The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Netanyahu talks tough on Iran; Israelis smell war
Washington, March 6
US President Barack Obama with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. Talking tough, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US President Barack Obama that a nuclear Iran would be an "unacceptable" development and underlined his country's right to take pre-emptive action. Netanyahu's uncompromising speech to a pro-Israel lobby in Washington has persuaded the public back home that war with Iran is increasingly possible.
US President Barack Obama with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. — AP/PTI

26/11: Pak judicial panel to visit India on March 14
Islamabad, March 6
A Pakistani judicial panel would visit India on March 14 as part of the probe into the Mumbai attacks, an anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of LeT's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects notified today. Judge Shahid Rafique notified the date for the commission's much-delayed visit during proceedings held behind closed doors at a prison in Rawalpindi this afternoon. The judge further notified the appointment of Fazal Majid, a Deputy Director in the Interior Ministry, as the coordinator for the commission's visit. The appointment was made in response to an application from defence lawyers, sources said. "The court has notified that the commission will visit India on March 14 and appointed a coordinator," Khwaja Haris Ahmed, the counsel for Lakhvi, told PTI.

Gayoom returns to Maldives
Male, March 6
Almost a month after a new regime took over in Maldives amidst allegations of coup, former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom returned to the country, opposing early polls and claimed he had no role in the change of government.

Saudi diplomat shot dead in Dhaka
Dhaka, March 6
A Saudi diplomat was today shot dead by unidentified assailants in Bangladeshi capital’s posh Gulshan area in early hours.

Avalanche kills 37 in Afghanistan
Kabul: An avalanche has buried a village in northeastern Afghanistan, killing at least 37 persons and leaving dozens more still trapped under the snow. The avalanche slammed into the village in Shekay district of mountainous Badakhshan province late yesterday after days of heavy snowfall were followed by a rise in temperature, said a spokesman. — PTI

