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Karzai declared Afghan Prez
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai
in Kabul on Monday. — AP/PTI
Zardari’s ally asks him to quit Unlawful Occupation |
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A first: Heart surgery with radiation Nepal cabinet to meet on Everest 2-yr jail for woman who hid ‘bomb guide’ in burqa Huge cache of Qaida arms seized
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Karzai declared Afghan Prez
Kabul, November 2 The run-off, called after the first round in August was marred by widespread fraud, was to have been held on November 7. "The Independent Election Commission declares the esteemed Hamid Karzai as the president ... because he was the winner of the first round and the only candidate in the second round," the commission's chief Azizullah Ludin told a news conference. Ludin told a packed media conference the decision was made to spare the Afghan people the expense and risk of another election and because a one-candidate race would raise questions about the legitimacy of the presidency. Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the race over the weekend, citing doubts about the credibility of the election process. "Karzai has lost his legitimacy, he is a very weak president and he cannot govern without reaching out to Dr Abdullah," said Kabul-based political analyst Haroun Mir. "So the ball is in Dr Abdullah's court right now." Karzai's camp on Sunday had ruled out a coalition with Abdullah, but he has been under intense pressure from various quarters to bring Abdullah into the government. Earlier UN chief Ban Ki-moon made a visit to Kabul that had not been announced in advance, as diplomatic efforts gathered pace to resolve the prolonged political crisis. "We continue to stand by the people of Afghanistan in their quest for prosperity and peace," Ban said. The withdrawal of Abdullah from the run-off had cast doubts over the legitimacy of the next government, already under a cloud following the Aug. 20 election marred by allegations of fraud in favour of Karzai. A weakened Afghan government under Karzai would be a blow for US President Barack Obama as he considers whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to fight a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. A spokesman for Karzai's campaign said the president will issue a statement about the election commission announcement later in the day. Abdullah had left the door open for future discussions but said no deals had been struck in return for his withdrawal, seen by diplomats as one way to spare the country more uncertainty that discredits the government and can only aid the insurgency. Ban ki-Moon met both Karzai and Abdullah, officials said. A U.N. statement said the meetings were "to assure them and the Afghan people of the continuing support of the United Nations doubts over the credibility of his government. Ban made the visit after five foreign U.N. staff were killed in a suicide attack last week on a Kabul guest-house used by the United Nations. The attack was claimed by the Taliban, who have vowed to disrupt the run-off and said the guest-house was targeted because of the United Nations' role in helping organise the Afghan election. The run-off was ordered after a UN-led investigation panel found widespread fraud in favour of Karzai in the Aug. 20 election.
— Reuters
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Zardari’s ally asks him to quit Chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain has advised President Asif Ali Zardari to quit amid deepening political crisis over the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), a private TV channel reported on Monday. In an interview with the Geo News, Altaf confirmed he was opposed to the NRO but fell short of confirming his reported advice to President Asif Zardari to step down. “I told the President he should be willing to make maximum possible sacrifice for saving the democratic system and prevent its derailment,” Altaf told the channel. He said he had been advising the President against introducing the NRO in the parliament. Altaf said he is personally opposed to the NRO but the Rabita Committee of the MQM would make an announcement on the issue on Tuesday. PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif also showed toughening his stance after a parliamentary party meeting here on Monday and told reporters that his party would resist the passage of the ordinance in the assembly. “If the parliament passes the ordinance, it would bear a stigma forever by legitimising corruption,” Sharif said at a news conference after the meeting. “We still want this government to improve its performance and wish the PPP to complete its five-year term in office,” Sharif observed while responding to pointed questions from reporters who sought his response to speculations that MQM chief Altaf has advised President Zardari to step down. “I stand by my commitment that I shall not be party to any extra-constitutional move to dislodge the present set-up,” Sharif observed while also pointing out that the PPP does not enjoy even simple majority to sustain its government. The NRO was promulgated by former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf to pardon corruption cases against him, his spouse slain former premier Benazir Bhutto and others in return for a tacit support to his election in October in 2007. The MQM was also main beneficiary of the ordinance under which criminal cases against nearly 2,500 of its activists were withdrawn. While the PML-N chief threatened to even launch a long march if the NRO is bulldozed in the parliament, his close confidant Khawaja Asif confirmed that the parliamentary party did discuss the proposal to submit resignations from the assembly at the Monday meeting. Such a move would certainly pave the way for its dissolution and fresh elections within three months. Significantly, amid mounting opposition, the government did not introduce the NRO in the parliament when the assembly met on Monday though PPP information secretary Fauzia Wahab said it would be done in two days. She reacted strongly to reports about Altaf’s advice on resignation and referred to the latest statement by MQM federal minister Babar Ghauri that his party would not abandon Zardari in the present situation. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar declined to confirm or deny the reports about Altaf’s statement. Chief of PML-Q Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said his party would oppose the NRO in the parliament. Nine out of the 11 members from Federally Administered Tribal Areas also announced they would vote against the ordinance. Two other partners in the coalition, the JUI and the ANP have also been critical of the NRO, but JUI chief Maulana Fazrlur Rehman told reporters here that the central committee of his party would take a final decision on Tuesday. The Awami National Party has so far remained non-committal. In another major development, army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani met Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani while the latter then had a meeting with President Asif Zardari.
