Asia Live

Afghanistan: Becoming Iraq

2007-06-26T00:12:00.001-07:00

The reports that U.S. and/or NATO forces are killing Afghan civilians at a faster rate than militant insurgents (including the Taliban) are is rather alarming.

While the numbers are disputed, and we don't suspect civilians are killed deliberately, we agree with critics, such as Human Rights Watch, who say military operations there need to be more precise.

"They (NATO) need to be doing it cleaner and doing it better," Human Rights Watch researcher Michael Shaikh told The Associated Press. "Every death has a profound effect on the Afghan population." Those deaths also undermine the credibility of Hamid Karzai's government there, giving the Taliban a stronger foothold in the region.

The war in Afghanistan didn't start out as the one in Iraq did. While not everyone agrees, it could be argued that in the case of Afghanistan, the U.S. government was responding to the Sept. 11 attacks. And although not carried out on behalf of the people of Afghanistan, the purported mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, was based in Afghanistan, where he benefited from the support of at least some of the population.

The Iraq war, however, was a gargantuan disaster from the start, and is now a protracted, bloody, unjustified war that's done little but make life worse for Iraqis, killing them off by the thousands, costing more American lives than those lost in 9/11 and creating more enemies for us by the minute.

If we're not careful, Afghanistan could turn into another Iraq for us.

India, Bangladesh begin talks

2007-06-26T00:10:00.001-07:00

India and Bangladesh began Foreign Secretary-level talks here on Monday after over two years. The discussions will cover trade, transportation, border and security issues.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon leads a four-member delegation while the Bangladesh team is led by Towhid Hussain, acting Foreign Secretary. Sources told The Hindu that the two-day talks began on a positive note.

Mr. Menon told reporters at the airport here on Sunday that he intended to hold substantive discussions on bilateral issues and explore possibilities of taking the ties forward. He hoped to take the relations on an “irreversible higher trajectory.”

He said: “As a friend and close neighbour, India is deeply interested in Bangladesh’s peaceful, democratic and stable development. India wishes Bangladesh continued economic progress and prosperity. We intend to explore how we can further strengthen our bilateral cooperation, and also discuss other matters of mutual interest.”

A Bangladesh Foreign Ministry release said the two sides would have “wide-ranging discussions on all aspects of bilateral relations.”

An opportunity

“The government is of the view that the visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary will be yet another important opportunity to carry on the process of constructive and forward-looking engagement between the two countries,” the release said.

Besides senior officials from both countries, Bangladesh High Commissioner Liakat Ali Chowdhury and Indian High Commissioner here Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty were present.

Floods kill 140 in India

2007-06-26T00:08:00.001-07:00

Floods have hit south India, leaving more than 140 people dead.

After days of heavy rains, relief and rescue teams have moved into the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.

Rain and thunderstorms led to heavy flooding in many parts of the three states, leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Most of them have been moved to government relief camps but officials say the rain is easing off and they are hoping the situation will soon return to normal.

However the monsoon is now moving up the eastern and western coasts.

Thailand to freeze more ex-PM assets

2007-06-26T00:06:00.001-07:00

The Thai government will freeze an additional $147 million in assets believed to be controlled by ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, officials said Monday.

The Assets Examination Commission, established after a coup deposed Thaksin last September, has already frozen more than $1.8 billion of his family's wealth pending the outcome of court cases related to charges of corruption and abuse of power.

If the courts rule against Thaksin, the money could be seized by the government.

The committee decided Monday to freeze another $147 million in three bank accounts belonging to Bannaphot Damapong, the brother of Thaksin's wife, said committee spokesman Sak Korseangruang.

Separately, the state Election Commission approved filing criminal charges against nine people for violating election laws during an April 2006 vote called by Thaksin, spokesman Sutthiphol Thawichaikan said. They include two executives of Thaksin's dissolved Thai Rak Thai party — the former defense and transport ministers.

The Constitutional Tribunal last month ordered Thaksin's party dissolved on the same charges, and barred its more than 100 executive members from public office for five years.

Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon, called the snap election to reaffirm his mandate after facing months of anti-government demonstrations over alleged corruption and abuse of power.

The election was later annulled by the courts. A prolonged political crisis culminated in the bloodless coup while Thaksin was abroad.

Thaksin has since divided his time between a home in London and travel around Asia. He has been ordered to report to Thai police by June 29 to face charges related to a case of failing to report corporate information to the Thai stock exchange.

Teen surgeon sparks an outrage in India

2007-06-22T01:51:00.001-07:00

The 15-year-old son of two doctors performed a filmed Caesarean section birth under his parents' watch in southern India.

NEW DELHI — The 15-year-old son of two doctors successfully performed a filmed Caesarean section birth under his parents' watch in southern India in an apparent attempt to set a record as the youngest surgeon, officials said Thursday.

Instead, the boy's father could be stripped of his licenses and may face criminal charges.

Dr. K. Murugesan showed a recording of his son performing a Caesarean section to an Indian Medical Association (IMA) chapter in the southern state of Tamil Nadu last month, said Dr. Venkatesh Prasad, secretary of the association. The video showed Murugesan anesthetizing the patient.

Murugesan told the medical association that he wanted to see his son's name in the Guinness Book of World Records.

However, Amarilis Espinoza, a spokeswoman for the record book, said the organization doesn't monitor or endorse such feats because it would encourage the practice of "bad medicine."

The mother and baby were reported to have come through the surgery successfully.

Prasad said the IMA told Murugesan his act was an ethical and legal violation.

Murugesan owns and runs a maternity hospital in the city of Manaparai, Prasad said. The family could not be immediately reached for comment.

Murugesan, who could possibly be prevented from practicing and face criminal charges for allowing his son to perform the operation, expressed no regret and accused the Manaparai medical association of being "jealous" of his son's achievements, Prasad added.

"He said this was not the first surgery performed by his son and that he had been training him for the last three years," Prasad said.

Indonesia, Malaysia to revise labor agreement

2007-06-22T01:48:00.001-07:00

Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to revise the memorandum of understanding on alien workers after an Indonesian maid escaped from the 15th floor of her abusive employer last week, local press said Friday.

"Malaysia has agreed to review the MoU and honor us by arranging the meeting in Indonesia," Indonesian Minister for Manpower and Transmigration Erman Suparno was quoted by most influential newspaper Kompas as saying.

