Pakistan seeks India's help for Mumbai attacks trial

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad on Saturday urged India to help find a way to progress the trial in Pakistan of seven suspects linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The suspects include the alleged mastermind of the attack on India's financial capital, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Zarar Shah.

The trial has almost stalled as New Delhi has refused to give the court access to lone surviving attacker Mohammad Ajmal Kasab —who is on death row in India —and Indian national Fahim Ansari, a conspirator.

An anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi indicted the seven men on the eve of the first anniversary of the attack, which ended a fragile peace process with Pakistan.

But Pakistani officials have since implied that the trials cannot proceed unless Kasab, who was sentenced to death in Mumbai in May, is handed over as a witness.

Kasab was convicted on March 31 on charges including murder and waging war on India.

Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik told reporters after meeting the Indian high commissioner and speaking to Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the telephone: “The trial is stuck and actually we do not want to give an impression to the international community that perhaps it has been delayed.

“We proposed to India while talking to Mr Chidambaram that how about that we move our case to our trial court and request them to appoint a commission of relevant officials to record the statements of the witnesses,” he said.

“And this has been happening in the past and so using that facility we request to the court and if they give permission, will they (India) be able to accept,” Malik said. Chidambaram replied that “they will be considering it”, Malik said.

Malik said he underlined the importance to the trial of Kasab and Ansari appearing in court in Pakistan.

Afridi says 'sorry' for spot-fixing row

CARDIFF: Pakistan one-day captain Shahid Afridi apologised Saturday for the scandal engulfing his side's tour of England after British police questioned three players over an alleged betting scam.

“I think this is very bad news,” Afridi told reporters at Sophia Gardens here on Saturday, where the first of two Twenty20 internationals against England takes place Sunday.

“On behalf of these boys —I know they are not in this series —I want to say sorry to all cricket lovers and all the cricketing nations.”

Coach Waqar Younis said this had been the toughest week he'd known in two decades of international cricket.

“It's pretty sad, whatever happened, and it's been really, really tough on everyone, not only me but the entire team, the management and back home it's been really bad,” former fast bowler Waqar explained.

Aamer, at 18 one of cricket's hottest talents, Asif, 27, and Butt, 25, had already withdrawn from the England tour claiming “mental torture”, missing Pakistan's eight-run win over county side Somerset on Thursday.

Afridi said the team had been told not to discuss the matter and not to read this Sunday's News of the World.

‘Players were unaware of Majeed’s illegal activities’

ISLAMABAD: The three Pakistan players suspended over allegations of spot-fixing have denied any knowledge of the wrongdoing by the businessman at the centre of the scandal, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s legal adviser.

“The players have informed the police that the man was their agent, but they had no knowledge about his illegal activities,” legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi told private television channels in Pakistan.

“They (players) all went to record statements voluntarily to the police station.”

British tabloid News of the World has accused agent Mazhar Majeed of accepting money in exchange for getting fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir to bowl intentional no-balls during last week’s fourth test against England at Lord’s.

“Players all around the world have their agents and it’s not something new,” Rizvi said.
“Mazhar had been associated with different Pakistan players as an agent for the last six to seven years.”

Test captain Salman Butt, Asif and Amir were suspended by the International Cricket Council on Thursday. They have 14 days to decide whether they want to appeal against the suspension.

Rizvi said that all the three players were issued separate notice by the ICC and now “players have to fight their appeals on their own.”

“We will just monitor what happens at the appeals, but they have to contest it on their own,” Rizvi said.

The legal adviser said that the three players also showed a copy of their contract letters with Majeed to London police, who later released the players without any criminal charges.

Rizvi said money recovered from his clients doesn’t prove any wrongdoing.

Reports in British newspapers last week suggested that 50,000 pounds was recovered from Butt by police.

“Majeed is their marketing agent and the money recovered from players could be paid on sponsorship deals and it doesn’t prove a crime,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi told AFP from London.

