W O R L D

PM talks N-deal with Bush
The controversial Indo-US nuclear deal stitched together by them will be the main item on the agenda when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush hold talks at the Oval Office for what may be the last meeting between them before the latter demits office.

China Looks UP: The Long-March II-F rocket carrying the Shenzhou VII manned spacecraft blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province, on Thursday. China's third manned spacecraft blasted off from a remote launch site on a mission which is expected to include its first spacewalk. — Reuters

Nuke Deal
US hopes Congress will fast-track nod
As Prime Minister Manmohan headed for the White House to meet President George W. Bush, the US today expressed the hope that the Indo-US nuclear deal would be wrapped up in the ‘next couple of days’.

Second Indian trainee pilot killed in a month
Sydney, September 25
An Indian trainee pilot was killed when his single engine aircraft crashed in Sydney’s Luddenham suburb on Wednesday, less than a month after another Indian trainee pilot’s death in a plane crash. The 20-year-old student from Mumbai, who has not been named, died after his Liberty XL2 single-engine aircraft crashed into a farmland on Wednesday evening, the police said.

We’re in a state of war, says Asif Zardari
President Asif Ali Zardari has said Pakistan is in a state of war and needs to prepare a new plan to deal with it. “We have to increase the appetite for the acceptance of the fact that we are in a state of war,” he said while talking to Pakistani newsmen in New York on Wednesday evening in response to questions on ongoing conflict in tribal areas. “We cannot  wish it away.”

Airports on red alert in Pak
A spate of bomb scare, phony calls and intelligence reports disrupted civic life in several major cities, while authorities tightened security in Islamabad and other airports across the country after a call at PIA headquarters in Karachi that warned of a suicide attack.

Koizumi to retire from politics
Tokyo, September 25
Junichiro Koizumi, one of the most popular Japanese Prime Ministers in modern history, has decided to retire from politics, a report said today.

PM talks N-deal with Bush
Ashok Tuteja writes from Washington

The controversial Indo-US nuclear deal stitched together by them will be the main item on the agenda when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush hold talks at the Oval Office for what may be the last meeting between them before the latter demits office.

The deal may have secured the approval of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yet India finds it unacceptable because of a change in language of the Bill from the 123 Agreement it negotiated with the US.

The Senate version of the Bill was yesterday introduced in the House of Representatives, giving boost to efforts to push the accord hours before the meeting between Singh and Bush. India has privately expressed its reservations about the Bill approved by the Senate, stating that it would be difficult for New Delhi to accept the change of language.

Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon, when asked to comment on the change of language, said he would not like to get into the internal political processes of the US. “We have the right to test, they have the right to react,” he added. A part of the Bill, which the committee titled the ‘United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Nonproliferation Enhancement Act,’ that India found unpalatable was that it had to be in strict conformity with the Hyde Act, and also that in the event if New Delhi tests, the US would not simply ‘discourage’other Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) members to deny nuclear equipment, materials and technology to India but work to ‘prevent’ such transfers.

With the nuclear deal as the main course on the menu, President Bush will host a working dinner for Singh in the Old Family Dining Room in the White House- a private space, where history-making decisions are made by American Presidents. Only a select few from both sides have been invited for the dinner. Minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma, national security adviser M.K. Narayanan, foreign secretary Shiv Shanker Menon, Prime Minister’s special envoy on the nuclear deal and climate change Shyam Saran and India’s ambassador to US Ronen Sen will be sharing the table with Singh and Bush.

US Vice-President Dick Cheney, secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and undersecretary of state for political affairs William Burns will be among those present from the American side.

In fact, the PM’s scheduled meeting with republic presidential nominee John McCain in New York yesterday had to be called off as the latter had to rush back to Washington to consult his advisers ahead of the meeting President Bush had convened with the country’s leadership on the economic slowdown.

However, Singh did meet republic vice-presidential candidate Sarah Pallin.

Nuke Deal
US hopes Congress will fast-track nod
Ashok Tuteja writes from Washington

Second Indian trainee pilot killed in a month

Sydney, September 25
An Indian trainee pilot was killed when his single engine aircraft crashed in Sydney’s Luddenham suburb on Wednesday, less than a month after another Indian trainee pilot’s death in a plane crash. The 20-year-old student from Mumbai, who has not been named, died after his Liberty XL2 single-engine aircraft crashed into a farmland on Wednesday evening, the police said.

He was undertaking pilot training at the Sydney Flight Training Centre in Bankstown, about 30 km from the Sydney central business district, since January this year. The pilot, whose family in India has been notified, is said to have taken off from Bankstown Airport just after 2.30 p.m on Wednesday.

“Shortly after 4 pm, emergency services received reports of a light plane that had crashed into trees on a property in Willowdene Avenue, Luddenham.

