Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns, Washington's pointperson on the U.S.-India civilian nuclear agreement, on Tuesday spoke with his negotiating partners in New Delhi to take stock of the recent hiccups threatening the deal.

Burns, who also spoke with the Indian officials over the weekend, is just part of a slew of top-level officials involved in nuclear conversations since opposition from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Communist allies threatened to sink the nuclear deal.

Details of Burns' conversations were not revealed. Over the past few days, President George W. Bush has spoken with Manmohan Singh and U.S. Ambassador David Mulford has been in close touch with Indian officials.

“It is an issue that we have talked about with the Indians,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey admitted.“This is something I expect is going to continue to be the subject of discussion,” he added.

The Bush administration continues to be optimistic about the fate of the agreement - which, if concluded, would be a rare foreign policy success for the administration.

Asked if the deal could be completed by the end of 2008, before the end of Bush's term in office,Casey replied: “We believe it's still possible for that to happen. Obviously, a number of things would have to occur for that to be ultimately implemented. But it's a long time between now and the end of 2008 and we'll see where we are.”

Robert Einhorn, a former assistant secretary for nonproliferation at the Department of State and currently at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Tribune the Bush administration “is very frustrated over this turn of events.”

He added: “It feels, correctly, that it made most of the major concessions and took significant political risks to seal the deal, only to find that its partner couldn’t deliver on what was seen by many in the U.S. as a one-sided bargain in favour of India.”

Karl Inderfurth, a former assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, urged patience.

“Disagreements and strongly held views on nuclear issues in both Washington and New Delhi have dominated our relations for more than a quarter of a century,” Inderfurth told The Tribune. “It should not be surprise that it would take time and patience to sort these matters out and to bring along the domestic constituencies that will be needed to sustain a new and more constructive nuclear relationship between the United States and India.”

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Wednesday turned down the request for full court hearing of the petitions challenging the eligibility of President Gen Pervez Musharraf to contest election.

The CJ further ordered that the larger bench, comprising 11 judges, would continue to proceed with the case and resumed hearing from Thursday.

In his order, the CJ noted that most of the remaining five judges of the Supreme Court were either out of the country or unwell. About himself, Justice Iftikhar felt that propriety demands that he should not sit on a bench in a case in which the incumbent President Gen Musharraf was a party. Earlier, the 11-judge larger bench referred the request for full court to the Chief Justice.

Hamid Khan, counsel for presidential candidate retired Justice Wajihuddin, called for full court hearing while emphasising that the outcome of the petitions would have far-reaching bearing on the destiny and direction of the nation.

The government lawyers opposed the plea. Attorney-General Qayyum Malik, however, objected to the presence of four judges without naming them.

Eminent jurist Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, who has also joined the lawyers' team representing Justice Wajih, said the petitioner, too, had objections to five judges who had earlier dismissed similar petition for technical reasons. Aitzaz had successfully led the defence of the Chief Justice after his removal on March 9 that culminated in the July 20 historic judgment reinstating the CJ.

Aitzaz said the court had to decide determine the role of the armed forces under the constitution. This question has been hanging in balance for the past over five decades, he said, adding that in simplest terms the court was required to judge whether an army chief is qualified to contest election. "If both parties in the case started objecting to the presence of such large number of judges on the bench, who would then hear this case?" the presiding judge of the bench, Justice Javed Iqbal asked. Aitzaz said despite his reservations about some judges, he would not have any objection if they sat in the full court to adjudicate the case.

Aitzaz said two petitioners Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Imran Khan had filed review appeals against the dismissal of their case on technical grounds. Under the law, review petitions are heard by bigger bench but all those judges who had given their verdict earlier have to be part of the bench.

To a question whether the Chief Justice should head the full court, Aitzaz said it was up to the CJ to decide though there should be no objection to that.

The judges called for break after hearing arguments on the plea for submitting the case to full court. When they returned, Justice Iqbal announced that the bench had decided to refer the case to the Chief Justice for final order on full court hearing.

Kuala Lumpur,October 17
A former magistrate, Balbir Kaur, who jumped bail 20 years ago to escape corruption charges and reportedly fled to India is free to return to Malaysia, the country's Attorney- General has said.

Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail said Balbir, a Malaysian national of Indian origin, could not be charged again with the same offence because she was acquitted by a lower court.

He said the prosecution in 2002 had appealed to the trial judge to withdraw the case and for Balbir to be given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

This meant she could be charged again with the same offence if the authorities located her.

"But for unclear reasons, the trial judge ordered the accused be acquitted," he told the New Straits Times.

News reports last month said Balbir was a free woman as her name had been removed from the Interpol's list of wanted persons.

In 1987, Balbir was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) for allegedly accepting about Rs 3 lakh as an inducement to acquit three Indonesians facing charges under the Customs Act.

When she was granted bail, she escaped and the prosecution applied for an arrest warrant against her.

For almost two decades, Balbir remained elusive and her whereabouts was mere speculation. — PTI

Washington, October 17
US President George W. Bush met the Dalai Lama yesterday, defying China’s angry objections one day before an unprecedented US tribute to Tibet’s spiritual leader, the White House said.

“I wanted to express my appreciation to President Bush since he really took seriously the situation” in Tibet, aides quoted the Dalai Lama as saying after the talks. “We have developed a close friendship.”

China, which views the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist bent on Tibetan independence, had denounced the events and urged Washington to cancel, while warning that going ahead could damage Sino-US ties.

The 1989 Nobel Peace laureate met with Bush for 30 minutes in the so-called “Yellow Oval” room of the presidential residence, then slipped away unheralded as Washington sought to dampen the diplomatic fallout from the visit.

The meeting, their fourth, came one day before Bush was to speak at a Capitol Hill ceremony to give Tibet’s spiritual leader the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by US lawmakers.

It was the first time a sitting US president appeared in public with the 72-year-old Buddhist figurehead, amid sharp objections from China, which has objected to what it sees as a “severe violation” of Sino-US relations.

London, October 17
Irish author Anne Enright became the surprise winner of this year's Man Booker Prize, beating the chances of India-born writer Indra Sinha, Enright's family saga, “The Gathering”, beat favourites Ian McEwan and New Zealander Lloyd Jones to scoop the 50,000 pounds literary award at the city's Guildhall last night.

Chair of the judging panel Howard Davies described the book as ‘depressing’ and ‘a little bleak’ in places with some ‘pretty tough images’, but added, “I think people will find this a very readable novel.” Enright dedicated her win to her partner Martin Murphy, and to their two children, aged four and seven, who were watching the moments on television at their home in Dublin.

She ended her acceptance speech in Gaelic, explaining, “I was saying that I'm delighted to accept this award on behalf of the Irish team, it's what they say at the end of the football.”

The other five short listed books were “On Chesil Beach” by McEwan, “Mister Pip” by Jones, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” by Mohsin Hamid, “Animal's People” by Indra Sinha and “Darkmans” by Nicola Barker.

Enright, 45, is a former TV producer who published her first book in 1995. “The Gathering” is her fourth novel, is a dark tale of family dysfunction. — UNI