W O R L D

Suu Kyi’s party to boycott Myanmar elections
Yangon, March 29
Myanmar’s biggest opposition party said today that it would not register for this year’s election, meaning Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s party will have no role in the military-led political process. The National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won the last election in 1990 by a landslide but was never allowed to rule, said the entire party leadership had agreed not to run.

17 Indians get death for killing Pakistani
Dubai, March 29
Seventeen Indians have been sentenced to death by Sharjah’s Shariah Court for killing a Pakistani man and injuring three others in a vicious attack last year. Judge Yousuf Al Hamadi sentenced the 17 men to death after all evidence, including DNA tests, showed they had knifed the Pakistani to death, Khaleej Times reported today. The victim had died of his wounds after he was stabbed repeatedly on various parts of his body and had also suffered brain damage, the police said.

SC serves contempt notice on NAB chief
The Supreme Court on Monday issued contempt of court notice to the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for not implementing it’s ruling on reopening all cases pardoned under the National Reconciliation Order (NRO). One of the cases, which SC wants to be resumed, relates to money-laundering charges against President Asif Zardari in Swiss courts.

Suu Kyi’s party to boycott Myanmar elections

Yangon, March 29
Myanmar’s biggest opposition party said today that it would not register for this year’s election, meaning Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s party will have no role in the military-led political process. The National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won the last election in 1990 by a landslide but was never allowed to rule, said the entire party leadership had agreed not to run.

“After a unanimous vote of the central executive committee, the NLD party has decided not to register as a political party because the election laws ... are unfair and unjust,” the party said in a statement.

The election has been widely dismissed as a sham after nearly five decades of iron-fisted army rule in the former Burma, a strategically situated but isolated country rich with resources like natural gas, timber and gems and a Southeast Asian port.

Senior party members made the decision six days after Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21 years in detention, said she “would not dream” of entering if the decision was hers. The comment was widely interpreted as a veiled instruction to party members as they prepared for a ballot on whether to run.

A senior party official had earlier told Reuters some members in favour of running in the election had been urged to vote otherwise to show the party was united. All 115 ballots were returned in favour of a boycott.

Divisions had emerged in the party between advocates of a boycott and modernisers who believe the NLD would be a spent force if it did not run. However, senior NLD member Win Tin said the party would live on.

“The party will not die,” he told Reuters. “We will be among the people, our activities will not stop.” The party faces dissolution if it refuses to register. After the announcement, party members were in high spirits and chanted slogans to show their support for Suu Kyi.

The NLD is most angered by the military junta’s restrictive election laws, which bar current and former prisoners from taking part. Many NLD members are among the 2,100 political detainees in Myanmar, the most famous of whom is Suu Kyi.

After the last election, the junta promised to hand over power to the NLD after a constitution was drafted and a probe launched into the polls. Neither happened and the NLD was never allowed to rule.

Some in Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, disagreed with the NLD’s decision and said the country’s best hope for democratic change had played into the hands of the generals. “They’ve walked into a trap,” said a retired civil servant, who asked not to be identified. “They could have pressed on without Suu Kyi and got something out of the election.”

Analysts say the junta has learned from the botched 1990 election and has drafted a constitution that ensures it will effectively remain in charge, without the need to rig the polls.

The United States and United Nations have not publicly questioned the constitution but have said the election would not be credible if political prisoners could not take part. — Reuters

17 Indians get death for killing Pakistani

Dubai, March 29
Seventeen Indians have been sentenced to death by Sharjah’s Shariah Court for killing a Pakistani man and injuring three others in a vicious attack last year. Judge Yousuf Al Hamadi sentenced the 17 men to death after all evidence, including DNA tests, showed they had knifed the Pakistani to death, Khaleej Times reported today. The victim had died of his wounds after he was stabbed repeatedly on various parts of his body and had also suffered brain damage, the police said.

The attack in January last year followed a fight over the control of the illegal liquor business in Al Sajaa area of Sharjah, one of the emirates of UAE, the paper said. The police had said the suspects had attempted to kill three other compatriots of the victim, but they managed to escape and were rushed to Kuwaiti Hospital for treatment. The convicted men are aged between 17 and 30 years.

According to the three Pakistanis who survived, 50 persons set upon them with knives on that fateful day last year. The police had rushed to the area and arrested the 17, who had allegedly led the attack. The others were let off due to lack of evidence. During court hearings, all the suspects confessed they had fought with and murdered the victim. Forensics reports and DNA tests also proved their role in the crime. — PTI

SC serves contempt notice on NAB chief
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

The Supreme Court on Monday issued contempt of court notice to the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for not implementing it’s ruling on reopening all cases pardoned under the National Reconciliation Order (NRO). One of the cases, which SC wants to be resumed, relates to money-laundering charges against President Asif Zardari in Swiss courts.

Presiding over a division bench of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry took strong exception to NAB’s delaying tactics in the implementation of court judgment of December 16 last. The court had annulled the NRO and ordered reopening all corruption and other cases as they stood on October 5, 2007, when former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf promulgated the NRO under a deal with former premier late Benazir Bhutto.

The Chief Justice in his remarks asked the NAB chairman to explain which authority is stopping him from compliance of the court orders. He said the NAB has not yet submitted its report in the court about reopening of the references.

He said NAB chairman Naveed Ahsan should submit his reply within a day as to why the cases closed under NRO were not reopened yet.

Go anywhere but don’t talk about nukes, AQ Khan told
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

The Lahore High Court on Monday declared that nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was free to move anywhere but restricted him from talking about nuclear assets or proliferation in any capacity. The court led by Justice Ejaz Chaudhry disposed of a petition by federal government after the Attorney-General Mansoor Anwar assured it that Dr. Khan is free to go anywhere but must inform the government prior to going anywhere so that adequate security be provided to him.

Regarding government's complaint about Dr. Khan's reported interview to Washington Post, his counsel filed an affidavit on behalf of Dr. Khan saying no such interview was given.

The federal government said complete security will be provided to Dr. Qadeer Khan and that there are no restrictions on him.