Hijacked supertanker drops anchor
RIYADH: A hijacked Saudi-owned supertanker carrying more than $100 million worth of crude oil was anchored off the coast of Somalia on Tuesday and the ship's owner said it was working to free the ship and its 25-member crew.The owner, Vela International, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia-based oil giant Saudi Aramco, said in a statement that the company was awaiting further contact from the pirates who seized the vessel about 480 miles off the coast of Somalia. Earlier reports had said that the 1,080-foot-long ship, Sirius Star, had been hijacked off the Kenyan coast.The company did not say specifically that it had begun negotiations with the hijackers. The supertanker, about the same length as an American Nimitz class aircraft carrier, is the largest ship known to have been seized by pirates, and it was fully loaded with two million barrels of oil."Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew," Salah Ka'aki, the president and chief executive of Vela, said in the statement. The crew members are citizens of Britain, Poland, Croatia, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, deputy spokesman for the United States Fifth Fleet, said that the tanker had been anchored within sight of the coastal town of Xarardheere. The town is 260 miles north of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, and is part of a region known as a hub of pirate activity.
Obama calls Abbas, promises to back peace talks: official:
RAMALLAH: US president-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday called Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and vowed to continue pushing Middle East peace efforts, a senior official said.In their first conversation since the November 4 US elections, Obama also reiterated his strong support for a Palestinian state living alongside Israel, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told media."Obama said he will continue to push the peace process forward in order to reach a two-state solution and that he will work with the Palestinians and Israelis to reach peace because it is in everyone's interest," Erakat said.The US-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, launched at an international summit in Annapolis, Maryland last November have made little visible progress despite intensive discussions and US pressure.The talks were thrown into turmoil after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned in September, setting the stage for early elections in Israel."Obama's phone call shows he will give the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks high priority," Erakat said.
Indian troops kill four freedom fighters in Held Kashmir: police:
SRINAGAR: Indian troops have killed four suspected freedom fighters close to the border with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, police said Tuesday.The four were killed overnight in the mountainous Uri district near the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed rivals, a police spokesman said.The gunbattle erupted hours after the region voted under tight security for a new state government, with a boycott call by Muslim freedom fighters triggering sporadic clashes but failing to shut down the ballot.In the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley, election officials put the turnout at more than 50 percent. Higher voting numbers were recorded in Hindu-majority Jammu and mainly Buddhist Ladakh -- two regions where the Kashmiri separatists hold little sway.The state elections are being staggered over seven phases, enabling authorities to mount huge security operations as successive areas vote.The insurgency against Indian rule has left more than 43,000 people dead by official count since its eruption in 1989.
Israel renews blockade of Gaza crossings:
GAZA: Israel shut border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday citing continued rocket fire at its towns, despite warnings from world aid groups of looming shortages of food and fuel supplies in the coastal territory. But Israel re-imposed the closure on Tuesday. "The crossings are shut because of ongoing rocket fire," Peter Lerner, a defence spokesman said, referring to several barrages of rockets fired from Gaza on Monday that slammed intoIsraeli towns, causing no injury.
ISAF, Pakistan coordinate strike on militants:
KABUL: The Pakistan Army helped the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan attack a militants’ position inside Pakistani tribal areas after an ISAF post was hit by two rockets fired allegedly by militants.An ISAF spokesman said that militants pounded an ISAF base in Paktika on Sunday, leading to the coordinated artillery strike into Pakistan.Following the second attack, ISAF soldiers contacted the Pak army and then fired a barrage of 20 artillery rounds on the suspected target, the spokesman said.The artillery fire caused a secondary explosion at the rocket launch site “indicating that there were additional munitions in the location”, the ISAF said.
Seven killed in troubled Thailand:
YALA: Suspected separatist rebels shot dead seven people including two women in attacks across southern Thailand, police said Tuesday, as violence spiraled in the Muslim-majority region. Two men were shot dead on Tuesday in Pattani, one of three far southern provinces beset by a nearly five-year long insurgency. Later Tuesday near the scene of the first attack, a mother and her son were shot dead in a drive-by shooting.
Three soldiers, eight rebels killed in Philippine clashes:
COTABATO: Three soldiers and eight Muslim separatist rebels have been killed in fresh fighting in the southern Philippines, local and military officials said Tuesday.Soldiers clashed with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels near the town of Mamasapano on Mindanao island on Sunday evening after the guerrillas attacked an army base. "The rebels attacked the army base while they (troops) were eating," town mayor Akmad Tato Ampatuan told reporters, adding that there were overnight exchanges of mortar fire between the two sides. Running gun battles that followed left eight MILF rebels dead, said local army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando. Ampatuan said three soldiers were also killed in the gunbattles. Troops recovered two automatic rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, MILF uniforms, and ammunition. The government suspended peace talks with the MILF after two guerrilla commanders attacked several towns and provinces across Mindanao in August to protest a court order stopping a deal that would have given the rebels control over a Muslim autonomous region.More than 600,000 people were displaced in fighting that followed, while dozens of civilians, guerrillas and soldiers have been killed so far.
