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Amman/Baghdad, June 18 The wife of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has granted a 20-strong group of lawyers, mostly Jordanian Arabs, the right to defend her husband, according to an online report published today by Arab news channel Al-Jazeera.
Saddam was planning attacks on USA: Putin
US hostage ‘killed’
Annan opposes exemption for US
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US to facilitate Indo-Pak dialogue
India, Pak resent Brunei’s harsh
laws
UK backs India for Security Council seat
Pak Army kills pro-Taliban
tribal leader
UN office attacked in Afghanistan
India, Jordan to sign extradition treaty
Immigrants bag 30 pc US
jobs
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Amman/Baghdad, June 18 The report said Ms Sajida Khair Allah, who now lives in Jordan, signed an official power of attorney authorising full defence rights to the group, which includes Mr Hussain Mjalli, chairman of the Jordan Bar Association, and Muhamad al-Rashdan, reportedly assigned by Saddam’s family following the capture of the ex-ruler. Saddam has since his capture on December 13 by US forces been held at a secret location in Iraq while a special Iraqi tribunal convened to try members of the former regime for crimes against humanity prepares a case. It is not yet clear when the former dictator will come before a court, as reports emerged this week of difficulties facing investigators due to a lack of evidence and unwillingness of witnesses to testify for fear of retribution. Al-Rashdan and Mjalli are expected to base their defence on the legality of the US-led coalition’s occupation of Iraq, under which their right to hold and try Saddam also comes into question. “Iraq, Iraqi people, Iraqi law, and the Iraqi President were hijacked,’’ Mjalli told Al-Jazeera. ‘’The occupation of Iraq was illegal so ipso facto everything that follows is illegal.’’ Mjalli also called on US occupation forces to allow lawyers visit Saddam, a move he says is necessary to validate their appointment. The former Iraqi dictator has since his incarceration only been visited by two Red Cross delegations despite repeated requests from lawyers to be allowed meet |
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Saddam was planning attacks on USA: Putin
Moscow, June 18 Mr Putin, however, underscored that this did not give the USA an excuse for invading Iraq, as the intelligence information did not show Saddam’s involvement in any actual terror attacks. “Its true, after September 11, 2001 and till the beginning of the military operation in Iraq, several times the Russian intelligence got the information that the official bodies of the Saddam regime were preparing terror attacks on the American civilian and military targets on the US territory and outside,” Mr Putin, who is in Kazakh capital Astana, said in televised remarks. He was responding to an interfax agency report yesterday that had quoted an unidentified intelligence official saying that Russian intelligence agents shared information with their American counterparts in 2002 that Iraqi secret services were organising terrorist attacks against American facilities outside the USA. “This information was passed on to the American colleagues through channels of partnership. President Bush had an opportunity to thank the chief of one of the Russian intelligence services for a piece of very useful information, which he personally did,” Mr Putin said today. —
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US hostage ‘killed’ Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), June 18 “In answer to what we promised .... to kill the hostage Paul Marshall after the period is over ... the infidel got his fair treatment. ... Let him taste something from what Muslims tasted who were long reached by Apache helicopter fire and missiles,” the statement said. Johnson, 49, worked on targeting and night vision systems for Apache helicopters. —
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Annan opposes exemption for US
personnel
United Nations, June 18 “The blanket exemption is wrong. It is of dubious value and I don’t thing it should be encouraged by the council,” he said. Such a move would “discredit the council and the United Nations that stands for rule of law and the primacy of rule of law,” he said. In a forthright statement, Mr Annan did not mince words to tell Washington that it would be “unwise” for it to press for immunity from potential prosecutions by the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal. Mr Annan’s remarks came yesterday during a press encounter as the USA was trying hard to find requisite nine votes the 15-member council needs for the adoption of the resolution for exemption moved by Washington last month. After a contentious debate, the council had first granted exemption to the USA in July 2002 when Washington threatened to pull out all its peacekeepers from UN mission unless the council removes its personnel from the purview of the ICC. Last year, the exemption was extended by one more year, but the decision was not unanimous as France, Germany and Syria abstained. The current exemption expires on June 30. But this year, Brazil, France, Germany and Spain have reportedly given notice that they would abstain and China and Romania are among the members which are not yet on board. “I think in this circumstance it would be unwise to press for an exemption, and it would be even more unwise on the part of the Security Council to grant it,” Mr Annan said. The Bush administration says it wants exemption because it fears that the ICC, established in the Hague last year, could indulge in politically motivated prosecutions. But the ICC’s supporters and human rights groups argue that there are inbuilt safeguard and the USA has nothing to fear. The USA had singed the 1988 Rome Treaty establishing the court, but has not ratified it. As many as 94 of the 191 UN members have ratified the treaty. The USA is also signing bilateral agreements with various countries which bar prosecution of any American official in the court. Despite reference of abuses of prisoners by Mr Annan, the events in Iraq might not be covered by the ICC statute as both Iraq and the USA have signed the treaty. —
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US to facilitate Indo-Pak dialogue
Washington, June 18 “We have made that very clear. We certainly have good relations with both countries and we will continue to build on those relations and help to do our part to facilitate that dialogue so that we can continue to reduce tensions in the region,” he said. —
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India, Pak resent Brunei’s harsh laws
Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei), June 18 Pakistani High Commissioner Badr-ud-Deen said he and other diplomats had asked Brunei to extend an amnesty that let overstayers to turn themselves in without punishment. The amnesty ended June 12. An Indian diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said whipping overstayers seemed disproportionate “to the magnitude of the offence”. He said many Indian workers in Brunei were illiterate and handed their passports to their employers when they arrived, so they were often unaware of visa requirements or if they’d overstayed. On the day the amnesty expired, a magistrate sentenced two men, an Indian and a Pakistani, to three strokes with a rattan cane and three months in prison for overstaying their 90-day work visas. —
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UK backs India for Security Council seat
New York, June 18 Calling for expansion of the 15-member Security Council, Mr Rammel said India and Brazil were the “obvious candidates” along with one member from Africa, which he did not mention. Mr Rammel was addressing the high-level panel appointed by the Secretary-Gen Kofi Annan to look into United Nations’ reforms yesterday. He said the council needed to be expanded with addition of both permanent and non-permanent members to make it “more representative” of the modern world with Germany and Japan being made the permanent members. The council at present has five permanent members with veto power — the United States, Britain, Russia, France and China — and 10 non-permanent members. The non-permanent members are elected for a two-year term on regional basis and five of them retire each year. —
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Pak Army kills pro-Taliban tribal leader
Islamabad, June 18 “Nek Muhammad was one of the leading men who had sheltered foreign militants. He was killed in a military operation,” Pakistan Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat told the National Assembly today. Earlier, Defence spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said Muhammad, in his late 20s, and his four colleagues were killed when the security forces bombed a hideout of militants in South Waziristan. “The security forces had been monitoring movement of Nek Muhammad,” he added. Local officials in South Waziristan said Muhammad was hiding in a house of his friend, Sher Zaman, in Dug area, 5 km from Wana, the main town in South Waziristan. Reports said intelligence agents intercepted Muhammad’s satellite phone conversation last night while he was talking to a friend. “A missile was fired on the house where he was staying,” an official said. He was seriously injured and shifted to a hospital, where he died early this morning. Pakistan has been using satellite-guided technology in its current operations in Waziristan against Al-Qaida militants. The technology was reportedly provided by the USA, whose troops, stationed on the Afghanistan side of the border, prevented militants from crossing over to the other side. Muhammad’s death was confirmed by his family. His last rites would be performed at Kalosha in South Waziristan. Muhammad was once a “commander” of the Taliban in Kabul. After the Taliban’s defeat, he returned to tribal areas and became the main coordinator for Taliban and Al-Qaida militants in the isolated tribal region bordering Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden and his main associates were believed to have been hiding. He shot into news when he “surrendered” at a tribal assembly in the presence of a top Pakistan Army Commander last month. He, along with his associates, was given amnesty, but the security forces kept a close watch on him.—
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UN office attacked in Afghanistan
Kandahar, June 18 The UN High Commission for Refugees building, one of the largest non-governmental agencies in Kandahar, was hit with at least two rockets, the police said. It was the second time the building had been attacked this year. In January five unidentified gunmen opened fire and hurled a grenade at the office in eastern Kandahar, without causing casualties.—
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India, Jordan to sign extradition treaty
Dubai, June 18 Mr Ahamed held talks with the regent prince, Mr Faisal bin al Hussain, in the absence of King Abdullah II who was away in the USA, the acting Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade, Mohammad Halaiqa, and the Minister of Labour, Mr Amjad Majali. The minister spoke about India’s “consistent and steadfast” support to the Palestinian cause. Jordan welcomed the Indian proposal for signing an MoU on IT cooperation and to consider another MoU on manpower exports to Jordan. —
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Immigrants bag 30 pc US
jobs
Houston, June 18 The share of jobs going to non-citizens by 28.5 per cent was particularly notable because workers who are not US citizens account for less than 9 per cent of all those holding jobs in the USA, the Los Angeles Times reported. “The proportion of new jobs captured by non-citizens was ... much larger than their share of overall employment,” the report said. “Thus, the political impact of job gains may be dampened by the fact that non-citizens are benefiting disproportionately from the turnaround in the labour market.” Center Director Roberto Suro said the “turnaround is being fuelled to a substantial extent by the demand for immigrant labour. And as a result, a substantial chunk of the new jobs are going to people who are not voters”. The study is likely to sharpen the debate about the role of immigrant workers in America, the quality of new jobs and the impact of globalisation. Most economists have tended to minimise the impact of large numbers of immigrants entering the US job market, but the Pew findings may bolster those who challenge that view. In recent months, as overall job growth has begun to improve, most of the new jobs appear to have come in categories that require relatively low skills and pay relatively low wages by the kinds of jobs for which new immigrants are strong competitors. —
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Russian President Vladimir Putin today claimed that the regime of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was planning terror attacks against the USA and American interests world-wide and Moscow had been sharing intelligence information with Washington about these plans.
In a targeted missile attack on a mud-brick fortress near the Afghanistan border, the Pakistan Army killed a renegade tribal leader and former Taliban commander last night. 
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