DUSHANBE: A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police station in northern Tajikistan on Friday, killing at least one person and wounding 20, a police source said.

“There were people in the building and it's now burning,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

He said the death toll was likely to rise but that it was not immediately clear if the dead included the suicide bomber.

The attack occurred in Khujand, about 340 km north of the capital Dushanbe and near the border with Uzbekistan.

Governments in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia are clamping down on what they see as growing radicalism in the predominantly Muslim, though secular, region after a rise in clashes between security forces and armed groups.

Tajikistan, which has a porous 1,340-km border with Afghanistan, has jailed 115 people this year on charges of belonging to banned groups, mostly Islamic.

Last month, 10 followers of a banned Islamic group were jailed in Khujand for terms of three to 15 years.

PESHAWAR: One policemen was killed and three were injured when an explosion took place near a police van on Ring Road in Peshawar's Achini Bala area on Friday.

 

The police mobile van was heavily damaged and the injured were rushed to the hospital.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistan's Taliban on Friday took responsibility for triple bombings at a Shia Muslim procession in the city of Lahore that killed 33 people.

Wednesday's blasts in the eastern city was the first major militant attack in Pakistan since floods waters tore through the country over the past month.

“It's revenge for the killings of innocent Sunnis,” a spokesman for Qari Hussain Mehsud, mentor of the Taliban's suicide bombers, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

“We also have videos of the fidayeen (bombers) and we may release them,” the spokesman Shakirullah Mehsud told Reuters.

Hussain is a senior leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Taliban Movement of Pakistan led by Hakimullah Mehsud, who was charged by US prosecutors this week in the plot that killed seven CIA employees at an American base in Afghanistan last December.

The United States on Wednesday included TTP in its list of foreign terrorist organisations and announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest and another TTP leader, Wali-ur-Rehman.

Commonly known as “Ustad-e-Fidayeen” or “the mentor of suicide bombers,” Hussain began his militant career with an anti-Shia group before joining TTP, the main Taliban grouping in Pakistan which is fighting Pakistani government forces and is also increasingly seen as direct threat to the United States.

The attack in Lahore came as the government is struggling to cope with country's worst floods with millions of people threatened by malnutrition and diseases.

The floods struck just as the army said it had made progress in the war against the TTP militants. – Reuters

MONTERREY, Mexico: A shootout between soldiers and suspected drug cartel members in northeastern Mexico left 25 purported gunmen dead Thursday, the military said.

A reconnaissance flight over Ciudad Mier in Tamaulipas state spotted several gunmen in front of a property, according to a statement from Mexico's Defense Department.

When troops on the ground moved in, gunmen opened fire, starting a gunbattle that killed 25 suspected cartel members, according to the military. The statement said two soldiers were injured but none were killed.

Earlier, a military spokesman had said the shootout happened when troops on patrol in the town of General Trevino, in neighboring Nuevo Leon state, came under fire from a ranch allegedly controlled by the Zetas drug gang.

The spokesman, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, said the troops returned fire at a ranch, known as ''The Stump.''

Authorities rescued three people believed to be kidnap victims in the raid, according to the statement. The military said troops seized 25 rifles, four grenades, 4,200 rounds of ammunition and 23 vehicles.

Drug violence has claimed more than 28,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon intensified a crackdown on cartels after taking office in late 2006.

The Zetas began as a gang of drug assassins but have since evolved into a powerful cartel. A fight between the Zetas and their former allies, the Gulf cartel, has increased drug violence in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas states, according to government figures.

The Zetas are suspected of being responsible for the kidnapping and killing of 72 Central and South American migrants in Tamaulipas last week, in what could be Mexico's biggest drug-related massacre. – AP

TOKYO: Japan's cabinet Friday approved new sanctions against Iran, including an assets freeze on figures linked to its nuclear programme and tighter restrictions on financial transactions, media reported.

The step comes a month after Tokyo approved punitive measures in line with a June UN Security Council resolution which slapped a fourth set of sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment work.

