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32 Indian pilgrims go ‘missing’ in NZ
Zardari rules out early reinstatement of judges
Maoists agree to elect prez in 2 days
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Obama vows to end war in Iraq
Washington, July 14 Vowing to pursue a new military strategy, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama today promised to pull out the bulk of US forces from Iraq by mid-2010 so as to focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan, “where the Taliban is resurgent and Al Qaeda has a safe haven.”
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32 Indian pilgrims go ‘missing’ in NZ
Melbourne, July 14 The missing 32 are among a group of 220 Indian worshippers given a one-month visitor visa this month, labour department officials said in Auckland, adding they had planned to leave for Australia tomorrow. The Indians had gone missing at various times over the past four to five days and though their visas remained valid, authorities said they wanted to ensure all of the pilgrims stuck to their plan to leave New Zealand. Immigration officials said they along with the Auckland-based Catholic Church were trying to find the pilgrims who absconded from church billets and homes they were staying and did not have their passports with them, Radio New Zealand reported. New Zealand Catholic church spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer said the pilgrims arrived in New Zealand early last week where local Catholic parish representatives met them. “Some of them cleared customs and sort of disappeared and nobody saw them. That was a very tiny number of the 32,” Freer said, adding that there was no reason to believe that they were not “genuine” pilgrims. “In terms of the law it’s not illegal, but it’s certainly most extraordinary and most disappointing,” she was quoted as saying by the radio. Pope Benedict XVI, 81, will join the festivities on Thursday for the World Youth Day, which begins tomorrow and is expected to attract more than 200,000 participants from across the world, the largest public event in Australia after the 2000 Sydney Olympics. — PTI
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Zardari rules out early reinstatement of judges
PPP co-chairman has virtually quashed all hopes regarding early reinstatement of deposed judges while declaring it must wait the adoption of 18th Amendment. Talking to TV channel Business Plus from Dubai where he is prolonging his stay amid reports of serious intra-family problems, Asif Zardari said a constitutional amendment is needed to restore the judges. The reinstatement of judges is a constitutional issue and his party wanted to resolve all such issues in a “proper way”, he said. The PPP chief said a package of constitutional reforms has been proposed by the PPP and sent to coalition partners for their comments. A comprehensive document as 18th Amendment would then be prepared on the basis of their recommendations before it is moved in Parliament. The package would tackle issues of independence of judiciary, curtailing powers of the President and providing for provincial autonomy. For adoption of an amendment, two-third majority of both houses is required. The coalition has the requisite numbers in the National Assembly but does not enjoy even simple majority in the Senate. The restoration of judges through an amendment is regarded as a ploy to delay the issue indefinitely. Zardari refuted reports that he is traveling to London to meet PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for what is being described as final round of talks to resolve differences on judges’ issue, the impeachment of the President and bringing PML-N ministers back in the federal cabinet. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani talked to Nawaz Sharif’s wife on telephone to persuade him to let his men rejoin the cabinet. But PML-N spokesman reiterated his party’s stance that it would not return to the government until judges are restored. Ahsan expressed surprise that his party is being invited to rejoin the cabinet while there are no signs that the PPP is prepared to show any flexibility on the issue that had impelled the PML-N to quit the government. Political observers say that the PPP is bracing for a split with the PML-N which now seems imminent.
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Maoists agree to elect prez in 2 days
Just a day after the legislature and Parliament of Nepal endorsed the Fifth Amendment Bill meant to amend interim constitution clearing the decks for the formation of the new government, the CPN-(Maoist) has intensified hectic parleys with other political parties to reach political consensus on electing President and Vice-President of the country. Being a leader of the largest party in the Constituent Assembly, Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, whose name has already been proposed by his party to lead the new government to be formed, soon held separate meetings with CPN-UML general secretary Jhalanath Khanal and Nepali Congress vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel. Emerging from the meeting at Prachanda’s residence in Kathmandu this morning, Khanal told reporters that the two parties, CPN-Maoist and CPN-UML, have agreed to elect President and Vice-President of the country by 48 hours and form a new government shortly. However, he remained tight-lipped over an understanding reportedly reached between the two parties on presidential candidate. A high-level Maoist source said the Maoists might accept erstwhile UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal as presidential candidate instead of accepting Nepali Congress president and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.
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Obama vows to end war in Iraq
Washington, July 14 “As president, I would pursue a new strategy and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan. We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more non-military assistance to accomplish the mission there,” he wrote in a stinging opinion piece in the New York Times. “I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq,” the 47-year-old Senator from Illonis wrote while describing military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan as “the greatest strategic blunder in the recent history of American foreign policy.” Obama said ending the war in Iraq was essential to meet America’s “broader strategic goals.” “Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been,” he said while quoting Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to say that the US will not have “sufficient resources to finish the job in Afghanistan until we reduce our commitment to Iraq.” Obama said the recent call by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presented an enormous opportunity. “We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States," Obama said. The democrat pointed that he had “deep” differences with his Republican rival on the Iraq issue. “Unlike Senator John McCain, I opposed the war in Iraq before it began. I believed it was a grave mistake to invade a country that posed no imminent threat and had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks,” he said. Since then, more than 4,000 Americans have died and the country has spent nearly $1 trillion.
— PTI
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