Thursday, November 17, 2011

UK Iraq war report delayed over secret documents

8:07 AM McGhori

LONDON: Britain’s public inquiry into the Iraq War said on Thursday it would not deliver its conclusions until next summer at the earliest as it seeks the release of secret government documents.The five-member inquiry team began hearings in November 2009 and had hoped to deliver its verdict by the end of the year or early 2012. But in a statement on its website, it said that timescale was no longer possible.“The inquiry has advised the government that it will need until at least summer 2012 to produce a draft report which will do justice to the issues involved,” it said.“Very considerable progress has already been made, but there is still much to be done.”The inquiry was negotiating the declassification of a “significant volume” of secret...
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Pakistani family stand trial for ‘honour killing’

8:05 AM McGhori

BRUSSELS: A Pakistani family of four go on trial Thursday in connection with the “honour killing” of a 20-year-old woman who defied them by living with a Belgian and refusing an arranged marriage.Sadia Sheikh, a Belgian law student of Pakistani origin, was shot dead by three bullets fired by her older brother Mudusar on October 22, 2007, when visiting her family who had pledged to patch up their quarrel.Her parents and sister are accused of aiding and abetting the killing.She had left the family home to study after her shopkeeper parents tried to arrange a marriage with a cousin living in Pakistan she had never met.Before moving in with a Belgian man her age named Jean, she spent some time in a centre for victims of domestic violence where...
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Mullen’s spokesman admits existence of secret memo

7:52 AM McGhori

WASHINGTON: The spokesman for former Chairman US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Mike Mullen confirmed the existence of a secret memo alleged to have been sent by President Zardari to Admiral Mullen.A Pakistani businessman alleged in a column in the Financial Times last month that a senior Pakistani diplomat asked for assistance in getting a message from Zardari to Admiral Mike Mullen, at the time chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.The author, Mansoor Ijaz, alleged that Zardari feared a military takeover following the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May and brought unprecedented public scrutiny on Pakistani leaders.Asked about the memo referred to in the Financial Times column, Captain John Kirby, who was Mullen’s spokesman...
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Rocket hits near major Afghan meeting: officials

3:52 AM McGhori

KABUL: A rocket exploded on Thursday near the venue of a major gathering in the Afghan capital discussing controversial future relations with the United States, officials said.Two rockets were fired into the city shortly after 8:00 am, before day two of the loya jirga, a traditional meeting of elders, had started.“It’s apparently rocket shots fired into Kabul,” said the city’s police Chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi after witnesses reported two loud explosions.Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said one of the rockets landed by the side of a road in an area next to the Intercontinental Hotel, which an AFP reporter said was roughly 500 metres (yards) from the jirga venue.One civilian had been “slightly injured” by the other rocket...
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