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Saudi envoy murder plot suspect pleads not guilty
Gaddafi's body taken from freezer, guard says
Sher Shah tragedy accused among two shot dead in Karachi
Pakistan's cooperation against Al Qaeda is important: US
New rules a hit in field hockey tournament
Anderson, Baghdatis advance in Vienna
Simon, Dolgopolov upset in St. Petersburg
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Pakistan confident ahead of second Sri Lanka Test
Butt's lawyer claims lack of evidence
Debutant Sunny puts Windies in spin
Sachin mentally fragile: Greg Chappell
Palestinian UN bid threatens Mideast talks: US
11 killed in central, northern Syria
WikiLeaks suspends publishing due to lack of funds

Saudi envoy murder plot suspect pleads not guilty

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The Iranian-American accused of being the central figure in a plot involving senior Iranian officials to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington pleaded not guilty Monday in a New York court. Manssor Arbabsiar, who lived for years in Texas where he worked as a used car salesman and is accused by US authorities of plotting to get Mexican gangsters to carry out the attack, entered his plea during a five-minute hearing in federal court. Dressed in a dark brown and blue prison smock and looking tired, Arbabsiar spoke in accented English, responding "not guilty" when the court asked how he was to plead. He said nothing more during the hearing, after which he was led, without handcuffs, back to his cell. Arbabsiar, a naturalized US citizen aged 56, was formally indicted on October 20 along with co-defendant Gholam Shakuri, whom US authorities said is an Iran-based operative of the Quds force, an elite arm of Iran s Revolutionary Guards. Shakuri remains at large. Tehran has strongly denied any involvement in what the US says was a plot by the Quds force to kill the Saudi envoy by hiring assassins from a Mexican drug cartel for $1.5 million. The explosive case has ratcheted up tensions between Iran and the United States, with US President Barack Obama demanding answers and "accountability" from Tehran if it was involved in the alleged plot. According to the indictment, Arbabsiar and Shakuri conspired to "kill the ambassador to the United States of Saudi Arabia, while the ambassador was in the United States." To set up the alleged hit, Arbabsiar arranged for the wiring of $100,000 to the United States as a down payment, the indictment says.

Gaddafi's body taken from freezer, guard says

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The bodies of Moammar Gaddafi, his son Muatassim and a former aide have been moved from a commercial freezer in a warehouse area of Misrata in anticipation of burial, a security guard said. Local military spokesman Ibrahim Beitalmal has said the burial is likely to take place Tuesday. He said the three men would be interred in unmarked graves in a secret location to avoid vandalism. Asked about the removal of the bodies from the freezer, he said he was unaware of the process of burial getting under way. However, Salem al-Mohandes, a security guard at the warehouse complex, said the bodies were moved late Monday from the freezer, where they had been on display for the past four days. "Our job is finished," said al-Mohandes. "He (Gaddafi) was transferred and the military council of Misrata took him away to an unknown location. I don t know whether they buried him or not."

Sher Shah tragedy accused among two shot dead in Karachi

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According to SSP East, Javed Alam Odho, some unidentified persons riding on motorcycle opened fire when the driver of CID sub-inspector Ashiq Khoso parked his vehicle near Chakra Goth to have a cup of tea, killing two people. Javed Odho said that the name of one of the victims was Palpoto. However, the dead was identified as Abdul Hameed alias Mullah Raju, the main accused in Sher Shah tragedy and his dead body was received by his widow. The other victim in the incident is a 12-year-old boy. Residents of the area staged a protest on the killing of two persons and blocked the road by burning tyres. They were of the view that the attackers fled from the scene in presence of Rangers in the area. Meanwhile, Rangers and police have arrested one target killer and 16 other suspects during an operation in Korangi while 53 other suspects were arrested in a separate operation. However, the residents of Korangi staged protest against arrests.

Pakistan's cooperation against Al Qaeda is important: US

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Briefing the newsmen in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland ruled out any possibility of war with Pakistan. On the question that Karzai has said that Afghanistan will side with Pakistan in case of war with US, Nuland said “It is not an issue, because it is not going to happen.” She said that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her senior counterparts had a very frank and good conversation with the Pakistani authorities about the need to fight and talk with terrorists. She informed said that US has intensified Afghan-led efforts to clean out the safe heavens on the Afghanistan side of the border and we are looking to work with Pakistan to do more against the safe heavens on the Pakistani side “We are prepared to talk to those terrorists who come off the battlefield and respect the red lines drawn by the Afghan government for this process,” she said. She said that Secretary Clinton has specifically talked about the need for squeezing the Haqqani network and the ways in which we want Pakistanis to take a lead on it but the concern is that if Pakistan does not deal with this threat, it will come back to bite the Pakistan. We have a similar message when we were starting our work together against al-Qaeda, which has been quite successful, she said. She said that we had a very timely and serious consultation about Haqqani network in Pakistan and it is now time to move forward with the agreed work plan and with concrete action Meanwhile, reacting to Karzai saying that Afghanistan would side with Pakistan in a war with the US, the White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “I don’t have any reaction beyond that our relationship with Pakistan is complicated but important. Our cooperation with Pakistan continues and is vital to our efforts to combat al Qaeda. And, I mean, that’s a hypothetical that doesn’t have a lot of bearing on current reality.

