Islamabad, March 13
Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri today indirectly suggested that the discussion of the Kashmir issue may not fall within the ambit of the recently created joint anti-terror mechanism between Pakistan and India, adding that Kashmir was an issue over which both countries had retained their differences for more than 50 years, and therefore, it needed to be addressed separately.

Kasuri said the ongoing composite dialogue process should be a "win, win, win" situation for all parties concerned — namely — Pakistan, India and Kashmiris on either side of the subcontinental divide.

When it was suggested that the anti-terrorism mechanism could become a forum for an official blame game between Pakistan and India, Kasuri said that it was still early days as yet for the mechanism, and that it should be given time to fructify and deliver what it was supposed to.

Kasuri's comments came on the sidelines of the fourth round of foreign Secretary-level talks relating to the composite dialogue process. Tuesday's meeting commenced with the usual expressions of bonhomie and hope on the part of foreign secretaries — Riaz Muhammad Khan (Pakistan) and Shiv Shanker Menon (India).

Khan told reporters here that he was hopeful about the fourth round of talks progressing in a positive manner. Menon said India would like to settle all contentious issues with Pakistan through dialogue.

Menon said: "It is very clear in the joint communique (Havana Declaration of September 2006) that whatever concerns India, we will raise it with Pakistan, and vice-versa (i.e. Pakistan will raise its concerns with India)."

Giving his views on the progress of the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline, the Indian Foreign Secretary said: "As far as the IGI gas pipeline is concerned, it is a stand alone project. It has nothing to do with the political situation, but whosoever is concerned, including the international community, he should be satisfied."

Apparently, Menon was referring to the need for keeping the Iran nuclear issue out of the ambit of discussions — regional and international — relating to the gas pipeline, which when completed, could alleviate the energy shortages of South Asia considerably.

On the forthcoming SAARC summit to be held in Delhi, the Indian foreign Secretary said that the regional forum "should be made an attractive organisation."

"Both India and Pakistan were attempting to strengthen the regional forum," he added. — ANI

Pakistan's President Gen Pervez Musharraf, fired Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, because he was looking into the disappearance of several people targeted in the U.S. led war on terrorism, according to a human rights group.

New York based Human Rights Watch cited a pattern of "disappearances" in Pakistan involving U.S. complicity in the abduction of individuals in the "global war on terror" and their interrogations by U.S. law enforcement agents in illegal detention centers run by the Pakistani military's Inter Services Intelligence agency.

Musharraf in 2005, had taken up several human rights cases including initiating proceedings in cases involving enforced disappearances.

Washington has so far been silent on the removal of the Chief Justice.

The New York Times reported over the weekend, "there is a rift about just how the White House should be treating the Pakistani president."financial aid as a lever to press Gen Musharraf to be more cooperative in the war on terrorism, officials at the state department are opposed to upsetting the delicate equation in Islamabad.

A new democrat controlled Congress has indicated it wants Pakistan to do more in the war on terrorism. A resolution that passed the House of Representatives on January 4 and is now before the Senate calls for the U.S. to condition military assistance to Pakistan on Islamabad, "making all possible efforts to prevent Taliban from operating in areas under its sovereign control." The rights group said Gen Musharraf's decision to dismiss the Chief Justice was an "arbitrary" action that severely undermines the judicial independence in the country.

On March 9, Gen Musharraf summoned Justice Chaudhry to his office and effectively dismissed him for alleged "misuse of office." The government subsequently declared the Chief Justice to be "non-functional" and has held him incommunicado at his official residence.

"By brazenly and unlawfully dismissing, detaining and humiliating the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, President Musharraf, has created a constitutional crisis at the judiciary's expense," said Ali Dayan Hasan, South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch.

"Musharraf has undermined judicial independence before and nothing could make that more clear than the arrest of the Chief Justice." Justice Chaudhry is known for taking a hard line toward the government's actions. The government has not released any details of the charges and is presenting a legal reference against the Chief Justice to Pakistan's Supreme Judicial Council. Justice Chaudhry, Pakistan's bar associations and human rights groups have demanded a public hearing. The government said that the hearing will be in camera and hence closed to the public.

"The Pakistani government must allow Justice Chaudhry a fair, open hearing where he has adequate opportunity to study the charges levelled and benefit from legal advice," said Hasan. "Anything less will amount to a mockery of justice." The human rights group criticised the police attack on lawyers protesting the chief justice's removal in Lahore on Monday. At least 20 lawyers were injured and some 50 have been arrested. "The brutal assault on lawyers demonstrating for the Chief Justice raises bigger issues about the rule of law in Pakistan," said Hasan. "The government needs to respond to this by taking appropriate action against those government officials responsible." Human Rights Watch said that the move to oust Justice Chaudhry points towards the Pakistani government's determination to ensure control over the judiciary in the run up to elections due by the end of the year.

London, March 13
Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty has said that she is keen on putting the "Celebrity Big Brother" race row behind her, as she met Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip at a Commonwealth Day event here.

Thirtyone-year-old Shilpa Shetty, one of the five speakers on the occasion at the Westminster Abbey last evening, touched on issues such as racism and AIDS.

Shilpa Shetty, the Big Brother winner, told the congregation that as a child growing up in Mumbai she was acutely aware that "we have to cope with difference on a daily basis — but unless we do, we have no future".

The Queen in her address stressed the need for mutual respect and understanding.

"By respecting the difference and promoting understanding, the future will be better one for us all," she said.

"In today's difficult and sometimes divided world, I believe that it is more important than ever to keep trying to respect and understand each other better," she told the 2,000-strong congregation.

"Let us as individuals actively seek out the views of others, let us make the best use of what our beliefs and history teach us, let us have open minds and hearts, and let us, like the Commonwealth, find our diversity a cause for celebration and a source for strength and unity." — PTI

Islamabad, March 13
The fourth round of composite dialogue between India and Pakistan was kickstarted today with foreign secretaries of the two countries meeting here with a desire to take forward the peace process launched in 2004.

At the two-day talks, the two sides will discuss eight outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, terrorism, Siachen and Sir Creek, besides various confidence-building measures. New Delhi wants Islamabad to take effective and concrete steps to curb cross-border terrorism.

As they began their parleys, both foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan underlined that the two countries wanted to take the peace process forward — PTI