 |
|
|
Musharraf says he is busy, can’t attend Loya Jirga
Eminent jurist may be Pak presidential candidate
|
|
|
Haneef challenges visa cancellation
India free to pursue diplomatic goals: US
Booker Prize: 2 Indian writers in list
Indian American donates fortune to native village
Obama hits back in Pak row
Pak should recognise Taliban
Pak forces strike militant hideouts
|
|
Musharraf says he is busy, can’t attend Loya Jirga
Islamabad, August 8 Instead, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would attend the three-day jirga beginning tomorrow. A delegation of Pakistani representatives, including interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, has already left for Kabul. The joint peace jirga would be attended by around 300 representatives from Pakistan, including the tribal elders, the statement said. The jirga was aimed at reining in militant violence affecting both countries and reducing the influence of Taliban. A number of pushtoon leaders, including Asfandyar Wali, head of the Awami National Party (ANP), were part of the Pakistani delegation. However, most of the tribal elders from the volatile Waziristan region have decided to boycott the meeting, saying that it had little relevance without the participation of Taliban. Already, the USA, which appeared unhappy over the “tardy progress” on the crackdown on militant groups including al-Qaida leaders believed to have been holed up in the tribal areas, has threatened to carry out direct
strikes. — PTI
|
|
Eminent jurist may be Pak presidential candidate
Opposition parties have started considering the prospect of nominating Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan as a possible presidential candidate to oppose Gen Pervez Musharraf in the presidential elections, according to media reports.
Ahsan, an eminent jurist and seasoned parliamentarian, belongs to the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
He led the lawyers’ movement for the reinstatement of Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Caudhary and was also his lead counsel in the petition before the Supreme Court which he won. He also drove the Chief Justice during his rallies across the country that included a 26-hour epic journey from Islamabad to Lahore. During the four-month camapign and court case, Aitzaz won enormous prestige and popularity. PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, in an interview in New York, said her party was opposed to Musharraf getting elected from present assemblies but had not yet decided whether to submit resignations as had been decided by other opposition parties. Other options open to the PPP would be challenging the candidature in the Supreme Court, abstain from the voting or even putting up a candidate. Knowledgeable sources say Musharraf's strategic achievement at the Abu Dhabi rendezvous with Bhutto was her agreement to break away from the combined opposition in refusing to resign from assemblies in order to divest the election
of any credibility and legitimacy. His emissaries had been insisting that the PPP must also vote for Musharraf which was unacceptable to her because that might foment a revolt in the party. An online news service said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement had all agreed to accept Aitzaz
Ahsan as a presidential candidate but the Pakistan People’s Party had not finalised a decision in this matter.
It said these parties had started negotiations, but while Ahsan had expressed his readiness for the position, he had left the final decision to the opposition parties.
|
|
|
Haneef challenges visa cancellation
Melbourne, August 8 The lawyers told the Federal Court in Brisbane that the doctor should not have failed a “character test” simply because he was related to men allegedly involved in the foiled terror plot in London and Glasgow. Justice Jeffery Spender adjourned till tomorrow further hearing on the appeal by Haneef against immigration minister Kevin Andrews’s decision to cancel Haneef’s work visa on character grounds, citing his association with second cousins Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed, who were allegedly involved in the plots. The lawyers said the decision was based on “a misconstruction of the word association”. Haneef has said he wants to return to Australia and his job at the Gold Coast Hospital in Queensland state. Appearing for Haneef, Barrister Darryl Rangiah argued in the court today that Haneef’s relationship with the two men could not be a sufficient basis to cancel his visa. Haneef was arrested in Brisbane on July 2 and charged with supporting the failed bomb attacks in June. The police later dropped the charge because of a lack of evidence. Haneef proclaimed his innocence after he was freed to return home to Bangalore on July 28. Haneef’s legal team described the federal government’s “character test” as too broad and allowing too much leeway for guilt by association. Rangiah opened his appeal by suggesting the character test should also be open to interpretations of an “innocent” nature. He suggested “innocent” associations included mothers and wives of people involved in criminal acts. Rangiah also said in his submission that the removal of the words “is not of good character” from federal legislation in 1999, and the effective substitution with the phrase “this person does not pass the character test” was inappropriate. During the hearing, Justice Spender asked if the mobile phone SIM card allegedly used by Haneef’s second cousins in terrorist activities had actually expired in August 2006. He asked how a SIM card would expire, according to media reports here. Haneef is alleged to have left his SIM card with his second cousins. Haneef’s lawyer Peter Russo, who travelled with his client to India after he was cleared of terrorism-related charge, did not attend the hearing, as he is suffering from a stomach bug. Haneef was represented by a team of barristers headed by Stephen Keim.
