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Accord on struggle to oust Musharraf
Pak minister’s bail cancelled
Former Chechen President Maskhadov killed
UK to compensate Indian war hero
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Boy implicates Jackson in sex abuse
 Santa Maria (California), March 8A 14-year-old boy told jurors in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial that he twice saw the pop star masturbating himself and groping his sleeping brother, the first testimony in the case that directly implicates Jackson of sex abuse. Katherine Jackson (left) walks with her son Michael Jackson as they leave Santa Barbara County Courthouse after Michael's child molestation trial in Santa Maria on Monday. — Reuters photo
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Accord on struggle to oust Musharraf
Islamabad, March 8 The leadership of the MMA and ARD agreed on three objectives: getting rid of General Musharraf both as President and the Chief of the Army Staff, restoration of the 1973 Constitution as it stood on October 12, 1999, and setting up of an independent and autonomous election commission. The decision was announced after a meeting of the leadership of the two alliances held at the residence of PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq. To achieve these objectives, the two sides decided to constitute a committee which will be announced by MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed and ARD chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim in a few days. According to MMA and ARD leaders, the opposition alliances did not touch upon their difference of opinion on the next election schedule as the ARD wants it to be held this year while the MMA favours completion of the tenure of present assemblies. The leaders of the two alliances Raja Zafarul Haq, Liaqat Baloch and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed told The Dawn that the meeting was in continuation of earlier meetings which had prepared the consensus three-point agenda. The heads of both alliances, Mr Amin Fahim and Qazi Hussain Ahmed, did not turn up but they remained in touch with their respective leadership to keep themselves abreast of the proceedings of the meeting. MMA leader Liaquat Baloch said the leaders of two sides discussed all disputed points a frank and free atmosphere, including PPP's overtures with General Musharraf and MMA component JUI(F)'s latest resolution asking the alliance to allow Maulana Fazlur Rahman and NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani to attend future meetings of the National Security Council. He said all leaders were unanimous that not only General Musharraf should quit both offices but army's entry into country's politics should be banned forever. The leaders of the two alliances firmly decided that no army general would ever be accepted as future ruler after General Musharraf quit his offices. They were also of the unanimous opinion that instead of discussing the PCO, the LFO and the 17th Amendment the opposition should demand simply the restoration of the 1973 Constitution as it existed before the military takeover in 1999. |
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Pak minister’s bail cancelled
Islamabad, March 8 Mr Hayat, a former Benazir Bhutto loyalist turned defector, was accused along with nine members of his family of wilfully defaulting on a loan of Rs 241.07 million acquired from the country’s State Bank in 1991. He is currently in the UK on an official visit. Mr Hayat, who led a large group of defectors of Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 2003 to enable the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) alliance to form the pro-Musharraf government, held the powerful portfolio of Interior till recently but fell from grace after Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz took over and made him Minister for Kashmir Affairs. Political analysts here see the cancellation of the bail for Mr Hayat as pointer to realignment of political forces in Pakistan ahead of 2007 polls.
— PTI |
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Former Chechen President Maskhadov killed
Moscow, March 8 “I confirm that Maskhadov was killed in the village of Tolstoi-Yurt in Chechnya today,” Gen Ilya Shabalkin, spokesperson for the Russian forces headquarters in the region, said. Gen Shabalkin said Maskhadov was hiding in a bunker under a building in the village. The body of Maskhadov will be handed over to his family for burial “if someone makes such a request”, Interfax news agency quoted Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov as saying. “After legal procedures are completed, the body will be handed over to relatives if someone makes such a request,” Kadyrov said. Maskhadov was elected Chechen President in January, 1997 but was ousted two years later when Russia sent troops to tackle separatists in Chechnya. Moscow has repeatedly accused Maskhadov of a series of terrorist attacks in Russia, including tragic hostage taking in a Beslan school, in North Ossetia, last September in which more than 330 persons, half of them children, were killed and a mass hostage taking at a Moscow theatre in 2002. Maskhadov carried a reward of $ 10 million on his head. Russian television also showed pictures of Maskhadov’s body. Meanwhile, Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopastnosti (FSB) chief Nikolai Patrushev met President Vladimir Putin to inform him about the Maskhadov’s death. Putin, in a televised meeting, lauded the security personnel for eliminating the Chechen separatist leader and asked the FSB chief to “double-check” the identity of the separatist’s body. Putin said the commandos involved in the operation would be decorated with medals. The NTV showed the body of a man resembling Maskhadov sprawled on ground with bare torso and an arm in a blue jacket and bullet wound on the chest. Earlier in the morning, Russian security forces announced foiling a massive terrorist act in Tolstoy-Yurt, north of provincial capital Grozny. General Shabalkin said Maskhadov, the chief of separatists opposed to Russian rule in Chechnya, was hiding in a bunker in the village. Maskhadov’s body has been identified, he said. Maskhadov had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against Russian forces in Chechnya. — PTI
