The board executive officer Jim O'Dempsey said, ''the board had served papers on the Brisbane lawyers of Dr Jayant Patel, allowing it to seek a directions hearing in the Health Practitioners' Tribunal.'' The medical board was hoping to hold the hearing next month.

In December, the medical board laid formal charges against Dr Patel with the tribunal, alleging unsatisfactory professional conduct. If found guilty, the surgeon faces a maximum fine of $100,000 and permanent deregistration in Queensland.

Dr Patel fled to the USA in April after being named in state Parliament last March. An inquiry last year revealed that he was linked to more than 80 patient deaths at Bundaberg Base Hospital in south-east Queensland during his two years as Director of Surgery.

The report linked Dr Patel to at least 13 deaths and to causing harm to at least 31 other patients. The fatality figure of 13 was later revised to 17, after four more persons died, following the release of the report.

The police has said he also faces at least 28 manslaughter, fraud and assault charges. —UNI

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who is in Washington with an agenda dominated by the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, today cautioned that if the deal does not go through there will be "some falling back" in the US-India relations.

In a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, he emphasised that India "cannot be a partner and a target" of the US at the same time. "If there is an expectation that we should play a greater role, particularly in combating the twin threats of WMD proliferation and terrorism, then it is only reasonable that the energy requirements of a country with such strong credentials is recognised," he said.

Mr Saran was scheduled to meet three members of the Congress today, two of them — Gary Ackerman and Joe Wilson — prominent friends of India. The third, Congressman Tom Lantos, a co-chair of the House International Relations Committee, has been reserved in his reaction to the deal. Mr Saran said he had a sense that in Washington there is a "very broad support for India-US partnership."

"If that aspect of US-India partnership is kept in view there is no reason this deal will not go through," he said, adding, "But precisely because there is a very strong relationship between the two countries, if this does not go through then everything will fall by the way side, but at the same time we should also recognise that for good reason or bad there is an intense focus on this particular agreement, whether we like it or not this has become very symbolic for what we want to do with Indo-US relationship and if this agreement does not go through there is no doubt that there will be, in terms of the expectations that have been created, in terms of the enthusiasm that has been created, there will be some falling back."

Mr Saran contended the deal was a fair one. He hoped that when the US Congress examines this issue, "they will have before them a vision of the scope and breath of our possible relationship".

The civilian nuclear deal has been met with a fair amount of opposition on Capitol Hill. While it is likely that the agreement has the support of a majority of the US senators, backing is missing in the House of Representatives. Both chambers of the US Congress must agree to amend the US laws to allow the sharing of civilian nuclear technology with India before the deal can materialise. Some members are unsatisfied with the deal and hope to make amendments to it.

Making the point that the understanding was the result of very painstaking discussions and is a "carefully balanced one," Mr Saran said any legislative changes that are contemplated must be in line with the parameters of the understanding. He said if this were the case the Indian government would have no problem with the agreement.

Mr Saran said India had "significantly strengthened" its export controls and put in place measures to effectively deter leakage of sensitive technology. "We have also made a commitment to refrain from transferring enrichment and reprocessing technologies to nations that do not have them, and to support international efforts to limit their spread," he said.

Debate in Washington over the pros and cons of the civilian nuclear agreement have reached a feverish pitch over the past few weeks. Mr Saran said he was not surprised by this and was confident that India's case "will come out stronger after it is subjected to the rigorous scrutiny characteristic of democratic processes." 

Washington, March 30
The USA has strongly defended the civilian nuclear deal with India, saying it materialised only after New Delhi's commitment to meet non-proliferation goals.

As Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran was holding crucial talks with lawmakers and other officials,State Department spokesman Sean McCormack countered the remarks made by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier earlier in the day that the deal came at a wrong time when international efforts were for curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"Our view, in sum, is that at the end of the day, India has been a responsible member of the international community when it comes to issues of non-proliferation,'' Mr McCormack said.

