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Mujibur Rahman Murder Case
Legal experts debate Musharraf’s candidature
NASA clears shuttle for launch on Thursday
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‘US adopting double standards with Pak’
No effort to destabilise Pak: India
Haneef case well handled
India briefs Japan on N-deal
Freed terrorists in Pak to be re-arrested 4 die as small plane crashes into house
Nepal Army sacks two women
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Trial resumes after six years
Dhaka, August 7 A Division Bench comprising Tafazzul Islam, Joynul Abedin and M. Hasan Ameen rejected a defence appeal seeking more time for preparation as the court began to review the “paper books”, as the convicts sought to file regular appeals against the verdict of the high court. “We have reassembled here after a long period to hear the case, not to postpone it, so let's proceed,” presiding judge Tafazzul Islam said rejecting the defence prayers saying they needed more time to readjust the defence lawyers’ team. The court, however, asked the defence lawyers to quicken their readjustment process for undisrupted hearing on the leave to appeal petitions to decide if the regular appeals against the high court verdict would be accepted. Five of the condemned convicts filed the leave to appeal prayers seeking the country's highest court's permission to appeal against their death penalty. The case was shelved in the Appellate Division on August 16, 2001, due to shortage of judges as the rules required at least three judges to make a quorum for hearing the case. Until recently, the case could not be heard as five of the seven judges either had expressed reservations regarding the case or had heard the case before as high court judges. — PTI
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Legal experts debate Musharraf’s candidature
Islamabad, August 7 Attorney-General for Pakistan (AGP) Malik Qayyum said in a TV appearance recently that Musharraf could be re-elected as President from the present assemblies for another five-year term. “I think there is no constitutional or legal hindrance which could obstruct the re-election of the President in uniform from the present legislature,” Qayyum said. But Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan told another channel that Malik grossly misinterpreted the Constitutional provisions which disqualified Musharraf from contesting for the post. Qayyum said if the issue of the President’s re-election was brought to the SC, he would assist the court in accordance with the Constitution. He said the qualification clauses in the Constitution did not apply to the President. But Aitzaz said this could be argued only before the adoption of the 17th Amendment, in which a clause specifically stated that the exception to disqualification under Article 63 D, would be available to Musharraf till November 15, when his present term expires. The lawmakers thus made it clear that restrictions on the President existed in the Constitution but he was exempted from them within a prescribed period. He said Musharraf could have been suitable for the post had he retired from his army post two years ago and said lawyers would launch a campaign to block him from getting re-elected. Aitzaz said power of the people on the street and a newly empowered judiciary would thwart Musharraf’s plans. When asked who would lead the street power, he said ‘whoever among Benazir and Nawaz Sharif returns first.’
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NASA clears shuttle for launch on Thursday
Cape Canaveral, August 7 Endeavour's blast off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on a construction mission to the International Space Station is scheduled for 6:36 p.m. Forecasters predicted a 70 per cent chance of good weather for launch. “We feel very good about where we are,” said LeRoy Cain, the top shuttle manager at the space centre yesterday. “We’re in really great shape for launch on Thursday.” The crew plans to spend seven to 10 days at the orbital complex, which is a little more than half finished. Up to four spacewalks are planned to install a new piece of the station's structural backbone, replace a faulty gyroscope needed to keep the outpost properly positioned in the orbit and tackle a variety of tasks to prepare the station for the arrival of laboratories built by Europe and Japan. The five-men, two-women crew includes former Idaho elementary school teacher Barbara Morgan, who trained as the backup for “teacher-in-space” Christa McAuliffe, a member of the final Challenger crew said. — Reuters
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‘US adopting double standards with Pak’
The string of attacks, kidnappings and killings of Chinese engineers and other nationals in Pakistan was masterminded by the US spy agency, the CIA, a government leader said in the National Assembly. Parliamentary secretary for defence Major Tanvir Hussain flayed the US for adopting double standards in its relations with Pakistan. He advocated closer ties with Islamic states, China and Russia to reduce dependence on the US. President Bush's fresh refusal to rule out air strikes inside Pakistani territory against Al-Qaeda hideouts, statements by Congress leaders and the latest US law placing several curbs on aid to Pakistan came under scathing criticism from both the opposition and treasury members. They advocated scaling down Pakistan's cooperation with US in the war against terror. Minister of state Amin Aslam said the government should reject conditional US aid to Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistani and Chinese officials have signed an agreement for tightening the security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan for which a joint task force will be formed. It would suggest steps to improve security of Chinese nationals. “The agreement will give us leverage for a quick response on any such security issues which crop up and where the lives of Chinese nationals are in danger,” interior minister Aftab Sherpao said. The ‘task force’ comprises of senior officials from the interior and foreign ministries, the National Crisis Management Cell and top Chinese diplomats in Pakistan.
