W O R L D

Sufi’s activities under scanner
Islamabad, July 27
A day after taking him into custody, the Pakistani authorities today said they were investigating whether radical cleric Maulana Sufi Mohammad aided Taliban militants. The federal government today set up a panel to probe the activities and role of the cleric for over the past two years and later Sufi may be formally charged, NWFP law minister Aarshad Abdullah was quoted as saying by TV channels.

• Pak: India’s N-sub to trigger arms race

Mush won’t return to Pak for now: Report
Islamabad, July 27
With his tenure as President of Pakistan coming up for scrutiny by the country’s highest court, Pervez Musharraf has put off his return here from London for the time being as advised by his close aides.

Gandhi’s SA house finds no buyers 
Durban, July 27
A house in Johannesburg, where Mahatma Gandhi had lived for three years when he was in South Africa, has been put up for sale by the owner, but it has so far found no takers with even Indian-origin community members showing little interest in buying it.

Chinese Vice-President Jia Qinglin (right) with Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) party chairman Lien Chan in Beijing on Monday. Taiwan President has received a congratulatory message from his Chinese counterpart after being elected leader of the island's ruling KMT party, state-run media said. — AFP

Indian scribe attacked in Oz
Melbourne, July 27
A young Indian journalist was threatened and attacked after she went underground to reveal migration and education scams in Australia that try to defraud international students, including those from India.

Sarkozy doing well: Aide
Paris, July 27
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was “doing well” in hospital after collapsing during a weekend jog, his chief of staff said, as the ailing leader was urged to cut back on his gruelling schedule.

Bruni, fitness regime blamed for collapse’
London: Even as the Elysee Palace has played down President Nicolas Sarkozy’s collapse while jogging, a diet aimed at making the French leader as slim and fit as his hugely glamorous wife Carla Bruni was today blamed for causing him to suffer a heart scare.

‘Children detained, killed at Khmer Rouge prison’
Phnom Penh, July 27
A former staff member at the main Khmer Rouge torture centre told Cambodia's war crimes court today that up to 200 children were detained and killed at the regime's notorious prison. Sous Thy (58) was testifying at the UN-backed court against prison chief Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people held at Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21, in the late 1970s.

Palin steps down as Alaska Guv
Fairbanks (Alaska), July 27
Sarah Palin has stepped down as Alaska Governor to write a book and build a right-of-centre coalition, but has left her long-term political plans unclear and refused to address speculation she would seek a 2012 presidential bid. In a fiery campaign-style speech, Palin yesterday said she was stepping down to take her political battles to a larger if unspecified stage and avoid an unproductive, lame duck status.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin serves hotdogs at the annual Governor's Picnic in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Sunday. — Reuters

Suu Kyi trial enters final phase
Yangon, July 27
The trial of Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi entered its final phase today, with the prosecution scheduled to deliver its closing arguments, a government official said.

Sufi’s activities under scanner

Islamabad, July 27
A day after taking him into custody, the Pakistani authorities today said they were investigating whether radical cleric Maulana Sufi Mohammad aided Taliban militants. The federal government today set up a panel to probe the activities and role of the cleric for over the past two years and later Sufi may be formally charged, NWFP law minister Aarshad Abdullah was quoted as saying by TV channels.

Pak: India’s N-sub to trigger arms race Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad Pakistan on Monday described the launching of nuclear-powered submarine by India as a "destabilising" step which would undermine the security paradigm of the entire Indian Ocean region. "The induction of the new submarine could trigger a nuclear arms race and all littoral states, including Pakistan, will take safeguard steps," Pakistan Navy's spokesman said. India, on Sunday, inducted its first nuclear-powered submarine ‘INS Arihant’. Built with the cooperation of Russia, the submarine can carry the ‘Sagarika’ missile capable of hitting targets at a range of 700 km.

Sufi was arrested along with his three sons from the outskirts of the provincial capital of Peshawar yesterday after he chaired a meeting of his banned group, where his utterances were against the current military campaign against Taliban.

Sources said the arrest of Sufi indicated that there could be no future deals like the one brokered by the firebrand cleric. Investigators might also quiz the cleric on whereabouts of his son-in-law and Swat Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah.

Amir Haider Khan Hoti, chief minister of the NWFP, said formal charges would be bought against Mohammad soon. “We don’t need much evidence against him as he has publicly disowned country's constitution, judiciary and executive institutions. He has also misled the government and maintained contacts with the militants to facilitate them.”

