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UK cleared nuclear cargo
to Iran: report
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MQM threatens to quit Pak coalition
Relief agencies allege harassment by militants in PoK
Second phase of Indo-China dialogue to begin today
Israel functioning without
Sharon, says acting PM
French hostage freed in Iraq
Powerful quake rattles Greece
Maoists bomb municipality
building
Prince Williams to begin army career
8 killed in Philippine fire
Nawaz Sharif meets new ruler of Dubai
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UK cleared nuclear cargo to Iran: report
London, January 8 The disclosure by The Observer has prompted calls for an inquiry into how the international trade in such compounds is controlled. On August 31, a truck carrying 1,000 kg of zirconium silicate supplied by a British firm was stopped by Bulgarian customs at the Turkish border on its way to Tehran, after travelling 2,400 km from Britain, through Germany and Romania, without being stopped, the report said, adding zirconium could be used as a component of a nuclear programme. According to an expert, it is used in nuclear reactors to stop fuel rods corroding and can also be used as part of a nuclear warhead. The metal can be extracted from zirconium silicate. It is because the compound can be used for military purposes that its trade is usually tightly controlled. The fact that a British firm was allowed to sell the compound without scrutiny will raise questions for the British government over its controls on sensitive materials. Intelligence documents disclosed last week in The Guardian detailed how Iran was allegedly creating agencies and middlemen to procure equipment and knowhow in Europe in a covert attempt to build nuclear weapons. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected this week to order the resumption of tests on machinery that can be used to make weapons-grade uranium, the newspaper said.
— PTI |
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MQM threatens to quit Pak coalition
Islamabad, January 8 The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) wants the government to use talks to settle the problems it faces with restive tribes and groups seeking more autonomy for the southwestern province. “If the government does not stop the current military operation in Baluchistan by January 13, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement will pull out of the government in protest on January 14,” an MQM statement said. The Pakistani military launched a major crackdown against militants in Baluchistan after a rocket attack on December 14 during a visit by President Musharraf. Baluch nationalists say almost 200 persons have been killed in the crackdown. The government has not commented on overall casualties. Any pull-out from the coalition is unlikely to immediately affect the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz whose Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and other allies will continue to have a majority in the 342-seat National Assembly. But political sources said the MQM’s withdrawal could result in the dissolution of the PML-led provincial government in Sindh, where the MQM’s 42 legislators form the largest block in the 167-seat local assembly. Information and Broadcasting Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, speaking on a private television network, said the government would try to remove MQM’s “reservations” and promised to give a detailed response after consulting Prime Minister Aziz. — Reuters |
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Relief agencies allege harassment by militants in PoK
Islamabad, January 8 The banned militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Toiba, is leading 20,000 workers of religious and ‘jehadi’ NGOs in carrying out relief activities in the affected areas of PoK and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan. An editorial in the Daily Times quoted Hansjoerg Strohmeyer, chief of the Office of the Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, UN, expressing grave concern over the safety and security of the Western relief workers. ‘’The UN official was worried about the safety of the Western relief workers at the hands of workers from religious organisations,’’ it said. The editorial said there were indications that if the foreign relief agencies faced actual violence, they might abandon their work and leave. The US Administration has also expressed serious concern over the issue, saying the presence of a number of ‘Jehadi’ groups in the forefront of relief efforts since the October 8 earthquake was not good. US Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C Crocker called upon the Pakistan government to monitor and, if necessary, stop the jehadi organisations from continuing with their relief work. “It is a matter of concern that such groups, which are on the watchlist, are allowed to operate freely in the affected areas and this would increase their purchase in the country,’’ he had said. — UNI |
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Second phase of Indo-China dialogue to begin today
Beijing, January 8 While Mr Saran will lead the Indian side, the Chinese delegation will be headed by Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who is in charge of Asian affairs. Ahead of the talks, a senior Chinese official said “the Chinese Government firmly pursues the policy of developing long-term, stable, good-neighbourly and cooperative relations with India”. “The Chinese side is ready to work closely with the Indian side to further expand friendly exchanges, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and continuously enrich the contents of the strategic and cooperative partnership between our two countries,” the official said. The second round of the India-China Strategic Dialogue is the first since New Delhi and Beijing agreed to qualitatively upgrade their bilateral relations to strategic levels during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to India in April last year. It is also the first major bilateral event this year which is being marked as the “India-China Friendship Year” and is expected to be utilised by two sides to instil greater confidence and cooperation between the two Asian giants. Mr Saran, who was in Washington last month to review the progress in the implementation of the July 18 India-US Joint Statement and attended the second meeting of the Joint Working Group on Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation, may brief Wu about the Indo-US nuke deal. Mr Saran may also use the visit and talks to discuss UN reforms, including India’s bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. China, which says it backs India’s aspiration to become a permanent member of the UNSC has, however, backed out citing New Delhi’s alliance with Japan, a country with which Beijing has sour political relations. Interestingly, the Foreign Secretary is in Beijing days after India, Brazil and Germany re-tabled the G-4 draft resolution gn UNSC reforms. However, Japan has abstained from the move this time. It is unclear whether Beijing will review its stand on the G-4 draft. — PTI |
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Israel functioning without Sharon, says acting PM
Jerusalem, January 8 “Israel’s democracy is strong and its institutions are functioning seriously and as they should,” he said in comments broadcast by public radio. Mr Olmert said he was determined to get on with business, but extended his wishes for Mr Ariel Sharon’s recovery after he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage. “If I could talk to him today, I am sure Arik would tell me ‘Thanks for your wishes, but you must work to safeguard the safety and economy of Israel and that is what we will do’. “Over the last days, we have all heard the reports on the state of the Prime Minister’s health and we were happy to hear there is a glimmer of hope,” Olmert added. Mr Olmert, Finance Minister and one of Sharon’s deputy prime ministers, was handed the reins of power after Sharon suffered a massive brain haemorrhage late Wednesday. The finance minister chaired an emergency meeting of the Cabinet on Thursday, but today was the first time normal government business was to come under discussion, including the highly sensitive issue of voting in east Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Ariel Sharon today underwent another brain scan to help doctors treating him determine whether to start the gradual process of bringing him out of induced coma, hospital officials said. The brain scan is the key to determining how to proceed with the treatment but the extent to which it has been damaged can be ascertained only when he is brought to consciousness, they said, adding it would help decide when to attempt to bring Sharon out of the artifical coma.
