FUTURE FLIGHT

DG Rangers Pakistan, BSF quarterly meeting on Wednesday

LAHORE: The quarterly meeting between Director General Rangers Pakistan and Indian Inspector General Border Security Force (BSF) will begin from Wednesday.
The four-day meeting will kick off in the Indian city of Chandigarh.
A 15-member Pakistani delegation led by DG Rangers Pakistan will set out for Chandigarh through Wagah Border. The delegation will return through the same route on March 29.

Zimbabwe police to crush premature election celebrations

HARARE  ( 2008-03-25 19:57:47 ) : 

Zimbabwe's police vowed on Tuesday to crush any premature victory celebrations ahead of the official release of results from this weekend's general elections.
"Let me at the onset indicate that we will not brook any situations of chaos or conduct likely to cause a breach of peace, pandemonium, commotion, tumult or disturbance of peace," assistant police commissioner Faustino Mazango told a news conference in the capital Harare.
"We will not countenance any mischievous claims by anyone winning an election just because they have led in one part of the constituency whether it is council, parliamentary, senatorial and presidential election.
"We urge politicians not to excite members of the public when they have a lead at one time or the other in any part of the constituency."
Mazango urged people to rejoice only after announcement of official results but warned against provocative celebrations.
"We are more than prepared to deal a deadly blow to any such repugnant forces," Mazango said.
"These are not mere threats, but words of advice to our brothers and sisters and indeed everyone, lest people fail to understand and appreciate our actions to situations of anarchy."
Last month, police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri warned that his force was prepared to use firearms to stamp out violence during or after joint presidential and legislative elections this month.
The police have also banned the carrying of weapons such as knives, catapults, axes and clubs in the run-up to the polls, and for two weeks afterwards.

Malian soldiers held by Tuareg rebels in Niger: source

BAMAKO  ( 2008-03-25 18:10:57 ) : 

Malian soldiers taken hostage last week by local Tuareg rebels have been moved across the border to Niger where they are being kept by another Tuareg group, a western military source said Tuesday.
"The Malian soldiers, some of whom are wounded, have been sent to be guarded by the Nigerien MNJ rebels," the source said in Bamako, referring to the Movement of Niger People for Justice.
About 20 hostages have been taken to Niger where they are being held by Tuaregs loyal to rebel leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, she added.
They count among some 29 wounded Malian troops who were abducted in northern Mali on Friday, following clashes between the army and the rebels in the mountainous Tinzaouatene region.
Four other soldiers were taken prisoner the day before in the area which is considered Ag Bahanga's stronghold.
The Malian government has since reinforced troops in the restive region.
Ag Bahanga's group, "supported by other Tuareg bands from countries neighboring Mali, attacked military supply convoys and planted mines," Mali's Foreign Minister Moctar Ouane said.
A nomadic people who have roamed the southern Sahara for centuries, Tuaregs have staged uprisings over the years both in Mali and Niger claiming autonomy for their traditional homeland.
But Ag Bahanga has refused to go along with the peace deal agreed by the majority of former rebels from the Tuareg tribes, and the Malian government believes his group is cooperating with Niger-based militants to launch attacks.
In Niger, Tuareg rebels want a share in the country's revenue from uranium.