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Surrey Palace case against Zardari terminated
Pak PM to take oath on Tuesday
MQM withdraws
its candidate
JUI-F chief didn’t vote for woman speaker
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Fear of Cancer
Obama passport details breached, 2 sacked
New Mexico guv endorses Obama’s Prez bid
Sikh cop gets £9,000 as damages for discrimination
UN extends Afghan mission
Astronauts float outside to test heat shield patch
Second message by Laden in 2 days
7.2-magnitude quake strikes China
Naipaul kept mistress for 24 yrs: Biography
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Surrey Palace case against Zardari terminated
A London court has terminated the infamous Surrey Palace case against PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari.
According to a report from London, a special prosecutor of the anti-corruption National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appeared before the London court and said corruption cases against Zardari were being withdrawn under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). The government had filed a claim on the property in a court in the Isle of Man, which, according to Zardari’s lawyer Farooq Naik, ruled against the Pakistan government. However, talking to ARY TV channel, Naik said the court had already ruled in favour of Zardari citing lack of evidence. The Pakistani government had filed an appeal against the ruling, he said. Naik said there were no cases against Zardari abroad. Cases against him were filed when he was in jail and all of them were fabricated, he said. The chairman of NAB wrote a letter to the Bureau’s London solicitors in the third week of February, instructing them to immediately withdraw proceedings. Curiously the letter was written after 72 hours of Asif Ali Zardari-led PPP emerging as the single largest political party in the February 18 general elections in the country. It has been learnt that instructions to the solicitors did not even refer to the fate of the sale proceeds of the farm in Surrey, commonly known as the Surrey Palace in Pakistan, which will consequently be returned to the owner of the property. Sources in the NAB refused to divulge the exact amount that is to go back to the owner of the Surrey farmhouse. However, a London-based attorney familiar with the proceedings hinted that it was in the vicinity of £4 million (about half a billion rupees). The property, known as Rockwood, was reportedly purchased in 1995 at a cost of £2.5 million and in 1996 refurbished allegedly by Zardari at a cost of £2 million. The NAB had always claimed that the Surrey Palace was secretly purchased by Zardari and Benazir Bhutto with the proceeds of corruption and their ownership was concealed behind a secretive network of trusts and offshore companies. However, Zardari has been denying the ownership of Rockwood Surrey Palace, calling it politically motivated.
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Pak PM to take oath on Tuesday
President Pervez Musharraf will administer oath to the prime minister on March 25 who will be elected through a division vote by the National Assembly on Monday.
Only the prime minister will take oath on Tuesday while the cabinet will be installed later. Most of the nominees of PPP’s main coalition partner the PML-N are reluctant to take oath from Musharraf. Nominations for candidature would be received by 2 pm on Sunday, it was officially announced here. The announcement pushed Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership to nominate its candidate a day ahead than planned. PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the chairman of the party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will disclose the much-awaited name of the candidate at a news conference on Saturday or Sunday morning the latest. The PPP nominee will be the joint candidate of the four-party coalition, which enjoys overwhelming majority support in the National Assembly. The election of the leader of the house or the prime minister will be conducted through an open process of division. This will foreclose the chances of defection in any parliamentary party as was witnessed on Wednesday when at least 12 opposition members voted of PPP’s Dr. Fahmida who was elected Speaker polling a huge number of 249 votes in the house of 342 against 70 by the opposition candidate. The PPP has dithered for weeks on the question of nomination of prime ministerial candidate that caused considerable friction within the party. Vice-chairman Makhdoom who was widely believed to be the obvious choice has been elbowed out of the race despite an aggressive and often embarrassing public campaign. PPP co-chairperson Asif Zardari has called his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to bolster his position on the choice of PPP candidate.
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The PML-Q suffered a setback as its ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement today decided to withdraw party leader Farooq Sattar as the joint opposition candidate for the post of Pakistan’s new prime minister. London-based MQM chief Altaf Hussain made the decision to withdraw Sattar from the race following a request from Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, MQM leaders said. Sattar told reporters that the party had decided in principle that he would withdraw from the race and the decision would be formally announced after talks with the PML-Q tomorrow. Earlier in the day, Zardari telephoned the MQM chief and requested him to withdraw Sattar as the opposition candidate for premiership. Hussain agreed to the proposal after consulting MQM leaders in Pakistan. — PTI
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JUI-F chief didn’t vote for woman speaker
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman did not vote for the speaker on Wednesday triggering speculations he disapproved of a female becoming a speaker. Fazl arrived in the assembly hall after the polling for Speaker of the National Assembly was closed.
Asked why he arrived late, Fazl said, “Better late than never.” To a question whether he would vote for a female candidate for the office of speaker of the National Assembly, he said, “the polling has already been closed”. Four members of the National Assembly - Fazlur Rehman, Hamid Yar Hiraj, Maulvi Asmatullah and Noorul Haq Qadri - had not cast their votes when the former speaker stopped polling. Fazl, however, joined other political leaders in greeting the election of Dr Fahmida Mirza as speaker.
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Fear of Cancer
Jerusalem, March 21 An examination ordered by Israel Air Force (IAF) Commander Eliezer Shkedy, following complaints of strong smell by several pilots, found formaldehyde in the cockpit of one of the jets, Ha’aretz on line reported. Formaldehyde was recently recognised as a carcinogenic substance in high levels of exposure. Although the substance was found only in one of the planes’ cockpits, Shkedy grounded all F-16I jets pending a thorough examination. The IAF has informed the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, and the examination is being carried out in cooperation with the US-based company, the report said. Meanwhile, defence officials were quoted as saying Israel would begin equipping some of its passenger aircraft with missile defence systems within weeks. The decision to this effect was taken in 2002. — PTI
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Obama passport details breached, 2 sacked
The U.S. State Department on Thursday night said it fired two contractors and disciplined a third for accessing the passport file of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.State Department spokesman Sean McCormack cited “imprudent curiosity” for the breach. The
breaches occurred on three separate dates - January 9, February 21 and March 14.
