W O R L D

N-issue: Iran holds out threat
Tehran, January 13
Iran today threatened to end cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog over its nuclear programme if the issue is referred to the UN Security Council.

MEA official to visit Iran
New Delhi, January 13
A key official of the Ministry of External Affairs will visit Iran later this month for bilateral consultations where the issue of Tehran’s standoff with the International Atomic Energy Agency on nuclear programme and the prospects of New Delhi having to vote at an imminent emergency meeting of the IAEA are bound to come up.

Haj stampede: a nightmare
Dubai, January 13
For Nadira Kidwai, a Haj pilgrim from Lucknow,  it was a nightmare she would like to forget. Ms Kidwai was in the milling crowd of pilgrims during the ritual stoning of Satan on the last day of the Haj pilgrimage yesterday.

Over 14 killed in Pak blasts
Islamabad, Jan 13
Over 14 persons were killed in a series of explosions in Pakistan’s tribal region bordering Afghanis-tan early today, the military said.

Filipinos hold up handcuffs during a protest demanding the arrest of four US Marines charged with raping a Filipino woman, in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs office in Manila on Friday. A Philippine judge has issued arrest warrants for the four Marines. — Reuters

Suspect in Madrid bombing held
Madrid, January 13
Spain said yesterday that it had arrested a Moroccan who, the police said here helped three key suspects in the 2004 Madrid train bombings flee the country to go to Iraq where they might have joined insurgents.

Asian doctors face disciplinary charges in UK
London, January 13
Five doctors, including four Asians, are facing disciplinary proceedings at the medical council for issuing false sick notes to newspaper reporters posing as patients and may be struck off the medical register.

Godman Ravi Shankar nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Washington, January 13
US Congressman Joseph Crowley has nominated India’s Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for the Nobel Peace Prize saying that the godman had helped bring peace to thousands of people through his Art of Living Foundation.

N-issue: Iran holds out threat

Tehran, January 13
Iran today threatened to end cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog over its nuclear programme if the issue is referred to the UN Security Council.

“If the dossier is sent to the Security Council, the European countries will lose the means which are currently at their disposal, because... the government will be obliged, in conformity with the law adopted by Parliament, to end all its voluntary measures of cooperation,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency said.

Iran’s standoff with the international community has escalated after Tehran resumed sensitive nuclear work but possible sanctions have been ruled out at least for the moment.

Europe’s three major powers responded to Iran’s move to reactivate uranium enrichment research by asking for an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), while UN Chief Kofi Annan said Iran was still keen on pursuing nuclear talks with European powers.

Accusing Iran of turning its back on the international community, the EU’s big three — Britain, Germany and France — said it had consistently breached its commitments and failed to show the world its nuclear activities were peaceful.

“Our talks with Iran have reached a dead end,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after talks in Berlin with his British and French counterparts and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

A joint statement from the so-called “EU3” countries said: “We believe the time has now come for the Security Council to become involved.”

U S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined calls for an emergency meeting of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U N nuclear watchdog, to seek a referral to the Council, which can impose sanctions. — AFP, Reuters

MEA official to visit Iran
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 13
A key official of the Ministry of External Affairs will visit Iran later this month for bilateral consultations where the issue of Tehran’s standoff with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on nuclear programme and the prospects of New Delhi having to vote at an imminent emergency meeting of the IAEA are bound to come up.

Mr Dilip Sinha, Joint Secretary, PAI (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) Division, Ministry of External Affairs, will be travelling to Tehran, though the dates are yet to be formalised.

The Iran issue is threatening to come centre-stage in the coming weeks as the USA and the EU3 (France, Germany and UK) are keen on referring the Iran issue to the United Nations Security Council in view of President Ahmedinejad’s government’s continuing defiance.

The P5 (USA, UK, France, Russia and China) are going to meet in London next week to thrash out a roadmap for dealing with the Iran issue.

Iran and Russia are slated to hold their bilateral talks on the subject on February 16 when Tehran sends a team of senior officials to Moscow to discuss the Russian formula. Russia had proposed to enrich nuclear fuel in its territory on behalf of Iran but Tehran summarily rejected it. A repackaged, reformulated Russian proposal will on the table when Iran-Russia consultations take place in Moscow on February 16.

India has massive stakes on the Iran issue as the development threatens to pit India’s strategic relations with Iran against the Indo-US ties. Moreover, a vote for the second time against Iran could rock the boat of Indian diplomacy in a region like the Gulf which meets India’s 60 per cent of oil requirements, accounts for about $20 billion remittances annually from the Indian NRI community and which is home to six million Indian expatriates.

Haj stampede: a nightmare

Dubai, January 13
For Nadira Kidwai, a Haj pilgrim from Lucknow, (Uttar Pradesh), it was a nightmare she would like to forget. Ms Kidwai was in the milling crowd of pilgrims during the ritual stoning of Satan on the last day of the Haj pilgrimage yesterday.

“I saw people moving and suddenly I heard crying, shouting, wailing. I looked around and people were piling on each other. They started pulling dead people from the crowd,” Ms Kidwai said.

Grief-stricken relatives were rushing along the lanes looking for missing loved ones. All of a sudden a huge mass of people surged toward the pillar representing the Satan resulting in the stampede.