	Putin concedes violations in polls, calls for a probe Oppn vows to wage indefinite campaign against vote Moscow, March 6 Vladmir Putin, in the eye of storm over "poll violations", has conceded irregularities in the March 4 elections that secured him Russian presidency for a record third term, even as opposition today vowed to wage an indefinite campaign against the "skewed" vote. "There were, of course, violations. We need to identify them all, weed them out and make everything clear to everyone," Ria Novosti news agency quoted Russian premier Putin as saying. It said Putin has called for a probe. Meanwhile, Russian opposition vowed to wage an indefinite campaign against the vote, as the authorities launched a crackdown on thousands of protesters who are challenging the legitimacy of the polls resoundingly won by Putin. "Tens of thousands will be coming out on the streets of Moscow and other cities and refusing to leave," prominent protest leader Alexei Navalny told reporters after being released. "We will keep doing this until our demands are met." The Russian police has released about 250 opposition activists who were detained in Moscow after a rally against Putin's election victory. Navalny said the rallies would go on "until we win". The 59-year-old ex-KGB spy and now the Prime Minister of Russian federation triumphed in the presidential election held on Sunday with 63.6 per cent of the vote. After this win, Putin will be sworn in to serve for a record third term. Putin was Russian President for eight years from 2000-2008. He then swapped offices with his close aide Dmirty Medvedev, who is the incumbent President. Putin's closest challenger, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, got slightly more than 17 per cent, and the other three candidates, including Mikhail Prokhorov, the owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, were in the single digits. In St Petersburg about 300 opposition activists were arrested. It is not yet clear how many of them have been released. A crowd of up to 20,000 people rallied in Moscow's Pushkin Square last night and were addressed by Navalny and Udaltsov. The authorities had allowed the rally to go ahead. Navalny said "swindlers and thieves" ruled Russia and only they, the protesters, could stop them. "The use of force and detention of opposition politicians could have been avoided," defeated presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov said in a Twitter message yesterday. — PTI
	Netanyahu talks tough on Iran; Israelis smell war Washington, March 6 Talking tough, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US President Barack Obama that a nuclear Iran would be an "unacceptable" development and underlined his country's right to take pre-emptive action. Netanyahu's uncompromising speech to a pro-Israel lobby in Washington has persuaded the public back home that war with Iran is increasingly possible. Obama and Netanyahu met at the White House to discuss Iran's nuclear programme and other Middle East issues amid speculation that Israel may launch pre-emptive attacks on Iran's nuclear sites. Concurring with the Israeli leader's stand that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, Obama said, "all options are on the table to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon." Netanyahu's speech was his strongest suggestion yet that he wouldn't hesitate to launch a unilateral pre-emptive attack on Iran. Israel "must have the ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat", he said. "After all, that's the very purpose of the Jewish state-to restore to the Jewish people control over our destiny. And that's why my supreme responsibility as Prime Minister of Israel is to ensure that Israel remains the master of its fate," he said. Before the two leaders met, Obama told reporters that both he and Netanyahu would prefer a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue. But Obama also repeated the warning that military force remains an option to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. After their meeting lasted for several hours, the White House said the two leaders discussed among other things the threat from Iran. Obama reaffirmed the US policy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. "He reiterated the US' commitment to pursuing a strategy of principled diplomacy, backed by unprecedented pressure, including the additional sanctions that are taking hold on the Iranian regime," the White House said. "Even as we will continue on the diplomatic front, we will continue to tighten pressure when it comes to sanctions, I reserve all options, and my policy here is not going to be one of containment. My policy is prevention of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. When I say all options are at the table, I mean it," he said. — PTI
	26/11: Pak judicial panel to visit India on March 14 Islamabad, March 6 A Pakistani judicial panel would visit India on March 14 as part of the probe into the Mumbai attacks, an anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of LeT's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects notified today. Judge Shahid Rafique notified the date for the commission's much-delayed visit during proceedings held behind closed doors at a prison in Rawalpindi this afternoon. The judge further notified the appointment of Fazal Majid, a Deputy Director in the Interior Ministry, as the coordinator for the commission's visit. The appointment was made in response to an application from defence lawyers, sources said. "The court has notified that the commission will visit India on March 14 and appointed a coordinator," Khwaja Haris Ahmed, the counsel for Lakhvi, told PTI. The commission will travel by air from Lahore to Delhi before going to Mumbai. "They (the authorities) want us to complete some formalities in Delhi," said Ahmed. Prosecutors could not present the record of the inquiry by the chief investigation officer in India despite a direction from the court, sources said. Chief prosecutor Chaudhry Zulifqar Ali told the judge that Pakistani authorities had sought the report from their Indian counterparts but were yet to receive it. The court subsequently adjourned the case till March 10. The itinerary and other details for the judicial commission's visit would be worked out by the Interior Ministry, sources said. The commission will include two prosecutors from the Federal Investigation Agency, five defence lawyers and officials from the Interior and Foreign Ministries. The Indian government had earlier asked Pakistan to send the commission between February 1 and 10. However, the panel could not go ahead with the visit due to various reasons, including questions that were raised about its constitution. — PTI
	Gayoom returns to Maldives Male, March 6 Almost a month after a new regime took over in Maldives amidst allegations of coup, former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom returned to the country, opposing early polls and claimed he had no role in the change of government. After returning from his over two months trip to Malaysia, Gayoom said the previous government led by then President Mohammed Nasheed had breached many laws and that his Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the parties in the coalition had tried to protest within the contours of the law. "We did that (resist the unlawful orders), but no, we did not do anything to overthrow the government by illegal means. The rumours are false and baseless allegations" Gayoom told reporters at the airport here last night. — PTI
	Saudi diplomat shot dead in Dhaka Dhaka, March 6 A Saudi diplomat was today shot dead by unidentified assailants in Bangladeshi capital’s posh Gulshan area in early hours. Khalak al Ali, 45, who was head of Citizens’ Affairs unit of Saudi Embassy in Dhaka, was rushed to a private hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries, police officials said. “The police found him with wounds caused by a (single) bullet on his chest some 100 yards off his residence around 1.15 am and rushed him immediately to United Hospital where he died early this morning,” assistant police commissioner Nurul Alam told newsmen. Alam, who was in charge of police patrol unit at the Gulshan diplomatic zone, said their initial investigation only found that Ali came out of his residence on foot at around 11.30 pm last night. “We are yet in dark who killed him and what was their motive but investigations have been ordered immediately as senior police officials visited the scene,” he said. The embassy confirmed the death, but would not give further details. — PTI