— AFP, PTI |
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French hostage freed in Iraq
Baghdad, January 8 Bernard Planche was released by his captors near Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad, and was with the US military, the Iraqi police sources said. It appeared that the captors were trying to move Planche from one area to another when they encountered a joint US and Iraqi army checkpoint, they said. They bundled Planche out of their car and escaped, they said. “He is now safe and in the hands of the US military,” the Interior Ministry source said. In Paris, the office of French President Jacques Chirac confirmed the release by saying, “Mr Bernard Planche was freed yesterday in Baghdad. The president is delighted with this happy news. “The president thanks the coalition forces who enabled this release to happen. He has expressed his gratitude to all those involved,” his office said in a statement. Planche was kidnapped in Baghdad in early December. He had been working for a non-governmental organisation at a water treatment plant in the east of the city.
— Reuters |
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Powerful quake rattles Greece
Athens, January 8 The Athens Geodynamic Institute, which initially gave a magnitude of 6.4, later amended it to 6.9 and said the epicentre was located beneath the seabed, about 200 km south of Athens and 20 km east of the island of Kithira. “It was a very powerful quake which shook all of Greece. There have been dozens of aftershocks, four with a magnitude of 5,” said institute head Giorgos Stavrakakis. “The quake occurred deep undersea and that’s what saved us.” The earthquake occurred at 1.34 pm (5.04 IST) and was felt as far away as in Cairo, Egypt, about 1,200 km southeast of the epicenter, as well as in Amman, Jordan.
— AP |
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Maoists bomb municipality building
Kathmandu, January 8 Three blasts were heard at 5 am but no one was inside the building at the time, he said.
This is the first explosion targeted at a municipality building after the rebels broke ceasefire a week ago. The rebels have been exploding bombs almost daily since the ceasefire ended on January 2 and have killed at least six securitymen while losing one of their cadre. Eleven persons have been wounded in the Maoist attacks since then. The Maoists have boycotted the municipality polls in Nepal slated for February 8 and declared that they would take action against candidates and representatives involved in the poll. Meanwhile, seven political parties have also announced the boycott of the municipal poll albeit in a peaceful manner.
— PTI |
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Prince Williams to begin army career
London, January 8 Prince Charles is expected to travel to the site in Camberley, Surrey, to bid farewell to his son on his first day, a royal spokesman said. Buckingham Palace announced last October that William would join the army. William passed the Regular Commissions Board exams — a series of tests and tasks to gauge the ability of candidates to meet the mental, physical and emotional demands facing army officers. William has the prospect of eventually becoming Commander-in-Chief of Britain’s armed forces — the role traditionally occupied by the monarch. William said in a wide-ranging interview in 2004 that he was considering joining the army after finishing his geography degree at St Andrews University in Scotland, but would not expect or accept special treatment if he did so. “The last thing I want to be is mollycoddled or wrapped up in cotton wool,” he said then. “If I was to join the army, I would want to go where my men went and I would want to do what they did.” Harry, 21, who entered Sandhurst last year and will therefore initially be senior to William, has joked that he was looking forward to his elder brother having to salute him.
— Reuters |
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8 killed in Philippine fire
Manila, January 8 He said many of the dead failed to rush out of the building after a night of drinking, and some were found near a fire exit on the second floor. Suitcases and other belongings also blocked exits, making it difficult for people to escape. “The ones who were drunk had weak reflexes and others dragged their belongings with them, slowing down their evacuation,” Cordeta told AP by telephone.
Manila, a thickly populated city, was hit by more than 400 fires last year. — AP |
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Nawaz Sharif meets new ruler of Dubai
Dubai, January 8 Sharif met Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the new ruler of Dubai and new Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and offered condolences on the death of his elder brother Sheikh Maktoum who had died on Wednesday.
He also met Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince General Mohammad bin Zayed. — PTI |
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