W O R L D

Mush to be booked for Bugti’s murder
The Balochistan High Court on Wednesday ordered the police to register a case against Pakistan’s former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf, former premier Shaukat Aziz and others on the charge of murdering Baloch nationalist leader Nawaz Akbar Bugti in 2005.

Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela (right) and Miss Indonesia Zivanna Letisha pose for photographers upon Fernandez's arrival in Jakarta on Wednesday. Fernandez is in Indonesia as part of her world tour. — AP/PTI

Dalai Lama meeting was never on: White House
Washington, October 7
Terming as "inaccurate" reports that Barack Obama has postponed his talks with the Dalai Lama, the White House has said the US President holds the Tibetan leader in great esteem and insisted that a meeting was never on the cards during the Nobel laureate's current trip here.

ISI sees India as ‘biggest threat’
Washington, October 7
Despite the fact that their military is fighting tough battle against Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists, the Pakistan leaders and the ISI still believe India is the greatest threat to them, a top US military official said today.

Indian-origin activist is ‘Pride of Britain’
London, October 7
An Indian-origin activist, known for her vigorous campaign that led the British Government to take effective measures against forced marriages, has received the Pride of Britain award.

Mantel wins Booker for ‘Wolf Hall’
London, October 7
Hilary Mantel has won the Man Booker Prize for her novel ‘Wolf Hall’. The book set in 1520s narrates the story of Henry VIII’s adviser Thomas Cromwell’s rise in the Tudor court.

Body of ‘missing Indian’ found
Melbourne, October 7
A body believed to be that of a missing Indian businessman has been found in Victoria state while a man of ‘Indian or Asian appearance’ was today stabbed and kicked to the ground by a group of attackers here.

Mush to be booked for Bugti’s murder
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

The Balochistan High Court on Wednesday ordered the police to register a case against Pakistan’s former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf, former premier Shaukat Aziz and others on the charge of murdering Baloch nationalist leader Nawaz Akbar Bugti in 2005.

The court further directed that the latter’s body may be exhumed and examined in the presence of a magistrate to determine the cause of his death.

Bugti, a former governor of Balochistan, was killed during a military operation while hiding in a cave. The government has maintained that the cave suddenly collapsed killing several officers and troops when they tried to enter the cave. He was buried in mysterious circumstances in his hometown, Dera Bugti, and his family was not allowed to open his coffin to see the body.

High Court chief justice Faez Qazi accepted a plea by Jamil Bugti, son of the dead Baloch leader, seeking direction to the police to file a ‘first information report’ (FIR) against people designated by the complainant. These include Musharraf, Aziz, former interior minister Aftab Sherpao and former Balochistan provincial governor and chief minister Owai Ghani and Jam Yousaf, respectively, besides others.

Qazi said the police was bound by law to register such cases and then launch appropriate investigations to ascertain the veracity of the charges. The court also directed the government as well as the security agencies to cooperate in the investigations.

Responding to reporters’ questions, Sherpao and Yousaf denied any knowledge about the operation against Akbar Bugti and said they were never taken into confidence. Yousaf said he was in Karachi when learned about Bugti’s death and was later not “consulted on the way” he was buried.

Barrister Saif Khan, Musharraf's counsel, rejected the court order and asserted that Musharraf was least bothered about such cases. He said the Balochistan High Court chief justice had “no credibility nor is he impartial”.

However, Musharraf's former attorney-general, Malik Qayyum, said “registration of an FIR is a legal obligation of the police. Musharraf and others would have to appear personally or through a counsel before the court if summoned”.

Dalai Lama meeting was never on: White House

Washington, October 7
Terming as "inaccurate" reports that Barack Obama has postponed his talks with the Dalai Lama, the White House has said the US President holds the Tibetan leader in great esteem and insisted that a meeting was never on the cards during the Nobel laureate's current trip here.

It also said that a strong Sino-US relationship will help the cause of the Tibetan people. "Tibetan people know that our strong relationship with China helps them," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters, as the mainstream US media tried to corner him on the issue of Obama postponing his meeting with the Dalai.

It has been a tradition since 1991 that the Tibetan spiritual leader meets the US President, whenever he visits Washington. This is for the first time since then that the US President is not meeting the Dalai during his Washington trip.

The US media has interpreted this as a change in the American policy towards Tibet and accused the Obama Administration of trying to appease the Chinese Government.

Both the Dalai Lama's special envoy and White House have refuted such reports and asserted that a meeting during the current trip of the Tibetan spiritual leader was never on the cards and it was decided long ago that the two leaders would meet after Obama's visit to China next month.

Gibbs said the statement that the Dalai Lama and his supporters put out was fully in support of a meeting that will take place later in the year.

"They understand the strong relationship -- the stronger relationship that we have with China benefits the Tibetan people. I saw something that said a meeting had been postponed, and that's simply inaccurate," Gibbs said.