The two countries will appoint a committee to revise the articles aiming to ensure better working conditions for Indonesian workers in Malaysia, he said.

The minister pointed to an article that allows employer to hold passports of Indonesian workers in the informal sector, placing the workers in vulnerable position and at the risk of detention during anti-illegal immigrant raids.

"Malaysia also agrees to use the Ceriyati case as a momentum for changes," he said, referring to the 34-year-old maid who climbed down the Malaysian apartment using a makeshift rope before she was finally rescued by firemen.

According to the data from his office, Indonesia exported 3.9 million workers, with 1.2 million going to neighboring Malaysia.

China arrests 2 officials in slave scam

2007-06-22T01:47:00.001-07:00

China has arrested two labor bureau officials for their alleged links to slave labor in brick kilns, amid reports Friday that kiln bosses were hiding child laborers and charging ransoms for their release.

The pair are the first officials arrested in connection with the enslaving of hundreds of children and adults at brick factories where they were forced to work long hours in grueling conditions without pay.

The head of the labor inspection team in Yongji district of Shanxi province has been charged with dereliction of duty, and one of his officers has been charged with abuse of power, the official Xinhua News Agency said Friday.

It said the two officials were responsible for abducting an underaged laborer who had been released from a kiln and was being transported home. They then sent the boy to another kiln where he was again forced into slavery, it said.

The victim wasn't identified, but The Associated Press interviewed a father in Henan Province who said his missing 17-year-old a experienced a similar situation.

The scandal that has brewed on the Internet and in state media prompted an extraordinary self-criticism this week from Shanxi Governor Yu Youjun, making him the first high-ranking official to perform a potentially career-damaging act of contrition in relation to the case.

That came during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, who has built his public image on concern for the welfare of ordinary Chinese. Wen has ordered a thorough probe and punishment of kiln owners and officials who abetted their activities.

Since the scandal broke last month, more than 8,000 kilns and small coal mines in Shanxi and Henan provinces have been raided, with 591 workers freed, including 51 children, according to state media.

About 160 suspected kiln bosses have been detained in the two provinces, and at least one village-level Communist Party secretary expelled from the party after his son was found to be operating a kiln where 31 slaves were found laboring under extraordinarily cruel conditions.

Workers, including small children, were kidnapped or lured with false promises of well-paying jobs by recruiters at train and bus stations. Sold on to kiln owners for $65, they were beaten, starved and forced to haul bricks for up to 20 hours per day for no pay. Many of those rescued showed serious injuries from burns and beatings.

Investigations have been spearheaded largely by parents searching the mountains of southern Shanxi for missing sons. One group claiming to represent 400 fathers circulated an open letter online saying 1,000 children were being held and accusing officials of ignoring or obstructing their searches.

However, reports Friday said some parents had been contacted by their abducted sons who told them they would be released on payment of a ransom.

The official China Daily newspaper reported that a family surnamed Yuan said their son told them the kiln boss was demanding $4,600 for his release. It said other operators had been tipped off to raids and shifted their slave laborers to remote hiding places.

Sri Lankan troops kill 4 rebels in north; 15 decomposing bodies found

2007-06-22T01:45:00.003-07:00

Sri Lankan soldiers killed four Tamil Tiger rebels in two separate clashes in the volatile north on Friday, the military said, while in the east, troops found the bodies of 15 rebels killed in battles during the week.

The insurgents attacked an army foot patrol near Muhamalai, a border post dividing government and rebel-held areas in Jaffna peninsula early Friday, said Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse, a senior military official.

He said soldiers repulsed the attack by rebels who had infiltrated government-held areas and later found the bodies of two rebels.

Also Friday, troops fired at insurgents near Point Pedro town in Jaffna, triggering a pre-dawn clash, Rajapakse said. Two rebel bodies were found later. The army did not suffer casualties, he said.

There was no immediate comment from the rebels.

The military said soldiers found the bodies of 15 rebels and nearly a hundred anti-personnel mines when searching territory captured from the guerrillas this week.

That brings the estimated rebel death toll to 45 in Tuesday's clashes in the Thoppigala area between the army and the separatist Tamil Tigers, an official at the Defense Ministry information center said.

Sri Lankan soldiers have driven out the guerrillas from many of their eastern bases and Thoppigala is believed to be their last stronghold.

The violence comes amid a worsening separatist conflict in Sri Lanka that has killed more than 5,000 people since December 2005, rendering a five-year-old Norway-brokered cease-fire useless.

Even though the two sides have largely ignored the cease-fire as battles between the two escalate, neither side has officially withdrawn from the agreement.

Tamil Tiger rebels have fought the government since 1983 to carve out an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority who have suffered decades of discrimination by successive ethnic Sinhalese-controlled governments.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in more than two-decades of violence.

Pakistan go down fighting against Iran;India,Turkmenistan also win

2007-06-22T01:45:00.001-07:00

Iran dented Pakistan’s title aspirations with a hard-fought victory over the host Nation as India and Turkmenistan also posted wins over their respective rivals on the third day of Asian Central Zone Volleyball Championship at Liaquat Gymnasium, Pakistan Sports Complex, on Thursday.

Pakistan fought with determination against Iran for as long as 95 minutes before the visitors recorded victory by 25-22, 27-25 and 29-27.

India, another strong team in the seven-Nation, single-league tournament, beat Sri Lanka 25-16, 25-17, 25-20 while Turkmenistan disposed of Maldives 25-18, 25-22, 26-24.

Pakistan, having already beaten Sri Lanka and Turkmenistan, will now need to win at least two of their remaining three matches to be played in as many days.

Pakistan play India on Saturday, lowly Maldives on Sunday and defending champions Kazakhastan on Monday—the last day of the championship. The green-shirts will have a rest day on Friday.

In the match against Iran, Pakistan led 8-6 at the first technical time-out before Iranians fought back to level the first game at 12-12. Pakistan again led 20-17 but then the visitors got five consecutive points to lead by 23-21 and eventually won the first game.

The second game was even more fiercely fought as Pakistan came from behind to square the score at 11-11 and then at 13-13 before Iranians wrapped up the second game by taking advantage of some unforced errors of Pakistanis.

Pakistani spikers Naseer Ahmed, Ismail Khan and Kashif Mansoor tried hard even in the third game as they saved three match points before the Iranians cashed in on their rivals’ crucial mistakes to win not only the game but also the match.