Majeed, an agent for several Pakistan players, was arrested following the News of the World’s allegations but later released on police bail.

Rizvi said the PCB was not involved in the appointment of players’ agents.

“Players themselves appoint their agents, and once they make a deal they get good money in sponsorship and have regular meetings,” said Rizvi.

When asked about text messages exchanged between the players and Majeed, Rizvi said: “This is usual between players and agents.”

Rizvi said the players, who were released on Friday without charge, had not been arrested.

“The players themselves went to the police station voluntarily and will always be available for interrogation as and when required,” he said.

‘Lack of medical facilities in flood-hit areas’

ISLAMABAD: Federal Secretary Health, Khushnood Akhtar Lashari, on Saturday said there was a lack of doctors, paramedics and other staff in flood-affected areas. He said the government was working to overcome the situation.

Speaking to media representatives, Lashari said the National Volunteer Program had been launched to cater to the demand in which more than 2,000 doctors had already been registered.

He said 45,74000 cases of diarrhoea, malaria, skin and other diseases had been registered in affected areas but there was no fear of any outbreak.

Meanwhile, a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the agency had distributed medicines to two million affected persons and had medicines stocked for another four million affected persons. He said fear still existed of outbreaks of diseases.

Flood relief phase extended to six months

KARACHI: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Saturday said relief efforts would be extended to six months as floods ravage more southern towns in the worst disaster to hit the country.

A month after monsoons triggered catastrophic flooding throughout the country, submerging an area the size of England, eight million remain dependent on handouts for their survival, which they say are too slow coming.

“In the current circumstances and urgent needs, the relief phase which was earlier planned to end on October 30, now will continue for six months,” Gilani told the lower house of the federal parliament.

“Early recovery phase shall be completed by December 30, while damage and need assessment by World Bank and Asian Development Bank would be completed by September 30,” he added.

Authorities in Sindh province were busy evacuating more people to safety in several flooded towns around 350 kilometres north of Karachi as officials said thousands more tents were urgently needed.

“Most parts of Khairpur Nathan Shah town and Mehar town and several surrounding villages have been flooded,” Iqbal Memon, district chief of Dadu, told AFP.

“Most of the people have been evacuated from these towns and hundreds of those remaining were being helped by the Pakistan navy and local administration,” he said.

Memon said the flooding in Dadu district was caused by a breach in the Khudawa canal on Friday.

Some 800 people in Baid village were stranded and calling for urgent evacuation.

“We are sheltered on higher ground in the village, there are about 800 people who are stranded here with their belongings and cattle surrounded by rising water,” villager Bashir Gadahi told AFP by telephone.

“This cell phone is the only communication means left and its battery won't last long. We are calling the authorities, but so far no rescue is in sight,” Gadahi said.

“We have no fodder to feed our cattle and our rice and chilli crops have been destroyed by the flood,” he said.

People were also fleeing the flooded town of Jati but faced a shortage of transport, local television reports said.

Town official Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro said about 100 people were stranded there and a rescue effort was underway to evacuate them to safety.

Sindh relief commissioner Ghulam Ali Pasha said there was a shortage of tents, with a further 200,000 people displaced from Khairpur Nathan Shah alone.

“The flood has affected some eight million people in Sindh and some 2.8 million people were displaced,” Pasha told AFP.

“Only 1.2 million people are in camps, while the rest have no shelter as we are facing an acute shortage of tents and some 50,000 tents are immediately needed,” he said.

He said the floods had destroyed some 4,600 schools.

The government's official death toll from the floods has reached 1,760 but disaster officials have warned that number is likely to rise “significantly” when the missing are accounted for.

Six insurgents killed in Afghanistan clash: Nato

KABUL: A Taliban commander was captured and six insurgents killed in a raid on a militant hideout in northern Afghanistan, Nato said Saturday.