The new sanctions include a freeze on the assets of more than 100 groups and individuals linked to the country's nuclear programme, which many nations fear masks a drive for atomic weapons, Jiji Press reported.

The new package of sanctions also bar Japanese financial institutions from buying bonds issued by Iran's central bank, media reports said.

The United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia have also announced additional sanctions, which have been opposed by Russia and China, now Iran's closest trading partner, with major energy interests in the country.

Washington has urged Tokyo to help raise the pressure on Tehran, despite Japan's usually friendly ties with Iran, a major oil supplier to the energy-hungry archipelago nation.

In early August US State Department special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control Robert Einhorn said in Tokyo: “Japan imports a lot of oil from Iran, but the steps we are asking Japan to take would not interfere in any way with Japan's energy security, its imports of oil from Iran.” Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful. – AFP

ISLAMABAD: After warnings from IMF over subsidies in power sector, the government is expected to approve restructuring of electricity billing system to increase revenues but at the same time protect the low- and middle-income groups from the impact of enhanced tariff.

Sources in the ministry of water and power told Dawn that a proposal would be submitted to the government calling for eliminating subsidies for high-end users by not offering the lower slab rates to consumers utilising more than 300 units.

“It is no longer viable to give subsidy to everyone and instead the government has to offer targeted subsidy,” an official said, adding that Pepco purchased electricity at more than Rs9 per unit, but the tariff for households for up to 100 units was Rs4.2, Rs6.34 for between 100 and 200 units and Rs10.24 for up to 300 units.

At a recent meeting, the Pepco said the electricity sector was facing an annual shortfall of 48 per cent which amounted to around Rs180 billion.

The finance ministry has suggested that the subsidies applicable to lower slabs should be abolished for the high-end users.

“This way the indirect subsidy being utilised by all those who can afford it, including ministers, ambassadors and rich people, would be eliminated and the subsidy to targeted consumers will continue,” the official added.

The government has allocated a subsidy of Rs84 billion in the budget for 2010-11 that includes Rs40 billion for interest payment of Terms Financing Certificate (TFC), Rs10 billion for Fata and Rs30 billion for life consumers using up to 50 units per month but the tariff differential of Pepco accounts to more than Rs180 billion.

“Practically it is not possible to increase power tariff to this extent,” said a senior official of the finance ministry, adding that it would be a difficult decision for the government.

The government is under immense pressure from IMF to abolish power subsidy and reduce the existing gap between power production cost and tariff.

The official said the economic managers of the country would try to convince the IMF that any increase in power tariff under these circumstances was not possible.

KARACHI: Reiterating his stance that the country needs a revolution similar to that of the French Revolution, Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has asked the Pakistan army and the country’s “establishment” to support the masses that, he said, are compelled to bring about a “change” to weed out corruption and feudal system.

He said his party would lead the revolution which was knocking at the door of the country and not allow “corrupt politicians and feudal lords” to escape the country with looted wealth.

He said this in his address over the telephone from London at the launching ceremony of MQM leader Anis Ahmed Kaimkhani’s book “Mera Quaid” here at the party headquarters on Thursday.

Mr Hussain said that price hike, poverty, hunger and miseries of millions of flood-affected people who were living without shelter and food would compel the masses to take to streets and start a revolution that no one could dare to stop.

Maintaining that no one, including big and powerful armies, could stop the people from bringing about a change, he asked the army and the ‘establishment’ to support the masses.

He urged the people to get ready to start a revolution on the lines of the French Revolution.

Mr Hussain said that the MQM would lead the revolution and would not allow corrupt political leaders and feudal lords to escape the country. “The MQM will get back the looted wealth from them in the national exchequer.”

He said that the corrupt elements would be hanged publicly so that no one could ever dare to loot the public exchequer.

Referring to his recent speech in which he called upon the “patriotic generals” to take a “martial law like action” to weed out corruption from the country, he said all looters and corrupts had ganged up against him to demand the registration of a sedation case to try him for violating Article 6 of the Constitution.

Mr Hussain said that he was not afraid of the registration of any case under Article 6 of the Constitution and urged the people not get worried since he had no fear.

