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Pak stops US body from conducting exit poll
40 dead in Rwanda, Congo quake
Russia urges Iran to freeze uranium enrichment
Sarkozy kept wedding plans state secret
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Dr Amit lived lavish life in Canada
Remand of Bhutto killing accused extended
‘Writers must join protest for independent judiciary’
Journalists flay re-arrest of lawyers
PPP leader escapes bid
on life
Mehsud offers conditional talks to govt
India rose due to its middle class, Bhutto writes in book
Five women shot dead in mall
Indian docs face ban on training posts
Accomplice of Tagore Nobel Prize thief arrested
Hitler’s ‘lost fleet’ found in Black Sea
Lakhs of passengers stranded due to snow
101-ft kurta is world’s largest
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Pak stops US body from conducting exit poll
Islamabad, February 3 The International Republican Institute (IRI), which is led by Senator and Presidential hopeful John McCain, has also decided not to send election observers because of fears that the increasingly volatile situation in Pakistan would not allow them to monitor the elections properly. The IRI was the only US group planning to send observers to Pakistan. Over the past year, the IRI has apparently earned the ire of President Pervez Musharraf’s regime by conducting several surveys that showed a fall in his popularity. The Pakistan government has told two US citizens responsible for the surveys that they will have to leave the country in three weeks because their visas will not be renewed, Robert Varsalone, country director for IRI, told Chicago Tribune. The government tried to have them leave Pakistan in January but later extended their visas for a month due to “diplomatic pressure.” “We’ve been told essentially, this is it for you,” said Varsalone. “We always tried to be honest brokers of information.” The IRI has worked in Pakistan for five years. Pakistani officials refused to comment on the issue. “The main purpose of IRI was to monitor the election process,” said Obaidullah Farooq Malik, a visa officer in the Interior Ministry. “When the election is over, the task of IRI will be finalised.” The IRI’s surveys have reflected the growing discontent of Pakistanis. In September, 2006, Musharraf had a 63 per cent approval rating. But by October 11 last year, an IRI survey put his approval rating at just 21 per cent. Thirteen days later, the IRI got a letter from the government which said it would not be possible to register the group in Pakistan “due to administrative reasons”. Another survey released on December 13 showed that Musharraf’s popularity had rebounded to 30 per cent, but the government was highly critical and presidential spokesman Rashid Qureshi said the survey had no validity. On December 24, the government denied IRI’s request to conduct an exit poll. Election Commission officials said exit polls are not allowed in Pakistan because they are not mentioned in the Constitution. Election Commission secretary Kanwar Dilshad said an exit poll could be confusing. “May be the result of the exit poll would be different from the actual result,” he said. Political analysts and rights activists said they believed the IRI’s visa troubles are a result of its increasingly critical polls. “Without a shadow of a doubt,” said Iqbal Haider, secretary-general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
— PTI
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40 dead in Rwanda, Congo quake
Kigali, February 3
Houses crumbled and deep cracks spread up walls of buildings in the centre of Bukavu in Congo, near the epicentre of the quake which measured six on the open-ended Richter scale, as people ran out of churches packed for Sunday Mass.
Radio Rwanda said 10 people were killed “straight away when a church collapsed” in the Rusizi district of Western Province and 13 others died in Rusizi and Nyamesheke districts.
At least five died in Bukavu, the mayor said, after the quake struck at 1305 IST some 20 kilometres north of the Congo town.
“According to the latest information I have, there are five dead in Bukavu,” Guillaume Bonga, mayor of the capital of Sud-Kivu province, told
AFP.
Provincial health officer Manou Burole said 55 people had been wounded there.
Several dozen injured were admitted to the general hospital and at least another 12 casualties to Panzi hospital, Bukavu’s two biggest hospitals, medical sources said.
Across the border to the east, Radio Rwanda said 250 wounded were transported to various regional hospitals, and a witness in Rusizi district said public buses were used to transport the causalities.
In Congo’s Kabare, north of Bukavu, the walls of a church collapsed on the congregation during the mass, injuring 37, including five seriously, priest Leon Shamavu told AFP by telephone.
