Pervez Musharraf will take the oath as President for his next term of five years on November 29, Attorney-General Qayyum Malik told reporters on Sunday.

Musharraf will quit his army post before taking the oath, Malik said adding that Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) Gen Ashfaq Kiyani who was named army chief- designate early last month, will take over the charge automatically after Musharraf sheds his uniform. President Musharraf will be given a farewell dinner at the GQH Rawalpindi by the army’s top brass on the eve of his retirement. The defence ministry is currently processing his retirement case, he said. Malik could not say when the emergency would be lifted but hoped it would be done before the elections. He said the President was committed to holding free, fair and transparent poll. The emergency was in no way an obstacle to that objective, Malik said.

Malik defended a new ordinance issued by Musharraf to regulate the operation of bar associations which has been dubbed as illegal intervention by the government in affairs of the bar. The Supreme Court Bar Association said Musharraf wanted to curb the activities of the bar association in support of independence of the judiciary and reinstatement of deposed judges under the Provisional Constitution Order in the wake of imposing of Emergency on November 3.

The new ordinance transfers most of the powers of the elected vice-chairman of bar councils to the chairman named by the government besides putting other curbs on the bar councils’ authority to penalise any member.

The Election Commission has directed the Punjab government to facilitate the detained president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, to travel to Lahore and file his nomination papers in his constituency.

Atizaz and other top leaders of the lawyers’ movement continue to be in jail despite release of thousands of others arrested during protest demonstrations by lawyers, students, journalists, civil society activists and political workers. The authorities yesterday shifted former president of the SCBA, Munir Malik, from Attock Jail to the capital’s main hospital PIMS as his liver ailment reportedly aggravated. Other prominent lawyers, Ali Ahmed Kurd and retired Justice Tariq Mahmood were reportedly subjected to torture in prison.

The SCBA on Saturday called for release of all lawyers freeing deposed judges of the Supreme Court including Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. In a meeting here it reiterated resolve to continue countrywide boycott of superior courts and token shutdown in lower courts till restoration of pre-emergency conditions, including revival of the constitution, withdrawal of PCO and reinstatement of deposed Judges.

It criticised the reconstituted Bench of the Supreme Court for endorsing all unconstitutional and illegal acts of Gen. Musharraf and allowing him to amend the Constitution.

Most Pakistanis want the Army to have no role in national politics, the media is most respected institution in the country while the judiciary enjoys more public support than the Army, according to a nationwide public opinion survey conducted by a Pakistani organisation on behalf of the United States International Republican Institute (IRI).

As many as 62 per cent of people believe that the Pakistan Army should have no role in politics, compared with 55 per cent in June.

The public standing of the Pakistan Army has declined although it still enjoys a wide respect. The poll, which was conducted in the first week of September, shows that 70 per cent of the respondents look favourably upon the Army down from the standard 80 per cent in previous surveys conducted in September 2006 and March and June 2007.

The government’s approval rating stood at a very poor 24 per cent while the police had the lowest approval rating at 13 per cent. The opposition as a whole had a favourable rating of 46 per cent. Among other significant findings in the poll, most Pakistanis (76 per cent) wanted Gen Pervez Musharraf to resign as Army Chief, 83 per cent oppose the declaration of emergency rule and 73 per cent believe Pakistan is now headed in the wrong direction. The IRI poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 per cent.

President General Pervez Musharraf has said Pakistan faces no external threat to its security but justified his November 3 declaration of emergency saying that foreign terrorists based in Pakistan were source of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan and at a global level.

“We have to eliminate these militants to get our own house in order and show to the world that Pakistan is not a terror hub,” Musharraf said in his weekly interactive programme, “Aiwan-e-Sadr Sey” on PTV. He said the world recognises Pakistan’s leading efforts in combating terrorism.

“We have caught people who had maps of European countries and targets there. They (the West) are asking us to eliminate these people,” said Musharraf. “We are also concerned because these people are also carrying out suicide bombings inside Pakistan”.

General Musharraf also asked the nation to support the country’s law enforcement agencies against extremists and terrorists for Pakistan’s safe and secure future. He said the country’s armed forces were well equipped and fully prepared to protect the country, however, it faced the greatest threat from internal extremists and terrorists.

The President said the government was spending billions of rupees on several development projects in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, adding that there was a need to allocate more funds to undo the neglect of past. He said the country did not want to engage in an arms race, adding that it would continue to maintain its minimum defence deterrence.

He said there was no martial law in the country and the civil government was working smoothly and was in a phase of transition. He said he had always believed in an independent media, adding that independence also comes with responsibility.

