Kathmandu, July 2
Maoists in Nepal should immediately halt extorting money and scrap their “people’s courts” to maintain the rule of law, the country's Deputy Prime Minister said today.

The Maoists should immediately stop arbitrary extortion of money and the “people’s court” in keeping with the rule of law of the state, said K.P. Sharma Oli, who is also the Foreign Minister.

The act of extorting money and executing “people’s court” have terrorised the people and should be halted, he said during a function here.

Separately, Nepalese Congress central member Sekhar Koirala said the rebels should return property seized from various political workers and the common people as per their commitment.

The Maoists should sincerely implement the eight point understanding they had signed with the government and scrap their so-called peoples court, said Mr Koirala, who is Prime Minister G.P. Koirala's nephew.

He said the seized properties should be returned and “People’s Court” scrapped before the next round of talks between the Prime Minister and Maoist chief Prachanda takes place.

There have been reports that the Maoists are punishing people through their people's court not only in the remote areas under their control but also in the capital.

Meanwhile, after his provocative remarks against the Nepal army sparked sharp criticism from the force, Maoist chief Prachanda has withdrawn his allegation that soldiers were “killing people and raping women.”

“That was not my intention to blame the entire army, I withdraw the words I used against the army,” he told the state-owned Nepal Television yesterday.

Prachanda, at a press conference earlier, had said that the Nepal army had done no good to the country’s nationals and was “killing people and raping women.”

The Maoist chief’s remarks sparked sharp criticism from the Army Headquarters although the government virtually remained silent on his allegations.

Also, in an interview to the government’s mouth piece ‘The Rising Nepal’, Prachanda admitted that the Maoists were eager to join the interim government.

“We are in a hurry to resolve the problem facing the nation by joining the government,” he said in response to a question.

The Maoist chief also said that he wanted to talk to US Ambassador James F Moriarty to know why Washington was “so biased” against their party. “We are eager to talk to Moriarty and to know why he is so biased against us.”

“We have asked former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Communist Party of Nepal-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal to arrange a meeting with the US Ambassador.”

However, the American envoy has already given a negative signal. “They (Maoists) should change their behaviour instead of trying to meet diplomats,” Moriarty said before heading to Washington for three weeks to brief the State Department about the current developments in Nepal. — PTI 

Tehran, July 2
Iran again rejected a deadline today to respond to an international offer aimed at resolving a nuclear standoff, saying it would answer during the next Iranian month which begins July 23.

“A deadline is not an issue. We think such statements are not constructive and they will not help resolving the problem. We will respond next month,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.

World powers on Thursday gave Iran one more week to provide a “clear and substantive response” to an international proposal over the crisis.

The five permanent UN Security Council members — the UK, China, France, Russia and the USA, plus Germany have offered Iran a package of incentives that includes multilateral talks if it agrees to temporarily halt uranium enrichment.

That work is at the centre of fears the hardline regime could acquire nuclear weapons, although Tehran insists the project aims only to provide fuel for nuclear energy.

Rejecting allegations that Iran was seeking to buy time, Asefi said: “It is not a question of tactics and wasting time. It is a multi-dimensional package and takes time to examine”.

“There are ambiguities (in the package) which need to be discussed with the Europeans”.

He said several committees were studying the offer and that Iran would deliver its response “sometime” after July 23.

“We will submit a logical response considering our country’s rights and interests,” he said, referring to the demands for a freeze in enrichment, a process which provides fuel for nuclear plants but can also form the core of an atomic bomb. — AFP

Islamabad, July 2
Pakistan will send a delegation to Guantanamo Bay this month to meet Pakistanis languishing in the US-run prison for terror suspects, the country's Interior Minister said today.

Pakistan has constituted a team that will leave on July 19 to assess the plight of its prisoners in Guantanamo, Mr Aftab Sherpao told a local channel, Geo TV.

The Director-General of the Interior Ministry's National Crisis Management Cell, Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema, will lead the three-member team, according to officials.

Mr Sherpao said a team would also visit Bagram, a US base 50 km north of Kabul, to meet several Pakistani prisoners believed to be kept there.

The Pakistanis were arrested in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002 after a US-led war that led to the ouster of Taliban.

Mr Sherpao said eight Pakistanis in Guantanamo had been identified and would be repatriated soon.

Nearly 67 Pakistanis had already returned to the country from Guantanamo Bay.

The US authorities has asked Pakistan to keep an eye on all prisoners repatriated from Guantanamo Bay, reports said.

