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Iran quake toll soars to 70
TEHRAN: A strong earthquake hit western Iran on Friday, killing at least 70 people and devastating villages, state media reported.
The official news agency, quoting a Lorestan medical official, said 988 were injured in the quake of 6.0 magnitude in mostly rural Lorestan province, west of the capital Tehran.
Some survivors were dug out of the rubble of buildings alive. But the death toll was expected to rise, the head of the disaster control committee in the Lorestan governor’s office, told foreign news agency.
Iranian officials said 330 villages in the area were severely damaged.
Television pictures from the area showed families in the cold morning air huddled around fires next to their wrecked homes. Officials said telephone lines, electricity and gas
supplies had been cut.
Hospitals were full in Doroud and Boroujerd, the two main cities near the epicenter, state radio reported. Lorestan Governor-General Mohammad Reza Mohseni-Sani appealed for aid from neighbouring areas, radio said.
Pak-India CMBs not benefited to Kashmiris: APHC chairman
(Updated at 1900 PST)
ISLAMABAD: Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) of India and Pakistan have not yield any better results towards Kashmir spat and Kashmiris continue to be killed and their land as backburner.
This he said in an special interview with Geo TV’s correspondent Amna Aamir here today.
He said he never was looking towards resolution of the Kashmir issue on the religious grounds; but was in favour of equal opportunities for all.
The chairman demanded Kashmir be part and parcel of SAARC and SAFTA.
Sri Lanka to discuss military cooperation with Pakistan
(Updated at 1855 PST)
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse was due in Islamabad Friday for a three-day visit during which he is expected to discuss military cooperation with Pakistan, official sources said Friday.
Rajapakse, who is also the defence minister, will hold talks with President Pervez Musharraf on bilateral trade, tourism, cultural exchanges and defence matters soon after his arrival in the Pakistani capital, the sources said.
The president is accompanied by his brother Gotabaya Rajapakse who is the top official in the Sri Lankan defence ministry.
Pakistan is a key supplier of small arms and provides training to Sri Lankan security forces. The two countries entered into a free trade agreement last year.
Officials said Rajapakse will discuss military cooperation with Musharraf in the context of plans to modernise Sri Lanka’s armed forces despite a truce with Tamil Tiger rebels.
Sri Lankan troops have been observing a tenuous ceasefire with Tiger rebels since February 2002, but Scandinavian monitors have warned that the island could slip back to full scale war unless both sides show commitment to the peace process.
Pakistan gets first women fighter pilots
(Updated at 1850 PST)
ISLAMABAD: Four women have received their wings as the Pakistan air force’s first female fighter pilots, officials said Friday.
Saba Khan, Nadia Gul, Mariam Khalil and Saira Batool were inducted along with 32 male colleagues at a ceremony on Thursday following more than three years of rigorous training.
They were given their flying badges by Vice Chief of the Army Staff General Ahsan Saleem Hayat at the Pakistan Air Force academy in the northwestern town of Risalpur, officials said.
State media said the four officers had called on other women to join the air force, and quoted them as saying that it was “attractive and honorable despite various challenges.”
Gul received the trophy for best academic achievement on her course, officials said.
“The female pilots performed well in all fields during their training,” said the chief of the Pakistan Air Force Academy, Air Commodore Abid Khawaja.
“In the beginning some difficulties were faced during training, but they made rapid improvement and overcame all hurdles due to their hard work and dedication,” he said, without elaborating.
Women in Muslim Pakistan can join the armed forces in non-combat roles but this is the first time that they have been given front-line jobs.
Another three female pilots are currently being trained and are due to graduate within six months, officials said.
Pakistan Steel Mills sold for $362 mln at auction
(Updated at 1850 PST)
ISLAMABAD: A Russian-Saudi-Pakistani consortium made a winning bid of $362 million for a 75 percent stake in Pakistan Steel Mills on Friday at an open auction that marked the latest step in government’s privatisation programme.
The consortium of Russia’s Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works Open JSC , Saudi Arabia-based Al-Tuwairqi Group of Companies and local firm Arif Habib Securities paid a total 21.6 billion rupees, or 16.8 rupees per share, to take control of Pakistan’s only integrated steel manufacturing plant.
A second consortium in the two-horse race made a bid of 16.5 rupees per share before dropping out of the bidding. The losing consortium included Al-Jomaih Holdings of Saudi Arabia, the Emirates’ government of Ras Al-Khaimah, Kuwait-based Noor Financial Investment Co and Ukraine-based Industrial Union of Donbass.
src: www.jang.com/thenews
I wonder why Mittel didnt bid for this one 
must be pakistani government restriction to avoid an indian. otherwise he holds the worlds largest Steel business.