The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Khar may be axed for contradicting Zardari Islamabad, April 10 Days after Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar contradicted President Asif Ali Zardari during a meeting with a visiting US diplomat, speculation is rife that her portfolio may be changed. The speculation of the change was sparked by remarks of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani four days after the meeting. Gilani took the top brass in the Foreign Ministry by surprise by saying during an interaction with reporters at his home in Lahore that a “fresh team” would carry forward talks with India to resolve outstanding issues like the Kashmir. Reporters who attended the interaction did not make much of the remarks and Gilani did not explain what he meant by the term “fresh team”. The US delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides was taken by surprise when Khar publicly contradicted the President during a meeting held at the Governor’s House in Lahore on April 4, diplomatic sources said. Nides raised the crucial issue of Pakistan’s participation in a conference on Afghanistan to be held at Chicago in May, and Zardari said his government was amenable to discussing the matter if Washington extended a formal invitation, the sources said. At this point, Khar intervened and said the issue could not be taken up till a joint session of Parliament completed an ongoing review of Pakistan-US relations, the sources said. Any discussion on the Chicago conference could be held only after the review, she was quoted as saying. The sources said the US delegation was surprised by the “argumentative” tone adopted by Khar in the presence of the President, who is perceived as the PPP’s main decision-maker on crucial foreign policy issues. However, the remarks immediately triggered speculation in the Foreign Office that Khar’s portfolio could be changed during an upcoming cabinet reshuffle. Gilani and other PPP leaders have said a cabinet reshuffle will be carried out soon with an eye on the general election scheduled for early next year. — PTI Divergent opinion US Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides raised the issue of Pakistan’s participation in a conference on Afghanistan to be held in Chicago Zardari said his government was amenable to discussing the matter if Washington extended a formal invitation Khar at this point said the issue could not be taken up till a joint session of Parliament completed an ongoing review of Pak-US relations, taking the US delegation by surprise
	Pak SC notice to Gilani’s son over chemical import Afzal Khan in Islamabad The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday issued a notice to Ali Musa Gilani, son of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, and a top bureaucrat directing him to present himself to investigators in a case relating to alleged irregularities in the import of a large amount of chemical Ephedrine, commonly known as “poor man’s cocaine” and used to make a medicine for colds, flu and asthma. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry ordered Ali Musa Gilani and Principal Secretary Khusnood Lashari to record their statements with the Anti-Narcotics Force before the next hearing on April 20. Ali Musa Gilani was recently elected a member of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament in a byelection in Multan. Earlier, the premier’s elder son, Abdul Qadir Gilani, was linked to alleged corruption in the arrangement of the Haj pilgrimage in 2010. The court also reversed orders by the Prime Minister and the Establishment Division reshuffling the top order of the ANF who were overseeing the probe. Musa allegedly influenced the health ministry to issue licences to two firms of Multan for import of nine tonnes of ephedrine against permissible limit of only 500 kg.
