25 sailors rescued

COLOMBO: Tamil Tiger rebels said on Saturday they had rescued 25 sailors from a crippled Jordanian ship off Sri Lanka’s northeastern coast, dismissing government allegations they had staged a “pirate attack”. “We noticed a ship drifting in our waters and we also saw suspicious activity of the Sri Lankan navy,” Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said by telephone from the rebel-held north. “We boarded the ship to rescue the crew,” he said, adding the seamen were being taken to safety despite rough seas while the ship was dangerously too close to the shore. — AFP

Army officer killed

SRINAGAR: Suspected Islamic rebels on Saturday killed an army officer and wounded two soldiers in a fierce gunbattle in Kashmir, police said. The fighting erupted when the army cordoned off Tilgam village and launched a house-to-house search following a tip that suspected militants were hiding there, said local police officer Mohammed Yousuf. A helicopter evacuated the officer, Col GS Sarna, to Srinagar’s army hospital where he succumbed, Yousuf said. — AP

Man detained

DHAKA: A Bangladeshi man repatriated after spending five years at the US “War on Terror” prison camp in Guantanamo Bay has been detained for a month for “anti-state activities”, police said on Saturday. Mubarak Hussain Bin Abul Hashem, 32, was flown to Dhaka on a special flight by United States officials last weekend and handed over to local law enforcement officials for further interrogation. “A magistrate of a special court has given him one month detention late Friday for suspected anti-state activities,” said a police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity. “During this time we will investigate whether he has any connection with international or local militant groups,” he added. — AFP

Quake recorded

NEW DELHI: A moderate earthquake struck off India’s Andaman islands early Saturday, but no casualties or damage were reported, the India Meteorological Department said. The temblor, measuring 5.9 in magnitude, hit the southern Andaman islands at 1:21 am local time (1951 GMT) 15 km under the sea, said the meteorological department in a statement.

“People didn’t feel it as most of them were sleeping and the earthquake was of moderate intensity,” said Rana Mathew, a government spokesman in Port Blair, the territory’s capital. No damage or casualties were reported, Mathew said. — AP

Envoy’s cook detained

KUALA LUMPUR: The Indian embassy lodged an official protest with Malaysia after the high commissioner’s cook was detained by police for several hours on Saturday, apparently for being in public without a passport, officials said. Manoranjan Sasmal, an Indian citizen who is a cook at the residence of High Commissioner RL Narayan, was taken into custody while shopping in the Masjid India district, said Indian diplomat Sanjay Panda. It was unclear exactly why he was detained. Malaysian police officials were not immediately available for comment. — AP

Christians jailed

BEIJING: Eight underground Christian leaders accused of organising a protest against the demolition of their church were jailed in east China, a relative and rights group said on Saturday. Pastor Shen Zhuke was sentenced by the Xiaoshan district court in Zhejiang after a 12-hour trial, said US-based China Aid Association. — AFP