Arrest in England-Pakistan 'match-fixing' probe

LONDON: British police said Saturday they had arrested a man on suspicion on conspiracy to defraud bookmakers following newspaper allegations of match-fixing in the ongoing cricket Test between England and Pakistan.

The News of the World alleged that some members of the Pakistan team were involved in a scam in the fourth and final Test at Lord's.

"Following information received from the News of the World we have arrested a 35-year old man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers," a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police told media.

Meanwhile, Manager Pakistan cricket team Yawar Saeed, denying media reports of arrests of some Pakistani players, said: “No Pakistani player had been arrested and the team will go ahead with fourth day’s play on Sunday.”

News of the World, Britain's biggest-selling newspaper, alleged that two Pakistan bowlers delivered three blatant no-balls.

The weekly tabloid said it gave 150,000 pounds to a middleman who correctly told them in advance precisely when the deliveries would be bowled.

The newspaper published images and dialogue from the encounter and a picture of what it said was one of the promised no-balls on Friday.

It also ran a photograph of Pakistan captain Salman Butt standing with the man they claimed was the middleman, and one of their reporters.

Yawar Saeed told a television the allegations were being investigated.

He was cited as saying that none of his players had been arrested and the Test would continue Sunday as planned.

The newspaper claimed they had posed as front men for an Asian gambling cartel, paying 10,000 pounds to the alleged fixer as an upfront deposit.

They met again on Wednesday in a west London hotel room to hand over the rest of the money as their "entry ticket" into what they claimed was a "huge betting syndicate".

They claimed the middleman then correctly predicted when the no-balls would be bowled.

Pakistan collapsed spectacularly yet again in the series as England closed in on an innings victory on Saturday.

At stumps, Pakistan, following-on, were 41 for four in their second innings, having been made to follow-on after they were dismissed for just 74 first time around.

That left them still 331 runs adrift of England's first innings 446 as the home team eyed a victory that would give them a 3-1 win in their last series before they begin the defence of the Ashes in Australia in November.

Ton-up Dilshan helps Sri Lanka clinch tri-series

DAMBULLA: Tillakaratne Dilshan cracked an impressive century to set up Sri Lanka's 74-run victory over India in the triangular one-day series final on Saturday.

The opener smashed one six and 12 fours in a 115-ball 110 for his eighth one-day hundred, and the first at home, as Sri Lanka posted a challenging 299-8 on a good batting pitch after winning the toss in the day-night match.

India never seriously threatened Sri Lanka's total and were bowled out for 225, despite a fighting 67 by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The visitors needed a big partnership to achieve the stiff target, but the highest stand was of just 50 runs for the third wicket between Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh.

Kohli (37), Suresh Raina (29), Virender Sehwag (28) and Yuvraj (26) got starts, but failed to convert them into big knocks.

India suffered a big setback when in-form opener Sehwag was run out, failing to beat a Chamara Kapugedera direct-hit at the striker's end after hitting six fours in his 22-ball knock.

Dhoni was the last man out, but hardly received support from the other end as Sri Lanka's bowlers kept striking at regular intervals.

Paceman Thisara Perera and off-spinner Suraj Randiv took three wicket apiece while fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who turned 27 on Saturday, finished with two wickets.

Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara earlier built on Dilshan's effort with an attractive 62-ball 71, which included one six and seven fours. His brisk knock saw the hosts plunder 80 runs in the last 10 overs.

Dilshan, 33, dominated the Indian attack with exciting strokeplay to put his team on course for a big total, adding 121 for the opening wicket with makeshift opener Mahela Jayawardene (39).

Jayawardene also became the third Sri Lankan after Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva to complete 9,000 runs in one-day internationals during his 67-ball knock.

Dilshan was more aggressive than Jayawardene, hoisting paceman Ishant Sharma over long-on for a six and hitting a four off the next delivery. He reached his half-century when he cut left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra for a four.

Although Sri Lanka lost Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga (six) in the space of 11 runs, they continued to maintain an impressive run-rate, thanks to Dilshan's aggressive knock.

Dilshan, who also added 85 for the third wicket with Sangakkara, fell in the 40th over when he pulled paceman Praveen Kumar to Ishant Sharma at deep square-leg.

England on verge of series win at Lord's

LONDON: England swept the feeble Pakistan batting aside on Saturday to move within sight of a series victory after a spirited comeback in the fourth and final test at Lord's.

At the close of the third day, Pakistan following on after they had collapsed to 74 all out, were 41 for four in their second innings, still trailing England by 331. England lead the series 2-1.

