Briefly World

Madam al-Qaeda faces trial in Saudi Arabia

News International asked to delete emails,says HCL

LONDON: India-based HCL Technologies has told British lawmakers probing phone hacking allegations that it knew of nine occasions when the Rupert Murdoch-owned News International asked to delete large numbers of emails. HCL Technologies told a Parliament committee that News International,the publisher of the now defunct News of The World,requested the deletion of hundreds of thousands of emails in the past 15 months. But the firm said it noticed nothing abnormal or untoward about the requests.

NATO airstrike kills 4,says Afghan governor

KABUL: The governor of a province in northeastern Afghanistan said Monday a NATO airstrike killed four police officers at a checkpoint in the region. Jamaluddin Badar said the strike took place late Sunday in Nuristan province near the border with Pakistan. He said coalition forces detained 12 police officers after the airstrike.

Australian sues over sponge left in surgery

MELBOURNE: An Australian woman is suing her doctor for negligence after a grapefruit-sized surgical sponge got sewn inside her abdomen 15 years ago during a surgery. Helen Caroline Anne OHagan,said the sponge was left in her abdominal cavity by surgeon Samuel Sakker during a 1992 partial colectomy,Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Madam al-Qaeda faces trial in Saudi Arabia

DUBAI: A Saudi court opened the trial of a woman terror mastermind dubbed Madam al-Qaeda on Tuesday. Haila al-Qusayyer,47,alleged to be a terror financier is the first woman in the kingdom to be charged of involvement in terrorist activities,the Arab News reported Monday.

Al-Qusayyer is charged with being an al-Qaeda member,harbouring wanted criminals and recruiting members for the dreaded terror outfit. She is also accused of carrying weapons to be used in terror campaigns and forging identity papers to enable militants to travel abroad. Her main task was to allegedly collect money from the organisation and to market ideology. The judge hearing the case has given the female bin Laden time till after Ramadan to respond to the charge. Al-Qusayyer had been married to two al-Qaeda militants Abdul Kareem Al-Homaid and Muhammad Suleiman Al-Wakeel. Al-Wakeel was killed in a security operation in 2004.