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Mush to quit if new govt seeks his impeachment
Sherpas pray for Hillary’s rebirth
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Nepal Assembly polls now on April 10
Despite looming uncertainty, the Nepal government on Friday announced that it would hold the Constituent Assembly (CA) election on April 10, which the government had deferred twice in the past. Blast in Mittal’s mine leaves 7 dead ‘Sarkozy’s fiancee pregnant’
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Mush to quit if new govt seeks his impeachment
President Pervez Musharraf has said he would resign if the government that emerges from the coming general elections seeks his impeachment. He dismissed allegations of pre-poll rigging and alleged secret plans to steal the elections due on February 18 in favour of PML-Q and said elements anticipating their defeat were levelling such charges. He said he was determined to hold free and fair elections and termed allegation of rigging as a national insult. Musharraf said he was not partisan and had nothing to do with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification from the elections, adding that it was the Election Commission’s job to permit or disqualify election candidates. He said 90 per cent of the statements made by the Pakistan People’s Party and the PML-N were false. He termed fears of rigging as part of an “unfortunate political culture” of Pakistan. Calling as unjust the demand by political parties’ for the suspension of the local governments before elections, he said nazims, belonging to all the parties, could influence the elections. He said the restriction on becoming the Prime Minister for the third time could only be removed by the Parliament. Emphasizing that he has learned political tricks and antics of politicians, added that he has not been “selling grams” for the last eight years Musharraf said all steps have been taken to hold free, fair and transparent election and warned that no agitation before or after the poll would be permitted. “But one should be very clear. We will not allow any agitation, before or after the election,” the President said at the weekly television programme “Aiwan-e-Sadr-sey”. It was recorded on the fateful day of December 27 when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, but screened on Thursday. “As a nation we ought to be ashamed while making allegations about rigging ... are we a banana republic and even unable to hold a free, fair and transparent election,” he asked. He claimed that the judiciary in Pakistan is totally free and the judges of superior courts were performing their duties. The deposed judges would never be restored, he added. Similarly, he claimed that the media in the country was free. He, however, described the steps taken in recent past about media as “need of the hour”. The President said media and the local people were the best observers of the upcoming elections. He hoped that the media will do a balanced reporting of the elections without any prejudice. The President said the election in Pakistan would in no way be different from that of any civilised society. He said the Election Commission of Pakistan had further improved the system of conducting impartial elections and said any bugs in the system had now been removed. He described the Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Fartooq as an “honourable person” and said he had never met him but once when he made an official call on him after assuming charge of his office.
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Accused denies killing Bhutto
Islamabad, January 11 “Benazir Bhutto’s killing was a part of power politics. We have nothing to do with her and her family members,” said Sirajuddin, a spokesman for Maulana Fazlullah, who called The News from an undisclosed location. President Musharraf blamed Baitullah Mehsud and Maulana Fazlullah for assassinating Benazir outside Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27. Baitullah had already denied the charge against him but Fazlullah, who was declared dead by some media organisations on Wednesday in a military action in Manja area of Kabal Tehsil, appeared to clarify his position. Fazlullah said he and his supporters would continue their struggle under the command of Baitullah Mehsud till the enforcement of Sharia in the region. He said they had decided to go underground and launch guerrilla attacks on security forces. “The military is targeting innocent people and damaging mosques to punish our followers for supporting the Mujahideen,” he said. Meanwhile, security forces, fighting the Fazlullah-led militants in Swat on Thursday, suspended military action due to persistent heavy snowfall and rain in the valley. Cyber crime law promulgated
President Pervez Musharraf has promulgated “Electronic Crime Ordinance 2007”, which is aimed at curbing rising cyber terrorism by giving capital punishment and up to seven-year sentence with Rs 10-million penalty for a cyber crime. Minister for information technology and telecommunication Abdul Riar said the law would be effective from December 31, 2007. With its promulgation, Pakistan had become the 42nd country, which had the proper law to prevent cyber crimes.