About Mr Kaimkhani’s book, he appreciated his efforts and asked the party workers to follow him and write their experience during their struggle.

Donation of five

thousand pounds

Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has donated an additional sum of five thousand pounds to the flood-hit people of the country, the PPI adds.

He made the donation during a telethon on a private TV channel to a welfare organisation, Society for Unwell and Needy (SUN).

Mr Hussain’s daughter Afza Altaf also donated two hundred pounds from her pocket money.

This amount is in addition to the Rs5 million that Mr Hussain has already deposited in a fund for the flood-affected people.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the country was facing the worst disaster of its history and millions of people were rendered homeless during the floods.

He said it was not possible for the government alone to meet such a huge challenge and appealed to all Pakistanis to come forward to help their brothers in need.

He asked the people not to send any gift to him on Eid and donate the money in the fund for flood-affected people.

Birthday celebrations cancelled

The Coordination Committee of the MQM has cancelled all birthday celebrations of MQM chief Altaf Hussain in view of the flood situation in the country on the instruction of Mr Hussain.

In a statement, the committee has asked all the MQM workers that in view of the devastation of the floods, the MQM chief has asked the workers that instead of cutting cakes on the occasion and sending gifts to the international secretariat of the party, the money should be donated to the Khidmat-i-Khalq Foundation for relief work.

The committee has asked the workers and the public to offer special prayers for Mr Hussain on September 17 (his birthday) for this health and long life.

DADU: The district administration issued on Thursday night a final warning for residents of Khairpur Nathan Shah, a town of about 100,000 people, to immediately vacate it when floodwaters from breaches in Khuda Wah (canal) overtopped a two-kilometre portion of the Indus Highway and entered the town’s suburbs. About a quarter of the town was inundated when we went to press.

The inundation of the Indus Highway cut off the link between Karachi and upper Sindh districts of Larkana, Shikarpur, Qambar-Shahdadkot and half of Dadu. The districts of Kashmore and Jacobabad are already cut off from Larkana since Aug 8 when floodwaters from the Tori breach submerged the Indus highway and railway track.

The Dadu DCO said the authorities were working on raising the level of the bypass as a last-ditch effort to save the town.

In Thatta, floodwaters from the Kot Almo breach have so far inundated over 2,500 square kilometres along the left bank of the Indus. Jati town — a settlement of 40,000 along the Arabian Sea — has also come under water.

Panic prevailed in K. N. Shah when floodwaters from the Tori breach, after merging with the water from the breaches in the Main Nara Valley (MNV) drain, accumulated behind Khuda Wah (canal), the last line of defence for the town.

The stagnant water finally ruptured the canal at seven places on Thursday and started gushing towards the Indus Highway and the town of K.N. Shah.

People started streaming out of the town with whatever belongings they could collect. Transporters capitalised on the misery by overcharging the hapless.

The district administration said water was also mounting pressure on the bypass to the west of the town and its inundation may leave no escape route for the populace.

Sources in the town told Dawn that well to do people had already shifted their families to Hyderabad and Karachi, but the poor could only afford to leave their home in search of high ground.

A majority of the people were waiting for transport and government help, but in vain.

K.N. Shah MPA Imran Zafar Leghari said that he was busy at Khuda Wah embankment to plug the breaches which, he said, was an uphill task.

THATTA: All efforts have failed to contain the water along the banks of the Pinyari canal, the defence line of floodwater on the left bank of the Indus.

The Pinyari canal burst both of its banks, one near the Dargah of Mughalbin along the Mallah village and the second breach occurred at Mir Khanan Mori RD 130, wreaking havoc in the area.

Officials said the irrigation authorities had excavated half a kilometre portion of the Ladiyoon-Jati road with the consent of the district administration and further cuts had also been made in the road to manage exit of floodwater to the Arabian Sea through the Kalkachani creek 15 kilometres from the breached points.

The officials said the floodwater would ultimately flow towards the Arabian Sea through the Karo Gungro drain and its bunds were being strengthened to meet any eventuality.