Another State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the breach was detected by a computer-monitoring system that gets triggered when the passport accounts of a “high-profile person” are accessed.The system was put into place after then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton’s passport records were accessed in 1992.Passport application data includes such details as date and place of birth, e-mail address, mailing address, Social Security number, former names and travel plans.A spokesman for. Obama said the Bush administration could be using private information for “political purposes.” “We believe this was out of imprudent curiosity, so we are taking steps to reassure ourselves that that is, in fact, the case,” McCormack said.A spokesman for Obama, Bill Burton, called for a full investigation. “This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years,” Burton said. “Our government’s duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes,” he said.
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New Mexico guv endorses Obama’s Prez bid
Portland, March 21 Richardson’s endorsement has been fiercely sought by both Obama and his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in part because as a Hispanic he is seen as influential within the Latino community, which could be a key voting bloc in the November presidential election. Hispanics, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate, largely backed Clinton in nominating contests on “Super Tuesday,” with exit polls showing
her winning two-thirds of the Latino vote in several states. Obama, a senator from Illinois, and Clinton, are locked in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination. They have both sought high-profile endorsements as a way to bolster their campaigns. Both have also actively courted former presidential candidate John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator. Edwards has yet to endorse either candidate.
— Reuters
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Sikh cop gets £9,000 as damages for discrimination
London, March 21 Sangram Singh Bhacker, 41, a resident of Fallowfield, South Manchester, had tried to join the Greater Manchester Police since 1990 to be with his family and his ailing mother, who died last year. Bhacker, currently working for the British
Transport Police, has served with five other forces in England and has 16 years’ service. Val Cook, who chaired the employment tribunal in Manchester, awarded £5,000 for “injury to feelings” and £4,000 in “aggravated damages” after ruling that the force had attacked the
policeman’s honesty and integrity. She noted that the force appeared to be deliberately evasive in its responses to questions about a Race Relations Act questionnaire and that Bhacker
had yet to be offered an apology. “We regularly accept transfers of officers from other forces if they meet the rigorous standards we require,” a spokesman of Greater Manchester Police said, adding these officers are drawn from many different communities, including the Asian
community. — PTI
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UN extends Afghan mission
United Nations, March 21 In a resolution supported unanimously yesterday by the 15 members, the Council called on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) whose mandate now runs until March 23, 2009 to do more to implement the Afghanistan Compact, the five-year UN-backed blueprint that sets benchmarks for security, governance and development goals. The text also calls for additional efforts to improve the rule of law, combat corruption, tackle the drug
trade, monitor human rights and encourage economic development. — UNI
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Astronauts float outside to test heat shield patch
Houston, March 21 In addition to extensive in-flight inspections, NASA has developed techniques for space walking astronauts to fix minor heat shield damage. Thursday’s outing by Endeavour astronauts Robert Behnken and Michael Foreman is devoted to testing how a putty-like filler for damaged heat tiles behaves in microgravity. The men floated outside the station’s airlock shortly after 10 pm GMT.
— Reuters
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Second message by Laden in 2 days
Cairo, March 21 The audio, the second by bin Laden in as many days _ was the first time bin Laden spoke of the Palestinian question at length since the deteriorating situation in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip where Israel imposed a siege in response to heavy rocket fire by Gaza militants. In the broadcast yesterday by the Doha, Qatar-based television, bin Laden said, “Palestine cannot be retaken by negotiations and dialogue, but with fire and iron.” Bin Laden also called on Palestinians who are unable to fight in the “land of Al-Quds” a Muslim reference to Jerusalem to join the al-Qaida fight and the holy war, or jihad, in Iraq. Al-Jazeera TV did not say how it obtained the recording, which was broadcast with an old photograph showing bin Laden in a white headscarf and traditional Arab dress.
— AP
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7.2-magnitude quake strikes China
Beijing, March 21 A spokesman for China’s Earthquake Administration said it was a 7.3 magnitude quake. There were no reports of injuries, he said, and the area is sparsely populated. There were four aftershocks in the region, ranging from 5.0 to 5.2 magnitude, according to a notice on the Web site of the administration. The earthquakes occurred around the towns of Ahqan and Bostan, just north of the Kunlun mountains, with a total population of around 13,400 people, according to Chinese state media.
— AP
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Naipaul kept mistress for 24 yrs: Biography London, March 21 Sir Vidia’s shocking treatment of those closest to him is revealed in a new biography that suggests he is emotionally immature, selfish and self-pitying. It also contains the author’s own confession that his mental cruelty towards his wife may have killed her. The disclosures, in the biography by Patrick French will be serialised in The Daily Telegraph from tomorrow. According to the biography, Patricia Naipaul, who was married to Sir Naipaul for 41 years from 1955, knew about his long-standing mistress, Margaret Gooding, almost from the beginning and suffered almost a quarter of a century trapped in the triangle. She, however, learned that her husband regularly saw prostitutes here only after he boasted about it in a magazine interview in 1994. She found the disclosure so abhorrent that it sent her rapidly downhill and she died two years later, French has stated in his biography. — UNI
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Sarkozy’s ex-wife to marry this weekend: Report Calvin Klein model reveals his sexcapades Singing for five hours
saves man! Kids with healthier diets
perform better Looted painting recovered 
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