— PTI
|
|
India free to pursue diplomatic goals: US
Washington, August 8 ''The United States is not going to, you know, be in a position to make those determinations for others,'' he said when his attention was drawn to India’s Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen’s reported statement that linking the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement with Iran or any other issue would be completely counter-productive. Sen was also quoted having said, ''it would be totally unrealistic to expect a large and vibrant democracy like India to give up its independence of judgment and action. The sooner this is realised the better.'' Casey, however, said ''We (the United States) have some unique issues in terms of Iran. But what we would hope is that India would continue, as it has in the past, to support the broader international community effort to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran from being a destabilising factor in the region.'' ''And when we have discussions with our Indian friends, certainly, what we tell them and what we ask them is to keep those kinds of considerations in mind in terms of any relationship that they do move forward with, with the Iranian Government,'' the State Department spokesman
said. — UNI
|
|
Booker Prize: 2 Indian writers in list
London, August 8 Indian Nikita Lalwani's first novel "Gifted" and Indra Sinha's "Animal's People" are among the 13-title long list for the £ 50,000 prize. A six-strong shortlist will be unveiled next month and the winner will be announced in October. Nikita Lalwani, 33, was born in Rajasthan and raised in Cardiff in the UK. After studying English at Bristol University, she went on to work for the BBC, directing factual television and documentaries. She lives in London with her husband and child. Indra Sinha's "Animal's People," published in March this year, is set in an Indian town called Kaufpur, a fictional place of terror and dread based on the city of Bhopal, which became famous after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The bookies installed Ian McEwan (On Chesil Beach) as a 3-1 favourite to win this year's prize. The others in the longlist are: Nicola Barker (Darkmans), Edward Docs (Self Help), Tan Twan Eng (The Gift of Rain), Anne Enright (The Gathering), Mohsin Hamid (The Reluctant Fundamentalist), Peter Ho Davies (The Welsh Girl), Lloyd Jones (Mister Pip), Catherine O'Flynn (What Was Lost), Michael Redhill (Consolation) and A.N. Wilson (Winnie & Wolf). UK's leading bookstore Waterstone's called this year's long list a giant-felling list. Heavyweight writers who failed to make the cut include Doris Lessing and past winners Thomas Kenneally, J.M. Coetzee and Graham Swift.
— PTI
|
|
Indian American donates fortune to native village
Houston, August 8 Kumar Bahuleyan, born in a poor Dalit family in Chemmanakary, moved to the US where he made millions as a neurosurgeon and lived a lavish life. “I was born with nothing, I was educated by the people of that village, and this is what I owe to them,” Bahuleyan said recently in Buffalo, where he has lived since 1973. “I have nothing else to achieve in life. This was my goal, to help my people. I can die any time, as a happy man.”
— PTI
|
|
|
Obama hits back in Pak row
Chicago, August 8 Obama defended his statement last week that he would be prepared to order strikes against Al-Qaida in the lawless tribal areas in Pakistan, if President Pervez Musharraf did not act first. "I find it amusing that those who helped authorise and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticising me," Obama said, at the debate in front of union activists in Chicago. His remarks were a shot especially at Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton who has called Obama's foreign policy "naive" and "irresponsible" and who voted to authorise the Iraq war in October, 2002. "If we have actionable intelligence on Al-Qaida operatives, including Osama bin Laden, and President Musharraf cannot act, then we should. Now, I think that's just common sense," Obama said. But Clinton immediately took Obama to task at the debate hosted by the AFL-CIO federation of trade unions. "I don't believe people running for President should engage in hypotheticals," she said, while admitting an attack might be merited on the basis of actionable intelligence.
— AFP
|
|
Pak should recognise Taliban
Islamabad, August 8 "India will not give freedom to the Kashmiris through a dialogue so we have to wage a Jihad and our Mujahideen will secure the freedom of Kashmir within six months,"media reported today,quoting Hussain as saying. Stressing that the Pakistani government should recognise the Taliban, the ruling party legislator said, " the Taliban did not have any enmity with Pakistan but only with the USA." He also asked the government to give a shut-up call to the US over its repeated threats to bomb suspected Al-Qaida and Taliban hideouts in the Islamic nation. — PTI
|
|
Pak forces strike militant hideouts
Islamabad, August 8 Yesterday’s assault by artillery and helicopter gunships “knocked out” two compounds in Daygan village. Maj-Gen Arshad said the clash lasted for about four hours as the militants and security forces exchanged fire.
— AP
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
(
