Turkish airliner crashes; 72 die

By: Sultan Ahmed

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey: A Turkish Airlines passenger plane with 77 people on board has crashed in southeast Turkey on Wednesday in heavy fog as it tried to land at Diyarbakir airport.

The RJ-100 plane had been flying from Istanbul to the southeastern city of Diyarbakir when it crashed killing 72 people.

Five survived out of 77, sources said while some news reports said there are at least eight survivors who have been taken to area hospitals. But there has been no official word yet on casualties.

The plane crashed in a military area near the airport and soldiers were helping to evacuate the injured.

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Iraq war battle planners deployed at Gulf base

By: Special Reporter

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is dispatching more battle planners to a new forward area headquarters in the Persian Gulf as part of a force build-up in the region for a possible war against Iraq.

According to the US defense officials much of the staff that would coordinate anti-Iraq war is heading this week to the new mobile command post at Al-Sayliyah Base in Qatar from which any US war on Iraq would be led.

The US Central Command said more deployments could be expected in the coming weeks at the Qatar headquarters where computer simulation exercises were conducted last month by 1,000 US and British specialists.

The Qatar headquarters would only become operational if the president Bush decided to go to war, a decision that US defense Department stresses has not yet been made.

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Ghauri missiles handed over to Pak Army

By: Salman Alvi

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: GEO TV channel reported that Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) has handed over Ghauri Missiles to the Pakistan Army.

The hand-over ceremony took place on Wednesday in the capital city of Islamabad.

President General Pervez Musharraf was chief guest on the occasion, which was attended by many other senior officials.

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Impunity for HRs violations in H Kashmir unacceptable

By: Special Reporter

LONDON: Human Rights watchdog Amnesty International has voiced fears over backtracking by Indian held Kashmir’s new government on pledges to probe human rights violations.

Describing policy of impunity for violations by the feared SOG as “unacceptable”, Amnesty said it was “disturbed by reports that the government is to break the promise... to investigate all reported cases of custodial killings and violations of human rights”.

Held Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Saeed, who had promised to restrict the SOG, said Monday while delivering a speech that the notorious police would simply be reoriented and that an amnesty would be granted to those who have perpetrated abuses.

The SOG is comprised of local policemen who have volunteered to work against Muslim freedom fighters and has a bad reputation among Kashmiri people.

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Turkish PM due in Iran on weekend

By: Sheikh Muhammad Khurasani

TEHRAN, Iran: Newly-elected Turkish Premier Abdullah Gul is expected in Tehran on Sunday to confer with Iranian officials on the on-going Iraqi crisis, reports said Wednesday.

“The Iranian and Turkish foreign ministries have arranged the Gul’s visit,” an informed source at the Iranian Embassy in Ankara was quoted by the Persian-language newspaper Afrinesh as saying.

The Prime Minister is currently touring the region aimed at bringing Ankara's positions closer to those of Iraq's neighbors on the issue of a possible US war against Iraq.

During his visit to Iran, Gul will hold talks with Iranian President Muhammad Khatami and First Vice-President Muhammad Arif to discuss the Iraqi issue and consider peaceful alternatives to a military confrontation.

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