Chairman Pakistan Volleyball Federation Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqoob was the chief quest of Pak-Iran match while managing Director Green Valley Housing Scheme Rana Muhammad Arshad announced Rs. One Million for Pakistan Volleyball Federation.

Friday’s Fixture: Maldives Vs Sri Lanka (10:00 a.m.), Iran Vs Turkmenistan (3:00 p.m.) and Kazakhstan Vs India (5:00 p.m.).

Thailand charges ousted premier Thaksin

2007-06-21T01:11:00.001-07:00

Thai prosecutors filed corruption charges against ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the Supreme Court on Thursday, in the first formal charges lodged against the exiled former premier.

Thaksin, who has lived in exile overseas since his government was toppled in a military coup last September, was named along with his wife, Pojamarn, in a case involving allegations of wrongdoing in a land deal.

The attorney general's office also recommended that officials seize the 13-acre plot of land in central Bangkok, valued at $23.7 million.

The Supreme Court said they would decide on July 10 if they will hear the case.

They were the first formal criminal charges against Thaksin since he was accused of corruption and ousted by military leaders in a bloodless coup on Sept. 19 while he was in New York, and the first time that a former premier was formally charged in court.

"In the charges against the suspect (Thaksin), the state authority charges him with abuse of power in that he acted for personal gain, and violated anti-corruption laws," prosecutor Seksan Bangsomboon said.

The charges also include conflict of interest and dereliction of duty for personal gain, Seksan said.

A business deal by Thaksin's family — the $1.9 billion sale last year of telecommunications company Shin Corp. to a Singapore state investment company — contributed to the public discontent.

Sri Lanka ruling party rebels ask Chandrika Kumaratunga to lead them

2007-06-21T01:09:00.001-07:00

Rebels in Sri Lanka\'s ruling party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) have asked former party leader and Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, to lead them in their struggle against Mahinda Rajapaksa who now heads the party and the government.

Dissident leader, former minister Mangala Samaraweera, on Wednesday appealed to Kumaratunga to \"guide\" his struggle against the \"dictatorial, extremist and fascist policies\" of Rajapaksa.

Speaking in parliament after forming his own group, the SLFP (Mahajana Wing), Samaraweera asked Kumaratunga to come out of political retirement and \"guide the party in the right direction.\"

Kumaratunga is currently in the UK, and is expected to come back to Sri Lankan soon. She is alienated from Rajapaksa, and could well take over the leadership of the rebel SLFP (MW).

Samaraweera said that the other leaders of the SLFP, its rank and file, and its sympathisers in the general population, should also join the planned mass struggle to restore the SLFP\'s traditional character, which he said, was \"centrist and democratic.\"

He recalled that the SLFP\'s founder, SWRD Bandaranaike, had broken away from the United National Party (UNP) in September 1951 on the issue of one-man rule or rule by a coterie. That issue now plagues the SLFP (under Mahinda Rajapaksa), he said.

Samaraweera made a special mention of the \"marginalised and disillusioned\" members of the SLFP – leaders of stature who were being ignored and sidelined by the Rajapaksa Brothers.

He charged that the four Rajapaksa brothers had been taking all the decisions pertaining to the party and the country, arrogating to themselves \"70%\" of the budgeted funds, and using them in arbitrary manner.

On the Rajapaksa \"quartet\" he further said: \" They are an entity with executive powers, that is extremely vindictive, spiteful and petty. This is a group which is drunk with power and has no qualms about abusing and exploiting their executive and state powers.\"

Samaraweera said that he was not afraid of imprisonment or bullets and that he would not \"retreat\" from his mission. He said he was planning a mass movement.

Samaraweera, who had earlier been relieved of the Foreign, Ports and Aviation Ministries, said that the Rajapaksa government had brought rural development to a \"standstill\"; encouraged kidnappings for ransom; suppressed the media and hounded outspoken MPs. It treated the Tamil and Muslim minorities in a such a way that it showed the world that racism had become \"official policy\".

\"Today we are fast becoming an internationally isolated and cornered pariah nation.World opinion of Sri Lanka is that we are on the verge of becoming a failed state that abuses human rights and suppresses the media,\" Samaraweera said.

Prospects

It is not clear as to how successful the SLFP rebels will be in their mission to oust or correct Rajapaksa. Right now, the group consists only of two members, namely, Samaraweera and his former ministerial colleague, Sripathi Sooriyarachchi. But it is certain that the rebels pose a serious challenge.

Samaraweera has been a fighter and a hard worker with excellent organisational abilities. He is a liberal in the Western sense, though he could play the regional, caste and the Buddhist card also to gain power.

Right now he has the support of the opposition UNP, and perhaps even the grudging support of the Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna(JVP) .The JVP has been at odds with its old ally Rajapaksa for some time. The 22 member Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has welcomed his defection.

Above all, the SLFP (MW) gives disgruntled SLFP leaders, MPs and the rank and file, an acceptable rallying point. Previously, they did not have any. They could not countenance opting out of politics or joining the UNP or JVP.Now they have a legitimate political refuge and a political bridgehead, in case they need one.

Rising prices, bad governance and a stalemate in the war, are alienating the Rajapaksa regime from the masses, even in the Sinhala-Buddhist south Sri Lanka. In this context, the SLFP(MW) has the potential to grow as an alternative group for the traditional SLFP supporter.

Préparation d’un plan d’action pour le développement des radios communautaires aux Maldives

2007-06-21T01:06:00.001-07:00

Independent and representative committee should formulate draft of a community radio policy.

At a National Orientation on Community Radio in the Maldives, concluded recently in Male, the county's capital, participants called for the appointment by the Ministry of Information and Arts, by September 2007, of an independent and representative committee comprising all stakeholders, to formulate the draft of a community radio policy in Maldives, ensuring transparency in the process.
By the end of 2007, the committee should provide recommendations relating to all aspects of community radio including independent programming, technical regulations, sustainability and transparency both on behalf of the government as well as civil society, strategies and a three-year action plan for the introduction of this new information and communication development tool, including a pilot initiative for possible completion in December 2007.

It was also noted that in the meantime, preparatory capacity building in community broadcasting techniques in collaboration with the existing Atoll Media Centres and VOM will immediately follow with UNESCO/IPDC and other United Nations assistance in keeping with the One UN approach to development assistance in this country.

