US raid frees two pirate hostages in Somalia

MOGADISHU: U.S. helicopters swooped into Somalia on Wednesday and rescued an American and a Dane after a shootout with pirates holding them hostage, in a rare raid into the Horn of Africa nation to free foreign captives.

The aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, were kidnapped from the town of Galkayo in the semi-autonomous Galmudug region in October while working for the Danish De-mining Group (DDG).

“This case is special … we are dealing with one of the hostages having an illness which is very serious, and this is the reason there was made a decision to go in and take action,” Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal told Denmark’s TV 2 News.

“We cannot conclude … that it is something that will be done in future cases.”

The Danish Refugee Council said Buchanan and Thisted were unharmed and at a safe location. Media reports said they had been flown to neighbouring Djibouti, home to the only U.S. military base in Africa and France’s largest base on the continent.

People involved with the hostages had said earlier this month Buchanan was suffering from a possible kidney infection.

Somali pirate gangs typically seize ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and hold the crews until they receive a ransom. The kidnapping of the aid workers in Galkayo was an unusual case of a pirate gang being behind a seizure on land.

While U.S. and French forces have intervened to rescue pirate hostages at sea, attacks on pirate bases are very rare.

Galmudug leader Mohamed Ahmed Alim told Reuters nine pirates were killed and five captured during the rescue operation near the pirate haven of Haradheere.

Alim was speaking from Hobyo, another pirate base north of Haradheere, where he said he was negotiating the release of an American journalist seized on Saturday, also from Galkayo.

“About 12 U.S. helicopters are now at Galkayo. We thank the United States. Pirates have spoilt the whole region’s peace and ethics. They are mafia,” Alim said.

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Pirates and local elders say the American journalist and a number of sailors from India, South Korea, the Philippines and Denmark are being held by pirate gangs.

A British tourist kidnapped from Kenya on September 11, 2011 is also still held captive in Somalia.

America’s NBC News, citing U.S. officials, said two teams of U.S. Navy SEALs (special forces) landed by helicopter and rescued the hostages after a gun battle with the kidnappers.

The freed hostages were then taken by helicopter to an undisclosed location.

U.S. President Barack Obama was overheard congratulating Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, apparently for the success of the operation, as Obama entered the House of Representatives chamber on Tuesday for his annual State of the Union speech.

“Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight,” Obama said.

Panetta visited U.S. troops in Djibouti last month on his way to Afghanistan and Iraq, in a stopover that reflected Obama’s growing focus on the militant and piracy threats from Yemen and the eastern edge of Africa.

In Djibouti, the United States has a platform to monitor, partly by using surveillance drones, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen and Somalia’s al Shabaab, a hardline rebel group with links to al Qaeda.

Somalia’s government applauded the mission and said it welcomed any operation against pirates.

U.S. special forces killed senior al Qaeda militant Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in a raid in southern Somalia in 2009. Several other al Qaeda or al Shabaab officials have been killed in U.S. drone strikes in Somalia over the past few years.

It was also U.S. Navy SEALs who killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid on his Pakistan home in May. AGENCIES

Royal wedding list released

1,900 invitees include stars like soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria, musician Elton John and director Guy Ritchie, soul singer Joss Stone and Mr. Bean actor Rowan Atkinson — a close friend of William s father Prince Charles.

St. James s Palace also confirmed that Bahrain s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa will be attending, despite British concerns about the treatment of activists there. About 40 other foreign royals from countries including Denmark, Norway, Spain, Thailand and Morocco will be in attendance.

Other guests include British government and defense officials, British soldiers who fought in Afghanistan and people who work for William s charities.

Syria encouraged protests over blasphemous sketches: US cables

DAMASCUS: Syria actively encouraged violent protests over blasphemous sketches of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) four years ago in which European embassies in Damascus were attacked, a senior U.S. diplomat said in leaked cables.

Charge d”affaires Stephen Seche said Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari gave instructions for mosque preachers to deliver hard-hitting sermons at weekly prayers on the eve of the protests, according to cables released by the WikiLeaks website.

“We concur with contacts that the SARG (Syrian government) allowed these demonstrations to occur and almost certainly helped to facilitate them at the beginning,” Seche said in a leaked U.S. cable dated February 5, 2006, a day after the protests.

The blasphemous sketches first appeared in a Danish daily. The blasphemous sketches triggered widespread protests across the Muslim world.

The embassies of Denmark and Norway were both torched in the Syrian protests.

Another cable quoted an influential religious figure saying that days before the protests Otari “instructed the Grand Mufti Sheikh Hassoun to issue a strongly worded directive to the imams delivering Friday sermons in the mosques of Damascus, without setting any ceilings on the type of language to be used.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Damascus at the time of inciting the violence, without giving details. Syria disputed the charges, saying it had done its best to protect embassies during violent protests and would pay for damages.

