The New Nation - Internet Edition

India deploys more fighter jets in Kashmir: 12 hurt in Grenade attack

AFP, New Delhi

India has deployed its top fighter jets in its part of disputed Kashmir bordering Pakistan, officials and a report said Wednesday.

At least six Soviet-built Sukhoi-30MKI jets, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, have been deployed at Avantipura air force base near Kashmir's largest city Srinagar.

The base is equipped with crash-prone MiG-21 jets, which India first imported from the Soviet Union in the 1960s.

"The Sukhois had been held deep down our strategic corridor in (the western Indian city of) Pune, and their deployment in Kashmir will address any perceived threat," an air force official said on condition he was not named.

"But this is a defensive stance," the officer said.

Air Marshal P.K. Barbora, commander of India's Western Air Command, was quoted by the Hindustan Times newspaper as saying the deployment was "temporary."

India acquired 60 Sukhoi-30s in 2001. The twin-seater frontline jets can carry eight tonnes of armaments including nuclear bombs and cruise at a speed of 3,200 kilometres (1,988 miles) an hour. The air force official said the Sukhois would patrol Indian borders extending up to China and fly across Kashmir's rugged Kargil peaks, where India and Pakistan fought a mini-war in 1999.

The Indian Air Force, the world's fourth largest, is also planning to deploy up to 40 Sukhoi jets in the northeast close to the border with China, the official added. The Kashmir deployment comes amid strains in the India-Pakistan peace process, with New Delhi accusing Islamabad of renewed support for cross-border militancy and ceasefire violations along the Line of Control dividing Kashmir.

The two countries have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since their independence in 1947. Each holds the region in part but claims it in full.

Meanwhile at least 12 people were wounded on Wednesday after suspected militants threw a grenade into a crowded market in Indian Kashmir, police said.

The grenade was aimed at a police jeep in the heart of Srinagar, Indian Kashmir's summer capital, they said.

"The blast created panic in the busy area and people ran for cover in shops and buildings," said Latif Ahmed, a shopkeeper who witnessed the blast.

Officials say violence involving Indian troops and Muslim militants has declined significantly since India and Pakistan, who claim the region in full but rule in parts, started a peace process in 2004.

But people are still killed in shootouts and occasional explosions. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir in nearly 20 years of violence.

Thaksin’s brother-in-law elected Thai PM, calls for reconciliation

AFP, Bangkok

A brother-in-law of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra was elected Thai prime minister by parliament Wednesday but faced immediate opposition from protesters who vowed to force him from office.

Somchai Wongsawat, 61, called for reconciliation with the protesters who have occupied the prime minister's offices for the last three weeks in a bid to topple the government.

His predecessor Samak Sundaravej was removed from the post last week by a court that found he was illegally paid for hosting TV cooking shows.

Somchai, who is married to Thaksin's politically powerful sister Yaowapa, will not take office until he is endorsed by Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a process that could take several days.

"We have to make Thailand a liveable country again," Somchai told reporters, after winning 298 votes in the 480-seat parliament.

"It's about time for national reconciliation in Thailand," he said.

"In the past we have had so many conflicts, but I personally don't harbour any anger or hatred against anybody," he added.

The parliamentary vote came almost exactly two years after Thaksin was toppled by the military following months of rallies by the same anti-government activists, known as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

The PAD quickly vowed to press ahead with their campaign to force Somchai and his entire People Power Party (PPP) out of government, with the ultimate goal of curtailing democracy in Thailand.

"We all know that he is Thaksin's brother-in-law," said Somsak Kosaisuk, a key PAD leader. "He is not only a nominee for Thaksin. He has direct relations. How can people accept this?"

Somchai was a respected career bureaucrat and former judge before entering public life. His wife Yaowapa was banned from politics following the coup against Thaksin.

He was made a deputy PPP leader after winning a parliamentary seat, along with his daughter, in elections last December. Somchai only became a prime ministerial candidate after Samak was removed from office last week.

The PPP leadership tried to return Samak to office in a parliamentary vote on Friday, but critics in the party boycotted the session.

US Embassy in Yemen hit by car bomb

AP, San'a

A U.S. spokesman says the American Embassy in Yemen was hit by a car bomb and that there were unspecified casualties.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Ryan Gliha tells The Associated Press by telephone that there was a second explosion Wednesday that followed the initial one. He did not have figures for casualties or know their nationalities.

