Pakistan carries out hostage raid

Pakistani security forces have freed 30 hostages who were being held by militants at an army base in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad.

Military officials said three hostages were killed in the operation along with at least four hostage takers, one of whom was wearing an explosives belt.

One insurgent has been taken alive and the operation is ongoing as more militants are at large in the compound.

The insurgents had attacked Pakistan's military HQ on Saturday.

Six soldiers and four militants were killed in the initial assault.

'Very skilled'

The sound of blasts and gunfire rang out as Pakistani special forces entered the compound for the pre-dawn raid.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said the forces had met with resistance.

They found the hostages being held in a room "with a terrorist who was wearing a suicide jacket", he said.

Gen Abbas said the commandos had "acted promptly" and shot the suspected hostage taker "before he could pull the trigger".

"Three of the hostages were killed due to militant firing," Reuters quoted him as saying.

Senior military officials and civilian personnel were reported to be among the hostages.

Gen Abbas said the raid had been a "very skilled rescue" and that security forces were continuing to conduct "mopping up and clearance operations" in the area.

No-one has yet claimed responsibility for Saturday's assault, but the Taliban has been threatening to carry out attacks unless operations against the militant group were stopped.

The militants' attack came as the Pakistani army prepared for a major operation against the Taliban.

High profile

Witnesses said that the gunmen had driven up to the army compound in a white van just before midday local time (0600 GMT) on Saturday.

They took up positions, fired on the compound and threw hand grenades, security officials said.

The military reported that the attack had been repelled after a gun battle lasting around 45 minutes but later admitted hostages had been taken.

The attack followed a series of bombings in north-western Pakistan. On Friday at least 50 died in a blast in Peshawar.

In recent days Taliban positions in the tribal areas have been bombed by the air force, amid speculation that the army's offensive there is soon to be intensified, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad.

There was a period of relative quiet in August after Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed, but the rate of militant attacks has increased since then, he adds.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the government now had "no other option but to launch an offensive" in the insurgent stronghold of South Waziristan.

"What happened in Peshawar, Islamabad and today, all roads lead to South Waziristan," he said.

Islamist militants have carried out a number of attacks against high-profile, high-security targets in recent years.

In March this year gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in the city of Lahore. Six policemen and a driver were killed and several of the team were injured.

In the same month, dozens of people were killed when a police training centre on the outskirts of the city was occupied by gunmen.

Anti-India protest demos on Eid-ul-Fitr in held Kashmir

SRINAGAR: In occupied Kashmir, the Eid-ul-Fitr, today, was marked with massive Eid gatherings, anti-India protests and clashes between the Indian police and demonstrators.


Indian troops after using brute force foiled an attempt by a large number of people to break the police siege around the residence of senior Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani to bring him out for Eid prayers.

Dozens of people were injured on the occasion and many were arrested. The senior leader continued to remain under house arrest for the 12th day, today.

Thousands of people, chanting pro-freedom slogans, took out a procession from Eidgah in Srinagar, which was intercepted by the police at Kawdara. The troops resorted to heavy baton charge to break up a demonstration in Lal Chowk. People took to the streets in Sopore, Baramulla, Islamabad and other towns and cities to protest against the Indian state terrorism.

Addressing a gathering of hundreds of thousands of people in Eidgah, the APHC Chairman, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq reaffirmed Kashmiris' resolve to continue the liberation struggle till it reached its logical conclusion.

He denounced the restrictions on Syed Ali Gilani and continued detention of Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Mussarat Aalam Butt and Mohammad Salim Nunnaji.

Mirwaiz hoped that Pakistani and Indian leaders would sit together on the sidelines of the forthcoming UN General Assembly session in New York and would agree upon ways to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

Addressing a similar Eid congregation in Budgam, APHC leader, Syed Agha Hassan Al-Moosvi said India would not be able to suppress Kashmiris liberation struggle by brute force.

Iran welcomes US shelving of missile shield

TEHRAN: Iran on Monday welcomed the US move to abandon plans for a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe and denied that the Islamic republic posed a missile threat, Geo News reported.

"The Islamic republic welcomes any action that serves to decrease arms races," it quoted foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi as saying.

US President Barack Obama last week announced he would shelve plans to site parts of a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, and instead deploy more mobile equipment targeting Iran's short- and medium-range missiles.

Ghashghavi called baseless and unsubstantiated the idea that the missile plan had been to counter a military threat from Iran.

"The claim that Iran is a missile threat was made by the United States with political, opportunist and domineering intentions," he said.

Ghashghavi put the original shield plan down to "missile competition between Russia and the United States, and in order to expand the big power's penetration into central European countries."

On Sunday Obama denied that Russian objections had influenced his decision to abandon the shield plans launched by his predecessor's administration.

Pak-Afghan bordering areas epicenter of terrorism: Hillary Clinton

WASHINGTON: U. S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has said that Pak-Afghan bordering areas were the focal point of terrorism and added that if Taliban again gets control over Afghanistan, then Al-Qaeda outfit will stage a come back.

In a TV interview, Hillary Clinton said that U. S. government aims at ensuring protection to the U.S. and its allied countries from the terrorists holed up in Pak-Afghan bordering areas.

U. S. Secretary of State referring to some saying that Al Qaeda has been wiped out of Afghanistan, said that if Taliban again gets control over Afghanistan, then one could not imagine how swiftly Al Qaeda would be back.

Hillary Clinton said that Obama Administration on the basis of best available information striving for comprehending all the factors related to Afghan issue and its resolution.

Earthquake strikes off Bali coast

An earthquake off the Indonesian holiday island of Bali has sent people running from their homes in panic.

At least seven people have been injured - some were hurt jumping from buildings while others had been hit by falling debris, an official said.

The quake - measuring 5.8 according to the US Geological Survey - struck at dawn 75km (45 miles) south of Denpasar.

No tsunami warning was issued and there were few reports of serious material damage, local officials said.

"I was frightened because it was strong," Dutch tourist Ernst Raynaldo was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

"I ran out immediately as I saw many others rushing into the swimming pool," the closest open space.

"When the quake happened I was in a market and some people started shouting and running out of the market building, leaving their belongings behind," Putu Suartana, a resident in Singaraja in Bali, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

The roof of a shopping centre in Denpasar collapsed.