The assault in the northern province of Takhar follows a string of recent raids on militant leaders that aim to demoralise the insurgency and sever contacts between militant groups.

A joint Afghan and Nato force was fired on as it approached a compound Friday where the Taliban commander was hiding, Nato said. The force returned fire with the backing of coalition aircraft.

The compound was then evacuated and the commander and one of his assistants detained, it said.

Takhar had been relatively quiet amid rising violence across Afghanistan, but recent incidents point to growing insurgent activity in the province, about 150 miles north of Kabul along the border with Tajikistan.

Nato says an airstrike in the province on Thursday killed about a dozen insurgents, but President Hamid Karzai and other Afghans said the victims were campaign workers seeking votes ahead of this month's parliamentary elections.

Farther south in Kandahar province, where much of the current fighting is focused, a Taliban commander in the provincial capital and six associates were detained in a raid Thursday, Nato said. Other Taliban leaders in rural Kandahar and the southern provinces of Paktiya and Helmand were also captured, it said.

Separately, Helmand's provincial government reported at least 12 insurgents were killed in fighting and air raids in the province on Thursday.

Nato has been intensifying its efforts with the addition of 30,000 more US troops along with additional special forces soldiers who conduct most of the targeted raids alongside the Afghan army and police.

Some 140,000 foreign troops are now in the country, tasked both with driving the Taliban from areas it has held sway in for years, and ensuring security for the September 18 elections that many hope will help set Afghanistan on a path to greater political stability.

So far, the election campaign has been disrupted by periodic but not paralysing violence, with at least three candidates and five campaign workers killed in attacks.

Along with the Taliban, rival candidates are also believed to be involved in some of the violence and intimidation.

On Friday, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates toured US bases and met with troops in Kandahar, saying he saw and heard evidence that the counterinsurgency strategy is taking hold in the Taliban's spiritual heartland.

Such progress is crucial ahead of a US assessment of Afghanistan strategy in December that could determine the direction of future efforts. President Barack Obama has pledged to begin pulling out at least some troops starting next July.

Militants stoking sectarian rift: Rehman Malik

ISLAMABAD: Pro-Taliban Pakistani militants are trying to fuel a sectarian rift, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday, as a new wave of violence piled pressure on a government already struggling with a flood crisis.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for bomb attacks on two Shia rallies that killed nearly 90 people in the cities of Quetta and Lahore in the past three days.

The attacks ended a lull after devastating floods which affected 20 million people.

Officials had said before the attacks that any major violence at such a difficult time was likely to cause deep popular resentment against the militants.

On Friday, the Taliban also threatened to launch attacks in the United States and Europe “very soon”, two days after the Washington added the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to its list of “foreign terrorist organisations”.

Malik said after taking a beating in their strongholds in the country's northwest in a string of military offensives, al-Qaeda-linked militants were adding a religious colour to their activities to whip up sectarianism.

“Sectarianism that has been there for 62 years (since the creation of Pakistan), they stoked it again,” he told reporters in Islamabad.

Warning that militants would launch attacks again “wherever there is a vulnerable situation” he said “they are using it as a weapon to terrorise people”.

Thousands have been killed in sectarian violence by majority Sunni and minority Shia sects in the past two decades. But Shia violence has largely declined in recent years.

Malik said the TTP, al-Qaeda and the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ), one of the most violent anti-Shia groups with roots in the central Punjab province, were all part of the same organisation.

“Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, al-Qaeda, TTP; they are one,” he said.

“And the TTP are there whenever there is suicide bombing.”

Amir, Asif, Butt questioned by British police

LONDON: British police questioned Mohammd Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt on Friday in connection with spot-fixing claims.

Bowlers Amir and Asif and Test captain Butt were all released without charge after voluntarily appearing at a police station near the “home of cricket”, Lord’s in north London, their lawyer said.

“At no time were they placed under arrest, they were free to leave at any time and they have answered all of the questions that were put to them and have been released without charge or conditions,” lawyer Elizabeth Robertson said.

