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Thai PM holds talks with protest leaders
Indo-Pak water talks begin
Pak court dismisses plea to declare Kasab fugitive
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‘Special relationship’ with US over: UK MPs
Qureshi: ISI no longer Taliban friend
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Thai PM holds talks with protest leaders
Bangkok, March 28 Abhisit held almost three hours of televised talks with leaders of the movement, who broadly support twice-elected former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, but there was no sign of progress towards ending the deadlock. The embattled premier, who has spent much of the past two weeks at a military base, has refused to bow to demands for a new election, arguing that the country is too divided to go to the polls. He smiled and promptly concluded the talks after one leader, Jatuporn Prompan, asked him to dissolve parliament within two weeks. “I don’t think we need to have ultimatums or deadlines,” Abhisit said. “I’m willing to have more talk like this, hopefully a second round, a third round and you can protest all you want. If we try to draw a dividing line, things will not be over,” he added. After two weeks of peaceful rallies, the “Red Shirts” have stepped up their campaign to topple the government with a new level of brinkmanship that has raised tension and stoked fears of clashes between demonstrators and security forces. Abhisit agreed to meet the leaders after tens of thousands of protesters rallied outside the military command centre where he has based himself. They were close to entering Abhisit’s office compound on Saturday, having forced thousands of troops to pack up and leave eight sites around the city’s historic heart. They stepped up the protest tempo two days after Thaksin, the ousted, exiled premier who is assumed to be their leader and financier, called for a campaign of “civil disobedience”. Securities analysts said the raising of the stakes was unlikely to dampen the mood of foreign investors who have piled into Thailand’s stock market, one of Asia’s cheapest. They were net buyers for a 24th straight session on Friday, adding to the $1.5 billion of inflows since February 22. But the protests highlight a deepening divide in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy, which has made some investors think twice about longer-term expansion in a country once seen as a safe bet for business. The threat of unrest and a slew of mysterious but non-fatal grenade attacks and small bombings have left the city of 15 million people on edge. No one has claimed responsibility. Grenade attacks late on Saturday and early Sunday on three state or army-run television stations and the military base where Abhisit took refuge wounded 12 soldiers and four civilians. Late on Sunday, gunmen opened fire on a branch of Bangkok Bank, shattering windows. Analysts have said Abhisit, strongly backed by the military and Thailand’s establishment elites, is unlikely to make any real concessions and predicted talks would be fruitless. The talks were due to resume on Monday evening. The “red shirts” have accused him of being a stooge of the anti-Thaksin army top brass, who they say engineered political defections that helped Abhisit form a government. He denies that and says his rule is legitimate.
— Reuters
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Indo-Pak water talks begin
India and Pakistan on Sunday began a three-day annual meeting of the Indus Water Treaty Commission (IWTC) in Lahore amid Pakistani complaints of treaty violation by India by blocking flow of water from rivers allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Basin Water Treaty of 1960. Top on the agenda of the first round of talks on Sunday was the two new power plants initiated by India.
G Aranga Nathan heads the nine-member delegation of Indian Water Commission while Jamaat Ali Shah is heading the Pakistani Water Commission. “The Indian commission has come to hear Pakistan’s point of view on the water dispute,” Nathan told reporters before start of the meeting. He said the agricultural and hydroelectric uses of water allowed under the treaty would also be discussed. Nathan said India had no desire to deprive Pakistan of its rightful share of water. The main agenda of first day is the decrease of water level in Chenab and the construction of Nemobaaz Go and Chotak power plants at Sindh by India that will block 35,000 foot per acre water to Pakistan. The Indian delegation has handed over the construction plan and map of the Nemobaaz Go power plant and briefing has been given in this regard by the Indian technical officers. Moreover, the commissions have agreed to keep the free board height of Neemobaaz Go dam at one metre. Jamaat Ali Shah who leads Pakistan delegation spoke briefly to the media after first round. He said Pakistan has raised eight points of objections over Nimoo Bazgo water project in the talks with Indian water officials on Sunday. The Indian officials rejected six objections of the Pakistani delegation, he said adding that remaining two objections will be responded after consultations with the country’s top leadership. Under 1960 treaty sponsored and underwritten by the World Bank, Pakistan was allocated water of two rivers, Chenab and Jhelum, besides Indus.
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Pak court dismisses plea to declare Kasab fugitive
Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Malik Muhammad Akram has dismissed government's application for declaring Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of Mumbai terror attack, as a proclaimed offender.
The court fixed April 3 for recording statements of prosecution witnesses against seven accused being tried for complicity in Mumbai terror attack. They include Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the suspected mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid, all alleged to be activists of the banned Lashkar-eTaiba organisation. The ATC judge rejected the application a week after hearing arguments by the prosecution and defence lawyers on it. Government lawyer Malik Rab Nawaz Noon had filed an application in the court for naming Ajmal Kasab and a co-accused, Fahim Irshad Ansari, as a proclaimed offenders to bring them to the country for trial and evidence Both of them are in custody of the Mumbai policeand facing trial there. The Special Investigation Cell of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered cases against Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Zarar Shah, Abu Alqa, Hamad Ameen Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Muhammad Ashfaq, allegedly involved in the Mumbai attacks of November 26, 2008. Defence lawyers termed the government plea as part of its delaying tactics to prolong the case. India has also been pressing Pakistan to expedite the prosecution in order to bring to justice the planners, handlers and executioners. "Both Ajmal Kasab and Ansari are in Indian custody and being tried there," defence lawyer Shahbaz Ahmed Rajpoot argued adding:"They are not willfully avoiding arrest by Pakistani authorities. There is no possibility that they could be brought to Pakistan".
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‘Special relationship’ with US over: UK MPs
London, March 28 Britain’s special relationship with the US - forged by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt in the Second World War - no longer exists, says a committee of influential MPs. Instead, America’s relationship with Britain is no more special than with its other main allies, according to a report by the House of Commons foreign affairs committee published today.In an apparent rebuke to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his relationship with President George W Bush, the report says there are “many lessons” to be learnt from Britain’s political approach towards the US over Iraq. The report also warns that the perception of the UK after the Iraq war as America’s “subservient poodle” has been highly damaging to Britain’s reputation and interests around the world. The MPs conclude that British prime ministers have to learn to be less deferential to US presidents. — PTI
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Qureshi: ISI no longer Taliban friend
Washington, March 28 The minister’s remarks come amid strong concerns voiced by India about ISI’s support for the Afghan Taliban, particularly in executing terror attacks targeting Indians.“The way the ISI has been operating, and the way the ISI is being targeted by Taliban is in front of you. Look at their casualties. Look at the number of people that have been injured in the last year-and-a-half directly. “Look at the way their different officers have been attacked at Peshawar, in Lahore, in Multan. It is very obvious that our side is no longer considered to be a friend of theirs,” Qureshi told a TV channel. — PTI
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4,200-yr-old embrace Barbara Bush hospitalised 
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