These recommendations formed part of an 8-point package for study by the Government including the acceptance of the international definition of Community Radio, operationalisation and implementation of Community Radio in Maldives by 2010; reinforcement and capacity building of participatory programming in Maldives, continued and systematic awareness and engagement on the potential of Community Radio in collaboration with the Government and civil society, formulation of programming guidelines to ensure editorial independence and appropriate responses to the needs of the communities, and processes within and outside the legal framework, to ensure ownership and management of the Community Radio by the community.

The National Orientation was attended by over 60 participants including Community Radio experts from the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India, media professionals, representatives from non governmental organizations and other civil society bodies, UN staff, senior officials from the Government and the National Security Force, and the Youth movement, as well as senior staff of the Voice of Maldives.

This overall exercise was organized by the Voice of Maldives, in collaboration with UNESCO within the context of the reform agenda of the Government of Maldives, which places special emphasis on public participation, and inclusion of all especially the poor and marginalized in promoting good governance practices and the raising of awareness of human rights especially amongst the most vulnerable including women, youth and citizens in the outer Atoll islands.

Malaysia fan kidnaps Homer Simpson, reward offered

2007-06-21T01:04:00.001-07:00

Cartoon character Homer Simpson has been kidnapped in Malaysia and Hollywood is offering a reward of 1,000 ringgit (USD 292) for his safe return.

Film studio Twentieth Century Fox announced the bounty after a 1.2-metre statue of Simpson was stolen from a cinema display in a mall in the Malaysian capital.

It was one of a set of outsize replicas of the family being used to advertise "The Simpsons", a movie spinoff of the US television series that is set for release in Malaysia next month.

"This guy is really dumb, because he must know that in a mall there are lots of surveillance cameras," said Nor Hayati Yahaya, country manager of the Motion Picture Association that groups major film studios. "We got footage of his car, plate number, his face, everything."

The New Straits Times newspaper published grainy closed-circuit TV pictures showing two men bundling Homer out of the mall before he was driven off in the boot of a car.

Canadian troops die in Afghanistan

2007-06-21T01:02:00.001-07:00

Afghanistan's surging violence left three Canadian soldiers and 21 suspected Taliban fighters dead yesterday, while insurgents grabbed control of another district headquarters in the south.

NATO said it was facing a seasonal escalation of insurgent operations, but it dismissed recent suicide and bomb attacks as "militarily insignificant."

The Canadian troops died when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb while on a supply mission between two checkpoints in Kandahar's Panjwayi district, said Brig. Gen. Tim Grant, head of Canadian forces in the country.

The latest deaths brought to 60 the number of Canadian troops killed in Afghanistan since they were deployed as part of the NATO-led force in 2002.

NATO and Afghan troops, meanwhile, clashed with fighters in the same province and called in air strikes, killing 21 suspects, local mayor Khairudin Achakzai said. The bodies were strewn in the battlefield along with their weapons and ammunition, he said.

Violence this year has killed more than 2,400 people, mostly insurgents, according to an Associated Press count of figures from Afghan and Western military officials.

The recent spike in insurgent attacks and bombings shows the Taliban remains unbowed more than five years after its ouster, despite the deaths of thousands of militants.

"We find ourselves in the midst of the so-called fighting season, when what we had predicted is taking place: an increase in suicide bombings and more desperate attempts by the enemies of peace and stability to present the illusion that they are stronger than they are," said Lt. Col. Maria Carl, a spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

Insurgents, meanwhile, pressed ahead with their tactic of taking control of remote districts, an apparent attempt to stretch thin the Afghan security forces.

Seven children die as US-led air strike hits Afghan school

2007-06-18T22:58:00.001-07:00

Seven children were killed when US-led coalition jets bombed a religious school in south-eastern Afghanistan, prompting hasty apologies yesterday and attempts to deflect the blame from the military.

"We are truly sorry," a coalition spokesman, Major Chris Belcher, said in a statement. He said there had been no indications that there were children inside the building.

The incident came as humanitarian and aid agencies prepared to issue a damning statement about the killing of civilians by Nato and US forces in Afghanistan. In a statement to be released tomorrow, they are expected to condemn the "disproportionate or indiscriminate use of force" which has led to more than 200 civilian deaths, including more than 50 women and children, this year.

The coalition said the latest air strike, launched with the support of Afghan troops in Zarghun Shah district of Paktika province late on Sunday, was aimed at al-Qaida fighters hiding in the compound. The grounds included a madrasa, or religious school, and a mosque, which was also damaged. The attack reportedly killed several militants, though the number of dead was not immediately confirmed.

A coalition statement said it authorised the raid after identifying "the presence of nefarious activity" and a period of surveillance when no children were seen.

"This is another example of al-Qaida using the protective status of a mosque, as well as innocent civilians, to shield themselves," Maj Belcher said. "Innocent lives were lost as a result of the militants' cowardice."

In an additional communique, the coalition's central command said militants had forced the children to stay out of view. "If the children attempted to go outside they were beaten or pushed away from the door," the press release continued.

In Washington, a White House spokesman, Tony Snow, said: "Obviously any time innocents are killed it is something that is a tragedy and certainly we grieve for those who are lost.

"We also understand that ... the Taliban and other terrorists try to transform innocents into human shields."

Many of the deaths of civilians have been caused by US forces engaged in the anti-terrorist Operation Enduring Freedom, which is separate from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force, according to the aid agencies' statement.

In a joint statement, the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief, which groups nearly a hundred NGOs, is expected to acknowledge the difficulties facing Nato and other foreign troops in the country. However, it will insist that they must also respect international humanitarian and human rights law.

The agency is also expected to point to reports of foreign troops conducting abusive operations where they have searched homes with no respect for Afghan women or the integrity of families. It is expected to call for a permanent body of Afghan national and foreign military units, including all US forces, to monitor the conduct of operations, fully investigate civilian deaths and reports of human rights abuses, and ensure that proper compensation is paid to the families of victims.

Des Browne, the defence secretary, called for a greater UN role in Afghanistan in a speech in New York last month. The British government is concerned about the increasing number of civilian deaths, which provoke deep resentment and anger directed at foreign troops.

There was also concern in Afghanistan that yesterday's attack would again set back attempts to get children back to school in a country with 28% literacy.

