Islamabad, March 3
Hours before the arrival of US President George W Bush here, Pakistan's capital was today virtually turned into a fortress with security forces taking up positions at vantage points and forested hills overlooking the city, a day after the killing of an American diplomat in a suicide bombing in Karachi.

Army helicopters hovered over the sprawling Margala hills from where militants had planned a rocket attack on President Pervez Musharraf in 2003.

Most of the markets and transport services were shut down in various parts of the country in response to a nationwide strike call by Islamist alliance Muthahida Majlis Amal (MMA) in protest against cartoons of Prophet Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper, coinciding with Bush's visit.

Schools and colleges in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been closed on the orders of the government to prevent any attempts by political parties to mobilise students for organising protests against cartoons during Bush visit.

There was no official word here about Bush's programme.

Pakistan Ambassador to Washington Jahangir Karamat said besides holding talks with President Pervez Musharraf tomorrow, Bush would attend a ceremony in the US Embassy here. He is also expected to attend a function related to earthquake relief.

Hours before the arrival of President Bush, hundreds of anti-US protestors took to the streets in the neighbouring garrison town of Rawalpindi today chanting “killer go back” and “death to America”.

The police used batons to disperse the demonstrators, some of whom trampled on the US flag while others carried Bush portraits with his face crossed out in red, about 6 km away from Chaklala airforce base where Bush’s Air Force One is to land after his three-day visit to India. —PTI

Washington, March 3
The United States has offered to sell to India advanced fighter aircraft as the next step in a rapidly growing defence cooperation between the two countries.

"The United States is committed to providing state-of-the art fighter aircraft in response to India's requirements for a multi-role combat aircraft," the Pentagon said in a statement yesterday, as the two countries clinched a deal on civilian nuclear cooperation in Delhi.

"We have indicated our intention to offer both the F-16 and the F-18, both combat proven aircraft," it said.

"As additional capabilities enter our force, we will work with the government of India to make them available. Our proposal will also address India's interest in technology transfer and indigenous co-production", the Pentagon said.

"It is our goal to help meet India's needs in the defence realm, and to provide important capabilities and technologies that India seeks. We are on a path to accomplish this. "Where only a few years ago, no one would have talked about the prospects for a major U.S.-India defence deal, today the prospects are promising, whether in the realm of combat aircraft, helicopters, maritime patrol aircraft, or naval vessels", it said.

"The United States and India seek to build the architecture of a durable defence partnership. Everything we have accomplished, including the new framework for the defence relationship signed by secretary Rumsfeld and minister Mukherjee last June, is geared toward accomplishing this goal" the Pentagon added. —PTI

London, March 3
The world community and the IAEA hailed the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal, with major powers including Britain and France saying the agreement would benefit the non-proliferation regime.

China reacted cautiously to the deal, while Pakistan said it had "no objection" to the agreement but sought a similar deal with Washington.

French President Jacques Chirac said the deal marked progress both for nuclear non-proliferation controls and for efforts to curb global warming.

Japan, a key campaigner of nuclear non-proliferation, also endorsed the deal. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Shizo Abe said Japan understood the strategic importance of India and the significance of meeting its energy demand.

Abe emphasised it would be "wrong" to compare the Indian nuclear programme with that of North Korea, considering that the latter is "suspected of violating the 1994 agreement".

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said, "We've considered very carefully over the last few months the American proposal for this agreement that President Bush has signed with the Indians, and our view is that it's a good step forward in what's been a difficult situation... It is a step forward and we are pleased about that."

He, however, ruled out lifting the Australian ban on uranium exports to India, since it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohd ElBaradei said the agreement would be "a step forward towards universalisation of the international safeguards regime" and make India "an important partner in the non-proliferation regime." — PTI