Washington, June 23
With Pakistan’s ruling coalition gunning for President Pervez Musharraf, the US has said that he made a “number of mistakes” during his eight-year reign including imposing a state of emergency in 2007.

“I have said.... to him that he made a number of mistakes. And I thought that the state of emergency was a mistake,” US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said in an interview.

The Bush administration official said that the issue of Musharraf’s resignation was an “internal matter” of the country but insisted that he “has been a good ally” and did a ‘great thing’ for his country by giving up uniform and bringing back civilian rule.

“This is clearly a Pakistani matter. He’s the President of Pakistan and we’ll treat him as the President of Pakistan. But Pakistan is in a period now of bringing its new democratic institutions into being. They will work through these matters,” she told CNN when asked about Musharraf’s ouster during an interview whose transcript was released by the state department.

The PPP which leads Pakistan’s ruling coalition has already declared that Musharraf’s days as president were numbered with its chairman Asif Ali Zardari saying that he was planning a strategy with ally PML(N) for the President’s ouster.

Rice added, “But President Musharraf has been a good ally. He did a lot for Pakistan in bringing it into civilian rule. And he’s somebody that we will continue to treat with respect.” — PTI

PPP chief Benazir Bhutto's political secretary Naheed Khan has said Bhutto wanted to restore the deposed judges through a parliamentary committee and her differences with President Pervez Musharraf started when she refused to give indemnity to Musharraf's November 3 actions.

Naheed Khan, who remained the most influential figure in the PPP during Bhutto's life, regretted that the party was fast losing its public standing because of widespread perception that it had become a pro-establishment party.

She also felt intrigued that the PPP-led government had done nothing to investigate the assassination of Bhutto even though it was in power for past three months.

Khan held Musharraf responsible for Bhutto's death. She said Bhutto had named Musharraf, his IB chief Ejaz Shah and chief ministers of Punjab and Sindh as accomplices in conspiracies to eliminate her physically. The government should have probed why Musharraf covered up the entire episode, did not provide her the requisite security, protected people to wiped out the crime scene and did not conduct autopsy.

She said Bhutto died of bullet wound that struck her right side while a person aiming at her with a pistol was standing on the left side. She fell immediately before the bomb blast that occurred later.

Talking to Geo News, Khan admitted that she had differences with PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, but denied any breach within the party and said there was no threat to Zardari's leadership. She said she has been sidelined along with several other leaders of the party, including its vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim. 

Islamabad, June 23
An Indian fisherman died after being electrocuted in a jail in the Pakistani port city of Karachi today, prompting a leading human rights activist to demand an inquiry into the “mysterious circumstances” of his death.

Bhagwan Das Majithia, 25, was electrocuted when he touched a pipe in a bathroom this morning, Landhi jail superintendent Nusrat Sanghan said.

Majithia, hailing from Gujarat, was arrested along with 16 other fishermen on April 24 for illegally fishing in Pakistani waters.

He was the second Indian prisoner to die while being held in Landhi jail within four months. Laxman Kanji, a 40-year-old fisherman, died of cardiac arrest after being rushed to hospital from the prison on March 20.

Earlier reports had said Majithia died of an electric shock he suffered while switching on a washing machine.

Majithia had gone along with other prisoners to a section of the jail to wash clothes this morning when the incident occurred, TV news channels reported.

Former human rights minister Ansar Burney said he had asked authorities to conduct a probe as Majithia had died in “mysterious circumstances”. “This man was a prisoner and it is a bit hard to believe that a prisoner can die of an electric shock. It is not as if he was at home or at his workplace and could have been exposed to electrical equipment that could have caused his death,” Burney said.

“I have asked authorities to ensure that Majithia’s death is investigated to find out what exactly happened,” he said.

Officials of the Indian High Commission said they had not yet been formally informed about the fisherman’s death. They said a committee set up by India and Pakistan to study the problems of prisoners had recommended that authorities should be immediately informed about deaths of prisoners in jails.

The officials said consular access had been granted to Majithia in April and his status as an Indian national had been confirmed at that time. Majithia was a resident of Junagadh district of Gujrat.

The authorities of Landhi jail informed the government of the Sindh province about Majithia’s death. The provincial government later informed the federal government.

Scores of Indian fishermen arrested for illegal fishing are being held in Landhi jail. India and Pakistan frequently detain each other’s fishermen for violating maritime boundaries.

Four Pakistani nationals have died in Indian jails in the past few months. Indian authorities said they had died of natural causes but their relatives allege that they were ill treated in prison.

The two countries recently formed a joint committee of retired judges to ensure the humane treatment of prisoners and to recommend measures to expedite their release.

The Indian members of the panel visited Pakistani jails this month and met Indian prisoners in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi. — PTI

Brest, June 23
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev condemned yesterday what he described as attempts to rewrite wartime history - an attack the Kremlin said was aimed at Ukraine and the three Baltic states. In a joint declaration marking the 1941 Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, Medvedev and Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko denounced a ''politicised approach to history''. “Our countries strongly condemn any attempt at rewriting history and revision of the results of the World War II,'' they said.

Ukraine and the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had challenged Moscow's view of history, saying their nationals suffered from the Soviet as well as the Nazi oppression. A Kremlin spokesperson said later the criticism was aimed at them.

Meeting in the Belarussian town of Brest, where the Nazi forces first crossed the Soviet border on June 22, 1941, the two leaders said that ''a selective, politicised approach to history should be set against honest, scientific debate.'' ''Only on this basis can Europe draw the lessons of history and avoid a tragic repetition of the errors of the past,'' they said.

