W O R L D

Pak to issue forms for Kashmir bus service next week
Islamabad, March 6
Initially the frequency of the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service, scheduled to be launched on April 7, would be fortnightly, diplomatic sources told Dawn on Saturday.

Zardari to take over PPP’s reins
Islamabad, March 6
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has said her husband Asif Ali Zardari, who was released from jail a month back, would hold her party's (PPP) reins in Pakistan after he returns back to the country next month. She said in the present circumstances there was not much space for her to return and adjust.

Huge posters of singer Norah Jones in Beijing ahead of Monday's concert in the Chinese capital where she is going to perform for the first time in the Communist nation. — PTI

3 charged with plotting to fund terrorism
London, March 6
Three persons, including one accused of having led a “terrorist” outfit in Jammu and Kashmir, have been charged here with conspiring to provide money to fund terrorism, the police said.

Hitler had N-bomb, claims historian
Berlin, March 6
Nazi Germany built a nuclear reactor and atomic weapons before the end of the World War II, contrary to popular belief, a Berlin historian says in a book to be released later this month.

Having a dog costs £ 20,000!
London, March 6
An average dog in the UK costs £ 20,000 to look after over the course of its lifetime, more than a luxury car or round-the-world cruise, a pet insurer said today.

Pak to issue forms for Kashmir bus service next week
Qudssia Akhlaque
By arrangement with The Dawn

Islamabad, March 6
Initially the frequency of the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service, scheduled to be launched on April 7, would be fortnightly, diplomatic sources told Dawn on Saturday.

Pakistan will start issuing application forms for the travel permits from next week, officials said, adding that the forms would be available at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Muzaffarabad.

In Srinagar, the authorities had reportedly started issuing the forms from Friday.

Islamabad and New Delhi have agreed to facilitate speedy processing of travel permits and set a timeline of two weeks for security clearance of prospective travellers, it is learnt.

At the outset, a 30-seater bus would be run. A separate coach carrying the media team is likely to be run with the inaugural bus to cover the re-opening of the historic route. Keeping in view the security concerns a police van would tail the bus, the sources said.

Officials maintained that the bulk of travellers would be Kashmiris, emphasizing that the underlying objective of starting the bus service was to facilitate divided Kashmiri families to meet each other.

Under the agreement reached between Pakistan and India last month, the service would also be open to Pakistani and Indian citizens.

Talking to journalists here on Friday, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said that Kashmiris as well as Pakistanis and Indians would all travel only on special permits, making it clear that visas and passports were totally out.

Although Mr Kasuri did not specify the frequency of the bus service, he maintained that it would be increased with the passage of time. Asked if he would be on the inaugural bus, he said: ‘‘I don't know.’’

A high-level inter-agency meeting was held here early this week expressed satisfaction with the preparations being made at this end. There are clear signals now from both Pakistan and India that if all goes well the Kashmir bus would start rolling on the scheduled date of April 7.

India proposed on October 22, 2003, to establish the first-ever bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad as part of a series of confidence-building measures with Pakistan.

Zardari to take over PPP’s reins

Islamabad, March 6
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has said her husband Asif Ali Zardari, who was released from jail a month back, would hold her party's (PPP) reins in Pakistan after he returns back to the country next month. She said in the present circumstances there was not much space for her to return and adjust.

In an interview with the Voice of America, Ms Benazir reportedly asserted that Mr Zardari would take charge of the party leadership as he was going back to the country next month.

"It has been communicated to me that while political space has been granted to my husband and some of the Opposition leaders of other parties, I must not come back," The News quoted Ms Benazir as telling the US-based TV channel.

The PPP Chairperson is in Washington reportedly to seek support for her campaign of restoration of democracy and sovereignty in Pakistan. But, said the report, her task seems to be very difficult as Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is a key US ally in war against terror.

Admitting that a contact between the Pakistan Government and the PPP was being established, she said that this did not mean that any deal had been struck. "There is a difference between making contact and reaching an agreement. I do believe contacts are important." She warned that if the political vacuum persists this way, strings of protest rallies and processions would erupt and harm the country. "My first priority is Pakistan and freedom and sovereignty of the people of the country. I am a political leader and I have a vast experience. I am the Chairperson of country's popular political party at present. I want to return to country to play my role in the stabilisation of democratic process and work for the protection of rights of the people of my country and for promotion of enlightenment, moderation and culture of tolerance," she was quoted as saying.