The Sindh chief minister’s adviser on coastal development, Ghulam Qadir Malkani, who belongs to Jati, told Dawn that the breaking of the Kot Almo bund and breaches in the Pinyari canal and Daro branch have inundated 400,000 acres of farmland with standing crops of cotton, banana, sugarcane, watermelon and paddy in the district.

LARKANA: Tori floodwaters which touched the temporary ring embankment around Warah on Thursday were constantly mounting pressure on it.

Official sources said the water volume was huge and unmanageable.They said the closure of five gates of the Main Nara Valley (MNV) drain to minimise the pressure in K. N. Shah taluka had compounded the situation and the water level in Hamal Lake had touched the danger level.

The Qambar-Shahdadkot DCO said the condition of the flood protective (FP) bund, which contains the Hamal lake waters, was critical.

He said the elected representatives from Dadu and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts were still undecided about applying cuts to Dhamraho Wah (canal) to allow the floodwater to take its normal course.

Reports from Warah said that many families have moved to safe places in the wake of a threat door.

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik urged the Shia community on Thursday not to hold mourning processions in open places to avoid more suicide attacks.

“How can police provide security to a gathering of 15,000 people,” the minister said while talking to reporters outside the Parliament House.

Over 30 people were killed in three suicide attacks on a procession in Lahore to mark the death anniversary of Hazrat Ali on Wednesday.

“I request the Shia community to cut short their programmes because they are soft target of terrorists,” Mr Malik said, adding that mourning programmes should be organised indoors.

“We have asked Shia Ulema to select specific places for taking out mourning processions and not to come in markets and streets,” he said.

Asked if he was scared of terrorists, the minister said: “We do not fear terrorists. Rather we are crushing them in Swat and tribal areas and this action will continue.”

He said that Taliban were behind Wednesday’s blasts, adding that these were an attempt to fan religious hatred between Shia and Sunni communities. Earlier an attempt was made to pit Barelvis against Deobandis, he added.

Allama Abbas Kumeli, a Shia scholar, said that mourning processions would not be stopped and it was the responsibility of the government to provide security. He agreed that the attacks were an attempt to fan sectarianism, but put the blame for the security lapse on security agencies.

Mr Malik said the centre had already informed the Punjab government about a possible attack on the procession.

In reply to a question about the security situation in Karachi, he said he had already issued a shoot-on-sight order to curb movement of miscreants and armed men involved in target killings in Karachi.

He said the federal and provincial governments should work together to eradicate terrorism and sectarianism.

JEDDAH: The Organisation of the Islamic Conference on Thursday appealed to Muslims everywhere to direct their zakat tithes to relief for flood-wracked Pakistan.

The Jeddah-based pan-Islamic organisation, together with the OIC-sponsored International Islamic Fiqh Academy, said in a statement that Muslims everywhere “should not restrain from helping their Pakistani brothers ... and should not leave them alone to their fate.”

The Fiqh academy, a centre of research on Islamic jurisprudence, said that Islamic scholars had ruled that it is acceptable to direct one's tithes to other communities and countries than one's own.

Islam requires believers to donate 2.5 per cent of their income annually to share with others within their community, usually the less privileged.

“The scholars also approved the Muslim's choice to pay zakat to those who are more in need of zakat money than the people of the country of origin, such as people affected by different disasters, including floods and earthquakes,” the statement said.

The lives of some 18 million people in Pakistan were affected by the massive flooding along the Indus river beginning in August.

Some eight million are completely dependent on handouts to survive, and Pakistan has said the hundreds of millions of dollars already pledged in aid would not be enough. -AFP

ISLAMABAD: The United States has apologised to Pakistan over “mistreatment” of a Pakistani military delegation at a US airport this week, the Pakistani defence ministry said Friday.

US undersecretary of state for defence Michelle Flournoy apologised during a telephone call to Pakistan's top defence ministry official, Syed Athar Ali, the ministry said in a statement.

Flournoy “apologised for the mistreatment meted out to Pakistan's military delegation at the Dulles airport, Washington”, the statement said.

Pakistan had ordered the delegation to return from Washington to protest “unwarranted” airport security checks imposed after the delegation was invited to a meeting at the US military Central Command.