Two weeks ago, an earthquake on the main Indonesian island of Java left at least 50 dead.

In December 2004, an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people around Asia.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most active areas for earthquakes and volcanic activity in the world.

Bear attacks tourists in Japan

An Asian black bear has been shot dead after attacking a group of tourists at a bus station in central Japan.

Four people were seriously injured in the attack in Takayama, Gifu prefecture, according to the Japanese news agency Kyodo.

After the attack, the 1.3m (four foot) bear fled through the bus terminal, and into a souvenir shop.

Employees then trapped it inside the shop, and the bear was later shot dead by officials.

Bite marks

The male bear attacked a group of nine people, mostly tourists, waiting for a bus to take them to the nearby mountains.

According to Kyodo, four men were seriously hurt, with injuries including facial bite marks.

"I saw a man being attacked by the bear," one eyewitness told reporters.

"I tried to help him but the bear kept attacking him. It seemed his face was seriously injured."

An expert on Asian black bears told Kyodo it was unusual for them to attack humans.

Pop legend Michael Jackson buried

Friends and family of Michael Jackson have paid their last respects to the singer known as the King of Pop at a funeral ceremony outside Los Angeles.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor, actor Macaulay Culkin and music producer Quincy Jones were among the 200 invited guests.

Gladys Knight sang at the service while civil rights campaigner the Reverend Al Sharpton was one of the speakers.

The ceremony was due to begin at 0200 GMT at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park but began more than an hour late.

The delay was caused by the late arrival of the singer's family, who eventually arrived in a motorcade of 31 vehicles.

Jackson's brothers - Randy, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon - acted as pallbearers as his gold-plated coffin was removed from a hearse.

All were dressed identically in black suits, with each wearing a solitary white glove - a fashion statement made famous by their legendary sibling.

The singer's children - Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and seven-year-old Prince Michael II - sat in the front row next to his parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson.

Comedian Chris Tucker, producer Berry Gordy and Lisa Marie Presley, Jackson's ex-wife, also attended.

The service took place after dark in the open air outside Forest Lawn's Great Mausoleum.

It came more than two months after Jackson died of a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs at the age of 50.

Last week Jackson's death was ruled to be a homicide by the Los Angeles coroner.

The verdict increases the chances of criminal charges being brought, although no-one has been named a suspect.

A statement from the Jackson family said the pop star's casket was interred at 2143 local time (0443 GMT).

"The Jackson family wishes to once again thank all of Michael's fans around the world for their generous outpouring of support during this terribly difficult time," the statement read.

Jackson's family and mourners attended a post-funeral reception at an Italian restaurant in nearby Pasadena.

Security was tight ahead of the ceremony, with fans and media kept away by a heavy security presence.

Police had cordoned off roads leading to the Forest Lawn site throughout the day.

A live TV feed was provided of the guests arriving, though the footage ceased once the service began.

Jackson, known for such hits as Bad, Thriller and Smooth Criminal, was originally due to be buried on 29 August on what would have been his 51st birthday.

However, the date was pushed back to allow more time for the planning of the ceremony.

Jackson joins a long list of famous stars who have also been buried in the Forest Lawn cemetery.

Screen stars Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Clark Gable have all been laid to rest there.

Deaths take UK Afghan toll to 201

Two more British soldiers have been killed by explosions in Afghanistan, taking the number of personnel killed since operations began in 2001 to 201.

One, from the 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh, died in hospital from wounds.

The second, from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, died after an explosion on Saturday while on foot patrol in Sangin, Helmand province.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted it had been "a very difficult summer", but said progress was being made.

Paying tribute to those who had been killed, Mr Brown said their efforts were helping to make the world safer and that progress had been made in allowing forthcoming Afghan elections to take place.

"We have created space in which we can have Afghan government, Afghan police and Afghan forces and that will make it very difficult for the Taliban and Al Qaeda to reassert themselves," he said.

"Three quarters of the terrorist plots that hit Britain derive from the mountain areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan," he said.

"And it is to make Britain safe and the rest of the world safe that we must make sure we honour our commitment to maintain and keep a stable Afghanistan."

Mr Brown insisted "every effort" was being made to ensure troops had the best security and equipment.

"We have increased dramatically the resources we are spending in Afghanistan to deal with this new kind of threat which is the roadside bomb, the electronic devices, the guerrilla warfare."

The Royal Welsh soldier had been on vehicle patrol near Musa Qala in Helmand province on Thursday morning when he was hit by the explosion.

Gordon Brown: "We must never forget why we are in Afghanistan''

He died at a military hospital in Selly Oak, Birmingham, on Saturday. Neither he nor the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers soldier has been named, but their next of kin have been informed.

Clinton offers aid to victims of Africa's longest conflict

(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought an offer of help Tuesday for victims -- especially victims of sexual violence -- in Africa's longest war, a regional conflict that's dragged on for more than a decade.

"We want to banish the problems of sexual violence into the dark past where it belongs," she said during her visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In a meeting with leaders of nongovernmental organizations, Clinton said the United States will provide "more than $17 million in new funds to prevent and respond to gender and sexual violence."

On Monday, Clinton had delivered a blunt message to Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito when he hosted a dinner in her honor.

"There must be an end to widespread financial corruption and abuses of human rights and women's rights," she said. "There must be an improvement in governance and the respect for the rule of law."

She also called for "changes in the business climate, changes in the rules and regulations that involve contracts and the protection of property" to promote foreign investment.

On Tuesday, she offered help to the country's president, Joseph Kabila.

"I offered and the president accepted my sending of legal and financial and other technical experts to the DRC to provide specific suggestions about how to overcome these very serious obstacles to the potential of this country," she said, according to a pool report from Goma, in the east of the country.

The Congo conflict has involved several countries and resulted in an estimated 5 million deaths from fighting and collateral problems such as disease and starvation, according to an International Rescue Committee survey conducted more than a year ago. The United Nations estimates 200,000 women and girls have been raped in Congo since war broke out 12 years ago.

"I will be pressing very hard for not just assistance to help those who are being abused and mistreated, in particular the women who are turned into weapons of war through the rape they experience, but also looking for ways to try to end this conflict," Clinton said.

