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No progress in Korean N-talks
Ex-army officers to pressure Pervez for democracy
Convention programme to ‘save’ Iftikhar
Ensure judiciary’s independence, UN experts tell Pak
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Pak test-fires N-capable missile
Pak landslides: toll rises to 80
Nepal clashes leave 28 dead
Mobile used for surgery on child delivery
US rules out diplomatic ties with Iran
Former Kanishka accused sues govt
Bird flu detected in Pak crows
NATO forces kill 40 Taliban guerrillas
NY mayor
for reopening of 9/11 aid fund Indian in next round of ‘American Idol’
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No progress in Korean N-talks
Beijing, March 22 Throughout the session, which began on Monday, North Korea avoided discussing a February deal to shut its main nuclear reactor by mid-April, demanding that $ 25 million at Macau’s Banco Delta Asia first be transferred to a bank in Beijing. North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan left for home suddenly today without talking to reporters, but a North Korean government source in Beijing said: “Our delegation went home because there was no progress on the promised transfer of the funds.” A statement released by China, host of the talks that also group South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia, said the six countries had agreed only to meet again. “The parties agreed to recess and will resume the talks at the earliest opportunity to continue to discuss and formulate an action plan for the next phase,” it said. The exasperated US envoy, Christopher Hill, had said the delay in the transfer from Banco Delta Asia to a North Korean account at the Bank of China needed to be overcome quickly. Other delegations expressed frustration at the foot-dragging.
— Reuters
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Ex-army officers to pressure Pervez for democracy
Senior retired army officers will gather here on Saturday to form a group to exert pressure on President Pervez Musharraf to send the military back to barrack and restore democracy, former intelligence chief Lt-Gen. Hameed Gul told reporters here on Thursday.
Gul said he would ask the retired army officers to take part in the current protest by lawyers for restoring the independence of judiciary and withdrawal of reference against chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. He said the intervention of the army officers would be aimed at saving the institution from public hatred being increasingly voiced in the country because of its deep and prolonged involvement in politics. Hamid Gul, former director-general of the ISI, said he would work for mobilising nearly 2.2 million retired officers to play a role in the popular struggle for the restoration of democracy. Gul was roughed up and beaten at a protest demonstration on Tuesday outside the Supreme Court building. Meanwhile a report from Washington quoted State Department spokesman Sean McCormack as saying that the Bush administration expected President Pervez Musharraf to give up the army chief’s post by the end of this year. Indicating a significant shift in the US public stance on the issue, McCormack told a briefing that the US expected the current judicial crisis to be resolved “within the confines of Pakistani law” and in a “transparent” manner that satisfied the people of the country. “He has made certain commitments in this regard and we think it’s important that he follow through on those commitments,” said McCormack when asked if it was the US government’s view that Gen Musharraf should leave the army post by the end of 2007 as scheduled. He, however, reaffirmed support to Musharraf calling him as a valued friend and ally in the war against terrorism. In a related development, the Daily Times on Thursday reported that seven army officers been court-martialled on “disciplinary” grounds in recent days. These officers included one junior commissioned officer and six soldiers. “They have been sent to Gujranwala jail after their conviction,” said the sources. Although a spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed the action against the officials, he did not provide further details.
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Convention programme to ‘save’ Iftikhar
In an apparent bid to sustain the momentum of protest campaign against the removal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, the supreme court bar association and Pakistan bar council have worked out a comprehensive programme of convention in coordination with regional bar associations in which Justice Iftikhar will be invited to speak. The countrywide “lecture circuit” will begin on Friday with the Karachi Bar Association organising a special meeting to mark Pakistan Day in commemoration of the adoption of the 1940 Lahore Resolution that formally spelled out contours for the Pakistan movement. The country had its first constitution launched in 1956 on this day. Bar leaders said Justice Iftikhar’s address was planned much earlier but had assumed particular significance in the context of the crisis resulting from his removal. It warned the government not to interrupt his travel plans. Conventions will also be organised in Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore during next week, while another countrywide shutdown of courts will be observed on April 3 when the supreme judicial council will resume hearing of presidential reference against Justice Iftikhar.
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Ensure judiciary’s independence, UN experts tell Pak
New York, March 22 In a statement yesterday, they also expressed concern over use of “excessive force” against “peaceful demonstrators” protesting the suspension of the Chief Justice, saying that this runs contrary to international standards guaranteeing the right to peaceful assembly for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. The two experts reminded the Government of provisions enshrined in Pakistan’s Constitution that establish a specific procedure as a safeguard to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and to protect judges from undue interference by the executive branch. “In the present case, it is widely believed that the Chief Justice was suspended without respect for these procedures,” they asserted.