England, 102 for seven at one stage in their first innings on Friday, reached 446 all out after a world-record eighth-wicket partnership of 322 between Jonathan Trott (184) and Stuart Broad (169).

Trott, his monumental concentration never faltering in more than nine hours at the crease, reached his 150 from the first ball he faced after play resumed on a crisp, sunny morning before a capacity crowd.

Broad stood tall to drive the ball with a full follow-through and took two boundaries in an over from Mohammad Asif as the pair moved serenely past the previous eighth-wicket record of 313 set by Pakistan's Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq against Zimbabwe in 1996.

They looked like taking their team through to lunch without further loss when Broad was dismissed lbw missing a sweep against off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.

He had batted for 6-1/2 hours in the third-highest innings recorded by an England left-hander at Lord's.

Trott, who drove firmly through the off-side and clipped the ball neatly off his legs, followed soon after the break when he was caught behind to give Wahab Riaz his first wicket of the match.

Following his 226 against Bangladesh this year he had come within 16 runs of becoming the first man to score two double-hundreds at Lord's

SWANN STRIKES
Bounding in from the Pavilion end, Broad dismissed Yasir Hameed for two then yorked Pakistan's best batsman Mohammad Yousuf for a duck.

Captain Salman Butt stroked three boundaries off a Steven Finn over to give Pakistan a brief respite before the introduction of Graeme Swann sparked a terminal decline.

Swann immediately got the ball to grip and turn, bowling Butt for 26 with his first delivery after tea and capturing three more cheap wickets to finish with four for 12.

Finn, switching to the Pavilion end, found his length to finish with three for 38.

Pakistan's total was their second lowest against England following their 72 in the second test at Edgbaston this year.

Following on, Pakistan lost both openers Imran Farhat (5) and Hameed (3) with the score still in single figures.

Butt again looked fluent and again punished Finn until he pushed forward to a straight delivery from Swann and was lbw for 21.

Yousuf followed for 10 without any addition to the score, when he lobbed Finn to Trott at deep square-leg.

As Yousuf was returning slowly to the Pavilion, a rain shower swept the ground and play was called off for the day.

Madagascar ex-leader handed hard labour for life

ANTANANARIVO: Madagascar exiled former president Marc Ravalomanana was sentenced Saturday to hard labour for life over what are known as the February 7, 2009 killings, his third sentence since his ouster.

“Mr. Ravalomanana has been sentenced in absentia to hard labour for life for murder and being an accessory to murder,” said Hanitra Razafimanantsoa, a lawyer for the ousted president, in exile in South Africa since March 2009.

On February 7, 2009, the presidential guard fired without warning on supporters of the island’s current strongman Andry Rajoelina making their way to the presidency, killing at least 30 people and wounding more than 100.

The accused, 19 in all, were defended by two assessors after their lawyers decided to walk out at the beginning of the hearing citing “flagrant abuse of the rights of the defence”, Razafimanantsoa said, adding that she and her client had yet to decide if they would appeal.

“For him it’s not a ruling to be taken seriously, for the justice system has been instrumentalised by the regime,” she said, adding: “The aim is to sentence him so he can’t return to Madagascar and run in future elections”.

Ravalomanana’s aides in South Africa told AFP it was too early to comment.

Joseph Breham, a lawyer representing an association of victims of the February 7 killings, AV7, said the trial was “fair” and “respected international standards”.

He told AFP the accused – 14 of whom did not appear in court – and their counsel employed “empty-chair” procedural tactics in order to discredit the court ruling.

“Throughout the trial all the lawyers who were present were able to put their arguments across normally,” Breham said.

“One truth came across pretty clearly: there was a massacre that was planned and organised by the former president and his security chief, among others.”

This latest sentence in absentia is Ravalomanana’s third since his ouster.

He was handed four years’ jail and a fine for a case of conflict of interest in the purchase of a 60-million-dollar presidential jet and five year’ hard labour over a land purchase.

He dismissed the sentence over the jet as meaningless.

The latest hearing, which held this week in the capital Antananarivo, made waves with supporters and opponents of the ousted president turning up in large numbers at the court.

The February 2009 killings were triggered when Andry Rajoelina, a former DJ who was then mayor of Antananarivo but who proclaimed himself in charge of running the country, named a “prime minister” that thousands of his supporters wanted to install at the presidency.

The Indian Ocean island has been mired in political crisis since Rajoelina’s power grab in May 2009. International efforts to put an end to the turmoil have so far been fruitless and the country’s already poor economic situation has worsened with a suspension of foreign aid.

In the latest deal aimed at breaking the deadlock, the island’s political parties have given proposed names for the country’s next prime minister to Rajoelina, sources said earlier this month.

