United Nations, May 10
Myanmar has said that it will accept aid from all quarters, but not allow relief workers waiting in Thailand to enter the cyclone-hit country to help in the rehabilitation operations.

Myanmar UN ambassador Kyaw Tint Swe yesterday said the country would accept aid from any quarter, while confirming that it would allow US plane with supplies.

He promised to report back to his government on the members’ view about access to relief workers.

The decision of the military junta has angered some of the western governments, who insist that Myanmar does not have wherewithal to distribute the supplies to more than 1.5 million victims of the deadly cyclone Nagris.

Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon’s attempt to talk with senior-general Than Shwe on granting access to relief workers failed to materialise.

Meanwhile, Thai premier cancelled his visit to Myanmar this weekend to persuade the Gen to allow access to foreign aid workers in the face of strong opposition by the military government.

The USA and the Britain had asked the premier to undertake such a mission. In a bad news for the survivors, the meteorologists forecast more rain and winds next week that could worsen the situation in the already devastated areas and added urgency to distribution of relief supplies.

Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said the new democratic government is determined to pursue an independent foreign policy that serves the national interest and is not formulated or run by one man.

Qureshi told the Senate that it was time for Pakistan to follow a look-East policy while reassuring the West that the new government would honour its international obligations like the ones about the war on terror without compromising national interests.

He reiterated that the country was fully alert to defend its nuclear programme, which was safe under a comprehensive command and control system.

Winding up a two-day debate on the government's foreign policy, he promised what could amount to introducing some freshness through a consultative process while continuing with fundamental policy principles.

He announced his decision to form two task forces, comprising academics, writers and retired diplomats, to advise the government about the direction of foreign policy and economic diplomacy.

The minister gave an eloquent 70-minute account of the 40-day-old coalition government’s thinking on foreign policy, ranging from the most-criticised alliance with the US and the US-led war against terrorism to ties with neighbours like China, India, Iran and Afghanistan, and with the Muslim world.

Qureshi said although the country had looked towards the West, there were many Asian economies with which Pakistan needed to be linked up.

The minister, who accompanied President Pervez Musharraf during a visit to China last month, said Beijing was ready to give cheap credit to help Pakistan's development programme and its leaders had promised to encourage its major companies to increase investment in Pakistan at a time when investors from other countries hesitated to come here.

The foreign minister said the government would make a greater use of parliamentary input in policy-making and even suggested brain-storming sessions with opposition figures like Prof Khurshid Ahmed of the Jamaat-i-Islami and making use of reports submitted by Pakistan Muslim League-Q's secretary-general Mushahid Hussain.

London, May 10
An Indian-origin man, who was secretly filmed trying to hire a hit man to kill his estranged wife and her lover, was given a five-and-a-half years imprisonment by a British court.

Birmingham-based Jasbinder Heer (36) did not realise that the man he tried to hire was an undercover journalist working for a Sunday newspaper.

Heer was yesterday convicted of two charges of soliciting Neville Thurlbeck, the purported hit man, to murder his estranged wife Monica Aheer and her lover Harsarup Mehmi.

Justice Coulson said: "There can be no doubt at all what you were doing on that afternoon. The intended purpose, the murder of both your ex-wife and her lover. In my view the tape makes chilling reading."

The judge said there were a number of aggravating features that included a clear statement of intent and his lack of remorse and regret.

He, however, added that he did accept that Heer had "lost all touch with reality" because of his obsession with his son and ex-wife.

The judge said evidence showed Heer had been considering the plot for some time although his conduct was limited to one day.

Timothy Raggatt, prosecuting lawyer, said Heer, who worked for Land Rover and also helped in the family business in Handsworth, had a troubled marriage and unhappiness led to their separation.

He said Heer wanted to resolve the matter but things became worse when Monica Aheer formed a new relationship that led to her having a child with her lover. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Prague zoo to save Indian gharial
PRAGUE: The Prague zoo has launched a test programme to save the Indian crocodile-like gharial from the brink of extinction with a million-dollar pavilion for the animals to bask, and hopefully reproduce, in. There are only between 150 and 200 of this species, the Gavialis gangeticus, also known as the gavial, living in the wild along India's rivers today. Another 20 or so are in captivity in India, Japan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United States, according to the zoo. "All conservation plans launched in the world have failed until now. The gharial is one of the most threatened species on the planet," said Petr Veselsky, in charge of reptiles at the zoo. — AFP

Maneka Gandhi felicitated
DUBAI: Maneka Gandhi has been felicitated by the Science India Forum of Oman for her contribution in creating awareness on issues of animal rights, deforestation and climate change. Gandhi was conferred with the ‘ASG Jayakar Trophy’. She is the second Indian after chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation G. Madhavan Nair to receive the award. — PTI

Muslims back US court order
ISLAMABAD: Muslims living in the USA have backed an American court's judgement that directed a Pakistani man to share half of his assets worth $2 million with his former wife and refused to recognise an oral divorce. "If you live in America, you should observe American laws," said Mian Shakil, a resident of Springfield, Virginia, who is associated with several local mosques. — PTI

Rain disrupts air services
PORT BLAIR: Torrential rains cut off air services from the airport here on Saturday, snapping travel links between Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the mainland. As the airport and the terminal building submerged under over 1.5 feet of water, no flights could land or take off from the airport here. The ground floor of the terminal building was submerged, leading passengers and others to rush to the upper floors. — PTI