Arrest warrant against Maldives ex-President

MALE: A criminal court in the Maldives has issued an arrest order for former President Mohamed Nasheed and his former Defence Minister, party officials said here today.

"The court has given the order to arrest Nasheed and the (former) Defence Minister," Adam Gafoor, a senior figure in Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party, told AFP.

A second party source confirmed the news, but new Maldives police chief Abdulla Riyas said he had no knowledge of the order.

"I am not aware of it," he said.

Meanwhile, the wife and daughters of former Maldives' president Mohamed Nasheed have fled to Colombo as violence worsens, a presidential spokesman in Sri Lanka and a family member said.

"His wife and two children arrived and spoke to the President over the phone last evening," a spokesman for Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, Bandula Jayasekera, said.

"President Rajapakse was concerned over the safety of Nasheed and his family." A family member in Male, who asked not to be named, confirmed the news, saying: "They are in Sri Lanka... It's much safer than here." — AFP

Gilani must write to Swiss govt to reopen graft cases: Pak SC

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Supreme Court today insisted that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani should write to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, saying no one was above the law.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said the proceedings against the Prime Minister would end if he wrote a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen cases of alleged money laundering against Zardari.

Chaudhry made the remarks while hearing Gilani's appeal against an order summoning him on February 13 for the framing of charges in a contempt of court case for refusing to revive the cases against Zardari.

The person involved in these cases is the head of the Prime Minister's party but no one is above the law, he said.

The $60 million that was allegedly laundered will come back to Pakistan only if the letter is written to Swiss authorities, the eight-judge Bench said.

The Bench further directed Gilani's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan to remove some "objectionable" paragraphs from Gilani's appeal.

In these paragraphs, Gilani had questioned the contempt case initiated against him even though he had freed several top judges who had been detained by the regime of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

Ahsan yesterday filed Gilani's appeal against a different Bench's order summoning him on February 13 for the framing on contempt of court charges.

The 200-page appeal pointed out more than 50 legal and constitutional points which support the view that the premier did not go against the Constitution by not reopening the cases against Zardari. — PTI

Memo scandal: Ijaz fails to appear before Pak commission

ISLAMABAD: American businessman Mansoor Ijaz today failed to avail a final opportunity to depose before a Pakistani judicial commission investigating the memo scandal, with his lawyer saying that he was prepared to record his statement at the Pakistani mission in London.

The Supreme Court-appointed commission observed that Ijaz had made a U-turn on the issue of coming to Pakistan to depose despite all sorts of assurances given by the government about his security.

During a hearing last month, the commission had given Ijaz a final opportunity to depose before it today about the mysterious memo that had sought US help to stave off a feared military coup in Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden in May last year.

The three-judge commission issued the direction after Ijaz failed to appear before the panel on two occasions.

In messages sent through this lawyer Akram Sheikh, Ijaz had cited security concerns as his reason for not coming to Pakistan.

During today's hearing, Sheikh told the panel that Ijaz did not want to come to Pakistan but was ready to provide evidence about the memo and record his statement outside the country.

After consulting Ijaz during a recess in the hearing, Sheikh informed the commission that Ijaz was prepared to record his statement at the Pakistan High Commission in London.

Sheikh further contended that the commission did not have the right to summon Ijaz, a US national, who had voluntarily offered to appear before the panel. — PTI

Porn row: Cong demands Karnataka CM's resignation

PANAJI: The Congress today demanded resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on moral grounds in the wake of two out of three ministers in his government found watching a porn clip on a cell phone in the state legislative Assembly.

"BJP which talks of high morals and ethics has no face left. What will its president Nitin Gadkari say now on this episode?" All-India Congress Committee Secretary Sudhakar Reddy said.

Two out of three BJP ministers in the Sadananda Gowda government — Laxman Savdi, C.C. Patil and Krishna Palemar — were caught on camera watching a porn flick on their mobile phone during Assembly proceedings.

They yesterday put down their papers following the furore over the incident. The matter does not end with the resignation of the ministers. The Chief Minister should also resign on moral grounds, Reddy said.

"The porn clip episode reveals the real face of the BJP which claims itself as a party with culture. It is indicating what kind of culture they are boasting of," Reddy said, adding the Congress was an age-old party and had always maintained its dignity. — PTI