“Syed Athar Ali expressed serious concern over the incident and emphasised the need for an institutionalised mechanism where such like incidents are averted,” the statement said.

“Ms. Flournoy assured secretary defence that all necessary measures will be institutionalised after mutual consultations to avoid recurrence of any untoward incident in future.”

The nine members of the delegation were about to fly to Tampa, Florida from Dulles when they were pulled off the plane and questioned for over two hours.

The United Airlines flight crew had become concerned over a remark by one of the officers, a Pakistani official told AFP on Wednesday.

The Pakistanis showed security authorities their passports and letters of invitation to the conference at Central Command, but by the time they were released they had missed their flight, the official said.

Washington sees Pakistan as integral to winning the war in Afghanistan, as Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents targeting coalition forces roam the mountainous region dividing the two countries.

Pakistan receives more than one billion dollars a year from Washington for its help in fighting the Islamist militants. -AFP

LONDON: The International Cricket Council said on Thursday it has charged Pakistan's Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif with various offences under its anti-corruption code.

The players “have been officially notified of the offences they are alleged to have committed and have been provisionally suspended pending a decision on those charges”, the ICC said in a statement on its website.

“In accordance with the provisions of the code, this means they are immediately barred from participating in all cricket and related activities until the case has been concluded.”

Test captain Butt and fast bowlers Aamer and Asif were all named in News of the World report which alleged they were involved in a “spot-fixing” scam by bowling deliberate no-balls in last week's Test match with England in exchange for cash.

The trio has protested their innocence and the ICC said they have the right to contest their suspension, and have two weeks to request a hearing before anti-corruption tribunal where they can defend themselves.

However, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said: “We will not tolerate corruption in cricket - simple as that.

“We must be decisive with such matters and if proven, these offences carry serious penalties up to a life ban.

“The ICC will do everything possible to keep such conduct out of the game and we will stop at nothing to protect the sport’s integrity. While we believe the problem is not widespread, we must always be vigilant.”

 

KITTY HAWK: Hurricane Earl bore down on a vast stretch of the US East Coast on Thursday, as tens of thousands of people fled North Carolina’s barrier islands to avoid dangerous winds and surf.

The strongest Atlantic storm of 2010, Earl was expected to remain offshore but still skirt much of the eastern seaboard beginning late Thursday. It is expected to hit Canada’s Nova Scotia by early Saturday.

The US National Hurricane Center downgraded Earl to a category three hurricane at 2:00 pm (1800 GMT) Thursday, but it remained a major storm on course to bring destructive winds and heavy rains to the coast of North Carolina and then move north, wreaking havoc on the end-of-summer Labor Day holiday weekend that usually draws millions to East Coast beaches.

The storm packing sustained winds near 125 miles (205 kilometers) per hour was expected to pass approximately 70 miles off the Outer Banks.

But with the Miami-based NHC predicting hurricane strength winds as far as 90 miles (145 kilometers) from the eye, coastal North Carolina residents were battening down and tourists were scattering inland.

“It’s a serious storm, and we need to treat it like a serious storm,” North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue said Thursday.

US officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for 30,000 residents and visitors of North Carolina’s Hatteras Island.

“This is a day of action,” warned Craig Fugate, chief of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“People need to be rapidly completing their preparedness in the Carolina’s Outer Banks, and for other folks along the East Coast they really need to focus today on what they are going to do when the storm gets there.”

For many tourists, the arrival of the storm up-ended plans for a final few care-free days at the beach before the end of summer.

And while some storm-hardened residents were ignoring evacuation orders, Chris Davidson said he planned to drive with his wife and two children about 100 miles inland, where his mother lives.

“It seems like more people are taking it more seriously than in the past,” Davidson, a hardware store manager, told AFP.

Before 1800 GMT Earl was about 245 miles (395) kilometers south of Cape Hatteras in the Outer Banks – a narrow band of North Carolina barrier islands.

Despite a bright sunny day on the Carolina coast, the huge storm several hundred miles across was heading north at around 18 miles (30 kilometers) per hour.

