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'These poor people were given tranquillisers and were deprived of their kidneys without their consent,' official explains Reuters LAHORE, Pakistan – Pakistani police have arrested nine people, four of them doctors, for abducting people, drugging them and stealing their kidneys for transplant operations, police said today. Selling kidneys from living donors is not illegal in Pakistan, which medical experts say has a reputation as the world's "kidney bazaar". But police said those arrested in the eastern city of Lahore tricked people then drugged them before removing their kidneys. "These poor people were given tranquillisers and were deprived of their kidneys without their consent," Lahore police chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal told Reuters. Hundreds of rich foreigners come to Pakistan every year and buy kidneys from live, impoverished donors, in a business thought to be worth millions of dollars. Pakistan has no law governing the trade in organs but one is going through parliament aimed at ending their sale. Police raided a house in a Lahore suburb on Friday after a young man managed to escape from it and raised the alarm. Ten people were found detained in the house and four of them had already had a kidney removed, police said. "These people are not volunteers. They were duped. They were promised jobs by these criminals," Iqbal said. The doctors, from two private hospitals, were arrested late on Friday on suspicion of involvement. "The doctors have been arrested on charges that these operations were carried out in their hospitals without the consent of the people," Iqbal said. "The investigation will reveal how far they were involved in this heinous crime," he said. Muneer, a 36-year-old labourer, said in a complaint to police he had gone with a man who had promised him a job but ended up in a hospital with a kidney missing. "They gave me some injections and I fell unconscious. When I woke up I found myself in a hospital with my kidney removed," he said in his complaint, seen by Reuters. Mohammad Arif, 22, was the person who escaped from the house and raised the alarm. "They promised me a job but instead brought me to a house where I was kept for about 15 days with the other people before I ran away," Arif told Reuters.

True Information and Moral Values Will Bring Success in Fighting AIDS, Vatican Says Vatican City, May 23, 2007(CNA).- Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York, said yesterday during the 61st session of the UN General Assembly focused on the "Implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS," that only by providing accurate information an respecting moral values, will AIDS be effectively controlled. Reflecting on the fact that there are 39.5 million people presently living with HIV, with 2.9 million dying annually and 4 million new infections per year, Archbishop Migliore said that "the numbers speak for themselves, but they do not capture the whole story." The Apostolic Nuncio said that $18 billion are needed in 2007 to help low- or middle-income countries fight HIV. "In aggregate the numbers seem overwhelming, but taken in their proper context, person by person, they are really only a fraction of what we as a world community can and should do. All of us must clearly step up our efforts." "That is why,” he added, “for its part, the Holy See seizes this occasion to re-affirm its commitment to intensify its response to this disease, through its ongoing support for a world-wide network of some 1,600 hospitals, 6,000 clinics, and 12,000 initiatives of a charitable and social nature in developing countries." Archbishop Migliore explained: "My delegation believes that providing information and opportunities for an education respectful of naturally based values is essential both in the development of scientific advancement and for personal prevention." In an apparent reference to the "safe sex" condom-based UN campaign, the Nuncio stressed that "there can be no excuse that, twenty-five years into this epidemic, all people in all countries still do not have sound, accurate and reliable information so as to educate themselves and live safer lives." Catholic News Agency

By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Israel pressed ahead with an air offensive in Gaza on Saturday, killing five Hamas militants, and arrested another Palestinian cabinet minister in the West Bank as Gaza militants fired more rockets into Israel. The recent surge of violence has dashed hopes for a renewed truce called for by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose secular Fatah group is part of a unity government with Hamas despite Israeli and Western opposition to the Islamist group. Israel's latest air strikes in Gaza around 2100 GMT (1600 EST) destroyed structures used by a Hamas-led security force, wounding eight passers-by. Earlier strikes also targeted buildings used by the group and killed five Hamas militants. Israel has killed more than 40 Palestinians, mainly militants, in Gaza since mid-May. Gaza militants have fired 220 rockets into Israel in the same period, including some on Saturday. An Israeli woman died in an attack earlier this week. Most of the West has launched an aid embargo against the Palestinian government, demanding Hamas, which won a parliamentary election last year, renounce violence and recognize Israel and past Palestinian peace agreements with it. "Our message to the Zionist enemy is that you have no future on our land," Abu Ubaida al-Jarrah, chief commander of Hamas's Executive Force, said in a broadcast on the militant group's radio station aired during a funeral for the fighters killed. SHOOTOUT In a rare incident, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian gunmen during a shootout in Arab East Jerusalem. Two Israeli officers were wounded, medics said. Israeli police said a third Palestinian was also injured in the crossfire. There was no claim of responsibility from militant groups. Dozens of Israeli troops later raided two West Bank villages south of Jerusalem, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, in search of militants, witnesses said. The Israeli army confirmed troops were conducting sweeps in the area. Earlier, Israeli troops detained a Palestinian cabinet minister in the West Bank, following a similar roundup of officials from the group earlier this week. Israel conducted similar raids last year in a bid to put pressure on Hamas after it won the parliamentary election. Hamas had waged a suicide bombing campaign against the Jewish state for years. Abbas wants both sides to agree to a new ceasefire with Israel as a step towards reviving peace talks. Hamas has resisted his call. "This aggression will not achieve its goals but it will lead to further escalations that will have dangerous consequences," said Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas. Israeli officials doubt any truce will last if Hamas can continue smuggling arms into Gaza from Egypt. Although they are partners in government, fighting between Hamas and Fatah has killed some 50 Palestinians this month and tension remains high. (Additional reporting by Wael al-Ahmad in Jenin; Wafa Amr in Ramallah; and Corinne Heller, Avida Landau, Dan Williams and Adam Entous in Jerusalem) Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. Pa

