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UN chief calls Syrian crisis ‘extremely dangerous’
Russian court rejects plea seeking ban on Gita
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Now, Russians protest against Norway’s child services
Moscow, March 21 Scores of people have demonstrated against Norway demanding the release of 15 Russians children, who like the two Indian kids were taken into protective custody by the Scandinavian nation's child services.
‘Gilani won’t get fair trial’
Pak lawmaker seeks free flow of alcohol
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UN chief calls Syrian crisis ‘extremely dangerous’
Amman, March 21 Syria lies in a pivotal position at the heart of a web of regional conflicts in the Middle East, comprising a mix of faiths, sects and ethnic groups, and diplomats fear the 12-month uprising is degenerating into a full-blown civil war. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have made gains against rebels around the country in recent weeks, but the violence shows no sign of abating, with reports on Wednesday of several army offensives. Opposition activists said the army turned tank, artillery and anti-aircraft guns on the Damascus suburbs of Harasta and Irbin on Wednesday, which were retaken from rebels two months ago but have seen renewed insurgency in recent days. The suburbs are a linked series of towns inhabited mostly by members of Syria's Sunni Muslim majority, grown increasingly resentful at the domination of the Assads, who belong to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Elsewhere the army fired 11 mortar rounds into the Khalidiya district of Homs, the day after 14 people died in the same area from mortar attacks, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Artillery shells targeted the rebel town of Rastan, north of Homs city, in the centre of Syria, and Qalat Mudiq, northwest of Hama city, where an armoured personnel carrier came under fire. One soldier was killed in the attack, activists said. Video footage showed shelling of the ancient Apamea castle at Qalat Mudiq. Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified because the authorities have barred access to rights groups and journalists. Despite advances on the ground, Assad appeared to suffer a setback on the diplomatic front, with key ally Moscow adopting a new, sharper tone after months of standing by his government. "We believe the Syrian leadership reacted wrongly to the first appearance of peaceful protests and... is making very many mistakes," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian radio station Kommersant-FM on Tuesday. "This, unfortunately, has in many ways led the conflict to reach such a severe stage." Lavrov also spoke of a "future transition" period for Syria, but continued to reject calls from most Western and Arab states for Assad to resign, saying this was "unrealistic". It was not immediately clear if the change in tone would translate into a tangible difference in the way international powers, hitherto divided on Syria, might deal with the crisis. Russia has previously vetoed two Western and Arab-backed UN resolutions condemning government violence, arguing that the actions of rebels should also be criticised.
— Reuters UNSC agrees to statement on Syria
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council, including Russia and China, has agreed to a statement on Syria that backs UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's bid to end violence that has brought the country to the brink of civil war, council diplomats said on Wednesday. The statement also threatens Syria with "further steps" if it fails to comply with Annan's six-point peace proposal, which calls for a cease-fire, political dialogue between the government and opposition, and full access for aid agencies. The Western push for the statement from the council backing Annan's mission comes after Russia and China twice vetoed resolutions condemning Syria's yearlong assault on demonstrators.