— PTI
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Pak test-fires N-capable missile
Islamabad, March 22 Flaunted by Pakistan’s military as the answer to the Indo-Russian joint venture
Brahmos, Babur was first tested in 2005 with a range of 500 km. The test at that time took the world by surprise. Analysts later said that the prototype of Pakistan’s terrain-hugging, radar-avoiding cruise missile closely resembled the Chinese version of the same. The military statement said the missile was indigenously developed and its range has been enhanced to 700 km. Pakistan military officials claim that the missile, named after a Mughal emperor, has a longer range and nuclear capability compared to Brahmos, but at the same time it was not supersonic like the Indo-Russian missile, which has a range of 300 km. Babur is a highly manoeuvrable missile with pin-point accuracy. “It is capable of carrying a variety of warheads, including nuclear,” the statement claimed.
— PTI
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Pak landslides: toll rises to 80
Muzaffarabad, March 22 Six members of a family died while two were injured when they were hit by an avalanche in Dir district of North West Frontier Province yesterday. In a separate incident roof of a religious seminary at Karak town collapsed yesterday, killing two students and injuring eight. Three persons were reported killed in roof collapses in the hilly province bordering Afghanistan. Further mudslides had been reported in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where 37 survivors of the 2005 earthquake had been killed in two separate landslips on Tuesday. — AFP
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Nepal clashes leave 28 dead
At a time when the Nepalese and international communities are eagerly waiting for the transformation of the 11-year-long bloody insurgency
unleashed by the Communist Party of Nepal- Maoist into lasting peace through the constituent assembly elections by mid-June, the latest clashes in Terai, bordering India, that left 28 persons, including six women, dead has shocked the peace-loving people.
The violent scuffle between two rival groups - the Maoist-affiliated Madhesi Rastriya Mukti Morcha and the Madhesi People's Rights Forum in Gaur, the district headquarters of Rautahat, on Wednesday claimed at least 28 lives, besides leaving over 40 others seriously injured. According to the police, 12 bodies were found in the Rice Mills area in Gaur, while 15 others were recovered from Hajmaniya and Mudhbaliya villages, 4 km from the district headquarters, last night. Another body was found from the Sisruwa area of the Gaur municipality.
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Mobile used for surgery on child delivery
Hanoi, March 22 The surgeons were at a crucial point in a caesarean-section operation on a mother when the lights went out in the operating room in Pleiku General Hospital in Gia Lai province, 550 kms north of Ho Chi Minh City. “The backup generator also failed, we had to continue the operation right away but the operation room was pitch dark,” said Nguyen Tu Tin, chief surgeon of the operation. So the surgeons quickly gathered up eight mobile phones of all doctors and nurses in the room and used their display lights to continue the operation. “Though not very bright, the light from the cell phones was good enough for us to remove the baby from his mother before our backup generator brought the light on again,” Tin said. Both the mother and baby boy are in good condition and will be released from the hospital shortly.
— DPA
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US rules out diplomatic ties with Iran
Washington, March 22 “We are proceeding with the help of the Congress. With financing from the Congress, we try to open up the people-to-people ties between Americans and Iranians in a way that we have never tried before,” Burns said. The senior administration official told senators that an incentives package was already on the table and Iran should accept the negotiating route on their nuclear program.
— PTI
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Former Kanishka accused sues govt
Vancouver, March 22 Ripudaman Singh Malik, once a wealthy textile businessman, had claimed in documents filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court on Wednesday that he had been wrongfully prosecuted, which had resulted in his imprisonment and breach of his basic rights. Malik had also claimed that actions of the court had damaged his reputation, causing him huge financial loss, the National Post newspaper reported. “The plaintiff claims damages against the defendants for malicious prosecution, wrongful imprisonment, breach of the plaintiff's charter rights, conspiracy to injure, negligent performance of duty and damage to the plaintiff's reputation,” the allegation stated. Malik and co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were arrested in October 2000.
— IANS
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Bird flu detected in Pak crows
Islamabad, March 22 Up to 70 dead crows had been found in and around the capital recently. Eight samples were taken from a public park and the outskirts of the city. Two of them tested positive for the H5N1 strain yesterday, said Mohammad Afzal, the livestock commissioner at the ministry of food and agriculture. “We told people that if they found any dead bird on the street, they should handle it with care,” Afzal said. Pakistan first found the H5N1 strain of the virus in February last year.
— Reuter
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NATO forces kill 40 Taliban guerrillas
Kandhar, March 22 “There were no casualties among NATO and our troops,” the police chief of the province added.
— Reuters
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NY mayor
for reopening of 9/11 aid fund
Washington, March 22 “It’s imperative
that the Congress reopens the fund to take care of those who were not
eligible to benefit from it before it closed in December 2003,”
Bloomberg told a senate panel yesterday. “The mere fact that their
injuries and illnesses have been slower to emerge should not disqualify
them from getting the help that they need.” The $ 7 billion
September 11 victim compensation fund was created by the Congress soon
after the attacks, and had become the subject of intense debate among
victims’ family members and politicians for the rules by which it had
distributed money. — AP
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Indian in next round of ‘American Idol’
Washington, March 22 “Even though he has yet to deliver a convincing performance in the live competition, he continues to stave off elimination, much to the shock of the ‘Idol’ judges and sometimes even Malakar himself,” a write-up posted on the AOL tel vision website said.
— PTI
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