Obama and McCain pledge 'new era of reform':
CHICAGO: President-elect Barack Obama and his defeated Republican rival John McCain pledged Monday a "new era of reform" to solve the US economic crisis, transform energy policy and safeguard national security. Two weeks after the November 4 election, the pair said in a joint statement after talks here that Americans of all parties wanted their leaders to come together and "change the bad habits of Washington." The hour-long meeting in Obama's transition headquarters added heft to his vow to reach out to old opponents as the Democratic president-elect crafts an expansive agenda for the next four years. "It is in this spirit that we had a productive conversation today about the need to launch a new era of reform where we take on government waste and bitter partisanship in Washington in order to restore trust in government, and bring back prosperity and opportunity for every hard-working American family. "We hope to work together in the days and months ahead on critical challenges like solving our financial crisis, creating a new energy economy, and protecting our nation's security," Obama and the Arizona senator said. At the start of the meeting, McCain was asked by reporters whether he would help the president-elect's new administration and replied: "Obviously." The two politicians were joined by McCain's close Senate friend, Republican Lindsey Graham, and Congressman Rahm Emanuel, whom the president-elect has chosen as his White House chief of staff. According to reports, Obama's transition team is meanwhile conducting an in-depth vetting of the finances of his former primary rival Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill Clinton with a view to naming her his secretary of state. In an interview on a program broadcast late Sunday, Obama confirmed that he had met with the former first lady in Chicago last week but refused to say if he made her a job offer.
Pirates hijack Saudi tanker off African coast: U.S. :
DUBAI: Pirates have seized control of the Saudi-owned super tanker Sirius Star off the east coast of Africa and are taking it towards a Somali port, the US Navy said on Monday.The 318,000 deadweight tonnes Very Large Crude Carrier is the largest vessel to be seized in an epidemic of piracy in the region. "According to the latest report we have, the ship is approaching the Somali coast, heading towards Eyl (port)," a spokeswoman for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet told media by telephone from Dubai. "Can we assume that the pirates are Somalis? Yes." Sirius Star, which is owned by Saudi Aramco, carried 25 crew members from Croatia, Britain, Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia, according to a US Navy statement. The South Korea-built ship, launched earlier this year, is operated by Vela International and registered in Liberia. Vela said the fully-laden tanker was seized by a group of armed men about 420 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia on Sunday. "All 25 crew members on board are reported to be safe. Vela response teams have been established and are working to ensure the safe release of the crew members and the vessel," the company said. The International Maritime Bureau has reported that at least 83 ships have been attacked off Somalia since January, of which 33 were hijacked. Of those, 12 vessels and more than 200 crew were still in the hands of pirates.
RIYADH: A hijacked Saudi-owned supertanker carrying more than $100 million worth of crude oil was anchored off the coast of Somalia on Tuesday and the ship's owner said it was working to free the ship and its 25-member crew.The owner, Vela International, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia-based oil giant Saudi Aramco, said in a statement that the company was awaiting further contact from the pirates who seized the vessel about 480 miles off the coast of Somalia. Earlier reports had said that the 1,080-foot-long ship, Sirius Star, had been hijacked off the Kenyan coast.The company did not say specifically that it had begun negotiations with the hijackers. The supertanker, about the same length as an American Nimitz class aircraft carrier, is the largest ship known to have been seized by pirates, and it was fully loaded with two million barrels of oil."Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew," Salah Ka'aki, the president and chief executive of Vela, said in the statement. The crew members are citizens of Britain, Poland, Croatia, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.Lieutenant Nathan Christensen, deputy spokesman for the United States Fifth Fleet, said that the tanker had been anchored within sight of the coastal town of Xarardheere. The town is 260 miles north of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, and is part of a region known as a hub of pirate activity.
Obama calls Abbas, promises to back peace talks: official:
RAMALLAH: US president-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday called Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and vowed to continue pushing Middle East peace efforts, a senior official said.In their first conversation since the November 4 US elections, Obama also reiterated his strong support for a Palestinian state living alongside Israel, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told media."Obama said he will continue to push the peace process forward in order to reach a two-state solution and that he will work with the Palestinians and Israelis to reach peace because it is in everyone's interest," Erakat said.The US-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, launched at an international summit in Annapolis, Maryland last November have made little visible progress despite intensive discussions and US pressure.The talks were thrown into turmoil after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned in September, setting the stage for early elections in Israel."Obama's phone call shows he will give the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks high priority," Erakat said.
Indian troops kill four freedom fighters in Held Kashmir: police:
SRINAGAR: Indian troops have killed four suspected freedom fighters close to the border with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, police said Tuesday.The four were killed overnight in the mountainous Uri district near the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed rivals, a police spokesman said.The gunbattle erupted hours after the region voted under tight security for a new state government, with a boycott call by Muslim freedom fighters triggering sporadic clashes but failing to shut down the ballot.In the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley, election officials put the turnout at more than 50 percent. Higher voting numbers were recorded in Hindu-majority Jammu and mainly Buddhist Ladakh -- two regions where the Kashmiri separatists hold little sway.The state elections are being staggered over seven phases, enabling authorities to mount huge security operations as successive areas vote.The insurgency against Indian rule has left more than 43,000 people dead by official count since its eruption in 1989.
