The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

22 killed as Syrian Oppn pushes for UN action
Arab League chief heads to New York to win UNSC support

Damascus, January 29
Fierce clashes today killed at least 22 Syrians, mostly soldiers, as opponents of President Bashar al-Assad sought to up the pressure for UN action after the Arab League withdrew its observers.

League chief Nabil al-Arabi headed to New York on Sunday seeking to win support from the UN Security Council for a plan to end violence in Syria by asking President Bashar al-Assad to step aside. Arabi will brief the Security Council on Tuesday but the Arab initiative, which is backed by Western states, is facing resistance from Russia and China, two of the five permanent members of the council with veto powers.

According to an AFP tally taken from reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and state media, at least 232 persons, among them 147 civilians, have been killed since Tuesday.

That adds to the figure of more than 5,400 given by the United Nations last month since anti-regime protests erupted in mid-March.

Arabi has said the decision to suspend the monitoring mission was taken “because of the upsurge of violence whose victims are innocent civilians” and after Damascus “chose the option of escalation.” There was no sign of a let-up in the killing on Sunday, with activists and state media reporting the deaths of 16 soldiers in two separate attacks and five civilians and a deserter killed.

The Observatory reported 10 members of the military killed when their convoy was attacked in Jebel al-Zuwiya in the northwest, and the official SANA news agency said “an armed terrorist group” killed six others near Damascus.

The Observatory also reported four civilians and a deserter killed as soldiers and mutineers clashed in the Ghuta area near the capital. It said another civilian was killed in Homs. Moscow today expressed surprise at the Arab League decision to withdraw its monitors.

“We would like to know why they are treating such a useful instrument in this way,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Brunei, cited by Russia’s ITAR-TASS news agency. “I would support an increased number of observers,” he said.

Arabi said on Sunday he hopes Moscow and Beijing will allow the UN Security Council to issue a resolution backing a League plan to end the crisis. — AFP

UAE’s first gurdwara opens in Dubai

Guru Nanak Darbar: Spread over an area of 25,000 sq ft, the gurdwara has a dedicated floor for langar and a big hall for kirtan.

Dubai, January 29
The UAE’s first official gurdwara, Guru Nanak Darbar, has opened in Jebel Ali area here, ending years of demand from the Sikh community for a place of worship. The gurdwara is believed to be the first of its kind in the entire region.

Spread over an area of 25,000 sq ft near the Jebel Ali Hospital, the gurdwara has a dedicated floor for langar and a big hall for kirtan. Arrangements can be made for langar for about 5,000 people at a time, those associated with the project said.There are an estimated 50,000 Sikhs in the UAE, hailing from both India and Pakistan.

The man behind the project, local businessman Surinder Singh Kandhari, thanked the local leadership for their support to the project.

“We are thankful to His Highness Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, [Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai], with whose permission this has materialised. He also gave away free land for the gurdwara,” he said.

“This was a long-standing demand of the community and I am pleased I have done something for the community,” said Kandhari.

Dubai-based architect firm Holford Associates designed the gurdwara. “We also had the support of Richard Adams from the UK who was involved with the Shri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara on Havelock Road in Southall, London,” Kandhari said.

There is a 54-metre water body, inspired by the sarovar at the Golden Temple and a cascade. The main prayer hall, on the top player with Palki Sahib, has a 7.2 metre high ceiling and 18-metre diameter dome roof. The function hall can accommodate up to 900 people. The total cost of the project is estimated to be approximately $20 million. — PTI

Iran hosts IAEA team

Tehran, January 29
IAEA officials began a three-day visit to Iran today to discuss the Islamic republic’s suspect nuclear programme, amid a backlash by furious Iranian lawmakers at a looming EU oil embargo.

The UN’s chief nuclear inspector arrived in Iran on a mission to clear up “outstanding substantive issues” on Tehran’s atomic programme, and called for dialogue with the Islamic state.

Before departing from Vienna airport, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief inspector Herman Nackaerts told reporters that talks were long overdue. “We are trying to resolve all the outstanding issues with Iran,” he said.

“In particular we hope that Iran will engage with us on the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear programme.

We are looking forward to the start of a dialogue, a dialogue that is overdue since very long.” Nackaerts is leading a six-person IAEA team due to meet Iranian officials from later today until Tuesday. The delegation touched down in Tehran early this morning, the official news agency IRNA reported.

The team also includes IAEA No. 2 Rafael Grossi, an Argentine, and the watchdog’s senior legal official Peri Lynne Johnson, a US citizen, according to diplomats.

Nackaerts, who is Belgian, declined to comment on who he would meet during the trip, which is aimed at clearing up what the IAEA called “outstanding substantive issues” on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Expectations are low, with the delegation not expected to be given access to any sites mentioned in a damning IAEA report in November that raised suspicions Iran had done work developing nuclear weapons. — AFP

US officials, Taliban leaders ‘meet’ in Qatar

New York, January 29
In a major policy shift, US officials have held direct talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar, with discussions centered around release of the Afghan militant group’s prisoners from Guantanamo, a move that also has Pakistan’s “tacit approval”, a media report said.

Between four to eight Taliban negotiators travelled to Qatar from Pakistan to set up a political office.

Preliminary discussions with American officials are believed to have focused on “trust-building measures”, including the possible prisoner transfer, a New York Times report quoted former Taliban officials as saying.

The Taliban team in Qatar includes a former secretary to the Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, as well as several former officials of the Taliban government.

Former Taliban officials are not yet calling the discussions peace talks. “Currently there are no peace talks going on,” former minister of vice and virtue for the Taliban Maulavi Qalamuddin said in the report.

“The only thing is the negotiations over release of Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo, which is still under discussion between both sides in Qatar. We also want to strengthen the talks so we can create an environment of trust for further talks in the future,” he said.

The talks between the US and Taliban have the “tacit approval” of Pakistan, which has obstructed previous efforts by the Taliban to engage in dialogue, the report added.

Pakistan allowed the Taliban delegation to obtain travel documents and fly to Qatar, a gesture that the former Taliban officials say has caught them by surprise. “This is a green light from Pakistan,” former Taliban minister of higher education Arsala Rahmani said.

Pakistan “definitely supported this and is also helping,” Qalamuddin added.

He said if Pakistan did not approve of the talks, it would have arrested the Taliban delegates to Qatar the way it had done with Mullah Baradar, a senior Taliban official, after he began secret talks with the Afghan government in 2010.

The Afghan government is not directly involved in the discussions, even though it was initially upset that it had been left out, the NYT report added. The Afghan officials have also complained that they are not being kept fully informed about the discussions by the Americans. — PTI

Boko Haram rejects call for dialogue

Abuja, January 29
Threatening a fresh bout of violence, Nigeria’s dreaded militant group Boko Haram has rejected President Goodluck Jonathan’s call for a dialogue, days after it carried out a bloody attack in Kano, killing 185 persons. Boko Haram has threatened to attack northern city of Sokoto even as Jonathan demanded that they put forward their requests for possible dialogue.

Boko Haram’s spokesman, Abu Qaqa said the President’s call was “insincere” and rather said his men would attack the city known as the bastion of Islam in the country with a sultanate who has encompassing authority over other Muslims.

In a message broadcast to journalists, the sect said the dialogue is not possible under the situation at hand. — PTI