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WORLD NEWS
Doubts over Taleban chief seizure
Mullah Dadullah on al-Jazeera TV last February. Fresh doubts have been raised over claims by Afghan officials that they have captured one of the Taleban's top commanders, Mullah Dadullah. Officials said on Friday that he had been seized in the southern province of Kandahar. But a man claiming to be Mullah Dadullah later said he was still free, and not far from Kandahar. Separately, a number of soldiers have been killed in renewed fighting with insurgents in the south of the country. Insurgents ambushed a convoy of Afghan government forces in Helmand province, resulting in an unconfirmed number of casualties on both sides, including at least four Afghan soldiers. In separate fighting in the Kandahar region, two French special forces soldiers were killed and another injured. One American soldier died and six others were injured in a gun battle in Uruzgan province. Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as Mullah Dadullah has contacted a number of news agencies by satellite phone to say he was free. During his two calls to our foreign correspondent in Pakistan, he said he was the one-legged Islamic commander who had been leading Taleban insurgents in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. The man said he would continue to attack Afghan and foreign troops in the area. The man said it was possible the authorities had mistakenly arrested one of the several thousand innocent people who had lost their limbs by stepping on a landmine during the ongoing Afghan conflict. Mullah Dadullah was a member of the Taleban's 10-man leadership council before the US-led invasion in 2001. The news of Mullah Dadullah's arrest earlier had sent a wave of excitement in Kabul, the BBC's Zaffar Abbas says. It was being treated as a huge success of the coalition forces since they launched the latest offensive against the anti-government insurgents in the south, our correspondent says. But now, he says, the Afghan authorities may have to come up with some solid evidence to convince the world that Mullah Dadullah was in their custody. There has been no official confirmation of the arrest from the Afghan government or US military.
Swiss recall Pakistan diplomats
The ministry says the embassy was targeted by organised crime. Switzerland is to replace all the staff at its embassy in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, following an investigation into visa applications. The investigation found that some applicants had been able to obtain visas under false pretences.
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The foreign ministry said it had uncovered poor
organisation and a failure to comply with regulations, but found no
evidence of crimes by staff. The visa section will be closed until
staffing is reorganised.
The ministry said the investigation had been set up to
establish whether the visa section was effectively organised and whether
Swiss employees were involved in human trafficking. Two Pakistani
employees of the embassy had previously been accused of such activities.
The ministry said the decision to replace all staff did not imply any
guilt. It is also replacing all staff at the consulate-general in Karachi.
Montenegro 'chooses independence'
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Montenegro
has narrowly voted for independence from its union with Serbia, unofficial
projections show. Indications are that 55.3% of voters elected to
secede from Serbia, just above the 55% required for victory. Prime
Minister Milo Djukanovic claimed early on Monday that his drive for
independence had been successful. But official results are not expected
for several hours. If confirmed, the independence vote would erase the
last vestige of the former Yugoslavia.
"Tonight, with the majority decision by the citizens of
Montenegro, the independence of the country has been renewed," said Mr
Djukanovic. The question of independence has deeply divided Montenegro,
with its opponents arguing that it will damage economic, family and
political ties with Serbia. The opposition leader who spearheaded the
campaign against independence, Predrag Bulatovic, said his camp would not
admit defeat based on an "arbitrary estimate by a monitoring group". "The
results are not final until they are confirmed by the state referendum
commission," he said, urging the government to ask its supporters to leave
the streets. "Such a crucial decision must not be carried out by a trick,"
Mr Bulatovic said. Serb politicians, Orthodox church leaders and
Montenegrins from the mountainous inland regions bordering Serbia broadly
opposed secession. However, ethnic Montenegrins and Albanians from the
coastal area largely back the prime minister and favoured independence. Mr
Djukanovic argued that an independent Montenegro will have a stronger
economy and will be a better candidate for admission into the European
Union. Indications that the pro-independence bloc may have won the vote
prompted celebrations in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica. The tooting
of car horns filled the city and youths were seen waving the red and gold
flag of the old Montenegrin monarchy. The country was last independent in
1918. Guns and fireworks were let off in celebration. Polls
opened early on Sunday morning and turnout was said to have surpassed a
record 85%. Voters, some of them dressed in their Sunday best clothes,
pondered the referendum question: "Do you want Montenegro to be an
independent state with full international and legal legitimacy?" In the
days preceding the vote, thousands of Montenegrins living abroad were
invited back to the country to cast their ballot. The country has a
population of fewer than 700,000 people, so the vote of the diaspora was
considered as crucial by both camps. Montenegro's loose union with Serbia
was established in 2003, replacing what was left of the former Yugoslavia.
Both sides were given the option of electing to leave the union after
three years. The last time Montenegro was independent was nearly 90 years
ago at the end of World War I, when it was absorbed into the newly-formed
Yugoslavia. In the days running up to the vote, thousands of Montenegrins
living abroad