The New Nation - Internet Edition

Uncertainty grips Mumbai after attacks

Reuters, Mumbai

People dived for cover or ducked down behind cars on the streets of Mumbai as a cracking noise snapped in the air.

Policemen cocked their guns, took up positions and scoured the rooftops of buildings for attackers. There were none.

No one could say what the sound was and this was an area far from places where commandos were fighting Islamist militants.

But fear was palpable after a series of attacks in the city that killed 124 people and wounded almost 300 at its railway stations and its two top luxury hotels.

"When you have a terrorist shooting down people in stations and on roads, how can anyone feel safe any more?" asked shopkeeper Pankaj Angre as others on the street nodded in agreement.

"This attack is different because it's not a car bomb or a fixed target. This time people have been attacked where they are most vulnerable-on roads and at railway stations.

"There is an atmosphere of fear, anger and suspicion.

The city of almost 18 million prides itself as living on the edge. It is at the vanguard of India's emerging economic power and the base the Bollywood film industry, but it is also home to organised crime syndicates and abject poverty.

It has been the target of militant attacks before, including bomb blasts in 1993 that killed at least 260 people and wounded hundreds more at the stock exchange and other landmarks.

Just two years ago, more than 180 people died when Islamist militants bombed commuter trains used by millions of people every day.

But Mumbai recovered quickly from those attacks.

On Friday, streets were deserted across much of downtown southern Mumbai, where real estate is among the most expensive in the world. Shops were closed and many people stayed away from offices.

But hundreds clustered around the locations where the commandos were engaged in action, held back by police.

Elsewhere the city appeared to be functioning as usual. Trains on the city's rail network, the lifeblood of the metropolis, were running on time.

In the morning, regulars still walked down the seaside promenade in front of the Tribent-Oberoi hotel.

But people were angry, said Prahlad Kakkar, an advertisement guru and a prominent Mumbai resident.

"They are helpless and scared like never before because of the nature of the attack. The fear has come home, that it can be me next."

Others said what normalcy was there was sprang from the need for the city's vast number of poor to continue the daily grind.

"It's more about momentum of life. Momentum of survival," said Rahul Bose, a prominent Bollywood actor.

"But this is the last straw. Now it looks like people can stroll the shores with bags full of bombs and grenades and the police can't do a thing.

Coalition troops kill 44 rebels in Afghanistan

AFP, Kabul

Troops killed 44 militants in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday, as around a dozen police and soldiers were still missing following a major clash and believed to be in Taliban hands.

Thirty-three of the militants were killed in a firefight Friday in the southern province of Helmand, a Taliban stronghold where several districts are said to be in the hands of the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents.

Afghan and US-led coalition soldiers had been on patrol about 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Kandahar city when they came under attack, a coalition statement said.

"ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) and coalition forces returned fire primarily with small-arms fire and limited close-air support, killing 33 militants," it said.

Seven "enemies" were killed in a battle with Afghan troops in the southwestern province of Farah on Friday, the defence ministry said separately.

And coalition troops killed four Taliban, including a commander who had disguised himself as a woman by wearing a burqa to cover his face, in central Ghazni province, another statement said.

The battle between Afghan and international security forces and extremists, mainly from the Taliban, has stepped up over the past year.

More than 5,100 insurgents have been killed as have more than 1,000 Afghan security forces and 267 international soldiers.

More than 1,100 civilians have lost their lives, most in insurgent attacks.

Afghan forces said around 14 troops were still missing from an attack by about 200 Taliban on a 70-vehicle logistics convoy in the northwestern province of Badghis on Thursday which killed 12 Afghan police and soldiers.

"They are in the Taliban's detention," regional army commander General Fazal Ahmad Saiar said.

Authorities had said Friday the men may have taken up positions elsewhere.

2 UN contractors among 14 killed in Iraq unrest

AFP, Baghdad

At least 14 were killed in different incidents in Iraq. Two foreign UN contractors were killed and another 15 wounded when a mortar round slammed into Baghdad's heavily-guarded Green Zone on Saturday, a UN official said.

The two killed in the dawn attack were foreign maintenance workers contracted by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), according to the official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

Of the 15 people wounded in the attack, seven were in serious condition, the official said, raising fears the death toll could rise further.

The heavily-fortified Green Zone in the centre of Baghdad houses the Iraqi parliament and a number of government buildings and foreign embassies.

Suicide bombers on Friday launched two attacks in Iraq, killing 10 people near Baghdad and two others in the capital.

Lawmakers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr hold signs that protest the U.S.-Iraq security pact after parliament OKd it.

Lawmakers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr hold signs that protest the U.S.-Iraq security pact after parliament OKd it.

At least nine people were killed and 15 were wounded Friday when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a Shiite mosque south of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.

The bomber detonated a suicide vest around noon (4 a.m. ET), during Friday prayers in the town of Musayyib, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Baghdad in Babil province, the official said.

Most of the casualties were worshippers, the official said. One of the dead was a woman beggar.

The mosque is affiliated with followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the official said.

Russia test-fires ICBM from submarine

AP, Moscow

The Russian navy said Friday that a new-generation Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile was test-fired from a submerged submarine and hit its target - the second consecutive successful test of the troubled weapon.

