8:43 PM
Muhammad Zai Khan
Friday, September 3, 2010
Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson appeals for flood affectees
UNITED NATIONS: Professor Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi on Friday joined Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Hussain Haroon in appealing for international help to meet the huge challenge posed by the worst-ever floods in Pakistan, warning that the country could face a humanitarian crisis if the world did not come to its aid in a big way. “What you are seeing now is the tip of iceberg, the worst is yet to come,” Ambassador Haroon told a press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York with Professor Rajmohan Gandhi on his side. Gandhi came from Chicago where he teaches at the University of Illinois. Professor Gandhi said that the terrible natural disaster afflicting Pakistan called for stepped-up financial and material help for the millions of “brave” Pakistanis coping with the calamity. He said that the tragedy had also created an opportunity to bring down the “walls of hatred” between India and Pakistan and to create a climate conducive for developing friendly, cooperative relations. Ambassador Haroon said that the scale of the problems created by the floods had been staggering and Pakistan could not deal with them alone considering the fact that one-fifth of the country was still under water, uprooting 20 million people. Professor Gandhi welcomed the aid extended by the Indian government, saying many Indians had made personal donations. He hoped that the government and the people of India would come forward with more help
Pakistan Taliban say their bomber kills 43 Shiites
To the northwest in Pakistan's restive tribal regions, two suspected U.S. missile strikes killed at least seven people in an area controlled by one of the main groups battling Americans in neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Two other militant bombings left at least two people dead and several wounded on a day convulsed by the violence that threatens the stability of Pakistan's weak civilian government — an essential but problematic Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants.
The first attack of the day was a roadside bombing in the northwestern city of Peshawar that killed one police officer and wounded three others, officials said.
Hours later, a suicide attack on a mosque belonging to the minority Ahmadi sect killed at least one person and wounded several others in the nearby town of Mardan.
Soon after, a blast killed at least 43 people in the southwestern city of Quetta at a Shiite procession calling for solidarity with Palestinians, Quetta Police Chief Ghulam Shabir Sheikh said. He said 78 people were wounded and several were in critical condition.
Quetta police officer Hamid Shakil told local television six or seven of the dead appeared to have fatal bullet wounds, and said they may have been killed by participants in the procession who opened fire wildly after the attack.
Pakistani Taliban commander Qari Hussain Mehsud told The Associated Press one of his militant carried out the suicide bombing.
"We proudly take its responsibility," he said. "Our war is against America and Pakistan security forces, but Shiites are also our target because they too are our enemies."
He said he was proud the U.S. had added the Pakistani Taliban to its international terrorism blacklist on Wednesday, and he threatened attacks in the U.S. and Europe in coming days that would resemble a recent attempted car bombing in Times Square.
u can watch the video here:bomb blast video
