W O R L D

Spiritual guru Mahesh Yogi dead
London, February 6
Indian spiritual guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced “transcendental meditation” to the West, including the Beatles in 1960s, died at his home in the Netherlands. The Maharishi died peacefully in his sleep last evening due to “natural causes, his age” in the Dutch town of Vlodrop, his spokesman, Bob Roth said.

Zardari open to premiership
Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has suggested that he might be interested in premiership if the PPP was elected to power in the elections because he "has the widest name recognition in the party", according to a recent Newsweek report.

Pak general killed in chopper crash
Islamabad, February 6
A Major General was among eight Pakistani army personnel killed today when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed due to a technical fault in the restive South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

B’desh court quashes Hasina’s trial
Dhaka, February 6
In an embarrassment to Bangladesh’s military backed government, the high court today quashed the trial of jailed former premier Sheikh Hasina in an “extortion” case saying it was “illegal” to prosecute her under emergency laws.

Now, Sarkozy’s ex-wife to wed
London, February 6
After French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wedding with ex-supermodel Carla Bruni, his former wife is rushing ahead with her wedding plans. Friends of Cecilia said she was embittered after Sarkozy's wedding last week, just three months after their divorce.

Spiritual guru Mahesh Yogi dead

London, February 6
Indian spiritual guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced “transcendental meditation” to the West, including the Beatles in 1960s, died at his home in the Netherlands.

The Maharishi died peacefully in his sleep last evening due to “natural causes, his age” in the Dutch town of Vlodrop, his spokesman, Bob Roth said.

The physicist-turned spiritual guru transformed his interpretations of ancient Vedic scriptures into a multi-million dollar global empire and went on to built up a following of about six million people worldwide, including celebrities like Beach Boys, singer Donovan, Clint Eastwood and avant-garde filmmaker David Lynch.

The Maharishi introduced the Transcendental Meditation Movement to the West in 1959, but rose to popularity when the Beatles travelled to India to learn the mind control technique at his ashram in the Himalayas in 1968. The band, however, fell out with the Maharishi soon thereafter.

The guru announced his retirement and retreat into silence at his Vlodrop home last month, saying his work was done and that he wanted to dedicate his remaining days to studying ancient Hindu Vedas texts, media reports said. “He had been saying he had done what he set out to do,” Roth said.

Born in Madhya Pradesh, the Maharishi, whose real name was Mahesh Prasad Verma, graduated in physics from Allahabad University before devoting himself to spiritual enlightenment. — PTI

Zardari open to premiership
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has suggested that he might be interested in premiership if the PPP was elected to power in the elections because he "has the widest name recognition in the party", according to a recent Newsweek report.

In a telephonic interview with Newsweek, Zardari said there was no single personality in the PPP, apart from him, who anybody even knew.

Zardari yesterday made public a copy of former premier Benazir Bhutto's will to prove that she named him as her successor, after facing a whispering campaign at home that he might not be Benazir's legitimate heir. Shortly after her death, Zaradri announced that Amin Fahim, vice-chairman of the PPP, may be the party´s candidate for prime minister while he would like to perform the role of a Sonia Gandhi behind the scenes. But many party leaders consider Fahim a weak leader who might be amenable to Musharraf´s pressures.

Fahim told journalists in Tando Adam that the PPP Central executive committee (CEC) would choose the party's candidate for prime minister. He he said slain PPP chairwoman had named her husband Asif Zardari as the party's chairman in her will, which the CEC had approved. The CEC also approved Zardari's decision to name his son Bilawal Zardari as the chairman.

In her will she said her husband Asif Ali Zardari was "a man of courage and honour ... He has the political stature to keep our party united."

Addressing party office-bearers, Benazir wrote in her will that, "I would like my husband ... Zardari to lead you in this interim period until you and he decide what is best," the magazine quoted her handwritten will.

"Zardari is considered a mistrusted - and divisive - figure in Pakistan. He is widely blamed for the tangle of corruption that strangled and cut short Benazir's terms in office," according to the magazine.

Newsweek also quotes Syed Farooq Hasnat, a scholar at Washington's Middle East Institute, as saying, "Pakistanis are not ready for Zardari."