New rules a hit in field hockey tournament

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Australia defeated India 4-1 to win the women s title and its men s team beat New Zealand 5-3 at a field hockey tournament that experimented with new rules designed to speed up play and create more scoring opportunities. The changes included goals a meter (three feet) wider than regulation, two 15-minute halves, reduced from 35 minutes per half; only nine players per side instead of 11, and more tolerance of foot and stick contact in order to reduce play stoppages. Australia men s coach and former player Ric Charlesworth, who helped develop the experimental rules with Hockey Australia, said he wants the Super Series to become a regular event on the sport s calendar. The four-day series attracted more than 10,000 fans. "Twenty20 cricket has changed the paradigm so that the skills are different," Charlesworth said. "All this does is open up the skills and put them on display more which is what we want the one-on-one contests around the field as an example. "They won t do anything before the (2012) Olympics but I don t think having two products available is necessarily a bad thing at all." Australia women s coach Adam Commens said Sunday he thought the experimental rules were exciting "we need to embrace it ... I think that in the future we will see it become very popular, and that s what we need to promote our sport."

Anderson, Baghdatis advance in Vienna

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Kevin Anderson of South Africa defeated last year s finalist Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria 6-4, 6-4 Monday in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open. The sixth-seeded Anderson, who won his maiden career title in Johannesburg this season, relied on his serve and broke Haider-Maurer once in each set. He closed out the win with his 10th ace. Anderson will next play Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who defeated the 73rd-ranked Ryan Sweeting 6-4, 6-2. Baghdatis, who reached the final in Kuala Lumpur this month, had 10 aces and broke the American s serve four times.

Simon, Dolgopolov upset in St. Petersburg

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Top-seeded Gilles Simon and third-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov made early exits in the first round of the St. Petersburg Open on Monday. Adrian Mannarino rallied to beat his fellow Frenchman Simon 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Dolgopolov was upset by Israeli wild card Dudi Sela 6-2, 6-2. Earlier, fifth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia advanced to the second round, beating Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-3, 7-6 (7), while Potito Starace of Italy defeated Russian wild card Ivan Nedelko 6-0, 6-1. The 12th-ranked Simon, who was making his debut at the event, trailed by a break in each set. He then broke Mannarino two times in the first set and leveled at 1-all in the second. The 86th-ranked Mannarino, who is yet to win a title, broke in the ninth game to stay in the match and held his serve in the decider to close the match on his third match point. The 97th-ranked Sela broke Dolgopolov twice in each set to hand the 16th-ranked Ukrainian his second successive early exit after Jeremy Chardy of France ousted him in straight sets in Moscow last week. Youzhny, who won the tournament in 2004, broke early in each set. Stakhovsky, the winner here two years ago, managed to break back in the second for 2-all and then force a tiebreaker. Youzhny closed the match on his second match point. "It was a tough match although I managed to break early in each set, " Youzhny said. "Stakhovsky had a set point serving at 6-5 on a tiebreaker but I returned well."

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Pakistan confident ahead of second Sri Lanka Test

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Misbah-ul Haq will look for an improved performance from his fielders to menace Sri Lanka in the second Test which starts at Dubai sports city stadium from Wednesday. Pakistan snatched a draw from the jaws of a win by dropping as many as seven catches to let the Sri Lankans off in the first Test in Abu Dhabi last week, leaving the three-Test series tied. Led by left-arm paceman Junaid Khan (5-38), Pakistan rocked Sri Lanka to a low score of 197 after Misbha won the toss and elected to field and then took a huge 314-run lead on the back of a career-best 236 from Taufiq Umar. But then the fielders spoiled a good chance of pressing for a win when they dropped six catches on the fourth day, allowing opener Lahiru Thirimanne (68) and Kumar Sangakkara five chances between them. Sangakkara, who notched 211, then punished Pakistan for their sloppy fielding by putting together a record 201-run stand for the sixth wicket with Prasanna Jayawardene who scored 120 to salvage a draw for Sri Lanka. Misbah hoped his players will work hard to overcome fielding weaknesses. Since Misbah took over in the post spot-fixing scandal in England last year, which ended in bans for former Test captain Salman Butt, Pakistan have not lost a series and the skipper feels the Abu Dhabi draw is not going to affect them. Pakistan can bring in left-arm paceman Wahab Riaz in place of Aizaz Cheema who managed a wicket in each of the two innings despite bowling a hostile spell on the first day. Sri Lanka can also bring in off-spinner Suraj Randiv in place of any of the two seamers Nuwan Pradeep or Suranga Lakmal if the Dubai stadium pitch has any chance to help the spinners. Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said his team will have the psychological advantage after avoiding defeat in the first match. Under Dilshan Sri Lanka have not won a Test, losing 1-0 to both England and Australia in each of the three-Test series. Dilshan hoped his batsmen put up a better show in the first innings. The third Test will be played in Sharjah from November 3-7.

