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There is a need to reform judiciary, says Zardari
Nuclear Deal
Riaz not forced to retire: Qureshi
Tibet Unrest
Rice offers some food for thought
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Ex-rebels to form new Nepal government
Indian student stabbed in Melbourne
East Timor rebel leader surrenders
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There is a need to reform judiciary, says Zardari
PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari has said the reinstatement of judges would be linked with a constitutional package that would include fixing of tenure of chief justices and curtail their powers to issue suo moto notices and formulate Benches.
In an interview with Geo TV channel on Monday night Zardari also refused to accept any deadline or count down on restoration of sacked judges but said he expected the whole process to take about two weeks. He was, however, bitter about the treatment meted out to him by the judiciary and was particularly harsh on chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry whom he accused of playing politics. The interview was preceded by virtual collapse of last ditch efforts by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif to strike an agreement on the restoration of judges. Nawaz sent his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, along with senior party leader, to Dubai where they held another round of lengthy talks with Zardari to break the deadlock but without success. In his interview, however, Zardari hoped that Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) would not part ways with the coalition government. “I believe there is a need to reform the judiciary. I was a victim of the judiciary, so was Nawaz Sharif, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the country. We will bring a constitutional package through which old judges will be reinstated and the new ones would remain undisturbed,” the PPP co-chairman said. He hinted at holding a dialogue with the PML-Q for the passage of the constitutional package. The PML-Q leadership has suddenly become active while the PPP is also close to clinching a power-sharing agreement with the MQM. The two parties are set to provide alternative support to the PPP government to free it from dependence on the PML-N. Zardari also came down harshly on Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, saying he refused him bail in the BMW car case five times. “I tried to convince him that if there was any irregularity in the payment of duty you impound the car and not the man,” he said, adding that he had to spend two more years in prison because of that refusal. Zardari was of the view that the nation needed reconciliation as it was facing other big problems (besides the judiciary issue) like price hike, electricity and water shortage, food crisis, law and order. “We are reconciling with all political forces.” Zardari accused some of the agitating lawyers of motivating politicians to boycott the general election to “further the agenda of certain political forces”. He termed the Murree Declaration that he had signed with Nawaz Sharif on March 9 for restoration of judges as a “political statement” and noted that it was a complex issue that could not be settled through a simple resolution and an executive order. He said the present Supreme Court could issue a stay order against the executive order. He said all judges in the present court would stay undisturbed. This formulation would guarantee predominance of the court constituted by Musharraf.
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India’s internal political process stumbling block
Washington, April 29 "If the Indian government approves it, I do think that then what remains is to get an agreement with the IAEA and with the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group. But I think those things are definitely feasible," deputy secretary of state John Negroponte said. "Right now, the main stumbling block is the internal Indian political process. And they're going to have to work that out," he said. The top US official said the Indian government was "committed" to the deal but it was being held up in the political process. "At the moment, it's held up in the Indian political process...and they are having difficulty," Negroponte said appearing in the Charlie Rose Show of PBS. "The government is committed to it.But they've got their own coalition politics and political considerations to take into account," Negroponte said. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the US was "never" going to declare the deal with India "dead" because the arrangement was "critically important". Perino made the statement when she was asked to comment on a perception in some quarters that the deal may be dead for reasons, including the time left to process the initiative in the US Congress. "We are never going to declare it dead because we think it's critically important," Perino said at her briefing. — PTI
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Riaz not forced to retire: Qureshi
Islamabad, April 29 He was talking to the Senate while responding to a point of order on bombing by NATO forces inside Pakistan territory and a statement of Assistant Secretary of State John Negroponte promising ‘hot pursuit’ if there was solid evidence of presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He said the USA understands the sensitivity of the issue and will not undermine Pakistan’s interests. On reports that former foreign secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan was removed from office, Qureshi denied any forced retirement. He said Riaz Khan had not been removed because of any differences. He said the foreign secretary was re-employed on a one-year contract after his retirement and with the change of government all the contracts ended.
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China court sentences 30
Beijing, April 29 The Intermediate People's Court of Lhasa handed down the sentences at an open court session on Tuesday morning, official Xinhua news agency said. Riots had erupted in Lhasa on March 14 during the anti-government protests that left 20 dead and hundreds of others injured in Tibet and elsewhere. The Chinese crackdown in Tibet, ahead of the Beijing Olympics, had led to rising calls from the West to the Communist nation to hold a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. In the midst of its continuing tough postures, China announced last week that its representatives would hold talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, who has, however, insisted that there must be serious talks to reduce resentment in Tibet. "Mere meeting of some of my men in order to show the world that they are having a dialogue, then it is meaningless," the Dalai Lama, who had earlier spoken of his representatives having private talks with Beijing, said after China's offer for talks.
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Rice offers some food for thought
Washington, April 29 In an interactive session at the Peace Corps 2008 Country Directors Conference, Rice said the ongoing food crisis was mainly due to "four causes", even as she specifically pointed out the exchange rate and the simple "inability" of getting food to the people. The top Bush administration official said: "We obviously have to look at places where production seems to be declining and declining to the point that people are actually putting export caps on the amount of food. "Now, some of that is not so much declining production as apparently improvement in the diets of people, for instance, in China and India, and then pressures to keep food inside the country. So, that's another element that we have to look at," she said. The "incredible cost" that fuel prices, everything from fertilizer to transportation costs, was bringing on the ability to distribute or to get food to people, was identified as another factor by Rice.
— PTI
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Ex-rebels to form new Nepal government
Just a day after Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s public appeal for all political parties to carry out negotiation to form new coalition government, Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, the largest party in the Constituent Assembly, on Tuesday said it would lead the new, yet to be formed, government. Concluding its ongoing Central Committee meeting here today, the former rebels said the Maoist party was the only eligible party to head the new government and lead the country towards progressive reforms. According Maoist leader Barshaman Pun alias Ananta, his party would form the new coalition government and declare the country a republic state in accordance with the fresh mandate of the people. Meanwhile, the ongoing Central Working Committee meetings of the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-United Marxist and Leninist, have been proposing that the existing interim constitution should be amended and powers - post of head of the state, head of the government and chairman of the Assembly - should be shared among the Maoists, Congress and UML. However, Ananta argued that the constitutional amendment was the secondary issue that would be pursued if needed only after the formation of new government.
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Indian student stabbed in Melbourne
Sydney, April 29 He was lying out in the freezing cold, about 500 metres from the taxi which had been smashed into a power pole. Detective senior constable Brendan Smith told reporters that the police had found the abandoned crashed taxi at about 3 am, but could not immediately find the driver. “We’d say that he’s received stab wounds... and we’re receiving regular updates from the hospital about his condition. We’re still unclear as to what’s happened in the taxi, but for a man to receive stab wounds and end up in a critical condition in hospital is obviously a very vicious attack and if completely unprovoked is a matter of concern,” Smith said. The police believes he may have been attacked by a passenger.
— IANS
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East Timor rebel leader surrenders
Dili, April 29 Gastao Salsinha and 12 of his men surrendered to Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres in a closed-door meeting at the government palace in the capital Dili, witnessed by other officials, including Ramos-Horta. “As an individual I have no hatred against the one who shot me, I forgive him, but as the head of state he has to face court to explain it,” added Ramos-Horta, who has previously singled out one of the fugitive rebels as being his shooter. — Reuters
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