By James Mccarten And Alexander Panetta KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Decked out in protective gear, a helmet under his arm, Stephen Harper gave a thumbs up as he boarded a Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday to become one of the only serving prime ministers to venture perilously close to the front lines of war. Harper's trip took him beyond the safety of the heavily guarded Kandahar Airfield to the forward operating base at Ma'sum Ghar, a rocky, mountainous patch of Afghanistan hard between the Panjwaii District Bazaar and the Arghandab River that's steeped in the blood of Canadian soldiers. But thanks to a controversial decision by the Prime Minister's Office to cancel a military convoy of journalists who were supposed to accompany him, the event - billed as historical by the deputy commander of Canadian forces - went largely unwitnessed by the media, save for a handful of photographers. "I have a doctorate in history," Col. Mike Cessford told a news conference in advance of Harper's departure. "No sitting prime minister, in my opinion, has been closer to combat operations than this prime minister today." Pooled videotape showed a helmeted Harper in a khaki-coloured flak jacket, hands on his hips as he surveyed the landscape from one of the base's lookout points. Soldiers, rifles at the ready, flanked him on either side. The base at Ma'sum Ghar sits on the very patch of rock where Pte. Mark Anthony Graham was killed and 30 other Canadian soldiers were injured when they were mistakenly strafed by a pair of U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts in the middle of a major combat operation. It's also at the heart of a tract of territory hard-won from the Taliban with Canadian sweat and blood, but a part of the country that remains far from safe, as evidenced by a rocket attack on the base last week that killed a Canadian-hired interpreter and injured another. "It's a pale shadow of what it once was," Cessford said of the fighting in the region. "But it cannot reasonably be described as a benign environment." Asked whether Harper's visit would have been possible a year ago, Cessford said: "Absolutely not." Harper began the second day of his two-day visit with a speech to soldiers gathered at Kandahar Airfield's maple leaf-festooned ball-hockey rink, where he dropped the ball at a ceremonial face-off and hinted strongly that troops won't be leaving Afghanistan anytime soon. "You know that your work is not complete," he told about 300 soldiers, many of whom had been asked by military officials to attend the morning's event. "You know that we can't just put down our weapons and hope for peace. You know that we can't set arbitrary deadlines and simply wish for the best." The Liberals want Canada to withdraw its troops when the current mission expires in 2009, while the NDP wants to pull them out immediately. Finding a soldier on the ground in Afghanistan who wants Canadians to pull out in two years is a nearly impossible task. "February 2009, I don't see this being done, and nobody wants to leave with this mission half-done," said Master Cpl. Mark Caverson, 36, from the Joint Signals Regiment based in Kingston, Ont.. "We've got a fairly good name now, we've spent a lot of time and blood building that name, so let's get this done and get this country back on its feet." But in Ottawa, Liberal defence critic MP Denis Coderre, issued a statement saying he was "deeply troubled that Mr. Harper continues to support an open-ended counter-insurgency mission in Kandahar." He complained that in the House of Commons the prime minister and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor "keep repeating the stock line that Canada is only committed until 2009." "Outside of the House, Mr. Harper and Mr. O'Connor keep hinting that our soldiers will stay longer. . . . Why are the Conservatives opposed to handing over the reins of combat needs in Kandahar to another NATO country when Canada's current mission has ended? Why is he against such a standard and fair rotation?" Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the senior Canadian military commander in Afghanistan, said there are contingency plans in place that extend beyond the current pullout date. "The work will not be done here in February 2009, so we want to make sure we do as much as we possibly can between now and then," Grant said. "But at the same time, it would be irresponsible of us not to plan past that point, for the good of the country." At Ma'sum Ghar, Harper shook hands and posed for pictures with members of A Squadron from the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) armour regiment, who stood before several of Canada's Leopard tanks - aging sweatboxes that the Conservative government has already promised to replace with a fleet of cooler, more efficient models. But no one with a notebook was on hand to interview the troops or Harper as he made his way around the base. The PMO provided the media with only three seats aboard one of two helicopters that made the trip. They were filled by two photographers and a TV cameraman, all three of whom were part of the media contingent that travelled with Harper to Afghanistan. The PMO's decision countermanded the military's plan to shuttle reporters, many of whom are embedded with troops, to the site in an armoured convoy. Dimitri Soudas, Harper's deputy press secretary, said the convoy was cancelled because it wasn't part of the prime minister's scheduled agenda. "I stick to the plan and to the schedule that we decided upon prior to departure," Soudas said. "There's more than one angle to moving the prime minister around Afghanistan, and I'm not in a position to make any changes at the last minute." Military officials said the PMO complained that the Canadian Forces "didn't have the authority to plan anything on their behalf." One senior military source said the convoy was cancelled, at least in part, because it didn't fit with the PMO's "cookie-cutter approach" to media relations. Others have spoken in the past about senior government officials being strongly opposed to the Canadian Forces embed program. Harper began the final day of his two-day visit to Afghanistan by having breakfast with soldiers in the mess hall, delivering a speech lauding the troops and offering a gift of hockey sticks and balls. "Each of you stands among the greatest of your generation," Harper told the soldiers. "You are Canada's sons and daughters. And your country - as much as this country - owes you a debt of gratitude and its unwavering support." But there were visible signs his audience, which crowded around the podium and sat atop armoured vehicles parked behind Harper for the benefit of the cameras, was decidedly non-partisan. Scores of soldiers began filing out the moment the prime minister finished speaking. An officer stopped them and said: "The prime minister is still here - so that means we're still here. Get back inside." Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press

