W O R L D

Call for restraint over Tibet
Sydney, March 15
International pressure mounted on Beijing today to show restraint towards demonstrators in Tibet, as protesters in Sydney removed the Chinese flag at
China’s consulate building and tried to raise a Tibetan flag.
Protesters throw debris at a police vehicle in Lhasa on Friday. — AP/PTI photo

Gere calls for Olympics boycott
Hu re-elected Chinese President

New Pak govt not soon
Mush no to PM election during ensuing Assembly session
Uncertainty about government formation at the Centre and in provinces deepened further amid government clarification that the National Assembly session convened on March 17 will be prorogued sine die on March 19 without electing prime minister.

Oath under 1973 constitution
The newly elected members of the National Assembly would take oath in accordance with the Constitution of 1973, as no change had been made in the oath-related clauses of the constitution, former speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain has said.

Mahato murder: Another suspect held
The police on Thursday charged a suspect in the murder of Abhijit Mahato, an Indian student from Tatanagar who was studying at Duke University in North Carolina.

Conservatives lead in Iran
Tehran, March 15
Conservatives are ahead with 108 seats against 33 for their reformist opponents in an election for Iran’s 290-seat parliament, Iran’s state Press TV said today, citing unofficial results so far.

Embassy to finalise report on Indian workers
Washington, March 15
The Indian Embassy here is in the process of finalising a detailed report on the issue of over 100 Indian workers in a Mississippi shipyard, who revolted against their employer for their alleged “slave-like treatment” after being “tricked” into coming to the US.

4 killed in Albania blasts
Tirana, March 15
Four people were confirmed dead and some 200 injured when an Albanian army munitions dump blew up in a series of massive explosions today. Officials said they feared dozens of personnel, including US specialists, may have been killed. Many civilian casualties were feared as a result of the enormous shockwaves that hit nearby villages and cars passing by on the adjacent highway. — Reuters

Call for restraint over Tibet

Sydney, March 15
International pressure mounted on Beijing today to show restraint towards demonstrators in Tibet, as protesters in Sydney removed the Chinese flag at China’s consulate building and tried to raise a Tibetan flag. The protests in Sydney came a day after China said 10 persons were killed in rare unrest in the Tibetan city of Lhasa.

Australia, the United States and Europe are all urging the Chinese authorities to deal with the Lhasa situation peacefully, while Taiwan, which China claims as its own, predictably condemned moves against the protests.

Australia’s foreign affairs minister Stephen Smith called for China to allow “peaceful expression of dissent”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for “free and direct dialogue” between China and the Dalai Lama, her spokesman said.

“It is now more important than ever that demonstrators and security forces call for restraint and that the rights of individuals are respected,” Ulrich Wilhelm said.

“The German government has always supported the Tibetans’ claim to religious and cultural autonomy,” he said, adding Germany did not support it becoming a separate state.

Beijing cancelled a number of high-level meetings with German officials after Merkel last year became the first German chancellor to meet with the Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese government views as a separatist. China has also urged India to stop protests there by exiled Tibetans.

Japan, whose relationship with its giant neighbour is occasionally strained, most recently over differences on how Chinese-made dumplings became contaminated with insecticide, sickening 10 in Japan, expressed concern.

South Korea’s response was similar to Japan’s, with front page coverage in several newspapers but no comment from the foreign ministry. — Reuters

Gere calls for Olympics boycott

Hong Kong: Hollywood actor and Tibet activist Richard Gere today called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games if China “does not act in the proper way” in handling protests in the Himalayan region.

Gere, an outspoken supporter of the Tibetan cause and a follower of the Dalai Lama, said there “absolutely” should be a worldwide boycott of the Games if Beijing mishandled protests. — AFP

Hu re-elected Chinese President

Beijing, March 15
Hu Jintao, China's ruling party chief, was today re-elected the President for a second five-year term in an overwhelming vote by the Communist giant's Parliament that also sealed the appointment of his likely successor Xi Jinping as the vice-president. — PTI

New Pak govt not soon
Mush no to PM election during ensuing Assembly session
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

Mahato murder: Another suspect held
Ashish Kumar Sen writes from Washington

The police on Thursday charged a suspect in the murder of Abhijit Mahato, an Indian student from Tatanagar who was studying at Duke University in North Carolina.

The warrant charges 17-year-old Lawrence Alvin Lovette Jr. with first-degree murder in the death of Mahato, a 29-year-old computational mechanics doctoral student. Mahato’s bullet-riddled body was found inside his apartment on January 18.

The authorities also charged Lovette and another man, Demario James Atwater, with first-degree murder in the death of Eve Carson. Carson, student body president,University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was found shot dead last week.

According to media reports, Lovette was arrested by Durham patrol and SWAT officers after an anonymous tip.

Atwater was arrested early Wednesday as he left another home in Durham the police had placed under surveillance after receiving a tip.

Mahato’s friends told the Tribune yesterday that they are still struggling to come to terms with their loss.

Mahato was one of four Indian students to have been killed at U.S. universities in a span of less than a year.

Oath under 1973 constitution

The newly elected members of the National Assembly would take oath in accordance with the Constitution of 1973, as no change had been made in the oath-related clauses of the constitution, former speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain has said.

Amir will administer the oath when the Assembly meets on Monday.

Oath-taking is a contentious issue as most members say they would not take oath to defend the amended constitution enforced by General Musharraf before lifting the emergency on December 15. The detractors say it would amount to an implicit recognition of the amendments, which they strongly believe have no constitutional validity.

Conservatives lead in Iran

Tehran, March 15
Conservatives are ahead with 108 seats against 33 for their reformist opponents in an election for Iran’s 290-seat parliament, Iran’s state Press TV said today, citing unofficial results so far.

Iranians voted yesterday in an election that was expected to keep conservatives in control of the assembly after many reformists, the staunchest critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, were barred from running.

Echoing Press TV’s figures, conservative politician Shahabeddin Sadr said 70 per cent of those elected so far were “principlists”, a label conservatives use to describe themselves for their loyalty to the Islamic Republic’s ideals.

He did not give a breakdown of seats. Sadr is the secretary of the United Front, the biggest and most pro-government conservative group. — Reuters

Embassy to finalise report on Indian workers

Washington, March 15
The Indian Embassy here is in the process of finalising a detailed report on the issue of over 100 Indian workers in a Mississippi shipyard, who revolted against their employer for their alleged “slave-like treatment” after being “tricked” into coming to the US.

“The Ambassador (Ronen Sen) took the initiative of sending senior officers from the Embassy and the Consulate-general (in Houston). They returned on Thursday,” the minister in charge of media relations, Rahul Chabra, said here yesterday. — PTI