Afghan President Hamid Karzai acknowledged for the first time Fri he has met with Taliban militants in attempts to bring peace to the country, but offered no details of the talks or sign that a serious dialogue is underway. Karzai's admission immediately rejected as false by a Taliban spokesman came as a suicide car bomber killed four people and wounded four others in Kabul, and militants overran a district in the volatile southeast. In the past, Karzai has offered, without success, to hold talks with the fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar and renegade warlord Gulbudin Hekmatyar. Some officials in his government, including provincial governors, are thought to have held informal talks with militants in the south and east, but with little apparent success to calm the insurgency. "We have had representatives from the Taliban meeting with different bodies of Afghan government for a long time," Karzai told a news conference in Kabul. "I have had some Taliban coming to speak to me as well,"... http://www.usatoday.com censor News |
Editor - 06:46:00 04-06-07 |
Sailor: We were 'well inside' Iraqi waters |
A released sailor said Friday that a seized British Royal Navy crew was in Iraqi waters when detained by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. "Let me make this clear — irrespective of what was said in the past, we were inside Iraqi waters," Lt. Felix Carman told a news conference Friday. A British navy crew made a conscious decision not to engage the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who took them captive, they said in a statement. Marine Capt. Chris Air said the 15 British sailors and marines faced an aggressive Iranian crew. "They rammed our boats, and trained their heavy machine guns, RPGs, and weapons on us. Another six boats were closing in on us. We realized our efforts to reason with these people were not making any headway, nor were we able to calm some of the individuals," Air said. "We realized that had we resisted there would have been a major fight, one we could not have won and with consequences major strategic impacts. ... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-04-06-britain-iran_N.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 06:43:00 04-06-07 |
Ramadi suicide bombing 'kills 30' |
A suicide truck bombing in the restive Iraqi city of Ramadi has killed at least 30 people, police say. A police commander in Ramadi said a police checkpoint had been targeted. Elsewhere, police said clashes had erupted between US and Iraqi forces and fighters from the Shia Mehdi Army militia in the city of Diwaniya. A ban on vehicles has been imposed on the city following a raid by security forces at about 0500 (0100 GMT), police sources in the southern city said. A number of American vehicles have been destroyed in the fighting, police sources told the BBC. There have been a series of sectarian killings in Diwaniya - which is 180km (110 miles) south of Baghdad - in recent days, a source in the governor's office said. Police and Shia militia sources in Diwaniya said a large American force had launched an offensive in areas in the centre of the city where there is a strong presence of the Mehdi Army, the militia loyal to the radical cleric, Moqtada Sadr.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6532271.stm
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Editor - 06:40:00 04-06-07 |
Liberals push to impeach Bush |
Congressional Democrats say their constituents are clamoring for something even the most liberal lawmakers promise they won't pursue: President Bush's impeachment. "I get one call after another saying, 'Impeach the president,' " said Rep. John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat and one of Mr. Bush's most relentless critics on the Iraq war. "It's a simple process but a very divisive thing," Mr. Murtha said. "You've got to measure what it's going to do to the country, and at this point I don't see that happening. Instead we'll fight it out on the issues." Some members speculated that the Democratic takeover of Congress and passage of Iraq withdrawal timetables in both the House and Senate have emboldened liberals across the country who want to see the president embarrassed during his final 21 months in office.... http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070406-124129-1462r.htm
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Editor - 23:18:00 04-05-07 |
Few Americans trust military or media for information on Iraq: poll |
Most Americans have little or no confidence in the information they receive from the military or the media about the situation in Iraq, according to a poll released Thursday. The survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 52 percent have little or no faith in the military's portrayal of the four-year war, compared with 60 percent who feel the same way about the press reports of the conflict. The figures are a far cry from the overwhelming confidence Americans had in the military and the media at the outset of the war in March 2003. At the time, fully 85 percent said they had at least a fair amount of confidence in military information and 81 percent were confident the press was giving an accurate picture of the war. Michael Dimock, associate director of the Pew Research Center, said the poll findings mirror the public's perception of how well the war is going overall. "... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070405/ts_alt_afp/usiraqmilitarymedia
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Editor - 22:59:00 04-05-07 |
Greek cruise ship sinks after rescue |
A Greek cruise ship sank off this holiday island Friday, after the vessel struck rocks and nearly 1,600 people on board had to be rescued. The Sea Diamond sank shortly before 7 a.m. local time, 15 hours after the accident occurred and the ship began listing and taking on water. Authorities said two French passengers a 45 year-old man and his 16-year-old daughter had still not been accounted for, and lists of rescued passengers were being rechecked. No one was injured in Thursday's dramatic three-hour rescue effort, which involved Greece's military, commercial ships and the island's local fishermen. Passengers on the cruise were mostly American, and also included groups from Canada and Spain. The 469-foot Sea Diamond was operated by Louis Cruise Lines, part of a Cyprus-based tourism group. "The ship was evacuated quickly and successfully no one had as much as a nose bleed. Thankfully we avoided something much worse at Easter time," Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis said ... http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2007-04-05-cruise-ship-evacuation_N.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 22:55:00 04-05-07 |
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