"I hope that here in the [Congo] there will be a concerted effort to demand justice for women who are violently attacked, and to make sure that their attackers are punished," she said Monday after a tour of a Kinshasa, Congo, hospital.

The United Nations said there were 15,996 cases of sexual violence registered in Congo in 2008. A Human Rights Watch report says two out of three rapes were carried out against children, mostly adolescent girls.

Clinton took a small U.N. plane on the 1,000-mile trip from Kinshasa to Goma, the scene of intense fighting over the past several years.

The smaller aircraft was necessary because the U.S. plane being used on her seven-nation Africa trip is too big for the local landing strip, Clinton told reporters Monday.

She opened her Africa trip in Nairobi, Kenya, then went to South Africa and Angola. After Congo, she will travel to Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde.

Costa Rican president sick with swine flu

(CNN) -- Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, commonly known as the swine flu, the government said in a televised statement on Tuesday.

Arias fell ill on Sunday, complaining of a sore throat and temperature, Presidential Minister Rodrigo Arias said.

A doctor's visit on Tuesday revealed that the president had the H1N1 virus, cases of which had been reported earlier in the Costa Rican capital of San Jose.

The president's overall health was good, but following his doctor's advice, he will rest at his home until Sunday, Rodrigo Arias said.

The president is expected to return to work on Monday, the minister said.

As of Friday, there were 718 confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus in Costa Rica, and the virus has been blamed for 27 deaths, according to a report by the country's ministry of health.

Man arrested over $65M jewelry heist

LONDON, England (CNN) -- London police have arrested a man in connection with a brazen daylight robbery of a jewelry store last week, they announced Wednesday.

The 50-year-old man was arrested on Monday, police revealed. Some $65 million in merchandise was stolen in the August 6 robbery.

On Tuesday police released surveillance camera photos of two men sought for questioning over the heist as well as images of some of the rings, bracelets, necklaces and watches taken from Graff Jewellers on central London's New Bond Street. A total of 43 items were taken, with a value of about £40 million, or about $65 million, Scotland Yard said.

The heist occurred Thursday, when two men walked into the jewelry store at about 4:40 p.m. and threatened employees with handguns. As the robbers were leaving the store, they brought a female worker outside with them before leaving in a blue BMW, Scotland Yard said. A shot was fired outside the store, but no one was injured.

The men abandoned the BMW nearby, firing a second shot into the ground, Scotland Yard said. Police believe they switched to a silver Mercedes, then later to a black vehicle, possibly a Ford or Volkswagen.

"This was a well-planned robbery with a number of vehicles used to help the robbers escape," Detective Chief Inspector Pam Mace said in the statement. "These men are extremely dangerous and fired at least two shots in busy London streets as they made their getaway. Watch how robbers rip off London jewelers »

"Someone knows who these men are," she said. "They would undoubtedly have spoken about (the robbery) before or boasted about it afterwards. I would urge anyone who recognizes them, knows the whereabouts of the jewelry or has any other information to contact us."

The images show the two men dressed in suits and ties. One man is white, about 30, police said. The second is a black man believed to be in his 30s with short hair. Both men are thought to have spoken with London accents, Scotland Yard said.

The robbery is the latest in a spate of daytime thefts at jewelry stores and designer shops in London's exclusive shopping areas of Bond Street, which includes New Bond Street.

Groups of men or teenagers typically stage "smash and grab" robberies, in which they break the windows and steal anything they can get their hands on before speeding away in waiting cars or motorbikes.

A CNN camera crew filming in March on Oxford Street, near Bond Street, caught a group of thieves speeding away on motorbikes from a jewelry store they had just robbed.

The thieves choose to strike during the day when a store's security system is typically disarmed, even though the store and sidewalk may be crowded with people.

Pakistanis shot at Somali mosque

At least five Pakistanis have been killed in a dawn attack at a mosque on the border of Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, witnesses say.

Armed men in masks entered a mosque in Galkayo and ordered six Pakistanis and one Somali outside, they said.

The gunmen then opened fire, killing five men and seriously injuring two.

Those targeted are said to be Muslim preachers. Puntland has been tense recently, but the reason for the latest attack is unclear.

The Pakistanis are thought to be missionaries from an Islamic branch called Tabliq who arrived in Galkayo on Tuesday.

Obama tackles healthcare critics

US President Barack Obama has accused some opponents of his healthcare reform proposals of trying to "scare the heck" out of people.

Anti-reform campaigners had created "bogeymen out there that just aren't real", he said at a town-hall style meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Passing a healthcare reform bill is Mr Obama's top domestic priority for 2009.

But in recent weeks, opponents of reform have been making serious accusations about his proposals.

The former Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, said last week that the president wanted to set up "death panels" of government officials with the power to determine whether disabled or elderly Americans are "worthy of healthcare".

In fact, under proposals drawn up by the US House of Representatives, the government would pay for elderly Americans to receive voluntary consultations with doctors to discuss their end-of-life care.

"The rumour that's been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for death panels that will basically pull the plug on Grandma because we've decided that its too expensive to let her live anymore," said Mr Obama.

"Somehow, it has gotten spun into this idea of death panels. I am not in favour of that, I want to clear the air here."

Meetings disrupted

Some 47 million Americans currently do not have health insurance, and rising healthcare costs are a major contributing factor to America's spiralling budget deficit.

But there is disagreement about how to go about reforming the system.

Car bombs kill eight in Baghdad

At least eight people have been killed in two car bomb attacks in east Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

The bombs - one near a residential building and one near a cafe - detonated in the Shia district of al-Amin within five minutes of each other.

At least 30 people were injured in the blasts, police said.

The attacks come a day after 18 people were killed in Baghdad and at least 28 in a Shia village near the northern city of Mosul in bombings.

Violence has increased since US troops pulled back from Iraqi cities a month ago, handing over security to Iraqis.

On Tuesday, Iraqi security forces discovered a roadside bomb in the same area of al-Amin area of Baghdad and detonated it, according the Reuters news agency.

Swine flu vaccine 'by September'

The first swine flu vaccines are likely to be licensed for use in the general population in September, the World Health Organization has announced.

