Pakistan test-fires nuclear-capable missile

ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: Pakistan today test-fired its third "indigenously developed" medium-range ballistic missile within a fortnight, the military said.

"Pakistan today carried out another successful test-fire of its indigenously developed medium range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Hatf IV," an army spokesman was quoted as saying in the news.

The missile, also known as Shaheen 1, was already tested last Wednesday. It has a range of 700 Km, which is a cause of concern for India and can carry any type of warhead.

Earlier this month, Pakistan tested a short-range Hatf-III Ghaznavi missile.

Today’s test "concludes for now the series of planned tests which started on October 3," the spokesman said. However a longer-range version of the Hatf series would be tested in the future, he added, without specifying when.

"Longer range version of the Hatf series will be tested in future as soon as technical parameters need to be validated." (UNI)

Family feud sparks drive by shooting in Australia

SYDNEY, Oct 14: Two Sydney residents were shot dead in their home today in the latest round of a feud between two warring families.

More than 100 bullets were fired at the house in the Sydney suburb of greenacre in a drive-by shooting.

A 22-year-old woman died instantly and a 24-year-old man succumbed to gunshot wounds in hospital a short time later.

Police said the shooting was related to the execution-style murder of Ali Abdulrazak, killed as he sat in his car outside Lakemba Mosque in August.

Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Madden said: "These are not random incidents that occur, these are part of an ongoing feud ... Between two families that has resulted in the past few weeks with several shootings, stabbings and other serious violent crimes." (DPA)

US believes Saddam stashed 3 billion dollars in Syrian banks

WASHINGTON, Oct 14: The US Government is claiming that more than 3 billion dollars of the fallen Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein are in bank accounts in Syria, a US treasury spokesperson told news station CNN today.

The US wants Syria to cooperate in locating the money and assist in returning it to the Iraqi people. Washington fears that the money is being used by remnants of Saddam’s regime for terrorist attacks against Iraqi civilians and US soldiers.

The US has provided the Syrian Government with "very specific information" in regards to the funds, including two account numbers.

Two internal revenue service criminal investigators and several representatives of the Central Bank of Iraq are in damascus seeking access to the specific accounts in which the US believes the money is being kept.

The Bush administration has been pressuring Syria for months to open up its banks to US investigators to search for Iraqi assets. (DPA)

Bin Laden son assumes key role in Al-Qaeda: Report

WASHINGTON, Oct 14: One of Osama bin Laden’s oldest sons has emerged as a key player in the Al-Qaeda network and is part of a small group of leaders running the group from Iran, the Washington Post reported today.

Citing US and European intelligence sources, the newspaper reported that Saad bin Laden and other senior Al-Qaeda operatives in Iran were in contact with an Al-Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia just prior to the May 12 suicide bombing in the Saudi capital that killed 35 people.

The sources gave no details of the communications but said the contacts led them to conclude that the Riyadh attacks were planned in Iran and ordered from there, the newspaper said.

Saad bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders in Iran are protected by a secretive Iranian security force loyal to the nation’s clerics and beyond the control of the central Government, the report said.

The newspaper said Saudi Arabia has been trying to persuade Iran to extradite bin Laden and other suspects in the Riyadh bombing. Saudi officials estimate there are up to 400 Al-Qaeda members in Iran.

Born in Saudi Arabia, Saad bin Laden is believed to be 24 years old and is one of the eldest sons of Osama bin Laden and his first wife, according to the newspaper. Osama bin Laden has more than two dozen children with five wives.

According to the Washington Post, Saad bin Laden was at his father’s side in Afghanistan in the mid-1980s when Al-Qaeda was formed and was groomed to take a leadership role.

The younger Bin Laden has only recently emerged as an important target for the CIA and FBI. It has only been since his arrival in Iran in the last year that he has assumed a more active role in directing Al-Qaeda, and that he has been identified as a senior leader, the newspaper said. (AGENCIES)

Iran hides nuke site near Isfahan - exile group

VEINNA, Oct 14: An Iranian opposition group that has provided accurate information about undeclared nuclear facilities in Iran in the past said today that Tehran has been hiding another nuclear site near Isfahan in central Iran.

"The site has been built to test centrifuges that enrich uranium," Firouz Mahvi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group, told reporters.

