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KABUL, April 19 (Xinhua) — An earthquake of 5.3 magnitude hit central Afghanistan early on Monday, the United States Geological Survey said.

The tremor took place at a depth of 10 km at 00:58 a.m. local time around 190 km northwest of Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, said the USGS.

No immediate damage or injuries has been reported so far.

http://www.qb-china.com

ULAN BATOR, April 18 (Xinhua) — Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj said Sunday the authorities must strive to resolve major issues facing the country, during a meeting with Ulan Bator citizens at the State Palace.

Efforts must be made to improve governance and justice at various levels and boost employment, the president said.

At the meeting which lasted four hours, Tsakhia Elbegdorj answered about 120 questions concerning security, mining projects, earthquake forecasts, employment and land ownership.

Many in the audience were young people and students in Ulan Bator.

It was the first time the president held such a meeting with Ulan Bator citizens. The meeting will be held every year from this year on.

http://www.tbogg.com

ISLAMABAD, April 18 (Xinhua) — Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani\’s visit to Paris, Brussels and Madrid has been called off due to civil aviation crises resulting from the volcanic eruptions in Iceland and dense ash clouds covering European atmosphere, the prime minister\’s office said Sunday.

Gilani was supposed to leave Monday for a bilateral visit to France followed by Pakistan-European Union Summit in Brussels. The bilateral visit to Spain was the last stop before returning to Islamabad.

The visit will be rescheduled at an appropriate time in consultation with the European Union Secretariat and the governments of France and Spain, a statement from the PM office said.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights to and from European countries have also been affected because of volcanic ash from Iceland.

Millions of travelers have been hit by four days of air travel disruption. The disruption is said to be greater than the shutdown that followed the 9/11 attacks.

About 20 European countries have closed their airspace and some have extended flight bans into Monday.

http://www.6ttt.com

By Peerzada Arshad Hamid

SRINAGAR, India-controlled Kashmir, April 18 (Xinhua) — Police in India-controlled Kashmir Sunday registered a murder case against Indian Army personnel for killing a beggar allegedly in a fake encounter on Wednesday, officials said.

\”We have registered FIR (first information report) No 60 of 2010 under Section 302 against Indian Army,\” a police official posted in Handwara said.

Indian Army spokesman J. S. Brar on Wednesday claimed army had killed an unidentified aged militant in a gunfight inside Rainawari forests of Handwara in frontier Kupwara district, 85 km northwest of Srinagar, the summer capital of India-controlled Kashmir.

The army handed over the body to police, which they buried in a graveyard as unclaimed.

However, two days after the incident, a family from village Devar-Lolabof Kupwara approached the police stationed, claiming the deceased was their father, Habibullah Khan.

Khan, according to family members, was not a militant and was instead resorting to begging to make family ends meet.

On the insistence of Khan\’s son, Raj Mohammed Khan, police Saturday exhumed the body.

After proper identification by the authorities, the body was handed over to the family members, who later on took it to their ancestral graveyard.

The killing has landed the Army into a controversy of a \”fake encounter\”.

However, the Army Saturday evening issued another statement saying a gunfight with militants took place on Wednesday and after search operations a body was found lying in the area.

\”Possibly the deceased was being exploited as a guide or a human shield,\” the statement read.

The incident is likely to generate protests and political heat in this sensitive region.

New Delhi has imposed the controversial Armed Forces Special PowersAct (AFSPA) in the region, which gives extraordinary powers to its troops such as shooting a person on mere suspicion in the region.

Indian troops have been consistently accused of human rights violations in the region in the last two decades.

Separatists in the region have been consistently demanding the withdrawal of troops and scrapping of special powers and have even made it a pre-condition for entering into formal talks with New Delhi.

http://www.6ttt.com

MANILA, April 18 (Xinhua) — Philippine Armed Forces chief Delfin Bangit ordered the release of 10 members of the mutinous Magdalo Group on Sunday, on the recommendation of the military tribunal, the military said Sunday.

The 10, including Magdalo core leaders James Layug, were sentenced eight months in prison by a military court on April 7 after pleading guilty to offenses filed against them in relation to the November 2007 siege of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City, Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, public affairs office chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The 10 occupied the hotel along with now Sen. Antonio Trillanies, former Scout Ranger chief now senatorial candidate Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and at-large Capt. Nicanor Faeldon on November 2007. They subsequently withdrew their support from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo whom they called a \”bogus president.\”

Trillanes, a former Navy lieutenant, was not charged before the military court in connection with the siege as he was already a civilian at the time. Lim remains charged before the military court for the same offenses.