The February 5 cable said it appeared that Syrian officials had under-estimated the scale of the protests. “Somewhere along the way, the (government), true to form, seems to have miscalculated and lost control,” it said.

“The end result left a deeply embarrassed (Syrian government) to pick up the pieces and trying to explain its incredible security lapses.”

Anti Corruption Day being observed all over the world today

Today, an international day of Anti Corruption is being observed. It is known that corruption is great hindrance in any countrys progress.

The main reason for marking this day is to create awareness among the people of the world against corruption and corrupt people. In Pakistan, NAB and anti corruption agencies are working in order to eradicate corruption. It has always been difficult to catch the big fish who have been always involved in corruption. For the progress and development of country, eradication of corruption is necessary and people along with government institutions must stand against corruption.

Corruption has emerged as a deadly phenomenon that has been eating into the cultural, political and economic fabric of society, and destroying the very functioning of vital state organs. Corruption exists almost everywhere but it is stubbornly entrenched in the poorer countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, former Soviet Union countries and is deep-rooted in many of the newly industrialized and emerging countries as well. According to the report of Transparency International released on 26th October 2010, Somalia is on top of the corruption list; where as Myanmar on second and then the countries which follow, include Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Chad, Burundi and Guinea. Central Asias top ten countries include Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. On top of corruption free countries is Denmark, then New Zealand, Singapore, Finland, Sweden and Canada. According to the corruption free list, Uk is on number 21 while US is on 22.

Holland beat Cameroon for Slovakia clash

CAPE TOWN: The Netherlands reaffirmed their status as one of the World Cup favourites on Thursday by beating Cameroon 2-1 to set up a knockout round clash with Slovakia.

Bert van Marwijk”s team only needed a point to secure top spot in Group E but took all three with goals from Robin van Persie and substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar cancelling out a Samuel Eto”o penalty.

They now play Group F runners-up Slovakia, who beat defending champions Italy 3-2 earlier in the day.

The Dutch once again proved they are one of the form sides in South Africa with a third win in a row, joining Argentina as the only teams with a 100 percent record so far.

“We leave the World Cup with lots of regrets,” said Cameroon”s French coach Paul Le Guen. “We know that we were carrying lots of hopes from everyone in Cameroon but we weren”t able to realise them.”

With the stadium awash in a sea of orange, and Holland ironically playing in white, both sides began brightly, with Rafael van der Vaart getting an early shot on target while Aurelien Chedjou forced a save at the other end.

Chedjou was a surprise starter. Arsenal”s Alex Song was listed on the team sheet but he failed to appear, with the Lille defender replacing him, seemingly at the last minute.

Cameroon came into the match with nothing but pride to play for, having already been eliminated, and they took the initiative, spraying the ball around and forcing Holland onto the back foot.

Midfielder Jean Makoun had a decent chance on 11 minutes, meeting Benoit Assou-Ekotto”s fine cross, but glanced the ball wide.

Despite Cameroon having more of the early possession it was van Persie who should have opened the scoring.

The 26-year-old chested the ball down and shook off his defender but with only goalkeeper Hamidou Souleymanou to beat, he blasted his shot straight at him in a wasted opportunity.

Liverpool”s Dirk Kuyt also had a fine chance after finding himself in space inside the penalty area soon after, but his daisy-cutter drifted just past the left-hand post.

The pressure though was building and the breakthrough came after a lovely one-two between van Persie and van der Vaart on 36 minutes, with the Arsenal striker sliding the ball through Souleymanou”s legs.

The dangerous van Persie almost made it 2-0 soon after the second half started, muscling his way past two defenders and unleashing a powerful drive that Souleymanou did well to collect.

With the Oranje passing the ball neatly, Cameroon were struggling to create chances until captain Eto”o ghosted past three defenders in a mazy run only to see his shot deflected out for a corner.

His piece of magic sparked a mini-resurgence by the Africans, with Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg forced into a diving save before they won a free-kick on the edge of the area.

Geremi”s resulting shot hit van der Vaart”s arm and a penalty was awarded, which Eto”o calmly stepped forward to convert.

Veteran Cameroon defender Rigobert Song, 34 next week, came on in the 73rd minute and became the first African player to play at four World Cups.

“I brought Rigobert Song on, he”s a player with lots of caps, a symbolic player,” said Le Guen.

Star winger Arjen Robben also got his first taste of South African World Cup action when he came on for van der Vaart with 17 minutes left, having missed their opening two games with a hamstring injury.

