Ex-US President calls for US disarmament

By: Special Reporter

WASHINGTON: Former US president Jimmy Carter late on Friday has urged the United States to first disarm itself.

In CNN's Larry King Live program aired Friday, Carter said: “One of the things that the United States government has not done is to try to comply with and enforce international efforts targeted to prohibit the arsenals of biological weapons that we ourselves have.”

Carter, this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, also called for more stringent efforts by Washington to reduce and enforce the agreement to eliminate chemical weapons, and the same way with nuclear weapons.

“The major powers need to set an example,” he said, as the US confronts Iraq over its possession of such banned weapons urging Baghdad to destroy their weapons of mass destruction.

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Ethiopian Muslims thank for Iran aid

By: Special Reporter

ETHIOPIA: President of the Supreme Council of Ethiopian Muslims Sheikh Abdul Rahman Husayn Moussa has thanked Iran for aiding the Muslims of his country.

An attaché at the Iranian embassy in Ethiopia handed to Moussa 30 tons of food aid dispatched by the Iran Red Crescent Society for the poor in Ethiopia.

Moussa expressed the hope that other Islamic states would consider helping the Muslims of his country during these critical times.

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Pak first Parliament in 3 years swears into office

By: Salman Alvi

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: First elected Parliament of Pakistan since 1999 when Gen Pervez Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup has been sworn into office on Saturday in Islamabad.

Lawmakers took the oath of office in the inaugural session of the National Assembly, hours after Musharraf was sworn in as president for a new five-year term during a ceremony at the presidential palace.

Former parliamentary speaker Elahi Baksh Soomro administered an oath under the constitution 1973, which was partially restored in amended form late Friday, to 334 legislators elected on October 10 to the 342-seat National Assembly.

Some lawmakers had threatened to refuse taking the oath of office under the amended constitution, but all the elected Parliament members are reported to have been sworn in.

Later, the house was adjourned to meet again on November 19 when the Speaker and Deputy Speaker would be elected.

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AKP deputy chairman appointed as Turkey’s PM

By: Sultan Ahmed

ANKARA, Turkey: The deputy chairman of Turkey's election-winning Justice and Development Party (AKP) Abdullah Gul announced Saturday the Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has appointed him Prime Minister.

Sezer had summoned Abdullah Gul to the presidential palace for a meeting at Saturday noon to hand him the mandate to form the new government.

52-year-old Gul was on a shortlist of candidates handed to Sezer by AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is barred from holding office because of a 1998 conviction for Islamist sedition.

The AKP won a sweeping victory in the November 3 general election and an outright majority, with 363 of the 550 seats, in parliament. It is now poised to set up the country's first one-party government in over a decade.

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Two Pals martyred after Hebron incident

By: Ahmad Hammadi

HEBRON, West Bank: Israeli army on Saturday has martyred two Palestinians, including a teenager, in separate incidents in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin following the killing of 12 Israelis during a lengthy firefight in the divided Hebron.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for late Friday attack in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron that claimed the lives of nine Israeli security personnel and three civilians. Another 15 Israelis were injured in the attack.

Islamic Jihad said the attack was a response to Israel's killing of one of its military leaders a week ago.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has strongly condemned what he calls a “despicable terrorist attack”.

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