"As a direct result of the security situation, we are going to face a large number of children who are going to miss out on school," said a Unicef spokeswoman, Roshan Khadivi.

US deports Mujibur Rahman murderer back to Bangladesh

2007-06-18T22:57:00.001-07:00

Former military officer Lt Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed, convicted for his role in the 1975 coup killing of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, arrived home on Monday after being deported from the United States.

US Homeland Security agents escorted sacked Lt Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed as a Thai Airways aircraft brought him back home to face justice. “He has been handed over to police,” an immigration official said without elaborating.

But witnesses said security around the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in downtown Dhaka was tightened as Ahmed was likely to be taken there first for a brief appearance for legal formality before handing him over to the jail authorities.

A federal court in the United States had recently rejected Ahmed’s appeal of staying back leading to his return to the country.

Authorities earlier intensified security around Dhaka’s Zia International Airport as US security officials with elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) troops and armed police took position around the airport.

Sheikh Mujib, father of former prime minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, was killed in the abortive August 15, 1975 coup along with most of his family members.

Hasina and her younger sister survived the coup as they were abroad at that time.

Trial over Mongolian model's death begins in Malaysia

2007-06-18T22:55:00.001-07:00

The long-awaited murder trial of a political analyst in the death of his Mongolian lover started Monday with prosecutors promising to prove that the defendant conspired with two policemen to blow up the victim.

The case has turned into one of Malaysia's most lurid scandals. The defendant, Abdul Razak Baginda, is close to the governing party as well as Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, and the extramarital affair with Altantuya Shaariibuu and her macabre death have been the talk of the country.

The Malaysian government has sought to distance itself from the case because of the close ties between the ruling establishment and Abdul Razak, who ran a well-known research group until his arrest last year.

Najib has rejected accusations by the opposition that he knows more about the murder than he has revealed, and there are no signs that the scandal has tainted the government.

The trial has been dogged by one controversy after another. The trial judge, the prosecution team and at least one defense lawyer were replaced even before hearings began, prompting the country's opposition to condemn the delays.

Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah told the court that he had evidence that Altantuya Shaariibuu, a 28-year-old freelance translator and interpreter, was killed by police on Oct. 19, 2006. Shaariibuu was shot in the head twice and her body blown up with plastic explosives in a jungle.

The prosecutor said he would prove that Abdul Razak, 47, "abetted them by planning and giving instructions to get rid of her by killing her" because she was pestering him for money.

Abdul Razak is charged with abetting the murder. The two policemen - Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Constable Sirul Azhar Umar - are charged with murder. If convicted, all three face the death penalty.

After their arrest, Azilah led the police to a jungle clearing near Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor State, where the remains of Shaariibuu's body were found.

Abdul Razak has acknowledged having an eight-month extramarital affair with Shaariibuu, starting in late 2004.

Tun Abdul said that after the affair ended, Shaariibuu continued to visit Malaysia. The last time she came was on Oct. 8, 2006, when she left several notes for Abdul Razak.

"The deceased in one of her notes to the accused said that if he refused to give her money his child's life will be in danger," he told the court.

The trial was scheduled to start June 4, but was postponed after the attorney general replaced the prosecutor abruptly on the grounds that he was seen playing badminton with the judge.

On Monday, Karpal Singh, the lawyer for Shaariibuu's family, sought to have the judge dismissed from the case, saying he was the third cousin of a defense lawyer's late wife. But Judge Mohammad Zaki turned down the request, saying the woman was dead and that he had "no personal interest whatsoever" in the case.

The three accused were brought to court in handcuffs.

Before entering the room, a tearful Abdul Razak hugged his wife who was wearing a T-shirt that said "Mrs. Abdul Razak Baginda." On the back was written: "And Proud of It."

Bomb hidden in tree explodes at teashop in southern Thailand, wounding 13

2007-06-18T22:54:00.001-07:00

BANGKOK, Thailand – A bomb exploded at a busy teashop in southern Thailand on Monday, wounding 13 people, police said.

The bomb, hidden under a tree by the teashop near a government school in Yala province's Bannang Sata district, seriously wounded four people, said police Lt. Yothin Wanthawee, who blamed suspected Muslim insurgents for the attack.

In Narathiwat province, two soldiers who were protecting teachers as they went to school in Tak Bai district were wounded by a bomb, police Lt. Jed Jaraenyaen said.

Since a Muslim separatist rebellion flared in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat in early 2004, near-daily bombings, drive-by shootings and other attacks have killed more than 2,300 people.

Military-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont acknowledged Monday that the situation in the south has deteriorated, citing a political crisis in Bangkok as one of the reasons for the intensifying violence in the region.

Daily anti-government protests in the capital, growing gradually in size and enthusiasm, have increased the risk of confrontation between the protesters and the military leaders who ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

“It is a good opportunity for (the insurgents) during a political crisis to spread the violence and instability, especially to gain attention abroad,” Surayud told a news conference.

Surayud also suggested for the first time that schools in remote and volatile areas where insurgents have been particularly active should be shut following recent attacks on teachers. Students and teachers will be transferred to other schools that government security officials can monitor more closely, Surayud said.

The decision came after more than 50 schools were temporarily closed when two Buddhist teachers were killed June 11 in a daytime raid on a school in Sisakorn district of Narathiwat province. More than 200 students were there at the time. Another Buddhist teacher was killed in a drive-by shooting the same day.

More than 70 Buddhist teachers working in government schools have been killed in the three southern provinces since January 2004, when the long-simmering separatist movement flared.

The region is the only one with a Muslim majority in Buddhist-dominated Thailand. Southern Muslims have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens.

The government says it is seeking talks with the rebels to try to end the insurgency, reversing Thaksin's hard-line military style. But the rebels have responded by intensifying their violence.

Indonesia, Saudi Arabia make gains against Islamist militants

2007-06-18T22:47:00.001-07:00

US training pays off in fight against Al Qaeda, but cause for concern about terrorism still remains.

In the past week US-backed forces in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have made major headway combating Al Qaeda-linked groups that operate within their borders.

South Africa's news24 reports that Indonesia's security services announced last week that they arrested two leaders of the terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) earlier this month. The group is believed responsible for a series of attacks inside the country during the first half of this decade, reports Reuters. Long criticized for poor performance dealing with the Al Qaeda-aligned JI, Indonesian security services are now receiving praise for appearing to get the upper hand on domestic militants.