He was in the thick of the action straight away, cutting in from the right and blasting a shot against the post in the 83rd minute, with Huntelaar burying the rebound to make it 2-1 and send the Dutch fans wild.

Japan make history by sinking Danes

RUSTENBURG: Superb free-kicks by Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo inspired Japan to an exhilarating 3-1 win over Denmark that sends them into the last 16 of a World Cup for the first time on foreign soil.

The two first-half strikes set Takeshi Okada”s squad on track for a meeting with Paraguay in Pretoria on Tuesday.

Denmark pulled a goal back when skipper Jon Dahl Tomasson netted the rebound from his own penalty after Daniel Agger had been shoved off the ball by Japan”s captain, Makoto Hasebe, nine minutes from time.

But substitute Shinji Okazaki wrapped up a famous victory and condemned the Danes to their first group-stage exit from a World Cup.

Man-of-the-match Honda said he believed Japan could harbour realistic hopes of going even further in the tournament.

“I expected to be really jubilant but I”m not as jubilant as I thought I would be because I don”t think we are finished here. I believe we can go further in this competition,” said the CSKA Moscow star.

Denmark coach Morten Olsen said his side had paid for their failure to take their early chances.

“That makes the difference at this level. They took their chances, we didn”t take ours and it became an uphill struggle for us.

“The way the whole match evolved was decided by the two free-kicks in the first half.”

Needing to win against opponents requiring only a point, Denmark”s best period came in an opening quarter of an hour in which they might easily have taken the lead.

Tomasson failed to connect with Simon Poulsen”s deflected cross on the edge of the six-yard box and a penalty claim was waved away when, from the resulting corner, Per Kroldrup seemed to be impeded by centreback Yuji Nakazawa as he volleyed wide.

Japan hit back with two chances in quick succession. Daisuke Matsui was thwarted at close range by Thomas Sorensen”s legs before skipper Makoto Hasebe struck a drive fractionally over the angle of bar and post.

Cutting in from the left, Tomasson then saw his attempt to place a shot beyond Eiji Kawashima run inches beyond the far post, just before Japan claimed the lead.

A free-kick conceded 35 yards out did not seem to present a major danger and Honda”s shot was not struck with full power.

Sorensen, though, misread it, moving initially to his left before failing to get back across to his right in time to prevent the strike from finding the corner of the net.

The Stoke goalkeeper was at fault on that one but there was little he could do about Japan”s second, on the half-hour mark.

Kroldrup was booked for pulling down Yoshito Okubo on the edge of the area and Endo stepped up to dip a David Beckham-esque free-kick over the corner of the wall and just inside Sorensen”s left-hand post.

Danish coach Morten Olsen reacted by replacing 34-year-old midfielder Martin Jorgensen with Jakob Poulsen.

But the introduction of younger legs had little impact, with Christian Poulsen”s comfortably-saved long-range effort the best the Danes could muster before the break.

Endo came close to claiming his second soon after the restart, when Sorensen misjudged another long range free-kick and was relieved to see the ball find the post after skimming off his fingertips.

Thomas Kahlenberg was unable to control the ball when Tomasson”s flick found him unmarked at the back post as Denmark began to pile on the pressure.

Kawashima was able to deal with a fierce 25-yard effort from Jakob Poulsen and a Daniel Agger free-kick and having been beaten by a Soren Larsen volley that came back off the bar, also stopped Tomasson”s spot-kick before the forward bundled the ball over the line.

Japan”s advantage was restored at the end however. The outstanding Honda turned Dennis Rommedahl superbly in the box and teed up Okazaki for the simplest of finishes.

Japan make history by sinking Danes

RUSTENBURG: Superb free-kicks by Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo inspired Japan to an exhilarating 3-1 win over Denmark that sends them into the last 16 of a World Cup for the first time on foreign soil.

The two first-half strikes set Takeshi Okada”s squad on track for a meeting with Paraguay in Pretoria on Tuesday.

Denmark pulled a goal back when skipper Jon Dahl Tomasson netted the rebound from his own penalty after Daniel Agger had been shoved off the ball by Japan”s captain, Makoto Hasebe, nine minutes from time.

But substitute Shinji Okazaki wrapped up a famous victory and condemned the Danes to their first group-stage exit from a World Cup.

Man-of-the-match Honda said he believed Japan could harbour realistic hopes of going even further in the tournament.

“I expected to be really jubilant but I”m not as jubilant as I thought I would be because I don”t think we are finished here. I believe we can go further in this competition,” said the CSKA Moscow star.

Denmark coach Morten Olsen said his side had paid for their failure to take their early chances.

“That makes the difference at this level. They took their chances, we didn”t take ours and it became an uphill struggle for us.

