Report: 11 killed in Istanbul flood

By IBRAHIM USTA, Associated Press Writer

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Flash floods gushed across an Istanbul arterial road on Wednesday, killing 11 people and stranding dozens of vehicles, reports said.

As waters rose more than a meter (3 feet) high in the city's Ikitelli district, motorists climbed on roofs of their vehicles waiting to be rescued. The floods occurred in the early hours as people began making their way to work, washing over a main road linking the city to an industrial area, an airport and a highway to Greece.

Istanbul firefighters recovered four bodies at a truck parking lot off the highway, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

CNN-Turk television said seven other bodies were recovered at a gas station in the nearby district of Halkali.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the deaths, which would raise the overall toll in floods that have hit swaths of northwestern Turkey to at least 19.

The heavy rains caused two Istanbul streams to swell and overflow, also inundating dozens of homes and workplaces.

Rapid population growth — fueled by decades of emigration from Turkey's impoverished rural regions — has meant that the metropolis of some 15 million has developed without adequate infrastructure and poor city planning.

"We are saddened by the loss of lives. There are still some people missing and we are searching for them" said Procurement Minister Mustafa Demir who visited the area. "There is huge damage to infrastructure."

"We need to be more careful when designing infrastructure and cities," he said.

Hikmet Cakmak, Istanbul's deputy governor, described the scene at Ikitelli as a "disaster" and said four helicopters and eight boats were sent to help the stranded motorists.

Private Dogan news agency footage showed a man stranded atop an overturned van, then letting himself go in the water and swimming toward four men who catch him and help him out of the flood.

CNN-Turk television showed rescuers in an inflatable boat assisting another man stranded inside a van.

Authorities blocked off roads leading to the highway and people were being advised to avoid traveling in the area.

Waters receded in parts of Ikitelli later on Wednesday leaving a trail of mud.

Meteorologists said the rainfall that hit Istanbul's Catalca suburb — where two people died on Tuesday — was the worst in 80 years. Six people were also swept away by floods in Saray, in Tekirdag province. Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said eight other people were missing.

More rains were forecast for northwestern Turkey on Thursday.

Malaysia charges 12 Muslims for anti-Hindu protest

By EILEEN NG, Associated Press Writer

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia – A Malaysian court charged 12 Muslims with criminal offenses Wednesday for parading a severed cow head to protest the construction of a Hindu temple in a case that stoked religious tensions in this multiethnic country.

The 12 were among a large group of people who had marched from a mosque in Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor state, to the state chief minister's office on Aug. 28 with the bloodied cow head. The cow is the most sacred animal in Hinduism.

They stopped at the gates of the office where they stomped and spat on the head after listening to fiery speeches by their leader. Their actions were recorded on video, and the footage was uploaded onto the Internet.

Twelve of the protesters were charged with illegal assembly and six of them were also charged with sedition, which is punishable by up to three years in jail and a fine. Illegal assembly is punishable by one year in jail and a fine.

Sedition is defined as promoting ill will and hostility between different races.

The Shah Alam Sessions Court freed all 12 on bail. No date has been set for the trial, but the case will be heard again on Oct. 21.

The cow head protest deeply offended Hindus and stoked tensions among Malaysia's main ethnic groups — the Malay Muslim majority and Chinese and Indian minorities. Indians are mostly Hindus.

Many of the protesters were residents of a largely Malay Muslim neighborhood in Shah Alam where the state government had planned to build the temple near a mosque.

The conflict highlighted frustrations among religious minorities about strict guidelines that restrict the number of non-Muslim places of worship, partly based on whether enough people of the non-Muslim faith live in the area where the church or temple is to built.

Defense lawyer Salehuddin Saldin said his clients did not intend to offend Hindus, and carried the cow head only as a symbol of the state government's "stupidity."

"It is not a serious offense. If you look at the Malay culture, the cow is synonymous to stupidity and not meant to insult other religions," he said.

P. Uthayakumar, a prominent Hindu activist, dismissed the argument as laughable.

"It is a lame excuse and completely unacceptable. They are clearly inciting the Hindus," said Uthayakumar, who noted that the Muslim protesters had also warned of bloodshed if the temple was built there.

State authorities in Selangor later said they found a new site in Shah Alam to build the temple, a few hundred yards (meters) from the original site and further away from the mosque.

Neighborhood resident Sharel Mohammad Nor said relations between Muslims and Hindus had become tense since the protest, and urged Hindus to accept the new site.

Many Malaysians, including Muslims, have criticized police for failing to halt the protesters and the government for failing to crack down swiftly on them as they have with other anti-government demonstrators.

The protesters insist the temple could generate excessive noise and traffic, disrupting their concentration during prayers.