But the Associated Press reports that Indonesian officials are warning that more attacks are still a real possibility despite the arrests of Zarkasih, described as the group's leader, and Abu Dujana, alleged to be its military chief and the leader of an elite JI unit.

Indonesia's top detective, Lt. Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, said the hunt for other terrorist suspects was continuing on Java and Sulawesi islands, where the network was trying to rebuild.

"Jemaah Islamiyah hasn't been destroyed," he said, amid claims that they continue to collect guns, ammunition and explosives. "They are still recruiting people and holding military training" in the southern Philippines.

JI has had a hand in every major terrorist attack in Indonesia since the mid-1990s, including an October 2002 bombing on the tourist island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and other bombings that claimed at least 50 other lives.

Mr. Zarkasih's arrest quickly followed the arrest of Mr. Abu Dujana in Central Java, and The New York Times reports that Indonesian officials are convinced that Zarkasih, previously unknown to the public, was crucial to the group's operations.

The two arrests deal a major blow to the organization. The arrest of Abu Dujana seriously weakens its military wing and will make Indonesia more secure from terrorists' attacks, analysts and law enforcement officials said. And, they added, the capture of Zarkasih will hinder the already fractured network's ability to rebuild.

"He is the emir of Jemaah Islamiyah," Col. Petrus Golose of the national police force, a member of the antiterrorism team, said of Zarkasih in an interview. "He controls everyone; everyone important reports to him."

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports in an interview with Sidney Jones, the leading authority on JI, that the respect and credibility of Abu Bakar Bashir, who is considered the religious leader of the group and is now living free on Java, could be damaged by the fallout from the arrest. Mr. Bashir, who publicly encourages Muslims to engage in attacks on Western targets, has long denied involvement with JI.

"He's already denying some of the statements that Abu Dujana has been releasing. So I think it's huge and I think it's going to diminish Abu Bakar Bashir's credibility, even among his own followers," Ms. Jones said.

But in other interviews compiled by the Singapore-based MediaCorp's Today website, Jones also cautioned that the group has proven resilient when leaders have been arrested in the past.

"This is going to throw the leadership of JI into serious disarray, but they can recover," Jones said. "It's not a fatal blow ... I think we have to understand that the bottom of the network is still quite strong.''

The arrests have yielded some evidence of long-running disagreements in JI. Interviewed by Indonesia's Tempo Magazine, Abu Dujana said he had strongly opposed the JI's operation against the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in 2003 and was ignored by another JI leader, Noordin Top.

Speaking at a police facility in the central Javan city of Yogyakarta, Dujana accused Top of planning the Marriott attack on his own and said that he was "mad with Noordin for his action." Later, I learned that the meeting with Noordin had put me on a suspect list of those who were involved in the planning of Marriott bombing," he said, referring to intelligence analysis. "I just laughed when I read that in the media," he added.

Ken Conboy, a Jakarta-based security consultant, writes on the Counterterrrorism blog that "the Indonesian police are now painting a picture of a terrorist organization attempting to consolidate in the face of heavy attrition."

The Asia Times says the arrests are another success for the US trained and armed Detachment 88, Indonesia's elite antiterror squad. The unit has become much more effective in recent years, thanks to close cooperation with the US and Australia.

Equipped with US weaponry and assault vehicles, including Colt M4 assault rifles, Armalite AR-10 sniper rifles and Remington 870 shotguns, the elite unit has become one of the top anti-terror units, if not the top, in the world, during (Indonesian President Bambang) Yudhoyono's watch.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer this week praised Indonesia for doing "an outstanding job in combating terrorism".

Saudi Arabia, another country that has received extensive US assistance in its efforts against Al Qaeda-aligned militants, also scored a success this month. Agence France-Presse reports that Saudi officials arrested about a dozen suspects alleged to be major "financiers and inciters of terrorism" inside the kingdom, according to Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz.

Those arrested have an influential role and they could be more important than those who committed the terror attacks themselves," Prince Nayef said.

The Saudi Gazette quoted Prince Nayef as saying the government is now focused on denying militants and their supporters' use of the Internet to disseminate propaganda.

He emphasized the need for a balance between analytical work and security activity in order to correct any misconceptions about Islam. Prince Naif highlighted the role cyber security experts at the ministry are playing. He said they are apprehending and exposing deviants and those involved in terrorism on the Internet.

To be sure, Al Qaeda allies are still demonstrating the ability to carry out attacks in many countries. On Sunday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a massive bomb that struck a police academy in Kabul, killing at least 35 people, reports the BBC.

The Associated Press reports that it was the deadliest single insurgent attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban.

Paradise of Bhutan in danger of becoming a victim of its own success

2007-06-17T21:53:00.001-07:00

In the inner sanctum of the ancient white-walled fortress, dozens of red-robed monks prayed as incense swirled. A handful of Western tourists self-consciously shuffled in.

With a deep throaty mumble, the older monks recited the ancient Buddhist scriptures laid out before them on the wooden floorboards.

A girl chewed the fingers of her Barbie doll, caught between fascination and fear.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan calls itself a "high-value, low-volume" tourist destination, consciously excluding the backpackers who roam neighbouring India by insisting visitors spend at least $200 per person per day in the peak season. And yet what was once an exclusive retreat for the well-heeled is steadily joining the tourist circuit.

Hollywood stars like Uma Thurman and Cameron Diaz are reported to frequent Bhutan's boutique hotels, but it's elderly Americans who most visitors are likely to encounter.

Bhutan is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success.

"We should put the brakes on a little," said Thuji Dorji Nadik, joint director in the Department of Tourism. "Every destination has its USP [unique selling point], and for us exclusivity plays a large role."

Sandwiched between India and Tibet, Bhutan is billed in tourist brochures as the mystical paradise of James Hilton's book Lost Horizon.

At times, it lives up to the description, conjuring up a medieval world of Buddhism mixed with ancient animism, a culture deeply linked to that of Tibet yet one that avoided the heavy hand of China or the tempting touch of the West.

Men still dress for work in knee-length gowns, and four-fifths of the population are farmers. But Bhutan is slowly modernizing. The first car arrived in 1961, and TV was finally allowed in 1999.

More dramatic changes are on the horizon as the country plans for its first democratic elections next year.

