Friday, September 04, 2009 NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi led the mourners from across the nation to pay their last respects to Andhra Praadesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who was killed in a helicopter crash on September 2.The three leaders flew in from New Delhi and reached the Chief Minister's residence in camp office at Begumpet where the casket with YSR's body has been kept since last evening after it was brought from Kurnool following the post-mortem.They placed floral wreaths on the casket and an emotion filled Ms Gandhi signed the condolence book. The Prime Minister and Mr Gandhi also signed the condolence book kept near the casket and were there for more than 40 minutes before driving to Begumpet Airport to return to Delhi.Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who also arrived in the morning, joined Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Minister of State in PMO Prithiviraj Chavan, Minister of State for Human Resources Development Daggubati Purandeshwari, Minister of State for Defence M Pallam Raju in paying their last respects to the departed leader.Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and several state Ministers also paid floral tributes to YSR.The last journey began at 0945 hrs. Immediately after the departure of the Prime Minister, Ms Gandhi and Mr Gandhi, the casket was placed on a floral-decked gun carriage draped in the tri-colour.
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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