, Wednesday, July 29, 2009 SRI NAGAR: Pandemonium reigned in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for the third consecutive day on Wednesday as the People's Democratic Party (PDP) sought a judicial probe into state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's alleged involvement in the 2006 sex scandal. Accusing the CBI of defending Omar Abdullah, senior members of the PDP tore up a letter issued by the CBI in connection with their investigation of the case. The CBI letter states that neither Chief Minister Omar Abdullah nor Union Minister for Non-Renewable Sources of Energy and Omar's father Farooq Abdullah is figured in the list of suspects that were involved in the 2006 sex scandal. Assembly Speaker Akbar Lone confirmed that he had received a communication from the CBI to this effect. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had said on Tuesday that there was no mention of Omar Abdullah in the CBI list. Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N. N. Vohra had refused to accept Omar Abdullah's resignation, saying that the latter should continue in office till a final decision is taken on the matter. Abdullah had formally submitted his resignation to Vohra, hours after a senior PDP leader had alleged in the State Assembly that Abdullah was involved in the sex scandal. PDP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Beigh levelled the allegation that Abdullah was involved. Beigh even traded charges with Farooq Abdullah during a heated television debate on Tuesday night. Beigh said he had list of names who were involved in the scandal and Abdullah was listed as number 102. The sex scandal surfaced in 2006 with the arrest of a woman, Sabina, who allegedly claimed during her interrogation that she used to send girls, including minors to politicians, senior policemen and bureaucrats. Among the 17 people chargesheeted by the CBI are G A Mir and Raman Mattoo, both ministers in the then PDP-led Government, and Mohammed Iqbal Khandey, former Principle Secretary to the then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
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