Militants plan to march on Baghdad: SITE monitors

WASHINGTON: Militants who have seized a large swathe of northern and north-central Iraq now plan to march on the capital Baghdad, a US-based monitoring group said Wednesday.

In a lightning offensive, militants seized Tikrit earlier, its latest success following a spectacular assault late Monday on Mosul, a city of two million.

The militants´ advances have forced as many as half a million people to flee their homes.

ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani promised that the battle would "rage" on Baghdad and Karbala, a city southwest of the capital, the SITE Intelligence Group said.

"Do not relent against your enemy... The battle is not yet raging, but it will rage in Baghdad and Karbala," Adnani said, according to a SITE translation of an audio statement released on the militants´ Twitter feed. "Put on your belts and get ready."

Adnani also dismissed President Nuri al-Maliki as woefully incompetent. "What have you done to your people, O foolish one. No one is more foolish than you but those who accept you as the president and commander," Adnani said in the translated statement.

"What do you know about policy, leadership, and military command? You lost a historic opportunity for your people to control Iraq, and the people will always curse you for as long as they live. Indeed, there is between us and you a balance to be made even." (AFP)

Three dead, suspect caught in shootings at Kansas Jewish site

WASHINGTON: A gunman shot three people dead Sunday at a Jewish community center and a retirement community in Kansas on the eve of Passover, police said.

The 70-year-old white male suspect, who is in custody, was not local and did not know the victims, Overland Park Police Department Chief John Douglass told reporters.

The bearded man used a shotgun in the assault and investigators, who are being assisted by the FBI, are trying to determine whether a handgun and assault rifle were involved.

Police officers took the suspect, who has not yet been formally identified, into custody at an elementary school in Overland Park outside Kansas City.

He was heard yelling "Heil Hitler" as officers escorted him away, local NBC television affiliate KSHB reported.

Douglass refused to confirm the report. FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Kaste said investigators were looking into the incident as a "hate crime."

"We haven´t ruled out anything," Kaste added."I don´t want to say the terrorism word; this is three hours into it.

It´s only wise and prudent we use every resource we have. "Douglass refused to be drawn on whether the "unexpected" shooting was a hate crime, however.” We know it´s a vicious act of violence and you know, obviously, at two Jewish facilities one might make that assumption.
We have to know more about it," the police chief said. The first shooting at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City took place around 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) as youths auditioned for a play.

Rabbi Herbert Mandl, who serves as chaplain for the Overland Park Police Department, told CNN that the suspect asked people whether they were Jewish before opening fire.

He killed two people there -- one died on the spot and the other succumbed to injuries at a hospital.

The man then got in his car and headed to the Village Shalom assisted living center, where he killed a woman in her 70s about 15 minutes after the first shooting.

In addition to the three people killed, the suspect shot at two other people but missed them.

Underpasses, flyover project halt may harm heritage site

KARACHI: The suspension of construction of two underpasses and a flyover in the Clifton area would pose a risk of permanent damage not only to the heritage site in the vicinity but also other projects in the area including the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Shrine, a shopping mall, park and hospital, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation contended in its appeal against the High Court’s stay order on the Rs1 billion mega construction project.
Being aggrieved with the SHC’s stay order on the Defence Housing Society’s lawsuit against the construction of the underpasses and flyover project in the Clifton area that was financed and executed by a private builder, the KMC defended the construction of the flyover stating that the project was initiated after the approval of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA).

The metropolitan authority argued that the Supreme Court and the high court were also seized with identical cases with regard to the construction and no restraining order had been issued yet in the matter except the impugned order in the appeal. The KMC apprehended if the project in the present condition was exposed to the rain, the entire area would be at risk of collapsing beside material at the project site would also become defective causing loss of billions of rupees.

The SHC on April 2 restrained the construction work for two underpasses and the flyover on the DHA lawsuit that questioned the construction of the mega project without the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

The KMC submitted in its appeal that private builder was in the process of developing a multi-storey building on plot 5 and 6 sectors block CF-1-5 Old Clifton for which all necessary approval had been obtained as such plots are situated within the jurisdiction of the KMC.

The appellant submitted that Sindh High Density Development Board on November 19, 2011 approved construction on said plots with the observation that owner along with the KMC’s Traffic Engineering Department and the Sindh Building Control Authority would finalise the management of the traffic load. Subsequently, the appellant said that as per SHDDB recommendation, it was proposed that two underpasses and a flyover be built around the area of Park Tower and the AT Naqvi roundabout.

The KMC said that that the project was carried out in accordance with the law and based on international standards with the sole purpose of providing relief to commuters and the people of Karachi in general, adding that in pursuance of section 12 of Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, KMC submitted an Initial Environment Assessment to Sindh Environmental Protection Agency that was approved on March 18.

The appellant submitted that huge investment was being made on the project and major portion of the construction work including excavation had already been completed and plinth was being put for carrying out the construction work. It stated that once the development work was completed it would ameliorate the traffic congestion around the area of Park Tower and the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi.

The KMC argued that the DHA had no locus standi to raise a question over the construction on the ground that instead of the IEA, Environment Impact Assessment should have been sought by the appellant as such project upon completion would ease flow of traffic considerably and would also be significant in the beautification of the entire vicinity.

The KMC alleged that the DHA’s assertion made in the lawsuit was devoid of any logic rational and was a figment of its imagination as it was well aware of the heritage site and historical structure of the Hindu temple as well as the Jahangir Kothari parade and all steps were being taken to ensure the historical site should remain unharmed.

It was submitted that the heritage site of the temple and Kothari Parade had nothing to do with construction of the said project and assured the court that the KMC would not take any such action which might damage any piece of heritage site. The appellant submitted that project needed to be completed expeditiously due to monsoon season and if the same was not completed, there would be a risk of permanent damage not only to the heritage site in the vicinity but also other projects including the Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine, shopping mall, park and the hospital.

The appeal was taken up by the SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan for urgent hearing of the case. However the appellant counsel withdrew the application for urgent hearing and court dismissed it as same was not pressed.

Shifting of machinery to Dassu Dam site begins

MANSEHRA: The Wapda has started shifting heavy machinery to site of Dassu dam after local people showed flexibility and allowed work on the project.

Ihsanul Haq, the president of Kohistan traders’ union, told reporters on Sundaythat the people of Kohistan were happy with the approval of the funds for the Dassu dam. However, he asked the government to first meet their 18-point charter of demands.

Work on the dam was stopped by local people last month as they sought proper compensation for their land.However, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), in its meeting held in Islamabad on March 28, approved Rs486 billion for first phase of 4320MW Dassu hydropower project.

Ihsanul Haq, who had also served as nazim of Thooti union council, said people were pleased with sanction of money by Ecnec for the project and would not create hurdles in its smooth execution. ‘The government should also show flexibility and compensate people according to their demands,” he said.