W O R L D

Pak govt backtracks on judicial standoff
The government on Wednesday reversed all its decisions on appointment of judges that had brought it in direct confrontation with the superior judiciary and accepted all recommendations of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

NASA astronaut Nicholas Patrick works to unlock window shutters on the observation deck of the Tranquility module. The Italian-built dome is designed to offer 360° view of the home planet and outer space, as well as the space station itself. — AP/PTI

Taliban’s No 2 held, confirms Pak
Islamabad, February 17
Pakistani military today confirmed the arrest of top militant Mullah Baradar, considered second-in-command to elusive Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar, amid reports that he was captured from a seminary on the outskirts of Karachi during a joint ISI-CIA operation a week ago.

US drone strike kills 4 ultras
Miranshah, February 17
Missiles fired from a US drone aircraft killed four militants at a compound in the northwest Pakistan's lawless tribal region bordering Afghanistan today, security officials said.

US has no plan to attack Iran: Clinton
Dubai, February 17
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her country has no plan for military action against Iran over its nuclear programme. "Obviously, we don't want Iran to become a nuclear weapons power, but we are not planning anything other than going for sanctions," she told Al-Arabiya television.

A US soldier relaxes in an armchair, believed to have belonged to Iraq’s late dictator Saddam Hussein, at al-Faw Palace on the western outskirts of Baghdad. The number of American soldiers in Iraq has dropped below 1 lakh for the first time since the 2003 US-led invasion, a signal that the USA is wrapping up the seven-year Iraq war. — AP/PTI

Pak govt backtracks on judicial standoff
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

The government on Wednesday reversed all its decisions on appointment of judges that had brought it in direct confrontation with the superior judiciary and accepted all recommendations of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

The ‘humiliating retreat’ was announced by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani after a three-hour meeting with the Chief Justice at the Prime Minister House. “Saturday’s presidential notification moving Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif to Supreme Court and the next senior judge of the court, Justice Saqib Nisar, replacing Justice Sharif is being withdrawn,” Gilani told reporters after the meeting.

A division bench of the Supreme Court met the same evening and suspended the presidential notification. It is due to take up the question as to who has the authority to appoint judges on Thursday. Prime Minister’s announcement means the government has accepted the interpretation that the Chief Justice has the primacy in such appointments.

Justice Saqib Nisar and another senior judge of the LHC Justice Justice Asif Khosa have been elevated to the Supreme Court while Justice Khalil Ramday who retired as Supreme Court judge early this month has also been appointed as ad hoc judge of the court for another year as recommended by Chief Justice Chaudhry. “These these decisions have the blessings of the President,” the Prime Minister said, adding that the government has acted in the best interests of the country to avoid institutional clash. He said recommendations of the chief justices of Lahore and Sindh High Court for appointment of nearly three dozen judges to fill vacancies would also be accepted.

Gilani set the ball rolling for a dramatic climb down when he barged “uninvited” into the dinner hosted by the Chief Justice in honour of Justice Ramday. It surprised all the guests.

Gilani had a pleasant chat with the CJ during the dinner and invited him for a meeting today (Wednesday) Justice Chaudhry on Wednesday made an unprecedented call on the Prime Minister and was closeted with him for nearly three hours during which all issues concerning relations between the judiciary and the government were discussed.

Critics noted that this was unusual that the highest figure in the judiciary should call on the chief executive of the country. But analysts justified it saying he has acted to reverse a dangerous showdown that could have derailed the present fragile democratic system. It was also pointed out that the Chief Justice has not conceded anything that could have undermined the constitution.

The Prime Minister covered these objections by noting that the meeting with the Chief Justice took place for consultations on the appointment of judges as laid down in the constitution.

Taliban’s No 2 held, confirms Pak

Islamabad, February 17
Pakistani military today confirmed the arrest of top militant Mullah Baradar, considered second-in-command to elusive Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar, amid reports that he was captured from a seminary on the outskirts of Karachi during a joint ISI-CIA operation a week ago.

Chief military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas confirmed Mullah Baradar’s arrest in a message sent to reporters, but did not give details about his capture. His statement was the first official confirmation that Baradar is in the custody of Pakistani authorities.

