W O R L D

Suicide bombers kill 31 in Baghdad
Baghdad, September 15
Two suicide car bombers struck within a minute of each other and just a kilometre apart in south Baghdad shortly before noon today, killing at least seven policemen and raising the day’s bombing death toll in the capital to at least 31, the police said.

Iran offers N-knowhow to Islamic states
Teheran, September 15
Iran is ready to share its nuclear technology, considered to be a front for bomb-making by Washington, with other Islamic countries, the President, Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was quoted as saying on Thursday.

An Egyptian woman helps her baby to cross the Egyptian-Palestinian-controlled border in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday. Thousands of people have travelled freely back and forth across the line since Israeli forces pulled out of the area on Tuesday. — Reuters.

India must sign Hague Convention on child abduction
London, September 15
A time has come for India to sign the Hague Convention of 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Sir Mathew Thorpe, Head of Britain’s International Family Law and Deputy Head of Family Justice has said.

Chinese President keen to resolve border dispute
New York, September 15
China has desired “greater urgency” in the resolution of the vexed border question. Chinese President Hu Jintao told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly here yesterday, that the two countries should “address this issue with greater urgency.”
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Pervez, Sharon shake hands in UN corridor
New York, September 15
Pakistan took another step towards normalisation of ties with Israel on Wednesday when President Pervez Musharraf became the first Pakistani ruler to publicly meet an Israeli leader.

Hollywood director dead San Sebastian, September 15 Robert Wise, director of top Hollywood musicals “West Side Story” and “The Sound of Music”, died at his Los Angeles home, days after his 91st birthday, an official of the San Sebastian film festival said today. The death of Wise last night, cast a pall over the festival, which was scheduled to pay a special homage to the director who also made “Star Trek, the Motion Picture” and collaborated closely with Orson Welles. — AFP

Robert Wise

Suicide bombers kill 31 in Baghdad

Baghdad, September 15
Two suicide car bombers struck within a minute of each other and just a kilometre apart in south Baghdad shortly before noon today, killing at least seven policemen and raising the day’s bombing death toll in the capital to at least 31, the police said.

Earlier today, the day’s first suicide car bombing killed 16 policemen and five civilians, signalling a new round of bomb violence a day after residents suffered through Baghdad’s bloodiest day of the war.

Three civilians were killed when a roadside bomb struck a Ministry of Industry bus in eastern Baghdad. Thirteen were injured in the attack, said police Lt-Col Ahmed Abbod.

The US and Iraqi troops in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold 115 km west of Baghdad, came under mortar attack this morning as armed militants roamed the streets, police Capt Nasir Alusi said.

Al-Qaida in Iraq said it launched the attacks yesterday. There was no immediate claim for bombings today. Al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, purportedly declared an “all-out war” on Shiites, Iraqi troops and the government in an audiotape posted yesterday on an Internet site known for carrying extremist Islamic content.

Yesterday, more than a dozen co-ordinated bombings ripped through Baghdad, killing 160 persons and wounding 570. Many of the victims were day labourers lured by a suicide attacker posing as an employer. — AP

Iran offers N-knowhow to Islamic states

Teheran, September 15
Iran is ready to share its nuclear technology, considered to be a front for bomb-making by Washington, with other Islamic countries, the President, Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was quoted as saying on Thursday.

The comments were likely to heighten the Western concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme, just ahead of a key meeting of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog this month, which could decide to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for punitive action.

"The Islamic Republic never seeks weapons of mass destruction and with respect to the needs of Islamic countries, we are ready to transfer nuclear know-how to these countries," the official IRNA news agency quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying.

The remarks were made during a meeting with the Turkish Prime Minister, Mr Tayyip Erdogan, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, IRNA said.

Washington and its allies say Iran has failed to provide full and timely information about its nuclear programme and are alarmed that Tehran, last month broke U.N. seals at a uranium processing facility.

A vote on sending Iran's nuclear case to the U.N. Security Council may be taken at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board on September 19. However, Western diplomats acknowledge that many non-aligned countries and the IAEA itself oppose referring Iran at this stage.