Aamer – at 18 one of the game’s hottest talents – Asif, 27, and Butt, 25, did not speak to the media when they appeared at Kilburn police station separately throughout the day.

Meanwhile, Pakistani High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan said Friday the International Cricket Council was wrong to suspend the players while the police investigation was ongoing. He has previously suggested the trio might have been set up.

“I met the cricketers for two hours, cross-questioned them, got to the bottom of it and concluded that they were innocent,” Hasan told BBC radio.

“The ICC had no business to take this action. The ICC is just playing to the public gallery.”

Hasan suggested that Indian bookmakers had a part to play in the affair.

The News of the World newspaper alleged that it paid Mazhar Majeed, an agent for several Pakistan players, 150,000 pounds (185,000 euros, 230,000 dollars) in return for advance knowledge of pre-arranged no-balls – normally accidental – which could then be bet upon.

The 35-year-old has since been arrested and bailed by British police.

Toll from Quetta blast rises to 65

QUETTA: The death toll from a suicide attack on a Shia Muslim procession rose from 56 to 65 overnight as critically wounded people died in hospital, police said.

Police official Mohammed Sultan said Saturday that about 150 people were wounded and some remain critical after the attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban in the southwestern city of Quetta. A triple suicide attack Wednesday night killed 35 people at a Shia procession in Lahore.

Leaders of the minority sect called a general strike in Quetta and all schools are closed for a day in mourning, police said.

Pakistan's government is struggling to deal both with massive flooding and the incessant militant violence aimed at overthrowing the administration. — AP

By-elections underway in NA-184

BAHAWALPUR: Polling for Bahawalpur's NA-184 started at 8:00 am Saturday.

NA-184 fell vacant after the resignation of Pakistan People's Party's Amir Yar Waran.

Waran was declared ineligible to have contested elections by the Lahore High Court for holding a fake degree.

Khadija Waran, wife of Amir Yar Waran, is contesting for today’s by-polls on the PPP ticket.

Meanwhile, Mian Najeebuddin is contesting from the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N).

At least 31 polling stations have been declared sensitive in NA-184 constituency.

Blackwater created shell companies: NYT

WASHINGTON: The security company Blackwater Worldwide formed a network of 30 shell companies and subsidiaries to try to get millions of dollars in government business after the company faced strong criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq, The New York Times reported Friday.

The newspaper said that it was unclear how many of the created companies got American contracts but that at least three of them obtained work with the US military and the CIA.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has asked the Justice Department to see whether Blackwater misled the government when using the subsidiaries to gain government contracts, according to the Times.

It said Levin's committee found that North Carolina-based Blackwater, which now is known as Xe Services, went to great lengths to find ways to get lucrative government work despite criminal charges and criticism stemming from a 2007 incident in which Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians. A committee chart outlines the web of Blackwater subsidiaries.

Messages left late Friday with spokespeople for the Michigan Democrat and Xe were not immediately answered.

The 2007 incident and other reports of abuses by Blackwater employees in Iraq led to criminal investigations and congressional hearings, and resulted in the company losing a lucrative contract with the State Department to provide security in Iraq.

But recently the company was awarded a $100 million contract to provide security for the agency in Afghanistan, prompting criticism from some in Congress. CIA Director Leon Panetta said that the CIA had no choice but to hire the company because it underbid others by $26 million and that a CIA review concluded that the contractor had cleaned up its act.

Last year, Panetta canceled a contract with Xe that allowed the company's operatives to load missiles on Predator drones in Pakistan, and shifted the work to government personnel.

However, the Times quoted former Blackwater officials as saying that at least two Blackwater-affiliated companies, XPG and Greystone, obtained secret contracts from the CIA to provide security to agency operatives.