Abbas said “detailed identification procedures” had been completed by the authorities and that Mullah Baradar was among several people who were arrested recently.

The place of arrest and other details about the militant commander’s capture could not be released for security reasons, he said.

Intelligence sources were quoted by the Dawn newspaper today as saying that Mullah Baradar was arrested with four accomplices from the seminary Khudamul Quran, located on the outskirts of Karachi, between February 7 and February 8.

Baradar and his accomplices were detained when they came out of the seminary, which is around 10 to 25 km from the main toll plaza of the super highway, in a vehicle. “It was a swift operation that surprised them and they didn’t get a chance to put up any resistance,” the report said.

The five arrested men were being interrogated by intelligence operatives at an unspecified location, it said.

Baradar, said to be the key military strategist for the Taliban in Afghanistan where the allied forces have launched a major offensive against them in Helmand province, is considered more dangerous than even Mullah Omar. “Baradar was leading the fight against the allied forces for the past nine years,” sources said.

Pakistani and American intelligence agencies are viewing his arrest as a major breakthrough in fight against terror.

“The detention of Baradar is meant to give out a clear message to militant groups that Pakistan is no longer a safe haven for Taliban,” another source said.

The arrest of Baradar is part of the ongoing crackdown on the Taliban and other militant groups that were trying to establish a foothold in Karachi,” a top police official said.

A senior member of the MQM, which claimed that there was a growing presence of militant and Taliban activists in Karachi, said the arrest of Baradar confirmed that was true. — PTI

US drone strike kills 4 ultras

Miranshah, February 17
Missiles fired from a US drone aircraft killed four militants at a compound in the northwest Pakistan's lawless tribal region bordering Afghanistan today, security officials said.

The attack was the third since Sunday in North Waziristan district, which is infested with the Taliban and the Al-Qaida-linked fighters. The drone fired two missiles into a militant compound in Tabi Tolkhel village, close to the Afghan border, a security official said. "According to initial reports four militants were killed and two wounded," the official said.

A local administration official confirmed the toll and said it was a US drone strike targeting a compound belonging to a Taliban commander. — AFP

Fonseka’s actions aiding pro-LTTE groups: Lanka

Colombo, February 17
Describing vanquished opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka's taking support from pro-LTTE groups like the TNA as a “great betrayal", the government today said his actions helped rebel sympathisers in the West to stoke anti-Sri Lanka sentiments.

“A substantially negative impact has been made on the sovereignty of the country through the irresponsible statements of Gen Sarath Fonseka,” senior Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said.

Participating in the programme by the state-owned Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) yesterday, Yapa said when (the Pro-LTTE) Tamil National Alliance (TNA) took measures to support Fonseka, LTTE-friendly groups in Britain and France endorsed these measures by conducting processions.

Yapa, who recently gave up the Mass Media Ministry to enable President Mahinda Rajapakasa to take over the portfolio, said Fonseka had no political experience.

Yapa, who is now Minister of Investment Promotion, told a radio programme that it was a “great betrayal of the country" on the part of General Fonseka who made these statements based on “hatred". — PTI

US has no plan to attack Iran: Clinton

Dubai, February 17
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her country has no plan for military action against Iran over its nuclear programme.

"Obviously, we don't want Iran to become a nuclear weapons power, but we are not planning anything other than going for sanctions," she told Al-Arabiya television. "What we are focusing on is trying to change Iranian behaviour, and the international community has been united in trying to send a message to Iran that it is time for it to clarify its intentions," she said.

"We want to try to get the strongest sanctions we can out of the United Nations Security Council ... mostly to influence their decision-making," said Clinton, interviewed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia yesterday at the end of a Gulf tour. On Israel's refusal to rule out the military option against its arch-foe Iran, which denies charges of aiming to build a nuclear bomb, she said "there are many countries in the region who are very worried about Iran's actions.

“And there may well be those who think, well, we have to do something to protect ourselves," said Clinton, But Washington believes "the better approach is to join at the international community, to work together toward sanctions, to exert maximum pressure”. — AFP