Several manufacturers have produced initial batches of a H1N1 vaccine and some clinical trials are already underway.

WHO director of vaccine research Dr Marie-Paule Kieny also sought to calm fears about safety of new vaccines.

She said the vaccines were based on "old and proven technology".

Figures show continuing rises in cases in the southern hemisphere in the past seven days.

Argentina has particularly seen a large increase and deaths now stand at 337.

And there has been a rise in cases of 25% in Australia.

Although it has not yet been clarified who would be first in line for a vaccine, it is likely to be those who are most vulnerable, such as pregnant women and young children.

Some experts have raised concerns about the lack of safety data on flu vaccines in these groups.

In particular, a very rare neurological condition called Guillain Barre syndrome affected 500 people during a US vaccine programme against swine flu in 1976.

Dr Kieny said much was known about flu vaccines in these groups from seasonal vaccines given every winter and added that regulatory agencies would be monitoring for any signs of adverse reaction.

"The quality controls on today's vaccine are much better than they were 30 years ago," she added.

Fast track

Regulators in the US and Europe have special plans in place to fast-track swine flu vaccines, some of which are based on conventional seasonal flu vaccines and some which use newer technology.

Clinical trials are already underway in China, Australia, USA, UK, and Germany.

It comes as drug company, Baxter, has announced the production of the first commercial batches of its swine flu vaccine Celvapan.

Mumbai closes schools in flu fear

Indian authorities in the city of Mumbai say they will close all schools, colleges and cinemas as they seek to control the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Schools and colleges will remain shut for a week, officials said.

The city, India's commercial capital, is in Maharashtra state, which has seen 11 of India's 15 swine flu deaths - three in Mumbai alone.

Health officials say there are more than 1,000 confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu across India.

Suresh Wandile, spokesman for chief minister of Maharashtra, said the closures would begin on Thursday.

"We have seen a rise in cases of swine flu cases in the state. We need to take care, hence these precautionary measures," the AFP news agency reported him as saying.

'Many threats'

Theatres in the capital of the country's booming film industry - home to 18 million people - will also close for three days.

The move by the Mumbai authorities came despite recent comments from India's Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who has stressed that swine flu is just one of many threats to health in the country.

"It is not the only virus we have in our country. We have much more fatal diseases, much more costly diseases," he said in comments on Monday.

The swine flu (H1N1) virus first emerged in Mexico in April and has since spread to at least 74 countries.

Official reports say there have been nearly 30,000 cases globally and 141 deaths, with figures rising daily.

Most of India's confirmed cases of swine flu have been among people who have returned from overseas travel.

Passenger screening has been introduced across India's main 22 international airports.

'US open to reconciling with Taliban'

WASHINGTON : The top commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan on Tuesday vowed coalition forces would prevail in the war and said he was open to reconciling with rank-and-file insurgents.

"We will win. The Taliban won't win. But we will also have to deal through good and bad days, and good and bad months," General Stanley McChrystal told US National Public Radio.

The US commander's comments came after he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Monday that the Taliban had momentum in the war and that Nato-led forces had to "stop their initiative." The insurgency has reached its most deadly level since the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime, with a record 76 coalition soldiers killed last month.

'US open to reconciling with Taliban'

WASHINGTON : The top commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan on Tuesday vowed coalition forces would prevail in the war and said he was open to reconciling with rank-and-file insurgents.

"We will win. The Taliban won't win. But we will also have to deal through good and bad days, and good and bad months," General Stanley McChrystal told US National Public Radio.


The US commander's comments came after he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Monday that the Taliban had momentum in the war and that Nato-led forces had to "stop their initiative." The insurgency has reached its most deadly level since the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime, with a record 76 coalition soldiers killed last month.

Taiwan scrambles to rescue 1,000 in landslide villages

CHISHAN : Taiwan Wednesday began airlifting out nearly 1,000 people found alive in a cluster of villages flattened by muddy landslides, as survivors recounted the horror of watching their homes vanish.

The island-wide death toll from Typhoon Morakot rose to 103 late Wednesday with 61 others still missing following Taiwan's worst flooding in half a century over the weekend, with entire villages submerged in water and mud.

The latest toll included 32 bodies found buried under mudslides in a remote mountain hot spring area in Liukuai, Kaohsiung county, the National Fire Agency said.

Meanwhile eye-witness accounts emerged of the devastation wrought on one of three villages in southern Taiwan, Hsiaolin, as survivors were ferried out by helicopter.

"I saw the mountain crumbling in seconds almost like an explosion and bury half of our neighbourhood," said Huang Chin-bao, 56.

Huang said he and 40 neighbours were guided by his two dogs to higher ground. "The dogs are our saviours," he said.

Feelings were running high at a school outside the disaster zone where relatives of the missing had gathered. Police and soldiers had to push back some who tried to storm their way onto helicopters heading to the zone.

"I cannot wait any more. I want to look for my family," a man in his 40s shouted as he argued with soldiers.

He said he had not heard anything from his family since the typhoon dumped a record three metres (120 inches) of rainfall on southern Taiwan over the weekend.

As the military rescue operation stepped up, Major-General Richard Hu said: "We have found around 700 people alive in three villages last night and 26 more this morning. We are deploying 25 helicopters to evacuate them."

Marines found some 250 villagers later Wednesday before heavy rain temporarily halted the airlift, the military said, adding 192 people had so far been ferried to safety.

Hu said he was unable to confirm how many people had been buried or killed by the landslide in Hsiaolin.

Officials have downplayed media reports that up to 600 people had been killed just in Hsiaolin. Rescuers said Tuesday that around 100 people there were feared to have been buried alive.

"We believed that some were buried but it's not possible to estimate how many at this moment as almost 90 percent of the houses were buried," Hu said.

In central Chiayi county, some 500 people remained without water and electricity in several villages around Mount Ali, a popular tourist attraction.

The death toll included three rescuers who died when their helicopter crashed into a river in heavy fog in the southern county of Pingtung on Tuesday.

Another 45 were reported injured, authorities said.

Armoured vehicles, marine landing craft and rubber dinghies have been mobilised in the rescue operation, which involved more than 17,000 troops across the island, the defence ministry said.

