Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf installed a loyalist and former spymaster as deputy army chief yesterday, handpicking his successor as leader of the military in a key step to restoring civilian rule.
General Ashfaq Kiyani, who has helped spearhead the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda and represented the president in crunch political negotiations, took up the position yesterday with a show of military pomp.
Kiyani, the former head of the Inter-Services Intelligence, received a guard of honor as he arrived at army headquarters in Rawalpindi, a military statement said.
"A ceremony was held at the general headquarters to formally welcome the newly appointed vice chief of army staff on assuming charge of the new appointment," a military statement said.
"A smartly turned out contingent of the Pakistan army presented a guard of honor to the vice chief of army staff," it said.
The army has described Kiyani as the designated successor to Musharraf, who has been army chief since the year before he seized power in a bloodless coup in October 1999.
Since then Musharraf has come under mounting pressure from his backers in Washington and the international community for a return to democratic rule.
The chain-smoking Kiyani has formed good relations with the US amid the Pakistani military's campaign to drive al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels from the troubled tribal belt.
Meanwhile, the death toll from fierce battles between militants and soldiers in a suspected al-Qaeda stronghold in the northwest has risen to 80, the army said yesterday.
Army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said about 60 suspected militants and 20 soldiers died in two major clashes on Sunday in North Waziristan -- 10 more guerrillas that he announced on Sunday.
A security official in Miran Shah, the region's main town, said army helicopters and jets bombarded militant positions in several villages in the region.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
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