NEW DELHI, Nov 30: A US-based human rights group has said that violence on minorities in Bangladesh had increased.....more

Japanese diplomats
killed in Iraq attack

TOKYO, Nov 30: Two Japanese diplomats were killed in an apparent ambush in northern Iraq, Japan’s Foreign Minister...more

2 US soldiers killed
in ambush west
of Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Nov 30: Guerrillas attacked an American convoy west of Baghdad with small arms and rocket-propelled.....more

Turkish engineer freed
in Afghanistan -Govt

KABUL, Nov 30: The Governor of an Afghan province said today that a Turkish engineer kidnapped by the Taliban had.....more

KATHMANDU, Nov 30: The three-day meetings of the Nepalese and Indian custom officials ended with the agreement to.....more

Hindus proposed to
protest destruction
of houses, temples

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: The Hindu community living in Peshawar will organise a demonstration today against the canton....more

Italy Court revokes ban
on crucifixes in school

ROME, Nov 30: An Italian Court which sparked nationwide fury last month by ordering....more

Brazilian author fonseca
receives Juan Rulfo
prize for literature

GUADALAJARA, MEXICO, Nov 30: Brazilian author Rubem Fonseca accepted the Juan Rulfo prize for literature at the 17th....more

Human Rightsbody asks Khaleda Govt to
protect minorities in B’desh

NEW DELHI, Nov 30: A US-based human rights group has said that violence on minorities in Bangladesh had increased since assumption of power by Khaleda Zia two years ago and appealed to United Nations and world Governments to use their good offices "to ensure that Bangladesh Government takes urgent steps to protect minorities there".

In the appeal, which was also sent to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) said "since Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-Jamiat-e-Islam led coalition Government came to power in October, 2001, inhuman violence has been unleashed against the freedom loving people of Bangladesh".

Alleging that a "silent pogrom is going on unabated", the organisation based in Santa Clara said the violence was aimed especially "against religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous people - the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and people of tribal origin".

In its appeal, the HRCBM referred to several incidents of violence perpetrated against the minorities including "ultimatum" given by fundamentalist outfit Harkat-e-Islam for conversion or death, killing, abduction, gang rape, forced "protection tax" (Ziziya) collection, large-scale land grabbing and eviction and attacks on religious shrines.

These incidents, according to the HRCBM, were spread over Manikganj, Brahmanbaria, Barisal, Thakurgaon, Bagmara, Rajshahi, Gopalganj and Narayanganj, among other places.

The human rights body also alleged that "in many instances, the police are also involved with the criminals in committing brutality".

Demanding urgent and stringent action against the culprits, it also sought protection for minority leaders and businessmen, families and guaranteeing of their freedom of speech and religious practices.

The HRCBM also sought recovery of all lands unlawfully occupied and rehabilitation of and compensation to all families displaced.

It urged the Khaleda Zia Government to restore secularism and communal harmony and guarantee basic human rights to all citizens as enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights. (PTI)

Japanese diplomats killed in Iraq attack

TOKYO, Nov 30: Two Japanese diplomats were killed in an apparent ambush in northern Iraq, Japan’s Foreign Minister said today, a development certain to complicate Tokyo’s decision on when to send troops to help rebuild the country.

News of the first Japanese deaths in Iraq since the US-led war in Iraq began in March comes as Japan — one of Washington’s closest allies in Asia — ponders when to send the non-combat troops and domestic voters grow increasingly nervous about the dangers involved.

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi told a news conference that two diplomats, 45-year-old Katsuhiko Oku and Masamori Inoue, 30, were killed in the attack, which officials said occurred near Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, 175 Km north of Baghdad.

A non-Japanese driver was also injured in the attack, which took place around 5 PM Iraq time (1930 Hrs IST), officials said.

The Tokyo report followed news that seven Spanish intelligence agents were killed in a guerrilla roadside attack about 45 Km south of Baghdad.

Kawaguchi said, however, that Tokyo remained undaunted in its determination to fight terrorism and help rebuild Iraq.

"This incident is unforgivable," she said. "There is no wavering in our country’s basic stance to actively carry out reconstruction aid for Iraq without giving in to terrorism."

Earlier, Kawaguchi had told reporters that Japan would continue to carefully assess the situation to decide when it could send troops to Iraq.

Kawaguchi said the two diplomats had been en route to a conference on the reconstruction of northern Iraq to be held in Tikrit, about 10-15 Km from the ambush site.

Political analysts have said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi risks a serious blow to his popularity if troops are sent to Iraq and deaths occur, an especially unwelcome prospect with an election for Parliament’s upper house set for next July.

Japan has passed a special law to enable it to send troops to Iraq, but in line with the nation’s Pacifist constitution, they can only be sent to "non-combat zones" and must take part only in reconstruction and humanitarian work.

Tokyo had inched closer to a troop dispatch on Friday, when Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba said a recent fact-finding mission had reported that the southern part of the country was relatively stable.

Members of a Japanese military survey team returned home on Thursday after investigating security around the town of Samawah, where Japan has been planning to send its forces.