The typhoon has caused losses of at least nine billion Taiwan dollars (281 million US) for agriculture and another 570 million dollars in lost tourism after ravaging the island's scenic mountain and hot spring regions.

Hong Kong pop star and actor Andy Lau was to lead a string of Taiwanese entertainers fronting a major fundraising event, organisers said.

Lau, one of Hong Kong's biggest names who is also popular in China and Taiwan, will join more than 200 homegrown stars to take donation pledges over the phone from the Taiwanese public on Friday in the four-hour fundraiser.

Taiwanese charities and companies have also launched donation drives for flood victims, raising more than two billion Taiwan dollars as of Tuesday, reports said.

Morakot is one of the worst typhoons to strike Taiwan in 50 years. In August 1959, a typhoon killed 667 people and left around 1,000.

Militant clashes in Jandola kill 70

DERA ISMAIL KHAN : Two intelligence officials and a militant commander say that clashes between rival militant groups, in Jandola, have killed about 70 fighters.

The officials say that the clashes broke out on Wednesday, in Jandola, between fighters loyal to the Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and those of Turkistan Betani, a militant commander allied with the government.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

Betani told the AP that a total of about 60 to 70 fighters had died, and that the clashes had broken out when his group was attacked by Mehsud's group.

There was no way to independently confirm the death toll, as the fighting took place in a remote area that is off-limits to journalists.

Musharraf likely to face arrest on return to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Former President Pervez Musharraf faces possible arrest if he returns, government officials said Tuesday.

Police registered a case Tuesday against Musharraf over his order to arrest and detain judges in late 2007, the High Commission in London said.

As a result, "If Musharraf returned to Pakistan, he would face a court who would decide whether he is arrested or released on bail," a spokeswoman for the High Commission said.

The arrests and detentions came amid a state of emergency that Musharraf declared November 3, 2007, when he suspended the nation's constitution.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry declared the action illegal at the time, but shortly afterward Musharraf had him expelled from office. Critics said Musharraf sacked Chaudhry because he was preparing to nullify his election the previous month to a third term in office.

In all, about 60 judges -- including 14 of the 18 on the Supreme Court -- were dismissed, and thousands of protesting attorneys were either arrested or detained in their homes.

Musharraf, who resigned in August 2008 under protests and threat of impeachment, now lives in London, England.

His lawyer, Saif Khan, said Musharraf was in Europe on a speaking tour, after which he was planning to return to Pakistan. He gave no timeframe.

In a written statement, he said, "This is not a surprise to us, but it is unfortunate that Pakistan may be falling back into the old era of purely personal vendettas. The president's actions were made after consultation with the prime minister, governors of all four provinces, chiefs of the armed forces, and approved by the parliament and validated by the Supreme Court.”

"Today the nation faces great challenges, from battling the Taliban in the north to perpetual electricity blackouts across the country.

"President Musharraf presided over the greatest economic expansion in Pakistan's history. We believe government and politicians should be focused on solving the needs of Pakistanis, eliminating corruption, providing basic necessities, and empowering the people."

Supreme Court has declared Musharraf's 2007 emergency decree unconstitutional and ruled illegal all judicial appointments Musharraf made in the interim. It also has ruled that Chaudhry's dismissal was illegal and reinstated him.

Mumbai schools, multiplexes shut due to swine flu

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has asked for Mumbai schools, colleges and coaching classes to be shut for seven days as fears of the H1N1 virus grips the city. Multiplexes would also remain shut for the next three days.

A Maharashtra schoolboy succumbed to swine flu just hours after three others in the state died of the same disease on Wednesday morning, officials said. With these deaths, the toll due to the viral infection has risen to 11 in the state and 15 in the country.

Earlier, five people in Pune, two in Mumbai, two in Gujarat, one each in Tamil Nadu and Kerala had died of swine flu.

N Korea launches world's largest gymnastic show

SEOUL: North Korea's Arirang festival -- the world's largest gymnastic performance -- has opened in front of huge crowds, official media in the communist state said Tuesday.

The 80-minute show opened at May Day Stadium Monday night, according to the Korean Central Broadcasting Station monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

It said this year's show has added new scenes to highlight the country's campaign to build a "strong, prosperous and powerful nation."

The stadium was packed with soldiers and workers as well as diplomats, international agency representatives, tourists and Koreans living abroad, it said.

The annual festival named after a famous Korean folk song began in 2002 to mark the 90th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung.

It involves some 100,000 people, many of them schoolchildren, in a display of synchronised acrobatics, gymnastics, dances and elaborate flip-card displays of highly politicised messages.

Official media earlier said the show will continue until late September.

North Korea did not host the show in 2003, 2004 and 2006 but gave no reason. It was severely hit by floods in some of those years.

The May 1 Stadium, with 150,000 seats, is the world's largest sports facility outside of Rio de Janeiro.

Israeli air strike on Gaza kills two Palestinian militantsi

MAGHAZI REFUGEE CAMP, GAZA : An Israeli air strike on Tuesday (March 31) killed two Palestinian militants in the central Gaza Strip close to the border fence with Israel, medical workers said.


Residents of Maghazi refugee camp, near the scene of the incident, said a helicopter fired two missiles at militants who had launched a rocket-propelled grenade at an Israeli unit.

The medical workers said two of the militants had been killed and two were wounded.

An Israeli security source said the air strike was directed against militants who tried to plant explosive devices along the border fence.

It was the first time that Israelis had killed Palestinian militants in Gaza in March. Israel ended a 22-day offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on January 18.

'Facing Israel threats, Lebanon needs govt'

BEIRUT: Lebanon's president on Tuesday urged the quick formation of a unity government as a response to "threats" from Israel, which has said it will hold the country responsible for any attack by the guerrilla group Hezbollah.


Israeli officials have directed a series of warnings at Lebanon and Hezbollah in recent days, while the Iranian-backed Shi'ite movement, which is expected to be part of the next cabinet, has also threatened Israel in spiralling rhetoric that has triggered speculation of war.

"The near daily, repeated Israeli threats ... require us to work seriously to secure the internal ranks and accelerate the formation of the national unity government," Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman said on Tuesday, according to a statement from his office.

