In an unprecedented development, Pakistan’s security establishment on Wednesday gave extensive briefing to country’s top political leadership on internal and external security situation and the state of war on terrorism.

Army chief Gen Pervez Ashfaque Kayani gave the briefing at the Prime Minister House that lasted over two hours. Two key military officials, director-general military operations Maj-Gen Shujaa and chief of military intelligence Maj-Gen. Nadeem Ejaz accompanied him.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari, former premier Nawaz Sharif, ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan, JUI chief Maualana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, defence, foreign and interior ministers attended the briefing.

In a significant move, General Kayani later met President Pervez Musharraf apparently to inform him of the consensus viewpoint of the new ruling political leadership of the country. Musharraf has yet to establish any direct communication with these leaders after over eight years of adversarial relationship during which he incarcerated most of his opponents.

The briefing took place amid a strong move to review the entire Pakistani position on war on terror and the nature of collaboration with the United States. Prime Minister Gilani has promised to undertake this review in Parliament before formulating a coherent national policy that serves the best interests of the country.

The meeting at the Prime Minister House also marked a distinct shift in power equation between the political leadership and the military on issues, which had hitherto remained exclusive preserve of the army with concentration of decision-making in a single individual.

“It is the beginning of a new era of institutional relationship between the military and the representatives of the people with the latter now asserting the right to formulate and conduct policy on national security, “ a close associate of the Prime Minister said.

This was also the first time in eight years that such an important event was held in the absence of General Musharraf, a clear indication that the fulcrum of power was steadily shifting away from the Presidency.

Asif is director-general (military intelligence)

Major General Nadim Ejaz, director general (Military Intelligence), has been appointed General Officer Commanding, Bahawalpur.

He has been replaced by Major Gen. Mohammad Asif.

Major Gen Ejaz is distant relative and a close confidant of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. His transfer was announced hours after he accompanied army chief Gen Kayani to a significant briefing at the Prime Minister’s house. 

New Delhi/Islamabad, April 2
As India and Pakistan get ready to resume their peace process later this month, Pakistan’s new foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has sought a “just and equitable” resolution on the contentious Kashmir issue.

Pakistan wants friendly relations with India and there are “signals of reciprocity” from the other side, he said ahead of the foreign-secretary level talks between the two sides to review the fourth round of composite dialogue that is likely to take place later this month.

“Pakistan is a sovereign country and we wish the just and equitable resolution of the Kashmir issue,” Qureshi said.

He said the dialogue would be restarted with the formation of the new coalition government led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Qureshi stressed that regional and economic security, national defence and a “just” resolution of the Kashmir issue will be among his top priorities as foreign minister of 
Pakistan.

Qureshi, a Cambridge-educated PPP politician, added no country, implying the United States, would be allowed to target Pakistani territory in the name of war against terrorism. Pakistan will take action by itself against militants on reliable information.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon is likely to travel to Islamabad later this month. Menon, a former Indian envoy to Islamabad, will review the progress of the fourth round of composite dialogue with his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan.

It will be followed by a visit by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee to Islamabad in May-June.

Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on taking up office and expressed hope that India-Pakistan relations can evolve to become the “best ever” in their history.

Alluding to “a strong public sentiment in both countries in favour of accelerating the peace process”, Manmohan Singh hoped the two countries can “build upon the progress already achieved and work expeditiously, through the dialogue process, towards agreed solutions of pending issues.”

Last month Asif Ali Zardari, widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, struck a positive note on India-Pakistan relations. “There is no conflict between India and Pakistan seeking to improve trade and people-to-people contacts and at the same time holding on to their respective positions on Kashmir,” Zardari said in a statement issued by the PPP. — IANS

Toronto, April 2
Even as Deepak Obhrai, the topmost Indo-Canadian in the current Canadian government, has defended the new immigration bill, former Canadian revenue minister Herb Dhaliwal has asked the opposition to bring down the government on the issue.

Parliament is to vote on the bill, which gives sweeping powers to the government to speed up or stop immigration from any part of the world.

Obhrai, who is parliament secretary (equal to minister of state in India) to foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier and international cooperation minister Bev Oda, said the opposition was spreading misinformation about the bill which was actually aimed at streamlining the immigration process.

“The amendment bill is designed to clear up the immigration mess created by the previous Liberal party government,” Obhrai told IANS.

He said the Liberal government let the waiting list balloon from 50,000 to over 900,000 during their rule.

“Now what do you expect the Liberal party to say? There will make noises when they are told that they created this mess,” said Obhrai.

The three-time MP from Calgary set at rest the fears among Indo-Canadians that the bill will affect immigration from India.

