W O R L D

Statute changes need new House approval: Pak SC
Islamabad, October 1
In a significant observation that could have serious ramifications on the political future of President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s Supreme Court said new laws and rules promulgated by his government would not be valid without the approval of Parliament to be elected on October 10.

Worst terror schools in Pakistan: USA
Washington, October 1
Observing that some of the “worst schools of terrorism and religious extremism” exist in Pakistan, Washington has assured Islamabad of economic assistance required to defeat terrorists. Pakistan needs economic assistance to defeat terrorists who use the country as a hub, Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the inaugural session of the US-Pakistan Business Council here.

Iraqi schoolgirls hold pictures of President Saddam Hussein during a gathering in Baghdad on Tuesday. Iraq is preparing to vote for another seven-year term for Saddam in a referendum scheduled for October 15. — Reuters

Iraqi envoys draw a blank in Turkey, Iran
Ankara, October 1
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said today Iraq must cooperate fully with United Nations weapons inspectors to avoid US military action. Turkey, a NATO member, is a close ally of the USA, which may ask for its help in any strike to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Efforts on to get Lankan soldiers released
Colombo, October 1
The head of Sri Lanka’s ceasefire monitoring body left today for the eastern town of Trincomalee in a bid to obtain the release of seven army soldiers detained by the LTTE for the past six days.

Statute changes need new House approval: Pak SC

Islamabad, October 1
In a significant observation that could have serious ramifications on the political future of President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s Supreme Court said new laws and rules promulgated by his government would not be valid without the approval of parliament to be elected on October 10.

A full Bench of the Supreme Court yesterday observed that the laws promulgated under the provisional constitutional order (PCO) had no legal status without the validation by parliament.

“The laws promulgated by the executive authority under the order have no legal or constitutional status unless and until the coming elected parliament validates them,” Mr Justice Qazi Muhammad Farooq, one of the three judges of the Bench, said while hearing an election appeal petition.

The judge said the only way any legislation brought under a PCO could be part of the constitution was through a notification and its endorsement by parliament.

Once the constitution was put in abeyance nothing could be inserted or deleted from it, the judge was quoted as saying by the media today.

The judge specially mentioned the legal framework order (LFO) brought in by the Musharraf government, outlining various new electoral rules, including the controversial clause to prevent people convicted by courts from contesting elections — a law that led to the exclusion of Benazir Bhutto from the poll process.

The Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, Choudhary Mohammad Ashraf Wahla, said the observations were a “silver lining” in the “darkest era” of constitutional history.

The court’s observation could have serious political ramifications as the PCO, which was promulgated by Musharraf after he took over power in 1999, formed the bed-rock of the legal standing of his regime.

Technically the PCO lapses this month as the Supreme Court validating the 1999 coup has fixed October 12 as the date, the military government should hand over power to an elected administration.

Significantly, Musharraf told the media yesterday that the new Prime Minister to be elected after the elections need not take oath under the PCO.

Meanwhile, piqued by observations by EU poll monitors questioning the credibility of the elections, President Pervez Musharraf has asked them to restrict their role to monitoring the elections and avoid making remarks on the political environment.

Taking a serious view of the reported EU observations questioning the legality of barring former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from contesting, Musharraf said they should confine themselves to monitoring the poll and refrain from making political comments.

Meanwhile, the EU observers team headed by John Cushnahan has clarified that what was published in the Pakistani media two days ago was not an interim report but part of “briefing”. PTI

Worst terror schools in Pakistan: USA

Washington, October 1
Observing that some of the “worst schools of terrorism and religious extremism” exist in Pakistan, Washington has assured Islamabad of economic assistance required to defeat terrorists. Pakistan needs economic assistance to defeat terrorists who use the country as a hub, Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the inaugural session of the US-Pakistan Business Council here.

Stating that the Bush administration valued the help provided by President Musharraf to fight terrorism, he, however, said, “Unfortunately, today some of the worst schools of terrorism and religious extremism are in Pakistan”.

Emphasising that terrorism cannot be fought without economic prosperity, he assured Pakistan that the US Government would help in this “enormous task”. PTI

Iraqi envoys draw a blank in Turkey, Iran

Ankara, October 1
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said today Iraq must cooperate fully with United Nations weapons inspectors to avoid US military action.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a close ally of the USA, which may ask for its help in any strike to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. But Ankara fears a war could damage its economy and spread unrest in the region.

Iraq has said it will allow arms inspectors to return and discussions toward that end were under way in Vienna.

“The important thing from now on is how this will be implemented,’’ Ecevit told reporters after meeting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz. “The Baghdad administration must not give anybody an opportunity.’’

