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Islamabad, May 22 Top petroleum officials of India, Pakistan and Iran today held talks on pricing, trilateral framework and appointment of consultants to carry out feasibility studies on the proposed 2,600-km-long IPI gas pipeline.
Coalition troops kill 80 Taliban
A Q Khan’s case to be reopened
Maliki sees Iraqi forces taking over by year-end Indian ends life in Dubai
Judge throws out Saddam’s lawyer
Tea decreases stress, say scientists
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1,000 Lankan refugees in India
Monica Bellucci may play
Sonia in Mundhra’s film
“Da Vinci Code” sets US box office on fire
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Gas pipeline: Iran-Pak differences to the fore Islamabad, May 22 The deliberations came amidst reports that there were sharp differences between Iran and Pakistan in their bilateral talks held yesterday during which the two countries clashed on the issue of pricing and modalities to supply gas to India. Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan, heading a 10-member Indian delegation, joined the two-day talks on the $ 7-billion pipleline here today to discuss issues like pricing, trilateral framework and appointment of consultants to carry out feasibility studies. Sharp differences surfaced between Iran and Pakistan during talks Iranian Deputy Oil Minister M.H. Hosseinian held with Secretary Petroleum Ahmad Waqar. The two had held a bilateral meeting yesterday ahead of two-day trilateral meeting. Besides differences on pricing, Iran reportedly sought an assurance from Pakistan that it would not sell gas to India under the IPI, The News reported. However, Pakistan did not agree, saying that once the gas had been purchased, the seller had nothing to do with it, it said. Differences also arose between the two countries over the issue of pricing as they proposed divergent price formulae for the gas pipeline project. Iran had come up with a new formula, linking the price of its gas with South East Asia-Qatar market, under which the delivery price offered to Pakistan was very high, reports in the media here quoted officials as saying. To offset this, Pakistan put up a counter-proposal setting the price at 30 per cent of the price of oil it imported from the UAE and asked Iran to respond by today. The two formulae have a difference of more than $ 3 per MMBTU (million British thermal unit). The two sides, they said, had agreed to keep the discussions on prices strictly confidential. Iran reportedly quoted a gas sale price in the range of $ 6-8 per MMBTU while Pakistan's offer ranged between $ 3.5 and 4 per MMBTU. Mr Hosseinian had said yesterday that besides pricing and finalisation of the trilateral framework, today's talks would focus on finalising an MoU to be signed by Ministers of the three countries later. The 2,600-km-long pipeline project is already facing pressures from the USA as Washington is strongly advising India and Pakistan not to opt for the project in view of its emerging confrontation with Tehran over the issues relating nuclear proliferation.
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Coalition troops kill 80 Taliban Kandahar, May 22 More than 16 civilians were also killed in the ground and air assault in Panjwai district of Kandahar, which came after several days of some of the heaviest Taliban attacks since they were ousted in 2001. “More than 80 Taliban have been killed and many wounded. Sixteen civilians have also died and 15 are hurt,” governor Khalid Assadullah told a news conference in Kandahar. The US military said 20 Taliban had been confirmed killed. Up to 60 other insurgents were possibly dead, it said. “Air strikes were used to destroy a large enemy weapons cache and several Taliban compounds,” it said. The US military was checking reports of civilian casualties, a spokeswoman said. Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months but intensified sharply last Wednesday when the Taliban launched a big attack on a town in Helmand province, to the west of Kandahar. More than than 200 people have been killed since then, according to figures from the U.S. military and Afghan authorities. Most of those killed were militants, but they include dozens of Afghan police and troops and four foreign soldiers. A spokesman for the Taliban, who are fighting to expel foreign troops and oust the elected government, said none of their fighters had been killed today. All of the casualties were civilians, he said. Khalid said the 16 civilians had been killed in air strikes after Taliban took up positions in their houses. — Reuters, AFP
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A Q Khan’s case to be reopened
Islamabad, May 22 House of Representatives Committee on International Relations would hold an open hearing of its subcommittee on international terrorism and non-proliferation in Pakistan on the subject “The A.Q. Khan network: case closed?,” a media report here said. The 15-member subcommittee headed by Edward R. Royce would examine two witnesses, David Albright, the President and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, and Leonard Weiss, an independent consultant on nuclear issues, Pakistan daily ‘Dawn’ quoted officials here as saying. Interestingly, the US Committee’s decision to hold the hearing follows assertion by Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam on May 2 that “as far as we are concerned this chapter is closed.” Khan was pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf in February 2004 after he confessed involvement in illicit trafficking of nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. United States also said it probed the involvement of Khan’s involvement in Syrian nuclear programme. He remained under house arrest in Islamabad under military surveillance. Last week, Defence spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said security around Khan had been beefed up.
— PTI
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Maliki sees Iraqi forces taking over by year-end Baghdad, May 22 “There is an agreement and, according to this schedule for handing over security, Samawa and Amara provinces will be handed over to Iraqis in June and by the end of this year this operation will be completed except for Baghdad and maybe Anbar,” he told a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Samawa and Amara are southern, Shi'ite provinces, largely peaceful and controlled by British troops whose commanders have said they may withdraw from some provinces soon. Anbar is the restive western desert stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents. Maliki's timetable, which would coincide with the expiry of a United Nations mandate for the US-led coalition forces, is more ambitious than anything voiced publicly by US or British commanders, who stress that any withdrawal will depend on Iraqi forces being able to ensure security. Maliki also said Iraqi forces needed more training as the foreign withdrawal proceeded province by province and he warned that if his policy of disarming and disbanding militias failed, it could yet lead to “civil war”. Tony Blair said Iraq was at a “new beginning” after a process since the 2003 invasion that he admitted had been “longer and harder” than he had hoped. “It's been longer and hard than any of us would have wanted it to be but this is a new beginning,” Blair told a joint news conference in the fortified Green Zone. He highlighted the involvement of all Iraq's communities in the new national unity government sworn in on Saturday.