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Russian court rejects plea seeking ban on Gita
Moscow, March 21 “The court in the Siberian city of Tomsk has dismissed the plea,” Sadhu Priya Das of Moscow ISKCON told PTI soon after the verdict was announced. The verdict comes just days before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to India next week for the BRICS Summit. State prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had filed an appeal against a lower court’s dismissal of their original plea seeking a ban on “Bhagavad Gita As It Is”, written by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). They had claimed that the text was “extremist” literature full of hatred and insult to non-believers which promoted social discord. The higher court in Tomsk “kept the verdict of the lower court intact”, a joyful Das said. As the judge dismissed the plea, the followers in the packed courtroom burst into applause, he said. “We are grateful to the Russian judicial system,” Das said. In a statement, the Tomsk district court said after today’s verdict that it had decided “to leave unchanged” a lower court’s December 28 ruling that the book did not contain extremist material. However, the prosecutors could still challenge the order in another higher court. “An appeal to a higher court can now be made only by the region’s prosecutor general,” Russian news agencies quoted a prosecutor’s office as saying. Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador to Russia, Ajai Malhotra, welcomed the court decision. “I welcome today’s verdict of the Honourable District Court in Tomsk, which has dismissed the appeal petition in the Bhagavad Gita case,” Malhotra said in a statement. “It is good that the decision of the lower trial court in this matter has been reaffirmed. I trust that this issue is now conclusively behind us,” Malhotra added. — PTI
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Now, Russians protest against Norway’s child services
Moscow, March 21 The protests, organised by 'Young Guards' and the movement 'Russian mothers' against Norwegian Child Welfare Service, were held outside Norway's diplomatic missions in Moscow, St Petersburg, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk on Monday. The aim of the protests is to demand the release of 15 Russian children who have been separated from their Russian parents and placed in Norwegian foster families, 'The Nordic Page' reported. Maya Kasaeva, one of the protesters, says that she has been deported to Russia after her son was taken 8 years ago. The protesters claimed Norway categorically refuses to sit down at the table and discuss it despite Russia's efforts to start negotiations on the issue, the report said. — PTI Kids’ row: Indian officials’ visit on hold
New Delhi: India has put on hold the visit of its diplomats to Norway in connection with the custody row of two children in the wake of reports that their NRI parents had a strained relationship. The father of the children, however, denied allegations of assault against his wife and rebutted speculation
of a divorce. — TNS
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Romney wins big in Illinois
Washington, March 21 After his narrow margin win in battleground states like Michigan and Ohio and losses in southern states, Romney recorded a sweeping victory in Illinois bagging 47 per cent of the delegate votes compare to 35 per cent for Santorum, 9 per cent for Texas Rep. Ron Paul and 8 per cent for a fading former speaker Newt Gingrich. Using the full force of campaign argument that he has the best chance of beating Obama, Romney trained his guns on the president in his victory speech saying the November 4 election would be a choice for American people between "economic freedom" and "job killing regulations". "It's time to say these words, this word: enough. We've had enough. We know our future. We know our future's brighter than these troubled times. We still believe in America. We deserve a President who believes in us," Romney said. Illinois is the third state in the industrial midwest that Romney has carried in the last month and would provide him momentum in relatively moderate states of Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington DC which go to polls on April 3.
— PTI
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‘Gilani won’t get fair trial’
Appearing before a seven-judge bench led by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk that is hearing the contempt case against the premier, Ahsan said he feared his client would not get a fair trial as the same judges who had issued a show cause notice to the premier were now hearing the case. Ahsan particularly took exception to the presence of Justice Tariq Khosa on the bench saying he had passed harsh observations declaring Gilani as dishonest who had violated his oath of office. He said Gilani never declined to obey courts orders on writing letter to Swiss authorities for reopening money-laundering case against President Asif Zardari but has maintained that he cannot comply with them during Zardari’s presidential tenure when since he enjoys immunity at home and abroad. Presenting his arguments, Aitzaz said the president enjoys immunity in 198 countries according to Article 248 of the Constitution where similar laws prevail. He maintained that the court initiated proceedings against the PM ‘all of a sudden’, as earlier the law secretary was ordered to write the letter, not the PM. He also said that the Attorney General should have been a witness to the case but he has been named by the court as prosecutor against the Prime Minister who had appointed him to the office. Manmohan, Raja’s names echo in Pak SC
Citing an example of Indian minister A Raja who is currently serving jail after being found involved in corruption worth billions of rupees, Ahsan said Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh claimed that it was not necessary for him to know what his closest aide had known.
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Pak lawmaker seeks free flow of alcohol
A lawmaker of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has suggested in that Sindh Assembly that alcohol be as easily available as Pepsi or Coke.
“This would dispel the impression that it is only for minority faith members to consume alcohol,” Saleem Khursheed Khokhar said in the Assembly. Khokhar is also the chairman of the Standing Committee on Minority Affairs.
While another member of the Assembly, Anwar Khan Mahar, had clarified that alcohol was not allowed in minority faiths either, xcise and Taxation Minister Mukesh Chawla told the assembly that according to the 1979 Act regarding the sale of alcohol, only non-Muslims were allowed to sell or consume alcohol.
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Claiming that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is facing mistrial of justice in the contempt of court case, his counsel Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan on Wednesday objected to the composition of the trial bench of the Supreme Court while contending that judges who had indicted the premier should not sit in the bench.