Moscow, August 1
The Indo-Russian contract on the retrofitting of heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov is in jeopardy due to a lack of funds and poor management, and may be delayed for about four years, Russian media reported today.

The $ 1.5 billion contract, signed between Russia’s state arms exports organisation Rosoboronexport and Indian Navy in January 2004, included the modernisation of the 45,000-ton aircraft carrier and equipping it with modern weaponry, including the MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft and Ka-27 Helix-A and Ka-31 Helix-B anti-submarine helicopters.

Currently, Gorshkov is undergoing modernisation work at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, in northern Russia.

“The aircraft carrier is being overhauled at the shipyard, but unfortunately, the funds allocated for the work under the contract are not sufficient and we will have a hard time to meet the schedule,” Russian daily Izvestia today quoted acting director of Sevmash, Eduard Borisov.

“We are practically building a new ship using an old hull and changing everything else,” Borisov said, adding that the shipyard management earlier made an incorrect assessment of the modernisation cost.

A high-ranking source in the defence industry told RIA Novosti news agency that the company’s officials had underestimated the projected retrofitting budget by at least 60-70 per cent but had denied their mistakes for a long time. — UNI

Baghdad, August 1
The main Sunni Arab political bloc quit the Iraqi government today in a blow to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, while a suicide bomber driving a fuel truck killed 50 people in one of several car bombs in Baghdad.

The Sunni Accordance Front announced its pull-out from Maliki's Shi'ite-led coalition over his failure to meet a list of about a dozen demands, including a greater say in security matters.

The front's 44 members will remain in the 275-seat parliament.

Its withdrawal will have little practical effect on the 15-month-old government, which is virtually paralysed by infighting but needs only a simple majority to keep functioning.

But the shaky coalition is under pressure from the United States and its allies to end sectarian strife between Shi'ites and Sunnis through national reconciliation.

Washington is unhappy at the slow progress towards political benchmarks meant to draw minority Sunni Arabs, dominant under Saddam Hussein, into the political process and away from an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands.

Meanwhile, the police said the suicide bomber was driving a fuel truck packed with explosives in the attack in Mansour district of western Baghdad that wounded 60 people apart from the 50 killed.

In another incident, 20 people were killed and 40 wounded when a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle near a popular ice cream parlour in a bustling area full of electronics stores in Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite district of Karrada.

In southern Baghdad, a parked car bomb killed three people and wounded five in Doura district, the police said.

The US military, which began a build-up of 30,000 extra troops this year in a bid to buy time for Maliki to meet his political targets, said three of its soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in the east of the capital yesterday. — Reuters

Ghazni (Afghanistan), August 1
Afghanistan's Taliban said more of the 21 South Korean hostages could be killed at "any time" after a deadline expired today and negotiators asked for a 48-hour extension.

The noon (1300 IST) deadline was the latest in a series imposed since 23 hostages were seized two weeks ago.

The militants have killed two of their captives, one late Monday after two other deadlines expired.

"After the deadline passed, one or more hostages could be killed any time," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said.

He said earlier there had been no progress in the negotiations in which the rebels had demanded that some Taliban prisoners be freed from Afghan jails.

One of the main negotiators, parliamentarian Mahmood Gailani, said tribal elders fronting the talks had asked for 48 more hours. "We are waiting for an answer," he said.

The parliamentarian also dismissed suggestions that a South Korean delegation could be allowed to meet some of the hostages.

He said: "It is not possible and it is ridiculous. How can it be possible to send a Korean delegation into the mountains and places that are full of Taliban?"

The hostages are believed to be held in small groups in rugged Ghazni province where the Taliban militia has a strong presence.

Meanwhile, an Afghan official said the army had dropped leaflets warning of an assault to rescue the hostages.

“The hostages are alive,” saud Khowja Siddiqui, district chief of Garabagh in Ghazni province, where the Christian volunteers were abducted. — AFP, Reuters 

President Pervez Musharraf wants to stay in power at all costs and the Abu Dhabi meeting between Musharraf and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto could lead to Musharraf retaining some legitimacy and policy-making influence as he stubbornly refuses to bow out of politics, says The International Crisis Group (ICG).

It further predicated violence and chaos if Musharraf tried to rig elections saying the country would fast recede into a failed state status.

The group in its latest report “Elections, democracy and stability in Pakistan” says that the military government is fast losing all claims to public support and legitimacy, and Musharraf could decide to compromise with the national-level moderate parties, reaching, for instance, a power-sharing accord with Bhutto’s PPP, which would likely win a free and fair election.

