August 29, 2005, China Daily, Ferry blast injures 30, p.8,

August 29, 2005, China Daily, Ferry blast injures 30, p.8,
(Reposted at Asia Africa Intelligence Wire)

MANILA Ferry blast injures 30 

A bomb stashed in a pack of clothes exploded on a ferry in the southern Philippines as it was loading passengers yesterday morning, injuring at least 30 people, including nine children, military officials said. The region had been on alert for terror attacks. The M.V. Dona Ramona was docked at the wharf at Lamitan, on the island of Basilan, around 7:30 am local time as it prepared to depart for nearby Zamboanga. At least six people were badly burned, including a soldier.

LONDON Iraq War 'promotes terror' A top British Government official warned Prime Minister Tony Blair last year that Britain's involvement in the Iraq War was fostering Muslim extremism at home, according to a leaked memo published yesterday.

The warning was delivered just over a year before July 7 London attacks.

The Observer newspaper printed a letter from Michael Jay, the top civil servant at the Foreign Office, dated May 2004 which said invading Iraq had made Britain a target for terrorists.

"British foreign policy and the perception of its negative effect on Muslims globally plays a significant role in creating a feeling of anger and impotence among especially the younger generation of British Muslims," Jay's memo said.

DOHA Foreign workers stage strike About 600 foreign construction workers have gone on strike in Qatar's first official labour dispute since the Gulf state amended its labour law last year.

The labourers - mainly from India, Pakistan and Nepal - stopped working four days ago in protest at their salary and living conditions, embassy and company officials said yesterday.

In 2004, Qatar became the third country in the region behind Kuwait and Bahrain, to allow workers the right to strike and form trade unions.

Kashmir Political speech ban draws ire Authorities in India-controlled Kashmir have banned political speeches in Muslim shrines controlled by them, drawing protests from rebel militants.

The Jammu and Kashmir Wakf Board, a body regulating around 100 mosques and Muslim shrines, said this week it had decided to invoke a rule to enforce the ban.

MAKHACHKALA, Russia Bomb derails passenger train A bomb exploded under a passenger train in the violence-plagued Russian region of Dagestan, derailing the locomotive and two cars but causing no injuries, officials said yesterday.

The Federal Security Service said an officer being sent to the blast site to investigate was shot and wounded. The blast late Saturday took place near the site of a train bombing on July 25 that killed one person and wounded four others, the Dagestan Interior Ministry said.

KABUL Election candidate killed Taliban fighters on Saturday shot dead a parliamentary candidate amid a spate of violence that has raised security fears ahead of Afghanistan's elections.

The killing of Haji Atiqullah, who intended to stand in the September 18 provincial and parliamentary elections as a candidate for a new lower house of parliament, was accompanied by a rocket-propelled grenade fired at a German peacekeeping base and the wounding of three US soldiers in an attack near Kabul.

MADRID Bull run leaves 63 injured A Pamplona-style running of the bulls in a Spanish town outside Madrid yesterday left 63 people injured, two of them seriously, officials said. The pair were taken from the town of San Sebastian de los Reyes to hospitals in Madrid to undergo urgent surgery.