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Governor of Baghdad assassinated
200 Indians being deported from Iran
Gurdwara Mata Sahib Kaur opened
Bush hopes to visit India this year
MMA warns Musharraf of joint struggle
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Governor of Baghdad assassinated
Baghdad, January 4 "The Governor was in his armoured BMW and we were in two other cars," said Major Mazen, reached on Al-Haidari's cellphone. "Our convoy was moving in Hurriyah and they came from different directions and opened fire at us." Iraq's insurgents have repeatedly targeted government officials around the country, saying they are allies of the US-led coalition. Al-Haidari was the highest-ranking official killed since the former president of the now defunct Governing Council, Abdel-Zahraa Othman, better known as Izzadine Saleem, was assassinated in May. Al-Haidari was the target of an assassination attempt last year that killed two of his bodyguards.
— AP |
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200 Indians being deported from Iran
Dubai, January 4 "There are some 70 more persons staying at the gurdwara and they are being sent back in batches of 10," Indian Ambassador to Tehran, K. C. Singh, said. He said potential job seekers to Greece, mostly from Punjab, came to Jordan and Lebanon as it was easy to get visit visa to those countries. They tried to go to Greece through Turkey where they were caught and allegedy subjected to maltreatment by security personnel, before being pushed into Iran, he added. Mr K.C. Singh said those who went back to India had written to the embassy expressing thanks because they could have been put in prison by Iranian authorities as they had no legal documents to be in Iran. "Iran took a lenient view and allowed them to stay at the gurdwara," he said. He said some division in the gurdwara managing committees in Tehran also led to one group alleging maltreatment of those who were put up there. "There has been no maltreatment of these people here." As large number of illegal immigrants were put up at the gurdwara, it became difficult for women devotees to go and pray at the shrine, he said. "It takes time to process the documents which have to be cleared by the labour, immigration and other departments in Tehran," he said.
— PTI |
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Gurdwara Mata Sahib Kaur opened
Quila Rohtas (Pakistan), January 4 Mata Sahib Kaur was born at Rohtas village situated inside the Rohtas fort. The gurdwara had been out of bounds since Partition in 1947. The gesture by the Pakistan Government coincided with the tercentenary of the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh’s two younger sons. Chaudhary Shehbaz Hussain, a federal minister, and Nazim of
Jhelum, Chaudhary Farakh Altaf, reopened the shrine in the presence of Mr Madan Lal Khurana, a veteran Indian political leader from the BJP, at a ceremony last month. Mr Pritpal Singh, head of the American Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee, welcoming Pakistan’s decision, said such steps would strengthen the relations between the neighbouring countries. “This change is due to the improvement of relations between the two countries,” said Mr Pritpal Singh. Mr Altaf said the shrine was opened on the instructions of President Pervez Musharraf as part of the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan. “I believe that after a long time this has been opened for people. This is an honour for us that after 60 years the Sikh pilgrims can come to offer prayers at
Rohtas,” said Mr Altaf. The small community of local Sikhs and the majority Muslims joined Sikhs from across the globe. Mr Hajara Singh, a pilgrim from India, said they were honoured to be a part of the historic opening. “I am very happy that I could offer prayers at the Mata Sahib shrine,” Mr Hajara Singh said as tears rolled down his eyes. The gurdwara was repaired during the reign of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The old building was demolished and the new structure was built but that too is in a dilapidated condition. Sikhs from across the globe have been demanding to be allowed to visit all historical gurdwaras in Pakistan.
— ANI |
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Bush hopes to visit India this year
US President George W. Bush on Monday lauded the Indian Government's leadership in providing humanitarian assistance in countries ravaged by the tsunami and said he intended to visit India some time this year.
After his phone conversation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week, Mr Bush said he had assured Mr Singh that he planned to visit India this year. "In the meantime, though, our country stands with the people who have suffered. We want the Indian Government, the Indian people to know that we will help in any way we can," Mr Bush said during a visit to the Indian Embassy on Monday morning. Praising New Delhi's role in the relief effort, Mr Bush said he had asked India's US Ambassador Ronen Sen to "thank the Prime Minister for his very strong leadership". India is a founding member of a four-nation coalition, which includes the USA, Japan and Australia, set up to coordinate relief in the tsunami-ravaged countries. "Our navies are coordinating together, our search and rescues are coordinating together," Mr Bush said. New Delhi has declined international assistance in relief efforts in parts of India hit by the huge waves and has contributed $25 million to toward relief efforts in other countries in the region in addition to relief supplies ferried by naval ships. Former presidents George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton and first lady Laura Bush accompanied Mr Bush to offer their condolences at the Embassies of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia in Washington. "We pray for the victims of this terrible disaster and we stand firmly with the people of India as she recovers," the President wrote in the condolence book at the Indian Embassy. The President's father, Mr Clinton and Ms Laura Bush also signed the message. Mr Bush has tapped both former Presidents to raise financial aid from private donors for victims of the tsunami. Flanked by the two men at the White House on Monday, the President said in the coming days they would ask Americans to donate directly to "reliable charities already providing help to tsunami victims". "In this situation, cash donations are most useful and I've asked the former Presidents to solicit contributions both large and small," Mr Bush said. Both senior Mr Bush and Mr Clinton spent most of Monday appearing on cable and network television urging Americans to contribute at USA Freedom Corps website, www.usafreedomcorps.gov. Mr Clinton said they had already received pledges for several million dollars by the time they returned from paying their condolences at the foreign missions. Mr Clinton and Mr Bush said American charitable efforts could boost the image of the USA abroad. The USA has pledged $350 million in tsunami aid, the largest government contribution after Japan's commitment of $500 million. The Bush Administration has indicated that the $350 million would come mostly from a US Agency for International Development account for international disaster assistance and perhaps from the Defence Department. The President has dispatched a delegation led by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and including his brother Florida Governor Jeb Bush to the countries affected by the tsunami. At the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan said this "relief and reconstruction will be a long-term effort. The USA will be in it for the long haul; we'll be in it long after the media attention fades away." |
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MMA warns Musharraf of joint struggle
Islamabad, January 4 A meeting of the MMA’s supreme council was held here yesterday under the chairmanship of Qazi Hussain Ahmed. It was attended by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Senator Prof Sajid Mir, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi, Liaquat Baloch, Qari Gul Rahman, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Pir Ijaz Hashmi. The alliance announced to hold protest days on January 7, 24 and 28 and observe February 5 as Kashmir solidarity day when a human chain would be formed “right from Karachi to Khyber”. The MMA decided to try to bridge differences with other opposition parties in the struggle for supremacy of the constitution and to share a political understanding that no party in future would invite the army to resolve political crisis. Briefing journalists after the meeting, Maulana Fazl, the alliance’s secretary-general, said the meeting wanted Gen Musharraf to quit both offices because it was ‘in his own interest’ and endorsed an earlier decision to continue efforts to secure support of the entire opposition. He said the alliance had not decided to abandon the option of negotiations with the government. He said the MMA reiterated its resolve to launch a movement to force General Musharraf to quit the offices of the President and the COAS, and to defend what he termed the country’s ideological frontiers against moves to change the blasphemy and Hudood laws, delete the religion column in the machine-readable passports and its policies about education and seminaries. The alliance, he said, had also expressed its determination to struggle for the restoration of parliament’s sovereignty and constitution’s supremacy and against bowing to US dictates in national policies. |
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