Rashid Latif quits as NCA wicket-keeping coach

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif resigned as wicket-keeping coach for the National Cricket Academy on Tuesday after he was asked by the PCB to explain his comments on the spot-fixing scandal.

Latif had been working as a wicket-keeping coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) but quit the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sent him a stern notice regarding his comments on the on-going spot-fixing scandal involving Pakistani cricketers.

“I have taken the decision to resign after being issued a notice by the board (PCB) for having given statements on a television talk show on the spot fixing issue,” the former captain said in a statement.

The former wicketkeeper recently appeared on a television show where he criticised PCB for their handling of allegations against three players on their tour of England.

Test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Amir are under investigation by British police for their role in the scandal, which has also led to their suspension by the International Cricket Council.

“I have sent my resignation today to the board which did not like my speaking on this important issue as I am employed with them in the academy,” Latif said.

Latif has been known to be outspoken on matters of corruption and match-fixing in cricket.

“I would like to make it clear here that while it is an honour to serve Pakistan cricket in any position I can't remain quiet on a key cricket issue that could determine the future of Pakistan cricket,” he added.

“As a former player and captain, people look up to me and expect me to speak honestly and without bias and that I have done without meaning anything personal against anyone.”

Latif played 37 tests and 166 one-day internationals for Pakistan.

Postmortem of Sialkot lynching victims postponed

LAHORE: The Civil Court on Tuesday postponed the re-postmortem of the two brothers killed in Sialkot.

The family of murdered brothers, Mughees and Muneeb, said that it did not trust the medical board formed to perform the second post mortem.

The re-postmortem of the victims of a mob lynching incident, was to be conducted today in Imam Sahab cemetery on the orders of the Supreme Court.

A request-petition had been put forward by the family in Civil Judge Sialkot Abu Bakar Siddique’s court. The family proposed induction of a senior surgeon from Lahore into a newly formed medical board. The judge agreed to the request and a new date for the postmortem will be announced in few days.

Police issue shoot on sight orders in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Indian police patrolled the streets of Kashmir on Tuesday, threatening to shoot anyone defying a rigid curfew imposed on the region a day after troops battled protesters in the streets in violence that killed 19 people.

The region has been wracked by anti-India protests throughout the summer, but the chaos Monday —exacerbated by reports of a Quran desecration in the United States —was the deadliest here since large-scale demonstrations began in June.

In an attempt to prevent another round of violence, police and paramilitary soldiers drove through the deserted streets of the main towns of Indian-administered Kashmir, using loudspeakers to announce that curfew violators would be shot on sight.

But scores of demonstrators took to the streets of Baramulla and hurled rocks at police.

Soldiers retaliated by firing shots in the air and launching tear gas shells, wounding three protesters, said a police officer speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

In overnight protests, demonstrators set fire to a police vehicle in Charar-e-Sharief, 30 miles (45 kilometers) southwest of Srinagar, police said.

The region has been roiled for months by separatist protests that often descend into clashes with government forces.

The violence has killed at least 88 people this summer —mostly teenage boys and young men in their 20s.

The anti-India protests turned into rare anti-America protests Monday as reports of a Quran desecration in the United States intensified the anger of demonstrators, with activists chanting ''Down with America'' and burning an effigy of President Barack Obama.

The protesters burned government buildings and Christian missionary school and threw rocks at troops, who responded by firing into the crowds.

The death toll from that violence rose to 19 on Tuesday, including 18 demonstrators and one police officer.

Two patients die of suffocation in hospital fire

LAHORE: Two patients on a ventilator died due to suffocation when fire erupted in the ICU ward of Jinnah Hospital early Tuesday morning.

According to hospital management, a short circuit caused the fire. Although evacuation started right away, the two patients could not be saved as the ICU ward was filled with smoke.

The management claimed that the ICU became operational again right after the fire was extinguished early in the morning, however, later they retracted their statement and said that the ICU will be functional within the next 12 hours.

Ten killed in North Waziristan drone attack

MIR ALI: Suspected US missiles hit a house in North Waziristan early Tuesday, killing 10 alleged militants in the 10th airstrike in the region this month, intelligence officials said.

The two officials said the missiles from an unmanned plane destroyed the home in the northern part of Shawal village, which is dominated by the Haqqani and Hafiz Gul Bahadur networks of militants fighting US troops across the border in Afghanistan.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to talk to the press. They say Taliban militants dug 10 bodies from the rubble of the house.

A unrelenting series of US missile attacks this month have pounded North Waziristan.—AP

Journalist gunned down in Hangu

HANGU: Unidentified men gunned down a journalist in the volatile town of Hangu in the northwest early Tuesday, police said.

Haji Misri Khan had received threats from militants after publishing stories about their activities.—Reuters

Clinton arrives in Egypt for Middle East peace talks

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived here early Tuesday for renewed US-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Clinton will oversee the second round of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, after direct negotiations were launched in Washington on September 2.

The parties are scheduled to continue their talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians threatening the success of the talks centre on the thorny issue of Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.