2 Pals martyred; homes flattened

By: Ahmad Hammadi

JERUSALEM: Israeli troops martyred at least two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and destroyed the homes of two Palestinian martyrdom-seeking bombers in West Bank, reports said on Friday.

According to Palestinian officials Israeli soldiers martyred a five-year-old Palestinian boy and injured two men near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza town of Khan Younis on Thursday.

The demolition of family homes of Palestinian martyrdom-seeking bombers is part of a tough new Israeli policy, which is condemned by Palestinians and Israeli opposition leader as collective punishment illegal under international law.

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Iraq to agree on neutral observers for arms inspections

By: Nabil Raza

LONDON: The Independent newspaper reported in its Friday editions that Baghdad is to say it will agree to the return of United Nations weapons inspectors if they are accompanied by neutral monitors including British religious leaders, union officials and the media.

Iraq was dispatching a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that was likely to demand that any observers ensure the inspections are not spying missions, said the paper citing what it described as top diplomatic sources without giving their names.

According to the British daily the letter would also demand that doctored findings of weapons of mass destruction were not used to justify a US military action against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s regime.

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UK relaxes visa service for Pak students

By: Salman Alvi

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The British High Commission in Pakistan has decided to start visa service for all Pakistani students with immediate effect, reports said Friday.

Currently the British High Commission is allowing Visas in these categories: a visitor who has traveled to the UK within the last three years in the same category as now applying (e.g. as a visitor); all student applications; returning Residents with evidence of their current status in UK and holder of a valid UK Work Permit.

Some other categories are: someone wishing to undertake urgent medical treatment who has prior agreement from the British High Commission that the application will be accepted; a visitor or a person wishing to settle with an urgent and compassionate reason to travel and prior agreement from the British High Commission that the application will be accepted; a business visitor with a letter of invitation from a Company in the UK who has traveled to the UK within the last 3 years and has evidence of this travel; a member of an Airline crew on a route which passes through the UK; a Seaman with a previous visa for the same purpose.

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‘US weakness behind plots against other states’

By: Sheikh Muhammad Khurasani

TEHRAN, Iran: Former Iranian President Ayatullah Hashemi Rafsanjani told worshippers at Friday prayers that at the root of recent American plots against other countries there is its internal weakness in resolving the domestic problems.

Ayatullah Rafsanjani enumerated only some of the serious problems that US administration is facing right now such as educational crisis and economic stagnation and its foreign debt all of which have put America on the verge of economical collapse.

Speaking at Tehran University campus, he pointed to the recent flood in Golestan province and underlined government’s planning for prevention of damages of floods.

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Beijing says Taiwan VP trying to 'split' China

By: Khadija Chinese

BEIJING, China: China has said on Friday that Taiwan's Vice President Annette Lu is trying to split China and increase tensions between Beijing and Taipei.

A statement, issued from China's foreign ministry, said: “Lu's actions will increase tension across the Taiwan Straits.”

“It's apparent that she wants to split China by carrying out Taiwanese independence activities and wants to damage relations between China and other countries with which China has diplomatic relations,” the ministry said.

The statement came after Taiwan's Vice President was blocked Wednesday from visiting Jakarta as planned during her trip, following pressure from Beijing, which objects any form of contact between Taiwan and countries with which China has diplomatic ties.

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Five killed in Dhaka mosque clash

By: Irfan Malik

DHAKA, Bangladesh: Tensions are high in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, on Friday following killings of five people by armed guards in a bid to stop hundreds of Islamic students from taking control of a local mosque, police and hospital sources said.

According to witnesses, the guards belonging to an auxiliary police force opened fire when the mob attacked a neighboring telecommunication facility in the Malibagh district wounding 12 others.

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Four detainees at Guantanamo Bay attempt suicide

By: Special Reporter

WASHINGTON: Pentagon acknowledged late Thursday that four prisoners held at a US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of an anti-terrorism probe have tried to commit suicide, without revealing the names or the nationalities of the four men.

According to the officials one of the detainees had attempted to slash his wrists with a plastic razor while the others tried to hang themselves using items like bed sheets and towels.

The officials could not recall the exact dates of the attempted suicides but said they occurred over the past two months.

The US Defense Department has repeatedly denied any mistreatment of the detainees, arguing that each new arrival to Guantanamo receives a thorough medical check-up, regular meals cooked to Islamic specifications, a copy of the Quran, toiletries and the possibility of writing one letter to whomever they choose.

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