	North Korea says all in place for rocket launch South Korea, Russia issue warnings; China appeals for calm Pyongyang, April 10 Isolated and impoverished North Korea said today it was ready to go ahead with its proposed long-range rocket launch, an announcement that sparked immediate condemnation from South Korea and Russia and a plea from China, its main ally, for calm. The launch of the Unha-3 rocket, which North Korea says will merely put a weather satellite into space, breaches UN sanctions imposed to prevent Pyongyang from developing a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead. Russia, a former backer of North Korea which has boosted economic ties with Pyongyang, denounced the programme. “We consider Pyongyang’s decision to conduct a launch of a satellite an example of disregard for UN Security Council decisions,” state-run news agency RIA quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich as saying. North Korea defended the launch as a sovereign right. “The weight of our satellite is 100 kg. If it was a weapon, a 100 kg payload wouldn’t have much of an effect... Our launching tower is built on an open site,” said Ryu Kum-chol, vice director of the space development department of the Korean Central Space Committee. Ryu said that the rocket assembly would be complete on Tuesday. The launch is set to take place between Thursday and next Monday around the 100th birthday celebrations of the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung. — Reuters
	Asian airlines re-route flights Tokyo: Asian airlines said they would divert planes from the intended flight path of North Korea’s rocket as shipping in the area was warned on Tuesday to beware of falling debris. Japan’s two largest carriers, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said they will alter the route of flights between Tokyo and Southeast Asian cities including Manila, Jakarta and Singapore during the planned rocket launch window. AFP
	Syria calls for deployment of foreign monitors Moscow, April 10 Syria’s Foreign Minister said today that the government had already withdrawn some forces from several Syrian cities and that the UN-brokered ceasefire must start simultaneously with the deployment of the international observer mission. “We have already withdrawn forces and army units from several Syrian provinces,” Walid Muallem said, following talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart. But activists say that Syrian forces have attacked two towns as a deadline passed for President Bashar Assad’s troops to start withdrawing from populated areas in the kickoff to an internationally brokered truce deal. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it saw no signs of large-scale troop pullback today and that most areas of Syria appeared calm. This is a sharp contrast to heavy attacks by Syrian forces on restive towns in recent days. Activists reported shelling in the northern village of Marea and mortar fire in the city of Homs. A collapse of the truce deal by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan could move Syria closer to an all-out civil war. A 13-month uprising has turned increasingly violent in response to a brutal regime crackdown. Russia today called on the opposition as well as countries that “influence them” to use their powers to bring about the cease-fire. “We would like to call on all opposition leaders and all countries that have influence on the political and military opposition to use their influence to bring about an immediate cease-fire as is provided by Kofi Annan’s plan,” said Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Lavrov also said after the meeting with Muallem that Syria’s government “could have been more active and decisive” in implementing the peace plan. — AP
	15 killed in Afghanistan Kabul, April 10 Taliban suicide bombers struck separately in western and southern Afghanistan targeting police and government offices, leaving 15 persons dead. Two suicide bombers rammed their explosive laden vehicle into a government building compound near Herat killing at least 11 persons. Hours later, a suicide bomber triggered his explosive vest in Helmand killing four Afghan policemen. — PTI
	Row over Dilip Kumar’s home Islamabad, April 10 A move by Pakistani authorities to acquire iconic Indian actor Dilip Kumar’s ancestral home in Peshawar for a sizable sum has triggered a row involving several persons who have laid claim to the property. The government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province recently announced plans to acquire the house. — PTI
	Special to the tribune Sirhind-born scholar to help host conference on South Asia Shyam Bhatia In London A Sirhind-born Sikh scholar is helping to host a major academic conference on South Asia that opens in London later this week. Prof Gurharpal Singh, recently appointed as the new Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, known as the SOAS, is a respected political scientist who has worked on religion and politics with special reference to religious nationalism and ethnic conflict in South Asia, religion and development in Asia and Africa and the problems of managing religious and ethnic diversity in developed societies. Some of his best known publications include ‘Communism in Punjab’, ‘Understanding the Punjab problem’ and ‘Ethnic conflict in India’. He is helping to organise the three-day conference under the umbrella of the British Association for South Asian Studies and will begin on Thursday at the Brunei Gallery of the SOAS. Participants include Prof Pritam Singh of Oxford Brookes University, a leading light of the Punjab Research Group, UK, and co-author of ‘Punjabi identity in a global context’. His conference paper this coming Friday is entitled, ‘Federalism and the Indian mode of accommodation: Probing the role of the state and nation.’ Ayesha Siddiqi of Kings College, London, will be speaking on ‘Climate change as a trigger for political change: The case of southern Pakistan’; Solene Soosaithan from Paris will speak on ‘Balance of power between India and China in South Asia’ and Simona Vittorini of SOAS will present a paper titled ‘Speaking softly: India’s soft power strategy in Africa.’