Last year, more than 17,000 tourists made it to Bhutan, a 27-per-cent jump over the previous year and nearly three times as many as in 2003. That doesn't include the 30,000 to 40,000 Indians who are allowed to visit without visas.

Most tourists head for the monasteries and fortresses, which dominate every district and host exotic religious festivals and swirling dances that last several days at a time in the spring and autumn.

Another option is a trek into the high Himalayas, some walking for days for views of the 7,314-metre Mount Chomolhari.

Bhutan is off limits to mountaineers — its people believe the peaks are abodes of the gods — and boasts the world's highest unclimbed mountain, the 7,570-metre Gangkar Puensum.

Bhutan says it learned many lessons from the problems that followed when Nepal threw its doors open in the 1950s.

Environmental protection is strong here — 72 per cent of the country is still forested. But litter and erosion are beginning to spoil the trails.

"We tried to impose 'a limits-to-luxury' principle, but in practice that is not really being done," Nadik said. "Tour operators feel it's in their interests to provide as much luxury as they can."

Yet 59-year-old John Witorz had no complaints after two short treks. "I have been just about everywhere in the world and this has to be one of the best," the Australian said. "My face still hurts from smiling for a week.

"It is quite a high price compared to other Third World countries," he added. "But it was worth every cent."

But Witorz, like most visitors, was unimpressed with Thimpu, a sprawling city where garbage disposal is a growing problem and aggressive stray dogs prowl the streets.

The emphasis on festivals and trekking creates another problem — tourism is strongly seasonal, with more than 80 per cent of arrivals from March to May and September to November.

Poor-quality food ranked as the top complaint of foreign visitors in a recent Department of Tourism survey, but most were very satisfied with their visit.

"It is still sort of unspoilt," said 63-year-old Jo Eschenbacher from Minnesota.

How the country copes with the ever-growing demand will determine whether it stays that way.

Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina hints at reforming party

2007-06-17T21:52:00.001-07:00

Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina hinted on Sunday that she would reform her party, responding to calls that it should be run more democratically and less like an autocracy.

At the moment, Hasina takes all the decisions for the Awami League, without holding general meetings to form policy. She has been criticised for promoting family members above top party leaders to secure her control over the party.

She told Awami League leaders that under a reform programme, which was still being worked out, no leading party officials would be able to take up ministerial posts or other government roles if the party won an election.

"She also said that holding key positions in the party and government simultaneously prevents one from doing justice to any," private broadcaster, the Radio Today, quoted one visiting leader as saying.

Political analysts said there was a need to distance the roles of party and government leaders to reduce opportunities for corruption.

Separately, Tofayel Ahmed, an Awami presidium member and former minister, said Hasina would probably not like to play dual roles anymore.

Hasina became chief of the Awami League in early 1980s, and has served once as prime minister and twice as leader of the opposition.

The call for curbing her power in the party came after the country's army-backed interim government called a state of emergency and cancelled a planned election in January.

It is also pursuing corrupt politicians.

Hasina faces charges of extortion, which are being investigated by police. She is accused of graft and abetting murders related to political violence.

Hasina denies all the charges and says they have been trumped up by critics and opponents.

Hasina was planning to leave Dhaka on Friday night to go to the United States to see her son, daughter and their families.

But a court on Thursday ordered immigration officials and police not to allow her to leave, saying her presence in the country was needed for the investigation of extortion charges. She cancelled the trip hours before her scheduled flight.

Hasina's rival and the most recent prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, also faces allegations of corruption and misuse of power, especially in promoting her kin. She denies the charges.

Her elder son and political heir apparent, Tareque Rahman, is among more than 170 key political figures detained by security forces in the corruption hunt. Her younger son Arafat Rahman is also facing charges of extortion, police said.

Many BNP insiders including former ministers and lawmakers want Khaleda to reform her party.

"The reform process is continuing. Anyone trying to oppose or stay out of it, will be left out," ex-lawmaker Sardar Sakhawat Hossain Bakul told reporters.

The interim government headed by former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed said it hoped to hold the election before end of 2008, after the clean up of politics.

Afghanistan: The winnable war

2007-06-17T21:50:00.001-07:00

"This war is winnable." I can't say how often during my recent embed in the southern Afghanistan Province of Zabul, just north and east of Kandahar, I heard officers and noncoms say that. Implicit is that it's also losable; but what they really mean is winnable compared to Iraq.

Strange but true that Afghanistan -- with four major ethnic groups, two official languages, and almost countless lesser languages -- is far more of a proud, united nation than Iraq. They have Sunni and Shia, but their differences are just an excuse for a chat over chai tea.

Further, while it's way too early to say if the Iraqi "surge" is working, the much-anticipated massive Taliban spring offensive in Afghanistan has thus far proved more a trickle than a deluge.

Still, as I note in my article in the June 11 Weekly Standard, "The other war," it would be a mistake to assume time is on our side. Afghans seem to be losing patience with the war effort. While that may not help the Taliban (more than 90 percent of Afghans dislike them), it can certainly hinder President Hamid Karzai's efforts to keep the warlords at bay. It's warlords, not sectarianism, that pose the internal threat.

The most threatening is Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a major Northern Alliance leader against the Taliban. Before that, he fought on the side of the Soviets and the communist government. Probably to undercut the government, which has essentially excluded him, he announced in May that he can raise an army and drive out the Taliban in six months.

Further, despite major setbacks this year, including the May 13 killing of Mullah Dadullah, a butcher frequently called "the military mastermind of the Taliban insurgency" whose headquarters were in Zabul, there have been increasing calls for negotiating with "moderate Taliban." This includes the Afghan senate itself, which has grown weary of the Taliban tactic of hiding their forces among civilians to cause the deaths of innocents from U.S. and NATO fire. Yet the enemy itself insists "moderate Taliban" is oxymoronic.

I have only visited parts of Iraq on three occasions and part of Afghanistan but have seen enough to know that while the Iraq effort is awash with money but lacking in men, the war in Afghanistan is fought on a shoestring in terms of both. There will be about 155,000 U.S. troops in Iraq when the buildup is complete, but there are only about 27,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a country larger in both geography and population.