Seeking to avert referral to the Security Council, which could impose sanctions, Iran is engaged in intense lobbying for support from non-aligned countries at the U.N. summit.

Iran state media reported that Mr Ahmadinejad, who took office last month, had also held meetings with the leaders of Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan and Chile in New York.

Iran insists it has every right as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop a full atomic programme to generate electricity.

"We have firmly decided to use this technology for peaceful purposes within the framework of the NPT, international regulations and cooperation with the IAEA," IRNA quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying.

Iran, which received much of its own nuclear know-how from Islamic neighbours and nuclear weapons and power from Pakistan, says it wants to produce at least 6,000 MW from nuclear power by 2021. —Reuters

India must sign Hague Convention on child abduction
H.S. Rao

London, September 15
A time has come for India to sign the Hague Convention of 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Sir Mathew Thorpe, Head of Britain’s International Family Law and Deputy Head of Family Justice has said.

“Considering the size of the Indian population, the size of the sub-continent and the expanding expatriate community, I feel it is time for India to sign the Hague Convention,” Sir Thorpe told PTI on the sidelines of the 50th Annual conference of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association here.

Sir Thorpe’s comments came after two leading Indian International lawyers, Anil Malhotra and Ranjit Malhotra presented a paper on India and Inter-Parental Child Removal at the five-day convention which concluded today.

The Chief Justice of India, Justice R C Lahoti, former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, the Chairman of the Law Commission, Justice Jagannadha Rao, attended the convention.

In all 1,000 judges and lawyers from 53 countries attended the conference which covered topics spanning terrorism, the environment, HIV/AIDS and corruption.

Presenting his paper, Mr Anil Malhotra said with the increasing number of non-resident Indians abroad “numbering about 25 million” and multiple problems arising leading to family conflicts, “inter-parental child removal to India now needs to be resolved on an international platform.” Asserting that it was no longer a local problem, Anil Malhotra said the phenomenon is global. “Steps have to be taken by joining hands globally to resolve these conflicts through the medium of Courts interacting with each other.

“Till India does not become a signatory to the Hague Convention, this may not be possible. A Time has now come where it is not possible for the Indian courts to stretch their limits to adapt to different foreign court orders arising in different jurisdictions. It is equally important that to create a uniform policy of law some clear, authentic and universal child custody law is enacted within India by adhering to the principles laid down in the Hague Convention”. — PTI

Chinese President keen to resolve border dispute
T R Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New York, September 15
China has desired “greater urgency” in the resolution of the vexed border question.

Chinese President Hu Jintao told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly here yesterday, that the two countries should “address this issue with greater urgency.”

The President made the suggestion after Dr Singh said that he looked forward to the coming meeting of the special representatives of India and China to discuss the long standing border dispute which had sparked the 1962 war.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna quoted Dr Singh as saying that New Delhi and Beijing had an opportunity to seek “a pragmatic and reasonable solution” to the dispute based on “political principles and guiding principles” which are already in place.

Mr Hu also underlined the need to double bilateral trade in the next two to three years, observing that in the first half of this year alone it had touched $ 9.3 billion.

Pervez, Sharon shake hands in UN corridor
By arrangement with The Dawn

New York, September 15
Pakistan took another step towards normalisation of ties with Israel on Wednesday when President Pervez Musharraf became the first Pakistani ruler to publicly meet an Israeli leader.

The President approached Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during a photo opportunity for world leaders attending the 60th annual session of the UN General Assembly.

Many of the 175 world leaders attending the conference watched as President Musharraf went over to the Israeli leader, exchanged pleasantries with him and introduced his wife.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Washington Jehangir Karamat told The Dawn earlier this month that the two leaders might have a chance meeting during the UN summit. But a Foreign Office spokesman said no such meeting had been planned.

A senior diplomatic source said on Tuesday that both the ambassador and the spokesman were right. “There will be no planned meeting. Both leaders will happen to be at the same place at the same time and will shake hands.”