“By agreeing to hold such an election and give up his army post in return for the PPP supporting him for president, he could retain some legitimacy and policy-making influence,” it said. But given the momentum of the pro-democracy movement, however, this option may no longer be viable. Even if Benazir is still amenable, Sharif’s PML-N rejects any further role for Musharraf, in or out of uniform, and the Supreme Court might be reluctant to relax the two-year constitutional bar for a retired general standing for  public office.

The choice, says the ICG, is not whether a transition will come but whether it will be peaceful and orderly through free and fair elections, or violent. Musharraf and the high command are tempted to retain their power at all costs.

Several of their options, particularly emergency, could portend disaster. Rigged or stalled elections would destabilise Pakistan, with serious international security consequences. Especially, the US needs to recognise that its own interests are no longer served by military rule (if they ever really were) and use its considerable leverage to persuade the generals to return to the barracks and accept a democratic transition through free and fair parliamentary elections, followed by presidential elections this year.

The ICG says that Musharraf and the high command could still refuse to see the writing on the wall and impose a state of emergency, suspending democratic rights and freedoms, postponing general elections for a year and in effect imposing absolute military rule.

Citing the threat of heightened militancy as a pretext for the action, he could then use the emergency powers to postpone national elections. This would fuel pro-democracy protests and civil disobedience, forcing the military either to back down or resort to violence. Such repression would cause citizens, especially in those regions such as Balochistan that have already suffered from military excesses, to lose belief that political change can come through peaceful and democratic means.

In the face of such unattractive options, it is also possible that the generals would conclude that a democratic transition is their best course. This would require them to withdraw their support from Musharraf and agree to genuine elections. Whether they reach such a decision, however, depends importantly upon how the international community uses its considerable leverage with the high command.

The ICG also takes serious note of interference by security and intelligence agencies such as the police, ISI, military intelligence and the intelligence bureau characterising past elections during the Musharraf era.

The civil administration, too, has been used to manipulate national and local elections, with officials reshuffled to ensure that those favourable to the military controlled polls in key areas; reluctant officials have been coerced into following the government directives.

As opposition to the military government mounts, and elections draw closer, arbitrary detentions and harassment of opposition politicians and the independent media have increased considerably. Scores of opposition politicians and activists have been detained, particularly in Balochistan. International media watchdog bodies say the past year has been the worst for journalists since Pakistan’s independence.

Affirming his faith in harmonious relations among the executive, judiciary and legislature, President Musharraf has said he wants to revive family ties with the reinstated Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

He said he has accepted the Supreme Court judgement and reiterated he had no personal ego problem with CJ against whom the reference was sent because it was his constitutional obligation.

"We had family ties and hope to maintain the same harmonious ties in the future," Musharraf said while inaugurating the PTV News channel here last night.

He termed the media as the fourth pillar of state along with executive, judiciary and legislature emphasising that all four should coexist in harmony. He said he believes that the "independence of the judiciary was essential for the running of a government".

Musharraf also reaffirmed his belief in the freedom of the Press but stressed that media must support efforts to curb extremism and terrorism instead of making heroes out of militants.

He said Pakistan was passing through turbulent times in terms of fighting terrorism, and the media, especially the state-run TV, was required to play an important role in this regard. He asked media organisations not to demoralise the nation and avoid creating despondency and despair among the people.

He said it was also the media's responsibility to project the true spirit of Islam before the world.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry Wednesday admitted for hearing on August 3 PML-N leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi petition seeking release from jail because he has already served his jail term on a charge of inciting rebellion in the army.

Hashmi was arrested in October 2003 on sedition charges for distributing a letter purportedly written by some army officers demanding probe into the Kargil operation. A special court sentenced him to a cumulative 23-year imprisonment on six counts.

Akram Chaudhry, counsel for Hashmi, took the plea that he served his jail term while his petition against conviction and for bail had been pending for the past three years. He further submitted that the jail superintendent had illegally denied Hashmi periodic remissions announced for prisoners for good conduct and on national occasions.

The CJ rejected the plea by the government counsel to defer hearing till September because of the absence of the main prosecutor. “Would you like the court to hear the petition after a prisoner has already served his complete term,” he asked.

In another case, the CJ directed the government to activate the Services Tribunal that adjudicates complaints by government employees. The court noted that over 9,000 petitions were pending with the tribunal but the government had failed to fill vacancies of its chairman and members.

In an apparent reference to appointment of army officers on the tribunal, the CJ observed that irrelevant people were named on the tribunal who were not qualified to deal with cases before it. The government assured the court that some vacancies would be filled within a couple of days.