The firebrand cleric was keeping a low-profile after a controversial deal that he brokered for imposition of Sharia law in Swat between the NWFP government and Taliban collapsed in May.

The agreement was rejected as Taliban from Swat took advantage of the pact to extend their influence to the nearby Buner and Dir districts and forced closure of girls schools and public beheadings.

The NWFP information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said Sufi's activities indicated that he still had close ties with Taliban and did not heed the advice to stop his actions and instead showed interest in killing of people. Mohammad was released after serving a six-year term in prison for sending thousands of youths from NWFP to fight in Afghanistan.

The cleric's role came into question when armed Taliban militia men advanced from Swat into the adjoining Buner district bringing them as close as 60 km from Islamabad, which led to Pakistani army launching a major offensive to flush them out under US and western influence.

Mohammad's arrest comes even as the Pakistani army has so far failed to apprehend or kill any of the top Taliban leaders in Swat, Buner and Dir. — PTI

Mush won’t return to Pak for now: Report

Gandhi’s SA house finds no buyers 

Indian scribe attacked in Oz

Melbourne, July 27
A young Indian journalist was threatened and attacked after she went underground to reveal migration and education scams in Australia that try to defraud international students, including those from India.

The woman, working as a reporter with ABC TV, was threatened during the making of the program ‘Four Corners’ and was attacked over the weekend. The identity of the undercover reporter has not been revealed due to security reasons.

In an article on its website, ABC said the reporter went to two different migration agents posing as a customer wanting to pass an English Language Test without having the skills and told them that she was willing to buy a fake work certificate.

She was able to do both if she paid between $3,000 and $5,000. The attack assumes significance in the wake of a series of racially motivated attacks on Indian students in Australian cities.

The report said it was not clear whether the migration agents or the colleges identified in the ‘Four Corners’ program were behind either the threats or the attack.

“The program, to be aired tonight (local time), will reveal several cases where international students, especially those from India, have lost thousands of dollars,” the article said. ABC quoted Pushpinder Kaur, mother of Prabmeet Singh who spent over $40,000 on a flying course, as saying that that the family was now broke and her son still has no pilot’s licence. — PTI 

Sarkozy doing well: Aide

Paris, July 27
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was “doing well” in hospital after collapsing during a weekend jog, his chief of staff said, as the ailing leader was urged to cut back on his gruelling schedule.

Sarkozy, 54, collapsed yesterday while running at his weekend retreat near the Versailles palace, west of Paris. He was taken to a military hospital in the capital by helicopter after the incident.

A presidential aide said the French leader - who assumed office in May 2007 - was suffering from a minor problem related to his vagus nerve, which helps the body regulate the heart rate.

“Sarkozy is doing well,” his chief of staff Claude Gueant said.

The French leader is scheduled to leave the Val de Grace hospital later today.

“He’s fine. He’s hungry. He’s complaining. Everything is going well,” lawmaker and Sarkozy ally Patrick Balkany told RTL radio after talking to Gueant and first lady Carla Bruni Sarkozy.

“Carla reassured us straight away... it’s a passing thing. The President is going to have to take more care, work a little less hard and eat a little bit more,” he added. — AFP

‘Children detained, killed at Khmer Rouge prison’

Phnom Penh, July 27
A former staff member at the main Khmer Rouge torture centre told Cambodia's war crimes court today that up to 200 children were detained and killed at the regime's notorious prison. Sous Thy (58) was testifying at the UN-backed court against prison chief Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people held at Tuol Sleng prison, known as S-21, in the late 1970s.

The witness, who was assigned to register incoming prisoners, told the court up 200 children were separated from their parents who were jailed at Tuol Sleng, but details of the young inmates were not recorded.

“I did not register their names in the list and their photographs were not taken either. The children would be separated, and once the children entered the prison they would not survive. All of them would be killed,” Sous Thy said.

“For the (number of) children, according to my observation though I am not certain, it could have been more than 100 - up to 200 at the most,” he added.

He told the court he was asked to “be alert 24 hours” to register incoming prisoners, who were handcuffed and blindfolded, and was also ordered to list outgoing prisoners as they were taken from Tuol Sleng to be executed.

“Only Duch had the authority to (order) anyone to be smashed,” Sous Thy said. He added that a senior cadre warned him if he made a mistake identifying a prisoner to be killed, he would be accused of being a traitor. — AFP

Palin steps down as Alaska Guv

Suu Kyi trial enters final phase