Monday, May 16, 2011

Saudi diplomat dead in Karachi shooting

KARACHI: A Saudi diplomat Hassan al-Khatani is killed in a drive-by shooting near the consulate in Karachi on Monday,the second attack on Saudi interests came just days after two hand grenades were tossed at the consulate building, exploding but not hurting anyone in Pakistan's business city in less than a week,officials reports.

Pak official said,motive of the attack was not immediately clear, but authorities said they were investigating whether it was connected to the death of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, killed by US forces in Pakistan on May 2.An official from the media section of the Saudi embassy identified the man as a Saudi diplomat. Karachi police named him as Hassan al-Khatani.Police authorities said that the Saudi had been driving a vehicle with diplomatic plates when two motorcycle riders unleashed a hail of gunfire at a crossroads in Defence."The consulate employee died of multiple bullet wounds on the spot," said Inspector General of Sindh Police Fayyaz Ahmad Leghari."The attackers fled on the motorbike," he added. "At this moment, we can't say who killed him," Leghari said.

Pakistan Provincial home ministry official Sharfuddin Memon identified the dead man as a junior officer at the consulate."We are investigating if it was linked to the Abbottabad operation or was an isolated incident," he said.Last Wednesday, drive-by assailants threw two grenades at the consulate in Karachi in what officials said could have been reaction to bin Laden's death.There was no claim of responsibility for the attack up-til now.Officials of the Saudi Arabia condemned the grenade assault a "terror attack" and said it had "full confidence" in Pakistan's ability to arrest the assailants, bring them to justice and provide the necessary protection to the Saudi mission. Media agencies

Jayalalithaa to be CM of Tamil Nadu for third term

AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalithaa will take over as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu today for a third term. She will be sworn-in along with 33 others in her Cabinet. The swearing-in ceremony of the 63-year-old leader will take place at the historic Madras University's centenary auditorium at 12.15 PM. The decision of the swearing-in ceremony and the ministers to be inducted was taken at a meeting Jayalalithaa had with Governor S S Barnala yesterday. The meeting came after the 146 newly-elected AIADMK MLAs elected her the leader of the AIADMK legislature party.Her 25 of the 34 members to be sworn in today will be youngsters and new faces, it will also include veterans like O Pannerselvam who will hold Finance portfolio. The other old-timers include K A Sengottaiyan who will take over as Agriculture Minister.In keeping with Tamil Nadu's political practice, it will be a single-party government despite AIADMK winning the elections in alliance with some other parties. Jayalalithaa steered the AIADMK alliance to a spectacular victory in the elections by winning 200 of the total 234 seats.

After meeting the Governor, the AIADMK chief said her immediate priorities as Chief Minister will be to restore law and order, control prices and put the economy of the state back on track.
Jayalalilthaa had earlier ruled the state in 1991-96 and 2001-06.

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