Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Wednesday urged top military officers of NATO to halt unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) incursions into the Pakistani territory. He also stressed the need for coordinated operations within respective national boundaries.

According to an army press note issued here, General Kayani addressed the military committee of NATO in Brussels on an invitation from chairman of the military committee of NATO Admiral Giampaolo Di Paolo.

Kayani vowed to keep NATO's supply line to Afghanistan open and reaffirmed support for the military alliance's mission there. He spelt the need for security and stability in the region through a comprehensive approach.

He highlighted the need for reinforcing Pakistan's efforts against the militants. Earlier, General Kayani held separate bilateral meetings with secretary general of NATO Jaap dee Hoop Scheffe, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paolo, French chief of defence and chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, USA.

Di Paola later said Kayani "made a very in-depth and complex presentation" to NATO chiefs of defence, explaining why factors of geography, culture and history make it impossible to stop people crossing the border.

"There is no force which alone can block (the border). Flow across that line is part of normal life for centuries, will continue to be part of normal life for centuries," said Di Paola.

Washington, November 20
Incoming US President Barack Obama today picked two more candidates for his White House team, choosing Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to be the homeland security chief and ex-Senator Tom Daschle for the healthcare job.

Napolitano, a 50-year-old Democrat, was elected as the Governor of the conservative southwestern state in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.

She would accept the post if she passes the vetting process, CNN reported citing multiple sources.

The Homeland Security Department was created after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Obama has also chosen former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, and he has indicated he wants the job, sources close to the transition team were quoted as saying by CNN.

Daschle was also looking to be the White House health pointperson, who will report directly to Obama and will be writing a new healthcare reform plan that he is expected to submit to the Congress next year.

The former South Dakota Senator is likely to officially join the Obama transition team as the lead adviser on health issues in the next few weeks, sources told the US broadcaster.

Wealthy Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker is the top candidate to be commerce secretary under Obama, reports said. — PTI

Washington, November 20
Stunned at the reach of pirates operating off the Somalia coast, top US officials have called on the international community, including the UN Security Council, to set up a framework for the prosecution of high-sea ship hijackers.

While taking a note of Indian Navy’s encounters with the pirates off the horn of Africa, Pentagon officials have said, “We’re working in the council to try to pass a resolution that could perhaps help deal with some of the limitations that currently exist in dealing with vessels on the high seas.” “One of the challenges that we have in piracy, clearly, is if you are intervening and you capture pirates, is there a path to prosecute them? And that’s something I think the international community has got to answer for the long run,” US joint chiefs of staff admiral Mike Mullen said.

However, US officials said Washington had declined to give advise to Saudi Arabia on how it was to go about in the latest ongoing incident involving the hijacking for the first time of a super tanker.

“I’m stunned by the range of it... they’ve proved to be pretty capable, can get on and off lots of vessels," Admiral Mullen said.

“... 450 miles away from the coast. That is the furthest - that’s the longest distance I’ve seen for any of these incidents,” he said.

Terming piracy as an international problem, American officials said the US was not going to solve this alone and in practical terms this is an “international problem”. — PTI

New York, November 20
A US-based Sikh woman, who suffered racial, religious and sexual harassment at her work place, has won damages in a legal settlement that also forced her former employer to change its employment policies.

Sukhbir Kaur got justice after a three-year legal battle with National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL), which had fired her following her complaints over the “discriminatory treatment” meted out to her.

In a settlement reached between the two sides, the NWL agreed to make changes to its employment policies that would rid the company of discrimination and pay monetary damages to Kaur and eight other victims of harassment worth $2,55,000.

“The settlement sends a strong message to private employers that discrimination against Sikhs is illegal and will be harshly punished,” the ‘Sikh Coalition’, a non-profit organisation of the community, said in a statement.

In the lawsuit, Kaur alleged that an NWL store manager in 2004 harassed her because she was a Sikh, a woman, and Indian.

The manager, she said, told her to remove her turban because she “would appear sexier without it.” Kaur, who was represented by a Sikh Coalition attorney, said despite the manager’s repeated advances which she spurned, the NWL failed to take an appropriate action, even after she complained to it. Instead, she was fired, the statement said.

In July 2005, Kaur’s case was brought before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which found that many South Asian workers at NWL’s Long Island City store were being harassed. The EEOC failed to reach a voluntary settlement with NWL, prompting it to file lawsuits against the company along with the ‘Sikh Coalition’ in 2007.

The NWL was a better workplace for its employees now because of Kaur’s courage, Harsimran Kaur, legal director of ‘Sikh Coalition’, said. — PTI 

Moscow, November 20 
With India and Russia bolstering their naval armada in the Gulf of Aden, the two countries would hone in on anti sea-piracy operations in the upcoming INDRA-2009 joint naval exercise in the Indian Ocean in January next year.

“A task force from the Pacific Fleet, led by the Varyag missile cruiser, will leave Vladivostok in December and set sail for the Indian Ocean to participate in joint drills with the Indian Navy,” fleet spokesman Capt 1st Rank Roman Martov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

This is the fourth such exercise since 2003 under the inter-services cooperation agreement between the two countries.

New Delhi and Moscow held complex wargames in the sea of Japan last year.

Another naval task force of the Russian Northern Fleet led by the ‘Pyotr Veliky’ (Peter-the-Great) nuclear-powered missile cruiser also known as ‘killer of aircraft carriers’, will also join the wargames.

Besides counter-piracy, maritime law, counter-terrorism, and anti drug smuggling would be other features of the joint exercise.

The exercises are being held in the backdrop of steep rise in incidents of sea-piracy off the Somali coast and in the Gulf of Aden. Both India and Russia have a naval presence in the waters. 

But now Russia will deploy more warships off the East African coast to combat pirate attacks on merchant vessels and ensure security of shipping lanes, the Russian naval chief announced today.

Russia already has its missile frigate ‘Neustrashimy’ (Intrepid) deployed in the area, which had last week prevented several hijack attempts by the Somali pirates, acting in coordination with the British Royal naval ship HMS Cumberland.

India is also considering dispatching more warships to join the lone stealth frigate INS Tabar in the area. “Following the exercises, the Russian warships will pay friendly visits to several ports in India and China,” the Pacific Fleet spokesman said. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Techie charged in slaying of Indian CEO, 2 others
Silicon Valley: A ‘fired’ engineer of Chinese origin has been formally charged with killing his three colleagues, including the Indian boss. Jing Hua Wu, 47, former test engineer with SiPort, was formally charged yesterday with three counts of murder in the gunshot slayings of colleagues - Sid Agrawal, 56, Marilyn Lewis, 67 and Brian Pugh, 47- who met him after he was fired for “poor performance” on November 14. The police says the three senior executives met in a conference room with Wu on the same day, where he allegedly shot them dead with a 9mm gun. — PTI

Aid sought for kids in conflict zones
OSLO: A letter signed by 31 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including former US President Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, calls for the world to help educate 37 million children trapped in conflict zones. The letter, organised by Save the Children, is being released on Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It was also signed by representatives of organisations that won the prize, including UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. — AP

BNP to contest if polls deferred 
DHAKA: Former Bangaldesh Premier Khaleda Zia-led BNP on Thursday said it was ready to participate in general elections if they are held on December 28, 10 days after the original schedule, as proposed by the interim government earlier. “We will contest the election if it is held on December 28,” Zia said after a meeting of BNP’s allies. But, she remained strict to her three pre-conditions for her party participating in the polls, including suspension of some clauses in the amended Representation of the People Order that allows the EC to scrap candidatures during polls and also deferment of the local government's sub district elections by at least one month. — PTI