''This declaration is indeed a reaction to the actions of the countries in the Baltic and Ukraine, in which recently there has been the rehabilitation of the SS Halychyna division,'' the Kremlin spokesperson said.

''In other countries, Britain, for example, arrest of the Nazi criminals is not justified,'' he said.

Russia has chided Ukraine for taking steps since the mid-1990s to grant some form of recognition as combatants to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), guerrillas who fought both Nazis and Soviet troops to secure an independent state.

The issue is contentious in Ukraine, where commemorations expose the country's split into the nationalist west and centre and the Russian-speaking east, more sympathetic to Moscow.

Historians say the UPA had 40,000 men in its ranks at its peak. Some Ukrainians donned Nazi uniforms in a unit known as the SS Halychyna.

Russia has also complained about the Baltic nationalists who resisted Soviet occupation. Moscow also says Russian-speaking minorities in Estonia and Latvia have been denied basic rights against a background of strong anti-Russian sentiment. — Reuters

London, June 23
A teenager of Indian origin will be awarded the Diana Award for her “voluntary and selfless work” within the community of Leicester, a British town comprising a sizeable population of ethnic Indians.

Kamalpreet Kaur Aulakh (16) has been selected for the award in recognition of her “selfless community work, compassion and work to improve people's lives”.

Aulakh’s work includes services as a volunteer at the LOROS charity shop and participation in a youth programme aimed at imparting human values to youngsters, with an emphasis on how to incorporate them in their lives.

She has also carried out fundraising activities for youth group Good Values Club and charity Wishes 4 Kids and has helped in serving food at a local communal hall, besides organising cultural evenings and interfaith events for youngsters.

“I am honoured to be presenting this award to Kalpreet. She is a fantastic role model and an inspiration to others in the community,” said the Indian-origin Lord Mayor of Leicester, Manjula Sood, who nominated Kalpreet for the award. “I am delighted that she has been publicly recognised for her community and volunteering work for the Diana Award,” she added.

The award, named after late Princess Diana, recognises young people aged 12 to 18 years, who have made outstanding and selfless contribution to their communities.

Award winners are then able to access a lifelong development programme to support their personal growth. — PTI

Beijing, June 23
China plans to clean up the Mount Everest in the first half of next year and wants to limit the number of climbers to protect the sensitive environment on the world’s highest mountain, an official said.

Rubbish left by climbers and tourists on the world’s highest peak which straddles China and Nepal will be cleared, Zhang Yongze, the director of the Tibet autonomous regional bureau of environment protection, was quoted as saying by official Xinhua news agency.

"We need to limit the number of people who want to climb Mt Qomonlangma (Mt Everest) who exert a negative impact on the environment," he told Xinhua in an interview.

"We also need to strengthen the management of commercial activities involving it," he said but did not specify the details of the plan, including those for limiting the number of climbers.

The 8,848 m Mt Everest, an attraction for top climbers, has seen ascents to the summit by over 2400 people by the end of the 2007 climbing season. Climbers are also a significant source of revenue to Nepal which requires them to obtain an expensive permit.

Almost two-and-half-year long politics of consensus and culture of collaboration amid the seven-party alliance (SPA), which declared Nepal a federal democratic republic state by ending both the decade-long Maoist insurgency and 239-year-old monarchy, has now itself arrived on the verge of crisis.

Just a day after the Maoist declared not to continue negotiations with the Nepali Congress and reach a consensus on power sharing in the new government to be formed under the Maoist leadership, two major communist parties in the country on Monday agreed to move forward without the Nepali Congress if need be.

According to a senior Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattaria, the CPN-Maoist and CPN-UML, the first and third largest parties in the Constituent Assembly, held a bilateral meeting at the former’s parliamentary party office this evening and stressed the need to continue the politics of understanding among SPA.

“Both parties will try to persuade the NC to give up its rigid stance and come to understanding, but if the latter refuses to do so the Maoist and UML will move ahead on our own, along with other parties, by sidelining the NC,” he said.

The two parties have further expressed suspicion over the NC leaders’ remarks about posing as the opposition party, if not provided with the presidential post.

Bhattarai also blamed the NC for the deadlock. “If the NC does not clear the way for formation of next government, we will have to find an alternative way. The alternative way means everything will be settled through the Constituent Assembly,” he said.

BRIEFLY

India to release 28 Lankan fishermen
COLOMBO: India has agreed to release 28 Sri Lankan fishermen who were arrested last week for fishing in its territorial waters, media reports said on Monday. The Sri Lankan deputy high commissioner in Chennai, A M Hamza, held discussions with the Indian authorities on Sunday over the arrest of the fishermen and described the talks as successful. Arrangements are being made to send back the fishermen from Tutocorin to the island country. — PTI

Rebels abduct 4 French nationals in Niger
LAGOS: Tuareg rebels abducted four French nationals working for nuclear group Areva in the uranium-rich Niger and said they would be freed quickly with a message for the Areva management. The four were kidnapped in the northwest African country by an ethnic Tuareg rebel group, the Movement of the People of Niger for Justice (MNJ), said an Areva spokesman. —AFP

Britain’s who’s who at Lord Paul's party
LONDON: The elite of the British society attended one of the major events in London's social calendar when they came together at a party hosted by Lord Swraj Paul to remember his daughter Ambika and to introduce "the newest star" of the family, Arki, his 4-month-old grandson. Prime Minister Gordon Brown had to fly to Saudi Arabia to address the oil crisis and therefore could not attend the party at the London Zoo on Sunday evening but his wife Sarah and their two young sons were among the 1,200 guests who were present. —PTI

Comedian George Carlin dies at 71
LOS ANGELES: Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71. Carlin died at Saint John's Health Centre in Santa Monica about 6 pm after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains. — Reuters