World XI may tour Pakistan to end cricket isolation

LONDON: Wisden Cricketer magazine reports that the International Cricket Council will send an invitational World XI to play in Pakistan to end the country’s sporting isolation following a terror attack on the Sri Lankan team at Lahore last year.

The magazine quotes England Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke as saying “world cricket must go back and play in Pakistan.”

Clarke, head of the ICC’s Pakistan Task Team, writes in the September issue that the cricket community “must keep giving Pakistan cricket the chance to fund itself and move forward.”

“Cricket cannot abandon a nation with such a magnificent history in the game, such wonderful players and such enthusiastic and knowledgeable supporters. It will be an historic moment when international cricket resumes in Pakistan and the first ICC team walks out,” he further said.

Counting the costs of no international cricket in Pakistan, Clarke said the losses came up to £27 million to £10 million, saying it was “a brutal impact that few enterprises could survive.”

The ECB chief said his board plans on hosting more international matches and series for Pakistan in the next few years.

“The atmosphere, the passionate support and, of course, the tremendous cricket played by the Pakistan team made it a compelling experience. The PCB’s economic needs make it imperative.”

No dates for the tour were revealed in a release issued by the magazine. Pakistan has played recent series at neutral venues.

Iran tells West to stay out of woman’s stoning case

TEHRAN: Iran told Western nations on Tuesday to stay out of the case of a woman who faces death by stoning, warning it will not tolerate any interference in the matter still under examination.

“Independent nations do not allow other countries to interfere in their judicial affairs,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference.

The official was responding to questions from reporters about the status of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two sentenced to death by stoning by an Iranian court.

“Western nations must not pressurise and hype it (the case) up... judicial cases have precise procedures, especially when it concerns murder.

“If a person committed a crime in Iran, that person is prosecuted which is normal, especially if she has killed somebody. The heavier the sentence, the more meticulous we are in carrying it out. This is being done,” said Mehmanparast.

Western nations and human rights groups have come out strongly against Mohammadi-Ashtiani’s stoning sentence and warned that her execution is imminent.

Iranian judiciary chief Sadeq Larijani has temporarily suspended the sentence from being carried out.

Officials in the Islamic republic maintain the woman was handed the stoning sentence for adultery and for being an accomplice in her husband’s murder.

Her lawyers and London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International say she was only sentenced for having an “illicit relationship” with two men and that the murder charge was adopted later.

Mehmanparast said the outcry from the West over her case was “irrational” and “rather a politicised approach”.

“If we are to free those who committed murders, there won’t be any security. If this is the case, we can also demand that they free all those who have committed murders and serious crimes,” he said.

When asked about Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s proposal to offer Mohammadi-Ashtiani asylum, he said Brazil would come to “understand it is a fuss created to undermine relations” between the two countries.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad echoed similar views in an interview on Iran’s English-language Press TV broadcast on Sunday.

The hardliner said Iran’s judiciary chief agreed Mohammadi-Ashtiani should not be sent to Brazil.

“I think there is no need to create some trouble for President Lula and to send her to Brazil. We are keen to export our technology to Brazil rather than such people. I think the problem will be solved” in Iran, Ahmadinejad said in comments posted on the channel’s website. —AFP

Pakistan wins more aid pledges from world community

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan won more aid pledges Tuesday after concerns that money is not coming through fast enough to help 20 million people hit by unprecedented floods and stave off a “second wave of death” from disease.

Torrential monsoon rain triggered catastrophic floods which have affected a fifth of the country, wiping out villages, rich farm land, infrastructure and killing an estimated 1,600 people in the nation's worst ever natural disaster.

The United Nations last week launched an immediate appeal for 460 million dollars to cover the next 90 days and UN chief Ban Ki-moon visited Pakistan at the weekend, calling on the world to quicken its aid pledges.

Officials now estimate that 35 per cent of the funds have been committed.

Japan on Tuesday came forward to pledge an additional 10 million dollars in emergency aid and Australia promised an extra 21.6 million dollars.

“There are grave risks that the flooding will worsen Pakistan's social circumstances but also its long-term economic circumstances will be potentially devastated,” Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told ABC Radio.

State media in Saudi Arabia said the country had raised 20.5 million dollars in aid on the first day of a national campaign for the Pakistani floods.

Turkey has also doubled financial aid for flood-stricken Pakistan to 10 million dollars (7.8 million euros) after urgent pleas from Islamabad and the United Nations, the foreign ministry said.