A suicide bomb attacks against a military barracks in nearby Nassiriya killed 19 Italians earlier this month, forcing Japan to put its plan to send troops by the end of the year on hold. (AGENCIES)

Italy Court revokes ban on crucifixes in school

ROME, Nov 30: An Italian Court which sparked nationwide fury last month by ordering a school to remove crucifixes from its walls, revoked its decision yesterday in a move that will be welcomed by politicians and Pope John Paul.

Adel Smith, a Muslim activist, won the Court order in October, saying he did not want his two children to see the Christian symbols at their school in L’Aquila, a small town east of Rome.

Government heavyweights lined up to defend the presence of crucifixes, the education ministry filed an appeal and Pope John Paul weighed in, arguing it was undemocratic and dangerous to try to erase a country’s religious symbols.

Italy has officially split Church from state but remains deeply attached to its Roman Catholic roots and the crucifix row has gripped the nation.

Yesterday the Court in L‘Aquila said it was overturning the ban because it did not have the judicial authority to order the removal of crucifixes from classrooms.

Two Italian laws dating from the 1920s, when the fascists were in power, state that schools must display crucifixes.

The laws are still technically in effect though they have not been strictly enforced since 1984, when Roman Catholicism stopped being the state religion under a new accord with the Vatican.

The L‘Aquila Court said it would refer the matter to a regional Judge. (AGENCIES)

USS cole deployed for first time since bombing in Yemen

WASHINGTON, Nov 30: The USS cole left left port on its first mission since Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists blew a gaping hole into the guided-missile destroyer three years ago off the coast of Yemen.

An explosives-Laden rubber Dingy piloted by two suicide attackers rammed the side of the cole on October 12, 2000, killed 17 sailors, wounding 39 and crippling the ship while it was outside the port of Aden for a refuelling stop.

Nine crew members from that mission were among the 340 sailors aboard the cole when it steamed into the Atlantic ocean yesterday afternoon from a US navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, about 300 kilometres south of Washington.

The ship has undergone a 250-million-dollar repair since it was towed back to the United States three years ago.

The cole is now headed for the mediterranean with two other navy destroyers on a six-month cruise in which they will accompany the aircraft carrier USS enterprise.

On Tuesday, Yemeni officials announced the capture in the capital San’a of Muhammad Hamdi Al-Ahdal, alias Abu-Asem Al-Makki, wanted by the United States as a mastermind of the bombing against the cole. He is alleged to be a senior figure in Al-Qaeda, the terrorist network of Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden. (DPA)

Spain’s PM reaffirms support for Iraq operation

CRAWFORD, TEXAS, Nov 30: Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar assured US President George W Bush of his continued support for joint military operations in Iraq following the deaths of seven Spanish intelligence agents there, the White House said.

It was the deadliest single attack on Spain’s personnel in Iraq.

"President Bush called Aznar to express his sympathy on behalf of the American people," said Allen Abney, a White House spokesman yesterday. "Aznar thanked Bush for the call and reaffirmed his support for our joint efforts in Iraq."

Seven Spanish intelligence agents were killed and one was wounded about 30 Km south of Baghdad yesterday when attackers armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles ambushed their two unmarked vehicles.

The attack presents Aznar with his biggest test since he defied public opinion by backing Bush over the US-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein and sent 1,300 Spanish peacekeeping troops to Iraq.

Bush called Aznar from his Crawford, Texas Ranch. (AGENCIES)

Four inmates, including Indian, on death row in Sumatra

JAKARTA, Nov 30: There are four prisoners on death row, including two Thai nationals and an Indian, in Indonesia’s north Sumatra province, news reports said today.

The inmates facing death by firing squad include Indian national Ayoda Prasad Chaubey Ahmad Suradji, an Indonesian faith Healer found guilty of murdering 42 women and Thai nationals sae low prasert and Namsong Sirilak — a woman, said the state-run Antara News Agency.

The three foreign nationals were sentenced to death for trying to smuggle heroin into the country in 1995 through the Palonia airport in Medan, north Sumatra, 1,395 kilometres northwest of Jakarta.

"Some of them have asked for the Supreme Court to review their sentences or asked for a pardon from the President," said Lukas Tarigan, an official of the justice and human rights ministry’s office for north Sumtra. (DPA)

China severs diplomatic ties with Kiribati

BEIJING, Nov 30: China broke diplomatic relations with Kiribati today, about three weeks after the tiny South Pacific island nation recognised Taiwan, an island Beijing considers a breakaway province.

China decided to sever ties with Kiribati and cease all bilateral agreements after Chinese Ambassador Na Shuxue lodged a strong protest over its recognition of Taiwan, the foreign ministry said on its web site, www.Fmprc.Gov.Cn.

Beijing and Taipei have been bitter diplomatic rivals since their split at the end of a civil war in 1949, accusing each other of using money — or so-called "dollar diplomacy" — to swap potential allies back and forth.

The switch, which was inevitable after Kiribati established relations with Taiwan, brought the number of countries recognising the self-ruled island to 27.

China has tried to push Taiwan into diplomatic isolation and threatened to attack if the wealthy democratic island of 23 million declared independence.

Kiribati is a group of small islands in the Pacific with a population of 90,000.

Taiwan’s parliament passed on Thursday a watered-down referendum bill that fell short of allowing a vote on independence, backing away from an immediate showdown with China. (AGENCIES)