One of them, Esa Khan of Bannu, Northwest Frontier Province, said the government had imposed restrictions on all former Guantanamo prisoners that they could not go out of their hometowns without informing the police.

Mr Sherpao welcomed a truce by militants in North Waziristan tribal region and hoped that it would have positive impact on the situation in the volatile region. 
— PTI 

Rome, July 2
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of Al-Qaida in Iraq, was “sold to the Americans” because he became too powerful, his wife Um Mohamed said in an interview published today.

“My husband had become too powerful and he was no doubt bothering someone,” she claimed in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Reppublica.

“His growing power and the consensus he achieved between the most radical groups cost him his life,” she added.

Mohamed claimed her husband had been “the victim of a secret pact between Iraqi resistance fighters, the leaders of Al-Qaida and the American secret services to eliminate him”.

“In return, the Americans agreed to slow down their search for Bin Laden. Al-Qaida is currently trying to protect its charismatic chief," she added.

Mohamed, whom the paper described as a Jordanian woman aged around 40, said the agreement had been reached with the Sunni tribes charged with protecting her husband, with the Jordanian secret services acting as intermediaries.

“Otherwise, they would never have been able to kill him in such a way, unless the Baquba attack was just luck,” she continued. — AFP

Seoul, July 2
North Korea today renewed a call for the United States to pull out its troops from South Korea, amid a standoff over the Stalinist state’s missile and nuclear programme.

Rodong Sinmun, published by the North’s ruling Communist party, said the demand for US troop withdrawal was gaining momentum after a 2000 inter-Korean peace summit.

“It is impossible to achieve national reunification without the anti-US struggle,” Rodong said, urging South Koreans to campaign against the US military 
presence.

Pyongyang has long tried to drive a wedge in the US-South Korean military alliance which dates back to the 1950-1953 Korean War.

“The US should stop its anachronistic policy of domination over South Korea... and take a bold decision to withdraw its aggression troops from South Korea,” it said.

Some 32,000 US troops are stationed here to help 650,000 South Korean military troops face up to North Korea’s 1.2 million-strong army. — AFP

Melbourne, July 2
By organising the annual Bollywood Masala Indian Film Festival for the second successive year in Brisbane, the capital of the Queensland state is showing symptoms of becoming the latest Australian city to catch the Bollywood fever.

The Brisbane event is screening four of festival patron Yash Chopra’s movies.

‘‘Indian films have come a long way with their technical advances, while retaining the core of Indian values and emotions which are the basic diet for viewers of Indian films,’’ Indian film patriarch told the Courier Mail newspaper.

‘‘What is gratifying is that while some of these films are different and made for mature audiences, they are all ingrained with human values and emotions. This is what makes the world go around,’’ Yash Chopra added.

The Bollywood film festival in Brisbane is now considered an integral and important part of the local cinema calendar as it is being organised for the second year in running.

The timing of the aptly-named Masala Film Festival has coincided with the screening of the Hrithik Roshan starrer ‘Krrish’ in a number of Queensland cinemas.

Seven Indian films are to be shown in the festival being organised by Mitu Lange of MG Distribution.

Siddarth Anand’s ‘Salaam Namaste’ is likely to attract largest chunk of Queenslanders. Others films being shown at the Brisbane festival include ‘Parineeta’, ‘Swades’, ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ and ‘Veer Zaara’. — UNI 

Colombo, July 2
Tamil Tiger rebels have trained 6,000 civilians in armed combat as part of efforts to intensify its liberation struggle, a pro-guerilla Website said, indicating the insurgents are preparing for all-out war with Sri Lankan military forces.

“(The) Sinhala government in the south has shown its unwillingness to respect the legitimate rights of Tamil people,” TamilNet quoted S Elilan, a senior rebel leader as saying during a passing out parade on Friday in the northeast.

Elilan was referring to the Sri Lankan government which is dominated by Sinhalese - the country’s majority.

“We are forced to strengthen ourselves with the support of Tamil people under the leadership and guidance of our national leader to move the liberation struggle vigorously forward,” Elilan was quoted as saying.

TamilNet carried photos showing the trained volunteers sitting in rows. They did not carry weapons. It said the rebels have provided armed training to 6,000 civilians.

“Villagers who have excelled in shooting practice and competitions related to military training were awarded special prizes,” TamilNet said.

Mounting violence and mistrust between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have raised fears of a return to all-out civil war on this tropical island off the southern tip of India. — AP