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PPP: Govt won’t ask Swiss to reopen Zardari cases
42 dead in Baghdad blasts |
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Dubai court sentences British kissing couple
Nepal’s ‘living goddess’ plans to join financial sector
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PPP: Govt won’t ask Swiss to reopen Zardari cases
Islamabad, April 4 The Pakistan People’s Party also reposed “complete confidence” in Zardari’s leadership and said it was not going to write to any foreign government as international practice and conventions did not permit such a move. The comments assume significance in the wake of the Supreme Court directing the government to send a letter signed by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani by April 5 to authorities in Switzerland asking them to reopen graft cases against Zardari. If the government does not dispatch the letter to Swiss authorities by tomorrow it could lead to a showdown between the judiciary and the government. The ruling party and the higher judiciary led by independent-minded Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhary have been at loggerheads ever since the Supreme Court struck down the controversial NRO last year. Since then, the apex court has been asking the government to take steps to reopen cases against Zardari in Switzerland. Over 8,000 people, including Zardari and several of his close aides, were granted amnesty under the National Reconciliation Ordiance, which came into force during Pervez Musharraf’s presidency. The PPP’s Central Executive Committee, during a meeting held late last night at Naudero in Sindh province, reposed complete confidence in Zardari’s leadership and resolved that the party would resist the trial of its leaders, including slain former premier Benazir Bhutto and her mother Nusrat Bhutto, the wife of late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Even before the meeting of the central executive committee chaired by Zardari began, PPP spokesperson Fauzia Wahab told reporters in Sukkur that the government had no intention of making a request to Swiss authorities to reopen cases against Zardari. Wahab said no one should expect the government to send letters to Switzerland or any other country accusing the President of committing a crime. The President enjoyed “clear immunity” under international law and the Pakistani Constitution, she said. “We are not going to write to any foreign government,” she said, adding international practice and conventions did not permit such a move. The party’s top leadership met on the eve of the death anniversary of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. After the meeting of the central executive committee, Wahab told the media there was strong resentment among party leaders over the issue of the Swiss cases. She said PPP leaders and workers would not permit the trial of their leaders at any cost. “There is talk of the trial of Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and everyone has recorded their objection to it. They have questioned why so much attention is being devoted to the Swiss cases because these cases were basically against Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto,” she said. Benazir Bhutto was the “principal accused and President Asif Ali Zardari was the co-accused,” Wahab said. “The Swiss cases were ended on merit as they had no basis. They went on for 10 years and no government could prove the charges,” she said. Zardari and his late wife were found guilty in absentia by a Geneva court in 2003 of laundering millions of dollars. They were given six-month sentences and fined but both punishments were suspended when they appealed. Swiss authorities abandoned the cases against them in 2008 after the Pakistani authorities asked them to do so. The meeting of the PPP Central Executive Committee adopted a resolution that said Zardari is the symbol of the federation. “We pay tribute to his leadership qualities and sagacity,” it said. — PTI
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42 dead in Baghdad blasts
Baghdad, April 4 It was not immediately clear whether anyone from the embassies was among the dead or wounded. "These explosions targeted diplomatic missions," al-Moussawi told The Associated Press. "It's a terrorist act. We expect the death toll to rise." Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the blasts bear the mark of Al-Qaida, but it is too early to say definitively who was behind the attacks. "I
really feel it's early, however, unless we ensure the investigation is
complete" to say for sure who was behind the bombings which hit
diplomatic missions across the Iraqi capital, he added. —
AP
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Dubai court sentences British kissing couple
Dubai, April 4 The pair, 24-old-year marketing executive Ayman Najafi and 25-year-old tourist Charlotte Adams, were convicted in January and sentenced to one month in jail followed by deportation, and fined $272 for consuming alcohol. The pair, who has so far remained free on bail, can mount a final legal challenge with a higher cassation court, the defendants' lawyer Khalfan Al-Hosani said. "There isn't much of a chance but it's worth a try," he told reporters. The lawyer said his clients haven't yet decided whether to appeal. The duo were arrested after an Emirati woman with her family filed a complaint on November 28 last year claiming that the two had been kissing and touching each other in a sexual manner in front of her children at a diner in Jumeirah Beach Residence. Both the accused admitted drinking alcohol but denied committing a sexual act, claiming they had kissed each other on the cheek as a greeting. Khalfan told the judges that the 38-year-old Emirati woman - currently the only adult witness in the case - had presented two different testimonies to police and public prosecutors. — PTI
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Nepal’s ‘living goddess’ plans to join financial sector
Kathmandu, April 4 Buddhist priests in the three ancient cities of the Kathmandu valley select "virgin deities" from the Newar community to serve as "living goddesses", who are then confined to temples on the outskirts of the capital. Chandiara Bajracharya, the Kumari of Patan, who is revered by many as a "living goddess", has expressed her wish to join the financial sector. The
15-year-old "virgin deity", who is the first Kumari to appeare
in SLC exam, said she wishes to pursue further studies in management,
the Kantipur online said today. — PTI
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