Baghdad, May 24
Former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz took the witness stand today to defend Saddam Hussein and his associates in a case involving the killing of Shiite civilians from Dujail in the 1980s.

While he was not involved with the events of Dujail itself, his testimony focused on the series of assassination attempts against officials of the Baath regime.

“The President is not guilty, nor are any of the officials in the government, just because they punished those who tried to assassinate the Head of State,” he said.

An assassination attempt against Saddam in Dujail in 1982 sparked a harsh crackdown and the killing of 148 people there.

“The Dujail case is part of a chain of assassination operations against officials and I am one of the victims,” he said, laying the responsibility for the attempt at the feet of the Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Dawa Party.

“I am also a victim of the criminal acts of a party who is now an official party in the government,” he said.

In 1980, Aziz was attacked by militants who tossed grenades at him at the university in Baghdad.

“The President of the State in any country, if faced with an assassination attempt, should take procedures to punish those who conduct and help this operation,” he said.

Mr Aziz said he was testifying on behalf of not just Saddam, but also former head of intelligence Barzan al-Tikriti and former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan.

Saddam then spoke out in defence of Barzan and Ramadan, saying they had nothing to do with the crackdown on Dujail. — AFP

The legislation on the US-India nuke deal, sponsored by the Bush administration, is still pending for action by the US Senate and the US House of Representatives with Democrats stalling it in an election year.

US-India Energy Security Co-operation Act of 2005 is expected to promote global energy security through increased co-operation between the US and India in diversifying sources of energy, stimulating development of alternative fuels, developing and deploying technologies that promote the clean and efficient use of coal, and improving energy efficiency.

New Delhi, May 24
Exiled Pakistan-administered Kashmir leader Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri is passing through a traumatic phase in his personal life these days.

Kashmiri recently lost his younger brother, Abdul Aziz, aged 50, who died of heart attack in their ancestral village of Trarakhel, but a helpless Shaukat could not visit or perform the last rites, as he has been barred from returning to his homeland for the last seven years.

"Three years ago, my mother Rehmat Jaan passed away, but the Pakistani authorities did’nt permit me to visit Trarakhel, my homeland, where she took her last breath, and now, my brother has died. I could not see him," weeps Shaukat, who has settled down in Switzerland since his deportation from Pakistan Administered Kashmir.

As the Chairman of the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP), Shaukat has been at the forefront in raising his voice against the role of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir and for demanding independence from Pakistan for the last 20 years. He experienced harassment at the hands of the Pakistani intelligence agencies before being exiled in 1999.

Shaukat says that he got the news of his brother’s death while he was attending an international conference of Kashmiri leaders in Manesar, Haryana.

"It’s been seven years since I met my brother. I had planned to meet him in Delhi. He was to apply for his visa on the same day that he died. My nephews ,my sister-in-law and my aging father need me at this moment. Therefore, I appeal to the international community and Indian Government to put pressure on Pakistan to grant me the permission to go to my hometown," said Shaukat.

Shaukat Ali Kashmiri is not the isolated case. There are several other Kashmiri nationalists from Pakistan, who have settled abroad, as they have been prevented from returning to their homeland. — ANI

Washington, May 24
Several leading Sikhs, including Dr Amarjit Singh Marwah, translator of the Guru Granth Sahib, Pritam Singh Chahil and Daya Singh, Executive Vice- Presidents of Akal Security, were among the distinguished people who were honoured with special awards at a glittering ceremony at Capitol Hill.

The event was organised by the Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE) which also honoured some non-Sikhs at the Sikh American Heritage Dinner at Capitol Hill on May 21.

Over 225 Sikhs from all over the US had gathered to be with the American political leaders. Many senators and Congressmen participated in the event and congratulated the Sikhs.

Dr Rajwant Singh said, “SCORE aspires to recognise and honour Sikhs who have provided leadership in various fields and have enriched the community. They have contributed for the betterment of American life and have strengthened America. Through their successful work, they have acquired a special place in the diversity of America. — UNI

Cannes, May 24
“Marie Antoinette”, the long-awaited feature from Oscar-winning US director Sofia Coppola, was booed here today by audiences at the Cannes Film Festival.

The movie, filmed on location in Versailles, tracks the life of the 14-year-old Austrian princess from her arrival in the French court to the final storming of the palace by angry mobs.

Marie Antoinette is played by Kirsten Dunst, turning in a charming performance as the teenage royal who launches into a life of excess to relieve her boredom and loneliness within the court’s strict confines.

Coppola, who made the widely acclaimed “Lost in Translation”, is seen as a gifted director capable of subtle, poetic work on the screen.

But despite sumptuous sets and costumes and a rollicking rock’n’roll soundtrack, the film is a disappointing and unconvincing story that prompted sniggers at points, and boos which drowned out the scattered applause at the end. — AFP

Kabul, May 24
About 60 Taliban fighters and four Afghan government soldiers were killed in a battle in the southern province of Uruzgan, an Afghan news agency reported today.

Most of the dead were militants, but dozens of Afghan policemen, soldiers and civilians have also been killed, along with four foreign soldiers.

The commander of Afghan forces in the south, Gen Rahmatullah Raufi, told reporters the bodies of about 60 militants had been found after the battle last night, according to the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press. — Reuters