“The way the whole match evolved was decided by the two free-kicks in the first half.”

Needing to win against opponents requiring only a point, Denmark”s best period came in an opening quarter of an hour in which they might easily have taken the lead.

Tomasson failed to connect with Simon Poulsen”s deflected cross on the edge of the six-yard box and a penalty claim was waved away when, from the resulting corner, Per Kroldrup seemed to be impeded by centreback Yuji Nakazawa as he volleyed wide.

Japan hit back with two chances in quick succession. Daisuke Matsui was thwarted at close range by Thomas Sorensen”s legs before skipper Makoto Hasebe struck a drive fractionally over the angle of bar and post.

Cutting in from the left, Tomasson then saw his attempt to place a shot beyond Eiji Kawashima run inches beyond the far post, just before Japan claimed the lead.

A free-kick conceded 35 yards out did not seem to present a major danger and Honda”s shot was not struck with full power.

Sorensen, though, misread it, moving initially to his left before failing to get back across to his right in time to prevent the strike from finding the corner of the net.

The Stoke goalkeeper was at fault on that one but there was little he could do about Japan”s second, on the half-hour mark.

Kroldrup was booked for pulling down Yoshito Okubo on the edge of the area and Endo stepped up to dip a David Beckham-esque free-kick over the corner of the wall and just inside Sorensen”s left-hand post.

Danish coach Morten Olsen reacted by replacing 34-year-old midfielder Martin Jorgensen with Jakob Poulsen.

But the introduction of younger legs had little impact, with Christian Poulsen”s comfortably-saved long-range effort the best the Danes could muster before the break.

Endo came close to claiming his second soon after the restart, when Sorensen misjudged another long range free-kick and was relieved to see the ball find the post after skimming off his fingertips.

Thomas Kahlenberg was unable to control the ball when Tomasson”s flick found him unmarked at the back post as Denmark began to pile on the pressure.

Kawashima was able to deal with a fierce 25-yard effort from Jakob Poulsen and a Daniel Agger free-kick and having been beaten by a Soren Larsen volley that came back off the bar, also stopped Tomasson”s spot-kick before the forward bundled the ball over the line.

Japan”s advantage was restored at the end however. The outstanding Honda turned Dennis Rommedahl superbly in the box and teed up Okazaki for the simplest of finishes.

Denmark crush Cameroon”s World Cup hopes

PRETORIA: Denmark ended Cameroon”s hopes of reaching the last 16 of the World Cup with a 2-1 victory here on Saturday, a result which means Group E leaders Holland become the first team to qualify for the next round.

Cameroon scored first when Samuel Eto”o coolly shot into the corner of the net after 10 minutes after a pass from midfield was intercepted, but Arsenal”s Nicklas Bendtner struck back for the Danes, converting a cross in the 33rd minute.

Jon Dahl Tomasson was denied by a post shortly before half-time in a match full of defensive errors.

But Dennis Rommedahl gave Denmark the lead, curling a neat finish around Cameroon ”keeper Hamidou Souleymanou on 61 minutes.

Despite several scoring opportunities the west Africans saw their hopes of progressing further in the competition vanish.

Honda gives Japanese historic win

BOEMFONTEIN: A goal by Keisuke Honda gave Japan their first World Cup win outside their country on Monday as they beat Cameroon 1-0 in their Group E clash.

His goal late in the first-half was also a belated birthday present as the CSKA Moscow star turned 24 on Sunday.

Cameroon hardly lived up to their nickname of ”The Indomitable Lions” and star striker Samuel Eto”o was virtually anonymous although they almost grabbed a draw when Stephane M”Bia hit the bar with a long range effort five minutes from time.

In front of banks of empty seats at the Free State stadium, the crowd whipped up a lively atmosphere but the players from both sides struggled for rhythm.

With half-time approaching Honda controlled a cross from the right by Daisuke Matsui at the far post and stabbed it past the despairing dive of Hamidou Souleymanou in the Cameroon goal.

It came moments after Cameroon had the first shot of the game on target, with Eyong Enoh hitting the ball straight at Japanese goalkeeper Keiji Kawashima.

Despite starting with a front three of Inter Milan star Eto”o, Pierre Webo and Eric Choupo Moting, Cameroon rarely threatened.

Early pace-setters the Netherlands beat Denmark 2-0 in the earlier Group E match.

Netherlands beats Denmark 2-0 at WCup

JOHANNESBURG: The Netherlands needed a couple of lucky bounces to break down Denmark’s sturdy defense for a 2-0 win Monday despite struggling to live up to its billing as one of the most dangerous attacking teams at the World Cup.

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Netherlands beats Denmark 2-0 at WCup

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