W O R L D

LTTE sea wing chief killed in air raid
P Sivanesan, alias Soosai, leader of the sea Tigers, the once formidable sea wing of the LTTE, was reportedly killed in an air raid by the Sri Lanka Air Force on Saturday.

Resume talks: Pak to India
Islamabad, February 7
Notwithstanding the "hiccup" in ties in the wake of the
Mumbai attacks, Pakistan today made a bid to reach
out to India saying the two countries will have to live
as "good neighbours" and pitched for resumption of the
stalled dialogue.

Taliban kills abducted Polish worker
Islamabad, February 7
Taliban militants in troubled northwestern Pakistan claimed Saturday that a Polish oil worker held by them for the last 18 weeks had been killed.

Dhaka slams Pak for linking Bangladesh to 26/11 attack
Dhaka, February 7
Dhaka has strongly condemned a Pakistani investigation agency’s claim of a Bangladesh-based terror outfit’s involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks.

Dabbawallahs in US
New York, February 7
Taking cue from success of “dabbawallahs” in Mumbai, a leading restaurant chain specialising in the Indian cuisine has launched its American version - “Tiffin Meals” — for Boston and Cambridge areas in Massachusetts States.

Indian-origin doc convicted in UK
London, February 7
An Indian-origin doctor, who injected an intensive care patient with a drug against the advice of senior medical staff, has been convicted of manslaughter and given a six-month suspended jail sentence here.

LTTE sea wing chief killed in air raid
Chandani Kirinde writes from Colombo

Resume talks: Pak to India

Islamabad, February 7
Notwithstanding the "hiccup" in ties in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan today made a bid to reach out to India saying the two countries will have to live as "good neighbours" and pitched for resumption of the stalled dialogue.

Amid apprehensions that the probe into the Mumbai strikes would turn out to be an eyewash, Islamabad asserted that it wanted the investigations to be "transparent" and "open to examination", saying the government was "serious" about prosecuting those responsible.

"The most important thing is that India and Pakistan have to live as good neighbours," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in an interview in Munich, where he is participating in an international security conference.

India and Pakistan should resume the composite dialogue process, which began in 2004, to ensure peace in their neighbourhood, he said. He said Pakistan's probe into the Mumbai incident "can only reach fruition with Indian cooperation".

He claimed India's "belligerent" response to the attacks "unfortunately threw the Pakistan-India peace process back to square one".

"Democratic governments in Pakistan have always pursued a policy of friendly relations with India. We want to cooperate with New Delhi in rooting out terrorism from the region and to resolve all our differences including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir through dialogue," he said.

Qureshi said Pakistan would soon share with India and the world community the report on its investigation into the Mumbai attacks. — PTI

Taliban kills abducted Polish worker

Islamabad, February 7
Taliban militants in troubled northwestern Pakistan claimed Saturday that a Polish oil worker held by them for the last 18 weeks had been killed.

A Taliban spokesman who identified himself as Mohammad told various media
organisations over the phone that Peter Stanczak was executed after the expiry
of a February 6 deadline given to Pakistani and Polish governments to fulfil the
militants' demands.

Both governments did not seem interested in the release of the captive, added Mohammad, who represents the Taliban in the tribal district of Darra Adam Khel.

Gunmen ambushed Stanczak's vehicle in Attock district, about 85 km from the capital Islamabad, September 28.

They killed his driver and two guards before snatching the man.

Fakhr Sultan, a district police officer in Attock, said that he had no information about the execution of Stanczak, nor any clue that the Taliban had set some demands for his release.

Stanczak worked for Poland-based Geofizyka Krakow Limited, which is exploring natural resource reservoirs in the region.

In October, militants released a video in which Stanczak asked the government to release some Taliban fighters from custody.

The Taliban have intensified attacks on foreign diplomats and aid workers in recent months to avenge military operations against them.

Last Monday, unknown gunmen kidnapped the local head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan.

Dhaka slams Pak for linking Bangladesh
to 26/11 attack

Dhaka, February 7
Dhaka has strongly condemned a Pakistani investigation agency’s claim of a Bangladesh-based terror outfit’s involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks.

“Militants and terrorists do not belong to any territory, country and nation. I am shocked at such a claim,” The Daily Star on Saturday quoted home minister Sahara Khatun as saying.

“We need your cooperation and suggestion. I can promise that I would try to root out terrorism, militancy and extortion even if I have to put my life on the line if you cooperate with us,” the minister said at a college sports gathering.

According to media reports from Islamabad, the Federal Investigation Agency has, in its report on the Nov 26-29, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, alleged that they were planned by the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI).

The claim has been rubbished by Indian intelligence agencies and security analysts say that Pakistan is trying to divert attention from its own role and responsibility in the Mumbai attacks.

Some 170 people were slaughtered in the mayhem when 10 terrorists who India says were Pakistanis sneaked into the city by sea and went on a killing spree.

Pakistan’s claims have come even as India and Bangladesh prepare to discuss Dhaka’s proposal for a regional task force on terrorism when Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee visits here next Monday. — IANS

Dabbawallahs in US

Indian-origin doc convicted in UK

London, February 7
An Indian-origin doctor, who injected an intensive care patient with a drug against the advice of senior medical staff, has been convicted of manslaughter and given a six-month suspended jail sentence here.