Islamabad, May 21
Amid reservations expressed by the USA over the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, officials from Islamabad and Tehran held talks here today to discuss issues like pricing, trilateral framework and appointment of consultants to carry out feasibility studies, while an Indian delegation would join the talks tomorrow.

Pakistani and Iranian officials began high-level talks to discuss the $ 7 billion pipeline, officials here said. It is the second time in less than a month that the two sides held talks on the 2,600-km-long pipeline despite stiff opposition by the USA.

The bilateral talks between Iran and Pakistan were held between Iran Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad-Hadi Nejad Hosseinian and Pakistan Petroleum Secretary Ahmed Waqar.

Hosseinian, who held talks with the Indian officials in New Delhi few days ago, said India was an integral part of the IPI. His comments came after Pakistan increased its offtake of gas from the pipeline by over 30 per cent which would warrant a second pipeline to be laid for India.

The talks would convert into a trilateral affair with Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan, heading a 10-member delegation, joining the two-day parleys tomorrow.

Officials said the talks would mainly focus on pricing and appointment of consultants to conduct feasibility studies and trilateral framework.

The meeting would discuss whether a separate pipeline has to be laid for India in view of Pakistan scaling up its demand.

Hosseinian told reporters here the trilateral talks beginning tomorrow would focus on finalisation of a Memorandum of Understanding or the framework of the project for the consideration of a ministerial meeting to be held later.

The trilateral talks come after US Secretary Richard Boucher said in Washington recently that Washington has conveyed its reservations about the IPI to India and Pakistan and the possibility that the pipeline could draw sanctions under the US domestic laws. US is firmly opposed to IPI due to its current confrontation with Tehran over the nuclear issue.

Pakistan for its part has been saying that it would go ahead with the project in view of its escalating energy requirements.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said in the Egyptian resort of Sharm-al-Shaikh yesterday that Islamabad will go ahead with the gas pipeline project and that it is likely to be finalized this year. He said Pakistan needs gas due to the country's fast economic growth.

Observers regard Pakistan's stand as an attempt to pressure US to extend the Indo-US nuclear deal to it. During the May 1, bilateral talks held here Pakistan suddenly scaled up its requirement of gas from the pipeline by 33 per cent and claimed to have reached a separate agreement with Iran.

Pakistan has increased its off take of gas from the pipeline from 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd) to 2.8 BCFD, making it difficult for the pipeline to accommodate India's demand as the capacity of the proposed pipeline is only 3.2 BCFD.

In view of this, Hosseinian who led the talks along with Waqar, said that India could be accommodated through the second pipeline if New Delhi was interested to go ahead with the IPI. — PTI

Washington: Members of Congress welcomed over 200 Sikhs from across the United States to Capitol Hill this week at the 3rd annual Sikh American Heritage dinner organised by the Washington-based Sikh Council on Religion and Education.

The lawmakers urged the gathering to continue its efforts to create a presence at the highest political levels to deal with racial issues facing Sikhs, which peaked following the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001. The Congress members voiced their support for issues ranging from the U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal, to Sikhs serving in the U.S. Armed Forces and religious restrictions on Sikh children in French schools.

Republican Senator John Cornyn from Texas, chairman of the Senate India caucus, thanked the Sikh community for its strong commitment to the U.S.

Dr. Rajwant Singh, chairman of SCORE, noted the event would send “a very important signal to the lawmakers and political leaders of this country that Sikhs are politically conscious and will comeback every year to participate in the political and social process of this country.”

“We want to remind lawmakers that Sikhs are an important influence in the American political and cultural nerve centre,” he said.

Republican Congressman Tom Davis, said he was privileged to represent “so many Sikhs from Northern Virginia. You have unique qualities. The strength of your community is the strong-minded compassion for others. You thrive in business. Your fundamental value of family is your greatest strength and that is something this country needs for generations to come.”

Congressman Ed Royce, a Republican from California and a member of House International Relations Committee, was optimistic about the future of the Sikh American community noting “your children have the highest per cent of advanced degrees in U.S. It is not that you work for your children, you also contribute to the rest of the U.S.”

Congressman Brad Sherman, California Democrat, pointed out that he was the co-sponsor of a hate crimes law and “nobody should face any difficulty on the basis of their religion or ethnicity.”

The gathered members of Congress recalled late California Congressman Dalip Singh Saund’s contribution to the community and the U.S. Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley from New York said: “We cannot forget that almost 50 years ago this glass ceiling was broken by Congressman Saund and the people of Southern California who put their trust in him to represent them in the United States Congress.”

Baghdad, May 21
A suicide bomber killed at least 13 persons and injured 17 when he blew himself up today in a downtown Baghdad restaurant frequented by police personnel.

The attack on the Safar restaurant was part of a spree of roadside bomb explosions, mortar rounds and a drive-by shooting that killed at least 18 Iraqis and wounded several others.

The 12 dead in the restaurant attack included three police officers, said Police Col Abbas Mohammed.

The restaurant is located in a double-storey building in Baghdad’s Karradah neighborhood and the explosion occurred around 1.20 pm (1450 IST) during the crowded lunch hours.

Two roadside bombs also exploded around 10.30 am in a crowded fruit market in New Baghdad, a mixed Shiite, Sunni Arab and Christian area in an eastern part of the capital, said Police Lieut Ali Abbas.

The police found the first bomb and detonated it after trying to evacuate the market, said Abbas. But the second hidden bomb exploded a moment later, killing three civilians and wounding 23, all of whom had ignored the evacuation order, Abbas said. — AFP

London, May 21
A senior immigration officer in Britain has been suspended by the Home Office following allegations that he offered to help an 18-year-old Zimbabwean girl with her application to claim asylum in return for sex.

The Home Office last night said it had suspended the official, who worked at its Immigration and Nationality Directorate, following the allegations and added that it was launching a full investigation.

Evidence obtained by The Observer indicated how the chief immigration officer targeted an 18-year-old Zimbabwean rape victim over a two-week period in which he offered to help her with her application to claim asylum in the UK and made it clear that he would like to have sex with her.

“We are aware of the allegations made by a Sunday newspaper against a serving member of the Home Office,” a spokesman of the Home Office said.

“An official has been suspended pending a full investigation by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

“It expects the highest levels of integrity from its staff and any suspicions of corruption are investigated fully.”

The expose is the latest in an increasingly long line of scandals to hit the embattled Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) and comes just two months after an official report urged an overhaul of practices at the centre to prevent such abuses from taking place.

According to the newspaper, the 53-year-old officer, a father of four, picked the teenager out of a queue of asylum seekers and asked for her telephone number, promising to help her with her application.— PTI

Cannes, May 21
US directors are using this year’s Cannes Film Festival to pummel President George W. Bush, showing movies that take the US leader to task for everything ranging from sexual repression, Iraq, corporate collusion and climate change. Today saw one of the most egregious attacks in the form of “Southland Tales” by Richard Kelly, the director behind 2001's cult movie “Donnie Darko”.

In his new film, a satire set in a dystopian future Los Angeles, broad parallels are drawn between fascist pre-WWII Germany and the United States under a Bush government that holds onto power well into 2008.

A star-heavy cast moves the story along as it takes scattershot aim at a range of targets, particularly the war in Iraq, big brother-style spying on US citizens, the US dependence on energy and the fusion between celebrity and politics.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a big-name actor tied to a political family who tries to unravel a plot involving him travelling into the future and back and trying to stop Armageddon.

And any resemblance to a certain California Governor who starred in “The Terminator” is coincidental. — AFP