Israel renews blockade of Gaza crossings:
GAZA: Israel shut border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday citing continued rocket fire at its towns, despite warnings from world aid groups of looming shortages of food and fuel supplies in the coastal territory. But Israel re-imposed the closure on Tuesday. "The crossings are shut because of ongoing rocket fire," Peter Lerner, a defence spokesman said, referring to several barrages of rockets fired from Gaza on Monday that slammed intoIsraeli towns, causing no injury.
ISAF, Pakistan coordinate strike on militants:
KABUL: The Pakistan Army helped the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan attack a militants’ position inside Pakistani tribal areas after an ISAF post was hit by two rockets fired allegedly by militants.An ISAF spokesman said that militants pounded an ISAF base in Paktika on Sunday, leading to the coordinated artillery strike into Pakistan.Following the second attack, ISAF soldiers contacted the Pak army and then fired a barrage of 20 artillery rounds on the suspected target, the spokesman said.The artillery fire caused a secondary explosion at the rocket launch site “indicating that there were additional munitions in the location”, the ISAF said.
Seven killed in troubled Thailand:
YALA: Suspected separatist rebels shot dead seven people including two women in attacks across southern Thailand, police said Tuesday, as violence spiraled in the Muslim-majority region. Two men were shot dead on Tuesday in Pattani, one of three far southern provinces beset by a nearly five-year long insurgency. Later Tuesday near the scene of the first attack, a mother and her son were shot dead in a drive-by shooting.
Three soldiers, eight rebels killed in Philippine clashes:
COTABATO: Three soldiers and eight Muslim separatist rebels have been killed in fresh fighting in the southern Philippines, local and military officials said Tuesday.Soldiers clashed with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels near the town of Mamasapano on Mindanao island on Sunday evening after the guerrillas attacked an army base. "The rebels attacked the army base while they (troops) were eating," town mayor Akmad Tato Ampatuan told reporters, adding that there were overnight exchanges of mortar fire between the two sides. Running gun battles that followed left eight MILF rebels dead, said local army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando. Ampatuan said three soldiers were also killed in the gunbattles. Troops recovered two automatic rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, MILF uniforms, and ammunition. The government suspended peace talks with the MILF after two guerrilla commanders attacked several towns and provinces across Mindanao in August to protest a court order stopping a deal that would have given the rebels control over a Muslim autonomous region.More than 600,000 people were displaced in fighting that followed, while dozens of civilians, guerrillas and soldiers have been killed so far.
Obama and McCain pledge 'new era of reform':
CHICAGO: President-elect Barack Obama and his defeated Republican rival John McCain pledged Monday a "new era of reform" to solve the US economic crisis, transform energy policy and safeguard national security. Two weeks after the November 4 election, the pair said in a joint statement after talks here that Americans of all parties wanted their leaders to come together and "change the bad habits of Washington." The hour-long meeting in Obama's transition headquarters added heft to his vow to reach out to old opponents as the Democratic president-elect crafts an expansive agenda for the next four years. "It is in this spirit that we had a productive conversation today about the need to launch a new era of reform where we take on government waste and bitter partisanship in Washington in order to restore trust in government, and bring back prosperity and opportunity for every hard-working American family. "We hope to work together in the days and months ahead on critical challenges like solving our financial crisis, creating a new energy economy, and protecting our nation's security," Obama and the Arizona senator said. At the start of the meeting, McCain was asked by reporters whether he would help the president-elect's new administration and replied: "Obviously." The two politicians were joined by McCain's close Senate friend, Republican Lindsey Graham, and Congressman Rahm Emanuel, whom the president-elect has chosen as his White House chief of staff. According to reports, Obama's transition team is meanwhile conducting an in-depth vetting of the finances of his former primary rival Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill Clinton with a view to naming her his secretary of state. In an interview on a program broadcast late Sunday, Obama confirmed that he had met with the former first lady in Chicago last week but refused to say if he made her a job offer.
Pirates hijack Saudi tanker off African coast: U.S. :
DUBAI: Pirates have seized control of the Saudi-owned super tanker Sirius Star off the east coast of Africa and are taking it towards a Somali port, the US Navy said on Monday.The 318,000 deadweight tonnes Very Large Crude Carrier is the largest vessel to be seized in an epidemic of piracy in the region. "According to the latest report we have, the ship is approaching the Somali coast, heading towards Eyl (port)," a spokeswoman for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet told media by telephone from Dubai. "Can we assume that the pirates are Somalis? Yes." Sirius Star, which is owned by Saudi Aramco, carried 25 crew members from Croatia, Britain, Philippines, Poland and Saudi Arabia, according to a US Navy statement. The South Korea-built ship, launched earlier this year, is operated by Vela International and registered in Liberia. Vela said the fully-laden tanker was seized by a group of armed men about 420 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia on Sunday. "All 25 crew members on board are reported to be safe. Vela response teams have been established and are working to ensure the safe release of the crew members and the vessel," the company said. The International Maritime Bureau has reported that at least 83 ships have been attacked off Somalia since January, of which 33 were hijacked. Of those, 12 vessels and more than 200 crew were still in the hands of pirates.
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