W O R L D

Consensus in PPP on Zardari as PM
PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari today completed protracted consultations on the choice of party candidate for Prime Minister with consensus opinion favouring Zardari to fill the slot.

Mush convenes Assembly session on
March 17
President Gen Pervez Musharraf today signed the summary to convene sessions of the national and provincial assemblies on March 17.

Obama says no to ‘dream ticket’
Senator Barack Obama on Monday dismissed his rival's suggestions of a "dream ticket" and made it clear he was not running for vice- president of the USA.

Sikh girl fighting for bracelet ban attends another school
London, March 11
A Sikh student of Indian origin, who had been excluded from attending her school in Wales since November 2007, for refusing to take off her iron bangle ‘kada’, has been allowed to attend another school pending a court ruling.

Indian workers sue employer, embassy dispatches officials
Houston, March 11
Over 100 Indians, who quit work in a Mississippi shipyard, have sued their employer demanding “tens of millions of dollars” in damages for allegedly bringing them to the US on a false promise of permanent residency and forcing them to work under inhuman conditions.

Camilla’s bodyguard found shot dead
London, March 11
A senior bodyguard of Prince Charles’ wife Camilla was found shot dead by the police and an investigation has been ordered into his death.

Consensus in PPP on Zardari as PM
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari today completed protracted consultations on the choice of party candidate for Prime Minister with consensus opinion favouring Zardari to fill the slot.

Party MPs authorised Zardari to announce the name himself. A party spokesman said Zardari was likely to do that on the eve of the Assembly session, which had been convened on March 17.

Party sources said the prospects of Amin Fahim had faded dramatically following his public statements protesting against the attitude of the leadership to bypass him during negotiations with other political parties. He was particularly indignant over Zardari’s decision to negotiate an accord with PML chief Nawaz Sharif in Murree dropping him from the party team.

PPP information secretary Sherry Rehman told reporters here that a senior PPP leader was assigned the task to invite Fahim, but he could not do that because of a mix up. Zardari told reporters in Murree that Fahim was invited but he could not come because of some preoccupation. Fahim reacted sharply and pointed out that he was present in Islamabad the whole day and could have been approached directly by Zardari on telephone or by any other means.

“I am not a guest artist,” he retorted in response to Sherry Rehman’s assertion.

Rehman has also protested against PML-N leader’s assertion that Sharif expressed his reservations to Zardari against the nomination of Fahim as Prime Minister because of his close links with Musharraf. A PML-N leader, Khawaja Asif, who has been negotiating with the PPP team, said the coalition parties felt that they could not trust a Musharraf proxy in such an important post.

“We recognise that it is the prerogative of the PPP to choose the candidate for Prime Minister’s post,” Asif said in interviews with several private TV channels. But, he said, the Prime Minister should have confidence of all coalition partners. He said Fahim had been meeting frequently with Musharraf and both were together the day PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim acknowledged that he had been meeting with Musharraf and his aides, but said these meetings were held with the approval of Benazir Bhutto and Zardari after her death. He, however, refuted that he met Musharraf on the night of Benazir’s assassination.

“This is a cruel charge and I have protested to Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari against Khawaja Asif’s statements,” Fahim said.

He insisted he was still a candidate for the prime ministerial office, emphasising that he was the president of the PPP parliamentarians under whose banner the party was registered and had contested elections. He discounted reports that he would quit the party if not chosen as candidate.

Mush convenes Assembly session on March 17
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

President Gen Pervez Musharraf today signed the summary to convene sessions of the national and provincial assemblies on March 17.

Official sources said a notification on the basis of the summary would be issued within a day setting the schedule for the Assembly sessions. Newly elected members would take oath in the inaugural session and elect speaker and deputy speaker the next day. Another date would be announced for the election of leader of the House, who would be invited by the President to take over as Prime Minister.

The assemblies would meet exactly a month after the February 18 elections after which political parties were calling for an early convening of assemblies and formation of government.

However, Musharraf has taken his time to respond. The two leading winners, the PPP and the PML-N, in their summit meeting in Murree on Sunday expressed concern over delay in the Assembly session convening.

PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal expressed surprise that President Musharraf had caused delay of one more week for the Assembly to meet without apparent reason. He said political parties were already voicing concern over conspiratorial atmosphere in the Army House where the President was engaged in devising plans to thwart popular mandate.

Obama says no to ‘dream ticket’
Ashish Kumar Sen writes from Washington

Sikh girl fighting for bracelet ban attends another school

London, March 11
A Sikh student of Indian origin, who had been excluded from attending her school in Wales since November 2007, for refusing to take off her iron bangle ‘kada’, has been allowed to attend another school pending a court ruling.

Sarika Singh (14) hit the headlines when the Aberdare Girls Comprehensive School, Wales, refused to allow her to wear the ‘kada’ during school time saying it violated its dress code.

Singh’s case, supported by the Human Right Organisation Liberty, is currently awaiting hearing in the high court in London.

Until the case is heard, Singh has been allowed to attend another school within the same Rhondda Cynon Taf Local Education Authority area.

In a statement, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said: “Sarika Singh is attending Mountain Ash Comprehensive School pending the outcome of a high court case. The school says that they are happy for her to wear the Kada.”

Cynon Valley MP Ann Clwyd, has called on Governors at the Aberdare Girls School not to waste public money in fighting a case they cannot win.

She said: “The advice I have received from fellow MPs, the Sikh Association and Liberty, is that Sarika will win her case. There are legal precedents establishing a Sikh pupils right to wear those items that are essential to their religion. — PTI

Indian workers sue employer, embassy dispatches officials

Houston, March 11
Over 100 Indians, who quit work in a Mississippi shipyard, have sued their employer demanding “tens of millions of dollars” in damages for allegedly bringing them to the US on a false promise of permanent residency and forcing them to work under inhuman conditions.

The Indian embassy said it would take whatever action was required to protect the interests of its citizens as two senior diplomats were dispatched to New Orleans to get in touch with the Indian workers, the NGOs representing them and the employer Signal International.

“Based on their findings we will take whatever action is needed to safeguard the legitimate interests of our citizens,” Rahul Chabra, minister handling media affairs at the Indian Embassy, said in Washington.

US Congressman George Miller has also demanded that the US secretary of labour investigate the case.

Saket Soni, director of the New Orleans Workers’ Centre for Racial Justice, said the lawsuit against Signal International, a marine construction company which has denied the charges, and its American and Indians recruiters was filed in a US federal court in New Orleans, Louisiana. — PTI

Camilla’s bodyguard found shot dead

London, March 11
A senior bodyguard of Prince Charles’ wife Camilla was found shot dead by the police and an investigation has been ordered into his death.

“I can confirm that an investigation is taking place into the sudden death of a Wiltshire police officer at an address near Calne yesterday,” assistant chief constable Andy Marsh of Wiltshire police said today.

Sgt Richard Fuller (55), a veteran firearms expert, is believed to have shot himself with his shotgun at his home near Calne, a few kms from Ray Mill, the Duchess’s six-bedroom country home, where he was head of security.

The Duchess of Cornwall and the Prince of Wales, who are currently touring the Caribbean, were informed of the incident yesterday.

“The Duchess of Cornwall was very saddened to hear the death of Sgt (Richard) Fuller,” a spokesman for the Clarence House said. — PTI