The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	We won’t provide airbases to US for attack on Iran: Zardari Pak, Afghanistan, Iran want non-interference in their affairs Afzal Khan in Islamabad As tensions mounted in the Persian Gulf, Pakistan on Friday assured Iran that it would not provide any assistance to American forces in the event of a US attack on Tehran. President Asif Ali Zardari held out the assurance during a trilateral summit here with his Iranian and Afghan counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamid Karzai respectively, Geo News channel reported quoting its sources. Zardari said Pakistan would not provide its airbases to the US to launch an attack on Iran, according to the report. The President said Pakistan and Iran “needed each other and no foreign pressure could hinder their ties,” the channel reported. In a reference to the US pressure to abandon the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, Zardari reportedly sent a message to the US “not to tell Pakistan who it can and cannot trade with.” There was no official word on Zardari’s reported comments. However, a joint statement issued after the trilateral summit said the Presidents of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan had called for “non-interference and non-intervention” in their internal affairs. The leaders further pledged to step up cooperation for eradicating terrorism and militancy and said they would not allow “any threat emanating from their respective territories against each other.” They also agreed to “commence trilateral consultations on an agreement in this regard,” the statement said without giving details. Meanwhile, addressing a join press conference with Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Ahmadinejad said on Friday said all problems in the region were the result of foreign interference. “All problems are coming from outside. In order to promote their goals and ambitions… they don’t want to allow our nations to develop,” he said, without specifically naming any foreign power. The outspoken Iranian leader said: “We should stick together in order to advance and achieve our goals”. “All these powers are interfering in our affairs. We believe that the problems of the region must be solved regionally,” he said. The joint statement said the three Presidents had agreed to “proceed on the basis of mutual interest, mutual respect, non-interference and non-intervention in internal affairs.” The statement said the three countries “reiterated their full support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned inclusive process of peace and reconciliation” in Afghanistan. Zardari and Ahmadinejad assured Karzai that they would “extend full cooperation and stressed that any initiative in this regard must have authentic Afghan ownership,” the statement said. (With inputs from PTI)
	German Prez quits over corruption Berlin, February 17 Hit by a series of corruption scandals, Germany’s youngest President Christian Wulff resigned today, dealing a major blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel in a crisis being described as unprecedented in post-war Germany. Wulff, 52, announced his resignation today, admitting he had lost trust, after the state prosecutor announced plans to open a criminal investigation against him and asked the parliament to lift his immunity. The investigation deals with charges of corruption over a home loan he accepted during his tenure as prime minister of Lower Saxony state between 2003 and 2010. Merkel had worked hard to get Wulff, an ally, in her centre-right Christian Democrat party (CDU), appointed as President in 2010. Already battling hard to pull Europe out of its debt crisis, Merkel was hit by the resignation at a time when the last thing she needed was a domestic crisis. Wulff announced his resignation with his wife by his side, and said Germany needed a President who “enjoys the trust of not only a majority but a broad majority of citizens”. “I am today stepping down from the office of federal President to free up the way quickly for a successor. The developments of the past few days have shown that trust and thus my effectiveness have been seriously damaged,” he said. — PTI
	UN adopts Arab-backed resolution on Syria United Nations, February 17 India was among 137 members of the UN General Assembly that voted today to approve a resolution, which “strongly” condemns all violence and human rights violations in Syria and supports Arab League efforts to resolve the nearly year long crisis in the country. The resolution, adopted by a vote of 137 in favour to 12 against with 17 abstentions, also called on Syria “to immediately put an end to all human rights violations and attacks against civilians.” The vote, though non-binding in nature, is seen as a strong rebuke to President Bashar Al Assad’s continued and bloody crackdown on protesters during the pro-democracy uprising that began in March last year. In explaining India’s vote on the UNGA resolution, Permanent Representative Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri said, “We think that prolonged instability and unrest in Syria have serious implications for peace and stability in the wider region. We strongly condemn all violence, irrespective of whoever the perpetrators are. We also condemn all violations of human rights. “Our support for the resolution adopted by this Assembly today is in accordance with our support for the efforts by the Arab League for a peaceful resolution of the crisis through a Syrian-led inclusive political process,” Puri added. Among the nations to oppose the resolution in the 193-member General Assembly were China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. — PTI NYT scribe dies of asthma attack New York: New York Times correspondent Anthony Shadid, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who strove to capture untold stories in Middle East conflicts from Libya to Iraq, has died in eastern Syria after slipping into the country to report on the uprising against its President. Shadid, shot at in the West Bank in 2002 and kidnapped for six days in Libya last year, apparently died of an asthma attack yesterday, the Times said. Times photographer Tyler Hicks was with him and carried his body to Turkey, the newspaper said. — AP
	China defends crackdown on monks Beijing, February 17 China detained large numbers of Tibetans after they returned from India and forced them to undergo political “re-education”, a global rights group has said, prompting Beijing to justify it as a necessary move to quell separatist activities. Defending the crackdown in Tibet to halt the recurring self-immolations by Tibetan Buddhist monks, China said the suicide bids were aimed at reviving Tibetan independence movement. “Some overseas organisations in the name of holding religious activities tried to instigate separatism. We believe such activities are clearly driven by political motives”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Weimin told a media briefing here. These activities were aimed at sabotage social stability of Tibetan areas, pressure the Chinese government and incite separatism aimed at realising the scheme of Tibetan independence”, he said when asked about reports of arrests of monks returning from India after meeting Dalai Lama. “It is doomed to failure. I believe their purpose is clear that is so called Tibet independence”, he said. — PTI
	25 killed in Pak suicide attack Islamabad, February 17 A suicide bomb attack outside a mosque in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal belt today killed 25 persons and injured over 40 others, the police said. A suicide bomber, who was on a motorcycle, detonated his explosive vest outside the mosque in the crowded Kurmi Bazar at Parachinar, the main town of Kurram tribal region, which has been rocked by sectarian violence over the past few years. Authorities imposed a curfew. Officials told the media that the local hospital had received 25 bodies and over 40 injured persons. The officials described the condition of a few of the injured as critical. An emergency was declared at the hospital. The bomber blew himself up shortly before the weekly Friday prayers. Witnesses said several shops and vehicles were destroyed by the blast. Most of the casualties were civilians, they said. The injured were taken to hospital by local residents in private vehicles. Security forces cordoned off the site of the attack and launched a search operation. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. — PTI
	Maldivian Oppn supporters ask govt to fix poll date Male, February 17 Over 7,000 supporters of the opposition MDP party of ousted President Mohammed Nasheed today assembled here in a show of strength, demanding that the new regime announce a date for polls under an India-brokered deal. Though the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had initially planned a massive protest rally today against the new regime headed by President Mohammed Waheed Hassan, the party restricted it to a political gathering at the 'Tsunami Monument' after India asked both sides to maintain restraint. Hoara Ibbe, who was Under Secretary at the President's Office during Nasheed's tenure, addressed the gathering, saying that the protest would continue till Hassan announced a date for Presidential polls. — PTI