The newspaper said the network of subsidiaries, including several located in offshore tax havens, were uncovered as part of the Armed Services Committee's examination of government contracting and not an investigation solely into Blackwater. But Levin questioned why Blackwater would need to create so many companies with various names to seek out government business, according to the Times.

The report quoted unidentified government officials and former Blackwater employees as saying that the network of companies allowed Blackwater to obscure its involvement in government work from contracting officials and the public, and to ensure a low profile for its classified activities. – AP

Powerful 7.1 quake hits New Zealand's South Island

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake damaged buildings, cut power and knocked fleeing residents off their feet on New Zealand's South Island early Saturday, but there were so far no deaths and only two injuries reported.

Panicked residents in their pajamas ran into the streets of the southern city of Christchurch after the pre-dawn quake, residents said. There were reports of some people trapped in damaged buildings _ though none appeared to be crushed by rubble _ and a few looters broke into some of the damaged shops in the city of 400,000, authorities said.

A state of emergency was declared and army troops were on standby to assist after the quake, which hit 19 miles (30 kilometers) west of Christchurch, according to the state geological agency GNS Science. No tsunami alert was issued.

Roads had been blocked by rubble, power and traffic lights were out, and gas and water supplies disrupted, while chimneys and walls had fallen from older buildings, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said. He warned that continuing aftershocks could cause masonry to fall from damaged buildings.

Suburban dweller Mark O'Connell said his house was full of smashed glass, food tossed from shelves, with sets of drawers, TVs and computers tipped over.

''We were thrown from wall to wall as we tried to escape down the stairs to get to safety,'' he told The Associated Press.

GNS Science initially reported the quake as magnitude 7.4, but later downgraded it after re-examining quake records. The US Geological Survey, in America, measured the quake at 7.0.

Minister of Civil Defense John Carter stressed the low number of casualties.

''I think we've been extremely lucky as a nation that there's been no fatalities,'' Carter told reporters.

Still, infrastructure damage was major, with ''a lot of damage to our key infrastructure ... water, waste water (sewerage) systems.'' Earthquake and insurance specialists would give an initial damage assessment within 48 hours, he said.

Experts said the low levels of injury reflect the strict building codes that apply in New Zealand, which records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year.

''New Zealand has very good building codes ... (that) mean the buildings are strong compared with, say, Haiti,'' which suffered widespread death and devastation in a magnitude 7.0 quake this year, earth sciences professor Martha Savage said.

''It's about the same size (quake) as Haiti, but the damage is so much less. Though chimneys and some older facades came down, the structures are well built,'' said Savage, a professor from the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University in the capital, Wellington.

Christchurch fire service spokesman Mike Bowden said a number of people had been trapped in buildings by fallen chimneys and blocked entrances, but there were no reports of people pinned under rubble. Rescue teams were out checking premises.

Christchurch Hospital said it had treated two men with serious injuries and a number of people with minor injuries.

One man was hit by a falling chimney and was in serious condition in intensive care, while a second was badly cut by glass, hospital spokeswoman Michele Hider said.

Christchurch police reported road damage in parts of the city, with a series of sharp aftershocks rocking the area. Police officers cordoned off some streets where rubble was strewn about. Video showed parked cars crushed by heaps of fallen bricks, and buckled roads.

''There is considerable damage in the central city and we've also had reports of looting, just shop windows broken and easy picking of displays,'' Police Inspector Mike Coleman told New Zealand's National Radio.

Police Inspector Al Stewart told the radio that some people had been arrested for looting.

The quake hit at 4:35 a.m. (1635 GMT) shaking thousands of residents awake, New Zealand's National Radio reported. Some 12 aftershocks have rocked the region since, ranging from 5.3 to 3.9 in magnitude, GNS Science reported on its web site.

Prime Minister John Key, Carter and Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee were to fly to Christchurch to inspect damage and review the situation, officials said.

Key said his sister, who lives in Christchurch, messaged him that ''they had had an enormous earthquake and it had been terrifying ... that it went on for so long and was so violent they were getting knocked off their feet.''