The ordinance carries 18 different offences. According to the law, whoever would commit the offence of “cyber terrorism” and cause death of any person should be punishable with the death or imprisonment for life and with fine. In any other case, he should be punishable with imprisonment and of either description for a term, which may extend to 10 years, or with fine not less than Rs 10 million, or with both. The ordinance defines offender of cyber terrorism as any person group or organisation who, with terrorist intent, utilises, accesses or causes to be accessed a computer or computer network or electronic system or electronic device or by any available means, and there by knowingly engaged in or attempted to engage in a terrorist act commits the offence of cyber terrorism. Mush warns US against entering Pak to hunt Al-Qaida
President Pervez Musharraf warned that any unilateral action by US troops to enter Pakistan’s border region with Afghanistan in the hunt for Al-Qaida militants would be regarded as an invasion and asserted they would “regret” that day. “The United States seems to think that what our army cannot do, they can do. This is a very wrong perception. I challenge anybody to come into our mountains. They would regret that day,” Musharraf said in an interview to Straits Times of Singapore in what seems to be an open dare by him. Asked if any unauthorised incursion by US forces in the mountainous tribal areas in the hunt for Al-Qaida and Taliban militants would be considered an invasion, Musharraf replied “Certainly. If they come without our permission, that’s against the sovereignty of Pakistan.” Mushrraf’s sternest language yet with the U.S came in the backdrop of reports that Washington was considering granting the Pentagon and the CIA new authority to conduct more aggressive covert operations in Pakistan’s tribal areas where Al-Qaida is believed to be gaining strength. Musharraf, however, said when it comes to Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the “methodology of getting him will be discussed together and we’ll attack the target together”.
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Sherpas pray for Hillary’s rebirth
Kathmandu, January 11 Hillary, who scaled Mt Everest in 1953 along with Nepal’s Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, spent much of his life afterwards helping Sherpa communities in Nepal, including projects to build hospitals and schools. “I lit butter lamps and offered prayers for his reincarnation as a human being,” said Ang Rita Sherpa, 60, an old friend who has worked for 23 years with Hillary and his Himalayan Trust that implements development projects in Nepal. Hillary’s projects built 26 schools, two hospitals, an airport, numerous trails and provided scholarships for Sherpa children in the Himalayan nation, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Mt Everest. Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of Hillary’s 1953 climbing mate, said Tenzing Norgay and Hillary had a “very good partnership” and that Hillary maintained close ties with Norgay’s family even after his death. — Reuters
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Nepal Assembly polls now on April 10
Despite looming uncertainty, the Nepal government on Friday announced that it would hold the Constituent Assembly (CA) election on April 10, which the government had deferred twice in the past.
A meeting of the council of ministers held this afternoon decided to set a new date for the election, which would pave the way for the enactment of the recently amended constitutional provision in practice that declares Nepal a republic state by abolishing 239-year-old Shah Dynasty from the country. “The government decided to hold the election on April 10,” said Matrika
Yadav, minister for forests and soil conservation and a seniorMaoist leader.
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Blast in Mittal’s mine leaves 7 dead
Moscow, January 11 The blast in a shaft of the coal mine occurred at 06.30 am Moscow time. A spokesman for Kazakhstan’s Karaganda regional emergencies centre said at the time of the explosion, there were 195 persons in the mine in Karaganda. Latest reports said 160 persons had been rescued. More than 20 miners were reported missing. The rescue operations involve eight teams. The deadly accident at coal enterprises of industrialist Lakshmi Mittal in Kazakhstan is not the first. A methane explosion in the Lenin company of Mittal Steel Temirtau in September 2006, left 41 persons dead.
— UNI
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‘Sarkozy’s fiancee pregnant’
London, Janaury 11 The pregnancy of Bruni, a former supermodel, has been confirmed by doctors in Paris, the Daily Mail of Britain reported today quoting French website 20minutes.fr as saying. “I am told that she had a scan and the pregnancy was confirmed,” reporter Allain Jules said, adding that he received the information from a source at the American Hospital in the Paris suburb of Neuilly
— PTI
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