The NHC also issued a hurricane warning for coastal Massachusetts, including the popular retreat areas of Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, while the Canadian Hurricane Centre issued a hurricane watch for parts of Nova Scotia.

Tropical storm warnings meanwhile were issued for points all along the US East Coast, while President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration for North Carolina, ordering federal assistance to support response efforts.

“This is a large system that impacts well away from the center, and time will be running out for people that had not got ready,” Fugate warned.

Davidson said vacationers were lamenting the premature end of their summer, while local business owners bemoaned lost revenue they had been counting on.

“It'll definitely hurt the local economy. This was a big weekend for the hotels, restaurants and other businesses – although for us, it could give us additional business once the storm is over, depending on how bad it is.”

He said Earl’s arrival had brought an unwelcome end to what had been a banner year for coastal North Carolina.

“It’s been a better tourist season than usual. A lot of families are staying close, driving to the beach, sharing the cost of a beach house rental,” he said. “A lot of businesses were depending on this weekend to finish the season strong.”

Meanwhile, forecasters were also closely tracking the path of Tropical Storm Fiona about 520 miles (835 kilometers) south of Bermuda, with wind speeds of up to 50 miles (85 kilometers) per hour. It is expected to rake over the island chain beginning late Friday.

Gaston, the fourth tropical storm to form in the Atlantic over the past two weeks, weakened Thursday to a tropical depression, the NHC said, much to the relief of aid officials worried it would plow directly over Haiti, still recovering from January’s massive earthquake.

Also on Thursday, a pilotless NASA aircraft was set to overfly Hurricane Earl, in a scientific first to gather data about the potentially deadly storm. – AFP
 

LOS ANGELES: Grammy award-winning US rapper T.I. and his wife were arrested for drugs possession overnight in Los Angeles, police said Thursday.

The hip hop star – real name Clifford Harris, 29 – and wife Tameka Cottle were detained in West Hollywood late Wednesday, said Luis Castro of the local Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau.

The couple were passengers in a car stopped by police on Sunset Boulevard.

The officers smelled marijuana and arrested them for possession of a controlled
substance.

T.I. – who has won three Grammys including for his 2006 collaboration with Justin Timberlake on the song “My Love” – and his wife were both released in the early hours of Thursday on bail of 10,000 dollars
.
Their next court appearance is scheduled for Friday in Beverly Hills.

There was no immediate comment from the star’s representatives. – AFP
 

WASHINGTON: Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed Thursday to produce a framework for a permanent peace deal and to hold a second round of direct talks this month, a modest achievement reached amid deep skepticism about success at their first such session in two years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet again on Sept. 14 and 15 in the Middle East, likely at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, with an eye toward forging the outline of a pact that could lead to a final agreement in a year's time.

The United States’ special Mideast envoy George Mitchell announced the agreement after several hours of talks between Netanyahu and Abbas at the State Department at which the two leaders pledged to work through the region’s deeply ingrained mutual hostility and suspicion to resolve the long-running conflict.

“I believe these two leaders – President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu – are committed to doing what it takes to achieve the right results,” Mitchell told reporters. He refused to discuss specifics of what the framework agreement would entail but said it would lay out the “fundamental compromises” needed for a final settlement.

Those compromises will involve the thorniest issues that have dogged the parties for decades: the borders of an eventual Palestinian state, the political status of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and security.

Mitchell said both he and Clinton would be at the next round. Diplomats said it will likely also include other officials from the “Quartet” of Mideast peacemakers – the US, the UN, Russia and the European Union.

Earlier, Clinton had opened the talks with an appeal for the two leaders to overcome a long history of failed attempts to resolve the conflict and make the difficult compromises needed for peace.

“I know the decision to sit at this table was not easy,” said Clinton, who with Mitchell has been working to re-launch talks stalled for 20 months. “We understand the suspicion and skepticism that so many feel borne out of years of conflict and frustrated hopes.”

“But, by being here today, you each have taken an important step toward freeing your peoples from the shackles of a history we cannot change and moving toward a future of peace and dignity that only you can create,” she said.

