W O R L D

Let’s work together, Nawaz to Zardari
In a remarkably conciliatory tone, PML(N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that his party is ready to cooperate with the PPP for bringing a real change in the country.

"We are ready for reconciliation and cooperation with the PPP government for the greater cause of transforming the destiny of Pakistan

Zardari is 5th biggest loser in world: Report
Islamabad, March 23
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who was forced by his opponents to accept the demand to reinstate sacked judges, has been listed the fifth biggest loser in the world by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine.

Pak Taliban asks NGOs to leave Swat
Islamabad, March 23
Gaining an upper hand in the restive Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan after signing of a deal with the authorities, an emboldened Taliban has told all NGOs working in the area to pack their bags, saying their activities are un-Islamic.

Russian N-fuel to India soon
Moscow, March 23
Russia is to shortly commence the delivery of nuclear fuel to India under a $700-million deal reached with the Department of Atomic Energy. A long-term contract was inked last month by the DAE and Russia’s TVEL Corporation, one of the world’s largest nuclear fuel suppliers.

Irish expatriates and Russian devotees celebrate the St. Patrick’s Day in central Moscow on Sunday. — AP

17 die in US crash
Los Angeles, March 23
At least 17 persons, mostly children were killed when a small plane, possibly carrying them on a ski trip, crashed into a cemetery in Butte, Montana and burst into flame, the authorities in California said today.

11 workers die in China
Beijing, March 23
At least 11 workers were killed after the ceiling of a chemical plant in China collapsed. The official Xinhua News Agency says the accident occurred today afternoon at the Jianfang chemical factory in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

Let’s work together, Nawaz to Zardari
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

In a remarkably conciliatory tone, PML(N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that his party is ready to cooperate with the PPP for bringing a real change in the country.

Sharif also urged all democratic forces to sit together to confront internal and external problems facing the nation. “Let us have dialogue among ourselves, with the PPP, with India and the

militants to get the country from present mess,” he said.

“We are ready for reconciliation and cooperation with the PPP government for the greater cause of transforming the destiny of this nation,” Sharif told the general council of the PML (N) in Lahore Monday. He said he had no personal grudge against Asif Zardari, adding after the resolution of the core issue of restoration of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry the entire political landscape has changed.

“Let all of us now join hands for eradicating injustice, poverty, unemployment, load shedding, restoration of constitution and law and order and the sovereignty of the country” Sharif said.

He assured the PPP government that his party would fully back its negotiations with India on Kashmir, terrorism and other contentious issues, saying these must be amicably resolved for the good of peoples of both countries.

Sharif said that March 16 announcement of restoration of deposed judges was no less than any revolution. It was made possible by the people who came out on the streets in a massive show of

people’s power on March 15. He said the crowds he saw were beyond his wildest thoughts. This display of people’s power resolved a problem which parliament could not solve, he observed.

He congratulated the nation and the lawyers from his heart. The PML (N) chief said that he was stunned when he saw thousands of people coming out from all sides---the people with their children in their lap were walking along his car.

Zardari is 5th biggest loser in world: Report

Islamabad, March 23
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who was forced by his opponents to accept the demand to reinstate sacked judges, has been listed the fifth biggest loser in the world by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine.

“Zardari was known to be a bad guy long before he became Pakistan’s President. Many of the closest friends of his late wife Benazir Bhutto could not stand him. Now, as it turns out, neither can most of the Pakistani people,” read the citation by the US-based magazine.

“Locked in a bitter struggle with opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, Zardari showed his weakness by capitulating to demands to reinstate Pakistan’s former Chief Justice per Sharif’s demands. Now in a desperate attempt to reassert control of his own party he may be plotting the ouster of his Prime Minister...,” it said in an article on the world’s 13 biggest losers.

Zardari is “on the ropes, his opposition is gaining strength, and meanwhile fraught, dangerous, complex Pakistan is hardly being governed at all”, the magazine said.

Foreign Policy listed 12 other leaders from this month’s “headlines ranked by just how little sympathy we should have for them”.

The Pope was declared the second biggest loser because “he’s out of touch with the real world and his papacy is ‘a disaster’”, the magazine wrote. — PTI

Pak Taliban asks NGOs to leave Swat

Islamabad, March 23
Gaining an upper hand in the restive Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan after signing of a deal with the authorities, an emboldened Taliban has told all NGOs working in the area to pack their bags, saying their activities are un-Islamic.

In a recent broadcast on his illegal FM radio station, Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah said, “All NGOs should leave Swat because they are creating problems for peace.” Fazlullah has also described all Pakistanis working for NGOs as “enemies of the country”.

“They come and tell us how to make latrines in mosques and homes. I’m sure we can do it ourselves. There is no need for foreigners to tell us this,” Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said.

The Taliban are currently engaged in peace talks with the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi (TNSM), a group of religious hardliners that signed a deal with the NWFP government to usher in peace in Swat. — PTI

Russian N-fuel to India soon

Moscow, March 23
Russia is to shortly commence the delivery of nuclear fuel to India under a $700-million deal reached with the Department of Atomic Energy. A long-term contract was inked last month by the DAE and Russia’s TVEL Corporation, one of the world’s largest nuclear fuel suppliers.

A delegation of Hyderabad-based Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) today cleared the shipment of the first batch of 30 metric tonnes of uranium dioxide pellets to India, which would be used to fuel the Indian and Western-designed nuclear power plants in the country.

According to ‘Atomenergoprom’ - the mother organisation of TVEL Corporation, the protocols for the shipment of first batch were signed after Indian experts inspected it at the machine-building plant in nearby town of Electrostal. — PTI

17 die in US crash

Los Angeles, March 23
At least 17 persons, mostly children were killed when a small plane, possibly carrying them on a ski trip, crashed into a cemetery in Butte, Montana and burst into flame, the authorities in California said today.

Federal aviation administration spokesman Mike Fergus said based on preliminary reports, 17 persons died in the crash yesterday. The single-engine plane, a Pilatus PC-12 was headed to Bozeman, Montana, but rerouted to Butte instead and crashed 500 feet short of the runway at Butte’s Bert Mooney Airport, Fergus said.

“There were some adults and children on board,” police chief Kirk Trostle told reporters. The flight had made stops in Vacaville, California, then Oroville, before the plane headed for Montana.

Preliminary information indicates the pilot did not declare an emergency aboard the plane before the crash, Fergus was quoted as saying by CNN.

The national transportation safety board is sending an investigation team to the scene, said Kristi Dunks, an aerosafety investigator with the agency.

Dunks said the plane crashed at the Holy Cross Cemetery. She said there were no survivors, though she wouldn’t confirm the number of people on board the plane. — PTI

11 workers die in China

Beijing, March 23
At least 11 workers were killed after the ceiling of a chemical plant in China collapsed. The official Xinhua News Agency says the accident occurred today afternoon at the Jianfang chemical factory in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

The bodies of the workers had been recovered and one other person was still buried. No other details were given.

A woman, who answered the telephone at the Chongqing Administration for Work Safety, confirmed that the accident had occurred, but would not give any other details. — AP