The accord concluded on August 13 calls on its signatories to “work together and pool their efforts in the search for a solution to end the crisis.”

It further calls for a constitutional referendum to be held on November 17, parliamentary elections in March next year and a first round of presidential polls on May 4, 2011.

A series of other attempted deals have failed to be implemented, leaving the island in institutional limbo as Rajoelin’s regime is not recognised by the international community. – AFP

"Terrorists surrender, hostages freed in Peshawar"

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar hostage drama ended as the three terrorists surrendered while the two detained hostages were freed after operation. According to ISPR, the situation is completely under control in Peshawar cantonment.

Earlier, suspected militants overpowered their guards during interrogation on Saturday in an army building in northwest Pakistan and took two of them hostage, the army said.

Police had initially said a number of insurgents tried to get into a secure area close to theUS consulate and army buildings in Peshawar city, with exchanges of gunfire between the militants and security forces.

“Some of the terrorists who were kept in a building for interrogations overpowered their two sentries during interrogations,” military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told private TV channel.

“Terrorists are still inside the building, we are making all our efforts to solve this problem,” he said.

Police said the army had sealed off the site while intermittent gunfire continued.

An AFP reporter at the scene said army and police had blocked all the roads into the area while helicopters patrolled the skies.

Bashir Bilour, a provincial cabinet minister whose home is nearby, told AFP that the first round of firing continued for 30 minutes.

“Soldiers have also entered my hujra (visitors’ compound). I cannot go outside,” he added.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

Bombs and attacks blamed on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have hit soldiers, government officials and civilians across nuclear-armed Pakistan since government troops besieged a radical mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.

Such attacks have killed more than 3,574 people in the past three years, concentrated largely in the northwest and border areas with Afghanistan, where 141,000 US and NATO troops have been fighting the Taliban for nine years.

A roadside remote control bomb on Monday killed two anti-Taliban militia men in Mattni on the outskirts of Peshawar and wounded five others, police said. — AFP

Encephalitis kills 211 in India, toll expected to soar

NEW DELHI: At least 211 people, most of them children, have died in an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in an impoverished region of northern Indian and the death toll is likely to soar, officials said Saturday.

“Most of the deaths have occurred in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh state since the monsoon struck the region in July,” regional health officer U.K. Srivastava said by telephone.

Eastern parts of the state have in the past been ravaged by Japanese encephalitis as malnourished children succumbed to the virus which is transmitted by mosquitoes from pigs to humans.

The district health chief said the deaths of five more children on Friday pushed the toll to 211, with hundreds languishing, some two to a bed, in hospitals in Gorakhpur, a deeply neglected region of 14 million people.

“A total of 1,299 patients had been admitted in hospitals until Friday in Gorakhpur” which is the epicentre of the outbreak, Srivastava said.

“More encephalitis patients are coming into our hospitals today,” Srivastava told AFP.

“We fear the total number of encephalitis cases will go up to at least 3,500 and the death rate will be at the same ratio of around 20 per cent this year,” Srivastava said.

Japanese encephalitis causes brain inflammation and can result in brain damage. Symptoms include headaches, seizures and fever.

Health experts say 70 million children in India are at risk of encephalitis.

Unusually heavy monsoon rains coupled with overflowing rivers coursing through Gorakhpur are posing a challenge to health workers battling encephalitis.

“We have begun spraying insecticides to wipe out populations of the culex mosquitos which transmits the disease and we are handing out chlorine to villagers to disinfect their drinking water supplies,” he said.

Mosquito-borne illnesses affect tens of thousands of Indians during the rainy season. —AFP

North Korea threatens nuclear “holy war” if attacked

BEIJING: North Korea would answer any attack on it with a nuclear “holy war”, the country's ambassador to Cuba said, according to official Chinese media, while the North's leader Kim Jong-il appeared to be visiting China.

The ambassador Kwon Sung-chol made the remarks on Friday at a ceremony marking 50 years of diplomatic ties between North Korea and Cuba, the same day that Pyongyang said it was open to returning to nuclear disarmament negotiations.

“If Washington and Seoul try to create a conflict on the Korean peninsula, we will respond with a holy war on the basis of our nuclear deterrent forces,” Kwon said, according to China's Xinhua news agency on Saturday, in a story datelined Havana.

“Our government will strive for the denuclearisation of the peninsula and the establishment of a lasting peace as the beginning of the reunification process of the two Koreas,” said Kwon.

Washington and Seoul have said Pyongyang must abandon its nuclear weapons development, but have not threatened to attack the poor and isolated North.

