Georgian soldier killed in Afghanistan

TBILISI: A Georgian soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday, said the defence ministry in the ex-Soviet republic which has become a significant contributor to NATO-led efforts to combat the Taliban.

The soldier was killed in the troubled Helmand region when a mine exploded, also injuring two other Georgian troops, a ministry statement said.

Corporal Giorgi Avaliani was the sixth Georgian to be killed while serving in Afghanistan, the ministry said.

Georgia is a staunch ally of the United States with ambitions to join NATO, and has deployed 950 troops to Afghanistan -- a major contribution from a small country of 4.4 million people.

The country's leadership is seeking to "anchor Georgia firmly in the West" and prove that it is worthy of NATO membership, said a diplomatic cable from the US embassy in Tbilisi released by WikiLeaks this month.

Tbilisi's NATO aspirations have infuriated neighbouring Russia, which fought a brief war with Georgia in 2008 over the Moscow-backed separatist region of South Ossetia.(AFP)

Bomb kills nine civilians in Afghanistan

KHOST: A roadside bomb struck a civilian vehicle in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday killing nine civilians, including women and children, a provincial deputy police chief said..

The civilians were driving into Khost city, capital of Khost province, when their van was hit by the blast, Mohammad Yaqoub Mandozai said.

"Three women, four children and two men were killed by the roadside bomb explosion. They were all civilians," Mandozai said.

He blamed the attack on "enemies of Afghanistan" a term often used to refer to Taliban militants who have waged a bloody insurgency against Afghan and foreign forces in Afghanistan.(AFP)

11 death sentences in Gujarat riots case

AHMEDABAD: An Indian court on Tuesday handed down 11 death sentences and 20 life terms to those found guilty of setting a train on fire in 2002 triggering anti-Muslim rioting that left 2,000 dead.

Last week, 31 Muslims were found guilty on conspiracy and murder charges for causing the train fire in western Gujarat state.

Fifty-nine Hindu pilgrims perished in the fire at Godhra station, sparking an anti-Muslim backlash that resulted in some of the worst religious violence in India since independence. (AFP)

Oil mixed as Saudi commits to supplies

SINGAPORE: Crude prices were mixed in Asian trade Tuesday as oil kingpin Saudi Arabia's pledge to ensure sufficient supplies partially eased investor worries, analysts said.

New York's benchmark West Texas Intermediate contract for April delivery fell five cents to $96.92 and Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was up 21 cents to $112.01.

Fears about supply disruption sent Brent soaring close to $120 last week.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer, said on Monday it was committed to the stability of the oil market after Libya's crude production dropped as the country is hit by unrest.

The government, in a statement carried by the state-run SPA news agency, said the cabinet met and discussed the anti-regime protests shaking Libya "and their repercussion on oil production in that country."

Saudi Arabia "is committed to the stability of the market" and to ensuring that oil supplies remain available, the statement said, adding that the kingdom hopes Libya's production returns to normal soon.

Chen Xin Yi, commodities analyst for Barclays Capital warned: "While news that Saudi Arabia is increasing its crude output to more than nine million barrels per day, which helped eased concerns about short term supply, the crude oil produced is not an exact substitute for the Libyan's crude."

Libya's opposition forces, in control of the country's major oil installations, said Monday they were resuming oil exports, with the expected departure of a tanker for China.

It will be the first cargo of crude to sail from Libya since February 19, after security forces began a crackdown on anti-regime protesters in the east.

On February 22, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Riyadh would compensate for any oil supply problems caused by unrest in the Middle East, but added there was no current shortage.

Saudi Arabia pumps around 8.4 million barrels of oil per day, but Naimi said the kingdom still has a spare capacity of another four million. (AFP)

Second flight carrying 180 Pakistanis arrives

Lahore: Two special flights, carrying 354 Pakistanis from strife-torn Libya, arrived in Lahore on Tuesday morning.

A chartered Turkish Airlines plane, with 174, arrived early morning in Lahore and the second plane, carrying 180 Pakistanis, arrived at 9:30 a.m. There are thousands of Pakistani expatriates and students still stranded in Libya.

Several of those arrived complained about what they called non- cooperative attitude of Pakistan embassy in Libya. They said that they were stranded for three days at the airport and had also not received anything to eat.

A Punjab minister Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, and other senior officials received the evacuated Pakistanis at the Lahore's Allama Iqbal international airport. A large number of family members and relatives were also there to receive their loved ones.

