London, January 8
Showing his distrust for President Pervez Musharraf, Bilawal Bhutto today pressed for a UN probe into the assassination of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, saying investigation under the present regime in Pakistan will not be transparent.

In his first press conference after taking over as Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), 19-year old Bilawal hit out at the USA for supporting dictatorships that feed extremism.

“Once the USA stops supporting dictators, we can successfully tackle the extremist problem as well,” he said.

About the probe into the assassination of the former Premier, he said “already so much forensic evidence has been destroyed”.

The Oxford University student, who fielded questions from the international media with ease, said he appreciated that a Scotland Yard team has gone to Pakistan to assist in the investigations.

“However, the family’s and the party’s request is for a UN-sponsored investigation as we do not believe that an investigation which is under the authority of the Pakistan government has the necessary transparency,” he said.

Benazir was assassinated on December 27 shortly after she addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi.

Brushing aside questions about the “undemocratic nature” of PPP succession, he said “I do not claim to have any sort of aspirations. I was called and I stepped in and did what I was asked to do”.

“It wasn’t handed on like some piece of furniture. They asked me to do it and I did it,” he said.

Young Bilawal, however, appealed to the media for “privacy” when he resumes his studies as an undergraduate at Oxford University later this month.

He criticised the lengths some journalists had gone to in tracking down his personal details, particularly on the social networking site ‘Facebook’.

“When I am at Oxford I hope I can be left alone,” the bespectacled teenager said looking relaxed after a tense start before the cameras.

The third generation scion of the Bhutto family also said the threat of violence did not stop him from taking over as party chief.

“How many Bhuttos can you kill? From every house a Bhutto will come,” he said.

Bilawal said he had agreed to take over from his mother because “politics is in my blood”. But he added “My experience is limited... I intend to learn. On behalf of my sisters in Dubai, I should also like to request you to respect their privacy,” he said. Benazir’s two daughters, Aseefa and Bakhtawar, are residing in the Gulf Emirate.

Interior ministry spokesman Brig Javed Cheema on Tuesday denied reports of media that the killer of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had been identified. “There is no truth in these reports,” Cheema said.

He denied any arrest. A section of the press said the assassin had been identified and traced to the Swabi district of NWFP bordering Swat, where the army was engaged in an operation against religious extremists. The reports further said several persons were arrested.

Cheema said the Scotland Yard experts, assisting Pakistani authorities in the investigations, were free to define its own scope of inquiry.

The President in its meeting with the team on Tuesday hoped that the team would complete its task soon. He said the government would share the conclusions of the probe with the public.

The spokesman reiterated that necessary evidence from the crime scene was not destroyed and had been made available for forensic examination to the Yard’s team.

AN explosive secret inquiry report received by President Musharraf on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto has revealed that top religious extremist groups, including tribal militant Baitullah Mehsud, had “pooled” sophisticated expertise to eliminate her.

A top agency in its preliminary report has concluded that the deadly attack on Bhutto was a sort of “joint venture”, the first of its kind since suicide bombing got under way in Pakistan.

It was executed with the help of one banned jehadi organisation, which provided suicide bombers, while the other group based in Waziristan provided the technology, after they formed an alliance with the blessings of certain anti-Benazir elements within some official quarters.

The report leaked to the English daily, The News, said the assassination preceded a series of rehearsals at the site of her murder with active collaboration of “some hidden but powerful hands” in Islamabad.

Resources and technology of these groups were pooled in the light of earlier abortive attempts, the report said. While Baitullah Mehsud has denied any involvement, Bhutto’s spouse Asif Ali Zardari says Al-Qaida or extremists had not killed his wife.

The report says that the skull of Bhutto had cracked instantly, as a result of 50 Newton force of a bullet, usually required to break the hairy skull.

The sunroof or a hook could not create the required force, especially from a distance of six to eight inches from her head as claimed by the government in its first response.

No human tissue, fibre or bloodstain was found on the lever of Armour-plated sunroof. Bhutto had instantly fallen inside the car after being hit by the bullet.

Had she been out of the sunroof, her head might have been blown up and found somewhere else. One big hole was found in her scarf.

The bullet attack was followed by the explosive blast of about 5-kg intensity. Bhutto was not exposed to the blast that occurred on the left side of her vehicle.

Islamabad, January 8
At least three security personnel were killed, when their check post was buried under snow in northwestern Pakistan, as heavy rains and snowfall lashed many parts of the country today, crippling normal life.