North Korea's number two leader, Kim Yong-nam, told visiting former US President Jimmy Carter that the reclusive state wanted to resume six-way nuclear disarmament talks, the North's state news agency said on Friday.

The North's leader, Kim Jong-il, appears to be visiting China in a secrecy-shrouded trip that analysts say appears intended to line up Beijing behind his succession plans. —Reuters

Three killed, 40 injured in Iran earthquake

TEHRAN: Three people, including two children, have been killed and 40 others injured in an earthquake which struck Iran’s biggest desert, Dasht-e Kavir, state television reported on Saturday.

The 5.9 magnitude quake struck on Friday south of the northern city of Damghan.

In a separate report, the state television website quoted secretary general of Iran Red Crescent, Zaher Rostani, as saying that an elderly woman was also among those killed in the quake.

The website said six villages near Damghan were damaged in the quake which was about 278 kilometres east of Tehran.

The tremor, which struck at 11:53 pm local time Friday, was also felt in the capital Tehran.

Iran sits astride several major fault lines in the Earth’s crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.

The worst in recent times was a 6.3 magnitude quake which hit the southern city of Bam in December 2003, killing 31,000 people, about a quarter of its population, and destroying the city’s ancient mud-built citadel. —AFP

Floodwaters make another break in Thatta levee

THATTA: Floodwaters made another break Saturday in the levees protecting the southern city of Thatta, as thousands of residents fled for high ground and left the city nearly empty.

Both sides of the main road were crowded with people - from Thatta and nearby flooded villages - fleeing the floodwaters. Many had spent the night sleeping out in the open.

Hadi Baksh Kalhoro, a Thatta disaster management official, said more than 175,000 people had left the city, leaving it nearly deserted.

Some are heading for nearby towns or cities, he said, with thousands also headed for the high ground of an ancient graveyard for Muslim saints.

He said the latest levee breach, which happened early Saturday, could leave the outskirts of Thatta flooded by later in the day. The city is about 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of the major coastal city of Karachi.

Sindh is the worst-affected province. Out of its 23 districts, 19 have so far been ravaged by floods, a statement by the United Nations' Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday.

“More than seven million people have been displaced in Sindh since August 3, one million only in the past two days,” Ghulam Ali Pasha, provincial relief commissioner for southern Sindh province told AFP.

Pasha said that 2.3 million people were still in need of tents and food.

“We are fighting to save Thatta and other towns,” in Sindh province, he added.

Thatta was deserted as people fled with their livestock and other belongings, heading for nearby Makli and Karachi as engineers tried to repair six-metre (20-foot) wide breach a nearby dyke, an AFP reporter said.

An OCHA spokesman in Islamabad Friday estimated that one million people had been displaced in a 48-hour period in Sindh alone.

The United Nations, the Pakistani army and a host of local and international relief groups have been rushing aid workers, medicine, food and water to the affected regions, but are unable to reach many people.

The new levee breach came as a gunbattle broke out at an office of security forces in the main city in Pakistan's northwest. The motive behind the attack, in the city of Peshawar, was not immediately clear, police said. – AP

Gunmen attack Pakistan army buildings in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Suspected militants attacked army buildings near the US consulate in Pakistan's northwestern capital Peshawar on Saturday, police said.

Police said a number of armed fighters tried to get into a secure area close to the consulate and army buildings early in the morning and that exchanges of fire between the attackers and security forces were continuing.

“There target is not clear but they were trying to reach a very sensitive area. There is the US consulate and army offices and buildings in that area,” Karim Khan, a senior police official in Peshawar, told AFP.

“The US consulate is completely safe,” he added.

Richard Snelsire, a spokesman for the US Embassy in Islamabad, told AFP he had “no information right now” on whether the consulate was the intended target.

Police said the army had sealed off the site of the attack, preventing anyone from entering, while intermittent gunfire continued.

An AFP reporter at the scene said army and police had blocked all the roads into the area while helicopters patrolled the skies.

Bashir Bilour, a provincial cabinet minister whose home is in front of the consulate, said: “The first round of firing continued for 30 minutes. I don't know what's going on but the army has sealed off the whole area and firing is still continuing.” “Soldiers have also entered my Hujra (Visitors compound). I cannot go outside,” he added. – AFP

Taliban attack US base in Afghanistan's east

KABUL: Up to 30 Taliban insurgents, including suicide bombers, attacked a US base in Afghanistan's east on Saturday, officials said, but there were no details available about possible casualties or damage.

The attack began overnight at the well-fortified Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the southeastern border with Pakistan, where US and other foreign forces have been stepping up operations against a resurgent Taliban.