Iran 'offers missiles to Lebanon'

Beirut, Lebanon (UPI) Sep 8, 2009

Amid speculation that Hezbollah has acquired chemical weapons from Iran, the Lebanese media reports that Tehran has offered to provide the Lebanese military with a range of weapons, including anti-aircraft missile systems.

Hezbollah getting its hands on such weapons is a "red line" for the Israelis, whose jets and surveillance drones violate Lebanese air space just about every day despite international protests.

While there has been no independent confirmation that Hezbollah has received chemical arms or that the Lebanese army is about to receive Iranians missiles, the reports have heightened tension in a region where both sides are braced for conflict.

Hezbollah has maintained an ambiguous silence about the report it has had chemical weapons since December 2008, which have been reportedly stored in the Bekaa Valley in northeastern Lebanon, Hezbollah's heartland, and in the south, the main zone of conflict with Israel.

That report was published Thursday by Kuwait's al-Seyasseh newspaper, which opposes the Shiite organization and its mentors, Iran and Syria.

The daily quoted unnamed Western intelligence sources as saying that a suspected Hezbollah arms dump in the southern village of Khirbet Selim that blew up under mysterious circumstances July 14 contained chemical arms.

At least three Hezbollah members died from chemical contamination caused by the explosion, the sources were quoted as saying.

Al-Seyasseh reported that U.N. peacekeepers in south Lebanon found traces of chemical residue in soil samples taken from the site.

The U.N. force has made no comment. But the Israelis have long suspected that Hezbollah, heavily outnumbered and outgunned by Israel's military, was seeking to acquire chemical weapons, as well as air-defense missiles to challenge Israel's long-held aerial dominance.

Despite the alarming reports, Israeli analysts were skeptical that Hezbollah would actually use chemical weapons against the Jewish state.

"Chemical weapons are a doomsday weapon and I don't think Hezbollah will go there," Mordechai Kedar of Tel Aviv's Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies told Israel's Media Line agency.

"I can't see them using chemical weapons against Israel because that would be the end of them. Their objective is to create a state, not eradicate Israel. So the war against Israel is merely a means, not an aim in itself."

It should be noted, however, that Hezbollah calls for the destruction of Israel and the "liberation" of Jerusalem.

Its fighters have conducted suicide attacks in the past and are prepared to do so again. But if Hezbollah used chemical weapons against Israel or its military, that would provoke massive retaliation that could devastate tiny Lebanon.

Meantime, Beirut newspapers reported that the Iranian Embassy in the Lebanese capital had consulted the Lebanese military about its arms requirements.

The army command reportedly responded that it needed effective air-defense systems. At present it only has obsolete Soviet-era anti-aircraft guns, 23mm and 50mm, that have no radar or fire-control and are totally ineffective against the marauding Israeli jets.

Up to now, the United States -- and France to a lesser extent -- has provided Lebanon's military with equipment worth some $400 million. But this has been largely non-lethal and has not bolstered the army's capabilities to the point it could take on Israel's military with an expectation of success.

The Israelis believe that if Iran supplied Lebanon's military with surface-to-air missiles, these would inevitably end up in Hezbollah's hands. The vast majority of the 53,000-strong army is Shiite.

The timing of the reported Iranian offer may be linked to a recent statement by Lebanon's prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, that he would include Hezbollah in his new government he is seeking to form following June 7 elections.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has warned that if Hezbollah joins Lebanon's government, Hariri's Cabinet would be held responsible for any future attack on Israel and the entire country would suffer the consequences.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war in July and August 2006 that ended with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire. During the conflict, in which Hezbollah fired some 4,000 rockets into the Jewish state, Israeli warplanes blasted Hezbollah strongholds and Shiite centers daily.

They destroyed some bridges and roads, but generally did not attack non-Shiite targets.

Afghan recount ordered because of fraud charges

By JASON STRAZIUSO and HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writers

KABUL – A U.N.-backed commission found "convincing evidence" of fraud Tuesday in Afghanistan's presidential election and ordered a recount of suspect ballots in at least three provinces, a process that could take months.

At the same time, Afghan officials released new returns that give President Hamid Karzai 54 percent of the vote with nearly all ballots tallied, enough to avoid a run-off unless large numbers of tainted ballots are ultimately thrown out.

The separate announcements from the complaints commission, which is dominated by U.N.-appointed Westerners, and the election commission, which is filled with Karzai appointees, could set the stage for a showdown.

The image of a crooked Afghan president rigging the vote threatens to discredit the entire U.S.-led mission here at a time when NATO casualties are mounting and American, European and Canadian voters are fatigued and disenchanted with the war.