The 10 were among the dozens of military officers also charged before another military tribunal for the Oakwood mutiny. They have pleaded guilty and subsequently discharged from the service a few years ago.

\”After deliberately reviewing the case, the Chief of Staff approved the sentence of the court and order that the 10 officers be freed unless there are legal constraint that warrant their continued detention,\” said Burgos.

\”The military court has exercised proper impartiality on deciding on this case,\” Burgos quoted Bangit as saying.

The lawyer of the 10, Ed Abaya, said the signing of the release order was definitely a good news for them.

http://www.6ttt.com

MOSCOW, April 18 (Xinhua) — Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Sunday that ousted Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev was welcome to his country, Russian news agencies reported.

\”If he wants to come — today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow – we are ready to receive him here in Belarus,\” he said.

Earlier, the Interfax news agency said Bakiyev, who fled Krgyzstan and landed in neighboring Kazakhstan by plane, had already left the southern Kazakh city of Taraza for Belarusian capital of Minsk.

However, Lukashenko said Bakiyev remained in southern Kazakhstan with his five-year-old son, daughter and wife.

\”If the president of Kyrgyzstan and his family need support and assistance at this difficult time, they will get it in Belarus,\” he said.

The Belarusian leader also denied that Bakiyev had resigned, saying the letter of resignation bearing Bakiyev\’s signature, which was shown in media now, was not trustworthy.

One of Bakiyev\’s brother Ahmad also said previously that the faxed letter was a fake, but later Friday the Kyrgyz interim government officials claimed they had received the handwritten, original version of the letter.

Bakiyev fled to southern Kyrgyzstan last week after thousands of protesters supportive of the opposition clashed with security forces throughout the country, driving out local governments and seizing government headquarters in Bishkek.

The opposition has formed an interim government led by former Foreign Minister Roza Otunbayeva.

Bakiyev and some of his relatives were charged for inducing the unrest.

Late Thursday Bakiyev departed his country under the mediation of the United States, Russia and Kazakhstan. According to Russian news agencies, Kazakhstan officials now claimed they had no idea of the whereabouts of the deposed president.

Also on Sunday, a deputy prime minister of the Kyrgyz interim government, Omurbek Tekebayev, said they would form a Central Election Commission to legitimize the current government.

Hailing it as \”an unprecedented decision,\” Tekebayev said seats in the commission could be evenly distributed to non-government organizations, political parties and United Nations specialists.

\”The international community can, for the first time in our history, apart from monitoring the election process, participate directly in its organization and administration,\” said Tekebayev.

In addition, the deputy prime minister said the interim government would publish draft of a new Kyrgyz Constitution on Monday. He also proposed to elect an acting president \”before a new head of state enters his office,\” along with the referendum on the constitutional reform slated for July.

Otunbayeva, for Tekebayev, was \”a non-alternative candidate\” for this post.

The impoverished Central Asian country will hold parliamentary and presidential elections in October.

http://www.k222.com

BANGALORE, India, April 18 (Xinhua) — A day after two low intensity bomb blasts left 16 people injured at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in the southern Indian city of Bangalore here, two more crude bombs were found here Sunday.

M.R. Pujar, Additional Commissioner of Police, confirmed the finding of two crude bombs Sunday.

The first bomb was found near a bus stop close to Gate No 1, the main gate of the stadium. The second device was found near an advertisement hoarding just outside the stadium, police said.

Police are searching around the stadium as part of efforts to sanitize the area as both the semi-finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are to be played there on April 21 and 22.

The two blasts Saturday had delayed the start of the match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indian by an hour.

One of the blasts took place at Gate No 12, in which 16 people, including four policemen, received minor injuries while a security volunteer suffered head injuries.

He is being treated at Mallya Hospital, about two km away, from the stadium.

The second blast was at Anil Kumble circle, less than half a kilometer from the stadium. None was injured.

An explosive was found later in the stadium even as the IPL match was on and defused. Timer devices were attached to the three bomb.

Police have ruled out terrorism in the blasts.

http://www.jieze.com

BANGKOK, April 18 (Xinhua) — Thailand\’s national flag carrier Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) said in a statement Sunday the THAI has prepared temporary flights between Thailand and Europe via Rome and Madrid to facilitate stranded passengers.