Seven Central Intelligence Agency officers were killed by a suicide bomber inside the base last December, the second-most deadly attack in CIA history.

Lieutenant Commander Katie Kendrick, a spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, confirmed the new attack but could give few other details.

“There is ongoing activity there, but it is fresh and I can't give more details,” Kendrick said.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said 30 fighters had attacked the base. They included suicide bombers and others armed with rockets and machine guns, Mujahid told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Despite the presence of almost 150,000 foreign troops, violence across Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.

Taliban-led insurgents have launched increasingly brazen attacks around Afghanistan in a bid to topple the government and force out foreign troops. More than 2,000 foreign troops have been killed, most of them Americans, since the conflict began.

Hundreds of civilians have also been caught in the crossfire, with civilian deaths spiking by 31 per cent in the first six months of this year, according to a United Nations report.

CONTRACTORS KILLED

On Saturday, ISAF said its forces had mistakenly killed two private security contractors after one of its patrols came under fire from insurgents in Wardak province west of the capital.

A car approached the patrol at speed on a highway in the Maidan Shahr district of Wardak on Friday and men could be seen shooting out of the vehicle's windows, ISAF said in a statement.

The patrol fired on the vehicle, killing two people inside later identified as private security contractors.
“It is believed that the private security contractors were returning fire against the same insurgents who had just previously attacked the coalition vehicle, and had increased their speed to break contact,” ISAF said.

The suicide attack on Forward Operating Base Chapman on Dec. 30 last year highlighted the insurgency's reach and coordination, particularly in their strongholds in the south and east.

The insurgents launched a similar attack this month on the main foreign base in southern Kandahar province, the spiritual homeland of the Taliban.

Poor security is one of the main concerns for Afghans before parliamentary elections on Sept. 18, a milestone after fraud-marred presidential polls last year and with US

President Barack Obama planning a strategy review in December. – Reuters

Military taking aid worker threat seriously: Mullen

CLEVELAND: A Taliban threat against aid workers helping flood victims in Pakistan must be taken seriously and shows that insurgents have no moral boundaries, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.

''I share the concern that was stated yesterday by the State Department,'' US military chief Adm. Mike Mullen told reporters after a luncheon speech to the City Club of Cleveland.

Mullen said he has seen no evidence of attacks against aid workers in Pakistan or US military forces helping the relief effort.

Still, he said, ''the insurgents, they have no moral bounds, from my perspective, and in that regard that they might do something like that certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility.''

The Pakistani Taliban hinted they might attack the foreign aid workers. The militant network has a history of attacking aid groups, including agencies under the UN umbrella. Militant spokesman Azam Tariq said the US and other countries were not focused on providing aid to flood victims but had other motives he did not specify.

Mullen said ''significant precautions'' have been ordered to protect US forces supporting the relief effort.

''We would hope that all of those who are providing aid in this very difficult set of circumstances would certainly not be impeded with respect to that,'' he said.

Mullen wrapped up a Midwest tour in which he urged audiences in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland to provide support and job-assistance for veterans. The swing came just after the final US combat troops left Iraq.

Mullen, whose Navy career dates to the Vietnam era, said the positive response ''validates the sea of good will which is out there.'' – AP

Pakistan orders evacuation of southern town

THATTA: Pakistan ordered 300,000 people to evacuate a southern city after waters breached its defences as the United Nations warned Friday the country's worst humanitarian crisis was deepening.

For nearly a month, torrential monsoon rain has triggered massive floods steadily moving from north to south, affecting a fifth of the volatile country -- an area roughly the size ofEngland -- and 17 million people.

The United Nations estimated that around one million people had been displaced in the southern province of Sindh in 48 hours, where rising waters threatened a string of major towns.

“We ordered people of Thatta city on Thursday night to move to safer places after floods breached an embankment at Faqir Jogoth village,” administration official Manzoor Sheikh told AFP.

About 70 per cent of Thatta's approximately 300,000 people had so far moved to safer areas and the deluge is bearing down on the city, he said.

“We hope that (army) engineers will be able to repair the breach or otherwise floodwaters will inundate Thatta city,” Sheikh said.

He said the surrounding towns of Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro and Darro -- which had a combined population of 400,000 -- had already been evacuated.

People were fleeing Thatta, where streets were deserted and shops shut, to nearby Makli and Karachi with their livestock and luggage as engineers tried to repair the six-metre (20-foot) wide breach, an AFP reporter said.

In Makli, which is a hilly area, devastated people were seen sitting out in the open with their children and cattle.

