Houston, March 4
Barack Obama approached Tuesday’s voting in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont as a chance to drive rival Hillary Rodham Clinton out of the Democratic Presidential contest for good.

Clinton looked at the same contests as a way to end Obama’s streak of 11 straight victories and keep her candidacy alive.

Spending the night in the same Texas city, both expressed confidence in their chances. But both teams acknowledged that split decisions and close votes could prolong the battle for at least another month — or more.

“We know this has been an extraordinary election. It continues to be. We’re working hard to do as well as we can,” said Obama, who planned to await Texas returns in San Antonio.

“I’m just getting warmed up,” Clinton told reporters, a clear sign that she expects to press the campaign on beyond Tuesday no matter the outcome.

She was opening Election Day in Houston, but then heading back to Ohio for more campaign events. She will await results in Columbus before returning to Washington.

Polls show tight races in both Texas and Ohio. The Obama campaign saw Texas as their best opportunity, while the Clinton campaign saw Ohio as theirs. Texas offers 228 delegates, Ohio 164.

“Your voice can win an election,” Obama told a noisy late-night rally in Houston. Repeating a signature election refrain, he shouted: “I have only one question for you: Are you fired up? Ready to go?” When the crowd roared its approval, he added: “Let’s go change the world.”

His wife, Michelle, had a more subdued message for the cheering supporters: “We have a lot of work to do.”

Obama spent Monday campaigning in Texas, emphasising his readiness to take over as commander in chief.

But he was dogged by allegations that he had overstated his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement to win votes in Ohio; and his ties to Chicago businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko on the day that jury selection began in the political corruption trial of the real estate developer and fast-food magnate.

Meanwhile, Clinton waged yet another marathon day on Monday, shaking hands in the chill pre-dawn darkness with workers at a Chrysler factory in Toledo and winding up in Texas. She predicted a strong showing in the primaries and said she was looking ahead to contests down the road like Pennsylvania on April 22, 2008.

She sounded a populist economic theme as she courted voters who have suffered with the decline of manufacturing in the industrial Midwest and Ohio. Then, in military-friendly Texas, Clinton broadened her theme to include veterans’ issues and to trumpet her backing from a string of top military officers.

Clinton worked to underscore her core campaign theme that she’s the more experienced on the issue. Republican Presidential contenders John McCain and Mike Huckabee also campaigned in Texas, though voter interest centred on the closer Democratic race. — AP

Lahore, March 4
In yet another attack on Pakistani armed forces, two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the premises of a prestigious naval college here today killing seven persons and injuring over 20.

Two suicide bombers carried out the attack on War College, interior ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said in Islamabad. Security was stepped up across the country, especially at vital military installations, following the attack.

The attackers, who were riding a motorcycle, apparently tried to follow a vehicle from the college into the facility’s parking lot.

One bomber blew himself up at the gate when the motorcycle was stopped by security personnel, while the other detonated his explosives within the parking lot, triggering several blasts in the CNG tanks of the vehicles parked in the area, city police chief Malik Iqbal said.

Witnesses said they first heard two blasts that occurred almost simultaneously a little after 1 pm. These were followed by two more blasts after a gap of a few minutes.

President Pervez Musharraf, caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro and Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, whose party is set to form the next government, condemned the attack. — PTI

The activist lawyers have filed an application with the police seeking the registration of a criminal case against President Pervez Musharraf for ‘abusing his power, defaming the army, and abrogating the Constitution for his personal gain and ego’.

The “illegal” confinement of the superior judiciary, including sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and his family, was also listed. Supreme Court lawyer Athar Minallah submitted the application to the Secretariat Police Station on behalf of the presidents of the Lahore High Court Bar, Rawalpindi, District Bar, Islamabad and District Bar, Rawalpindi.

The application also asked for registration of the same cases against the interior minister and the interior secretary, as well as the city administration, including the Islamabad chief commissioner, the inspector general, the senior superintendent of police, the deputy commissioner and all others who collaborated with Musharraf in keeping the sacked judiciary in illegal confinement.

Minallah said if the police failed to take any action, the lawyers would approach other relevant forums to get the FIR registered. According to the application, Minallah has sought 13 counts of “flagrant violations” of the Constitution and the oath of army against Musharraf. Article 6 of the Constitution provides for death sentence for subverting the Constitution.

Duty officer ASI Shabbir Ahmed of the Secretariat Police Station when contacted said he had received the application for further action. However, no senior police officer was ready to comment on it.