Butt's lawyer claims lack of evidence

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Salman Butt s lawyer on Monday dismissed the case against the former Pakistan Test captain, saying "there simply isn t enough evidence to find him guilty" in the spot-fixing trial in a London court. Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif face charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following a Lord s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with agent Mazhar Majeed, teenage paceman Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges. In his closing at Southwark Crown Court, Butt s lawyer Ali Bajwa told the court that no reliable evidence that links Butt to the no-balls in question had been presented. "Salman Butt s life has been torn apart to the point of analyzing his bank records, his every move and even anything his mother does or planned. If I worked backward from any of your lives (the jury) I could find or twist things about what you have or might not have done. "When you came into this court room for the first time you all took an oath to say you will give a verdict according to the evidence and nothing but the evidence. In the case of Salman Butt there simply isn t enough evidence to find him guilty." Earlier, prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee opened day 14 of the trial with a three-and-a-half hour outline of the evidence. "Shorn of cricketing terminology about mid-on and mid-off, shorn of jargon of attacking shots and defensive shots, this is a case of corruption through the vehicle of a sport," Jafferjee said. "You the jury do understand deceit, greed and corrupt practice by some on the inside who are lucky enough, through talent, who have the opportunity to exploit it. "The sad truth in this case is that there are decent things to be said of everybody - perhaps not Majeed. But none of this could have happened without these four people involved. Butt, Asif and Amir were involved. And all for what? Money. More money." Bajwa is expected to complete his closing on Tuesday, making way for Asif s lawyer to begin.

Debutant Sunny puts Windies in spin

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Elias Sunny bagged four wickets on his debut to boost Bangladesh s hopes of taking a first innings lead in the opening Test against the West Indies on Monday. The left-arm spinner took 4-56 as the West Indies reached 144-5 in their first innings at stumps on the penultimate day in reply to Bangladesh s total of 350-9 declared. Sunny, 25, did not have to wait long for his first Test wicket as he trapped Kirk Edwards leg-before in his third over before dismissing Darren Bravo (two), teenager Kraigg Brathwaite and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the last session. The West Indies were struggling at 52-3 before Chanderpaul (49) and Brathwaite steadied the innings with a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket. Sunny again put pressure on the tourists when he removed both the batsmen in his last five overs. Chanderpaul s 72-ball knock contained two successive sixes over long-on off the left-arm spinner. Brathwaite, bowled off a no-ball in paceman Rubel Hossain s opening over, scored a 135-ball 33 before being caught by Imrul Kayes. Marlon Samuels was unbeaten on 17 and Carlton Baugh on six not out when bad light stopped play. Bangladesh paceman Shahadat Hossain got a wicket in his second over when he had Lendl Simmons (seven) caught by Raqibul Hasan at gully. Edwards, dropped on three by Shahadat at mid-on in Sunny s opening over, failed to make the most of the chance as he fell after scoring 17 runs. Bangladesh earlier added 95 runs to their Friday s total of 255-4 before declaring their innings closed in the afternoon session. No play was possible on Saturday and Sunday due to rain. Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo (3-81) and fast bowler Fidel Edwards (2-88) shared five wickets as Bangladesh batted 31.4 overs in the day.