Asked whether he was now interested in the prime ministership, Zardari told the magazine, "In order to be prime minister you have to be a member of parliament. I'm not running for this parliament at the moment." He added that the party leadership would ultimately decide who the PM candidate should be.

Pak general killed in chopper crash

Islamabad, February 6
A Major General was among eight Pakistani army personnel killed today when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed due to a technical fault in the restive South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

The Army’s Mi-17 helicopter crashed killing Major-Gen Javed Sultan, the General Officer Commanding for Kohat, Brig Afzal Cheema, Brig Saeed Khan, Lt-Col P Umar Farooq, three Captains and a non-commissioned officer, military spokesman Major-Gen Athar Abbas said.

The helicopter crashed because of a “technical fault” and was not brought down due to any attack by militants active in the area, Abbas said.

Major-Gen Sultan was on an official visit to the area when the helicopter crashed at Tanai, located between Wana and Jandola, two of the major towns of South Waziristan, around 2.40 pm. — PTI

B’desh court quashes Hasina’s trial

Dhaka, February 6
In an embarrassment to Bangladesh’s military backed government, the high court today quashed the trial of jailed former premier Sheikh Hasina in an “extortion” case saying it was “illegal” to prosecute her under emergency laws.

A bench comprising justices Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Shahidul Islam delivered the judgement on a writ petition filed by the Awami League chief, who was arrested in July during an anti-graft drive.

Hasina, 62, had challenged trial under the tough emergency rules that bar the court from granting the accused bail as the alleged crime took place before a state of emergency was promulgated in January last year.

“The entire (trial) process has been declared illegal and quashed,” Hasina’s counsel and former attorney general Rafiqul Haq told reporters after emerging from the crowded courtroom.

The attorney general, who represented the government in the case, was not immediately available for comments.

The ex-premier was being tried by Metropolitan Sessions court on a complaint filed by Bangladeshi businessman Ajam J. Chowdhury, who alleged that he was forced to pay nearly taka 3 crore ($4.35 lakh) to get a power project cleared during Hasina’s rule.

The high court judgement came after seven days of hearing on the writ during which the Bench also heard opinions of six amicus curiae or ‘friends of court’ it had appointed earlier.

Most of the amicus curiae opined that the former premier could not be tried under emergency rules since the alleged crime took place while Hasina was in power from 1996 to 2001. — PTI

Lone Kanishka convict may remain in jail

Toronto, February 6
Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only man convicted of being involved in the 1985 Air-India bombing that killed 329 people, may remain in the jail even after his current manslaughter sentence expires this week.

The British Columbia government lawyer said Reyat will continue to be held in jail on a 2006 arrest warrant for perjury charges, and it will be up to him to ask the court for bail.

The court would decide whether Reyat could be let out on bail, he added.

There were concerns about him walking free after his manslaughter sentence expires on Feburary 9.

Reyat had pleaded guilty to manslaughter five years ago for his role in the 'Kanishka' bombing. He had been convicted in 1991 for building a second bomb that exploded the same day at Tokyo's Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers.

He is supposed to face charges of perjury later this year. The charges stem from his testimony at the Air India trial, where the crown alleges that he lied 27 times. — PTI

Now, Sarkozy’s ex-wife to wed

London, February 6
After French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wedding with ex-supermodel Carla Bruni, his former wife is rushing ahead with her wedding plans.

Friends of Cecilia said she was embittered after Sarkozy's wedding last week, just three months after their divorce.

She is going to tie the knot next month with millionaire publicist Richard Attias, with whom she had an affair during her marriage to the French President, her friends said.

One of them told French newspaper Le Figaro, ''She feels Sarkozy has embarrassed her by marrying a beautiful former model ten years her junior. Her wedding had been mooted for this summer, but now seems to have been moved forward,'' the Daily Mail reported.

Sarkozy's whirlwind romance with Bruni led to a series of harsh comparisons between the model and Cecilia.

Bruni was also accused of having rubbed salt into the former first lady's wounds by demanding the same engagement ring the President had given her 12 years earlier. — UNI