The company estimates there are 6,000 stranded passengers per day, the statement said.

Piyasvasti Amranand, THAI President, said due to the continued airspace closure by the EUROCONTROL, the THAI airline had to cancel an average of 22 outbound and inbound flights between Thailand and European destinations.

However, in order to facilitate the stranded passengers\’ travel to and from Europe, the THAI has prepared temporary flights to and from Rome and Madrid during April 19-29.

Meanwhile, the THAI is unable to provide concrete information on airports re-opening and closing as this is solely dependent on the decision of EUROCONTROL.

The THAI normally operates flights to 13 destinations in Europe. But, after the air space closure due to volcanic activity in Iceland on Thursday morning, now only four destinations open for operation, which are Rome, Madrid, Moscow, and Athens.

The THAI estimates to experience a loss of approximately 100 million baht (3.09 million U.S. dollars) per day.

The company will closely monitor the situation and update passengers accordingly.

http://www.qb-china.com

ISLAMABAD, April 18 (Xinhua) — Pakistan\’s army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Sunday stressed the country\’s responsibility for peace in the region at the culmination of the first phase of Pakistan\’s largest ever military exercises.

\”Pakistan has no aggressive designs against anyone. The military is aware of its responsibility for peace in the region,\” Kayani said at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and military attaches of foreign missions.

\”Azm-e-Nau-III\” or \”New Resolve III\” military exercises began on April 10 near the eastern border with India having 20,000 troops in the first phase from all arms and services of the nuclear nation participating in the six-week war games.

The military maneuver would involve 40,000 in the upcoming second phase and rise up to 50,000 towards the end on May 13, Major General Muzammil Hussain, Director General of Training of the Pakistan Army told reporters at the beginning of the exercises.

This military maneuver is going \”green\” as the Pakistani top brass has determined to take measures to avoid damage to civil population and nature, particularly crops in the nearby areas.

http://www.lelezu.com

U.S. president questions Japanese PM\’s ability to make good on Okinawa base promise

TOKYO, April 18 (Xinhua) — U.S President Barack Obama questioned Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama\’s ability to \” follow through\” on resolving the issue of relocating a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa Prefecture, political sources said Sunday.

In discussions between the two leaders held recently in Washington on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, Obama pointed out to Hatoyama that zero progress has been made on the increasingly thorny issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps\’ Futemma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, sources said Sunday, despite Hatoyama\’s self-imposed deadline of the end-of-May to settle the issue and pleas to Obama to \”trust him.\”

Although Hatoyama told reporters in the U.S. capital that he didn\’t mention a relocation site by name to Obama, the Hatoyama- led Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government is honing in on a plan to transfer the helicopter functions of the U.S. military facility to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, about 200 kilometers north of Okinawa and 1,400 kilometers south of Tokyo, government sources revealed.

However, Washington has rejected the current proposal, in spite of the Japanese leader requesting Obama\’s cooperation on the issue and has vetoed another plan that would see the base relocated to an area off eastern Okinawa by reclaiming land from the sea.

Further adding to the U.S. base impasse, 15,000 residents of Tokunoshima Island gathered Sunday to protest against Hatoyama\’s idea of relocating the military facility to the tiny island with a population of just 26,000 people.

\”Reports several days ago said the U.S. side is against the idea and so are locals. A plan for relocating the base to Tokunoshima is out of the question,\” local media quoted Tokunoshima town mayor Hideki Takaoka as saying at the rally Sunday.

\”We, all the islanders, protest against the Futenma air base relocation to Tokunoshima,\” the mayors of the three towns on the island said in a written statement which they intend to send directly to Obama as a letter, along with photographs of Sunday\’s rally, local media reported.

\”The letter is to deliver to him our united will to oppose a military base,\” Akira Okubo, the mayor of Isen Town, said to the local press recently.

Okubo was quoted as saying he rejects the suggested influx of subsidies the community could expect from the central government if it accepts the base.

\”Easy money will deprive people of their self-reliance. We don\’ t want subsidies that will bring no benefits and will divide the community,\” he said.

The U.S. government has said the next host town must agree to the proposal before the Japanese government can present it to Washington and has consistently urged Japan to stick to an existing accord inked in 2006 that was years in the making, involving the heliport functions of the Futemma facility being transferred to a coastal area of the U.S. Marines\’ Camp Schwab in the city of Nago, Okinawa by 2014.