"It is located 15 Km (nine miles) east of Isfahan under the name of Isfahan’s fuel research and production centre," he said. Iran denied it has been hiding any nuclear facilities from United Nations Inspectors.

"We have certainly not" hidden any facilities from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi, told in Tehran. "This piece of information is absolutely baseless."

The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declined to comment on the NCRI report.

However, a western diplomat familiar with IAEA matters told that the NCRI, which Washington lists as a terrorist organisation, has a mixed record of reporting on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

"The IAEA has visited some sites the NCRI reported on this year," he said. "Some have turned out to be nuclear facilities and some have not. They do not have a 100 percent accuracy ratio."

In August 2002, the NCRI broke the news of two undeclared nuclear sites in Iran — a massive uranium-enrichment complex at Natanz and a heavy-water production facility at Arak.

Tehran later declared these facilities to the IAEA, which has placed surveillance cameras at Natanz to ensure that no undeclared nuclear activities take place there. (AGENCIES)

South Korea rotates non-combat troops in Iraq

SEOUL, Oct 14: South Korea sent replacement non-combat troops to Iraq today and said President Roh Moo-Hyun would outline Seoul’s position to US President George W Bush next week on Washington’s request for combat troops.

The United States asked South Korea last month to send the combat troops to help stabilise post-war Iraq.

South Korean media have said Washington wants Seoul to commit about 5,000 troops and to make a decision by the end of this month. It has not said where it wants the force.

South Korea has had about 700 medical and engineering troops working out of a US base in the Iraqi town of Nassariya since may without incident. Replacement units left south Korea today for Iraq.

A South Korean fact-finding team sent to Iraq to study security said on its return last week that the security picture was mixed and did not commit itself on whether troops should go.

Roh, who is scheduled to meet bush at an Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok next week, faces a tough political decision in which he must weigh strong public opposition to the Iraq war against Seoul’s desire to shore up its military alliance with Washington.

Protesters demonstrated near the US embassy against the request on Tuesday.

The troop decision could be further complicated by Roh’s call for a December referendum on his rule, a move that surprised political foes and friends alike.

But Yonhap News Agency quoted Roh’s National Defence Adviser, Kim Hee-Sang, as saying the referendum proposal would not affect the troop decision and it was not necessary to send a second survey team to Iraq, as some opposition politicians have urged.

The Presidential blue house said Roh’s agenda for talks with Bush included North Korea, trade, their military alliance and an explanation of South Korea’s stance on sending troops. It was not clear whether Roh would be in a position to say definitively whether Seoul could meet the US request. (AGENCIES)

Lankan PM to visit India

NEW DELHI, Oct 14: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will pay a four-day official visit to India from Sunday, during which he will have wide ranging talks with Indian leaders on bilateral issues and the progress in the ongoing peace process in the island.

Mr Wickremsinghe will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Foreign Minister Tiran Fernando, Economioc Affairs Minister Milinda Moragoda and Director General of the Peace Secretariat Bernard Gunatilake.

The Sri Lankan leaders will hold discussions with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, National Security Advisor Brijesh Mishra and others.

Before leaving on October 22, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister will also meet oppositon leader and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister I K Gujral, informed sourcess said.

The Sri laLkan cabinet has nominated Mr Tiron Fernando to be a candidate for the post of Secretary General to the United Nations.

The peace talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE which is in limbo for seveal months is likely to be a subject of discussion between the premiers of the two countries. (UNI)

UK warns against travel in Bolivia

LONDON, Oct 14: Britain warned its citizens today to avoid travelling in the area around La Paz in Bolivia following a day of protests in which at least 15 people were killed.

"The security situation has deteriorated over the last few days," a foreign office spokeswoman told . "We are advising people to avoid the area."

She said the airport at La Paz had been closed, adding that anyone currently in the area should avoid any demonstrations and not attempt to breach road blocks.

At least 14 people were killed yesterday when Bolivian police in La Paz clashed with protesters armed with slings and stones demanding the removal of President Gonzalo Sanchez De Lozada, Bolivia’s permanent human rights assembly said.

More than 50 people have been killed in a month of protests by thousands of workers and peasant farmers against the President’s free market economic policies. (AGENCIES)

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