The Dalai Lama's Special Envoy, Lodi Gyalsten Gyari, said on Monday that "from the outset, there has been no question of President Obama not at the appropriate time meeting His Holiness, whom he holds in great esteem.

"Taking a broader and long-term perspective, His Holiness agreed to meet the President after the November US-China Summit." As such the Dalai Lama would now meet Obama after his trip to China in mid-November, Gyari said in a statement.

Gyari said the decision to send a high-level delegation to Dharamsala, indicates a new approach on Tibet by the US administration. — PTI

ISI sees India as ‘biggest threat’

Washington, October 7
Despite the fact that their military is fighting tough battle against Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists, the Pakistan leaders and the ISI still believe India is the greatest threat to them, a top US military official said today.

"It is important to note that India is still seen as the greatest threat, greater than the Taliban, greater than even al-Qaeda. So there are still some dynamics there that are challenging," US Central Command Commander Gen David Petraeus said at the Association of the US Army annual meeting.

Commending Pakistani military in taking successful action against the terrorists in the Swat Valley, Petraeus said they have cleared the vast majority of the Swat Valley.

The US General said the operations have resulted in the death and capture of significant number of senior Taliban leaders.

"They have carried out a number of operations in some of the tribal areas here -- this is the Federally Administered Tribal Area all along right here -- Baijur, Momah (sic) and Khyber," he said, adding that they have largely encircled a key area of South Waziristan, a stronghold of Taliban.

Also in this area, he said a number of other extremist groups, many of which are of significant concern in eastern Afghanistan like the Haqqani Network, Commander Nasir, Hekmatyar's Hizbe-Islami and a couple of other acronym elements that compromise what can be described as syndicate of extremists.

Petraeus said it is now increasingly becoming clear that al-Qaida is now a diminished organisation. — PTI

Indian-origin activist is ‘Pride of Britain’

London, October 7
An Indian-origin activist, known for her vigorous campaign that led the British Government to take effective measures against forced marriages, has received the Pride of Britain award.

Jasvinder Sanghera, who fled from her home to escape from being forced into a marriage at the age of 15, was given the award for her extraordinary achievements at a gala ceremony last night.

Sanghera, came to Britain in 1950s from Punjab. She set up a charity foundation, Karma Nirvana, at Derby in 1993 to help victims of forced marriage and honour-violence after her elder sister Robina committed suicide in 1983 to escape a forced marriage.

Sanghera (44) was instrumental in forcing the British Government to take effective steps against forced marriages. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office now has a Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) that receives about 5,000 calls a year from victims.

Other recipients of the Pride of Britain Awards included 12-year-old Jake Peach, who battles leukaemia but helps to raise funds for fellow sufferers.

MRI scanner inventor Sir Peter Mansfield, 75, received Lifetime Achievement Award by Gordon Brown and wife Sarah. The Prime Minister told him: “There’s not much better than winning a Nobel Prize, except a Pride of Britain award.” — PTI

Mantel wins Booker for ‘Wolf Hall’

Author Hilary Mantel poses with her book 'Wolf Hall' after winning the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction in London. — Reuters

London, October 7
Hilary Mantel has won the Man Booker Prize for her novel ‘Wolf Hall’. The book set in 1520s narrates the story of Henry VIII’s adviser Thomas Cromwell’s rise in the Tudor court.

The 57-year-old author, from Glossop, Derbyshire beat Sarah Waters, AS Byatt and JM Coetzee to win the prize, who could have been the first person to win the prize three times.

The literary director of the Booker Prizes Ion Trewin revealed that Mantel won by a secret narrow majority vote of three to two but added it was not an unusual divide.

Bookmaker William Hill had earlier ranked the tome with odds-on favourite to win the award at 10/11 - the shortest odds it has ever given a book to win the prize, reports the Daily Express.

UK publishing figures claim 48,000 copies Wolf Hall have been already sold. Mantel took five years to complete the book and is now working on a sequel. — ANI

Body of ‘missing Indian’ found

Melbourne, October 7
A body believed to be that of a missing Indian businessman has been found in Victoria state while a man of ‘Indian or Asian appearance’ was today stabbed and kicked to the ground by a group of attackers here.

The body believed to be that of Pardeep Kumar, an Indian businessman, missing for last two weeks was found in Victoria state yesterday. Kumar, 33, was last seen in Mildura Library on September 25 where he went for a business meeting.

Meanwhile, a 28-year old man described by a witness as one of ‘Indian or Asian appearance’ was stabbed in a brawl near Melbourne’s busiest intersections.

A Victoria Police spokesman said the victim was taken to the hospital with a non life-threatening single stab wound.

He said there were believed to be five attackers of ‘Asian appearance’ involved in the incident who later jumped on a tram heading for Box Hill, the Age newspaper said. An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman, meanwhile said around 10 people were involved in the brawl. — PTI