Awaz Apni

Awaz Apni TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad survived an attack with a homemade explosive device on his motorcade during a visit to the western city of Hamadan on Wednesday, a source in his office said. The source said Ahmadinejad's convoy was targeted as he was travelling from Hamadan's airport to give a speech in a local sports arena and the president was unhurt but others had been injured in the blast. One person had been arrested, the presidency source said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The populist, hardline Ahmadinejad has accumulated enemies in conservative and reformist circles in the Islamic Republic as well as abroad. Al Arabiya television said an attacker had thrown a bomb at Ahmadinejad's convoy before being detained. Dubai-based Al Arabiya television cited its own sources as saying the bomb had hit a car carrying journalists and presidential staff. Ahmadinejad appeared on live Iranian television at a spor...

CNews TEHRAN: Iran on Sunday hanged 29 men convicted of offences including drug trafficking, murder and rape in the largest mass execution in years as the country says it is fighting increasing crime. The hangings were carried out inside the notorious Tehran's Evin prison at 5:10 am (0040 GMT), the state broadcaster said. Those executed on Sunday had records of repeated crimes including rape, murder with torture and armed robbery, the report said. It also listed charges including drug trafficking, drinking alcohol and possessing ammunition. Capital offences in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery. Human rights groups have accused Iran of making excessive use of the death penalty, but Tehran insists it is an effective deterrent carried out only after an exhaustive judicial process. The state broadcaster said the latest death sentences were approved by the Tehran revolutionary court and high judicial authorities. On Saturday the pres...

CNews TEHERAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is planning to make his first visit to Iraq within the next two months, the foreign minister said on Monday. "The trip has become definitive and he will go on this trip by the end of the year," Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters, referring to the Iranian year which ends on March 20. Last week, Baghdad said Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation from President Jalal Talabani to visit Iraq but no date had been fixed.

Soomro to take oath as caretaker PM today (Posted at 0610) ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly of Pakistan has been dissolved on the expiration of its term of five years. President General Pervez Musharraf has appointed Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro as caretaker prime minister. Soomro takes oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) today (Friday). President General Pervez Musharraf will administer the oath. The president will administer the oath to caretaker prime minister today at 10:00 am. President Musharraf announced his decision at a dinner he hosted in honour of the outgoing Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his cabinet here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday. Among various members of caretaker cabinet, Senator Nisar Memon would be sworn in as information minister, Senator Dilawar Abbas as petroleum minister, Dr. Salman Shah as minister of finance, Lt. Gen (Rtd) Hamid Nawaz minister of interior, former secretary defence Saleem Abbas Gillani as minister of defence, former...

Corps Commanders vow to knock-off Extremism, terrorism (Updated at 1745) RAWALPINDI: President General Pervez Musharraf said that the imposition of emergency was a difficult decision but it was taken in the larger interest of the nation for knocking-off extremism and terrorism and for the political stability in the country. President General Pervez Musharraf told this to the participants of conference of the corps commanders, briefing them about the situation caused for emergency and the incidents which have taken place after emergency. He said that all necessary arrangements would be made for holding early the independent and transparent elections. The President said that the stabilized situation of law and order is vital for economic development and every possible action would be taken for knocking-off extremism. He praised the role of the Pak army in dealing with the extremism in the country. He gave a detailed briefing about the law and order situation in the country, particularly...

CNews TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urged Arab nations on Saturday to boycott a Middle East peace meeting in the United States. "The United States took the initiative for this meeting to save the Zionist regime (Israel), which received a beating at the hands of Hezbollah," during the war last year, Khamenei told a crowd of hundreds of thousands at Iran's Grand Mosque. "Every conference that has been organised in the name of peace has harmed the Palestinians," he said, in a speech to mark Iran's celebration of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that follows the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "As the Palestinians themselves are not participating in this conference, how can the others (Arab states) do so," he asked, as the crowds chanted slogans against America and Israel.

CNews TEHRAN: Iran and Pakistan have agreed to periodic revision of gas prices as part of a pipeline deal to carry Iranian gas via Pakistan to India, an Iranian news agency said on Tuesday, quoting the local export company. "The two parties have agreed that each side submit its demands for gas price revision to the other side every three years, taking into account the situation on the international market," said a statement from the National Society for Gas Exports from Iran. The two countries have also agreed on other terms, particularly dealing with "situations of force majeure and the law governing the agreement." According to the statement quoted by the news agency, the Indian side -- opposed to a price review system -- may take part in future talks. Late in September, Hojatollah Ganimifard, Iran's deputy minister in charge of the project said Iran and Pakistan had reached an agreement, in the absence of India, on the pipeline. He added that the two countrie...

CNews TEHRAN: Iran and Pakistan have agreed to periodic revision of gas prices as part of a pipeline deal to carry Iranian gas via Pakistan to India, an Iranian news agency said on Tuesday, quoting the local export company. "The two parties have agreed that each side submit its demands for gas price revision to the other side every three years, taking into account the situation on the international market," said a statement from the National Society for Gas Exports from Iran. The two countries have also agreed on other terms, particularly dealing with "situations of force majeure and the law governing the agreement." According to the statement quoted by the news agency, the Indian side -- opposed to a price review system -- may take part in future talks. Late in September, Hojatollah Ganimifard, Iran's deputy minister in charge of the project said Iran and Pakistan had reached an agreement, in the absence of India, on the pipeline. He added that the two countrie...