Civil defense agency spokesman David Millar said at least six bridges in the region had been badly damaged, while the historic Empire hotel in the port town of Lyttelton was ''very unstable'' and in danger of collapse. Several wharves at the port had been damaged.

People in the city's low-lying eastern suburbs had been advised to be ready to evacuate after power, gas, sewerage and water systems were cut by the quake, Inspector Coleman said. – AP

Top seeds ease through at US Open

NEW YORK: Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray stayed on course for a US Open semi-final showdown in Friday’s second-round action with both recording straight sets victories.

Top-seeded Nadal pounded his way past Denis Istomin ofUzbekistan 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 in the featured night session match on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

Fourth-seeded Murray saw off Jamaica’s Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 on the same court earlier in the day.

Nadal next plays France’s Gilles Simon who defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3, while Murray takes on Stanislas Wawrinka of Swizerland who ousted Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

There were mixed fortunes for US hopes with teenager Ryan Harrison squandering three match points against Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky in a fifth set tie-breaker before losing 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6)

But twin giants Sam Querrey and John Isner both won through in the same quarter asMurray.

At the start of the day there were nine Spaniards and seven Frenchmen involved in the 16 ties that made up the top half of the draw.

By the end of play, seven of the Spanish had survived (the two losers going down to compatriots) and only two Frenchmen remained.

Nadal – seeking in New York to become just the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam of Australian, French, Wimbledon and US crowns – was made to dig deep from 1-5 down in the second set tie-break against the 39th-ranked Istomin, taking six points in a row.

He then grabbed the only additional break he needed in the 12th game of the third set to clinch the win.

“He was playing really well, played well last week in New Haven,” Nadal said of Istomin.

“I was a little bit lucky in the tie-break in the second set.

“A few days ago I started to feel the ball well with my serve so that is very good for the confidence.”

Murray had been expected to sweep past the unconventional Brown with little or no effort, and in the end he did so.

But he was left scratching his head at times in the first set by the towering Brown’s unorthodox play focused around a huge, whipping serve and some outrageous drop shots.

On top of that, early play was suspended for around 20 minutes as, courtesy of Hurricane Earl churning up the US eastern seaboard, a rain shower dampened the Flushing Meadows courts.

In the end, the dreadlocked Brown, ranked 123rd in the world, had little left to offer andMurray even went for some extra practice afterwards to complete his day.

“I’d never played him before so the match was very interesting with him hitting big and fun shots,” the Scot said.

“It was very difficult. He is a shot maker and is fun to watch so I am just glad to get through.

The emotional high of the day for home fans came out on the atmospheric Grandstand Court where 18-year-old Harrison, the youngest player left in the tournament, had three match points against Ukraine’s Stakhovsky in the fifth set tie-break.

But a double fault and some brave net play from a tiring Stakhovsky saved the day for the east European.

Harrison said that although he was downcast over the way the match had ended, it gave him hope for the future.

“Obviously I’m not the happiest person in the world right now,” he said.

“But looking back on it, it was a great experience. My ranking is 220 in the world right now, and I’m trying to hopefully get to the top 10.

There was better news for US hopes, however, shortly afterwards on the adjacent Louis Armstrong Court when Wimbledon marathon man Isner won through to the third round with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 win over Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland, setting up a third round clash against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.

Querrey then cruised past Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Tommy Robredo got the Spanish challenge off to strong start when his French opponent, Julian Benneteau, retired in a second set tie-break after injuring his left wrist stretching for a shot. Robredo had won the first set 6-4.

David Ferrer, the 10th seed, then bulldozed his way past Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and Feliciano Lopez saw off the challenge of France’s Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.

French hopes suffered another blow when Jeremy Chardy fell to Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (7/2) and then Fernando Verdasco ousted Chardy’s compatriot Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

But serve and volley expert Michael Llodra brought some consolation for the French when he defied a painful left foot injury to defeat Victor Hanescu of Romania 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-2.