The security personnel were killed, when a glacier rolled down from the picturesque Lowari Top mountain on to their check post at Chitral in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) following heavy snowfall yesterday night. The check post, where 14 personnel were deployed, was destroyed.

Six injured personnel were taken to hospital, where the condition of one was described as critical. Officials said efforts were on to rescue other security personnel posted in Chitral.

Heavy rains and snowfall lashed many parts of the country, adding to the winter chill and sending the temperature plummeting below zero at several places.

People in many parts of the northern areas faced considerable hardship as landslides blocked roads. The situation had been exacerbated by lengthy power cuts in many parts of the country.

Torrential rains crippled life in southern Pakistan, including the Sindh province. Several cities and towns in NWFP, including Peshawar received rains, while hilly areas received snowfall.

Following prolonged snowfall in Mansehra district of NWFP, the highway from Kaghan to Naran and several other link roads were blocked by up to four feet of snow. — PTI

Manchester, January 8
Democrat Barack Obama appeared poised to deal a second crushing blow to Hillary Clinton’s White House hopes today and boost his quest to become the first black US president, as New Hampshire voted in key presidential primaries.

Just five days after his Iowa triumph spun momentum into his White House drive, Obama enjoyed a solid lead in New Hampshire and for the first time shattered Hillary Clinton’s advantage among Democratic voters nationally, polls showed.

The former first lady showed up outside a polling station at a school in Nashua and waded into a large mob of excited school kids, clasping hands, then moved on to supporters, several of whom seemed close to tears as they gripped her in tight bear hugs.

Asked how she was feeling, Clinton said, “really good”, a day after she choked back tears on the campaign trail in a rare emotional display, as the strain of her damaged White House bid showed through.

Republican John McCain, meanwhile, looked set to lock in his advantage over rival Mitt Romney, who needs a strong showing after coming in a grim second last week in the Iowa caucuses, which launched this year's White House race.

Jerusalem, January 8
A rocket attack from Lebanese Hezbollah at the northern Israeli town of Shlomi has damaged property, ending a short-stinted peace, a day before US President George Bush embarks on his Middle East tour starting from the Jewish state.

“We can confirm that a 122 mm-Katyusha rocket was fired into the north of Israel from Lebanon yesterday night,” Israel police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.

The army later confirmed in a statement that two Katyusha rockets were fired on the northern town resulting in damages to property.

The attack came a day after Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah said he was ready for any future confrontation with Israel, after Iranian boats “harassed and provoked” three American Navy ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, “threatening to explode” the vessels.

One of the rockets damaged a house and the other landed on an empty street damaging an electricity pole.

The head of the Shlomi local council Gaby Na’aman, said it appeared that part of the rocket exploded in the air before hitting the house on Hazan Street in the city. “Several residents thought it was a thunder,” Na’aman told the ‘Army Radio’.

“This morning, we woke up and discovered they were Katyushas,” he said, referring to the rockets fired by the Hezbollah in northern Israel, which had a longer range and more explosive impact than the Qassam rockets fired by the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. — PTI

Jakarta, January 8
An Islamic militant serving 19 years for his role in the bombing of a McDonald's restaurant has escaped from a prison on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, a prison official said yesterday.

Wirahadi ( 25) fled the Gunung Sari prison in Makassar in the South Sulawesi province, with a fellow inmate during busy visiting hours on Sunday morning by climbing over a barbed wired wall, prison chief Bambang Yudotomo told Reuters.

The Indonesian was sentenced to 19 years in prison for his role in a 2002 blast at a McDonald's fast food outlet in Makassar in which three people were killed.

"It was crowded that day, many visitors came to see the prisoners," said Yudotomo, "We didn't have enough guards. There were only 13 people on duty, whereas there are 511 inmates. This incident is (a result of) our carelessness".

Yudotomo said prison security had been tightened and the country's anti-terror squad and local police were scouring ports and terminals to find the men.

Last year, another Islamic militant, jailed for 20 years for the 2004 bombing of a Sulawesi karaoke bar that killed four people, fled the same prison.

Most such attacks in Indonesia have been blamed on Islamic radicals from the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) regional militant network.

Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country and about 85 percent of its people follow Islam. While the vast majority of Indonesia's Muslims are relatively moderate, a militant minority has become increasingly vocal. — Reuters

Paris, January 8
It’s official: French President Nicolas Sarkozy says his relationship with model-turned-singer Carla Bruni is serious, and he suggested today that wedding plans are in the works.