Hezbollah and Israel last traded fire in 2006 during a 34-day war. The conflict killed some 1,200 Lebanese, mainly civilians, and 158 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday played down reports of tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

Replying to a reporter's question as he visited an Israeli air force base, as to whether he thought the Lebanese guerrillas were seeking to heat up the border situation, he said: "There is nothing in particular going on. There is no war-like atmosphere. I think this is a media storm, nothing more."

On Monday, Netanyahu said Israel would hold Lebanon responsible for any future Hezbollah attack if the group were part of the next cabinet, which Sunni Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri is trying to form.

Hariri was designated to form the government over six weeks ago following the victory of his U.S.-backed, anti-Syrian "March 14" coalition in a June parliamentary election.

He has been trying to forge a unity government including his defeated rivals in the "March 8" alliance, which comprises Hezbollah and its Shi'ite and Christian allies.

Hezbollah, which has a wide following among Lebanese Shi'ites, has been part of government since 2005.

Hariri, a billionaire businessman with the political backing of Saudi Arabia, had reached an agreement on the division of seats in the new 30-seat government and was expected to finalise the new cabinet last week.

But his efforts ran into difficulties when Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, one of his main allies, said he would quit March 14, drawing calls from some of Hariri's allies for a review of the seat-sharing arrangement.

Hezbollah and its allies have rejected the idea of changing the agreement.

Hariri, who returned from a week-long vacation on Monday, has yet to comment. He is expected to meet Jumblatt later to continue talks.

MPs belonging to Hariri's Future Movement met on Tuesday and backed the prime minister-designate's efforts.

"The bloc commended the prime minister-designate's determination and his continuing effort to form a national coalition government quickly but not hastily," they said in a statement after the meeting.

Six Taliban killed in Afghan govt assault: officials

KABUL : Six Taliban died during a coordinated rocket, gun and suicide attack on an Afghan government compound near Kabul, as the country continues its countdown to elections, officials said on Tuesday.

An Afghan soldier and a policeman were also killed during the gun battles on Monday in the Logar provincial capital, Pul-i-Alam, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Kabul, a government official said.

"Five terrorists were killed by security forces and one committed suicide," said Logar government spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish.

Authorities had been unable to say how many men attacked the town as final security sweeps were under way.

Nato troops and helicopters reinforced Afghan forces to crush the hours-long assault.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Clinton calls on Myanmar to free Suu Kyi, American man

GOMA : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Myanmar Tuesday to release Aung San Suu Kyi after the Nobel peace laureate was sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest.

Clinton also demanded that the military junta free John Yettaw, an American who was sentenced to seven years of hard labour for entering the detained democracy icon's home.

"She should not have been tried and she should not have been convicted," Clinton said during a visit to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. "We continue to call for a release from her continuing house arrest."

"We also call for the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners including the American John Yettaw. We are concerned about the harsh sentence imposed on him, especially in light of his medical condition," she said.

A Myanmar court convicted Suu Kyi, 64, at the end of a marathon trial for breaching the terms of her detention by the ruling military junta, following a bizarre incident in which Yettaw swam uninvited to her home.

Yettaw, a 54-year-old US military veteran from Missouri, is diabetic and also suffers from epilepsy.

He was sentenced to seven years of hard labour and imprisonment -- three years for breaching security laws, three years for immigration violations and one year for a municipal charge of illegal swimming.

The case has drawn international outrage amid claims that the junta was concocting the charges to keep Suu Kyi locked up for the elections due in 2010, Myanmar's first since the cancelled vote of 1990.

"The Burmese junta should immediately end its repression of so many in its country and start a dialogue with the opposition and the ethnic groups. Otherwise the elections they have scheduled for next year will have absolutely no legitimacy," Clinton said.

Report: Six arrested in al Qaeda plot on U.S. base in Kuwait

(CNN) -- Kuwaiti security forces arrested six Kuwaitis linked to al Qaeda who planned to attack a U.S. military installation, the country's state-run news agency reported Tuesday.

he suspects had planned to bomb Camp Arifjan during the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Kuwaiti security sources said.

It is unclear when the arrests took place.

The plot also involved an attack on Kuwait's State Security Service headquarters and other government facilities, according to the Kuwait News Agency, which cited a statement from the Interior Ministry.

An investigation into the alleged plot linked to al Qaeda is ongoing, the news agency reported.

Two suspects confessed Tuesday that they planned to attack Camp Arifjan with an explosives-laden truck during Ramadan, which begins August 21, the security sources said.

The other four suspects will be interrogated Wednesday, the sources said.

Pentagon and U.S. military officials had no information about the reported plot on Camp Arifjan, the forward headquarters for the U.S. Army Central Command in the region.

It is a major logistics base for the U.S. military and generally houses thousands of American troops.

"We take the security situation at the base and force protection very seriously and coordinate closely with the Kuwaiti government on the security of our bases," said Army Sgt. Major Brian Thomas, an Atlanta, Georgia-based spokesman for the region's Central Command.

"Camp Arifjan and other bases in Kuwait are very secure. The security at Camp Arifjan is no different than the security at any U.S. base in Iraq or Afghanistan."

The U.S. military had no information on the reported plot.

"The operation was a Kuwaiti-led one, and so the Kuwaitis have the details on the intel and the people they apprehended," said Navy Capt. Jack Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command.

Road bomb kills nine Afghan civilians: doctor

KABUL : A bomb tore into a minibus in Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing nine civilian men, women and children, a doctor said, in another bloody Taliban attack ahead of presidential elections.

A further four people were wounded in the blast in the southern province of Kandahar's Maiwand district, heartland of the Taliban militia behind a growing insurgency it is feared could overshadow the August 20 poll.

"Nine bodies and four wounded men have been admitted to our hospital," said a doctor at the main hospital in Kandahar city.

"Six of them are men, two are women and there is a child. The bodies were put in a car by the police there and sent to the hospital. They are here now," said the doctor, Daud Farhad.

A similar blast hit a civilian car in adjacent Zhari district, wounding five more people, the district chief said.

The interior ministry confirmed the explosion and blamed the "enemies of Afghanistan" -- a reference to the Taliban, who are strong in the south.

Civilians bear the brunt of Afghanistan's intensifying insurgency.

