S P O T L I G H T

Grenade attack on Pak mosque
Quetta, April 2
At least two persons were killed and 35 wounded after assailants hurled a grenade at Muslim worshippers as they left a mosque in Pakistan’s southwestern border town of Chaman, the police said today. The attack, which the police said appeared to be a botched robbery attempt, took place on Monday evening. Witnesses said the two unidentified assailants who hurled the grenade were robbers attempting to free a cohort who had been grabbed by the crowd. In recent months, there have been a series of explosions and terrorist attacks in various parts of the country. AP

No imminent attack on Iraq: Straw
London, April 2
Britain dismissed suggestions that U.S.-led military action against Iraq was imminent, saying today that it was confident that Washington would act proportionately to the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Iraq posed a “very severe danger” to the Middle East and the rest of the world by continuing to build up stocks of weapons of mass destruction. British media reported yesterday that Mr Blair had delayed the release of a dossier on Iraq’s weapons threat amid speculation that it provided too little evidence to justify a military campaign against Baghdad. Reuters

Sikander Bakht is new Kerala Governor
New Delhi, April 2
Sikander Bakht, the prominent Muslim face of the BJP for years and a former Union Minister, was today appointed Governor of Kerla. Mr Bakht, whose term as a member of the Rajya Sabha ended last month, will succeed retired Justice S.S. Kang. PTI