“In view of the increasing toll of the flood disaster, the government has decided to extend another five million dollars to Pakistan,” the ministry said in a statement late Monday.

In addition, it said, Turkey has begun transporting 140 tonnes of relief supplies worth more than one million dollars.

Flood survivors cramped into sweltering tent cities or camping out along roadsides have hit out furiously against Pakistan's weak civilian government.

Britain, which is emerging from a recent diplomatic row with Pakistan, branded the international response “lamentable” and charities said Pakistan was suffering from an “image deficit” partly because of perceived links to terror.

A UN spokesman said Monday he feared Pakistan was on the brink of a “second wave of death” unless more donor funds materialised, with up to 3.5 million children at risk from water-borne diseases.

The World Bank also agreed to provide Islamabad with a loan of 900 million dollars, warning that the impact of the disaster on the economy was expected to be “huge”.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged the world to speed up aid urgently, while Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the country could not cope on its own and warned the disaster could play into the hands of insurgents.

“We fear we're getting close to the start of seeing a second wave of death if not enough money comes through, due to water-borne diseases along with lack of clean water and food shortages,” Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

He told AFP that about six million people were at risk of deadly water-borne diseases, including 3.5 million children.

Typhoid and hepatitis A and E are also concerns, he said, adding that the World Health Organization is preparing to assist up to 140,000 people in case of a cholera outbreak.

The United Nations estimates that 1,600 people have died in the floods, while the government in Islamabad has confirmed 1,384 deaths.

Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said about one quarter of the aid had come from his country and charged that some nations had not yet grasped the scale of the catastrophe.

“The response from the international community as a whole, I have to say, has been lamentable. It's been absolutely pitiful.”

Care International spokeswoman Melanie Brooks said the UN must explain to donor states that “the money is not going to go to the hands of the Taliban”.

“The victims are the mothers, the farmers, children,” she said.

“At that very crucial time this natural disaster has affected the ability and the capacity and the economy of Pakistan,” Qureshi told the BBC.

“The damage and the magnitude is too large for natural resources to cope with it... Pakistan needs your help.” – AFP

Bombs kill seven civilians in Afghanistan

KABUL: Two roadside bombs in Afghanistan killed seven civilians, including at least three women and a child, police said on Tuesday.

A remote-controlled bomb on a motorcycle parked on a bridge in southern Ghazni city detonated prematurely on Tuesday, killing two passers-by and wounding another five, including two children, police told AFP.

The blast took place just as a police convoy was about to pass, said Mohammad Osman, commander of Afghanistan's southeastern police zone.

“Two civilians were martyred and another five were wounded,” he said.

The bomber had been planning to trigger the device by remote control and was injured in the explosion and had been arrested, Osman said.

In a similar incident late Monday, a roadside bomb ripped through a civilian vehicle in Shindand district, in the western province of Herat, killing five civilians and injuring two, said Lal Mohammad Omarzai, the district chief.

“Three women, a man and a child were killed and two other women were hurt,”he said.

Omarzai blamed the attack on “enemies of Afghanistan”, a term used to refer to Taliban militants who have waged an increasingly bloody insurgency against Afghan and NATO forces since they were pushed out of power in late 2001. —AFP

More heavy rains in western China kill 51

BEIJING: Heavy rains in western China have killed at least another 51 people, state media said on Tuesday, adding to the more than 2,000 people who have died in flooding and landslides nationwide so far this year.

Storms in Longnan, in poor and remote Gansu province, killed 36, left 23 missing and prompted the evacuation of more than 120,000 residents because of landslides and rising rivers, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The neighbouring district of Zhouqu was inundated this month by an avalanche of mud following unusually strong downpours. The death toll has now risen to 1,254, with hundreds still unaccounted for.

More rain is expected in Zhouqu over the next few days, Xinhua said.

In Sichuan province to the south, landslides have killed 15 people in Wenchuan, the report added.

Wenchuan was the epicentre of a massive earthquake two years ago, in which more than 80,000 people lost their lives.

At least another 1,000 people have died in floods in central, southern and northeast China so far this year. —Reuters

Saudi Arabia raises $20.5 million in flood aid

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has raised 20.5 million dollars in aid on the first day of a national campaign for flood-striken Pakistan, state news agency SPA said Tuesday.