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Unlawful Occupation Colombo, November 2 This ordeal was faced by Tamil families who returned to their homes in Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Batticaloa, under the government's resettlement programme. A Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) leader told a local daily that around 1,486 Tamil families were unable to enter their homes in Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Batticaloa as they found their houses occupied by the majority Sinhala community. There are more than 500 families of the majority community who have set up houses and are cultivating paddy in areas that belonged to Tamils before the war intensified,” Packiyaselvam Ariyanethiran, a member of ITAK, said. He said he wrote to President Rajapakse on September 16 requesting a probe and a peaceful solution to the issue. “The President in response to my letter had written to the government agents (GAs) on October 26 asking for a thorough report on the situation. I believe the GAs are yet to make their official statement on the matter.” However, once the holidays are over, I wish to meet them and inquire of what they plan to do” the ITAK member told the 'Sunday Nation'. According to officials, the number of IDPs in various welfare villages has come down to 1,80,000 on October 27 from 2,88,000 when the war in the island nation ended in May this year with the death of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran. This was a result of the well coordinated resettlement programmes according to international standards undertaken by the government in collaboration with the UN and which were according to international standards, they said. Ariyanethiran said even those who were displaced in Puttalam (in North West) were unable to return to their original houses due to such unlawful occupation. He said the encroachment began swiftly and had reached a point where there was a significant presence of the majority community that had not lived there earlier, he claimed. The newspaper report pointed out a motion tabled in the parliament last week, TNA Leader R Sampanthan highlighted that, “Such unlawful occupation of state land by members of the majority community acting with total impunity has been a continuous process with no action taken by the government”.
— PTI
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A first: Heart surgery with radiation
London, November 2 The radiation scalpel, called the “cyberknife”, has been used in heart operation, and the doctors are confident that it could lead to new treatments for other heart conditions, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported. During the operation, radiation beams controlled by a robot with an accuracy of one mm arm attacked the tumour of Michael Kilby. It took account of breathing patterns and body movements to avoid the patient’s healthy tissue. Dr John Coltart, consultant cardiologist at the Clinic, said: "Three months ago his prognosis was terrible, now he may live for a good while yet. No one had ever done this before, it was a bit of innovative thinking to give this gentleman a chance. All our expectations have been realised”. According to Dr Coltart, tumours inside the heart are extremely rare and it seems the Cyberknife may now be the preferable way to treat them because the radiation can be targeted to such a degree that there is minimal damage to the heart muscle. In fact, Kilby’s tumour, which was larger than a golf ball, has already shrunk by 40 per cent and is expected to shrink further over the next four weeks. “I was treated for five days with each session lasting for about an hour and a half. You cannot feel anything at all, its just like radiotherapy. Before the Cyberknife I couldn't speak in long sentences because I would get out breath, but now I can walk a few holes of the golf course,” Kilby said. Nick Plowman, clinical oncologist, said: “This was an absolutely unique case. The tumour was taking up so much of the ventricle that the heart was failing in front of us. There was nowhere else to go with his treatment. The tum
our has shrunk significantly and I expect it to shrink further in the coming weeks.
It is great”. — PTI
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Nepal cabinet to meet on Everest
Kathmandu, November 2 And both the cabinets had a common cause: To symbolically flag the threat of global warming ahead of a crucial UN Summit on Climate Change starting in Copenhagen on December 7. The entire cabinet of the 22-party coalition will move to the Everest Base Camp at an altitude of 17,585 feet later this month for the landmark meeting, said Forests Minister Deepak Bohora. According to Bohora, the meeting at the Everest Base Camp aims to focus the attention of the international community to the dangerous impact of climate change on the Himalayas and the people dependant on its resources. The proposal has been in the line even before Maldives conducted its cabinet meeting under-water recently, Bohara was quoted as saying by myrepublica online today. The Maldives government held an underwater cabinet meeting on October 17 to focus global attention on rising sea levels due to global warming. President Muhammad Nasheed, dressed in full scuba gear, held the 30-minute meeting at a depth of six metres just north of the capital Male. Scientists say hat a sea-level rise of just a few cm would have a devastating effect on the island nation. Bohora said the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas is “a serious concern for us”. “We want to focus the world’s attention on saving the Himalayas from the effects of climate change before the Copenhagen meeting,” he told the local media. — PTI
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2-yr jail for woman who hid ‘bomb guide’ in burqa
London, November 2 Houria Chentouf, 41, from Manchester, admitted two offences of owning an article “connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.” But the mother-of-six walked free from Manchester Crown Court after having served time on remand following her arrest, the Press Association reported. The court heard how the memory stick contained more than 7,000 files, including an explosives manual for the “Brothers of the Mujahideen.” It was described by police as “a mini encyclopaedia of weapons making.” Prosecutors said the Moroccan accidentally dropped the computer stick while she was being interviewed by officers at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport in October of last year. It had been tied to the inner sleeve of her burka, but fell out as she reached down to scratch her leg, prosecutor Simon Denison told the court. Another document contained information about the military use of electronics. Police said the files, some of which ran to 900 pages, would have been enough to fill two floors of the Marks & Spencer store in Manchester. Evidence was also uncovered from internet chatroom sites which indicated her support for those seeking martyrdom.
—Reuters
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Huge cache of Qaida arms seized
Dubai, November 2 The weapons were found buried in a vacant house under a concrete slab, in Thadeq Governorate, 150 km north of Riyadh, Interior Ministry Spokesman Maj Gen Mansour Al-Turki was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency. “The security authorities do not make arrests unless they have precise information and evidence indicating involvement in criminal or terrorist activities,” he said. The arms haul comprised 281 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 250 magazines and 35 cases containing 41,250 rounds of ammunition, he said. The spokesman said the police learned about the cache after investigating a group of the Al-Qaida suspects arrested in August. The police was searching for the owners of the house whom they suspected of having links with the Al-Qaida, he added. The investigations were still underway with the arrested suspects to find out the source of the weapons and how they entered the country, Al-Turki said. Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the Al-Qaida terror group is a Saudi, has called for attacks on the kingdom's oil facilities as a means of crippling both the kingdom's economy and hurting the West.
— PTI
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Kabul, November 2
