Vienna/Washington, August 2
Keen to put the Indo-US nuclear deal on fast track, the US is poised for a diplomatic overdrive to ensure there are no hurdles at the Nuclear Suppliers Group after the atomic safeguards pact faced some reservations at the IAEA before being cleared.

The White House also showed signs of keeping the momentum when it urged the 45-member NSG to act quickly in granting India-specific exemption saying the administration expects to submit the deal to Congress later this year.

The potential difficulties at the meeting of the NSG whose waiver is required to help India resume nuclear trade was on the horizon when Ireland, Austria, Japan and even Brazil pointedly declared that their going along with the consensus does not mean they would sit quiet when the nuclear cartel discusses India’s case. The NSG meeting is likely to be held in Vienna around August 21.

US Ambassador to the IAEA Gregory L Schulte said Washington would keep up the momentum as there was still “a lot of work” to be done and “issues” addressed.

“We still have a lot of work to do. There are issues that we will have to address. We have to move forward to the NSG. We are going to keep this momentum up,” Schulte said.

Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar also acknowledged there were potential challenges at the NSG.

Hoping that the US will “deliver” in securing for India “clean and unconditional exemption” from the NSG, Kakodkar said: “In international affairs, we have to wait till it happens on the ground level.”

While vowing to “vigorously” obtain an India-specific exception in the NSG and clearance from the US Congress, the Bush administration has said it will submit the 123 Agreement in the Congress and “seek rapid action in a short time remaining” in the Congressional calendar.

“Once the Nuclear Suppliers Group approves and gives exception for India and other remaining steps are completed, we will submit the 123 Agreement for Congressional approval and seek rapid action in a short time remaining in this year’s legislative calendar,” state department spokesman Nicole Thompson told PTI in Washington.

The US and India are lobbying hard to rope in support from a non-committal China and convince countries like Brazil, Iran, Japan, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland to clear the path for the nuke deal.

Warmly talking about the safeguards pact, state department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters in Washington: “We believe this is important, not only for us and our bilateral relationship with India, but for rest of the world.”

Kakodkar told PTI in Vienna before leaving for India: “We look forward for a clean and unconditional exemption and it is for the US to deliver as per the July 18, 2005 statement.” Kakodkar, who had spearheaded the tough negotiations at the Friday meeting of the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors, said: “I am hopeful that NSG will appreciate India’s position and go ahead with the clean waiver.”

With India’s impeccable track record of safety and non-proliferation, Kakodkar hoped that the members of NSG would be in a position to understand its needs and give a clean and unconditional waiver. — PTI

Islamabad, August 2
Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida’s second most powerful leader after Osama bin Laden, might be critically wounded and possibly dead, according to a media report.

The CBS News reported that it had obtained from sources in Pakistan a copy of an intercepted letter which urgently requests a doctor to treat al-Zawahiri. The al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding somewhere in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

The letter, reportedly written by Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, refers to al-Zawahiri by name and states that he is in “severe pain” and his “injuries are infected”.

CBS News said the Taliban logo and Mehsud’s seal on the letter had been “confirmed by experts as legitimate”.

The letter is dated July 29, a day after a US missile strike killed al-Qaida weapons expert Abu Khabab al-Masri and five other Arabs in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal region.

A counter-intelligence expert and other American officials told the channel that the US was looking into reports that al-Zawahiri is dead.

However, Pakistani military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told TV news channels there was “no evidence or reliable information” about al-Zawahari’s death.

Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, told CNN that his country was “unable to confirm or deny” the report. “We are looking into the reports and will comment only after we have solid evidence either way,” he said.

A $25 million reward has been offered for the 57-year-old al-Zawahiri. He narrowly escaped death in an attack in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in 2001 that left his wife and children dead.

Al-Qaeda reported on Islamist websites this week that a US air strike killed Abu Abdallah al-Shami, a leader who escaped from a US prison in Afghanistan in 2005. — PTI

In a bid to garner consensus of all political parties and form the new government under its leadership by Tuesday as per the fresh call made by President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, the Communist Party of Nepal-(Maoist) on Saturday put forward a 50-point Common Minimum Programme (CMP).

At an all-party meeting called by the Maoists at the latter's parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar, Maoists chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda presented the CMP.

Presenting the CMP that has been divided into five major topics, Prachanda said that it was floated to strengthen unity, understanding and collaboration of all political parties in the Constituent Assembly and run the new government to make a prosperous Nepal by addressing the desire of the people.

The Maoists have also expressed commitment to take the ongoing peace process into a logical end through political dialogue in accordance with the past pacts and understanding reached between the government and Maoists.

It has also reiterated that the new government would reintegrate and rehabilitate Maoist combatants with the Nepal army in next three to six months.

The party has said that the new government would formulate a new national security policy and form a high-level security commission to restructure the security forces and mobilise the national army for nation-building activities during peace.

The former rebels, who have been advocating progressive land reforms, have floated a concept to introduce integrated land-use policy and ensure ownership of peasants in the land and give top priority to industrialisation in the country.

The Maoists have proposed that it would introduce a special programme to address the problems faced by those people who were affected directly during the decade-long insurgency. It has also said that the new government would focus on reconstruction of infrastructure that was damaged during the bloody warfare.

On Tuesday, Nepal's President Dr Yadav had invited the Maoists to forge a political consensus and form a new government within a week. On Friday, the central working committee of the Maoists had decided to take initiative to forge a political consensus first to form a consensus government.

Colombo, August 2
Two senior officials of the Sri Lankan defence ministry said yesterday the government had reason to believe that the Tamil Tigers had been in contact with other terrorist organisations in the region, including Al-Qaida.

“We have come across some persons of different nations in the region during operations against the LTTE, ” ministry spokesman Kehelna Rambukwella told a briefing in which he was assisted by senior army officials and naval commanders.

The comprehensive briefing on “countering terrorism in Sri Lanka” was arranged for local and foreign reporters on the eve of the 15th summit of SAARC nations.

Sri Lanka's military has entered the rebels' de-facto capital in the north of the island, killing 20 Tamil Tiger rebels after fierce fighting, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday. The rebel capital in the island's northern district of Kilinochchi is where the elusive rebel leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran is believed to be hiding. — Agencies