The embassy in Yemen has been the focus of violence in the past. The country is the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden,

In March, three mortar rounds targeting the embassy crashed into a high school for girls next door, killing a Yemeni security guard and wounding more than a dozen girls.

Afghan bomb kills four US-led coalition soldiers

AFP, Kabul

Four soldiers serving in the US-led coalition in Afghanistan were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb Wednesday in the east of the country, the force said.

An Afghan national was also killed by the improvised device in the province of Paktia, which came as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was in Afghanistan for talks with President Hamid Karzai.

The nationality of the soldiers was not given, but most of the troops who are deployed in that part of the country are US.

"Four coalition service members and one Afghan national were killed in an IED (improvised explosive device) strike in eastern Afghanistan this morning," the force said in a statement.

A coalition military spokesman contacted by AFP was unable to give details of the Afghan national.

The spokesman said a roadside bomb struck the military vehicle.

It was not immediately confirmed who was behind the bomb blast but Taliban militants waging an increasingly bloody insurgency have been using improvised bombs against foreign troops based here.

With the latest deaths, a total of 210 international soldiers have now been killed in insurgency-related unrest in Afghanistan this year alone, according to AFP tally. Around 220 died last year.

Gates was in Kabul to meet Karzai on how to tackle the growing unrest. The top US commander in Afghanistan, David McKiernan, said Tuesday that he needed more than 10,000 extra troops to fight the insurgency.

The hardline Islamic Taliban, who were ousted from power in late 2001 in a US-led invasion, are trying to topple the Western-backed Kabul government and force out the tens of thousands of international troops supporting it.

Their insurgency includes suicide attacks, roadside bombings and attacks on Afghan and foreign military targets, and is at its worst in the south and east of Afghanistan.

In a separate statement, the US-led coalition said it killed two militants in an operation Tuesday in the central province of Ghazni.

Elsewhere in Ghazni, two other militants were killed in a separate raid by Afghan security forces the same day, the defence ministry in Kabul said, while about two dozen other suspected rebels were captured.

An Afghan army soldier was also killed in a clash Tuesday with militants in Wardak, another restive province just south of Kabul.

There are about 70,000 international soldiers in Afghanistan. Most operate under the command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force but there is also a separate US-led coalition.

3 dead, 6,200 sick in China after drinking tainted milk

AFP, Beijing

China said Wednesday that more than 6,000 babies had fallen ill and three died from drinking contaminated milk powder as it promised a sweeping check of every dairy producer across the country.

In a developing scandal that has reignited global fears over the safety of its products, China's quality watchdog chief said two of 22 companies found to have the chemical melamine in their milk powder were exporting it abroad.

Melamine, an industrial chemical normally used to make plastics and glues, appears to have been added to make the products look as rich in protein. "We will finish the melamine-focused testing on dairy products at all dairy producers as soon as possible and release the results in a timely manner," Li Changjiang, head of the quality watchdog, told a briefing in Beijing.

A total of 6,244 babies have fallen ill after consuming the product, Health Minister Chen Zhu told the same briefing-five times the figure of previous estimates.

While many had now recovered, 1,327 remained in hospital, of whom 158 were suffering from acute kidney failure, Chen told reporters, in the government's first comprehensive account of the crisis.

Three babies had died, Chen said, updating the previous toll by one. They were from northwest China's Gansu province and Zhejiang province in the east, suggesting a problem spanning the entire nation if 1.3 billion people.

Most families struck by the tragedy, which has been brewing for months but only emerged on the public agenda last week, are farmers, but it also has the potential to spread overseas.

The two companies which exported the powder sent it to Bangladesh, Burundi, Gabon, Myanmar and Yemen.

France says European defence neglect hurting Afghanistan

AFP, Canberra

French Defence Minister Herve Morin on Wednesday said years of under-investment in defence by European countries was to blame for a critical shortage of international forces in Afghanistan.

Morin warned during a visit to Australia that the world could not afford to lose the increasingly brutal conflict in Afghanistan and urged nations involved to stay the course to avoid a greater threat of terror.

