Tehran, October 16
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran today for a historic visit to hold talks on Iran’s nuclear programme and attend a Caspian Sea summit.

The visit, the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II, is taking place despite warnings of a possible assassination plot and amid hopes that a round of personal diplomacy could help offer a solution to an international standoff on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Putin’s trip was thrown into doubt when he was informed by the Russian Special Services that suicide attackers might try to kill him in Tehran, but he shrugged off the warning during a visit to Germany.

“Of course, I am going to Iran,” he said after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“If I always listened to various threats and the recommendations of the special services, I would never leave home.” The remark played into the carefully crafted image of a fearless leader that Putin had cultivated, and also appeared aimed at emphasising that he is in control, not under undue influence from security officials, as he manoeuvres to maintain influence after his presidential term ends next year.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini dismissed reports about the purported assassination plot as disinformation spread by adversaries hoping to spoil good relations between Russia and Iran.

Putin had warned the US and other nations against trying to coerce Iran into reining in its nuclear programme and insisted that peaceful dialogue was the only way to deal with Tehran’s defiance of the UN Security Council demand that it suspended uranium enrichment. — AP

Colombo, October 16
Sri Lankan military today claimed that at least 30 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and several injured when the army launched pre-emptive strikes against the rebels in the Northern Wanni and Jaffna battlefronts.

“The Sri Lanka army soldiers yesterday launched several pre-emptive strikes immediately ahead of their forward defences in Wanni and Jaffna, killing over 30 terrorists,” the Defence Ministry said in a report, adding that strikes came following series of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in these areas.
In the Wanni front, troops launched their first strike at LTTE hideout at Mullikulam, killing at least 20 rebels and injuring 15.

“During the subsequent search, troops had found five bodies of young LTTE female cadres and two bodies of male cadres. Also, troops have seized six T-56 machine guns and one multi-purpose machine gun,” the report said.

One soldier was killed and seven others injured as the terrorists engaged the location using artillery and heavy mortar fire, it said, adding that eight more rebels were killed in two separate attacks last evening. There was no immediate word from the LTTE in this regard. — UNI

Yangon, October 16
Military-run Myanmar today vowed that it would march on unaffected by the UN Security Council statement condemning the junta’s crackdown on dissent last month.

The regime, under global pressure after its violent clampdown on peaceful protesters, instead blamed foreign media and exiled dissidents for fabricating news and causing public panic, state media said in a commentary.

“We are confident that the presidential statement is not a matter of concern,” an official of New Light of Myanmar daily said, referring to the UN statement, which was unanimously adopted on October 11.

“The situation in Myanmar does not constitute a threat to the regional and international peace and security. It is obvious that there is no reason for the UNSC to take action against Myanmar,” the paper said. “We will march on. There is no reason to change the course,” it said.

The UN statement condemned the junta’s use of violence against demonstrators in the streets of Yangon in late September, which killed at least 13 people, including a Japanese journalist, and saw more than 2,100 people jailed.

The Security Council called for the release of all political prisoners and urged the regime to open a dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. — AFP

Kathmandu, October 16
An Indian boy, kidnapped four days ago was found murdered in the Nepalese capital, police sources said today.

Rohit Gupta, 11, son of Basu Gupta, a garment trader, who hailed from Sitamarhi in Bihar, was abducted from Khichapokhari here, while he was going to his tuitions on Thursday last.

The decomposed body of Rohit was found in a sack near Kamaladi Ganesh Temple on Sunday night.

The abductors had demanded Rs 2,50,000 from his parents. Later, his maternal uncle Rajesh Gupta handed over Rs 2,00,000 to the three kidnappers at Thankot Park who assured to release him within few hours. It was when Rohit did not return that his parents informed the police.

According to police sources, Rohit was killed the day after he was abducted, as his body was found in a decomposed state. This is the second incident in a fortnight that a child has been murdered after abduction in Kathmandu. Earlier, Dhiraj Adhikari, a second grader, was killed by his neighbours over a land dispute. — PTI 

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz today said the government had still not taken any decision to allow former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to travel to London from Saudi Arabia.

“Nawaz Sharif is still in Saudi Arabia where he is staying under an understanding with the Saudi government,” Aziz told reporters at the Prime Minister’s House. He said Sharif returned to Saudi Arabia because he had signed an agreement to stay there in exile for ten years. Meanwhile, acting president of the PML-N, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, said Sharif was likely to return to Pakistan in the first week of November. He told reporters that the Saudi government would not create any hurdle in Sharif’s departure from the country nor would there be any repeat of September 10, when the exiled premier was bundled out from Islamabad airport to Jeddah when he tried to stage a come back after seven years of exile.

PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal said top leaders of the party would meet in London after Sharif reaches there. The meeting would work out strategy and set a date for his return, he added.

Iqbal said the Supreme Court had allowed Sharif to return and remain in Pakistan. “The government has no legal authority to stop him. The PML-N has already moved a contempt petition in the country against Prime Minister Aziz and several top officials for flouting the court’s decision by blocking his return on September 10,” he added. The petition will be taken up by the court later this week.