W O R L D

Thai coup leader to install PM soon
Bangkok, September 20 Thailand’s military coup leaders will choose a new prime minister within two weeks and step back from power, army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin said today. But speaking less than 24 hours after he led a bloodless coup to oust billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, General Sonthi said it would take a year to produce a new constitution, leading to a fresh general election.
A man waves a Thai national flag in front of a tank outside Government House in Bangkok on Wednesday. — Reuters photo

Saddam ejected after trial starts with
new judge
Baghdad, September 20
The new chief judge in Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial ejected the ousted Iraqi leader from the courtroom for refusing to sit down moments after hearings began today.

Pope expresses respect for Islam
Vatican City, September 20
Pope Benedict XVI said today that he had “deep respect” for Islam and that he hoped remarks he made in Germany last week — which sparked angry reactions in much of the Muslim world — could lead to dialogue among religions.

New ring spotted on Saturn : NASA
Washington, September 20
Saturn has a newly discovered ring, a faint trail of particles just visible in between some of its better-known rings, NASA said.

Indian worker cremated 2 months after death
Dubai, September 20
An Indian worker in Bahrain was cremated two months after his death owing to confusion over his name mentioned in the medical reports.

Blast at Mittal’s Kazakh mine kills 41
Moscow, September 20
At least 41 miners were killed and 25 others trapped with little chance of survival in a blaze in a Kazakh coal mine owned by Mittal Steels today.

6-yr-old girl set ablaze
London, September 20
Two men murdered a six-year-old girl by setting fire to her house to warn her brother of a relationship he was having with the sister of one of them, the Birmingham Crown Court was informed.

Bush, Musharraf, Karzai to meet on Sept 27
Washington, September 20
US President George W Bush and his counterparts in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pervez Musharraf and Hamid Karzai, will meet on September 27 to discuss trilateral relationship among the three countries, the White House has said.

Saran meets Burns New York, September 20  As the Senate takes up the Indo-US Nuclear Bill in the next few days, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran today met US Under Secretary of the State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns in a bid to push the deal through in the home stretch. The meeting between Saran and Burns, the Bush administration's pointsman on the civilian Nuclear deal with India, lasted for 45 minutes. However, no details of what transpired were immediately available. — PTI Hizb offers ceasefire in J&K Islamabad, September 20 Hizbul Mujahideen, which is active in Jammu and Kashmir, today offered a conditional ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan, which is set to begin next week. Ehsan Elahi, chief spokesman for the militant group, said the limited ceasefire depended on Indian troop reductions on its side of the Line of Control. "If the Indian Government agrees to scale down troop presence, stop human right violations and release all political prisoners, we will also consider a ceasefire in attacks against them during Ramadan," Elahi said. — AP

Thai coup leader to install PM soon

Bangkok, September 20
Thailand’s military coup leaders will choose a new prime minister within two weeks and step back from power, army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin said today.

But speaking less than 24 hours after he led a bloodless coup to oust billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, General Sonthi said it would take a year to produce a new constitution, leading to a fresh general election.

The military leadership was pouring over candidates who loved “democracy and constitutional monarchy” to replace Mr Thaksin, ousted yesterday as he attended the United Nations in New York.

“We have two weeks. After two weeks, we step out,” General Sonthi told a news conference, speaking as head of an interim “Political Reform Council” run by the military.

The new Cabinet would form a special committee to draw up a new constitution over a year and submit it to a referendum, after which new elections could be held, he said.

Concerns about a conflict or even a counter-coup by Mr Thaksin’s supporters were dampened by news that his main deputy Chidchai Vanasatidya had been “invited to stay” at the army headquarters.

Mr Thaksin was welcome to return to his homeland, General Sonthi said.

The army has imposed strict curbs on foreign and domestic media and banned assembly of more than five persons even as soldiers and tanks patrolled the streets.

The country’s stock markets, banks, schools and offices were closed in view of the public holiday declared by the new military regime. An uneasy calm prevailed in the usually vibrant city with people looking subdued and silent.

In New York, Mr Thaksin cancelled a scheduled address to the UN General Assembly. — Reuters

Saddam ejected after trial starts with new judge

Baghdad, September 20
The new chief judge in Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial ejected the ousted Iraqi leader from the courtroom for refusing to sit down moments after hearings began today.

Defence lawyers also stormed out in protest against the sacking of Mohammed al-Ureybi’s predecessor.

“Take him out of the courtroom,” Mr Ureybi ordered guards after a defiant Saddam refused to sit down.

Mr Ureybi was named to take over the court after the government sacked Abdullah al-Amiri for saying Saddam was “not a dictator”.

The court is trying Saddam, his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as “Chemical Ali”, and five others for war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in the 1988 Anfal campaign against ethnic Kurds.

Saddam and Majeed also face the graver charge of genocide. All could be hanged if convicted.