A massive concrete blast wall in Iraq is a mere mud wall in Afghanistan. "It takes four weeks here just to get cement," 1st. Lt. Keith Wei, executive officer of the American unit with which I was embedded told me. "We need to help build and to provide security, but we just don't have the funds. Everybody here understands what needs to be done but their hands are tied by a lack of resources in both funds and people. We could pacify Zabul [Province] in probably a year if they pumped money into here like they do Iraq."

Yet together, both wars plus all other defense spending consume about 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, or just over a third of the GDP percentage spent at the height of the Vietnam War. Total U.S. forces now in both Iraq and Afghanistan amount to just a third of the 540,000 employed for the limited purpose of driving Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991.

Still that might not be a problem in Afghanistan if NATO nations didn't refuse to pull their weight -- in total personnel contributed, combat soldiers or defense expenditures. Only six of 37 NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan will even allow them to fight, namely us, the U.K., Canada, the Netherlands, Romania and tiny Estonia. Only six spend as much as 2 percent of their GDP on defense. Even as they refer to America as a bellicose "cowboy" nation, they sit back and let us and a handful of other countries expend the money and blood.

"You can see victory on the horizon," says Mr. Wei. "We just don't have the means to get there."
Michael Fumento has been embedded three times in Iraq's al Anbar Province and once with U.S. and Romanian forces in Afghanistan.

Sri Lanka downturn cushioned by Maldives profits of top leisure firms

2007-06-14T23:42:00.001-07:00

Two of Sri Lanka's leisure sector players have managed to cushion a downturn in tourism on the island, with profits from resorts they own in the Maldives.

John Keells Holdings, one of the biggest capitalised firms in the Colombo bourse, and Aitken Spence, have been expanding in to the Maldive Islands in recent years.

The investments have helped prop up their bottom line at a time when their Sri Lankan hotel properties have been hard hit by an intensifying internal conflict.

The violence has prompted travel warnings in key Western markets and led to a sharp downturn in arrivals to the island.

John Keells Holdings said revenues from its leisure sector grew by 39.5 pct to 7.6 billion rupees in the financial year ended March 31, 2007.

This was mainly a result of increased revenues from its Maldivian operations, the firm told shareholders.

The addition of two new properties, Dhonveli and Ellaidhoo, helped boost performance with both resorts doing well in their first year under the group’s portfolio.

"Despite the adverse situation in Sri Lanka impacting the leisure industry, the earnings before interest and tax of the Leisure industry group increased to 1.09 billion rupees, primarily due to the contribution from the group’s Maldivian hotels," the firm's annual report said.

JKH chairman Susantha Ratnayake said the decline in profits from its Sri Lankan hotels was partially offset by the profits from Maldives.

The group's leisure sector reported a 19 per cent decline in profit after tax to 500 million rupees, as the Sri Lankan operations were affected by the escalation in hostilities and the consequent negative travel advisories issued by major markets.

"Had we not taken several pre-emptive measures to contain costs, the effects would have been more adverse," Ratnayake said.

"The decline was partially offset by the strong performance of our four Maldivian resorts, including the Dhonveli and Ellaidhoo Island resorts that were acquired this year."

In the past two years alone, JKH has invested 62 million US dollars in the Maldives, bringing the total number of rooms under its control to 524.

Most Sri Lankan hotels have been hit hard by the downturn in arrivals which has worsened this year after Tamil Tiger air strikes.

The Tigers launched their first air raid in March on the main military airbase next to the international airport, disrupting flights and scaring away tourists.

The threat of Tiger attacks prompted the government to shut the airport at night to prevent further disruption and any harm to tourists.

The Tigers have also staged several bomb attacks in or near the capital Colombo.

The other big Sri Lankan group with resorts in the Maldives, Aitken Spence, has also been cushioned by profits from the Maldives.

Aitken Spence managing director Rajan Brito told shareholders that the group's "strategic shift" in tourism that led to cross border expansion in hospitality management helped mitigate the effects of the downturn in Sri Lanka.

"The mediocre performance of the Sri Lankan portfolio was offset by the strong resurgence in profitability of the sector's Maldivian resorts."

Overall Aitken Spence leisure sector profits rose by 178 pct to 889 million rupees in the financial year ended March 31, 2007.

At its listed hotels unit, Aitken Spence Hotels, Sri Lankan operations grossed 692 million with 275 million in losses. But overseas operation had a top line of 4.2 billion rupees, netting 419 million.

Filipino aid worker shot in Sri Lanka by navy

2007-06-14T23:25:00.001-07:00

A Filipino aid worker was shot and wounded by navy troops after he strayed too close to a naval camp in eastern Sri Lanka where security forces are battling Tamil Tiger rebels, the military said Thursday.

The Mercy Corps worker, Antonio Vilamor, was walking at night near a naval camp north of the port town of Trincomalee, despite warnings to the public to stay away, said Brig. Gen. Prasad Samarasinghe. Naval guards opened fire and hit Vilamor in the head, Samarasinghe said.

"We are not regretting this because we have warned people not to come close to the camp at night and this person ignored the warnings," Samarasinghe said. "Luckily he was only slightly injured."

"It is not our fault at all," he said.

Vilamor was transferred to Colombo's National Hospital where he is in stable condition, according to hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa.

"He's all right, they're treating his wounds. He was conscious and rational," she said.

Iveta Ouvry, Mercy Corp's director of programs and deputy country director, said Vilamor was shot near his hotel, but had no further details. She said he was in Trincomalee to work on tsunami-relief projects.

Police are investigating the incident.

Indians in Gaza safe

2007-06-14T23:23:00.001-07:00

Amid rising tensions in Gaza, Indian nationals living there are safe and have been instructed to restrict there movements.

"Some of the Indians living here left for Tel Aviv or Ramallah but all those staying here are safe," Sister Alphonso from Mother Teresa's Missionaries and Charities said. The charity runs old age and children houses in Gaza and the West Bank.

"The Indian embassy has been regularly in touch with us. We are staying at home and are safe," Alka, a Delhiite married to a Palestinian, said.

"There is no electricity here for two days so we cannot watch Television and do not know much about what is going on," she said.

The Representative of India in the Palestinian National Authority, Zikrur Rahman, said that the mission has been constantly in touch with all the Indian nationals living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

"We have advised them to restrict there movements under the prevailing security situation," Rahman said. A few dozen Indian passport holders are living in Gaza. Some of them are working with Mother Teresa's organisation and others are married to Palestinians.