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No effort to destabilise Pak: India
Islamabad, August 7 “We have assured Pakistan that India is not and does not want to meddle in the affairs of Baluchistan nor it is trying to take advantage of the situation arising after
the Lal Masjid operation,” ‘The News’ reported today, quoting Pal. Pakistan had earlier accused India of meddling after New Delhi had voiced concern over the “spiralling violence” in Baluchistan, where Pakistan's security forces have been battling armed tribal militants, saying that the gas-rich province “is our internal problem”. According to Pal, the Indian consulates in Afghanistan have only been overseeing development activities carried out by a number of Indian companies. Rejecting Pakistan's concerns on Indian nuclear deal with the US, he said that it should be of no concern to the Islamic nation as all nuclear facilities falling under the deal would be closely monitored (by the IAEA) and would not be used to develop nuclear weapons. “If India wants to develop more nuclear weapons, it would certainly use its nuclear facilities, which don't come under the Indo-US nuclear agreement. After all, we are the only country having the technology to use Thorium for getting nuclear technology,” Pal said.
— PTI
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Haneef case well handled
Melbourne, August 7 As the case of Haneef dominated the political debate, the government's standing on national security has slipped by 5 per cent to 45 per cent and Labour's has risen to 33 per cent. According to a news poll conducted for The Australian newspaper last weekend, 49 per cent approved of immigration minister Kevin Andrews' handling of the Haneef matter and 36 per cent disapproved, including 17 per cent of coalition supporters. Of Labour Party supporters, 38 per cent supported Andrews' decision to cancel Haneef's visa. Ever since the detention of Haneef by the police, the government has been accused of running scare tactics and racist “dog whistle” politics to lift its flagging results.
— PTI
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India briefs Japan on N-deal
Tokyo, August 7 The deal, which would bring India out of decades in the nuclear wilderness, needs the support of the US and Indian legislatures and also the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, of which Japan is a leading member. Indian national security adviser M K Narayanan met with Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Aso, today. He told Aso about the details of the US-India pact, Japanese foreign ministry official Naoshige Aoshima said. “Japan has no stance on this issue until it obtains full information on the agreement and until India finishes talks with the IAEA,” he said.
— AFP
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Freed terrorists in Pak to be re-arrested
Islamabad, August 7 The interior ministry, in a 14-point notification issued to all provinces, has also directed the National Database and Registration Authority to keep a record of the prisoners in various jails, besides biometric database so that terrorism can be controlled, The News reported. The provincial CID departments have been directed to keep records of the “most wanted terrorists” and update the Red Book after every three months. Provinces have been told that the Madrasas set up in private houses should be vacated. The authorities have also been asked to prepare three separate lists concerning suicide attacks. In the first list, names of the most wanted terrorists should be recorded; in the second, names of those who impart training to them and in the third, names of possible suicide attackers should be recorded. The notification says the provincial home departments and the police must share any information of such kind with the National Crisis Management.
— PTI
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4 die as small plane crashes into house Juneau (Alaska), August 7 The owner of the house, Tess Heyburn, was in a restaurant when the plane went down. "At first there wasn't much
smoke. Then it erupted into smoke and flames," she said. The single-engine Piper carried four persons and took off from Victoria, British Columbia, officials said. The plane was owned by Hendrickson Aviation LLC, a Delaware Corporation, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's registry. There were no survivors.
— AP
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Nepal Army sacks two women
The Nepal Army (NA) has reportedly sacked two of its female personnel recently on the charge of being lesbians.
According to a report posted by The Kathmandu Post, an English daily, Rohini and Shama (real names changed for obvious reasons) were fired from military services on
July 17. Before receiving dismissal letters from the NA office, the duo were detained for 60 and 45 days respectively for being involved in an “immoral act.” Rohini claimed that they were dismissed from service on the charge of being lesbians.
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