W O R L D

Pinochet’s death sparks violence, celebrations
Santiago (Chile), December 11
The body of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, whose government killed thousands during his 17-year-rule, was taken to a military college in the capital, Santiago, on Monday after his death sparked violence, tears and celebration.

• No state funeral

B’desh stir: 4 advisers to President resign
Dhaka, December 11 Ahead of next month’s general elections, four out of 10 advisers to Bangladesh President Ijauddin Ahmed today resigned protesting the deployment of the Army to restore order in the country. In video (56k) Bangladeshi army soldiers stand guard at the entrance of their temporary camp in Dhaka on Monday. — AFP photo

Indian student attacked in Russia
Moscow, December 11
In yet another case of apparent racial attack, an Indian medical student was badly beaten up by unknown youths near his hostel in St Petersburg in Russia. The Indian student of Mechnikov Medical Academy, who has requested to withhold his identity so as to not create anxiety for his parents back home, was attacked by a group of youths last night 70 metres away from his hostel, according to Indian embassy sources.

Fatwa helped me write novel: Rushdie
London, December 11
Controversial NRI author Salman Rushdie says the best thing that has happened to him during the fatwa days was that he could write his latest novel ‘Shalimar the Clown’.

Discovery heads for ISS after scan
Houston, December 11
The Discovery headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station after a scan showed no damage to the shuttle during the first night-time launch since the 2003 Columbia disaster, mission managers said.

Pinochet’s death sparks violence, celebrations

Santiago (Chile), December 11
The body of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, whose government killed thousands during his 17-year-rule, was taken to a military college in the capital, Santiago, on Monday after his death sparked violence, tears and celebration.

Pinochet, who polarised Chile during his 1973-1990 dictatorship and spent his old age fighting human rights, fraud and corruption charges, died on Sunday.

He suffered a heart attack a week ago and, just when he appeared to be recovering, his health suddenly deteriorated, doctors said.

News of his death prompted an outpouring of emotion in Chile where, a third of a entury after he swept to power, Pinochet's legacy is still hotly disputed. More than 5,000 people took to the streets, the Interior Ministry said. Some mourned a man who they say saved Chile from Communism while others revelled in the death of South America's most notorious Cold War dictator.

Some demonstrations turned violent, and military police used tear gas to disperse anti-Pinochet protesters who tried to march to the presidential palace, a potent symbol for many Chileans since it was bombed during the 1973 coup which brought the General to power.

After the protests ended on Sunday, the police said 24 officers were injured, and the Interior Ministry said several protesters were arrested. Bonfires burned on the capital’s streets, some of which were littered with rocks, barricades and debris.

At around 1 am (0400 GMT), Pinochet's body was driven from the hospital where he died to the military college in preparation for his funeral on Tuesday. — Reuters

B’desh stir: 4 advisers to President resign

Dhaka, December 11
Ahead of next month’s general elections, four out of 10 advisers to Bangladesh President Ijauddin Ahmed today resigned protesting the deployment of the Army to restore order in the country.

The four advisers who tendered their resignations are former Army chief Lieut-Gen Hasan Masood Chowdhary, former bureaucrats Akbar Ali Khan and Safi Sami, and human rights activist Sultana Kamal.

Ahmed had ordered deployment of the Army in the country late on Saturday to help the civil administration restore order after opposition parties threatened non-stop protests to force electoral reforms.

The advisers had also been reportedly complaining of being sidelined by the caretaker government in the decision making procedures.

Army patrolled the streets in all major cities of the country yesterday. The troops poured out from barracks at around 4 am on to the streets of major cities and carried out searches, witnesses said.

In another development, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Secretary-General of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Khaleda Zia, said the development was “due to some misunderstanding”. “I hope the President will call them to sort out the misunderstanding and hope they will withdraw their resignations,” he added. — PTI

Indian student attacked in Russia

Moscow, December 11
In yet another case of apparent racial attack, an Indian medical student was badly beaten up by unknown youths near his hostel in St Petersburg in Russia.

The Indian student of Mechnikov Medical Academy, who has requested to withhold his identity so as to not create anxiety for his parents back home, was attacked by a group of youths last night 70 metres away from his hostel, according to Indian embassy sources.

A senior official of the Indian Consulate General in St Petersburg visited the boy within half an hour of the attack.

According to an Interfax report, the Indian student's leg was broken and his face and other parts of body were covered with bruises.

The attack comes three months after a sixth year Indian student Nitish Kumar of the same medical academy was stabbed to death in September.

Nitish's brutal murder by alleged skinheads had stirred unrest among foreign students in St Petersburg and Indian Embassy's demarche had forced the Kremlin to focus on the acute problem of xenophobia and racial intolerance in post-communist Russia.

Last week President Vladimir Putin had summoned the meeting with the leaders of political parties and asked them not to play the racist card in the run-up to next year's general elections.

Putin has urged the parliament to reduce the age of criminal prosecution of youth to 14 years for hate crimes as the racists use teenagers under sixteen to attack non-white foreigners. — PTI

Fatwa helped me write novel: Rushdie

London, December 11
Controversial NRI author Salman Rushdie says the best thing that has happened to him during the fatwa days was that he could write his latest novel ‘Shalimar the Clown’.

Fifty-nine-year-old Rushdie who lived for many years in hiding when his novel ‘The Satanic Verses’ prompted death threats from Muslim leaders in 1988 said one of the things he made clear at the start of the fatwa was that he had to find a way of seeing his child who was nine then.

“We put up a quite elaborate smokescreen - we decided it would be better if people believed I couldn’t see my family. But in fact I did see them. It was very, very complicated: I couldn’t go to (his third wife) Clarissa’s house, and for a long time Zafar didn’t know where I lived.” — AP

Discovery heads for ISS after scan

Houston, December 11
The Discovery headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) after a scan showed no damage to the shuttle during the first night-time launch since the 2003 Columbia disaster, mission managers said.

“The team sees nothing of concern at this time,” NASA shuttle program Deputy Manager John Shannon said after a meeting of the mission management team.

The shuttle is to arrive at the station at 0335 IST tomorrow delivering a new crew member and a new structural piece. Astronauts also will rewire the station to prepare for installation of additional solar-power arrays.

As the shuttle nears the station for docking, Commander Mark Polansky will maneuver Discovery through a 360-degree pirouette, allowing station crew to photograph the ship’s underside for inspection teams on the ground, a key step in clearing Discovery for landing after a 12-day mission.

Space agency officials were surprised at the quality of long-range pictures taken during Saturday’s launch and pleased that photos, radar and sensor data on the ship showed no significant impacts by launch debris, Shannon said. — Reuters