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Imran Khan, MMA leaders detained
Iran has ‘basic’ atomic pact with Russia
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Lanka seeks new truce after Swiss talks
Palestinian PM’s terms for Israel’s recognition
Man detained for locking 6 Indians in freezer
Switzerland reports first
bird flu case
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Imran Khan, MMA leaders detained
Islamabad, February 26 Majlis-e-Amal’(MMA) Qazi Hussain Ahmed was taken in custody as he tried to get out of the heavily-guarded party office in Lahore. He was earlier put under house arrest. Khan, who is the leader of the Tehrik-e-Insaf party, was detained when he tried joining a rally in Lahore. The former cricketer is an ally-turned-opponent of President Pervez Musharraf aligned with the MMA in recent months to oppose the military-backed government. The authorities also barred the entry of Makhdoom Amin Fahim, chairman of former premier Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party into Lahore, who had said his party would join the protest. Maulana Fazalur Rehman, MMA Secretary-General and opposition leader in the National Assembly was arrested in Islamabad. The police said all detained leaders were released after few hours. Security forces also fired teargas and used batons to disperse small groups of demonstrators in Lahore. The angry protestors chanted anti-USA and anti-government slogans and threw stones at the police. Around 100 protesters broke through the security cordon and gathered at the Ichra locality in the city. The police arrested dozens of activists after a minor clash.
— PTI |
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Iran has ‘basic’ atomic pact with Russia
Bushehr (Iran), February 26 It was unclear what this basic agreement involved. The original Russian proposal had been for Iran’s uranium to be enriched in Russia, allaying Western fears that the atomic fuel could be diverted into a weapons programme. However, Iran has always insisted upon its right to enrich its own uranium on its own soil and it is unclear how the original Russian proposal could be tailored to please Tehran. “Regarding this joint venture, we have reached a basic agreement. Talks to complete this package will continue in the coming days in Russia,” Aghazadeh told reporters in the southern Iranian port of Bushehr. He said there were still obstacles to a full agreement. “There are different parts that need to be discussed. These are not just related to forming a company, there are other elements. There are political issues and the proposal should be seen as a package,” he said. “We have set a precondition,” he added, but would not give further details. Iran has been reported to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions after failing to convince the world that its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful. Tehran flatly denies seeking nuclear arms. Tehran: Iran on Sunday warned that diplomatic efforts surrounding its disputed nuclear drive war be scuppered if the Islamic republic was targetted for more tough action from the UN’s atomic watchdog. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also repeated the regime’s refusal to return to a full freeze of sensitive nuclear fuel work that lies at the heart of fears the country could acquire a nuclear arsenal. “We expect the next session not to be politicised,” Asefi said of the March 6 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) 35-nation board, a session that could preclude action by the UN Security Council. “If the session is harsh and the atmosphere tense, it will not be to the benefit of the IAEA or countries who are following such policies. The Islamic Republic of Iran is more resistant when under more pressure,” he said. Russia’s atomic energy head Sergei Kiriyenko is in Iran as part of an eleventh hour effort to push for a compromise where Russia would enrich Iran’s uranium on its soil. This would keep sensitive enrichment work, which can be extended to make the fissile core of a weapon, outside Iran yet at the same time guarantee its access to reactor fuel needed to generate electricity. “We are discussing the legal, scientific, financial and joint investment aspects of the Russian proposal,” Asefi said. Of course all of this depends on a desirable and appropriate atmosphere to solve this issue. If the atmosphere changes and another scenario arises, the circumstances will change,” he warned. “What we are saying is that our nuclear issue should be kept within the framework of the IAEA,” he said.
— Reuters, AFP |
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Lanka seeks new truce after Swiss talks
Colombo, February 26 The negotiators who returned at the weekend after two days of talks with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they will abide by a bilateral agreement to halt violence. "Whatever the steps needed will be taken by the government to implement the agreement (reached in Switzerland)," chief negotiator Nimal Siripala de Silva said. He declined to specify what measures would be taken to deliver on a promise to stop pro-government armed groups attacking the Tamil Tigers, particularly in the island's restive east. The Tigers, during talks at the village of Celigny near Geneva, resisted government moves to amend the current truce that went into effect from February 2002. Colombo maintained that the truce arranged by Norway breaches the island's constitution and has no legal validity, a position flatly rejected by the Tigers. A legal expert in Colombo's delegation, H.L. de Silva, told reporters that the truce was still flawed and the only way to make it a proper legal document was to have a brand-new ceasefire signed by the new President. He said President Mahinda Rajapakse should enter a newceasefire with the Tigers to the one concluded by the previous government.
—AFP |
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Palestinian PM’s terms for Israel’s recognition
Jeruselam, February 26 Hamas chose Ismail Haniyeh, a 43-year-old Gazan viewed by many Palestinians as a pragmatist, as the new Prime Minister after sweeping elections on January 25. The group hopes to complete forming a Palestinian government within two weeks. ‘‘If Israel declares that it will give the Palestinian people a state and give them back all their rights, then we are ready to recognise them,’’ Haniyeh told the Washington Post in an interview posted on its web site on Saturday. Haniyeh did not say what form the recognition would take. Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel’s destruction, has rejected talks with the Jewish state as a waste of time but it has said lately it could respect some aspects of interim peace deals from the 1990s that it had rejected outright in the past. Haniyeh also said Hamas was ready to consider talks with Israel if the Jewish state withdrew from the West Bank and East Jerusalem and recognised the ‘‘right of return’’ for Palestinian refugees who fled in the 1948 war and their descendants. ‘‘Let Israel say it will recognise a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, release the prisoners and recognise the rights of the refugees to return to Israel. Hamas will have a position if this occurs,’’ Haniyeh said.
— Reuters |
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Man detained for locking 6 Indians in freezer
Dubai, February 26 The arrested national, who is also accused of beating up several workers, would be kept in detention for at least week while the police carrying out further investigation, Gulf Daily News reported. |
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Switzerland reports first
bird flu case
Geneva, February 26 “We have a first case of bird flu. It’s H5. The virus type has to be confirmed in the (European Union) reference lab,” Maret said, declining to say what type of bird was infected or where it was found.
— Reuters |
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Indian worker commits suicide
Dubai, February 26 |
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