The Star Online: World Updates

North Korea leader's armoured train arrives in Chinese capital
Car bomb destroys police station in Pakistan, 1 dead
Car bomb destroys police station in Pakistan's Peshawar, 15 hurt

North Korea leader's armoured train arrives in Chinese capital

Posted: 24 May 2011 09:03 PM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il's armoured train arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, setting the stage for a summit with Chinese leaders that he will want to underscore the bond between his isolated state and Asia's biggest economy.

A motorcade later swept down central Beijing's Chang'an Avenue under unusually tight police guard, suggesting the secretive Kim was in the Chinese capital.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Kim was there "apparently for a summit meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao".

Neither China nor North Korea have confirmed the visit.

This would be the third trip to China in just over a year for Kim, who in previous years rarely travelled abroad and then only in his personal train, reportedly scared of flying.

Impoverished North Korea has recently been scouring the world for food aid and analysts say Kim is keen to ensure China's support for his youngest son to eventually take over the family dynasty that has ruled the North since its founding.

As ties with South Korea and most of the outside world have soured, Pyongyang has been forced to rely increasingly on Beijing for economic and diplomatic support.

"He seems to want to tacitly remind China's current leadership of their solidarity and call on them to fulfill their obligation as a big brother," a South Korean newspaper, the JoongAng Daily, said.

"That's in sharp contrast with the Chinese government's purpose of inviting Kim: to stress economic reform."

A number of analysts say China, keen to keep North Korea from collapse but concerned by its deep economic decline, has been prodding Pyongyang's leaders to finally start economic reforms.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Tokyo on the weekend that Kim was in China to study "economic development", Yonhap reported, citing a South Korean presidential aide.

The reclusive Kim's latest train journey to China began on Friday and took him through China's frigid northeast to the prosperous eastern province of Jiangsu.

Kim visited China, his country's sole major supporter, last year in early May and then in August. In the past, neither side has openly confirmed his visits until they are over.

Beijing sees North Korea as a strategic buffer against the U.S. and its regional allies. It has sought to shore up ties with the North in recent years with more aid and trade and visits there by leaders.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley in Beijing and Jeremy Laurence in Seoul; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Jonathan Thatcher)

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Car bomb destroys police station in Pakistan, 1 dead

Posted: 24 May 2011 07:32 PM PDT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Suspected militants drove a car packed with explosives into a police station in the Pakistani town of Peshawar on Wednesday, killing a policeman and wounding 15 people, the latest attack since Osama bin laden was killed this month.

The police station, where the office of the Criminal Investigation Department, which also investigates militancy, is located, was destroyed in the blast, a Reuters witness said.

Residents said the explosion rattled windows throughout town. Television showed police and soldiers cordoning off the affected district.

One policeman was killed and 15 were wounded in the dawn attack, hospital officials said.

"The car was packed with explosives, it hit the gate of the police station," said senior superintendent of police Ejaz Khan.

Rescue officials said death toll could rise as several people are believed to be trapped in the rubble.

The bombing comes days after a brazen raid on a heavily guarded Pakistani naval base in the southern city of Karachi in which 10 military personnel were killed and two aircraft destroyed. The Pakistani Taliban said they staged that assault to avenge the death of al Qaeda leader bin Laden.

Wednesday's attack in Peshawar occurred about 1 km (half amile) from the U.S. consulate and in the same district where a car bomb exploded last week as a U.S. consulate convoy passed by. One man was killed and about a dozen people were wounded,including two U.S. nationals.

Peshawar is the gateway to Pakistan's turbulent northwest region believed to have become a hub of al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

The Pakistani Taliban also clamed responsibility for the attack on the U.S. convoy, the first attack on foreigners since a U.S. commando team killed bin Laden early this month.

(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Chris Allbritton)

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Car bomb destroys police station in Pakistan's Peshawar, 15 hurt

Posted: 24 May 2011 07:01 PM PDT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Suspected militants drove a car packed with explosives into a police station in the Pakistani town of Peshawar on Wednesday, wounding 15 people, the latest in a wave of attacks since Osama bin laden was killed this month.

The police station, where the office of the criminal investigation department which investigates crime as well as militancy is located, was destroyed in the blast, a Reuters witness said.

Residents said the explosion rattled windows throughout the town. Television showed police and soldiers cordoning off the affected district.

At least 15 people were wounded in the dawn attack, police said. "The car was packed with explosives, it hit the gate of the police station," said senior superintendent of police Ejaz Khan.

Wednesday's attack in Peshawar occurred about 1 km (half a mile) from the U.S. consulate and in the same district where a car bomb exploded last week as a U.S. consulate convoy passed by. One man was killed and about a dozen people were wounded, including two U.S. nationals.

Peshawar is the gateway to Pakistan's turbulent northwest region believed to have become a hub of al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

The Pakistani Taliban also clamed responsibility for the attack on the U.S. convoy, the first attack on foreigners since a U.S. commando team killed bin Laden early this month.

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Selasa, 24 Mei 2011

The Star Online: World Updates

The Star Online: World Updates

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