And late in day, Simon came through against Kohlschreiber to set up a third round clash with Nadal.

CLIJSTER, IVANOVIC, VENUS ROLL INTO LAST 16

Defending champion Kim Clijsters advanced to a fourth-round matchup with fellow former world number one Ana Ivanovic at the US Open on Friday while third seed Venus Williams also rolled into the last 16.

Belgian second seed Clijsters struggled briefly before winning the last 12 games to defeatWimbledon semi-finalist Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-0 while Ivanovic won the last nine games to oust French wildcard Virginie Razzano 7-5, 6-0.

US third seed Williams, with injured world number one sister Serena watching from the stands, ripped Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella 6-2, 6-1 in 74 minutes to book a fouth-round matchup against Israel’s Shahar Peer.

French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, the sixth seed from Italy, and French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur, the fifth seed from Australia, also advanced with straight-set triumphs.

Stosur beat Italy’s 37th-ranked Sara Errani 6-2, 6-3, while Schiavone ousted Ukraine’s 29th-seeded Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 7-5 and 16th seed Peer eliminated Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-4.

Clijsters ousted the 27th-seeded Czech in 62 minutes for her 17th victory in a row on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts as brisk winds whipped across Arthur Ashe Stadium with Hurricane Earl passing southwest of the area.

“I just had to adjust and get used to the wind. It was tough,” Clijsters said. “I was glad after those first three games I could get my serve going.

“When you don’t have that full confidence on your serve and you have the wind interfering with what your ball does, it’s never that easy. You just have to go back to the basics, really focus and maybe not go for it as much.”

Clijsters, trying to become the first back-to-back US Open women’s champion since Venus Williams in 2001, won her only Grand Slam titles on the New York hardcourts in 2005 and 2009.

But injuries and a two-year hiatus to start a family kept her from the US Open in between her titles, giving her the impressive win streak that looked to be in jeopardy at the start.

Kvitova broke Clijsters twice for a 3-0 lead after 11 minutes, inspring memories of her US Open upset of top seed Dinara Safina last year before the 30-year-old Belgian roared to victory.

“I felt myself progressing throughout the match, so that’s a good feeling,”Clijsters said. “I feel like I’m close. It’s only a matter of a few little details in my game that I want to improve.

“A match like this probably gives me more satisfaction because I beat a good player without even playing my best tennis.”

Williams battled the wind in a night match but breezed through as well.

“It’s pretty windy down here so it’s important to stay focused on every shot,” she said.

Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion who has slid to 40th in the rankings, needed only 66 minutes to advance and equal her top US Open showing from 2007.

“I really feel I’m playing a lot better, sort of things are starting to come back, come together out on the court as well, so I’m really thrilled about that,” Ivanovic said.

“It has been tough. But I’m really happy I managed to stay strong in those times and just push through it, work hard and actually believe I can do it.”

Schiavone made a stunning between-the-legs running from the net shot in the 10th game of the second set on the way to holding at love, broke Bondarenko in the next game and held at love to complete an 88-minute triumph.

“It is nothing programmed. Ii is just instinct. It is art,” Schiavone said.

“Is something that’s coming from inside and you have just to take in a good timing otherwise the ball fly.”

Schiavone will next play Russian 20th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who oustedArgentina’s Gisela Dulko 6-1, 6-2. Stosur next plays Russian 12th seed Elena Dementieva, who downed Slovakian 24th seed Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-2.

“I’m playing well, I’m hitting the ball well and I think I have got a good chance,” Stosur said.

The 26-year-old from Brisbane won both prior meetings with Errani, including a second-round match last week at New Haven in the last US Open tuneup, where Errani had four match points in a third-set tie-breaker.

“She’s tough. She fights you on every point,” Stosur said. “I didn’t want to go down the same path I did last week.” – AFP