The United Nations announced last month that the conflict had killed more than 1,000 civilians in the first six months of 2009, up almost a quarter over the same period last year.

Nearly 60 percent of the civilian deaths were caused by insurgents attacks, most often bombings, and 30 percent by pro-government military forces, the UN's Afghanistan office said.

The remainder were unattributable to any party to the conflict.

Iran opposition says 69 died in vote unrest: report

TEHRAN : An aide to Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has said in a report to parliament that 69 people died in post-election violence, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.
"A list of 69 dead and about 220 detained after the election was submitted to a special parliamentary committee," Alireza Beheshti was quoted as saying by the reformist Sarmayeh newspaper.

It is more than double the figure reported by Iranian officials who say about 30 people were slain in the violence that erupted after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June.

"I have not heard about 69 people being killed in recent incidents," Ahmad Reza Radan, Tehran's deputy police chief, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

70 dead as typhoons pound East Asia

CHISHAN : Typhoons pummelling East Asia have killed at least 70 people, with rescuers in Taiwan battling to find survivors of a mudslide that may have buried about 100 villagers, officials said Tuesday.

A total of 50 people were confirmed dead in Taiwan and 58 were listed as missing, not counting the mudslide victims, after Typhoon Morakot unleashed the island's worst flooding in half a century over the weekend.

At least 20 were killed as landslides and flooding left a trail of destruction in China and Japan, where officials feared more damage after a powerful earthquake loosened rain-soaked ground southwest of Tokyo.

A helicopter carrying three rescue personnel involved in typhoon relief efforts crashed in heavy fog in southern Taiwan, an official said, without giving details of casualties.

The Taiwanese government's National Fire Agency said "about 100 people may have been buried alive" in the remote village of Hsiaolin, which could only be reached by helicopter with all road access to the mountainous area severed.

Rescuers said they had airlifted roughly 500 people to safety in southern Taiwan, including about 70 from Hsiaolin.

One Hsiaolin survivor, Wong Ruei-chi, said he had lost 10 relatives in the mudslide.

"I've lived in the village for 46 years and I had seen strong winds and rain, but I've never seen anything as terrible as this," he told the Apple Daily newspaper.

Morakot lashed Taiwan with three metres (118 inches) of rain over the weekend, submerging entire streets and bringing down bridges, said the fire agency.

Rescue missions were in full swing with authorities rushing out supplies by helicopter to cut-off areas in the centre and south of the island.

The Apple Daily said one man in a flooded Pingtung town had single-handedly rescued about 100 people with a bamboo raft over the past two days.

Typhoon Morakot has left a further six people dead and three missing on the Chinese mainland, the civil affairs ministry said late Monday, adding it also destroyed more than 6,000 houses.

Japan, following its early-hours 6.4 magnitude tremor, rushed out about 400 troops after Typhoon Etau brought floods and landslides that killed at least 14 people and left 18 missing, police and officials said.

Heavy downpours have drenched Japan since the weekend and caused flooding in the worst-hit city of Sayo, in western Hyogo prefecture, where 12 of the deaths were reported after a swollen river burst its banks.

Typhoon Etau was Tuesday churning through the Pacific Ocean but veering east and away from Japan's coast.

The typhoon, packing winds of up to 126 kilometres (78 miles) an hour, had originally been forecast to veer close to the densely populated region around Tokyo.

Japan's weather agency issued an alert for more "possible landslides and sediment disasters" in the quake-hit areas, warning that the sodden earth may be unstable after being jolted by the strong tremor.

Zardari reviews ‘Malakand Pilot Project’

ISLAMABAD : President Asif ali Zardari Tuesday said that the Malakand Plan should result in increased security with improved system of governance in which the potential of the region is fully exploited for economic growth and the region is made a secure, prosperous and tolerant place free from the dangers of militancy.

He said this while presiding over a meeting to review the Malakand Pilot Project, aimed at rebuilding the region after the return of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their homes.

The plan will be presented to Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) partners for their consideration at the Ministerial meeting in Istanbul on August 25.

Briefing the journalists about the meeting, spokesperson to the President, former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that President Zardari has expressed the hope that the Malakand Pilot Project will ensure that militancy and extremism did not relapse in the area. It should serve as a model for replication in other areas too, he said.

The President said that narcotics and drug peddling was also an area of serious concern as it fed the war machine of the militants adding, "The Malakand project should ensure rooting out drug trafficking".

The President asked the meeting to convert the recent social and political disaster in Swat and Malakand into a great and new opportunity for creating viable models for containing extremism and violence anywhere in the world.

Farhatullah Babar said that there are six working groups of FoDP that were established after the April 17 meeting. The working groups deal exclusively with Security, Development, Energy, Institution capacity building, Trade, Terrorism and a working group on Swat and Malakand.

The Swat and Malakand Working Group was tasked to prepare a "Pilot Project" for rehabilitation of IDPs, rebuilding the infrastructure and fighting militancy on a long term basis.

The President said that the success of the plan depended upon a security environment that permitted to implement it and said that the government will ensure that the process of improvement in security environment now under way moved forward and not reversed in any way.

The President said that the objective of the plan was to provide adequate security to ensure speedy justice to proactively counter the threat of militancy.

The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Minister for SAFRON Najmuddin Khan, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Secretary General Salman Faruqi and senior officials of different ministries besides Ambassadors and senior diplomatic staff of Turkey, USA and UK in Islamabad.

eBay to start selling new GM cars

General Motors (GM) and eBay are launching a trial scheme in the US that will allow customers to buy new GM cars via the auction website.

More than 225 of GM's 250 Californian dealers have signed up to the scheme, which will allow consumers to either pay a fixed price or try to haggle.

The trial will run from 11 August to 8 September and is part of GM's continuing efforts to boost sales.

The carmaker emerged from bankruptcy protection in early July.

Expansion plans

All four of GM's brands - Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Pontiac - will be available through the eBay scheme.

Customers buying a car via the website would then have to pick it up from one of the participating GM dealerships.

Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay marketplaces, said that if the trial is successful, it could be extended across the whole of the US, and that similar schemes with other carmakers may also be launched.

Some GM dealerships in the US already sell second hand cars via eBay, but this is the first time new vehicles have been put on sale through the website.