Ms Benazir indicated that she was looking for an opportune time to come back to country. "I want democracy to flourish in Pakistan. — ANI

3 charged with plotting to fund terrorism

London, March 6
Three persons, including one accused of having led a “terrorist” outfit in Jammu and Kashmir, have been charged here with conspiring to provide money to fund terrorism, the police said.

Thirty-year-old Mohammed Ajmal Khan, 29-year-old Palvinder Singh and Frzana Khan, a woman aged 41, were arrested on Tuesday in the Midlands city of Coventry, it said.

They were charged with conspiring to provide funds and other property for use in acts of terrorism between January 29, 2003, and March 1 of this year.

Ajmal Khan is also accused of having led a “terrorist” organisation during the same period in Jammu and Kashmir and of belonging to militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba. The three accused are scheduled to appear before the Bow Street Magistrates’ Court here tomorrow. — PTI

Hitler had N-bomb, claims historian

Berlin, March 6
Nazi Germany built a nuclear reactor and atomic weapons before the end of the World War II, contrary to popular belief, a Berlin historian says in a book to be released later this month.

In his book “Hitler’s bomb”, Rainer Karlsch says a reactor was functioning by the winter of 1944/45 and that nuclear weapons were being tested on a Baltic Sea island and Thuringia, central Germany, under the supervision of the SS.

“The Third Reich was extremely close to winning the race to build the first working nuclear weapon,” his publisher, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (DVA), said in a statement.

However, the arm was not well developed enough to be dropped by air.

Karlsch, whose book will be released here on March 14, maintains that he found “the first German nuclear reactor in working order” near Berlin and discovered documents on a project for a plutonium-based bomb dating from 1941. — AFP

Having a dog costs £ 20,000!

London, March 6
An average dog in the UK costs £ 20,000 to look after over the course of its lifetime, more than a luxury car or round-the-world cruise, a pet insurer said today.

In its annual Cost of a Dog report, Churchill said the Great Dane was the most expensive dog, costing £ 31,840 over its average 10-year life, followed by the Rottweiler at £ 24,340.

Mongrels costs £ 20,998, while Jack Russels were a relative bargain at £ 17,476, said the insurer, which released its findings ahead of Crufts, the world’s biggest dog show, opening on Thursday in Birmingham, central England.

By comparison, a Jaguar X-type, Saab 9-5 or Volkswagen Passat sell in the UK for around £ 20,000, which is also the same price for a round-the-world cruise on Queen Elizabeth II. — AFP

BRIEFLY

Convicted Indian executed
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia executed today an Indian man convicted of murdering and stealing from another Indian in the northern Hafr al-Batin region, the Interior Ministry said. It said the man had hit his compatriot over the head with a rock, cut his throat and stole his money. The Gulf Arab state, executes convicted murderers, rapists and drug traffickers, usually by public beheading. — Reuters

Scribe detained in Nepal
KATHMANDU: A journalist, Lavadev Dhungana, working with Nepal Television has been put under house arrest for reporting students' demonstrations after the royal takeover. The reporter, who also works for Rajdhani, a Kathmandu-based daily, was arrested on Friday. — PTI

6 killed in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: At least six persons were killed and three others, including an eight-year-old girl, were injured in an ongoing rivalry between the Tamil Tiger rebels and supporters of renegade rebel commander, V Muralitharan, known as "Colonel Karuna", defence sources said. — UNI

Tel Aviv bombing: 5 questioned
TULKARM (WEST BANK): Palestinian security forces are questioning five Palestinians suspected of involvement in a Tel Aviv suicide bombing that shattered a ceasefire with Israel, sources said on Sunday. — Reuters

Two quakes rock Taiwan, two hurt
Taipei: Two strong and nearly simultaneous earthquakes measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rocked high-rise buildings in Taiwan early today, injuring two persons, officials said. The first quake struck with its epicentre 6.2 km north of the eastern coastal town of Suao, the Seismology Centre said. — AFP