Aamer's coach, family say he is innocent

ISLAMABAD: The former mentor and family of Mohammad Aamer proclaimed his innocence Tuesday after British police questioned him on spot-fixing allegations following a newspaper sting.

Asif Bajwa, who coached the pacer into an international cricketer from his school days, said the scandal was an effort to spoil the career of a man who has been recognised by the International Cricket Council as a top-class player.

“He has been nominated as the best emerging player in the world. He has become the most important member of Pakistan team, he is a future star. They want to tarnish his image by involving him in conspiracies,” said Bajwa.

The inquiry follows a sting by a British Sunday tabloid in which a bookmaker allegedly paid Pakistani players including Aamer to deliberately bowl no-balls in the last Test match between Pakistan and England last week.

“My brother is innocent. He has been trapped in an international conspiracy to defame our cricket team and country,” said Mohammad Ijaz, the elder brother of Aamer.

“Anybody can bowl a no ball at any time. I can give an oath on behalf of Aamer that he is innocent,” said Ijaz, adding that his brother was worried when he spoke to him on the telephone from London on Sunday.

“He is tense and worried. He told me he has nothing to do with this scandal. He has been set up because he was performing well,” he said.

“We know him and he knows that the country's respect is dearest to us. We love our country more than his career.”

Accused players to meet PCB chief in London, will not train

KARACHI: The three Pakistani cricketers who have been named in a spot-fixing scandal will not practise with their team in Taunton on Tuesday, manager Yawar Saaed said.

“The three will also be meeting with the Pakistan High Commissioner in London on Wednesday,” Saeed told a local television channel.

The three players, test captain, Salman Butt and pace bowlers Muhammad Amir and Muhammad Asif, have been accused by a 35-year-old Pakistani man of taking bribes to fix incidents during the Lord’s test against England last week.

The International Cricket Council, meanwhile, said that wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal will no longer be a part of the spot-fixing investigations.

The man, Mazhar Majeed, who was arrested and then released on bail, is accused of trying to defraud bookmakers.

Pakistan play a warm-up match in Taunton on Thursday ahead of two Twenty20 and five one-day internationals against England.

Sources in the Pakistan team said it was decided to keep the three players away from the practice session to avoid any more media attention.

“The three have also been told to prepare for the meeting at the high commission in which a British legal expert will also be present,” a source said.

The source said the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption and security unit and Britain’s Scotland Yard would submit their report on the spot-fixing allegations by Thursday.

In Taunton, reporters were refused entry to the county ground, where Pakistan were due to train later on Tuesday.

Somerset Chief Executive Richard Gould told AFP: “Pakistan have requested a closed practice session today. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow.”

NO SUSPENSIONS

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement on Monday that until the investigations were completed no player would be suspended.

“Chairman Ijaz Butt just told me that since there is a case going on with the Scotland Yard we are not going to suspend any player,” Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Nadeem Sarwar told AFP.

“He further said that this is only an allegation so far. There is still no charge or proof on that account. So at this stage there will be no action taken.”

Sarwar refused to comment on reported demands by the International Cricket Council and some of the England players to suspend the men under investigation.

Blasts kill four US soldiers in Afghanistan

KABUL: Four US soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in Afghanistan Tuesday, Nato said, bringing the toll of Americans to 21 dead since Friday.

Nato spokesman James Judge confirmed to AFP that four American soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan by an improvised explosive devise (IED).

The deaths bring to 484 the total number of foreign troops killed in the Afghan war this year, compared to 521 for all of 2009, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the independent icasualties.org website.

The deaths come a day after eight Nato troops — seven of them American — were killed in similar bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan.

The eighth soldier to die on Monday was not American, Isaf said.

The Canadian military said one of its troopers died Monday in a German hospital of injuries sustained in a bomb attack on August 22.

Makeshift bombs are responsible for most of the military deaths in Afghanistan, deployed by insurgents, made from fertiliser and detonated by pressure or remote control.