“Others tried to pull them up but the crowd was so big that they were trampled and died. Bodies were scattered all around. I bumped into a dead body,” a Saudi daily quoted Ms Kidwai as saying. She was, however, lucky to be reunited with her missing brother.

But many others did not share her good fortune. Initial examination of the casualties showed that Indians, Pakistanis and Egyptians were among the dead.

Reports here said one of the reasons for the accident was that pilgrims are new to the rituals and not aware of the danger of rushing forward. People come from different parts of the world and speak many languages which make communication difficult and even simple warnings on loudspeakers like ‘’do not rush forward’’ are not understood, the reports added.

The pilgrims at Mina last night had a tough time trying to locate the members of their groups and they were showing their ID cards and bracelets to passers-by in a desperate attempt to locate their tents, according to an Indian consulate official. — UNI

Over 14 killed in Pak blasts

Islamabad, Jan 13
Over 14 persons were killed in a series of explosions in Pakistan’s tribal region bordering Afghanis-tan early today, the military said.

A resident of the Bajaur tribal region, which borders Afghanistan’s insurgency-troubled Kunar province, said the explosions were caused by firing from unidentified aircraft on the village of Damadola, which had killed 18 persons.

Military spokesman Major Gen Shaukat Sultan said he did not know the cause of the blasts, but added: “People heard explosions and as a result, there were a number of casualties. My information is that 11 to 14 persons have been killed.”

Damadola is close to the Afghan border, about 200 km (125 miles) northwest of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The nearby Waziristan tribal region has been the scene of clashes between the security forces and Al Qaeda militants for more than two years, but there have been no previous reports of fighting in Bajaur.

There has been a surge in violence in Waziristan in recent months.

On Monday, Pakistan lodged a strong protest with US-led forces in Afghanis-tan, saying cross-border firing in the Mir Ali area of Waziristan the previous Saturday had killed eight persons, including a woman, and wounded nine.

Residents said they believed a helicopter gunship had attacked the house of a religious scholar who supports Afghanistan’s Taliban guerrillas. — Reuters

Suspect in Madrid bombing held

Madrid, January 13
Spain said yesterday that it had arrested a Moroccan who, the police said here helped three key suspects in the 2004 Madrid train bombings flee the country to go to Iraq where they might have joined insurgents.

The Interior Ministry named the man as Omar Nakhcha, (23) and said he had helped Mohamed Afalah, Mohamed Belhadj and Daouh Ouhnane escape from Spain after the March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 persons.

Nakhcha, who the authorities believe was in Belgium at the time, arranged for their passage to Iraq via Syria, the ministry said in a statement.

The Spanish authorities believe Afalah died in a suicide attack in Iraq in May 2005 and a government source said it was likely the other two also joined the insurgency against the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led forces supporting it.

“The other two arrived in Iraq but we don’t know where they are now,” the source said. — Reuters

Asian doctors face disciplinary charges in UK

London, January 13
Five doctors, including four Asians, are facing disciplinary proceedings at the medical council for issuing false sick notes to newspaper reporters posing as patients and may be struck off the medical register.

Anand Anand, a general practitioner based in Gosforth in northeast England, is charged with issuing a false sick note to an undercover Sunday Times reporter, who told him she wanted to take time off work to go on a holiday.

Anand, (59), was one of five doctors to appear before the General Medical Council (GMC) in London on yesterday in connection with a Sunday Times investigation in November 2003.

However, there is much support for Anand among the locals. Nearly 300 persons signed the petition drawn up by a Gosforth-based organisation, the Anglo Asian Friendship Society, where Anand had been giving free clinics for three years.

The petition reads: We pledge our fullest support for Anand. He has run free clinics for a number of years and we, more than anyone, can testify to his ability and character.

He is a man of uncommon moral rectitude, a doctor of unique skill and discretion. In our experience, he is equally committed to serving the emotional and physical needs of patients and strictly upholds the code of professional ethics.

The hearing at the GMC is expected to last for 12 days. The other four doctors facing charges are Gurpinder Singh Saluja (Essex), Abdulaziz Shariff Jamal (Cardiff), Hari Bhajan Singh (Cardiff) and Earl Fitzroy O’Brien (Birmingham).

Each of them faces a charge of serious professional misconduct for acting in a manner that was inappropriate, dishonest and an abuse of their position, the GMC’s Fitness to Practise Panel was told.

Anand allegedly told reporter Rachel Dobson he would note in his records she was suffering from any rubbish, it doesn’t matter. Saluja allegedly promised the reporter he would give her a sick note if she said she was suffering from stress or depression or whatever you feel like. — IANS

Godman Ravi Shankar nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Washington, January 13
US Congressman Joseph Crowley has nominated India’s Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for the Nobel Peace Prize saying that the godman had helped bring peace to thousands of people through his Art of Living Foundation.

“I had the opportunity to meet him last Congress when I was co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the work of the Art of Living Foundation are an example of communal conflict resolution, nourishment of the soul and infinite possibilities of the human spirit which typifies the Noble Peace Prize,” the New York lawmaker said in a statement.

According to Crowley, Shankar had brought peace to thousands worldwide, even to people in New York in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks.

“His message of compassion, inclusiveness, cooperation and peace of mind as the foundations of happiness and prosperity is a message that resonates with people and prosperity is a message that resonates with people from all corners of the world. He has said that the sign of success is freedom, a tendency to help and cooperate,” Crowley said. — PTI