The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Call for tougher self-regulation for UK media

Lord Justice Brian Leveson delivers his findings into the Leveson Report, which is based on a major inquiry set up after the phone-hacking scandal, at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in London on Thursday. AFP

London, November 29
Britain should introduce the first press law since the 17th century to rein in an "outrageous" press which had "wreaked havoc" in the lives of innocent people, a major inquiry set up after the phone-hacking scandal in Rupert Murdoch's tabloid recommended today.

In his damning report running into 2000-pages, Lord Justice Brian Leveson said the British press must create a new and tough regulator but it had to be backed by legislation to ensure it was effective.

He said the press had failed to properly regulate itself in the past, but he believed the law could be used to "validate" a new body.

Leveson said the British newspaper industry had "wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people" and "acted as if its own code, which it wrote, simply did not exist". He said behaviour of the press "at times, can only be described as outrageous". "The press has to be accountable to the public in whose interests it claims to be acting and must show respect for the rights of others," Leveson said in his report based on eight months of testimony from hacking victims, politicians and media figures.

Prime Minister David Cameron in Downing Street in London. Reuters

"It should not be acceptable that it uses its voice, power, and authority to undermine the ability of society to require that regulation is not a free for all, to be ignored with impunity. The answer to the question who guards the guardians, should not be 'no-one'," he said.

Leveson acknowledged that all of the press served the country "very well for the vast majority of the time".

However, critics warn that state regulation would lead to newspaper licensing, which was brought in during the English Civil War in 1643 and scrapped 50 years later under William III.

British Prime Minister David Cameron had set up the inquiry last year after it emerged that journalists at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid of Rupert Murdoch had hacked the phone of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old murdered schoolgirl, as well as targeting dozens of crime victims, celebrities and politicians.

British police has launched three linked investigations into misdeeds by newspapers, while Cameron's former spokesman Andy Coulson and ex-Murdoch aide Rebekah Brooks have both been charged with phone hacking and bribery.

Reacting to Leveson's report, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had serious concerns about proposals.

"I have some serious concerns and misgivings on this recommendation," Cameron said in a statement after senior judge Brian Leveson handed down his report.

"We will have crossed the rubicon of writing elements of press regulation into the law of the land... we should think very, very carefully before crossing this line," Cameron said.

Currently, the British press is self-regulated through the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).

But Leveson said that a statutory body such as Ofcom should take responsibility for monitoring an overhauled PCC. — PTI

31 Shiites killed in Iraq

Hilla (Iraq), November 29
Bombs targeting Shiite Muslims in areas south of Baghdad today killed 31 persons and wounded 98 others, security and medical officials said. The attacks marked the second wave of bombings against Shiites this week after three car bombs exploded near their places of worship in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 12 persons and wounding 50 others.

In today's attacks, two roadside bombs targeting a group of Shiite pilgrims in the city of Hilla killed 26 persons and wounded 85 others, police and medical sources said.

The deceased included two women, three children, two medics and a civil defence member, they said.

The Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area of the blasts and set up checkpoints in the city to search cars and shops near the site were shuttered after the attack.

In the shrine city of Karbala, a car bomb exploded under a bridge, killing five persons and wounding 13 others, a police spokesman and a medical official said.

The spokesman said the security forces closed off all roads leading to the old city, where Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam, is buried, and were searching for a second car bomb. — AFP

UN court acquits Kosovo ex-PM of war crimes

The Hague, November 29
The UN Yugoslav war crimes court today acquitted Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and two aides in a retrial on charges of murder and torture during the 1990s war of independence from Belgrade.

"The chamber finds you not guilty on all counts in the indictment," Judge Bakone Justice Moloto told the Hague-based court, ordering the men released in a decision that is certain to enrage Belgrade.

The court's public gallery erupted in cries of joy as the acquittals were announced.

Haradinaj (44) and his aide Idriz Balaj (41) were being retried on six war-crime charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for allegedly murdering and torturing Serbs and non-Albanians during the 1998-99 war.

Third accused Lahi Brahimaj (42) faced four counts for his role in the fight between independence-seeking ethnic
Albanian guerrillas and the Belgrade forces of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

The proceedings were broadcast live on a giant screen in the Kosovo capital Pristina, where Haradinaj is considered a hero by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority who had high hopes of an acquittal. — AFP

Palestine hopeful of winning upgraded status bid at UN
Ashish Kumar Sen in West Bank

Palestinians, buoyed by the prospect of a victory at the United Nations on Thursday, have no intention of caving to US pressure to drop their bid for a “non-member observer state” or making a promise not to sue Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The US on Wednesday made a last-ditch effort to persuade Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas not to seek the elevation from “permanent observer” status.

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Middle East envoy David Hale met Abbas in New York but failed to persuade him to withdraw the resolution or make amendments.

Abbas will make the Palestinian case at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday and spell out the conditions for talks with Israel.