The United States and Nato have almost 150,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban-led insurgency, most of them in the southern hotspots of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

India offers 20 mln dollars in new flood aid to Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday offered another 20 million dollars in flood aid to Pakistan, the country's foreign minister said, boosting efforts to build goodwill between the estranged neighbours.

S.M. Krishna told parliament a fresh installment of 20 million dollars would boost India's total aid contributions for Pakistan to 25 million dollars.

“As a more concrete assessment of the damage inflicted by this natural disaster and the urgent needs of the people of Pakistan emerges, government has decided to increase its assistance to Pakistan from five million dollars,” he said.

Earlier this month, Islamabad described the initial offer as a “very welcome initiative” by India as the two countries look to get a stalled peace process back on track.

They have made major efforts in recent months to build confidence in their relations, which were badly strained by the Mumbai 2008 terror attacks, which India blamed on militants from Pakistan.

Pakistan initially delayed accepting India's first offer of flood aid, leading the United States to publicly urge Islamabad not to let rivalry stand in the way of helping its citizens in flood-ravaged regions.

Krishna said 20 million dollars would be sent to the UN-sponsored “Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan” while the balance of five million dollars would go to the World Food Programme for its relief efforts.

The floods have left 1,645 people dead and 2,479 injured, according to the latest count, but officials warn that millions are at risk from food shortages and disease. —AFP

Grenade explodes near office of Thai state TV channel

BANGKOK: A grenade exploded in a compound for a Thai state-run television channel in Bangkok on Tuesday although no injuries were reported, police said.

A loud explosion was heard from the Viphavadi-Rangsit road, a main highway into the capital close to one of the city's largest military bases, police said, citing witnesses.

It was the latest in a series of mysterious grenade or bomb attacks over the last five weeks in the capital, where a state of emergency remains in place after deadly clashes between troops and anti-government protesters in April and May, in which 91 people were killed and up to 2,000 wounded.

Broadcaster NBT, whose compound was hit by the grenade, has come under criticism from “red shirt” anti-government demonstrators, who accuse the channel of biased reporting and distorting information.

Abbas, Barak held secret meeting in Jordan

JERUSALEM: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak have met secretly in Amman ahead of Middle East peace talks that start in Washington this week, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

The two met on Sunday in a private home in the Jordanian capital, where Barak also held talks with King Abdullah II.

The Israeli defence ministry did not immediately confirm the reports.

Abdullah and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak will join an inaugural meeting in Washington on Wednesday between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abbas, who are to launch direct talks the following day.

Thursday's talks will launch the first direct negotiations between the two sides since the Palestinians broke off talks in December 2008, after Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip. – AFP

Devastating floods finally heading towards the sea

KARACHI: Floodwaters that have devastated Pakistan for five weeks headed to the Arabian Sea on Tuesday after swallowing two final towns, but the challenges of delivering emergency aid to 8 million people remained.

The floods have moved down from the mountainous northwest, submerging or affecting almost 1/5 of the country at their peak.

Waters have begun to recede in the north and in Punjab, but they have been submerging towns in southern Sindh province close to the Indus River over the last 10 days.

Government official Hadi Bakhsh said the last two towns in the path of the floods were hit late Monday.

''The floodwaters hit Khahre Jamali and Jati towns last night, and now there is no other village or town in the way of the deluge,'' he said, adding that people had already fled the towns, parts of which were under 10 feet (3 meters) of water.

''The floodwaters are now heading to the Arabian Sea,'' he said.

Authorities have struggled to feed, house and arrange medical care for the survivors of the floods. Foreign countries and the United Nations were slow to respond to the disaster, in part because it took a long time for its extent to become clear.

Aid is slowly reaching the worst-affected areas by army helicopter, road and boat, but millions have received little or no help.

The UN warned that additional funding for emergency food was urgently needed to ensure supplies into next month.

Once all the floodwaters recede, the country will be left with a massive relief and reconstruction effort that will cost billions of dollars and take years. An estimated 1 million homes have been damaged or destroyed, five times as many as were hit by this year's earthquake in Haiti. – AP