Compiled by EUN SIL KANG

15 dead after suicide bombing in Pakistan

by RIAZ KHAN

Associated Press

A burqa-clad woman blew herself up and killed at least 15 people Monday at a crowded police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, police said. It was believed to be the first time a female suicide bomber has struck inside the country.

The bombing, which injured 22 others, apparently was in a rickshaw being examined at the checkpoint around 8:25 a.m. local time in the town of Bannu, said police officer Habib Khan.

Bannu police chief Ameer Hamza Mahsud said police had prior intelligence about the possibility that female suicide bombers would strike in the town.

Mahsud said the casualty figures were high because scores of people were milling about at a nearby bus stand.

The blast killed four police officers and 11 other people, including the bomber, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said. Because the attack occurred in a public place, he said he did not believe it was aimed at security forces.

The district hospital in Bannu reported that at least seven of the injured were in critical condition.

Bannu is near the North Waziristan tribal region, about 110 miles south of Peshawar.

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Ethnic slur sparks violence in India

by MANIK BANERJEE

Associated Press

An angry mob set dozens of vehicles on fire, injuring more than 60 people, after a radio host allegedly made derogatory comments about the winner of the popular television show Indian Idol, officials said Saturday.

The violence broke out Friday in Siliguri, West Bengal. Supporters of Prashant Tamang, the recent winner of the TV singing competition, protested against what they perceived as a radio show host’s ethnic slur against Tamang, said R.J.S. Nalwa, a state police official. Tamang is an Indian citizen of Nepalese origin.

The protesters blocked a road and refused to let an ambulance carrying a patient pass, which led to clashes between Tamang’s supporters and a group accompanying the ambulance, said Nalwa.

Police intervened, firing guns and tear gas and using batons in self-defense, said Nalwa.

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Myanmar leader, U.N. envoy discuss country’s situation

Associated Press

Myanmar’s junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, finally granted an audience Tuesday to a U.N. envoy hoping to end Myanmar’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Ibrahim Gambari, the U.N.’s special envoy, met Than Shwe in the junta’s remote new capital, Naypyitaw, a U.N. statement said. It said he then flew to Yangon and talked to Aung San Suu Kyi.

The meeting with Than Shwe was expected but the one with Suu Kyi came as a surprise, raising hopes that Gambari’s diplomacy was making progress.

The U.N. statement said Gambari’s meeting with Than Shwe and his deputies ”to discuss the current situation in Myanmar” lasted more than an hour.

Foreign governments have been urging the junta to free the detainees, who include thousands of Buddhist monks who led last month’s protests. In addition, freeing Suu Kyi from house arrest has been one of the main goals of all U.N. envoys and Myanmar’s international critics.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, and the current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a much larger pro-democracy movement in which about 3,000 people are believed to have been killed. The generals called elections in 1990 but refused to give up power when Suu Kyi’s party won.

Anger against the junta exploded in mid-August after it hiked fuel prices as much as 500 percent. The anti-price hike marches soon ballooned into mass demonstrations led by Buddhist monks.

Opposition groups say several thousand people were arrested in the latest crackdown, which reached its peak on Sept. 26 and 27 when troops opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. Among the dead was a Japanese television cameraman, Kenji Nagai of APF news agency.

Dissident groups say up to 200 protesters were slain and 6,000 detained in the junta’s crackdown, compared to the regime’s report of 10 deaths.

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