Sachin mentally fragile: Greg Chappell

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Former India coach Greg Chappell, in a new book, has claimed that cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was "mentally fragile" at a certain stage of his illustrious career and was beset with "self-doubt". Chappell, who had a controversial three-year stint as India coach from 2005-07, claimed in his new book  Fierce Focus  that Tendulkar s mental state had been "surprisingly fragile" in 2006. "At one point early in my time with the (Indian) team he came and talked to me for about two hours," Chappell wrote in his new book. "He was frustrated with his form and racked with self-doubt. Since he d come back in Malaysia (in a one-day tournament in 2006), Sachin s mental state had been surprisingly fragile and he came to me for help," Chappell wrote, apparently referring to a period when Tendulkar was struggling for form, besides also having surgery for tennis elbow. Chappell, who was sacked a few months back as Australia s national selector apparently after a fall out with senior cricketers, suggested that Tendulkar could have been affected by the weight of expectations. "When the team travelled, he would snap on his headphones, not look sideways, and shut it all out. Not even Don Bradman carried expectations like this, and Sachin had been bearing it since 1989," Chappell said in the book. "He just couldn t get any rest. Once we were talking and I said,  You must have so many friends, it must be hard finding time to keep in touch with all of them . He looked me in the eye and said,  Greg, you would have more friends in India than I ve got ," Chappell said.

Palestinian UN bid threatens Mideast talks: US

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The two sides, who will meet international mediators in Jerusalem on Wednesday, remained at loggerheads over the deadlocked peace process as UN Security Council powers made new appeals for full negotiations, which if they fail could risk new violence. At a Security Council meeting, Israel called the Palestinian bid for UN recognition a “march of folly.” The Palestinian UN envoy said Israel’s spreading construction in occupied territory encouraged “terror rampages” by settlers. Mediators from the diplomatic Quartet — the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States — are to meet separately in Jerusalem with Israeli and Palestinian representatives to try to break the impasse. The new Quartet initiative was launched the day that Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas made his September 23 bid for Palestinian membership of the UN, which the United States has vowed to veto. The Palestinian membership campaign “will not advance the peace process, but rather will complicate, delay and perhaps derail prospects for a negotiated settlement,” US ambassador Susan Rice told the Security Council meeting. The US and Israeli governments say that only new direct talks can reach the accord needed to set up a Palestinian state. Rice said the US administration was working “vigorously” with all sides to resume talks frozen since September last year. Amidst a diplomatic battle for votes on Palestinian membership, Rice said “we urge all members of this council and all member states to unite to help create a positive climate for resuming negotiations.” While the new contacts are to be held Wednesday, the Security Council is to meet November 11 to decide on whether to hold a formal vote on the Palestinian membership application now being considered by a special committee. Israeli-Palestinian negotiations collapsed in September 2010 when Israel ended a moratorium on settlement building.

11 killed in central, northern Syria

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Government troops reportedly clashed with gunmen believed to be defectors from the military in several parts of the country, killing five including a Syrian soldier, activists said. The violence came as the U.S. pulled its ambassador out of Syria, saying threats against him make it no longer safe for him to remain. Robert Ford has been the target of several incidents of intimidation by pro-government thugs. He enraged Syrian authorities with his forceful defense of peaceful protests and harsh criticism of a government crackdown that the U.N. says has killed more than 3,000. A spokeswoman at the Syrian Embassy in Washington said Monday that Syria s ambassador to the U.S., Imad Moustapha, has been recalled in response. He left Washington Monday. The opposition movement driving Syria s 7-month-old uprising has mostly focused on peaceful demonstrations, although recently there have been reports of protesters taking up arms to defend themselves against military attacks. There have also been increasing reports of defections from the military, highlighting a trend that has raised fears that Syria may be sliding toward civil war. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes Monday pitting Syrian troops against army defectors left casualties on both sides, but there was no precise death toll. Most of the fighting erupted in Houla, which is comprised of several villages in the Homs province. About 25 miles (40 kilometers) away in the city of Homs, security forces killed six people, the observatory said. Syria s third-largest city, Homs has seen some of the most severe violence in the past months. At least five others were killed in clashes in the northern Idlib province, where defectors are also believed to be active. They included a Syrian soldier and his son, and a man whose car was targeted by a rocket propelled grenade. Other activists, including the Local Coordination Committees, also reported the deaths in Homs and Idlib.

WikiLeaks suspends publishing due to lack of funds

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WikiLeaks said it was suspending publishing classified US diplomatic files to focus instead on fundraising “to ensure our future survival”. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said that because of a financial “blockade” mounted by Visa, Mastercard and other companies, it was “now forced to temporarily suspend its publishing operations and aggressively fundraise”. In a press conference in London, he condemned the blockade as politically motivated and linked to the website’s release of tens of thousands of classified US diplomatic cables. Many relate to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while others contain frank and sometimes embarrassing assessments of world leaders made by US diplomats, prompting outrage in Washington. Assange said WikiLeaks was taking legal action against the blockade across the world but warned that it posed an “existential threat” and if it was not lifted by the end of the year, “the organisation cannot continue its work”. The announcement appears to contradict remarks Assange made last week that WikiLeaks was managing to survive the financial blockade and was even preparing more disclosures.

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Monday 24 October 2011

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