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Thai PM not for early polls
Now, Pakistan blocks Twitter
N Waziristan operation not at US behest: Pak
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Hitler posters in pink dress cause storm in Italy
Pak Taliban blow up 2 ‘US spies’ publicly
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Bangkok, May 21 The anti-government “red shirt” protesters, who rioted in Bangkok come mainly from the rural and urban poor. They have demanded new elections, saying the urban elite disenfranchised them. “Let me reassure you that this government will meet these challenges and overcome these difficulties through the five-point reconciliation plan that I had previously announced," said Abhisit in a televised address to the nation. The plan, first announced on May 3, offers political reforms, social justice and an investigation into the political violence. Before the latest violence, Abhisit had offered elections in November, but he withdrew the offer when the “red shirts” refused to disperse, leaving Thailand's political divisions unhealed. Troops manned razor-wire roadblocks and searched the vehicles in Bangkok today. Others swept through the posh shopping area that had been the protesters’ camp for six weeks, searching for weapons and explosives in the now-deserted battleground. ”You can be assured that this government has every intention of moving the country forward, restoring order, making sure that our recovery is well on track and that we will do so in a transparent manner," said Abhisit. The “red shirts” say Abhisit lacks a popular mandate after coming to power in a controversial parliamentary vote in 2008 with tacit military support. They broadly support former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted by the military in 2006 and now living in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail term for abuse of power. Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said he still expected an early poll and that it was highly unlikely the government would stay in office for its full term, which ends in early 2012. Meanwhile, the military crackdown that began before dawn on Wednesday, killed at least 15 people and wounded nearly 100. Erawan Emergency Medical Centre said 53 people had died and 413 were wounded in the latest flare-up since May 14. Many shops and banks were closed, public transport was limited and a weeklong public holiday ensured many of the 15 million residents stayed at home. — Reuters
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Now, Pakistan blocks Twitter
Islamabad, May 21 Pakistani users were unable to log into Twitter after internet service providers blocked access to the site. When users tried to log into site, there browsers displayed a message that said "this site is restricted." Over the past two days, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has blocked websites like Facebook and Youtube, citing "sacrilegious contents" on the websites as the reason for the action. The crackdown began after the Lahore High Court issued an order for blocking Facebook over a page hosting a contest for blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammad. Over 450 URLs have been blocked so far by the authorities. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) yesterday said that YouTube had been blocked due to "sacrilegious contents" but did not point to specific material on the website that prompted the authorities to block it. The government acted against both Facebook and YouTube after it failed to persuade the websites to remove the "derogatory material," the statement said. —
PTI
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N Waziristan operation not at US behest: Pak
Pakistan has made it clear that the armed forces would launch an operation in North Waziristan in keeping with the country’s plans and priorities, and not at the behest of Washington. “As far as North Waziristan is concerned, that will be our sovereign decision as to when and how to proceed,” Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at his weekly briefing. He was commenting on media reports that Pakistan had agreed, in principle, to launch a full-fledged military operation against the Taliban in North Waziristan, during a meeting on Wednesday of the country’s political and military leadership with US national security adviser Gen James Jones and CIA chief Leon Panetta. The US is reported to have ratcheted up pressure on Pakistan to act decisively against militant sanctuaries in North Waziristan after confronting the country’s leadership with incontrovertible evidence that Faisal Shahzad, the accused in the botched Times Square bombing, had received training there. According to a report from Washington, two senior US officials- Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen- yesterday said the US was not pushing Pakistan to launch a military offensive in North Waziristan. At a briefing at the Pentagon, both Gates and Mullen indicated that this week’s talks between President Asif Ali Zardari and the visiting US national security adviser and the CIA chief in Islamabad focused on the strategy for combating terrorism and not any particular operation. The spokesman said India had been intimated about Pakistan’s desire to invoke arbitration on the construction of Kishanganga hydropower project in violation of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. “We intend to set up a court of arbitration as provided for in the dispute settlement mechanism under the Article-IX of the Indus Waters Treaty. We have invoked the mechanism and hope that India will respond positively, so we can proceed ahead and have our differences and disputes over the Kishanganga project resolved amicably,” the spokesman added.
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Hitler posters in pink dress cause storm in Italy
London, May 21 They show Hitler wearing a bright pink uniform above the slogan "Change Style - Don't Follow Your Leader", The Telegraph reported on Friday. Local people have found the posters offensive and demanded that they be removed. “The use of an image of a person responsible for the worst chapters of the last century is offensive to our country’s constitutional principles and to the sensitivities of citizens,” Rosario Filoramo, a city councillor, was quoted as saying. Fabrizio Ferrandelli, an official, said: “Having Hitler’s face on a poster… cannot be passed off as an innocent advertising message. Seeing these posters in front of schools is an embarrassment.” Daniele Manno, who works for the advertising agency running the campaign, said the Hitler poster was a tongue-in-cheek way of encouraging people not to follow the crowd in their fashion choices. “We have ridiculed Hitler in a way that invites young people to create their own style and not to be influenced by their peers.” — IANS
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Pak Taliban blow up 2 ‘US spies’ publicly
Islamabad, May 21 The Taliban carried out the execution yesterday in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, where the US authorities suspect that a large number of top Al Qaeda, Taliban and Haqqani network commanders are hiding. “Masked Taliban gunmen strapped explosive devices to the bodies of the two alleged spies and blew them up before a big crowd," local police officials said. Witnesses said body parts of the two men were scattered over a large area and could not be gathered for burial. — PTI
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