— AFP
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Russia urges Iran to freeze uranium enrichment
Moscow, February 3 "Iran should fully cooperate with the IAEA's Board of Governors, and, among other things, get back to the implementation of the additional protocol on control, freeze of uranium enrichment and take some other measures pending the work to untangle all difficult problems," Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Kislyak said in an interview to Interfax news agency. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is probing whether Iran's nuclear drive is peaceful or aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Kislyak said the vexed issue of Iran's nuclear activities could be addressed if Tehran displayed "political will". The minister, who looks after sensitive non-proliferation issues at the Smolenskaya Square (Foreign Ministry), said that a new UN draft resolution envisions widening of sanctions imposed on the Islamic regime and sends a "serious signal" to Tehran that it must cooperate with the IAEA. "When this document is made public, you will see that it contains serious signals for Iran and envisions a certain expansion of the earlier sanctions," Kislyak said. The UN Security Council has been circulating a proposed resolution which seeks to strengthen two previous rounds of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. The West accuses the Islamic regime of trying to develop nuclear weapons. "The new draft contains additional measures against Iran, but they are not harsh sanctions. They are formulated as recommendations for all countries to take caution when developing contacts with Iran, to make sure that the non-proliferation regime is not violated," Lavrov said. He added that the draft clearly states that if Iran agrees with proposals made by the five veto-wielding members of the UNSC and Germany, direct negotiations will be launched to settle all issues on the country's nuclear programme. Russia is helping Iran develop its first atomic power plant, and completed the delivery of nuclear fuel to be used at the country's Bushehr plant last week.
— PTI
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Sarkozy kept wedding plans state secret
Paris, February 3 Sarkozy (53) and the Italian Bruni (40) were married yesterday at the Elysee Palace, with about 20 relatives and close friends present, according to Francois Lebel, the local mayor who officiated. The president’s third marriage put him again on front pages around the world because of his private life, a phenomenon which polls say is costing him support at home from voters who would rather he worked on France’s problems. But it does allow Bruni to accompany Sarkozy on a state visit to Britain in March as France’s first lady. The couple will have tea with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. Lebel, whose eighth arrondissement includes the Elysee Palace, explained the lengths taken to preserve the couple’s “discretion” as their whirlwind romance ended in an exchange of vows. The presidency only confirmed the event several hours after it happened and Sarkozy had warned reporters last month that if there was a wedding the media would only find out about it afterwards. “The banns were not published because the President of the republic obtained, as is often the case, special dispensation from the prosecutor of the republic,” the mayor told reporters yesterday. Sarkozy also obtained special permission from the local prosecutor to hold the civil ceremony at the Elysee Palace instead of the town hall, which would normally be used.
— AFP
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Dr Amit lived lavish life in Canada
Toronto, February 3 Kumar, against whom an Interpol red corner notice was issued after his illegal kidney selling network was unearthed, his “wife” Poonam Ameet, and their two sons, 5 and 4, moved into their Brampton home last April and the children attend a local private school, his neighbours said. Except Kumar, the rest of the family remains barricaded behind security doors at their home, Toronto Star reported today. The couple bought the four-bedroom home in the predominantly Indian neighborhood of Bovaird Dr. and Airport Rd. in April 2007 for USD610,000, it said adding the kidney scandal had shocked the quiet neighbourhood. Kumar reportedly told neighbours that he was a cardiovascular surgeon with clients around the world, but he never once mentioned anything about kidneys, it said. Kumar, who Indian police say is not a surgeon, was last seen in Brampton before Christmas driving a leased USD65,000 Lexus 350 SUV. While some found him “standoffish,” others said he seemed to be upfront and candid. “I’m absolutely in shock,” said the neighbour, calling Kumar a “gem of guy” who brought him gifts from his trips to India. “This is strange. I’m baffled. I feel so let down.” Kumar told him he was going back to India to wind down his businesses, which he said included a hotel, a hospital and several clinics. Kumar planned to open a hotel in Canada upon his return and was going to live and work here permanently, he said. Interpol last week issued a rarely used “red notice” warrant for his arrest.
— PTI
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Remand of Bhutto killing accused extended
The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) No 1, Rawalpindi, has extended for 10 more days the physical remand of two men suspected to be members of a squad of suicide bombers that killed former premier Benazir Bhutto.