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UK to compensate Indian war hero
Kathmandu, March 8 As a 17-year-old, Rana joined the Gurkha Regiment in 1938. He was recruited for the legendary Chindit guerrilla operations during Second World War that sought to airdrop troops in the jungles of Burma - now Myanmar - occupied by the Japanese. A month after the perilous operation began, the Japanese got the wind of it and it was decided to abort it. But the troopers had advanced so far that the dangerous journey back to India, from where they had started, led to many of the guerrillas being captured. Rana was also captured and put in a prison camp where the FEPOWS (Far-East Prisoners of War) lived under appalling conditions - starved, beaten and pressed into slave labour. He, however, managed to escape and strayed into a friendly Burmese village where people directed him to the allied forces. Later, the Indian Government gave him the medal for distinguished service, acknowledging his valour. In 2000, the British government announced that it would pay £10,000 as compensation to British soldiers who had been taken prisoner by the Japanese. Three enraged Nepalese war veterans, who had fought for the British and suffered the same hardship at the hands of the Japanese, took the government to court, alleging discrimination. In November 2002, the court ruled the trio eligible for compensation, paving the way for other Gurkha FEPOWs as well. However, the catch was that the Gurkhas had to be Nepalese citizens till 1951. This is because in 1951 Japan signed a peace treaty with various countries, settling terms of compensation. Since India too signed the treaty, Indian FEPOWs, like members of the Sikh Regiment, cannot claim the compensation. However, as Nepal did not sign the pact, Britain recognised its obligation towards Nepalese soldiers who fought for the British government and were captured by the Japanese. Rana is originally from Tanahu district in western Nepal. He took Indian citizenship after the war was over, making him eligible for the compensation. "We expect to pay Rana as soon as we get his bank details," said Mr James Gondelle, head of the FEPOW office in Kathmandu. Rana, father of four sons, received the news with joy. "Finally, I can build my own house," the war hero said.
— IANS |
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Boy implicates Jackson in sex abuse
Santa Maria (California), March 8 The boy, whose now 15-year-old brother made the accusations at the heart of the case against Jackson, said yesterday he witnessed the disturbing scene on two nights in February or March of 2003, while climbing stairs to the superstar's Neverland Valley Ranch bedroom. He said on both occasions Jackson and his brother were lying on the 46-year-old performer's bed and his brother, then 13, was asleep. Jackson was not aware that he was on the stairs and peering through a railing, the boy testified. On most nights, he said, he and his brother both slept in Jackson's room. The testimony could prove crucial to Santa Barbara County prosecutors as corroboration of the accusations against Jackson. The singer is also accused of giving the boy wine in order to abuse him and conspiring to commit false imprisonment, extortion and child abduction. Jackson, who has pleaded innocent, faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted on all counts. During the family's first visit to Neverland in 2000, the accuser's brother said, Jackson and an aide showed him and his brother pornography on the internet while the pop star's young children, Paris Michael and Prince, slept on his bed. He also said Jackson had a suitcase full of pornographic magazines that he would show the boys. The boy identified the black case when Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon showed it to him in court. Shown pictures of several magazines inside, the boy said they were among the magazines Jackson had in the case.
— Reuters |
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Irish rock star among WB
chief nominees!
Bono, lead singer of the Irish rock band U2, may make it to the shortlist of candidates to run the World Bank (WB), US Treasury Secretary John Snow hinted on Sunday.
"He's somebody I admire. He does a lot of good in this world of economic development," Mr Snow said of the rock star who has championed the cause of debt relief for poorer nations and worked hard to spread an awareness of AIDS. "Most people know him as a rock star. He's in a way a rock star of the development world too. He understands the give-and-take of development. He's a very pragmatic, effective and idealistic person," Mr Snow told ABC's "This Week." But by tradition, the President of the USA selects the chief of the WB. He selects an American citizen and submits the name to the executive board for its approval. A European always serves as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mr James Wolfensohn, who currently heads the WB, will step down on June 1. Asked whether the Irish singer would make the shortlist of candidates that Mr Snow is preparing for President George W. Bush, the secretary said, "I am not going to review here all candidates that are on the list. But I will attest to my admiration for Bono." Bono toured Africa with Mr Snow's predecessor Paul O'Neill and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for international social justice efforts. |
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Islamabad, March 8
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