Earlier, Iraq told neighbouring Turkey that it would jeopardise its own interests and destroy friendship with Baghdad if it backed US strikes.

TEHRAN: Iranian Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani said today Iran would not take part in any military action on neighbouring Iraq, even if approved by a UN resolution.

Iran is worried about fallout from a U.S. military attack on its western neighbour and said it would adopt a policy of “active neutrality’’ on possible conflict in Iraq.

Asked at news conference what Tehran would do if a military attack on Iraq was backed up by UN resolution, Admiral Shamkhani said: “We will not participate in any military attack on Iraq.’’ The USA has labelled Iran as part of an “axis of evil’’.

Despite Iran’s unease about U.S. military moves in its own backyard, the Islamic Republic is no friend of President Saddam Hussein. Iran and Iraq fought a bitter eight-year war in the 1980s which killed around one million people. Reuters

Efforts on to get Lankan soldiers released

Colombo, October 1
The head of Sri Lanka’s ceasefire monitoring body left today for the eastern town of Trincomalee in a bid to obtain the release of seven army soldiers detained by the LTTE for the past six days.

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) chief Trond Furuhovde was accompanied by Sri Lanka army commander Lt-Gen. Lionel Balagalle on his mission to resolve the issue, officials said.

The rebels claim the soldiers were arrested for being found on territory controlled by the LTTE, but the army insists that the village in which they were rounded up, Welgamvehara, fell under areas run by the government.

Trincomalee district members of the SLMM have been unable to obtain their release, after the LTTE insisted that they will only be exchanged for two rebels arrested recently for being found with arms in the government-held areas.

Local press reports said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had taken a serious view of the development, considering it a truce violation by the LTTE, and instructed his peace secretariat to seek the soldiers’ release through the monitoring body.

LTTE political wing members told relatives of the detained soldiers that they would be freed only if the government released two rebels arrested recently for carrying assault rifles and hand grenades.

The SLMM, however, does not want to equate the two cases, as the LTTE men have been remanded by courts after being found on land indisputably under government control. It does not want to interfere with the judicial process. PTI

GLOBAL MONITOR

INDIAN AMERICANS FLOAT BODY
WASHINGTON: A group of Indian Americans, comprising mostly doctors has floated an organisation called the Indian American Republican Council (IARC) to work with the Republican Party at the federal, state and local levels. IARC Chairman R. Vijaynagar said: “The idea was to unite Indian American Republicans as all of them are scattered, some of them are Democrats some Republicans with no real unified objective in mind. We thought it is better to bring the community activists together,” he said. IANS

SPEAKER'S SONS HELD AFTER SHOOTOUT
SANAA: Two sons of the Speaker of Yemen’s Parliament have been arrested after a shootout left four people dead near the British Embassy, the official SABA news agency said. “The public prosecutor’s office had Hussein and Hasem Al-Ahmar were put under arrest on Monday... for attacking policemen and disturbing public order,” the agency said. Four other sons of speaker Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, named as Hashed, Hamid, Mozhaj and Kahtan, also involved in Sunday’s gunbattle, “will be heard and questioned today by the public prosecutor in Sanaa as part of the inquiry.” AFP

SMUGGLERS ABANDON BUDDHA STATUES
COX’S BAZAR (Bangladesh): Thieves have abandoned 30 gold Buddha statues being smuggled from Burma to Bangladesh on a boat after being intercepted by the authorities concerned. “The statues, worth about $ 1.7 million, are believed to have been smuggled into the country from Myanmar, across the Naf,’’ Lieut-Col Fazlur Rahman Mridha of the Bangladesh Rifles said. Reuters

PAK TIT-BITS

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf (L) meets with US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca in Islamabad on Tuesday. Rocca arrived in Pakistan from New Delhi to discuss regional security issues with officials. — Reuters

SHARIF KIN CLEARED OF DEFAULT CHARGES
ISLAMABAD: A full Bench of the Lahore High Court has exonerated deposed Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shahbaz from allegations of bank defaulting, but at the same time dismissed his appeal against rejection of his nomination papers to contest the coming elections. The court in its judgement on Monday observed that “contention of Mian Shahbaz Sharif had come up to the merit”, local daily The News said. PTI

JAILED SUNNI ULTRAS CLEARED FOR POLL
LAHORE: A Pakistani court on Tuesday approved the application of a jailed leader of an outlawed Sunni militant group to run in the legislative elections, dismissing a government challenge to prevent his candidacy. Maulana Azam Tariq, leader of Sipaha-e-Sahaba, was cleared to run for a parliament seat from the Punjab provincial city of Jhang, a three-judge panel ruled. AP