fire and were destroyed during a gunbattle between suspected militants and soldiers. No casualties were reported on either side, police said. Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan. More than 65,000 people have been killed in the conflict. India accuses Pakistan of arming and funding the rebels. Pakistan denies it. The two rivals are engaged in talks that will also include discussions aimed at resolving their dispute over Kashmir. By MUJTABA ALI AHMAD Associated Press Writer