"The perception of fraud will shorten the length of time that one can expect foreign support," said Ronald E. Neumann, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. "People will just get disgusted. They'll say, `Why do I sacrifice my son for a leadership that cannot rally the country fairly?'"

Four more U.S. troops were killed Tuesday during what the military labeled a "complex attack" in eastern Kunar province. August was already the deadliest month of the eight-year war for both U.S. troops and the entire NATO force at the hands of a resurgent Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama is facing increasing resistance to the war at a time when he has little political capital to spare, and many supporters are urging him to scale back the U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

Obama ordered 21,000 additional troops to the country this year with the immediate goal of ensuring a safe and credible election, and Gen. Stanley McChrystal will soon ask him to send thousands more. Those favoring an increased U.S. presence argue that the American troop buildup has not been given enough time to succeed.

Also in need of much more time is the process of sorting out the many allegations of vote fraud. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Tuesday it could take months — but that the most important thing is for the allegations to be addressed in a way that gives ordinary Afghans confidence in the legitimacy of the outcome.

New results released Tuesday gave Karzai more than 50 percent of ballots cast for the first time since officials began releasing partial returns following the Aug. 20 vote. With results in from almost 92 percent of the country's polling sites — representing 5.7 million votes — Karzai has 54.1 percent, and will likely finish the preliminary count with a majority.

The standing of top challenger Abdullah Abdullah has dropped dramatically as more results have come in from the south — Karzai's stronghold — in recent days. Abdullah now has 28.3 percent.

If, as expected, the Afghan election commission soon announces that a final count shows Karzai won a majority of the vote, the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission will begin its investigations of fraud.

The commission took its first step in that direction Tuesday, ordering a recount at polling stations where it had found "clear and convincing evidence of fraud."

Daoud Ali Najafi, chief electoral officer of the Afghan-run election commission, said recounting votes could take "two months or three months."

Afghanistan's electoral law gives the U.N.-backed complaints commission broad authorities. It can nullify any votes it deems fraudulent, order a re-count of votes or order a new vote entirely. The commission is made up of one American, one Canadian and one Dutch national — all appointed by the U.N. — and two Afghans appointed by an Afghan human rights organization and the country's Supreme Court.

The U.N. commission did not indicate how many polling stations would require re-counts, but said it had so far identified some with questionable results in Ghazni, Paktika and Kandahar provinces — all southern areas dominated by Karzai's ethnic Pashtun group.

If it voids huge blocks of votes in the south, that could drop Karzai's total below 50 percent and force a run-off with Abdullah — a contest which Karzai would be favored to win.

The commission said it was also launching investigations in other provinces after receiving more than 720 major fraud complaints throughout the country.

The results announced Tuesday do not include potentially tainted ballots that the Afghan-run commission had already quarantined from more than 600 of the country's 26,000 polling stations. The U.N.-backed commission will investigate and determine whether they can be counted or be discarded.

Western officials say ballots have been submitted from hundreds of fake voting sites, especially in the south. The Afghan-run commission has tallied dozens of voting sites where Karzai won neatly rounded blocks of ballots — 200, 300 and 500 votes — results that one Western official labeled "illogical." It was unclear whether they were among the ballots that the Afghan commission has set aside.

Polling stations showing 100 percent turnout or with a candidate receiving more than 95 percent of the vote will need to be audited and recounted, the U.N.-backed commission said. Stations with fewer than 100 ballots will be exempt.

Grant Kippen, chairman of the complaints commission, said other irregularities include ballots not being folded — meaning they would not fit in a ballot box slot — identically marked ballots and overly large counts.

Kippen said he saw a box with 1,700 ballots in Kandahar, even though the maximum should be 600.

Although Karzai was practically the toast of the Bush administration, U.S.-Afghan relations cooled significantly when Obama came to office in January. The Afghan leader has angered Washington by pardoning drug dealers and cozying up to warlords, actions that he evidently thought were necessary to ensure his re-election.

It would now appear that those very same Afghan power brokers have fueled the hundreds of apparent incidents of fraud to help re-elect Karzai and thereby retain the patronage jobs and other benefits they've reaped by allying themselves with his government.

NYT reporter freed in raid; 1 Brit commando killed

By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – British commandos freed a New York Times reporter early Wednesday from Taliban captives who kidnapped him over the weekend in northern Afghanistan, but one of the commandos and a Times translator were killed in the rescue, officials said.

Reporter Stephen Farrell was taken hostage along with his translator in the northern province of Kunduz on Saturday. German commanders had ordered U.S. jets to drop bombs on two hijacked fuel tankers, causing a number of civilian casualties, and reporters traveled to the area to cover the story.