“There is a strong chance that you will learn about it after it’s already done,” he said at a news conference.

A newspaper reported this weekend that a wedding is expected for early February, prompting Sarkozy to joke: “It isn’t the (Journal du Dimanche newspaper) that will set the date.”

Sarkozy’s romance with Bruni reportedly started shortly after the French leader and his second wife, Cecilia Sarkozy, divorced about three months ago.

Sarkozy and Bruni, an Italian-born former model with a successful folk music career, have since been photographed together in recent weeks in locations from Disneyland, Paris, to the pyramids in Egypt, often entwined arm-in-arm and looking happy.

“You’ve understood: it is serious,” Sarkozy said when asked at a news conference about their relationship.

Sarkozy said he wanted to break with a long tradition of French leaders keeping their love lives secret, with the media’s tacit accord.

He alluded to late former French President Fracois Mitterrand, who kept the existence of a mistress and an illegitimate daughter a secret for most of his 1981-1995 presidency. — AP

Four ministers of Bangladesh’s military-backed interim government resigned on Tuesday in a fresh blow to the 11-minister administration already shaken by a recent controversy.

The ministers, officially called advisers to the caretaker government, offered their resignation amid growing discontent over political uncertainty, soaring commodity prices, widespread rice shortage and a dipping economy.

The ministers who resigned are law and information adviser Mainul Hosein, industries adviser Geetiyara Safia Chowdhury, food and commerce adviser Tapan Chowdhury and health adviser former Lt Gen Matiur Rahman.

Earlier, culture adviser Ayub Quadri had resigned after two 1500-year old Vishnu statues were stolen on their way to an exhibition in France.

“We did what the government desired,” said Hosein, who added the other three advisers resigned for similar reasons, fuelling strong rumours that they were effectively sacked by the government.

Health adviser Matiur Rahman said “What you have seen on TV is true, power does not last forever.”

But Akbar Ali Khan, a former adviser and head of a high-powered government commission said “They were probably moved from their posts because they had failed to do their jobs.”

New advisers were likely to be named on Wednesday. This is the biggest shock to the caretaker administration which took over after President Iajuddin Ahmed declared a state of emergency on January 11, 2007, after the country descended into a crisis from an allegedly rigged election.

The incumbent administration, already stretched with only ten advisers in place for nearly forty government ministries, are now left with only five advisers in place.

Colombo, January 8
At least 17 Tamil Tigers and a civilian were killed in separate clashes in northern and eastern Sri Lanka while air force jets bombarded the rebel-controlled areas of Mannar today, destroying an LTTE base.

“Precision aerial raids were conducted at a pre-identified LTTE nerve centre located north of Palampiddi, in north-western Mannar this morning,” the defence ministry said adding, the rebel base was destroyed in the attack.

At least 10 LTTE rebels were killed in clashes with government troops ahead of the Wanni defence lines today, the media centre for national security said.

Toronto, January 8
Canada’s first experiment with partially privatised healthcare has evoked big protests. The flag-bearers of these protests are mostly the Indian Canadians of the Toronto suburb of Brampton, where the first such hospital opened in October, 2007.

Brampton is Canada’s fastest growing city of 4,35,000. About 30 per cent of the population is of South Asian origin.

Brampton Civic Hospital is Canada’s first big health project under the so-called public-private partnership or P3.

Fuelling people’s fury are not only the death of two Punjabi men due to the hospital’s alleged negligence in November and a wrong surgery on a Punjabi woman last month, but also service cuts, cost overruns and the alleged government cover-ups.

Opponents of the private health system, banded under the Ontario Health Coalition and Brampton Health Coalition, on Monday released a 32-page report to oppose the government’s new policy.

Released by Natalie Mehra of the Ontario Health Coalition, the report called for a moratorium on the policy till it was thoroughly reviewed.

It sought an audit of all the P3 deals the government has signed with a private consortium to partially privatise healthcare.

To drive home how the P3 system will deprive Canadians of quality medical care, the report highlighted cost overruns, service cuts and official cover-ups.

Speaking to IANS, a spokesperson for Brampton Health Coalition said people were presented a different picture when the Brampton Civic Hospital was mooted in 2001.

“We were told that we will get a new 608-bed hospital by 2005 at a cost of $ 350 million. It was to be financed, built and managed by a private consortium called the Healthcare Infrastructure Company of Canada. The public was to raise about 30 per cent of the cost. To recoup its costs, the consortium would run all the non-clinical services for 25 years. — IANS