The accused - 15-year-old Aitzaz Shah and Sher Zaman - were produced in court under tight security. Both were taken to court in an armoured personnel carrier and had their faces covered by police. Shah had earlier told investigators that he was next in line to target Benazir, who was assassinated in a suicide attack in Rawalpindi on December 27. Though Shah reportedly made a confessional statement about two weeks ago, analysts are intrigued by government's low-key handling of Shah. Many believe that the government has adopted an ambivalent attitude towards Shah's alleged confession on such a high profile case instead of projecting it at national and foreign level. This has led to lot of scepticism among observers about government government's version of the veracity of Shah's statements. Shah was recently brought to Rawalpindi for questioning and an anti-terrorism court had remanded him to police custody for 10 days. The city police had booked the two under Sections 302/24, 435/36, 120-B, 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and 4/5 of the Explosive Act. The officers of the team investigating Benazir Bhutto's assassination presented the remand paper in the court. They said important information had been obtained from the accused on suicide attacks and terror related incidents during the investigation. They requested more time with the accused to confirm the information learnt. ATC No 1 Judge Chaudhry Habibullah accepted the request of the police and ordered them to produce the accused in court on February 12, at the end of the 10-day remand. The ATC also adjourned hearing into the Maulana Azam Tariq murder case till March 3. Azam Tariq, chief of banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, was gunned down in October 2003 on the outskirts of Islamabad.
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‘Writers must join protest for independent judiciary’
A group of some of the country’s top writers has called upon the intelligentsia to actively join the protest movement against dismantling of independent judiciary and gagging of media by President Pervez Musharraf since the imposition of an emergency on November 3.
In a meeting presided over by Pakistan’s best known living poet Ahmed Faraz, the participants said Musharraf had destroyed every institution in the country and muzzled free expression. Faraz said, “The writers must not feel smug with simply airing their views in writing. They must join the civil society, including the lawyers, journalists and others to actively participate in the protest movement for restoration of the independent judiciary, free media and rule of law.” The meeting was organised by South Asia Policy Analysis Network at the South Asian Free Media Association media centre to discuss the role of writers in the present crisis through which the country was passing. Masud Mufti, poet Kishwar Naheed, writer Mansha Yaad and Prof Yousaf Hassan were unanimous in their opposition to Musharraf that had brought the country to brink of the worst crisis of its existence. Ahmad Faraz disagreed with the view that the crisis, which Pakistan was facing, was part of the turbulent times the world was passing through. He said Pakistan was one of those countries where American interference had created a situation of destabilisation. He said the writer could not be a passive spectator in the present situation. He had to move with the time and lend his full active support to the movement of the civil society. He said it was time for the writer to replace the ink of his pen with blood.
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Journalists flay re-arrest of lawyers
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has strongly condemned the re-arrest of three prominent leaders of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), including its president Aitzaz Ahsan and demanded their immediate release.
“Their fresh detention shows that the government has no respect for the voice of dissent and raises serious questions about the credibility of the forthcoming general elections,” the PFUJ said in a statement. Aitzaz, Justice Tariq Mahmood and Ali Ahmed Kurd were sent back to detention a day after they were released on Thursday after 90 days of detention. Recalling the services of the three leaders of lawyers’ movement for independence of judiciary, the PFUJ said press freedom was unthinkable without independent judiciary. Pakistan’s journalists have fought alongside the lawyers for restoration of the constitution, rule of law and reinstatement of deposed judges, the statement said. It noted that the three lawyers were arrested only 16 days before the general elections that cannot be free and fair without free media and independent judiciary. The PFUJ also condemned the Sindh government’s ban on the entry of Aitzaz Ahsan saying that it has exposed the bias of the interim government. The PFUJ said it would release the details of its signature campaign, ‘Free Media for Fair Poll’, prior to the general elections, next week and would send the petition to international media watchdogs, the UN and other organisations.
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PPP leader escapes bid on life
Islamabad, February 3 Media reports said that some persons opened fire at Fahim, the vice- chairman of the PPP, while he was addressing the rally at Mithi. The PPP said Fahim is safe and would address a press conference shortly. The bid on Fahim's life sparked tension in Sindh province, the reports said. Meanwhile, the PPP dismissed reports about an attack on him. PPP spokesman Waqar Medhi said there was no attack or incident of firing on Fahim. He said such reports were being spread by "vested interests". Fahim, projected by some sections of the party as its prime ministerial candidate for the upcoming general election, too spoke to TV channels and journalists and said he was safe. — PTI
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Mehsud offers conditional talks to govt
Militant commander Baitullah Mehsud has extended a conditional offer to the government to stop his aggressive activities, a private TV channel has reported.