Upon arrival, the emergency services personnel located the sole male occupant deceased inside the wreckage,” a police official said. The Air Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will be conducting an investigation into the incident.

On Aug 27, an Indian trainee pilot from Bangalore, 24-year-old Akash Ananth, had died after the wing of his Cessna 150 was clipped by another plane and he crashed on his solo flight in the populated Cheltenham suburb of Melbourne. The ATSB investigation into Ananth’s crash is expected to take up to a year, with a preliminary report expected to be released soon. — IANS

We’re in a state of war, says Asif Zardari
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

President Asif Ali Zardari has said Pakistan is in a state of war and needs to prepare a new plan to deal with it. “We have to increase the appetite for the acceptance of the fact that we are in a state of war,” he said while talking to Pakistani newsmen in New York on Wednesday evening in response to questions on ongoing conflict in tribal areas. “We cannot 
wish it away.”

On Kashmir, he indicated, it would be a continuation of the Musharraf regime’s policy of holding direct talks with India. The UN will be involved only if needed.

On Pakistan’s role in the US-led war on terror, Zardari expressed a desire that the US military incursions into Fata should be stopped, but skirted questions if he had received any assurance from President Bush in that regard. He said he was open to discussing with the Afghans a proposal for forming a joint force for patrolling the Afghan border.

He felt that the Marriott blast in Islamabad on Saturday was directed against him. The president said that in his meetings with the world leaders, he noticed realisation for the problems Pakistan faced, particularly the economic crisis, and they were willing to help Islamabad deal with this situation. He said that major economic powers were setting up a group called the Friends of Pakistan to help develop an economic package. “There's a great support in the world for Pakistan on this issue,” he said.

The president said that Pakistan needed to engage with these nations, but at the end of the day, we will have to take charge of the situation.

Zardari said that he held encouraging talks with the Iranian president on Tuesday on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline and the two countries agreed to launch a private-public initiative for raising funds for the project. The two countries, he said, needed to raise about $7 billion and could not do so without support from the private sector.

Without naming India, a major beneficiary of the pipeline project, Zardari said it was unfortunate that “other nations involved in the project had now become a little more conservative about it”.

Regarding Kashmir Zardari said if the people of India and Pakistan stand together, the Kashmir issue could be resolved. “If need be, we can always go back to the UN,” he added, but it was clear that he was keen to de-emphasise the role of the UN and felt that the issue of Kashmir should rather be dealt with bilaterally, a position India has long preferred and advocated.

The president said that despite political differences, the PPPs alliance with PML-N will continue. “I consider Nawaz Sharif my elder brother and we will continue to work with him.” He, however, complained that some hawks in the PML-N were trying to vitiate atmosphere. 

Airports on red alert in Pak
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

A spate of bomb scare, phony calls and intelligence reports disrupted civic life in several major cities, while authorities tightened security in Islamabad and other airports across the country after a call at PIA headquarters in Karachi that warned of a suicide attack.

The caller from Karachi said suicide bombers hade been dispatched by a terrorist network to attack country’s airports, in particular Islamabad. “We received the information from Karachi office and ordered a red alert” Ayaz Jadoon, station manager of Islamabad airport told reporters.

Authorities at Islamabad airport immediately closed the parking lot, allowed entry only to passengers in the airport areas, vacated three bays of aircraft parked on the runway and ordered intensive scanning and search in the entire airport. “This continued for several hours before the airport was cleared,” Jadoon said.

The police seized a car in Rawalpindi and arrested its driver on a report that he had dropped two suicide bombers in the city. In Karachi, media reports said that several bombers had entered the city that caused considerable scare but authorities later said it was a false alarm.

In Quetta, seucirty agencies said they had received intelligence report that 11 bombers had entered the border from Afghanistan near Chama. A young suicide bomber on Wednesday attacked a Frontier Corps van blowing himself up and a girl student in a school bus besides wounding 22 persons, including 11 troops of the paramilitary force.

In Lahore, authorities got a foreign bank vacated and searched its premises for a suspected bomb, which a caller said had been planted there. It proved to be a fake call.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has set up a special fund for helping victims and families of terrorist acts placing Rs100 million as seed money for the fund.

A top-level panel set up by the PM for investigation into all aspects of Saturday deadly blast at Hotel Marriott began its deliberation on Thursday and promised to submit its report along with recommendations on Saturday. 

Koizumi to retire from politics

Tokyo, September 25
Junichiro Koizumi, one of the most popular Japanese Prime Ministers in modern history, has decided to retire from politics, a report said today.

Koizumi, who served as the Prime Minister between April 2001 through September 2006, has decided not to run in the next election, expected to be called before the end of this year, public broadcaster NHK and other media said.

“Former Prime Minister Koizumi has informed (his associates) of his plan not to seek re-election,” Nippon Television said, quoting unnamed political sources. — AFP