“It is the worst tragedy.... We are leaving our homes in miserable condition,” said Abdul Karim Palejo, a government schoolteacher in Thatta.

“I leave behind a house which is more than a century old.... My heart bleeds when I think of this house inundating in floodwaters,” he added.

A spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) inIslamabad estimated that one million people were displaced in a 48-hour period in Sindh alone.

“An already colossal disaster is getting worse and requiring an even more colossal response. The magnitude of this crisis is reaching levels that are even beyond our initial fears,” said the spokesman Maurizio Giuliano.

“The number of those affected and those in need of assistance from us are bound to keep rising.”The orders to evacuate Thatta threw into chaos plans by hundreds of people already on the move, fleeing flooded villages and hoping that the district's biggest city could provide relief and shelter.

Abdul Razak, a lanky 55-year-old heading towards Thatta, said he was leaving nothing to chance when it came to salvaging his possessions, weighing down a solitary cart with mattresses, blankets and clothes and “two days” of food.

“Afterwards, it will be in God's hands,” he said.

Pakistan's worst humanitarian disaster has left eight million dependent on aid for their survival and washed away huge swathes of the rich farmland on which the country's struggling economy depends.

The Pakistani government has confirmed 1,600 people dead and 2,366 injured, but officials warn that millions are at risk from disease and food shortages.

The country's disaster agency said Friday there would be a “significant rise” in the death toll as waters recede and the numbers of missing are counted.

Amid the global humanitarian effort US aid chief Rajiv Shah said he faced a threat when visiting a relief camp but pledged that extremists would not deter assistance.

Shah, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, said he quickly exited the camp he was touring in the southern city of Sukkur on Wednesday at the urging of his security guards.

Shah, who believed militants went to the camp because he was there, told reporters after returning to Washington it was “deeply saddening that others would choose to use these environments to propagate themselves.” US officials have warned of threats by extremists against foreign workers assisting in relief.

In terms of surface area, Sindh is now the worst-affected province of the country. Out of its 23 districts, 19 have so far been ravaged by floods, a UN OCHA statement said Friday.

The United Nations has warned that 800,000 people in desperate need of aid had been cut off by the deluge across the country and appealed for more helicopters to deliver supplies to those people reachable only by air.

Officials say around 4.5 million people urgently need shelter and Giuliano expressed serious concerns about rising malnutrition among children, with up to 20 per cent of children in affected areas now suffering from diarrhoea-related diseases. – AFP

US drone strike kills four militants in Pakistan

PESHAWAR: A US drone strike Saturday killed four militants in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border, security officials said.

The strike hit Shahidano village in the violence-wracked Kurram tribal district, 100 kilometres (62 miles) southwest of Peshawar.

“Four militants have been killed in this drone attack,” a security official in Peshawar told AFP by telephone.

Another security official in Peshawar said the US drone fired four missiles, hitting two vehicles near a house.

“All those killed were militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban,” the official said.

US drones have mostly targeted North and South Waziristan tribal districts, known hubs for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.

Kurram is the neighbouring tribal district of Orakzai, the home town of Hakimullah Mehsud, Pakistan's Taliban chief who escaped a US missile attack on January 14 in North Waziristan.

Officials said militants were crossing in two vehicles from Orakzai to Kurram but were hit when they stopped in front of a house.

Both the vehicles were destroyed in the attack, officials said.

Kurram tribal district has for three years been a flashpoint for violence between Shiite and Sunni communities.

US forces have been waging a drone war against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked commanders in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, where militants have carved out havens in mountains outside direct government control.

Washington has branded the rugged tribal area on the Afghan border -- part of which has now been hit by Pakistan's catastrophic flooding -- a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous place on Earth.

The US military does not as a rule confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy pilotless drones in the region.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in over 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008, including a number of senior militants. However, the attacks fuel anti-American sentiment in the conservative Muslim country.

The United States has been increasing pressure on Pakistan to crack down on Islamist havens along the border.

Pakistani commanders have not ruled out an offensive in North Waziristan, but argue that gains in South Waziristan and the northwestern district of Swat need to be consolidated to prevent their troops from becoming overstretched.

Waziristan came under renewed scrutiny when Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American charged over an attempted bombing in New York on May 1, allegedly told US interrogators he went to the region for terrorist training.

Al-Qaeda announced in June that its number three leader and Osama bin Laden's one-time treasurer Mustafa Abu al-Yazid had been killed in what security officials said appeared to be a drone strike in North Waziristan. – AFP

Presidency meetings focus on rebuilding infrastructure

ISLAMABAD: A number of meetings held at the presidency on Friday discussed the havoc wreaked by floods across the country and decided to take effective measures to rebuild the devastated areas.