All defendants, except Saddam, remained as the trial continued with testimony from Kurdish witnesses.

The decision by Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to change judges has prompted criticism by some international legal rights groups, who have said government pressure and sectarian violence in Iraq make a fair trial against Saddam impossible.

The chief judge in his earlier trial on charges of killing 148 Shi’ites after an attempt on his life in 1982 quit in protest against government interference. — Reuters

Pope expresses respect for Islam

Vatican City, September 20
Pope Benedict XVI said today that he had “deep respect” for Islam and that he hoped remarks he made in Germany last week — which sparked angry reactions in much of the Muslim world — could lead to dialogue among religions.

The Pope acknowledged his remarks were open to misinterpretation, but insisted he had not intended to endorse a negative view of Islam.

“I hope that in several occasions during the visit ... my deep respect for great religions, in particular for Muslims — who worship the one god and with whom we are engaged in defending and promoting together social justice, moral values, peace and freedom for all men — has emerged clearly,” Benedict said during his weekly audience at the Vatican.

“I trust that after the initial reaction, my words at the university of Regensburg can constitute an impulse and encouragement toward positive, even self-critical dialogue both among religions and between modern reason and Christian faith,” the Pope told thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square. Security in the square had been stepped up. — AP

New ring spotted on Saturn : NASA

Washington, September 20
Saturn has a newly discovered ring, a faint trail of particles just visible in between some of its better-known rings,NASA said.

The orbiting Cassini spacecraft yesterday caught sight of the ring and other rare features when the sun passed directly behind Saturn in what is known as an occultation, providing bright backlight to the rings.

Cameras aboard Cassini also caught images of wispy fingers of icy material stretching out tens of thousands of kilometers (miles) from Enceladus, another confirmation that the moon is spraying material that may be making up Saturn's outer E-ring.

Saturn has at least 47 known moons and at least seven rings.The joint US-European Space Agency Cassini mission, launched in 1997, is spending four years examining Saturn.

The new ring can be barely seen outside the brighter main rings of Saturn and inside the G and E rings.

“'Both the new ring and the unexpected structures in the E ring should provide us with important insights into how moons can both release small particles and sculpt their local environments,” said Matt Hedman, a research associate at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Cassini also caught a color picture of Earth,which appears to be a pale blue orb, nearly 1.5 billion km or 930 million miles away. — Reuters

Indian worker cremated 2 months after death

Dubai, September 20
An Indian worker in Bahrain was cremated two months after his death owing to confusion over his name mentioned in the medical reports.

Muthanna Poshanna's body was lying in the mortuary due to the confusion over his name in the medical reports. According to Bahrain Tribune, the out pass certificate issued by the Indian Embassy stated the name as "Marampally Muthanna Poshannav". But the medical records at the Salmaniya Medical Complex had mentioned the name as "Muthanna Poshannav".

Poshanna died of tuberculosis and HIV infection. The authorities sorted out the issue later and gave the go-ahead for the cremation which was conducted on Monday.

In another case, the cremation of another man, who died in 2004, is yet to be done.

In March, 2004, Dandapani Govindan passed away and his body has been lying in the morgue because his family contended that he was killed and his death was not natural. — PTI

Blast at Mittal’s Kazakh mine kills 41

Moscow, September 20
At least 41 miners were killed and 25 others trapped with little chance of survival in a blaze in a Kazakh coal mine owned by Mittal Steels today.

There were 374 miners in Lenin coal mine in the town of Shakhtinsk in Kazakhstan when the fire broke out at 8.56 am local time.

“Forty one bodies have so far been recovered from the mine, while 25 miners still remain there,” Mittal Steel Timertau’s Coal Division chief Grigory Prezent was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

He said that there was little chance of survival of the trapped miners.

Due to heavy smoke and high temperature, about 100 rescuers had stopped rescue operation for the time being, he added. — PTI

6-yr-old girl set ablaze

London, September 20
Two men murdered a six-year-old girl by setting fire to her house to warn her brother of a relationship he was having with the sister of one of them, the Birmingham Crown Court was informed.

The victim, Alisha Begum, suffered 95 per cent burns and died after a masked man burst into her home, sprayed petrol around and set it alight. The fire spread so quickly that members of her family had to jump out of upstairs windows to escape.

The court was informed yesterday that the attack was planned by Hussain Ahmed, a 26-year-old dentist, and Daryll Tuzzio, 18, after Ahmed found out his 15-year-old sister was seeing Alisha’s brother, Abdul Hamid, 21. — UNI

Bush, Musharraf, Karzai to meet on Sept 27

Washington, September 20
US President George W Bush and his counterparts in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pervez Musharraf and Hamid Karzai, will meet on September 27 to discuss trilateral relationship among the three countries, the White House has said.

“The meeting will provide the three leaders an opportunity to discuss further cooperation in enhancing the trilateral relationship,” the White House said in a statement. — PTI