SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - NorthKorean state media say that the country’sheir apparent, Kim Jong Un, joined his father,leader Kim Jong Il, in watching an army drill.

The official Korea Central News Agencyreported Tuesday that Kim Jong Il visited amilitary unit and observed a live-fire drill.

The report said that Kim Jong Un accom-panied Kim Jong Il. It was the first time forstate media to report on the younger Kimaccompanying his father on such a trip.

Kim Jong Un made his public debut lastweek after being promoted to four-star gen-eral and vice chairman of the ruling Workers’Party of Korea’s military commission.

The report only identified the youngerKim by his title, without mentioning his rela-tionship to his father.

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The Island 5Wednesday 6th October, 2010

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Hundreds ofU.S. and NATO trucks carrying fueland other supplies for troops inAfghanistan lie idle. Dramatic imagesof Taliban attacks on these convoysare splashed across front pages in thisanti-American country with a U.S.-allied government.

Pakistan’s shutting of a key sup-ply line for coalition troops inAfghanistan and the apparent easewith which militants are attackingthe stranded convoys are shaking analready uncomfortable relationshipbetween Washington and Islamabad.

The tension comes just asWashington is stepping up its shadowwar on militants harbored inPakistan’s border regions. CIA mis-sile attacks, which have killed dozensof insurgents including some high-ranking al-Qaida operatives, are run-ning at record levels - a sign ofAmerica’s impatience with Pakistan’s

inaction in some parts of the frontier.Although they are allies in the

war against al-Qaida, the recentevents are a reminder that the twocountries’ long-term strategic inter-ests are not always in synch. As nextyear’s date for the start of the U.S.drawdown from Afghanistanapproaches, that gulf is only gettingwider.

The U.S. seeks an Afghanistanfree of Taliban fighters and wantsPakistan to help attacking them on itsside of the border. Pakistan is hedg-ing that when the Americans gohome, the Taliban will still be a majorpower - and one friendly to its anti-Indian agenda - so wants to keep themas friends.

The U.S. has pressured Pakistanto strike not only its enemy, thePakistani Taliban, but also Haqqaninetwork militants who attack the U.S.on the Afghan side of the border.

A Pakistani driver looks for items inside an oil tanker that was attacked by suspected militantsat a terminal in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Monday, Oct. 4, 2010. Islamist militants attacked andset fire to at least 20 tankers carrying oil for NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Monday,the third such strike inside Pakistan in as many days, police said. (AP

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) - A carbomb explosion has damaged businesses inNorthern Ireland, but no injuries have beenreported.

The attack early Tuesday in Londonderryhas been blamed on dissident republicansopposed to the peace process.

Police say the bomb exploded an hourafter a telephone warning. The explosiondamaged a branch of the Ulster Bank and anearby hotel and restaurant complex.

Pakistan, US tensions spike after border closure

South Korean protesters with defaced portraits of NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Il and his son Kim Jong Un shoutslogans during a rally against the North Korea’s succes-sion near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Friday,Oct. 1, 2010. North Korea introduced its heir apparent tothe world Thursday, a chubby-faced young man with a seri-ous expression, combed back hair cut high and tight onthe sides and wearing a communist-style black suit. (AP

NKorea media say Kim Jong Un joins father at drill

Alla Bout, left, wife of suspected Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout,pauses as she is interviewed by an unidentified Russian journalist,right, at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010.The Thai court on Monday dismissed a request to drop new chargesagainst Bout, a 44-year-old former Soviet air force officer, a move thatmeans more delays to his long-awaited extradition to the UnitedStates. (AP

Since police have failed to make abreakthrough in the seventy million-rupee Wanawasala bank robbery it hasbeen decided to offer a cash reward of Rs2.5 million to any person providing infor-mation which will lead to the arrest ofthe robbers, police sources said.

A senior police officer said that therobbery had been committed by an experi-enced criminal gang and they have notused even mobile phones to communicatewith each other.

He said that as the gang had not usedmobile phones, the police found it diffi-cult to make a breakthrough and appre-hend the robbers.

S. K. KALUARACHCHI AND LALITH

CHAMINDA GALLE CORRS.

Three houses in the Lelwala Estate atWanduramba had been burgled during daytime last week.

The burglars had made off with Rs.39,500 in cash and jewellery valued at Rs.112,000.

The Police said that the members ofthe households had been away attending afuneral at the time of the burglary.

No arrests have been made yet.

Rs 70 mn robbery:No breakthrough yet

Three housesburglared

Car bomb damages businesses in Northern Ireland