W O R L D

US, Australia ink space surveillance pact
Melbourne, November 8
Australia and the US today signed a pact to increase space surveillance over the Asia-Pacific region by expanding the reach of US military satellites as American Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Washington was looking at enhanced presence in the Asian region.

Iraqi leaders meet to break deadlock
Irbil, November 8
Leaders of Iraq’s main political blocs met today in the northern city of Irbil in a rare face-to-face gathering that could signal progress in breaking the country’s political deadlock.

Iraqi leaders attend a meeting in Arbil on Monday. — Reuters

Car bombings kill 18
Karbala, November 8
Twin bombings in Shiite holy cities targeting Iranians killed at least 18 persons today, 10 of them pilgrims from Iran, at the start of a ninth month of wrangling over a new government.

A woman watches ‘Wind Up’ mini car on a street in Essen, Germany, on Monday. The car is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s smallest car with a licence to drive on public streets. — AP/PTI

Pak willing to talk to India, says Qureshi
Responding apparently to US President Barack Obama’s latest remarks in speeches during ongoing India visit, Pakistan has reiterated that his country was willing to talk to India and was committed to eliminate terrorism and dismantling any network operating from the country.

West dismisses Myanmar elections
Bangkok, November 8
The West denounced army-ruled Myanmar’s first election in 20 years today while state media in China, a key ally of the regime, struck a discordant note by hailing the polls as a sign of progress.

US, Australia ink space surveillance pact

Signing of a space pact comes as US and its allies in the Pacific region have accused China of trying to militarise space by investing heavily in space technology Tracking sensors will give Americans a strategic surveillance capacity over the southern hemisphere to track space and missile launches from China Rise of China and India were key topics of discussion at a crucial strategic bilateral talks between Australia and the US, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said.

Melbourne, November 8
Australia and the US today signed a pact to increase space surveillance over the Asia-Pacific region by expanding the reach of US military satellites as American Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Washington was looking at enhanced presence in the Asian region.

The two countries signed a ‘space situational awareness’ partnership at the conclusion of the annual US-Australia security and military dialogue, under which Washington would place more satellite tracking sensors in Western Australia.

The network would give Americans a strategic surveillance capacity over the southern hemisphere to track space and missile launches from China as well as South Korea.

The signing of a space pact comes as US and its allies in the Pacific region have accused China of trying to militarise space by investing heavily in space technology.

Acknowledging that preventive steps were necessary, Gates and his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith said the two countries were working “hand in hand” to expand military cooperation in new domains such as space and cyber-space.

A space situational awareness partnership statement issued at the conclusion of the security meet said that the US ans Australia shared a deep concern about the “congested and contested nature of outer space”.

Gates said that the US was committed to the security and stability of Asia-Pacific region. “We are looking at an enhanced presence for the United States in Asia, not some kind of cutback,” he said.

“We are a Pacific power. We have re-engaged in a major way,” the Defence secretary said.

Echoing Gates’ Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reinforced America’s commitment to the region. “We’ve been here, we are here and we will be here,” she said.

In Melbourne for the annual security dialogue, Gates said the two nations would set up a group for developing options for stepping up joint defence cooperation on Australian soil.

But he described as premature reports that US-Australian cooperation would include expanded training and the US making bigger use of Australian bases.

The US Secretary of State played down suggestions that this growing US presence in the region and reaffirmation of defence ties was motivated by a rising China. “The US has consistently said that we welcome the economic success of China, the positive effects that it is having on the Chinese people as China becomes more of a player in regional and global affairs,” she said.

Clinton said America expected China to be a “responsible player” and to participate in the international framework that governed the way nations behaved. — PTI

Iraqi leaders meet to break deadlock

Irbil, November 8
Leaders of Iraq’s main political blocs met today in the northern city of Irbil in a rare face-to-face gathering that could signal progress in breaking the country’s political deadlock.

Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Autonomous Region in northern Iraq, lobbied for the meeting to be held in his hometown Irbil. He opened today’s gathering with a call to Iraqi politicians to work together.

“It is a historic moment with deep meaning to meet together to discuss and agree on the country’s future and to develop it in a way that meets the ambitions of the Iraqi people,” he said.

The meeting was a who’s who of the Iraqi political scene and the first time all the main political leaders have met publicly since the March 7 election.

Among the crowd in the Irbil conference hall today were current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the man who would like to take his job, Ayad Allawi.

Allawi heads the Sunni-backed Iraqiya coalition that won 91 seats in the parliament to al-Maliki’s 89 seats. With neither side winning a majority in the 325-seat parliament, an eight-month period of intense political negotiations followed the March polls. — AP

Car bombings kill 18

Karbala, November 8
Twin bombings in Shiite holy cities targeting Iranians killed at least 18 persons today, 10 of them pilgrims from Iran, at the start of a ninth month of wrangling over a new government. The police and local officials said the attacks also wounded 58 persons, mostly Iranian pilgrims.

In Karbala, a suicide bomber pulled up his booby-trapped vehicle alongside a bus carrying pilgrims from neighbouring Iran then detonated his payload, police officials said.

The explosion killed 10 persons, four of them Iranians, and wounded another 42, hospital officials said.

The bomber struck in the northern part of Karbala through which traffic headed to Karbala’s tightly-guarded shrines passes on the way down south from Baghdad.

The second attack targeted three buses carrying Iranian pilgrims, police said. A bomb blast killed eight persons, six of them Iranians, and wounded 16 others, said Khaled Jashani, a member of Najaf’s provincial council. — AFP

Pak willing to talk to India, says Qureshi
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Responding apparently to US President Barack Obama’s latest remarks in speeches during ongoing India visit, Pakistan has reiterated that his country was willing to talk to India and was committed to eliminate terrorism and dismantling any network operating from the country.

“We condemn terrorism. We do not and will not allow Pakistani soil to be used against anyone and that includes India. And we have taken considerable steps in the last two years to deal with this situation,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a TV interview.

Obama has recounted the human and economic sacrifices made by Pakistan in the war against terrorism but observed that “progress (in tackling terror) is not as quick as we like”. He also impressed upon the need for Pakistan to take more vigorous steps to bring planners and perpetrators of Mumbai terror carnage of November 26, 2008, to justice as quickly as possible.

West dismisses Myanmar elections

Bangkok, November 8
The West denounced army-ruled Myanmar’s first election in 20 years today while state media in China, a key ally of the regime, struck a discordant note by hailing the polls as a sign of progress.

Led by US president Barack Obama, numerous countries decried the vote as neither free nor fair and called for the release of political prisoners including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sidelined in the polls.

China has yet to make any official comment on the poll, but in an editorial titled “Myanmar’s election a step forward,” the state-run Global Times newspaper said Beijing supported “Myanmar’s plan to transform its political system, but knows it will not happen overnight”.

China has long helped economically dysfunctional Myanmar to keep afloat through trade ties, arms sales, and by shielding it from UN sanctions over rights abuses as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council. — AFP