DINA for the issue of 25, March 2012

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D A W N I n t e r n e t N e w s A l e r t
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March 25, 2012 Sunday Jumadi-ul-Awwal 01, 1433
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The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news-service
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(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 2012

The link at the end of each extract can be used to access the
complete story on DAWN - the Internet Edition.


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Debate in parliament on ties with US: Opposition to put up united front
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By Amir Wasim
ISLAMABAD, March 24: In a significant development, major opposition parties announced on Saturday that they would adopt a 'unified stance' at the joint sitting of parliament which is deliberating on new terms of engagement with the United States.

They asked the government to finalise through 'consensus' fresh guidelines for Pakistan's relationship with the US and warned it against using parliament only to "endorse its premeditated actions"...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/debate-in-parliament-on-ties-with-us-opposition-to-put-up-united-front.html

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Outages fuel anger in Punjab
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Dawn Report
LAHORE, March 24: Long spells of electricity outage triggered on Saturday loud protests in several cities in Punjab as power shortfall for the common man touched a staggering 70 per cent.

According to officials of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), the urban feeders in the country saw about 16 hours of loadshedding, with each outage lasting four to five hours...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/outages-fuel-anger-in-punjab.html

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PML-N plans campaign
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By Our Staff Reporter
THE Pakistan Muslim League-N has warned that it will join protests if the power crisis does not ease soon.

"We will launch a vigorous protest campaign if the federal government does not act promptly to check unbridled loadshedding," PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said in a statement on Saturday...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/pml-n-plans-campaign.html

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Haqqani urges SC to allow video testimony
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By Nasir Iqbal and Malik Asad
ISLAMABAD, March 24: Husain Haqqani, the former ambassador to Washington, has challenged in the Supreme Court the March 18 rejection of his plea for recording of his testimony through a video link by the judicial commission probing the controversial memo, urging the apex court to allow him the facility on security grounds.

The court should pass an order allowing the commission to record his statement in a similar fashion and through similar facilities extended to Mansoor Ijaz, the main character in the memo controversy, who was accommodated by the commission on the plea of physical security, the application said, adding that risks to his life has also gone manifold...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/haqqani-urges-sc-to-allow-video-testimony.html

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24 militants, eight security personnel killed: Gunfight in S. Waziristan, ambush in Orakzai
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Dawn Report
LADHA / KALAYA, March 24: At least 24 militants and eight security personnel were killed in clashes in South Waziristan and Orakzai Agencies on Saturday, sources said. Eight troops and four militants were injured.

Gunbattles erupted when security forces during a search operation came across the militants loyal to Hakimullah Mehsud in Shin Warsak and Taza Ghundai areas of South Waziristan...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/24-militants-eight-security-personnel-killed-gunfight-in-s-waziristan-ambush-in-orakzai.html

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Seven killed in Balochistan violence
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By Saleem Shahid
QUETTA, March 24: Seven people, a woman and a cleric among them, were gunned down in different areas of Balochistan on Saturday.

According to police, gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on Qari Abdul Basit, Imam of a mosque in Balochi Street area, when he was going home after leading prayers. He was seriously injured and rushed to the Civil Hospital, but died of his injuries. According to doctors, he was struck by three bullets in the head. Soon after the incident, a large number of people took to the streets and started burning tyres on roads to express their outrage over the killing...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/seven-killed-in-balochistan-violence.html

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India to highlight security issues at summit: N-terror remains a concern, says Singh
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NEW DELHI, March 24: India, which is rapidly expanding its atomic power programme, said on Saturday that nuclear terrorism is a "continuing concern" ahead of a summit on nuclear safety to be held next week in Seoul.

The summit will focus on the threat from nuclear-armed terrorists and follows one in Washington convened by US President Barack Obama in 2010 on the same subject...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/india-to-highlight-security-issues-at-summit-n-terror-remains-a-concern-says-singh.html

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President opens NBP branch in Dushanbe
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DUSHANBE, March 24: President Asif Ali Zardari and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon inaugurated a branch of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) here on Saturday.

After he landed at the airport here in the capital of Tajikistan, President Zardari was driven straight to the NBP branch where he was received by President Rahmon. The two presidents inspected various sections of the bank...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/president-opens-nbp-branch-in-dushanbe.html

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Maoists kidnap Indian lawmaker amid Italian hostage talks
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BHUBANESWAR, March 24: Negotiations to get freed two Italian hostages kidnapped by Indian Maoists plunged into uncertainty on Saturday after the rebels kidnapped a local lawmaker.

Two of the negotiators said in a statement the kidnapping of the state government politician overnight had made "a mockery of peaceful talks" and "the negotiations (should) be kept under suspension"...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/maoists-kidnap-indian-lawmaker-amid-italian-hostage-talks.html

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Syrian troops shell rebel hubs
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DAMASCUS, March 24: Syrian army resumed heavy shelling of the rebel hubs of Homs and Hama on Saturday, monitors reported, as international envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Russia in a new push for peace.

As the violence continued unabated across Syria the opposition announced new steps to pile pressure on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, with army deserters closing ranks and creating a unified military council...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/syrian-troops-shell-rebel-hubs.html

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8 suspected militants die in Bara blast
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By Ibrahim Shinwari
LANDI KOTAL, March 24: Eight suspected militants were killed in an explosion in Akkakhel area of Bara on Saturday.

Officials said that activists of banned Lashkar-i-Islam were manufacturing an improvised explosive device in an abandoned base in Gud Malang area when it incidentally exploded, killing the eight militants on the spot...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/8-suspected-militants-die-in-bara-blast.html

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'Taliban training Frenchmen'
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DERA ISMAIL KHAN, March 24: Local intelligence officials have claimed that dozens of French Muslims have been training with the Taliban in Pakistan.

The officials said on Saturday they were investigating whether Mohamed Merah, a Frenchman of Algerian descent suspected of killing seven people in France, had been part of this group...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/taliban-training-frenchmen.html

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15 women rebels killed in clash with Turkish forces
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DIYARBAKIR, March 24: Turkish security forces killed 15 rebel Kurds, all of them women, in fighting in the separatist heartland in the southeast of the country on Saturday, the interior ministry said.

The clashes erupted the day after the Turkish army and police wrapped up a massive offensive against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) near the Iraqi border...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/15-women-rebels-killed-in-clash-with-turkish-forces.html

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Bangladesh to challenge result of Asia Cup final
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DHAKA, March 24: Bangladesh will ask the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to review an incident in the last over of the Asia Cup final against Pakistan on Thursday which they believe cost them the game.

Pakistan won by two runs after Bangladesh could score six runs only from the final over bowled by Aizaz Cheema...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/bangladesh-to-challenge-result-of-asia-cup-final.html

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Former air chief appointed PIA MD
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ISLAMABAD, March 24: Pakistan Air Force's former chief Rao Qamar Suleman was appointed managing director of PIA on Saturday, Radio Pakistan and TV channels reported.

According to the report, PIA managing director Nadeem Yousafzai has been transferred and posted as director general of the Civil Aviation Authority.—PPI..

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/former-air-chief-appointed-pia-md.html

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US soldier charged with killing 17 Afghans
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KABUL, March 24: A US Army sergeant has been formally charged with 17 counts of murder for killing eight adults and nine children in a pre-dawn shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan that further eroded US-Afghan relations already frayed by a decade of war.

Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a decorated 38-year-old veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, also was charged with six counts each of assault and attempted murder for attacking two other adults and four children in the March 11 shooting spree, a US armed forces statement said...

http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/25/us-soldier-charged-with-killing-17-afghans.html


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