— Reuters
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Indian ends life in Dubai
Dubai, May 22 This is the second reported suicide among low-paid workers in just two days. Indian electrician, Iqbal Alam, hung himself in a labour camp on Saturday due to stress of not being able to go back home. The Indian Consulate has set up a psychological counselling unit with volunteers to mitigate the mental trauma facing the Indian community.
— UNI |
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Judge throws out Saddam’s lawyer
Baghdad, May 22 The squabble began when chief judge informed defence lawyer Bushra Khalil that she would be allowed to return to the court after being removed in a session in April for arguing with the judge. But when she tried to make a statement, he quickly cut her off, saying, “Sit down”. “I just want to say one word,” she said, but Abdel-Rahman yelled at the guards to take her away. In anger, Khalil pulled off her judicial robe and threw it on the floor, then tried to push away guards who were grabbing her hands, yelling, “Get away from me”. As she pulled out of the court, Saddam — sitting in the defendants’ pen — objected, and Abdel-Rahman told him to be silent. “I’m Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq. I am above all,” Saddam shouted back. “You are a defendant, not a President,” the judge barked. The stormy start was a contrast to recent sessions that have been remarkably orderly, after Abdel-Rahman took a tough line to put a stop to frequent outbursts by Saddam and his co-defendants. — AP
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Tea decreases stress, say scientists
Sydney, May 22 Now a tea company says it has scientific evidence to prove the benefits of an amino acid found in tea, L-theanine. A British and Japanese study sponsored by Unilever, the parent company of tea giant Lipton, first suggested the link between L-theanine, found in all tea plants, and relaxation. Independent scientists at Oxford University had since confirmed the link, Unilever Institute scientist Gail Owen said. “What we found out is that just 50 mg of L-theanine (or two to three cups of tea) increases the alpha brain activity associated with a feeling of being relaxed yet still alert,” said Dr Owen, who was visiting Sydney. Dr Owen said while alcoholic drinks might aid in relaxation, and caffeine-based drinks could improve energy, tea was the only product that provided a good balance. “People might have a glass of wine or beer to relax, but the problem is that it can often make you quite sleepy,” she said. “The unique thing about L-theanine is that it promotes neither sleep nor over-stimulation, which you may find with some caffeinated drinks.” Dr Owen said while Australian recommendations allowed for up to six cups of tea per day, two to three cups was an ideal daily intake. — APP
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1,000 Lankan refugees in India
United Nations, May 22 Reports received by the world body talk of many more on way to India but it said it could not verify them. This has reversed the trend of last year when Sri Lankan refugees began returning home in the wake of ceasefire which now is fraying. The UN refugee agency said 102 Sri Lankans arrived on Wednesday alone, the largest number to reach India on a single day. The new arrivals, it said, are being housed in camps run by the government, where 60,000 refugees from previous arrivals in the 20-year conflict are already living. After arriving in India, the agency said they told it that they had fled because they were scared of the rapidly deteriorating security situation. “There are reports that more arrivals are on their way, but although we are monitoring the situation closely we are currently unable to verify this,” it said. Reports have been received that residents leaving Trincomalee district are selling their possessions to pay for the boat trip to India. The latest outflow is a complete reversal of what had been happening in 2005, when the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHSR) helped 1,173 refugees return home by air to Sri Lanka. Since 2002, when the now fraying ceasefire between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was signed, a total of 5,000 refugees have returned to Sri Lanka. Since the beginning of April, when the level of violence sharply increased, some 31,000 people have reportedly been internally displaced in Trincomalee district.
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Monica Bellucci may play Sonia in Mundhra’s film
Cannes, May 22 Mundhra, who is in Cannes for the market screening of two of his films—the Aishwarya Rai starrer "Provoked" and the Kerala-set international thriller "Backwaters"—has already got in touch with Bellucci, a juror this year for the main Cannes Competition. "I have told her that that she simply cannot afford to miss this opportunity," the bearded director said half in jest. Does he have Sonia Gandhi's go-ahead for the project? "Yes, the family is with me," said Mundhra. Sonia Gandhi's children Rahul and Priyanka, he reveals, have expressed a desire to watch "Provoked", a film based on the experiences of a Britain-based Punjabi woman compelled to kill her abusive husband. Mundhra hopes to get a print of the film across to Delhi soon enough. The Gandhi siblings have also seen Mundhra's "Bawander", inspired by the infamous Bhanwari Devi rape case. Both "Provoked" and Aishwarya Rai's performance in the pivotal role have garnered positive reviews in Cannes and Mundhra has reason to believe that he is now ready to make the leap to the next level of what has always been an eventful, if somewhat chequered, career. Bellucci can only add some more lustre to it. — IANS
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“Da Vinci Code” sets US box office on fire
Los Angeles, May 22 The film, highly anticipated by fans of Dan Brown’s bestselling novel and vigorously criticized by religious groups, raked in $77 million in North America, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Around the world, director Ron Howard’s $125-million thriller, starring Tom Hanks, raked in an estimated $224 million, Exhibitor Relations said. It was the fourth biggest worldwide opening, according to Daily Variety, the top Hollywood trade paper. Only “Star Wars: Episode III,” “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” and “War of the Worlds” did better. The Sony Pictures film is already the greatest commercial success for Howard and Hanks.
— AFP
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