King Abdullah kicked off the campaign by donating 20 million riyals (5.33 million dollars), and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz offered 10 million riyals, press reports said.

The third in line to the throne, Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, gave five million riyals to the cause, according to the reports.

The oil-rich kingdom has already sent 16 planeloads of relief supply to Pakistan, Arab News daily said, adding that it had pledged to provide 100 million dollars in aid.

The United Nations warned Tuesday of a “second wave of death” in Pakistan while aid agencies struggled to raise money to help the 20 million people hit by the nation's worst-ever natural disaster.

Fresh rains have threatened further anguish for the millions affected by three weeks of flooding that has engulfed about one quarter of the country, including its rich agricultural heartland. – AFP

India gives mobile operator deadline on BlackBerry

NEW DELHI: India has asked Tata Teleservices to ensure monitoring capability for BlackBerry services by Aug. 31, the company said on Tuesday.

“We have received a letter ... asking us to ensure that legal intervention capability is put in place for BlackBerry services by 31 August 2010,” a Tata Teleservices statement said.

Another big mobile operator which provides BlackBerry service also confirmed receiving the letter from the government.

RIM faces an Aug. 31 deadline to give authorities the means to read email and instant messages sent over the BlackBerry.

New Delhi says it will pull the plug if RIM won’t comply, threatening its future in the world’s fastest-growing telecoms market. —Reuters

Suicide blast in Russian Caucasus kills one

NAZRAN: A suicide bomber detonated explosives near a police post in the North Ossetia province in Russia's Caucasus on Tuesday, killing one officer and wounding three others, police said.

The attack occurred in North Ossetia's Prigorodny district, the site of a territorial dispute between ethnic Ossetians and Ingush that erupted into deadly fighting in 1992 and remains a source of tension.

The attacker blew himself up after approaching a police checkpoint on a road near the border with Ingushetia province, a North Ossetia police official said.

Predominantly Orthodox Christian North Ossetia has also been the site of attacks by extremists militants from the North Caucasus whose violent campaign against Russian authorities stems from the 1990s separatist wars in Chechnya. Many are based in the Muslim Russian republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia.

Beslan, where militants seized a school in a 2004 attack that led to more than 330 deaths, is in North Ossetia. —Reuters

India-Pakistan 'cyberwar' claims high-profile victim

MUMBAI: The “cyberwar” between India and Pakistan has claimed another victim, with the hacking of a high-profile lawmaker's website that experts say highlights the woeful lack of Internet security in South Asia.

A group calling itself the Pakistan Cyber Army said it hacked into the website of independent Indian MP Vijay Mallya, a flamboyant liquor baron, who is also head of Kingfisher Airlines and the Force One Formula One racing team.

“This is payback from Pak Cyber Army in return to the defacements of Pakistan sites!” the message on www.mallyainparliament.com said, according to Indian media. “You are playing with fire! This is not a game kids.

“We are warning you one last time. Don't think that you are secure in this Cyber Space. We will turn your Cyber Space into Hell,” the message added, warning of “revenge” if Indians hack any Pakistani websites in retaliation.

Mallya, who also owns Indian Premier League cricket outfit the Royal Challengers Bangalore, has vowed to take up the matter with the government in New Delhi and police.

Security analyst Ajai Sahni dismissed the hacking, which coincided with Independence Day celebrations on both sides of the border at the weekend.

“They hack through any number of sites every year. It's just a bunch of kids who have got nothing better to do,” said Sahni, the executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi.

“The more serious threat is not this kind of childish prank but Pakistan's use of net-based communication for actual terrorist operations,” he told AFP.

The Pakistan Cyber Army claims to have hacked a number of Indian websites in recent years, including India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, in retaliation for Indian hackers accessing Pakistan sites.

It is the latest in a tit-for-tat campaign by groups on both sides dating back to the late 1990s when tensions over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of war.

Indian IT specialists said they were unsurprised at the latest incursion because of the lack of awareness about Internet security across the country, including in the corridors of power.

“It's non-existent,” said Vijay Mukhi, a self-styled Internet security “evangelist” in India's financial capital Mumbai, who writes on computer technology.

Indians place little or no value on the kind of data individuals and organisations in many countries prefer to keep confidential, like passport and bank account details or work contracts, he said.

“Privacy is a concept not rooted in India culture. I don't think we can change that and I don't think it's going to change in my lifetime,” said Mukhi.

“The government doesn't care” about protecting information online, he said.