In one of the meetings, President Asif Ali Zardari urged the housing sector to adopt innovative technology, design and material to rebuild the houses destroyed by floods so that these could withstand future disasters.

Mr Zardari advised the government to consider appointing Nespak as lead consultant to undertake rehabilitation and reconstruction of the infrastructure and houses destroyed by the floods.

William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), informed the president at a meeting that the organisation was leading the Emergency Shelter Cluster of 40 international and national aid agencies and was working closely with the National Disaster Management Authority in distribution of tents, plastic sheets and non-food items.

The IOM also acts as the consignee for all international assistance flights bringing relief goods.

The meeting was informed that the IOM would implement a number of ‘quick impact projects’ to repair damaged infrastructure.

‘Airblue cockpit had a third person’

ISLAMABAD: A team investigating the crash of the ill-fated Airblue jetliner on July 28 in Islamabad has detected the possible presence of a third person in the cockpit. Under normal circumstances, a cockpit is not supposed to have anyone other than the pilot and the co-pilot.

“The investigators have reportedly heard the voice of a third person in the cockpit of the Airblue jetliner,” a source close to the investigation told Dawn on condition of anonymity.

The voice has been extracted from the Cockpit Voice Recorder, according to the source, and the investigators were looking into various possibilities and aspects.

The CVR, which is part of the ‘Black Box’, is a flight recorder used to document the audio environment in the cockpit of an aircraft. In order to record and document the audio environment, microphones are installed in the pilots’ headsets and in the roof of the cockpit.

The source said that the data of communication between the control tower and the pilot were available with the investigators. Dawn has also learnt that the pilot and control tower communicated with each other for two minutes and 25 seconds.

Two teams are currently investigating the air crash in which 152 people were killed. One of them is headed by Air Commodore Khawaja Abdul Majeed, president of the Civil Aviation Authority’s Safety Investigation Board. It is focussing on human factors, possibility of technical fault and weather conditions.

The second team, headed by Federal Investigation Agency Director General Zafarullah Khan, has been assigned the task of investigating the possibility of ‘sabotage’.

The source said that investigators were trying to determine why the aircraft drifted five nautical miles away from its original route. “The late pilot was very experienced and professional with thousands of flying hours under his belt; hence the fact that the plane strayed five nautical miles from the original route is also a cause for concern for investigators,” he said. The source said that six investigators were yet to hold a joint meeting.

When asked if there was a third voice in the audio recording of the cockpit, CAA director general Air Commodore (retd) Junaid Amin told Dawn: “I am not aware of the presence of a third person in the cockpit… you cannot judge from the audio whether there was a third person….”

No fault in Airblue aircraft

An analysis of the Black Box of the ill-fated Airblue aircraft which crashed on July 28 has revealed that it had no technical fault at the time of the accident.

In intimation to A-320 operators across the world, Airbus said there was no need to update the procedures or make fresh recommendations after the ED 202 crash because all flight systems were working normally before the aircraft slammed into the fog-covered mountains.

All 152 passengers on board were killed.

The advisory was based on a preliminary analysis of flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder by Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses.

A final outcome of the investigation may take months, but preliminary investigations have set the direction for the probe.

According to aviation experts, the Airbus communication implies that technical malfunctioning has been effectively ruled out as the cause of the incident and it is up to the investigation team constituted by the Civil Aviation Authority to determine if the crash occurred because of pilot error, bad weather, control tower fault or any other factor.

The cockpit voice recording readouts have also revealed that the pilots belatedly realised that they were flying into terrain. The first officer of the flight was heard screaming “Sir, pull up, pull up” moments before the crash.

This revelation has been supported by the findings of local investigators which show that before hitting the mountains the aircraft had climbed from 2,600 feet to 3,100 feet. The aircraft was circling for Runway 12, where it was to attempt visual landing.

Sources privy to the investigations believe the pilot got panicked after realising that he was flying into the terrain and had turned the autopilot ‘heading bug’ to the left at more than 180 degrees.

The aircraft, experts say, takes the shortest possible route in such situation and instead of turning left moved towards right.

Why did the aircraft go so close to the hills? Several explanations are being dished out, but the most commonly heard of in the aviation circles say that the pilot while circling for Runway 12 was on Flight Management Computer, but instead of following the prescribed route he had probably created a ‘visual circuit using place bearing distance waypoints’ that put him in the wrong place.