The repatriated Pakistani told the media about the worst stories of their lives they faced during the crisis in Libya. They also appealed to the government to take steps for the immediate withdrawal of other stranded nationals in Libya.

 

Accused target killers should be brought to book: Nawaz

LAHORE: PML-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif Tuesday demanded that target killings accused who had been arrested should be brought to book.

Addressing consultative meeting of party workers hailing from Karachi division here also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident of May 12, 2007.

Nawaz saud that peace in Karachi was vital for economic progress of the country.

He urged Sindhi people to stand up for crusade against poverty and unemployment from the country. "I promise that I will not take rest until and unless every citizen of the country gets rights," he assured them.

He lauded civil society for participating in the movement for judiciary's restoration, adding that restoration of judiciary was not less than a miracle in the history of Pakistan.

 

All my people love me,' Kadhafi Says

WASHINGTON: "All my people love me," Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi insisted Monday, ignoring mounting global pressure to step down and perhaps head into exile after four decades at the helm of his country.

"They love me. All my people with me. They love me all. They will die to protect me," the veteran Libyan leader said in halting English during an interview with the ABC television channel, the BBC and The Times of London.

"No demonstrations at all in the streets," claimed Kadhafi, who has ruled his north African country for more than 41 years. "No one is against us, against me for what?"

Those remarks and the Libyan leader's callous lack of concern for the plight of his people were roundly condemned by US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.

"It sounds just frankly delusional, when he can talk and laugh to an American and (an) international journalist while he is slaughtering his own people," Rice said at the White House. "It only underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality."

Kadhafi sat down in Tripoli for the interview as world powers ramped up pressure on his regime. He scoffed at a question about whether he would ever use chemical weapons to maintain power.

"We got rid of all that," Kadhafi said. "This is a thing of the past and we have already finished this.

"Is it reasonable that any sensible man would use such a weapon against even his own enemy? Let alone his own people," he said.

There has been global outrage at a brutal crackdown on opposition demonstrations against Kadhafi's regime which erupted nearly two weeks ago in the wake of the upheavals in its neighbors Egypt and Tunisia.

Pro-democracy forces now control vast swaths of the east of the north African country, but rights groups say at least 1,000 people have been killed in the crackdown.

After initially groping for a response, the United States has now openly called for Kadhafi to step down, suggesting he should go into exile.

"The people of Libya have made themselves clear: it is time for Kadhafi to go -- now, without further violence or delay," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a UN Human Rights Council meeting on Libya in Geneva.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said "exile" was "one option" that would satisfy US demands for Kadhafi to go, amid the uprising.

But Kadhafi hit back, saying he had been let down by the United States.

"It is betrayal, they have no morals. I'm surprised that we have an alliance with the West to fight Al-Qaeda, and now that we are fighting terrorists they have abandoned us," he said, according to ABC television.

"Perhaps they want to occupy Libya," ABC quoted him as saying, adding Kadhafi had insisted he could not step down because he is neither a president nor a king.

He also challenged those who have suggested he has stashed money abroad to produce evidence of such funds and said he would "put two fingers in their eye," the BBC reported.

Kadhafi invited the United Nations or any other organization to conduct a "fact-finding mission" in Libya.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen said the interview had taken place in a restaurant in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and Kadhafi had seemed relaxed throughout.

Kadhafi laughed off a question about whether he would comply with calls to step down, saying: "Why do I leave my homeland? Why do I leave Libya?"

Kadhafi also alleged the people who had come onto the streets were under the influence of drugs supplied by "outsiders". He added people had seized weapons and that his supporters were under orders not to shoot back.

"It's Al-Qaeda," he told Bowen. "They went into military bases and seized arms and they're terrorising the people.

"The people who had the weapons were youngsters and they're starting to put down their weapons now as the drugs that Al-Qaeda gave them wear off."

But witnesses said Kadhafi's forces had hit back Monday, with fighter jets bombing ammunition stores in the eastern town of Adjabiya, around 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) south of the capital Tripoli.

Two planes also attacked a munitions dump at Rajma, just south of the city, a military reservist told AFP.

The brutal crackdown on opposition protests has killed at least 1,000 people and set off a "humanitarian emergency," the UN refugee agency UNHCR has said, warning of a mass exodus from Libya. (AFP)