Geo News quoted official sources as saying that Mehsud has conveyed to the Pakistan government that he is willing to halt terrorist actions if the key commanders and militants arrested by security forces were released. Senator Saleh Shah told the channel that Mehsud had authorised him to negotiate with the government. Shah has earlier led jirgas to negotiate with Mehsud and other Taliban leaders on truce and prisoners swap. Shah said that he would discuss the matter with the government at NWFP Governor's House in a day. Separately, the Interior Ministry did not confirm or deny any such contact between Mehsud and the government. Meanwhile, Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has through a decree denounced slaughtering of the alleged spies at the hands of what he called Taliban and Mujahideen engaged in resistance against the US-led allies in the region. "No one is allowed to slaughter any one," Mullah Mohammad Omar remarked through a decree, made public to media by Taliban commander Maulvi Mohammad Rasool. Omar regretted slaughtering of people by accusing them of spying for the Allied army in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said in the "War Procedure" book that has already been circulated, there is no room for slaughtering of those who are either associated with the US-led allied troops or are associated with the Government. Mullah Omar made it clear that no commander or individual among the Taliban has the right either to slaughter or execute any person on any charge or in any circumstances. Only an Islamic court has the right to award capital punishment to any accused after his formal trial.
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India rose due to its middle class, Bhutto writes in book
London, February 3 “Democracy cannot be sustained in the absence of a stable and growing middle class. The growth of India into a regional and international economic power occurred - not coincidentally - as its middle class exploded into a huge economic and political force,” Bhutto said in the autobiography excerpted in ‘The Sunday Times.’ Posing the question “How can a nation build a middle class?”, she wrote: “The first key is to build an education system that delivers hope and real opportunity. Good public educational opportunity is the key to the economic and political progress of nations, and it can be so in the Islamic world as well.” But in Pakistan $4.5 billion is spent on the military each year - an astounding 1,400 per cent more than on education, Bhuuto said in the book. “Militant madrassas did not flourish there because Pakistani citizens suddenly became more religiously orthodox than ever before in our history. The militants took advantage of parents from low-income social classes who wanted a better life for their children. “If parents are so poor that they cannot educate, house, clothe, feed and provide healthcare for their children and the state fails to provide such basic human needs through public services, they will seek an alternative. The militant madrassas have become, over time, an alternative government for millions of Pakistanis,” she said. “These political and military training camps invest little time and resources in primary education. Rather, they manipulate religion to brainwash children into becoming soldiers of an irregular army. “They teach hatred and violence. They breed terrorists, not scientists. They undermine the very concept of national identity and rule of law,” Bhutto wrote. She claimed that during her tenure as prime minister she invested enormous political resources in stopping these “paramilitary political
madrassas.” “But unfortunately, in the years since I left office, as many as 20,000 new ones have been built in Pakistan alone.” She observed that “as the Muslim world simmers internally, extremists have manipulated Islamic dogma to justify and rationalise a so-called ‘jihad’ against the West. The attacks on September 11, 2001, heralded the vanguard of the caliphate-inspired dream of bloody confrontation: the Crusades in reverse.” Her book Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West will be published in the second week of this month, the report said.
— PTI
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Colombo suicide blast kills 12 civilians
Colombo, February 3
“We have got 100 wounded persons admitted to the hospital after the blast at the railway station. Of them nine persons are pronounced dead by now,” senior director of the accidental service of Colombo National Hospital Hector Weerasinghe told UNI over the phone.
