Philippines

Military told: ‘Get the others’

Philippine armed forces, fresh from a clash believed to have killed one leader of a Muslim extremist group, have new marching orders: “Get the others.”

Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, chief of the southern Philippines forces, said Sunday that the military was now targeting Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani and another leader, Ghalib Andang, known as Commander Robot.

He said “Operation Daylight” also includes rescuing three Indonesians seized from a tugboat last Monday by suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels and taken to Jolo island where Robot operates. The island is about 590 miles south of Manila.

Pakistan

Suicide-bomb theory revived

Shredded pieces of a vehicle’s gearbox found near the U.S. Consulate are leading police back to their original theory that the blast was carried out by a suicide bomber rather than someone who detonated the bomb by remote control.

Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider told reporters Sunday that investigators now believe the blast, which killed at least 12 people, was set off by the driver of a pickup truck carrying the bomb.

Authorities originally believed the attack at the heavily guarded consulate was the work of a suicide bomber but later decided the explosive device was placed secretly in the car of three women and triggered by remote control as the vehicle passed the U.S. compound.

India

Kashmir political party chooses new leader

The ruling party of Indian-controlled Kashmir named the country’s junior foreign minister as its new chief Sunday.

Two rifle-propelled grenades were fired by suspected Islamic militants toward the cricket stadium where the installation of Omar Abdullah was conducted. No one was hurt.

Divided Kashmir lies at the heart of the dispute between India and Pakistan. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of supporting Pakistan-based Islamic militants who sneak across the mountainous frontier to stage attacks on the military and civilian targets. Pakistan denies the Indian allegations.

Washington, D.C.

Treasury secretary presses House to raise debt limit

Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill urged the House on Sunday to follow the Senate’s lead and raise the federal debt limit to ensure that the government won’t run out of borrowing room this week.

“We need the House of Representatives to come together in a bipartisan, nonpartisan way and do the thing that’s necessary so we can not have this shadow over our ability to pay our fair and true debts,” O’Neill said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“They need to do it, without doubt, and I can’t believe they’re going to fail the country.”

The Bush administration says congressional action is needed on the debt limit by Friday, when the government must credit an interest payment of $67 billion to Social Security and other trust funds.

“We will lift it when … we have the votes to lift it,” House Speaker Dennis Hastert said. “Absent that, we will lift if we are in a dire situation.”