Two military officials told The Associated Press that one British commando died during the early morning raid. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the death had not been officially announced.

The Times reported that Farrell's Afghan translator, Sultan Munadi, also was killed.

Afghan officials over the weekend said about 70 people died when U.S. jets dropped two bombs on the tankers, igniting them in a massive explosion. There were reports that villagers who had come to collect fuel from the tankers were among the dead, and Farrell wanted to interview villagers.

The Times kept the kidnappings quiet out of concern for the men's safety, and other media outlets, including The Associated Press, did not report the abductions following a request from the Times.

A story posted on the Times' Web site quoted Farrell saying he had been "extracted" by a commando raid carried out by "a lot of soldiers" in a firefight.

Mohammad Sami Yowar, a spokesman for the Kunduz governor, said British Special Forces dropped down from helicopters early Wednesday onto the house where the two were being kept, and a gunbattle ensued.

A Taliban commander who was in the house was killed, along with the owner of the house and a woman who was inside, Yowar said. He said Sultan was killed in the midst of the firefight.

Farrell, a dual Irish-British citizen, told the Times that he saw Munadi step forward shouting "Journalist! Journalist!" but he then fell in a volley of bullets. Farrell said he did not know if the shots came from militants or the rescuing forces.

Moments later, Farrell said he heard British voices and shouted, "British hostage!" The British voices told him to come over. As he did, Mr. Farrell said he saw Mr. Munadi.

Munadi, in his early 30s, was employed by The New York Times starting in 2002, according to his colleagues. He left the company a few years later to work for a local radio station.

He left Afghanistan last year to study for a master's degree in Germany. He came back to Kabul last month for a holiday and to see his family, and agreed to accompany Farrell to Kunduz on a freelance basis. He was married and had two young sons.

U.S. military spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker confirmed the operation by NATO and Afghan forces, but did not provide further details.

Farrell, 46, is a dual British-Irish national who joined the Times in 2007 in Baghdad. He has covered both the Afghan and Iraq conflicts for the paper. He told the paper that he was not hurt in the rescue operation.

Farrell was the second Times journalist to be kidnapped in Afghanistan in a year.

In June, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Rohde and his Afghan colleague Tahir Ludin escaped from their Taliban captors in northwestern Pakistan. They had been abducted Nov. 10 south of the Afghan capital of Kabul and were moved across the border.

Hurricane Fred forms in Atlantic; winds at 75 mph

MIAMI – Forecasters say Hurricane Fred has formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean with winds at 75 mph (120 kph) and is expected to strengthen.

The National Hurricane Center said Tuesday night that the Category 1 hurricane is about 445 miles (715 km) west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and moving west near 12 mph (19 kph). It is the second named hurricane of the season.

Forecasters say after it increases in intensity, it should weaken beginning Thursday.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Linda is moving slowly far out over the Pacific.

Linda's maximum sustained winds remain near 60 mph (95 kph). The storm is centered about 1,305 miles (2,100 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. It is moving north-northwest near 2 mph (4 kph).

SKorea: NKorea intentionally opened floodgates

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea suspects North Korea intentionally flooded a river at their shared border last weekend, a top government official said Wednesday, as rescuers recovered the bodies of a boy and two others engulfed by the surge of water.

North Korea unleashed an estimated 40 million tons of water from a new dam without providing prior notice. Six South Koreans camping and fishing at the river were swept to their deaths.

The North said Monday that it "urgently" ordered the discharge because the reservoir's water level was too high. Stopping short of an apology, Pyongyang said it would warn Seoul of similar releases in the future.

South Korea rejected the explanation Tuesday and urged Pyongyang to apologize for the sudden and deadly flooding. Some officials questioned North Korea's reasoning, noting there had been little rain in areas north of Imjin River in the past week.

The Defense Ministry said Monday there were no immediate signs the water release was meant as an attack.

But on Wednesday, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek told lawmakers that Seoul suspects North Korea "intentionally" released the water. Hyun, who is in charge of relations with the communist country, gave no further details.

Such a move could set back inter-Korean relations, which had improved in recent weeks after 18 months of tension. The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict in the 1950s ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Meanwhile, rescuers recovered three more bodies Wednesday, Gyeonggi province senior fire official Kang Kun-young said. Three others were found earlier in the week.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said during a regular Cabinet meeting Tuesday that his heart was "aching because six innocent people were lost," his office said. He ordered officials to work out how to prevent a recurrence.

To prevent flooding, South Korea has been building two dams in the area, scheduled to be completed by 2011 and 2012. On Monday, the Land Ministry said in a statement it will speed up construction of the first dam by one year in the wake of the flooding.