W O R L D

Musharraf gets bail in Benazir Bhutto assassination case
Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was on Monday granted bail by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in connection with the 2007 Benazir Bhutto assassination case, but the former President will remain under house arrest.

Pak National Assembly to be convened on June 1
Islamabad, May 20
Preparations are afoot in Islamabad to convene the National Assembly by June 1 for oath taking and election of key offices, including the Speaker and the Prime Minister. The new government will be in place to announce budget for fiscal 2013-14, most probably on June 10.

Wave of attacks kills 86 in Iraq
Baghdad, May 20
A wave of attacks killed at least 86 persons in Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq today, officials said, pushing the death toll over the past week to over 230 and extending one of the most sustained bouts of sectarian violence the country has seen in years.

N Korea fires sixth missile 
Seoul, May 20
North Korea fired a sixth short-range missile into the Sea of Japan today, defying warnings from UN chief Ban Ki-moon and South Korea after a flurry of similar tests at the weekend.

A visitor stands next to a display of mock South Korean US-made Hawk surface-to-air missiles and a mock North Korean Scud-B ballistic missile (in gray) in Seoul on Monday. — Reuters

Fracas near UK gurdwara, 3 held
London, May 20
Three men have been arrested on public disorder and assault offences after a brawl outside a gurdwara in east England.

Musharraf gets bail in Benazir Bhutto assassination case
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was on Monday granted bail by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in connection with the 2007 Benazir Bhutto assassination case, but the former President will remain under house arrest.

The court ordered Musharraf to submit two surety bonds of Rs 1 million each even though the FIA prosecutor suggested that he should be made to pay Rs 1 billion for the bail.

Musharraf’s lawyers argued that this was a political case and the responsibility of Benazir’s security lay with the officers on duty not with Musharraf.

During the arguments, Musharraf's lawyer Salman Safdar said there was no solid evidence or witness against his client. He said Musharraf had not been blamed for the 2007 suicide attack that killed Bhutto by the family of any of the victims.

Another arrested suspect in the case Abdur Rasheed Turabi was denied bail by the court.

Musharraf is now at the centre of two cases — the illegal detention of judges case and the Akbar Bugti case. Musharraf’s lawyers plan to apply for bail in the judges’ detention case on May 22.

Safe exit for Musharraf?

PML-N sources said there was growing sense within the party’s ranks that Musharraf’s presence in the country and his possible trial could distract the new government from pressing issues. Therefore, if the former President is allowed to leave the country under the pretext of his mother’s ill health or any other reason, the party should not object to it.

Reportedly, a message has been circulated within the army that Musharraf will be allowed to leave the country soon. The ‘message’ was conveyed in a bid to pacify the growing unease within the army over the trial of its former chief.

Benazir was killed by a suicide bomber after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007. Musharraf has been accused of providing inadequate security to Bhutto.

Musharraf was arrested shortly after he returned to Pakistan in March to lead his All Pakistan Muslim League party in the general election. He was subsequently barred by a court from contesting polls for the rest of his life.  (With PTI inputs)

partial relief A Pakistani anti-terrorism court ordered Pervez Musharraf to submit two surety bonds of Rs 1 million each Musharraf’s lawyers argued that this was a political case and the responsibility of Benazir Bhutto’s security lay with the officers on duty not with the former President Musharraf is now at the centre of two cases — the illegal detention of judges case and the Akbar Bugti case

Pak National Assembly to be convened on June 1
Tribune News Service & PTI

Wave of attacks kills 86 in Iraq

Residents gather at the site of a bomb blast in Basra, near Baghdad, on Monday. — Reuters

Baghdad, May 20
A wave of attacks killed at least 86 persons in Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq today, officials said, pushing the death toll over the past week to over 230 and extending one of the most sustained bouts of sectarian violence the country has seen in years.

The attacks, some of which hit market places and crowded bus stops during the morning rush hour, have heightened fears that the country could be turning back down the path toward civil war in 2006-2007. 

The worst of today's violence took place in Baghdad, where 10 car bombs ripped through open-air markets and other areas, killing at least 48 persons and wounding over 150.

PM Nouri al-Maliki accused militant groups of trying to exploit Iraq's political instability to exacerbate sectarian tensions at home. — AP

N Korea fires sixth missile 

Fracas near UK gurdwara, 3 held

London, May 20
Three men have been arrested on public disorder and assault offences after a brawl outside a gurdwara in east England.

Witnesses reported around 10 worshippers at a weekly Sunday service at the Gurdwara Shri Guru Ram Das Prakash in Norwich involved in the fracas. Local police in the Norfolk county town have ruled out any racist motivation behind the incident.

Two men, aged 20 and 21, were arrested on suspicion of public order offences and taken to the Wymondham Police Investigation Centre for questioning. A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and taken to Great Yarmouth. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Tornadoes slam central US; 2 dead in Oklahoma 
Shawnee: Several tornadoes ravaged parts of the American heartland, reducing portions of a mobile home park to rubble and killing two elderly men. The storms concentrated damage in Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma. The National Weather Service was forecasting more of the same for the area, including Oklahoma City and Tulsa, on Monday afternoon and evening, warning of the possibility of tornadoes and baseball-sized hail. — AP

Nature’s fury: A TV grab of the damage in the aftermath of tornadoes that touched down just outside of Wellston in Oklahoma on Sunday. — AFP

Guptagate: Family acknowledges some ‘misjudgements’
Johannesburg: A well-connected Indian family in South Africa has acknowledged that some "misjudgements" could have been made in the process to secure landing rights for their chartered plane at a military air base for a lavish wedding, which sparked a controversy. "Perhaps some misjudgements may have been made," the Gupta family spokesperson Gary Naidoo said. The family said it had only wanted to hold a memorable wedding, but realised that some bad decisions could have been made in the process. — PTI

China presses N Korea over detained sailors
Beijing: China has called on Pyongyang to intervene over North Koreans detaining a Chinese fishing boat, it said on Monday, after the vessel's owner said armed hijackers had demanded a ransom for 16 sailors. Armed North Koreans seized the boat in waters between the two countries on May 6 and demanded 600,000 yuan for the men's release, its owner Yu Xuejun said, adding they were probably from the Pyongyang's military. — AFP

2 killed in Turkey hot-air balloon collision
Istanbul: Two Brazilian tourists died on Monday and 23 other persons were hurt after two hot-air balloons collided in central Turkey, officials said.The accident occurred over Cappadocia's sculpted rock formations when one balloon collided with the basket of another balloon above and crashed to the ground, the governor of Nevsehir province, Abdurrahman Savas, told Anatolia news agency. — AFP