Brazil will present the resolution for a vote at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

In Jerusalem, Israeli officials were resigned to the fact that the Palestinians will garner enough votes at the UN. “Our sense is that they will succeed” at the UN, said an Israeli official who spoke on background.

“We are concerned it could further derail attempts to reach peace between us,” he added.

The elevated UN status would allow the Palestinians to participate in General Assembly debates and would improve their chances of joining UN agencies and the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

If they are allowed to sign the ICC's Rome Statute, the Palestinians intend to challenge Israel's occupation of the West Bank in the court.

“It would make us deeply unhappy if Palestinians go to The Hague tomorrow and sue Israel for being on their land,” said the Israeli official.

“If the Palestinians pursue illegal means against us, we will lawyer up,” he added. Palestinians are determined not to rule out taking Israel to court.

Xavier Abu Eid, a communication adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said in Ramallah that Palestinians will not give up their “right” to go to the ICC.

“We will not go on Friday to the ICC, but it is my right and I shall not relinquish my right,” he said. Britain said this week that it would abstain from voting unless the Palestinians committed not to seek an ICC case against Israel and pledged an immediate return to negotiations with Israel, which broke down in 2010.

Abu Eid said it was up to each country to stand up for Palestinians’ right to self-determination. “Is this resolution going to bring freedom? No. It is a step in the right direction,” he said. He intends to celebrate the likely triumph at the UN with a bottle of champagne.

The US has led the opposition against Palestinian attempts at declaring statehood.

In 2011, the Palestinians failed in their bid to join the UN as a full member state due to a lack of support in the Security Council.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland warned that “no one should be under any illusion that this resolution is going to produce the results that the Palestinians claim to seek, namely to have their own state, living in peace next to Israel”.

UN agencies could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in financing if they admit Palestinians. US law prohibits funding for any international body that recognises a Palestinian state.

Some officials have dismissed the UN vote as symbolic. However, Abu Eid said: “If it were a symbolic move, why are they fighting us?” “We hope this resolution will be a game-changer,” he added.

The Impact

* The US on Wednesday made a last-ditch effort to persuade Palestine not to seek “non-member observer state” status

* Israeli officials think that the Palestinians will garner enough votes which could further derail peace attempts

* UN agencies could lose millions of dollars in financing if they admit Palestinians

Aakash tablet unveiled at UN

United Nations, November 29
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has lauded India as a "super-power" in the field of information technology as he unveiled the country's first indigenously created low-cost Aakash 2 tablet here.

The tablet was showcased at the UN headquarters yesterday on the occasion of the India's current Presidency of the UN Security Council.

CEO of Datawind, maker of the Aakash tablet, Suneet Singh Tuli, presented the device to the UN chief who voiced appreciation for the tablet for being "small and handy."

"India is a critical player on security issues, but you are also a leader on development and technology. Indeed, India is a super-power on the information superhighway. There is a reason places like Hyderabad are called 'Cyberabad'," Ban said in his remarks.

The UN chief said he is aware that 'Aakash' means 'sky' in Hindi and called on nations to work with the UN to help young people "reach for the sky and meet their dreams." He said technology is not an end in itself but is the key to empower people to make the most of their own potential. — PTI

26/11 plotter Headley, Rana’s sentencing in Jan

Chicago, November 29
The sentencing of American-born Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist David Headley, accused of involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, has been fixed for January 17, while that of his accomplice Tahawwur Rana has been rescheduled for January 15 from December 4.

According to Chicago court spokesperson Randall Samborn, US District Judge Harry Leinenweber will announce the sentence of the two accused, who have been charged with conspiracy of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and plan to attack a Denmark newspaper.

"The sentencing date for Rana has been rescheduled from December 4, 2012, to January 15, 2013, and the sentencing of David Coleman Headley has been scheduled for January 17, 2013. Each sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin at 9.45 am on those dates before US District Judge Harry Leinenweber of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse," the spokesperson said.

The 52-year-old Headley, who conducted reconnaissance of all the targets in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks for the LeT, has pleaded guilty of all the charges framed by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

Headley was accused by the FBI of plotting against the employees of a newspaper in Copenhagen and later of conspiring to bomb targets in Mumbai, providing material support to the terror group LeT and aiding and abetting the murder of US citizens in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

India hopeful of Headley extradition
New Delhi: India hopes the US would take a favourable decision on its request for extradition of David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana before their sentencing in January. New Delhi is awaiting a response from Washington on its request sent last month to extradite Headley and Rana, official sources said.

15 dossiers given to Pak so far
New Delhi: India has given a total of 15 dossiers to Pakistan as evidence in connection with the Mumbai terror attack, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed also said that during Home Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan in Islamabad on May 24-25, the Indian side handed over a list of fugitives from justice suspected to be hiding in Pakistan. "Pakistan assured that they will respond to the dossier,” he said.