The federal cabinet, which met Wednesday under Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, complied with the Supreme Court order and approved in principle a draft bill to check sale and export of human organs, particularly kidneys. The court had last week noted a spurt in export of human organs, particularly kidneys, to India and directed the government to enact a law to curb the menace.

Islamabad, August 1
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, has said that General Pervez Musharraf should be given “safe passage” through his re-election as President in uniform, to save the country from another bout of martial law.

“I think that once again we should all deliberate on this option to avoid a repeat of the East Pakistan tragedy,” Maulana Fazl was quoted by Daily Times as saying in an interview. He was referring to the secession of East Pakistan in 1971 to form Bangladesh.

Fazl issued a clarification on Tuesday saying he was misunderstood and was only describing what was being planned by Musharraf but did not endorse 
this plan.

He said the MMA would oppose Musharraf's bid to get elected from present Assemblies and use the option of resignations.

Maulana Fazl, who is also head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-Fazl) party and secretary general of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), said that Musharraf could impose another martial law if he failed to win political support for his re-election as President  in uniform.

The plight of thousands of Sri Lankan women employed in the Middle East as housemaids has once again come into national focus with the sentencing to death of a young woman employed in Saudi Arabia on charges that she killed an infant in her care.

The story of 19-year-old Rizana Nafeek has made headline news in the country which has nearly one million women employed abroad mainly in the Middle East as housemaids.

Rizana, hailing from the strife-struck Eastern province, was sentenced to death by beheading by a Saudi court last month for a crime she allegedly committed two years ago. She was 17 then and was considered a minor.

Driven by poverty, the girl had forged documents with the assistance of a job recruitment agency to obtain a passport stating that she was 24.

A police investigation has now begun to ascertain how an underage girl was issued a passport.

According to New York based human rights group Human Rights Watch, the girl was coerced to confess to the crime and then sentenced based on that confession. The girl has since appealed the conviction which is pending.

The issue has also drawn flak for the government for failing to do enough to provide a fair trial to the girl.

The visit to Saudi Arabia last week by the deputy minister of foreign affairs failed to produce any results. Human rights groups have accused the government of making only a half-hearted attempt to have the girl freed.

The government is heavily dependent on remittances that are sent by Sri Lankans working abroad. Successive governments have largely ignored the many instances where women have been murdered, raped and abused while they were employed abroad as well as cases where many Sri Lankans have been executed after trails in which their cases were not fairly heard.

A platoon commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist yesterday claimed that over 10,000 Maoist fighters, including two platoon commanders, had fled the cantonment at the Maoist fourth division in Nawalparasi district, in central Terai, in the past six months.

The Commander of the Maoist fighters at Jhyaltung Danda, Kul Prasad Bhattarai, alias Kusum, revealed that around 10,000 fighters had deserted the camps during the period.

“Earlier, there were total 5,000 PLA fighters -- 1,500 fighters in the main cantonment and 3,500 in other three satellite camps -- but now there are only 4,000 fighters in the camps,” Kusum said. He added that 500 fighters from the main camp and 500 from others had deserted the camps.

The number of PLA fighters who deserted the camps could be even higher.

According to him, most of the fighters fled the camps on Monday evening and Tuesday morning accusing the party of not providing them monthly allowances and perks given by the government.

“The amount released by the government for the PLA fighters has been subjected to extreme misuse,” he said. He added, “None of our comrades who were injured during the war have received treatment.” When combatants raised theses issue, the senior PLA commanders concerned threatened them with action.

The fighters had been a victim of the dictatorship of the camp leadership, he said.

Earlier, the government released Rs 92 million -- Rs 3,000 for each fighter -- for providing monthly allowances and perks and medical allowances.

Kusum also said they were forced to flee the camps after being repeatedly subjected to atrocities inside the cantonments.

Beijing, August 1
India's Mahima Chaudhary has won Miss Personality Award at an international pageant here while Russia's Olga Zarubia was crowned Miss Tourism Queen International 2007.

"I am very happy about this achievement, especially since the category in which I got this award is quite different from others," a beaming 19-year-old Chaudhary told PTI. The Miss Tourism Queen International 2007 was held yesterday in Zhengzhou, China.

For the Mumbai-based Chaudhary, who is doing her Bachelors in Commerce, the pageant was the first international exposure.

"I enjoyed every bit of it and now I wish to be back home as soon as possible," she said, adding that her parents and her sister were quite happy about her achievement.

During her three week-long stay in China, Chaudhary along with other contestants, travelled to many Chinese cities and interacted with local people, sharing their culture and cuisine as ambassadors of tourism.

About her winning the prize at the pageant and her ongoing assignments back home, Chaudhary said she expected a hectic schedule in coming days. — PTI