Islamabad, November 25
At least thirty militants have been killed in an operation launched by security forces in Pakistan’s north-western Swat valley to regain control of villages and towns that were over-run by armed followers of a pro-Taliban cleric.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said 30 militants were killed in overnight fighting as large numbers of ground forces were used for the first time to evict militants from several places in the valley. One soldier was also killed and three more injured in the clashes, he said.

The Swat region continued to be under curfew and the measure would remain till 2 pm tomorrow, the army said. The curfew was imposed yesterday ahead of the army launching its operation.

Troops have occupied strategic mountains and hills overlooking Kanju, Kuza Banda, Bara Banda and Imamdheri, all strongholds of pro-Taliban radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah and his men, after evicting militants from these areas. Security forces are also controlling all entry and exit points in these towns to deny access to the militants.

Large numbers of ground forces were used for the first time yesterday as the army began a push towards the militant strongholds of Matta and Chargbagh and the nearby Shangla district, which was taken over by Fazlullah’s men after President Pervez Musharraf proclaimed an emergency on November 3.

Arshad said gunship helicopters are still being used against militant positions as the troops tried to consolidate gains have made in the past few days. — PTI 

Moscow, November 25
The Russian riot police today beat opposition activists, detaining about 50 persons ahead of a march against President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, a Reuters reporter said.

They were detained when they left the offices of the liberal Yabloko party, in the centre of Russia's second city.

The riot police beat about a dozen of them with batons and then pushed nearly 50 activists into waiting buses.

“It is very aggressive. I cannot understand why they do these things,” said Nikita Belykh, leader of the Union of Right-Wing Forces party.

The police tried to arrest Belykh but he produced the identity papers showing, he was a candidate in Russia’s December 2 Parliamentary election and was left alone.

Putin’s opponents plan to march through the centre of St Petersburg on Sunday. The authorities have not given permission for the march and streets in the centre of the city have been blocked by the riot police.

The march is being organised by Other Russia, a wide movement of Kremlin opponents, including free-market parties Yabloko and SPS.

The Other Russia activists accuse Putin of cracking down on the freedom won after the fall of the Soviet Union and of creating an unstable political system dependent on Putin alone.

Alexander Shurshev, a spokesman for the local Yabloko party, said he had been beaten up by the police when he was detained.

“I was beaten up as they detained me. In front of my very eyes they beat others up too.” he said.

Kremlin officials say the marches are aimed at attracting the attention of the West and the demonstrators are a mixed bag of marginal politicians with little public support.

Putin, ranked by the opinion polls as the most popular politician in Russia, is credited by supporters for cementing political stability and presiding over the longest economic boom for a generation.

The former KGB spy has vowed to step down as the president next year after his second consecutive four-year term in office. But he said he would use the United Russia party to preserve the influence after he stepped down.

He is running for the party in the December election. — Reuters

London, November 25
NRI academic Lord Meghnand Desai today said India should protect the controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen from extremists Muslim forces.

“I feel that not only Nasreen deserves all hospitality, people in India should stand up to her rights,” Lord Desai, who returned from India along with London Mayor Ken Livingstone, said.

“Once she is issued a valid visa, the government should assert that Nasreen is a guest in India and will be protected regardless of whoever wants her out. The forces against her are fascists.”

Nasreen is now trying her luck in New Delhi, where she has been kept under tight security, after being hounded out from Kolkata in the wake violent protests by Muslims and Jaipur.

Nasreen fled Bangladesh in 1994 after huge street protests by demonstrators who decried her writings as blasphemous and demanded her “execution.” She took up residence in Kolkata in 2004 after spending years in Europe and the USA. Nasreen’s Indian visa is valid until February 2008. — PTI

Melbourne, November 25
Australian pacer Brett Lee’s much-talked about Bollywood career is all set to take off next year when he lands in India to shoot for a cameo in a film titled ‘Victory’.

Although the details of the film are not yet known, a report in the Sunday Telegraph said the tearaway pacer will do a day-long shoot for the movie next year.

“There’s no question Brett is among the most marketable athletes in Australian sport,” Lee’s agent Neil Maxwell, who is himself a former cricketer, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

“There are Australian athletes offshore who can tap into bigger markets and possibly make more money, but the Indian market has been a massive coup for Brett. It’s given him a platform to launch himself globally,” he added.

The affable bowler, who has a huge fan base in India, has never been shy of admitting that he was interested in foraying into acting in Bollywood.

Lee, who also sings and plays bass-guitar for a band Six and Out, last year teamed up with legendary Indian singer Asha Bhonsle for a chart-buster duet ‘You are the one for me’.