Insertion of place bearing distance waypoints is strictly prohibited by aircraft manufacturers because the Airbus FMC does not have a ‘fix page’ capability, wherein a defined distance can be superimposed on the existing route.

The standard instructions are that any route that is not supported by a ground navigational aid should not be used.

Govt wants IMF programme to continue: Hafeez

WASHINGTON: Pakistan intends to stay on track with its International Monetary Fund loan programme but also wants the world body to understand the impact of a catastrophic flood on its economy, says Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.

“We want to remain on track with the IMF programme because that is a reform programme that we have ourselves undertaken,” said Mr Sheikh. “At the same time, we want a shared understanding of the emerging situation,” he told journalists outside the IMF on Thursday when asked whether he was seeking a relaxation of the conditions attached to the loan.

A mandatory review of Pakistan’s policies planned for June had been pushed back, blocking a disbursement under the loan that was approved two years ago, as the country failed to contain spending and fell behind schedule for implementing a sales tax.

Pakistan is holding technical talks with the IMF on salvaging the economy and on assessing the economic impact of floods that have displaced millions of people and damaged farmland.

Economists say that widespread devastations require massive external financing to meet basic needs of the flood victims and to save the Pakistani economy from a possible collapse.

The New York Times reported on Friday that the flooding could set Pakistani infrastructure back “years, if not decades, further weaken its feeble civilian administration and add to the burdens on its military” and “distract from American requests for Pakistan to battle Taliban insurgents”.

Punjab wants CCI to discuss flood funds

LAHORE: Punjab has requisitioned a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to seek details of flood relief funds and fix the share of each province, while Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has asked the federal government not to bypass the provinces in distribution of the funds.

“Don’t bypass the provinces as the move entails dangerous repercussions,” Mr Sharif warned while briefing the media here on Friday after a two-day meeting of the party and provincial administration on rehabilitation of the flood-affected people.

He said such a move would be against the 18th Amendment that guaranteed provincial autonomy. In reply to a question about a recent statement by Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain, the former prime minister said the previous eight-year martial law had been of no benefit to the nation.

“What did it give except a fragile economy, poverty, desecration of the Constitution, arrest of judges, a wave of terrorism which is getting out of control today and thousands of missing people. Does Altaf Hussain want a return of all that?” Mr Sharif said he had warned months ago that some actions of the government could endanger democracy, but neither martial law could end corruption nor failure of a government could be declared as the failure of democracy.

He said he had visited flood-affected area in various provinces and in his opinion rebuilding shelters was the biggest and most immediate requirement.

He said each affected family needed at least Rs100,000 for the purpose and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani should arrange payment of a part of the amount before Eidul Fitr.

The PML-N chief regretted that his proposal to set up a commission to oversee relief work had not been supported by the federal government.

He said joint efforts by the government and the opposition could have given a positive message of national unity to the world, motivating it to donate more for the cause. They would also have covered up the government’s lapses in the earlier phase of the calamity.

He said the PML-N had avoided politicking on floods, although its opponents had described his visits to affected areas as ‘photo sessions’.

He said that a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority held last week had decided all relief and rehabilitation work would be carried out in coordination with the provinces, but the federal government had not yet consulted Punjab.

The PML-N chief demanded a judicial commission to probe allegations of breaches made in embankments to save land of influential people. “Those found involved in the heinous crime should be given exemplary punishment.”

Replying to a question, he said transparent governance could have attracted more donations. Donors would hesitate to hand over cash to people facing corruption charges, he added.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said he had written to the prime minister to convene a meeting of the CCI so that details of donations could be shared with the provinces and a formula devised to distribute the funds among them in proportion to their losses.

“We should be taken into confidence on the volume of the donations and the formula for their distribution among the provinces,” he said.

The chief minister expressed reservations over the reported move of the federal government to directly provide relief to the affected people.

In reply to a question, he said he had talked to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti who had agreed that the aid should be disbursed through the provinces.

The Punjab chief minister said it had been unanimously decided on Aug 19 that each affected family would be immediately paid Rs20,000 to help them rebuild their homes and buy essential goods. He said the federal and provincial governments had to contribute equally to the amount.

Modalities for implementing the decision were to be finalised at a meeting of finance managers on Aug 20, but federal Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh left for Washington.

The chief minister also said that bypassing the provinces in disbursing aid would be a violation of laws.

He said the federal government should pay at least Rs100,000 to each affected family, Rs20,000 of it immediately.

Answering a question, he said it had been decided that the provincial social welfare department would conduct a survey to assess the losses with the help of headmasters of schools, numberdars of villages, members of youth councils comprising volunteer students and junior commissioned officers of the army.