 |
|
|
Speed up dialogue with Tamils: UN chief
Militants will be wiped out: Gilani
|
|
|
Two Indians killed in Nepal church blast
Poor weather delays Atlantis landing
UNSC tense over Suu Kyi trial
S Korean ex-Prez commits suicide
|
|
Speed up dialogue with Tamils: UN chief
Colombo, May 23 "Families must be reunited and the people must be able to begin rebuilding their lives," UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon said after a 90-minute visit to the sprawling Manik farm camp near Vavuniya, 160km from here, which the Tamil activists and groups have likened to a "concentration camp". For the first time, journalists accompanying the UN Secretary-General were allowed to go to these camps as well as flown over the Mullaittivu war-zone, where the Tamil Tigers made their last stand. Ban is the first foreign dignitary to visit Sri Lanka after it announced the killing of Prabhakaran. Appealing to a triumphant government to "heal the wounds" left by three decades of ethnic conflict, Ban asked the authorities to expedite the screening and processing of refugees and settle them back in their homes. "I am very moved after what I saw... I have seen so many wounded," Ban, on a whirlwind trip to the country, said. Asking for an "unfettered access" for UN and other international aid agencies, Ban said his organisation was ready to help in any way it can, "under proper conditions, full transparency and full respect for human rights", which are essential. After the visit, Ban said UN would seek reunification of families broken by the war and reintegrate the society. — PTI ‘Probe role of UK troops before charging us’Colombo: Amid calls for war crime probe against its military for its conduct during the campaign to eliminate the LTTE, Sri Lanka today said US and British troops would have to be hauled before tribunals first if any charges were brought against its armed forces. The remarks came a day after President Mahinda Rajapaksa accused unnamed foreign elements of trying to stop the military offensive "by threatening to haul us before war crimes tribunals" and declared that he was even ready "to go to the gallows" for defeating the Tamil rebels. "The Sri Lankan forces did much much better than all the forces everywhere in the world when it comes to civilian casualties. We took all precautions to prevent civilian casualties from the beginning to the end (of the war)," Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said. — PTI
|
|
Militants will be wiped out: Gilani
Vowing to wipe out militants, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday said the army operation in Swat was being carried out with precision in harmony with the civilian government and backing of the nation and it would succeed. Talking to reporters in Lahore after inaugurating Shaikh Zayed Medical and Dental College, Gilani rebutted criticism that the operation was launched in haste that had resulted in massive exodus of people from the conflict area. The college is affiliated to Shaikh Zayed Hospital built with funds provided by late UAE ruler Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan. "It was the best planned action evolved while keeping in view all the aspects," the Prime Minister said adding that it enjoyed overwhelming backing of the nation and it would succeed. He said internally displaced persons are victims of violence and terrorism and government was making all out efforts to provide them every possible help. “We would leave no stone unturned to provide relief to them,” he said. To a question about IDPs spreading out to various areas of the country, the Prime Minister said, “They are Pakistanis, they are our brethren and honourable guests and they may go anywhere in the country.” He said the government had evolved a comprehensive plan for their relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction for which their registration was being carried out so that these patriotic people did not face difficulties in getting relief and assistance.
Al-Qaida, Taliban threaten Zardari
Lahore: The Al-Qaida and Taliban have threatened Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and the army of "dire consequences" if the military operation against them in the unruly northwestern tribal areas was not halted "immediately", the ruling PPP said today.
A letter from the terrorist groups has been received by the PPP central information secretary Fauzia Wahab. The letter mentions the names of Zardari and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, besides cautioning the army over the offensive in Swat Valley and nearby districts, Wahab said.
— PTI
|
|
Two Indians killed in Nepal church blast
Kathmandu, May 23 The explosion took place at the Church of the Assumption located in Dhobighat area in the Nepalese capital at 9.30 am local time, the police said. The deceased were identified as Alisiya Joseph (15) and Dipa Paitri (31), both hailing from Patna in Bihar, they said. About 15 other people, including at least four Indian nationals, were also injured in the blast, the police said. The incident occurred when the worshippers were performing morning prayers in the church situated in Lalitpur district. The injured Indians were identified as Sweety Singh, Binayak Kunwar, Buddhalaxmi Joseph and Father Rakesh - all from Patna. They have been admitted to the nearby Patan Hospital and Alka Hospital. The police suspect the involvement of the Nepal Defence Army, a lesser known Hindu fundamentalist armed group, in the blast as a leaflet belonging to the outfit was recovered from the site. — PTI
|
|
Poor weather delays Atlantis landing
Cape Canaveral, Fla., May 23 NASA decided to skip the first scheduled landing opportunity at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida set for 9:15 am, citing damp conditions over the site. “The weather in Florida did not cooperate,” an official at the Mission Control Center in Houston said. With an eye on the variable weather, NASA was weighing its other landing options on Saturday for Atlantis. It could either aim for a 10:45 am landing opportunity at the alternative touchdown site at the Edwards Air Force Base in California, or try again for a later landing at Kennedy at 10:54 am.
— Reuters
|
|
UNSC tense over Suu Kyi trial
United Nations, May 23 The council said “Create the necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all concerned parties and ethnic groups in order to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation with the support of the United Nations.” The security forces arrested Aung San Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), and two aides on May 14 and took them to Insein Prison, where they were charged by a special court. They are said to have been charged with violating the terms of her house arrest after an uninvited US citizen gained access to their home, and her trial is currently under way. Last week, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said, “Her continued detention, and now this latest trial, breach international standards of due process and fair trial.” It had been hoped that she would be released when her current detention order, which has already continued for one year longer than the maximum of five years permitted under Myanmar’s laws, expires at the end of this month. “The Myanmar authorities might claim Aung San Suu Kyi has breached the conditions of her detention, but they have broken both their own laws and their international human rights obligations,” Pillay said.
— PTI
|
|
S Korean ex-Prez commits suicide
Seoul, May 23 Roh had been hiking in the village of Bongha this morning when he threw himself off a mountainside rock, lawyer Moon Jae-in told reporters. In a suicide note left for his family, Roh called life “difficult” and apologised for making “too many people suffer”, a TV report said. The lawyer confirmed that Roh left a “brief” suicide note for his family. — AP
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Colombo, May 23
Kathmandu, May 23