And his manager said Lee’s squeaky clean image has increased his opportunities in the entertainment industry.

“Obviously there’s his blond, fresh-faced appeal, but one thing about Brett is his make-up as a person,” Maxwell said.

“No sponsor needs to worry about him taking drugs or being pulled out of a nightclub at 3 am. I’ve never seen anyone so pedantic about what goes into his body,” he added.

The 31-year-old, who is one of the highest-paid Australian cricketers, has a multi-year Cricket Australia contract and would end the year with earnings of more than $3 million.

However, Lee said he would not allow money to influence his choice of brands for promotion. The pacer said he would never take up any campaign for a alcohol brand. — PTI

Nepal’s Maoist chairman Prachanda has threatened that his party would launch a revolt against the government with a new strategy if the latter fails to address their demands.

While addressing the seventh anniversary function of the People’s Liberation Army organised at Shaktikhor in Chitwan on Saturday, Maoist Supremo Prachanda said, “No one can stop the revolt. The revolution will wipe out persons who dare to prevent it.”

According to Binod Tripathi, local correspondent of The Kathmandu Post, a leading English Daily, Prachanda expressed commitment that his party would achieve its goal for a republic set up and full proportional electoral system at any cost.

The ongoing peace process in Nepal is in limbo after the Maoists and Left parties in Parliament endorse a proposal for republic set up and full proportional electoral system. However, Nepali Congress, major ruling constituent, has been opposing the idea stating that it would breach the past pacts and understanding as well as the spirit of the interim constitution.

He lambasted other political parties for adopting the same tendency, which King Gyanendra used to show. “We don’t want more bloodshed for a new Nepal. But, if it becomes necessary, our PLA fighters are ready to battle for 10, 20, 30 or 40 years more.

At a time when Nepal's major political parties are not being able to sort out the existing political dispute and end the political deadlock, former US President Jimmy Carter has suggested the political parties to review the existing act related to the electoral system and go for fresh elections to end the political impasse.

Speaking at a press conference before wrapping up his four-day visit to Nepal on Saturday, Carter said: "The present stalemate can be ended by allotting 70 per cent of the constituent assembly seats by proportional representation and 30 per cent by “first-past-the-post.” In addition, eight seats can be allotted to each of the three major political parties and one each to the minor parties."

He also suggested the political parties to express firm commitment jointly to declare the country a republic, which is to be endorsed by the first meeting of the freshly elected constituent assembly.

Major political parties, including Maoists, have been divided since November 5, when the interim Parliament passed a Maoist motion to declare Nepal a republic through Parliament and adopt full proportional electoral system.

Carter informed that he had personally handed over this proposal, which he hoped would help break the festering political deadlock, to PM Girija Prasad Koirala.

He added that Koirala and other political leaders told him that “they are yet to study the proposal.”

Nevertheless, Carter hoped that the parties would reach an agreement by December 15 on the outstanding areas and proceed to an election hopefully to be held by mid-April 2008.

Kathmandu, November 25
Nepal’s Supreme Court put off its verdict on an appeal filed by suspected international serial killer Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj against a lower court’s decision to convict him on the charge of killing an American national, Connie Jo Bronzich, said Hemanta Rawal, assistant spokesperson for the SC.

According to Rawal, the pronouncement has been postponed because Justice Top Bahadur Magar, who has been looking into the case, has taken a leave of absence.

Earlier, the SC had put off the announcement of the final verdict on November 4 as Justice Sharma had gone to inspect several courts, including the Patan Appellate Court, Special Court, the Administrative Court and the Revenue 
Tribunal.

The Bench has been considering Sobhraj’s appeal against the conviction on the alleged killing of Bronzich.

New York, November 25
A research which sheds new light on the early formation of Earth says it remained molten for tens of millions of years before it cooled slowly.

A team of scientists in the United States carried out the research and found the surface of terrestrial planets like Earth and Mars had remained molten for millions of years before their formation, the Science Daily reported today.

According to the researchers from NASA’s Johnson Space Centre and the Lunar and Planetary Institute and University of California, Davis, the findings reveal the early histories of the inner planets in the solar system are complex and involve processes no longer observed. Evidence of these processes has been preserved in Mars while it has been erased in the case of Earth. So, Mars is the best opportunity to understand how Earth was formed, according to the team.

“Mars’ metallic core formed a few million years after that. The persistence of a magma ocean on Mars for over 100 million years is surprisingly long. It implies that at the time, Mars must have had a thick enough atmosphere to insulate the planet and slow down cooling,” Yin added. — PTI