Flanked by Abbas and Netanyahu at the head of a U-shaped table in the State Department’s ornate Benjamin Franklin room, Clinton said the Obama administration was committed to a settlement. She stressed, though, that the heavy lifting must be done by Netanyahu and Abbas with support from the international community, particularly the Arab and Israeli publics.

“We will be an active and sustained partner,” she said. “But we cannot and we will not impose a solution. Only you can make the decisions necessary to reach an agreement and secure a peaceful future for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”

Netanyahu and Abbas vowed to work together but each outlined concessions required from the other.

“I see in you a partner for peace,” Netanyahu told Abbas. “Together we can lead our people to a historic future that can put an end to claims and to conflict. Now this will not be easy. A true peace, a lasting peace would be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both sides.”

Abbas called on Israel to end Jewish settlements in the West Bank and other areas that the Palestinians want to be part off their own state. Netanyahu insisted that any agreement must assure Israel's security as a Jewish state.

“We do know how hard are the hurdles and obstacles we face during these negotiations – negotiations that within a year should result in an agreement that will bring peace,” Abbas said.

Thursday’s negotiations are the first since the last effort broke down in December 2008. A spate of violence this week in the West Bank and concerns about Israeli settlement activity have cast low expectations.

Underscoring the talks’ fragility, gunmen from the militant Palestinian Hamas movement killed four Israeli residents of a West Bank settlement on Tuesday. And, on Wednesday, hours before the leaders ate dinner at the White House, Hamas gunmen wounded two Israelis as they drove in their car in another part of the West Bank.

Hamas rejected the talks and stepped up its rhetoric as the ceremony in Washington began.

“These talks are not legitimate because the Palestinian people did not give any mandate to Mahmoud Abbas and his team to negotiate on behalf of our people,” said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman. “Therefore, any result and outcome of these talks does not commit us and does not commit our people, it only commits Abbas himself.”

Further complicating the situation is the fact that the talks will face their first test within weeks, at the end of September, when the Israeli government’s declared slowdown in settlement construction is slated to end.

A Palestinians have said that a renewal of settlement construction will torpedo the talks. The Israeli government is divided over the future of the slowdown, and a decision to extend it could split Netanyahu’s hawkish coalition. Netanyahu has given no indication so far that it will continue beyond the deadline. – AP

TAUNTON: Pakistan's first match since a betting scandal engulfed the team on their tour of England ended with them having just 11 fit players at their disposal on Thursday.

Pakistan won a one-day tour game against southwest county Somerset by eight runs in the last over in their final match before Twenty20 and one-day series against England.

Umar Akmal was hit in the face batting in the nets at Somerset's County Ground before play started and missed the warm-up match entirely while all-rounder Abdul Razzaq suffered a back problem warming-up between innings and was unable to bowl.

Shafqat Rana, Pakistan's associate manager, told reporters Razzaq's condition was being assessed.

Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed, speaking before play started, said he expected Umar Akmal to be fit for the remainder of the tour.

Saeed added replacements would be called up to take the squad back to its original 16-man size but said he did not know who the new players would be.

In the match itself, Pakistan made 264 all out after being sent into bat.

Shazaib Hasan top-scored for Pakistan with 105, off 120 balls with two sixes and 10 fours, while Fawad Alam made 97.

The pair put on 169 runs in 31 overs for the fourth wicket.

Debutant medium-pace bowler Lewis Gregory led Somerset's attack with four wickets for 49 runs.

Somerset finished on 256 for nine with South African Zander de Bruyn unbeaten on 122.

Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took three for 40 and paceman Umar Gul three for 66.

The match passed of without incident and a collection amongst the crowd of 4,000, who acknowledged all the tourists' good play with traditional polite applause, raised 2,580 pounds (3,971 dollars) for the Pakistan flood-relief fund.

Somerset chief executive Richard Gould told reporters the club would round that figure up to 5,000 pounds (7,696 dollars).

Pakistan play the first of two Twenty20 internationals against England, both in Cardiff, on Sunday.

