by
I'm Gabrielle Galanek.
Bush arrived in Pakistan for an overnight stay, following an unannounced visit to Afghanistan and three days in India. Security
was extremely tight in the capital Islamabad where anti-air craft guns were fixed in the hills and buildings near the air base where Bush landed. Bush's arrival comes only a day after a suicide bomber killed a US diplomat and three others in a strike near the US consulate in the city of Karachi yesterday.
Bush has said he will raise with Musharraf the need to increase efforts in the search for al-Qaida members in the country. He is also expected to talk about the need for additional democratic reforms. Bush's arrival in the country has been met with demonstrations in cities across Pakistan. In Karachi about 1,000 protestors tried to march to the US consulate.
The Pentagon is preparing to release the names of hundreds of detainees secretly held for years at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Cuba after a federal judge sided with The Associated Press in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The names of the detainees were scattered throughout the 5,000 pages of transcripts from hearings that were held at Guantanamo Bay, The Bush administration has withheld the identities, home countries and other information about the men, who are accused of being "enemy combatants- A classification that Bush administration lawyers say, deprives the detainees of Geneva Convention prisoner of war protections and allows them to be held indefinitely without charges. U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff of New York, ruled last week in favor of a lawsuit filed by the AP, ordered the documents released. The United States, which opened the prison on its Navy base in eastern Cuba in January 2002, now holds about 490 prisoners at Guantanamo.
In Nazareth Israel police said three Jewish attackers disguised as
pilgrims began throwing firecrackers inside one of Christianity's
holiest sites sparking a large riot. At least seven people were injured as police tried to bring the situation under control outside of the Basilica of the Annunciation. The police chief for northern Israel, Dan Ronen, said the three attackers were Jewish, though a motive for the attack remained unclear. He said his forces were still trying to get the three people - who are believed to be a man and two women -. The attackers remained barricaded in the church in the Israeli-Arab town as several thousand angry protesters prevented police from entering.
In London, a Miami company objecting the takeover of the
British shipping company P&O by Dubai's state-owned DP World has been granted the right to take the case to the Court of Appeal. This move puts the 6.8 billion dollar acquisition of P and O .on hold. The deal was approved by the High Court yesterday granted by Justice Nicholas Warren. However, Warren placed a hold on his ruling to allow Eller to take the case to the appeals court .
President Bush has supported the deal and lawmakers initially opposed seem to have softened slightly, tempering calls for an immediate vote to block the takeover. Many said the new probe reassured them and negated the need for legislation for now. P&O runs shipping terminals in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. This has raised serious concerns among lawmakers and businesses in the United States who are worried about an Arab company taking over the ports. Britain's Court of Appeal will hear the petition on Monday.
Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal is in Russia for party's first high-level diplomatic visit since they were elected. The leader of the militant Palestinian group rejected pressure to soften it's stance towards to Israel saying the Jewish state must first withdraw from territories occupied in 1967 and allow refugees to return if it wants peace. Russia's invitation to Hamas provoked anger in Israel and surprise among the members of the so-called Quartet of Middle East mediators, the United States, the European Union and United Nations. The group agreed to withhold international recognition of Hamas until it moderated its hostile stance towards Israel. Hamas' election victory prompted threats from the U.S. and the EU to cut off $1 billion in aid to the Palestinians unless Hamas
recognizes Israel and renounces violence.