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Five women shot dead in mall
Chicago, February 3 The police said it was looking for the suspect who went on shooting spree around 11 am in the Lane Bryant apparel store for plus size women in Tinley Park. The authorities have not identified the victims - which may include one or more employees besides shoppers - while their families are being contacted. Investigators are not clear of the shooter’s motive, but believe it could be a case of botched robbery attempt. Immediately after arriving on the scene, the police searched for the gunman in nearby stores, leaving customers terrified. The police department has warned its officers to pay attention to strip malls - shopping centre where the shops are arranged in a row - and other Lane Bryant stores. They were also downloading footage from CCTV cameras mounted at nearby stores. The police allowed some shoppers into parts of the Tinley Park mall later Saturday, but cordoned off Lane Bryant store.
— IANS
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Indian docs face ban on training posts
London, February 3 A ministerial group is preparing a move to impose the ban on training posts on all foreign doctors from outside the European Union in a bid to prevent thousands of British medics from facing unemployment, The Sunday Telegraph reported. “We need to do something quickly about this and restricting access to specialist medical training is an area where we think we can make a difference,” an unnamed government source was quoted as saying. According to government statistics foreign doctors account for half of all applicants for jobs. Last year, the UK’s Department of Health had issued guidance that foreign docs could only be considered for a training post if there was no suitable candidate from the country or the European Union. However, the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, who claimed it was “unfairly discriminatory”, successfully challenged the guidance in court. Ministers are appealing against the court decision, but the appeal is not due to be heard until later this year. The government is also considering to introduce charges for post-graduate training for overseas medics, according to the sources.
— PTI
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Accomplice of Tagore Nobel Prize thief arrested
Dhaka, February 3 A police spokesman told reporters on Saturday that Shiplu, an accomplice of Jibon Singh, who is accused of stealing the Nobel Prize for literature medal from the Rabindra Museum in West Bengal on March 25, 2004, was arrested. The police is interrogating Shiplu, a Bangladeshi national, who was arrested on Friday in Dhaka. The police had been interrogating Shiplu with alleged links to the theft. Additional superintendent of Bangladesh police Md Abdullah Arif said, “Shiplu is one of the accomplices of Jibon Singh, accused of stealing the medal. Jibon Singh is evading arrest.” Singh is believed to be hiding in Bangladesh, said Arif.
— PTI
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Hitler’s ‘lost fleet’ found in Black Sea
London, February 3 Now, 60 years on, the Nazi dictator’s ‘lost fleet’- the resting place of three German submarines-has been found in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey. The hulls of the submarines-U19, U20 and U23 -- have been discovered by a team of researchers who established the boats’ positions through research in German archives and by sonar studies of seabed, ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ reported. “It’s one of the least well known stories of the war but one of the most interesting. It is a quite incredible story. To get to the Black Sea these boats had to be taken across the land, and once they got there they had no way out,” said Turkish marine engineer Seluk Kolay, who led
the team. The submarines were carried 2,000 miles overland from Germany to attack Russian ships during the Second World War, but scuttled as the war neared its end. In fact, the vessels formed part of the 30th flotilla of six U-boats, taken by road and river across Nazi-occupied Europe, from Germany’s Baltic port at Kiel to Constanta, the Romanian Black Sea port.
— PTI
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Lakhs of passengers stranded due to snow
Beijing, February 3 A migrant worker was trampled to death when desperate passengers scrambled to board a train at the railway station in the booming southern city of Guangzhou, where tens of thousands of exasperated people waited endlessly for days in shivering cold to be with their families for the lunar New Year from
February 7. — PTI
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101-ft kurta is world’s largest Karachi, February 3 The kurta, large enough to be worn by a 175-foot tall person, was unveiled to the public at a ceremony here today. Procter and Gamble, which sponsored the kurta, described it as a symbol of national unity as the garment worn by people across Pakistan captures the culture and identity of the country. Mohamed Ismail, marketing director for Procter and Gamble, said, “The length of the world’s largest kurta is 30 times that of a standard medium-sized kurta and stands at 101 feet. The kurta weighs 800 kg and took a team of 50 hard working professional tailors to put it together in 30 days.” The kurta was measured last month by professional experts of SGS Pakistan, a local certification firm. The Guinness Book of World Records later certified the entry based on a rigorous documentation process. Fashion designer Deepak Perwani, who embellished the giant kurta, said, “The kurta is an intrinsic symbol of Pakistani attire, and (this garment) has successfully put it on the global map. A Guinness endorsement is no mean feat and this record will go a long way in creating positive recall for Pakistani fashion in the international community.” — PTI
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