“Corporates for some reason just don't want to spend the money. They don't think it happens often.... Web security is a low priority.”

Arun Prabhudesai, who writes about business and technology issues, said the ease with which websites can be set up is adding to the problem - and will only get worse as more Indians get online.

“The people who do it don't have enough knowledge of security. That's why Vijay Mallya's site got hacked,” he said.

According to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, a government agency that tracks IT security issues, more than 3,600 Indian websites were hacked in the first six months of this year.

Canadian researchers in April pointed the finger at a China-based network for stealing Indian military secrets via a “Trojan” virus as part of an elaborate cyber-espionage scheme targeting computers worldwide.

Prabhudesai said software to find “back doors” into websites is easily available and many of India's growing number of IT specialists have themselves taken to hacking, although more out of curiosity than malice.

Computer security firm Symantec said India had a surge in malicious activity in 2009, sending it from 11th to fifth spot on the list of sources of Internet security threats, including viruses and spam. – AFP

Attack on Iraq army recruits kills 41: official

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded Iraqi army recruitment centre in Baghdad on Tuesday killing 41 people, an interior ministry official said.

The attack, which wounded at least 102 other people, occurred at around 7:30 am local time in the Baab al-Muatham neighbourhood of central Baghdad, the official told AFP.

The official death toll of 18 was initial, said Deputy Health Minister Khamis al-Saad, and could rise.

The attack occurred at the site of what used to be the Defence Ministry under Saddam Hussein, turned into an army recruitment centre and military base after the 2003 US-led invasion.

One army source who declined to be identified said there might have been two suicide bombers, a hallmark of Al-Qaeda and its local affiliates.

“They (the recruits) were gathering in large numbers. They let in 250 recruits at a time,” the source told Reuters.

The bloodshed was the latest in a steady drumbeat of attacks since a March 7 election produced no outright winner and as yet no new government.

While overall violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the height in 2006-07 of the sectarian slaughter between majority Shias and once dominant Sunnis, a stubborn insurgency remains capable of carrying out large scale attacks.

Iraqi and US officials say the insurgents are trying to exploit political tensions stirred up by unsuccessful coalition talks between the major Shia political factions and a Sunni-backed cross-sectarian alliance which won a narrow victory in the March election.

They are also putting the Iraqi security forces to the test ahead of the formal end of US combat operations this month and the reduction in US troop levels to 50,000 by Sept. 1, part of a plan leading to a full-scale withdrawal in 2011. —Agencies

Japan pledges $10 million in aid to Pakistan

TOKYO: Japan has pledged an additional sum of up to 10 million dollars in emergency aid to flood-ravaged Pakistan, the government said Tuesday, following pleas for help from Islamabad and the United Nations.

“The government of Japan decided to extend emergency grant aid of up to 10 million US dollars to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in response to the disastrous floods caused by the unprecedented heavy rain,” the foreign ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

The aid is on top of three million dollars Japan announced on August 3.

Pakistan is enduring its worst floods in 80 years, with millions of people affected by the deluge, prompting UN chief Ban Ki-moon to urge the world to step up international aid. – AFP

Australia triples flood aid to Pakistan

SYDNEY: Australia on Tuesday pledged an extra 24 million dollars (21.6 million US) in aid to help Pakistan cope with devastating floods, after urgent pleas from Islamabad and the United Nations.

The additional funding for humanitarian aid efforts brings Australia's commitment to 35 million dollars, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said, adding that Canberra would consider longer-term relief if necessary.

“Australians remain deeply concerned as the flood disaster in Pakistan continues to worsen,” the prime minister said in a statement.

“Despite the ongoing international assistance effort, people affected by the floods are facing new difficulties.” Pakistan is enduring its worst floods in 80 years, with millions of people affected by the deluge, prompting UN chief Ban Ki-moon to urge the world to step up international aid.

“There are grave risks that the flooding will worsen Pakistan's social circumstances but also its long-term economic circumstances will be potentially devastated,” Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told ABC Radio.

The Australian aid will be channelled through international agencies such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies while the defence force is also airlifting relief supplies to the worst affected regions.

Australian aid groups have also called for public contributions to the appeals, which Smith said may have been overshadowed by attention on national elections taking place on Saturday.

“We think because of the election there hasn't been the same public focus on Pakistan and so the NGOs (non-governmental organisations) are very keen to get the public support as well,” Smith said. – AFP