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news digest
10/14/2005
Thirty-three JI members in the Philippines
MANILA, Oct 13 : At least 33 members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist network were hiding in the Philippines as of last year, the defense department said Thursday. JI is blamed for both Bali bombings and has staged dozens of other attacks in Indonesia. "As of 2004, Jemaah Islamiyah members in the country were placed at 33, equipped with 27 assorted firearms," the department said in a report submitted to Congress this week, excerpts of which have been made public--AFP.
Almost a third of Britons want troops out of Iraq now
LONDON, Oct 12 (AFP): Almost a third of Britons think the country's troops should leave Iraq immediately, according to a poll published late Wednesday. In the survey conducted for BBC television's "Newsnight" programme, 31 percent said the 8,000 or so British troops should leave now, which is below the 40 percent who believed they should remain until Iraqi security forces are ready to take over--AFP.
India and Pakistan dispute claims of border crossing in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India, Oct 13: Did a small group of Indian soldiers really cross the de facto border late Wednesday from Indian- into Pakistani-held Kashmir, to answer the pleas for help from their quake-struck Pakistani rivals? India and Pakistan Thursday disputed a version of events put out by the Indian army, according to which the as-yet unidentified soldiers went Wednesday night over a bridge spanning the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir to answer Pakistani pleas to help rebuild a quake-destroyed bunker on the Pakistani side--AFP.
Three sets of Vietnam war era remains given to US
HANOI, Oct 13; The remains of three people believed to be US servicement killed in the Vietnam War were handed over to US authorities at Hanoi's Noi Bai international airport Thursday, the US embassy said. The remains were recovered during a joint search. "In three instances, teams recovered remains from sites where US military aircraft crashed in central Vietnam," the embassy said
--AFP.
Three slain in ambush by Al-Qaeda-linked group in Philippines
ZAMBOANGA, (Philippines), Oct 13: Muslim extremists with alleged links to the Al-Qaeda network killed two soldiers and a civilian in an ambush in the southern Philippines, military officials said Thursday. Members of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group ambushed a military patrol in Sumisip town in the strife-torn island of Basilan on Wednesday, sparking a gunbattle that left the two soldiers and one civilian dead, said the island's military commander, Brigadier General Raymundo Ferrer--AFP.
North Korea to would
welcome Koizumi visit
TOKYO, Oct 13 (AFP): A senior North Korean official said Thursday that Pyongyang would welcome another visit by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the Kyodo News agency reported. "We would agree to anyone who would want to visit to improve bilateral relations, of course including Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi," Song Il-Ho, vice director of the North Korean foreign ministry's Asian Affairs Department, told Kyodo News in Pyongyang--AFP.
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