"I think they should have done this a long time ago," said Inder Dosanjh, one Californian GM dealer.

Jackson's autopsy results sealed

Post-mortem tests on Michael Jackson are complete but the results are being kept under wraps until a police probe into his death is finished.

Toxicology tests have now been concluded but Los Angeles coroner Ed Winter has declined to say when they will be announced.

They are expected to show that Jackson was on heavy medication when he died.

The police investigation so far has led to raids on the premises of the star's doctor, Conrad Murray.

Dr Murray assisted officers in the searches last month, which resulted in the seizure of items including various medications and computer hard drives.

Film deal

He has not been named as a suspect, but court records have confirmed him as a subject in the manslaughter investigation of Jackson, who died suddenly on 25 June.

Meanwhile, a plan to release a film based on the singer's last rehearsals in Los Angeles for his series of concerts at the O2 arena in London has been approved by a Los Angeles judge.

The proposal had been the subject of numerous objections by Jackson's mother Katherine, including concerns that his three children would appear in the movie.

But AEG Live has said they are not included in the footage.

The film is due to be released in October, with the singer's estate expected to receive about 90% of the proceeds.

The release is expected to be shown in 3D and will also include interviews with Jackson's friends and collaborators.

Michael Lynton, head of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said: "This historic recording of the last time he sang and danced on stage shows the legendary artist in an incredibly powerful way, with crystal clear images and sound."

Russian victims challenge police

Russian police officers committed 2,500 crimes in the first six months of this year, according to the Russian interior ministry.

No, that was not a typing error; I did mean 2,500.

Here is another direct quote: "Police officers are the biggest single source of graft" in Russia.

That is from the head of the interior ministry's internal investigation department, Oleg Goncharov.

That will not come as a surprise to most Russian motorists. The fact that Russia's police are hugely corrupt is not really news.

Anyone who has driven the streets of Moscow on a Saturday morning knows only too well how much of the city's police force spend its weekends - pulling over motorists and soliciting bribes.

We approached the Interior Ministry for comment. They refused.

But a ministry official who did not want to be named said this: "The situation is really awful. Police officers are not paid properly, so we are only able to recruit the lowest calibre people.

"Some of them don't know the most basic of laws; some even consort with criminal gangs".

Bitter and angry

But can a Russian police officer get away with murder?

That is a question that has been prompted by two recent incidents in Moscow.

On 27 April a local police chief walked into a supermarket in southern Moscow.

He pulled out a gun and started walking around the shop shooting people at random, killing three and seriously wounding six others.

One of them was Ilya Gerassimenko.

Three months after the shooting, the 18-year-old still has a bullet fragment lodged near his heart. His doctors have told him he will probably not be able to play football again.

Last week, Mr Gerassimenko was told by a court that he would not get any compensation for his injuries because the policeman who shot him, Denis Yevsyukov, was off duty.

Mr Gerassimenko is bitter and angry.

"I will never trust the police again," he said. "Now every time I see a policeman I feel scared. No-one in this neighbourhood will ever trust the police again."

UK worker held after Iraq death

A British man has been arrested by Iraqi police after a UK contractor was shot dead in Baghdad's Green Zone.

UK company ArmorGroup Iraq said Paul McGuigan and Australian colleague Darren Hoare were killed on Sunday.

A company spokesman said employee Danny Fitzsimmons, who rejoined the firm recently, had been arrested. He is also accused of wounding an Iraqi.

A second British ArmorGroup employee was also questioned about the shooting but released later by police.

An Iraqi military spokesman said the incident "started as a squabble".

The Green Zone is a heavily protected region of Iraq's capital city.

'Tragic'

Iraqi military spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said the matter was now in the hands of Iraqi justice.

Mr McGuigan, a former Royal Marine, 37, worked for the company for six years and has family in Scotland, the firm's spokesman said.

The ArmorGroup Iraq spokesman said: "I can confirm the deaths of two ArmorGroup Iraq employees in the early hours of this morning in a firearms incident in the International Zone in Baghdad.

"The two men were Paul McGuigan, a British national, and Darren Hoare, an Australian national. Their next of kin have been informed and we are supporting them as much as we can in these tragic circumstances.

"We are working closely with the Iraqi authorities to investigate the circumstances of their deaths."

The ArmorGroup Iraq spokesman described the firm as a "protective security company" that has been operating in Iraq since 2003.

Pakistan to seek Mehsud DNA proof

The Pakistani government says it intends to provide conclusive proof that Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, is dead.

"All the credible intelligence I have from that area does finally confirm [his death]," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the BBC.

But the government says it hopes to get DNA evidence to back up its claims.

Baitullah Mehsud was reported to have been killed in a US missile strike last week in his remote tribal stronghold.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in Islamabad, says that the Pakistani government is growing increasingly confident that it will soon be able to prove that Baitullah Mehsud was killed in the attack.

In Washington, US National Security Adviser Jim Jones put the level of US certainty that he had been killed "in the 90% category".

But Taliban sources have denied these claims, insisting he is still alive.

The government had previously said that it would be extremely difficult to get DNA proof of his death.

But Mr Malik told the BBC's Urdu service that they did have DNA from Mr Mehsud's brother, who was killed a few months ago.

However, correspondents say that getting hold of Baitullah Mehsud's body in the remote and hostile terrain of South Waziristan could prove to be a stumbling block.

The Pakistani interior minister has challenged the Taliban to prove its leaders are still alive - something the Taliban commanders dismissed as a ploy to flush them out into the open

Taliban turmoil

On Sunday a key aide of the militant commander said that Baitullah Mehsud was gravely ill and had not been injured in the missile attack.

It is thought that in making the statement the Taliban are preparing the ground for an announcement that Pakistan's most wanted man is in fact dead, correspondents say.

But the fate of the entire leadership of the Pakistani Taliban is subject to intense speculation, after days of conflicting reports about its fate.

Mr Malik has said that he believes the next tier of Taliban leadership is in turmoil, after it was reported that up to two potential successors were killed in a gun battle.

Senior Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud - who contacted the BBC on Saturday to say his chief was alive and well - was one of those reported to have been killed in the alleged fight over the succession.

However he got in touch with the BBC on Monday to say that he was in fact alive.