Iran, on the other hand, he said ''has abrogated its treaty obligations not to seek to develop a nuclear weapon, continually lied to the international community about that, and continually deceived the international community about that. And certainly we do have concerns about Iran's involvement in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.'' He also mentioned how the Iranian regime had contacts with the network of disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan, which was in business to help parties develop nuclear weapons. "So the track record of Iran with regard to non-proliferation behaviour, stands in stark contrast to India.'' Condemning the parallels drawn by critics on India and Iran, Mr McCormack emphasised that ''it is on merits of behaviour by the Indian Government that we have concluded the agreement between the USA and India and are now working with Congress to seek some changes in US law that would allow that agreement to be fully implemented.''The State Department spokesman said President George W Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ''as well as other members of this administration have talked about the importance of this agreement between the USA and India. And certainly we have talked about it in the past, how we would differ with anybody who tries to make any comparisons between the behaviour of Iran and the behaviour of India.'' — UNI 

United Nations, March 30
The UN Security Council has warned Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities and to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The 15-member UN Security Council approved a statement on Iran yesterday, after concessions were made to Russia and China, who had voiced concerns that tough action by the council could result in sanctions against Tehran. The statement calls on the IAEA to report back to the council within 30 days.

Earlier in the day, the five permanent Security Council members (United States, Britain, France, China and Russia) agreed on the statement after several weeks of negotiations. The statement comes on the eve of a meeting in Berlin between top diplomats of Germany, Britain, the USA, Russia, China and France.

Meanwhile, the USA will like to see a strong consensus to stem Iran's nuclear ambitions. It is also seeking Tehran's cooperation on Iraq.

Bush administration officials say they hope the Berlin meeting will prove a political boost for a unified Security Council statement and for plans for a long-term strategy to deal with Iran.

The USA insists the international community must send an unequivocal message to Iran that it will not tolerate any attempt by Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons. It is a message Washington has been driving home for sometime, dismissing Iranian insistence that it has a right to develop nuclear technology and wants to do so for peaceful purposes only. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says the burden of proof is on Iran. — UNI 

New York, March 30
Paintings by two renowned Indian artists, Syed Haider Raza and Tyeb Mehta, have fetched a whopping sum of over a million dollar each at an auction here.At Sotehby's sale yesterday, the top lot was Raza's painting 'Tapovan' (1972), which sold to an anonymous bidder for $ 1.47 million while his compatriot Mehta's 'Falling Figure with Birds' (1988) fetched a close $ 1.24 million.

Sotheby's heavily emphasised the modern works in its sale of Indian and Southeast Asian art which earned an astounding $ 13.6 million, well above the high pre-sale estimate of $ 10.7 million. It sets a record for the highest auction total ever for the Indian and Southeast Asian art, according to the house.

Other Indian painters whose works raised record prices included J Swaminathan, Akbar Padamsee and Ram Kumar. The works of Mehta, Raza, F.N. Souza and M.F. Hussain will be in the sale. —PTI 

Baghdad, March 30
US journalist Jill Carroll has been released almost 12 weeks after being abducted at gunpoint on a Baghdad street, Sunni politician Tariq al-Hashimi told AFP today.

"She is free and is with me right now," Mr Hashimi said, but did not give further details.

The journalist, who was freelancing for the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped on January 7 in the Iraqi capital by armed men who shot dead her interpreter.

Her release came a week after US and British forces rescued three other Western hostages who had been held captive in Iraq for almost four months and followed an appeal by her twin sister Katie yesterday. Mr Hashimi said Carroll (28) did not wanted her pictures to be taken by the media.

Carroll had appeared in three videos broadcast on Arab television since she was kidnapped while she was on her way to meet Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi at his office in Baghdad. — AFP

Gaza, March 30
Hamas vowed to keep fighting Israel as the militant group's government today began work, ignoring Western isolation that has brought the Palestinian Authority to the brink of financial collapse.

Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal said the Islamist movement had not changed its stance now that it was in government in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

''We do not promise our people to turn Gaza into Hong Kong or Taiwan but we promise them a dignified and proud life behind the resistance in defence of their honour, their land and their pride,'' Meshaal said on Al Jazeera Television from Beirut.

One of the first challenges for Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his Cabinet, sworn in yesterday after winning January elections, will be paying March salaries for 140,000 Palestinian Authority staff that fall due within days. — Reuters