Toronto, November 20
Emerging details of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani-origin in custody in the US on charges of plotting terrorist attacks in India, show he was running a flourishing immigration business.

Though Rana lives in Chicago, the Kanata home he co-owns has been a gathering place for his far-flung family, including relatives spread across the United States and a brother who is a well-known journalist on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Before he became a diplomatic concern, Rana advertised himself as a "world-famous immigration consultant". That was last year when the Pakistani-Canadian businessman was just an "unknown" father of three, who worked out of Chicago while keeping a house in an Ottawa suburb.

The 48-year-old immigration consultant and businessman is at the centre of a flurry of international media attention since his arrest last month by the FBI for plotting terror attacks in India and Denmark.

Rana, who was born and raised in Pakistan, immigrated to Canada in 1997 and obtained Canadian citizenship in June, 2001. He and his wife, Samraz Akhtar Rana, live in Chicago with their two daughters and a son.

Rana and his wife are two of five family members who co-own the house in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa. But only his father, his brother Abbas and Abbas's wife currently live there.

Abbas has been working for The Hill Times newspaper since 2002. He writes the popular "Hill Climbers" column chronicling the latest parliamentary staff changes.

He could not be reached for comment but Jim Creskey, the publisher of the newspaper, said Abbas and his family are devastated by the news. Creskey said Abbas has been on leave for the past two weeks caring for his father, who is in hospital and gravely ill.

The FBI suspects Rana was involved in a plot to kill a Danish newspaper cartoonist whose controversial images had offended Muslims.

Rana is also under investigation for a possible link to Mumbai attacks last year.

Rana's Chicago lawyer, Patrick Blegen, said he is working on a response to the allegations related to Mumbai attacks. — PTI

Dhaka, November 20
Five Bangladeshi ex-army officials condemned to death for assassinating Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are likely to seek a review of the judgement by the Supreme Court before asking for a presidential clemency, as jail authorities initiated the execution process by conveying them the verdict.

The Supreme Court verdict upholding death sentence to the convicts was read out to them last evening and the five expressed desire to see their relatives and lawyers, a senior jail official said.He said they are likely to seek a review of the Supreme Court verdict by the apex court itself as the last legal step ahead of seeking the presidential clemency.

Jail officials said the process of execution began as they informed the condemned convicts about the verdict at the Dhaka Central Jail, hours after the Supreme Court's Appellate Division came out with the judgement.

"The jailor accompanied by several other prison officials went to the isolated cells of the convicts and read out the copy of the Appellate Division's judgement last evening in line with the Jail Code," the senior jail official told PTI.

Legal experts said the judgement is likely to be executed within the next two months if two more legal steps open for the convicts are exhausted.

Newspapers quoting legal experts also said the execution of the verdict could take as high as two months, as according to the constitution the convicts were entitled to seek a review at the Appellate Division within 30 days.

If rejected, they then have a last chance to seek presidential clemency within subsequent seven days.Under the jail code, a death row convict would be hanged in between 21 and 28 days on exhaustion of last legal option.

State minister for law Qamrul Islam told newsmen yesterday that the assassins could be hanged by late December or early January on exhaustion of legal procedures.

The five death-row convicts - sacked lieutenant colonels Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Muhiuddin Ahmed, A K M Mohiuddin Ahmed and major Bazlul Huda - are in jail. — PTI

Dismissing the allegation that his wife had benefitted from the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to get her name cleared in loan default cases, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has offered to step down if the charge is proved. “I smell a rat,” Gilani told reporters after attending the Green Journalist Awards ceremony here, hinting at some kind of a conspiracy against him on the issue of list of NRO beneficiaries leaked out to the media that includes the name of his wife, Fauzia Gilani. He volunteered the statement saying he wanted to clarify the entire episode. “I think there is some problem somewhere. If it is proved that my wife has taken relief from the NRO, I will resign from the premiership,” the Pakistani premier said in a choked voice.

He regretted that despite his announcement on the floor of the National Assembly, the list of NRO beneficiaries “for certain reasons” was not presented before parliament. He said that he would hold an inquiry as to why the list was not presented.

The prime minister’s claim, if true, has further complicated the NRO issue as a number of other politicians and prominent figures, including some big names, have also questioned the authenticity of the list, prepared by National Accountability Bureau and was handed over to the law ministry. 

Herat, November 20
A suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his explosives in a crowded area in southwest Afghanistan today, killing 17 persons, including a senior police official, a provincial governor said.

Farah province police chief Faqir Mohammad Askar said the target of the attack in the city was the police official, who was killed along with two of his bodyguards. Governor of Farah Rohul Amin told Reuters that the death toll in the blast had risen to 17. 

Earlier, the head of the city's main hospital said 15 persons had died. Amin said 29 persons were also wounded in the attack. — Reuters