WHITEHORSE, Yukon (CP) - Canada's three territorial premiers have jointly released a broad collaborative vision for the North at the Northern Premiers Forum held in Whitehorse. In the document, the governments of Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut outline a future vision of the North with priorities focusing on sovereignty and sustainable communities, adapting to climate change, and circumpolar relations. It invites other governments, as well as non-governmental organizations and the private sector, to offer their contributions to build a more prosperous, sustainable and secure North. Those partners will work together on a wide range of actions to address the impacts of climate change including research, monitoring and data collection; vulnerability assessments on community infrastructure; developing new engineering practices, codes and standards Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie says the North continues to undergo unprecedented economic, environmental and political transformation that impact all Canadians. But, says Northwest Territories Premier Joseph Handley, for those opportunities to be fully taken advantage of, any plan and associated revenues must be transferred from the federal government to northern governments. However adds, Northwest Territories Premier Paul Okalik, for Canada to assert its sovereignty in the North, communities there must be fostered through ongoing investments in infrastructure, economic diversification, health care and education. Further, the premiers say the territories should be consulted on the appointment of circumpolar ambassador. They say the Northern Vision document recognizes the vital importance of the issues of trans-boundary pollutants and climate change and the concurrent need for strong bilateral relations with Canada's circumpolar neighbours. Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press

By Murray Brewster OTTAWA (CP) - Faced with an increasing number of wounded troops returning from Afghanistan, the Canadian Forces are looking for ways to keep those permanently disabled in uniform, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Saturday. When that's not possible, the Defence Department will offer disabled soldiers retraining and a shot at public service jobs, O'Connor said. "We're reviewing that policy in light of the number of casualties we've had from Afghanistan to make sure that people who've sacrificed their lives for us or part of their future that we can look after them and reintegrate them into the military," O'Connor said at an event marking the Forces' involvement with the Canadian Paralypmic Committee. But the authority to changes the so-called "universality of service rule," which essentially requires all members of the military to be fit and able to deploy for missions overseas, rests with Gen. Rick Hillier, the country's top-military commander. Hillier ruled out making changes or exceptions to the policy, but agreed that many of the soldiers severely wounded in fighting the Taliban are the kind of people he wants to keep within the ranks. "They appear to be the top quality camper that you'd like to be associated with," said the chief of defence staff. "Everyone of them is a joy. I'd like to keep those folks in uniform until they're completely rehabilitated and recovered, then we'll have a discussion with them. "And I don't think we'll have to change the universality of service. I think we have methods to look after them if they want to stay a part of the Canadian Forces." The current system, introduced under Hillier, gives severely wounded troops up to three years to recover. If they are unable to meet the standards for overseas service, then they face the possibility of being forced to leave. But Hillier said, as chief of defence staff, he has the sole authority whether to sign a soldier's release papers. He hasn't been put in that position yet since most of the major casualties have taken place within the last year. "It's going to be quite some time before we get into the position," he said. Last fall, Hillier and O'Connor faced questions before a Commons committee about whether veterans of the Afghan war, including disabled soldiers, could be used as trainers for new recruits. Since it first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002, 55 soldiers have been killed and nearly 300 have been wounded. Most of them have been able to return to their units. Only a handful of the wounded, perhaps as many as a dozen so far, can be classified as permanently disabled, Hillier said. Master Cpl. Jody Mitic, a sniper who lost the lower part of his leg in Afghanistan earlier this year, is one of those who wants to remain in the army. "My mission from day one when I got hurt was to find a way to stay in uniform," he said. "Just the fact I'm a sniper, it makes me want to stay and do sniper stuff because I really like it and I don't see a civilian market for it." The Defence Department has partnered with the paralypmic committee to offer support to permanently injured soldiers. Under a new program announced Saturday, the association plans to visit disabled troops and encourage them to become involved in paralypmic sports activities and games. "This bring us back to our roots," said Carla Qualtrough, president of the association. The group was founded at the end of the Second World War as a venue for disabled soldiers to remain fit and active in their communities. Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press