"Europe, apart from France and Britain, decided a long time ago to disarm. They have not provided enough money for their defence and their security," he told reporters after talks with Australian Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon.

"Most European countries have decided to leave their defence up to NATO," he said when asked whether he agreed with Australia's view that some nations in the continent were not pulling their weight in the escalating Afghan conflict.

"This weakness of Europe is also evident in Afghanistan," he said.

Morin, who visited Afghanistan last week after the deaths of 10 French soldiers, invited Fitzgibbon to accompany him and German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung there in early December.

The forces of the three nations cover much of the mountainous central Asian nation, with Australian soldiers deployed to the south, German troops in the north and French soldiers in central and eastern provinces.

"This will send a sign to the international community that our involvement is necessary and that we need a multi-faceted approach to the Afghanistan problem," he said.

US commander in talks with angry Pakistanis

Reuters, Islamabad

The top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, held talks with Pakistani leaders on Wednesday aiming to patch up ties strained by a flurry of U.S. strikes against militants in Pakistan.

Mullen said this month he was not convinced Western forces were winning in Afghanistan and he was "looking at a new, more comprehensive strategy" that would cover both sides of the border, including Pakistan's tribal areas.

U.S. officials say Taliban and al Qaeda-linked fighters use ethnic Pashtun tribal regions on the Pakistani side of the border as a springboard for attacks into Afghanistan.

A new government in nuclear-armed Pakistan has committed itself to the U.S.-led campaign against Islamist militancy even though support for the United States is deeply unpopular.

But Islamabad objects to cross-border strikes and protested against a bloody helicopter-borne ground assault by U.S. commandos in South Waziristan this month. There have been five U.S. missile strikes this month, killing militants and civilians.

Dealers said the Pakistani rupee weakened to a record low of 77.20/30 to the dollar on Wednesday partly because of tension with the United States, a major source of financial help for Pakistan as it struggles with economic problems.

A U.S. embassy spokesman said Mullen wanted to improve coordination and cooperation with the Pakistani military.

"Admiral Mullen has worked to forge a closer relationship and he wants to continue the relationship building," said the spokesman, Lou Fintor.

Pakistan's army commander, General Ashfaq Kayani, said last week Pakistan's territory would be defended at all cost and a military spokesman said on Tuesday aggression across the border would be confronted.

Asked about Pakistani anger over cross-border U.S. strikes, Fintor said Mullen "recognized the concerns expressed by General Kayani and desires to continue the dialogue."

"The United States is committed to working with Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens," he said.

Malaysia PM says he might resign before 2010

AP, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's prime minister, facing a resurgent opposition and rebellious colleagues in the ruling party, said Wednesday he may hand over power to his deputy before the 2010 deadline he set earlier.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also said he handed over his finance ministry portfolio to his deputy Najib Razak on Wednesday. Abdullah will take the less important defense ministry from Najib.

"I will not be staying more than 2010 naturally t (and) might go earlier," Abdullah told a news conference with Najib.

The changes were apparently aimed at gradually handing over greater responsibilities to Najib as part of a planned power transfer. Abdullah said previously he would step down in mid-2010. He did not elaborate on whether an earlier departure could be this year or next. The announcement comes amid calls by dissidents for him to retire early after he led the ruling National Front coalition to its worst ever election results in the 51 years it has been in power since independence in 1957.

The Front won a simple majority of 140 seats in the 222-member Parliament in the March 8 elections, sliding from a two-thirds majority it had enjoyed for decades. The Front also lost control of five of Malaysia's 13 states to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's People's Alliance coalition.

Anwar claims he is now on the verge of toppling the government through parliamentary defections. He says he has pledges of support from more than 31 National Front lawmakers ready to defect to the People's Alliance.

However, Anwar has refused to divulge their names, and Abdullah has rejected the claim as a "mirage."

But even if turns out that Anwar is bluffing, it doesn't help Abdullah whose popularity is at its lowest in the ruling coalition as well as among the people, thanks to a moribund economy, huge inflation and increasing racial tensions among the country's majority Malays and minority Chinese and Indians.

Meanwhile, the opposition kept up its pressure on Abdullah.

Opposition lawmaker Tian Chua, a senior aide to Anwar, said the People's Alliance would give Abdullah "a few days" to voluntarily hand over power to the opposition to ensure a peaceful transition.