Russian officials have hailed the Bulava as a key future component of the nation's nuclear forces, but several failed test-launches over the past two years have cast doubt on the missile.

The Bulava reportedly is designed to have a maximum range of about 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) and to carry six individually targeted nuclear warheads.

Navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said in a statement that a Bulava was launched on Friday from the nuclear submarine Dmitry Donskoi beneath the White Sea surface and hit its test targets on the Kamchatka Peninsula, some 5,500 kilometers (4,000 miles) to the east.

Also Friday, Russian news agencies quoted the head of the country's Strategic Rocket Forces as saying the planned U.S. missile defense system in Europe and other perceived threats have prompted Moscow to work harder on missile development.

Interfax quoted Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov as saying Russia has stepped up efforts to lay a groundwork for new missiles that could be deployed after 2020.

Solovtsov also said plans are on track to put a new RS-24 missile equipped with multiple nuclear warheads in service next year. He says the RS-24 will improve Russia's capability of penetrating missile defense systems.

Kyrgyzstan jails 32 Islamists over riots

AFP, Bishkek

A court in Kyrgyzstan sentenced 32 Islamists to jail terms of between nine and 20 years for their role in riots in the southern region of Osh in October, state television reported Saturday.

The riots took place in the town of Nookat on October 1, the day when Kyrgyzstan was marking the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr at the end of the Ramadan holy fasting month. The television said the verdicts were handed down by the provincial court of the Osh region and were greeted by shouts of "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Greatest) from the accused.

Officials have said that the unrest was sparked by the refusal of the local administration to hold a public celebration marking Eid al-Fitr, which is known in Kyrgyzstan as Orozo Ait.

The demonstrators threw stones against the building of the local government and behaved violently towards the local police. The head of the regional administration was sacked as a result of the disturbances.

Officials have also said that the demonstrations were linked to the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Islamic Liberation) movement, a Sunni Muslim group which advocates the establishment of Islamic states in Central Asia.

State television said the accused were found guilty on eight counts, including damaging public buildings, creating mass disturbances, behaving violently towards the police and membership of a banned party.

Indian president urges joint action to end militant acts

AFP, Denpasar

Indian President Pratibha Patil urged the international community Saturday to come together in ending violent militant acts after a prayer at a Hindu temple in Bali, Indonesia.

Patil is on a six-day visit to Indonesia, and has continued a tour of Southeast Asia despite the deadly militant attacks in Mumbai.

"I hope this is the right time for people of all the regions and communities to work together for peace and happiness for mankind," Patil told reporters.

She said that prior to her visit to Indonesia she had met Vietnamese leaders, who had also condemned the extremist acts.

"It has been unanimously decided that terrorism is high on the agenda of the international community and we must jointly and relentlessly fight it," Patil said after praying with local leaders on the island, that was itself hit by Islamist extremists in 2002 when bombs claimed the lives of 202 people.

"I prayed for the peace and happiness of mankind, peace and prosperity for India and other countries. I prayed that good sense prevails on all the people so that such acts of terrorism not occur again."

Patil is scheduled to meet her Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Monday, a spokesman for Indonesia's foreign ministry said.

The visit by the Indian president is a follow-up to a 2005 state visit by Yudhoyono to India. A number of agreements are set to be made, including on youth development, sport and agriculture, according to the foreign ministry

Thai protesters abduct police officer at airport

AP, Bangkok

Anti-government protesters occupying Thailand's main airport abducted a policeman and pushed others back from a checkpoint Saturday, escalating tensions in a standoff that has virtually paralyzed the government.

The protesters, who have occupied the prime minister's compound since late August, upped the stakes this week by overrunning Bangkok's international and domestic aiports and bringing them to a halt in their campaign to oust the elected government. The confrontation, severing the capital from civilian air traffic, has taken a heavy toll on Thailand's economy and reputation. According to Thai media reports some 100,000 tourists are stranded, and schedules of airlines around the world have been disrupted. At the international airport, Associated Press reporters saw one policeman being grabbed Saturday at a checkpoint by three protesters, forcibly put in a vehicle, and driven away toward areas controlled by the demonstrators.

Zimbabwe parties agree on power-sharing bill

Reuters, Harare

Zimbabwe's political rivals have agreed on a draft constitutional amendment to allow them to form a power-sharing government, but obstacles still remain to setting it up, the opposition said on Friday. On-off talks between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC have made little progress since they reached a deal in September seen as the best hope of pulling Zimbabwe back from economic collapse. "We have reached an understanding, an agreement on the draft constitutional bill, pending consultations and endorsement by our different leadership organs," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Reuters.

Negotiators from ZANU-PF, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and a breakaway MDC faction have been meeting with mediator Thabo Mbeki in South Africa to discuss the amendment, under growing regional pressure to finalize their deal.

Chamisa said the talks had ended.

"The draft constitutional amendment bill is just one of a number of issues that have been on the table. These issues, including the sharing of some cabinet posts, the appointment of provincial governors and other senior government positions, have not been resolved," he said.

"On our part, the MDC leadership will meet next week to discuss this, and give a direction as to how we are going to proceed."

ZANU-PF officials were not immediately available for comment.

Many in the southern African country hope a deal will bring in a new government to end a economic crisis where unemployment stands at 90 percent and official inflation is 231 million percent.