“India is the top source of immigration for us, and this process will continue. The bill is not against any community or country. All we want is to streamline it so that people don’t have to wait for five to six years to come in,” he said.

However, former Canadian revenue minister Herb Dhaliwal said the bill was “an attempt by the ruling Conservative party to change the immigration process in their favour.”

Dhaliwal, who was the first Indian-origin person to become a minister anywhere in the western world when he joined the Liberal party-led Canadian cabinet in 1997, said: “The purpose of the bill was to destroy the regulatory process and put all powers in the hands of the immigration minister (Diane Finley) so that she can decide whom is let in and who is stopped.”

The former Liberal party MP said: “At one time, the Canadian immigration system favoured immigrants from one particular part of the world. It was the Liberal party, which rectified it so that the process is fair and impartial and anyone can come into Canada. Now, the ruling Conservative party wants Canada to take us back to that period.”

Calling for rejection of the bill by the opposition, Dhaliwal said: “Our immigration system is efficient. To clear the backlog, the minister needs to put more resources into the clearing process, not focus on accumulating more powers in her hands?

“They have hidden the immigration bill in the budget bill, but Canadians won’t - and should not - stand for this kind of political trickery.”

He urged the opposition to defeat the bill even if it meant bringing down the government and facing a snap poll.

“I urge the opposition to bring down this government on this bill so that the Conservatives are forced to explain it to people what they were up to,” Dhaliwal said. — IANS

New York, April 2
A former UN official from India, convicted of helping a friend win $100 million in the UN contracts in return of cash, gifts and a discounted luxury Manhattan apartment, has been sentenced to more than eight years in jail by a US court.

Sanjaya Bahel (58), former chief procurement officer for the United Nations, was awarded 97 months of imprisonment by a judge here yesterday on six counts of fraud, conspiracy and accepting corrupt payments.

Bahel, who has been behind bars since the UN sacked him a year ago, was convicted of providing secret, back-channel communication to his businessman friend and the friend’s son, helping them win $100 million in contracts for computer equipment and technical support during a four-year period from 1999.

In return, Bahel received 10 per cent of the profits, including thousands of dollars in cash each month, first-class plane tickets and a steeply discounted three-bedroom condo at the Dag Hammarskjold Towers in midtown Manhattan.

“The UN attempts and certainly has the goal of having its operations conducted in an honest manner. That depends on individuals employed by the United Nations,” Manhattan Federal Judge Thomas Griesa was quoted as saying by the New York Post.

Before he was sentenced, Bahel, who was found guilty by a jury last June, broke down while describing the effects of his imprisonment on his family, including his wife who faces deportation to India while he serves time in the US.

Bahel also apologised to his elderly parents, telling the judge, “I will never be able to come to terms with the immense pain I have brought in their final years.

All that I have has been lost.” Bahel said, “I stand before you, your honour, with nothing left to offer except the promise of hope and redemption.” Prosecutors sought a harsher sentence of at least 10 years behind bars, but the judge said his “immediate reaction” was to reject that as too high.

The judge said there was no way to view the case without “a profound sense of the tragedy”. “We all wish it had never occurred, but it did occur and the reason is Mr Bahel,” he said. — PTI

Washington, April 2
The American Medical Association has presented Dr Subramaniam Balasubramaniam of Orange County the Dr Nathan Davis International Award in Medicine for his work in India. This award is given annually to honour physicians who further health information and medical practice worldwide.

Dr Balasubramaniam, who was presented the award on Monday here, is the chief physician at the Department of Health Services in Los Angeles County and the medical coordinator of the utilisation review. 

He also provided on-the-ground relief following the Gujarat earthquake. He was able to save millions of lives by developing a master disaster management plan for India. — UNI

London, April 2
When it comes to healthy food, humans can take a cue from wild birds who seem to know it all about the nutritious diet, experts have claimed. According to researchers, fruit-eating birds chose berries with the highest concentrations of antioxidants - compounds that help them maintain a healthy immune system.

The study, published in Ecological Society’s Functional Ecology, revealed that antioxidants, known as flavonoids, boosted the immune system of a living creature as opposed to laboratory studies.

The study of a group of blackcaps - known as the ‘northern nightingale’ were offered a choice of two foods. The foods were identical except for the amount of flavonoids they contained.

The researchers found that the blackcaps actively selected the food with added flavonoids, which boosted their immune systems.

Flavonoids made the food a darker colour. The research claimed that the blackcaps know that the darker berries contained more flavonoids, and this is why they preferred them.

Lead author Carlo Catoni said: “The results have important implications for the study of ecology and immunity in birds, and for the evolution of the relationship between plants and the birds and animals they rely on to disperse their seeds.” — UNI