The teams then contest a five-match one-day series starting at the Riverside, the home ground of northeast county Durham, on September 10.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday approved four Eid-ul-Fitr holidays from September 10 to 13.

He has urged the nation not to forget their brothers and sisters affected by the devastating floods on this sacred occasion.

All government institutions will remain close from Friday to Monday next week.—APP

LAHORE: After an attack on a religious procession in Lahore, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah on Thursday once again blamed the federal government for non-cooperation in fight against terrorism.

Sanaullah, while talking to DawnNews, said that Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s help against terror attacks was only restricted to writing warning letters.

He claimed that people involved in terror activities in Punjab were coming from Waziristan.

The provincial law minister said that joint investigation committee had been formed to investigate the Karbala Gamay Shah attack.

NEW ORLEANS: A mile-long oil sheen spread Thursday from an offshore petroleum platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico off Lousiana, west of the site of BP’s massive spill.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about a mile (1 1/2 kilometers) long and 100 feet (30 meters) wide, was spotted near the platform owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy Inc.

He said Mariner had deployed three firefighting vessels to the site and one already was in place fighting the blaze.

The Coast Guard says no one was killed in the explosion and fire, which was reported by a commercial helicopter flying over the site around 9 a.m. CDT (1400 GMT). All 13 people aboard the rig were rescued as they floated in the nearby water in survival outfits called gumby suits.

The platform is in about 340 feet (105 meters) of water and about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Vermilion Bay on the central Louisiana coast. Its location is considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) where BP’s well spewed oil and gas for three months after an April rig explosion.

All 13 people aboard the rig were found floating in the water, sticking close together, Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.

“These guys had the presence of mind, used their training to get into those gumby suits before they entered the water. It speaks volumes to safety training and the importance of it because beyond getting off the rig there’s all the hazards of the water such as hypothermia and things of that nature,” Edwards said.

All were being flown to a hospital in Houma to be checked over. Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau said one person was injured, but the platform’s owner, Houston-based Mariner Energy, Inc., said there were no injuries.

“Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The cause is not known, and an investigation will be undertaken,” the company said in a statement.

The platform is a fixed petroleum platform that was in production at the time of the fire, according to a homeland security operational update obtained by The Associated Press.
The update said the platform was producing about 58,800 gallons (222,575 liters) of oil and 900,000 cubic feet (25,000 cubic meters) of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons (15,900 liters) of oil.

Seven Coast Guard helicopters, two airplanes and three cutters were dispatched to the scene from New Orleans, Houston and Mobile, Alabama, Ben-Iesau said. She said authorities do not know whether oil was leaking from the site.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama was in a national security meeting and did not know whether Obama had been informed of the explosion.

“We obviously have response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water,” Gibbs said.

Mariner Energy focuses on oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico.

In April, Apache Corp., another independent petroleum company, announced plans to buy Mariner in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $3.9 billion, including the assumption of about $1.2 billion of Mariner’s debt. That deal is pending.

Apache spokesman Bob Dye said the platform is in shallow water. Responding to any oil spill in shallow water would be much easier than in deep water, where crews depend on remote-operated vehicles access equipment on the sea floor. Mariner said in initial flyover for no hydrocarbon spill.

A company report said the well was drilled in the third quarter of 2008.

The platform is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west of BP's blown-out well. On Friday, BP was expected to begin the process of removing the cap and failed blowout preventer, another step toward completion of a relief well that would put a finals eal on the well. The BP-leased rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 people and setting off a three-month leak that totaled 206 million gallons (780 million liters) of oil. – AP
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KARACHI: Three people were killed in firing incidents in different areas of Karachi on Thursday.

Unknown assailants stormed a dispensary in the area of Pirabad of Banaras Chok and killed Danish Ali. The assailants fled while firing aerial gun shots.

In Malir, gunmen shot dead a laborer in the Khokharapar area. Situation became critical in Malir and Saudabad after the killing.

In another incident, a man was gunned down in 13-D of Gulshan-e-Iqbal. There were also reports of people getting injured because of firing in other areas of the city.—DawnNews