The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	World powers seek to ease nuclear deadlock with Iran Renewed diplomacy likely to dampen speculation of war Istanbul, April 14 Iran and six world powers began rare talks today to try to halt a downward diplomatic spiral over Tehran’s nuclear programme and ease fears of a new Middle East war. The talks, in Istanbul, the first between Iran and the six powers in 15 months, are unlikely to yield any major breakthrough but Western diplomats hope to see readiness from Tehran to start to discuss issues of substance. That, they say, would mark a big change in Iran’s attitude from the last meeting when it refused even to talk about its nuclear programme and could be enough for scheduling a second round of talks next month, possibly in Baghdad. Such an outcome could, at least for the time being, dampen speculation that Israel might launch military strikes on Iranian atomic sites to prevent its enemy from obtaining nuclear arms. The morning round of talks were “completely different” from the previous meeting 15 months ago and Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili had not stated the kind of preconditions that he did in the last meeting in early 2011, a diplomat said. “He seems to have come with an objective to get into a process which is a serious process,” said the envoy, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I would say it has been a useful morning’s work.” Both sides say they are ready at the meeting to work towards resolving the deepening dispute over the nuclear programme which the West suspects is geared towards achieving a nuclear arms capability, but which Iran says has purely peaceful purposes. “What we are here to do is to find ways in which we can build confidence between us and ways in which we can demonstrate that Iran is moving away from a nuclear weapons programme,” said European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton who is also the main representative of the United States, France, Russia, China, Germany and Britain at the talks. “For their own reasons, each side wants to give diplomacy a chance at this point, to start a process rather than to force a quick fix,” said analyst Michael Adler at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Iran must show that it is willing to enter “serious engagement”, one senior diplomat said, suggesting Saturday’s discussions were unlikely to go into detailed issues. “My tip is to set your sights low,” the diplomat said. Iran says it will propose “new initiatives” in Istanbul, but it is unclear whether this means it is now prepared to discuss curbs to its uranium enrichment programme. “They met in a constructive atmosphere,” said Ashton’s spokesman Michael Mann after the morning session of talks. “We had a positive feeling that they did want to engage.”
	Drone strikes will go on in Pak, says US Washington, April 14 The White House has no intention to end CIA drone strikes against militant targets on Pakistani soil, US officials say, possibly setting the two countries up for diplomatic tensions after Pakistan’s Parliament unanimously approved new guidelines for the country’s troubled relationship with the United States. US officials say they will work in coming weeks and months to find common ground with Pakistan, but if a suspected terrorist target comes into the laser sights of a CIA drone’s hellfire missiles, they will take the shot. It is not the first time that the US has ignored Pakistan’s Parliament, which demanded an end to drone strikes in 2008. What is different now is that the Pakistani government is in a more fragile political state and can continue no longer its earlier practice of quietly allowing the US action while publicly denouncing it, Pakistani officials say. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the high stakes diplomatic jockeying. Parliament approved on Thursday recommendations intended to guide Pakistan’s government in its negotiations to reset the US relationship. The guidelines allow for the blockade on US and NATO supplies to be lifted. The lawmakers demanded a halt to CIA-led missile attacks but did not make that a prerequisite to reopening the supply lines. — PTI
	Pak national gets 12-year jail for supporting LeT Washington, April 14 A 24-year-old Pakistani national has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by a US court for providing material support to Lashkar-e-Toiba by making a propaganda video for the terror group, helping it with recruitment and fundraising. Jubair Ahmad, who pleaded guilty in December, was yesterday sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment followed by seven years of supervised release by the US District Court in Virginia. “Jubair Ahmad was deeply committed to LeT’s violent aims, which he promoted through online propaganda, recruiting others and fundraising for the terrorist organisation responsible for the attack in Mumba,” the US Attorney said after the verdict. At sentencing, the government also presented evidence that Ahmad, while in the US, also conspired to recruit others to attend LeT training camps, conspired to raise funds for it and expressed his intention to return to Pakistan to complete the LeT commando training course and be launched on a martyrdom mission. — PTI
	UN votes to deploy observers in Syria United Nations, April 14 Russia and China joined the rest of the UN Security Council on Saturday to authorise deployment of up to 30 unarmed observers to monitor Syria's fragile ceasefire as activists reported more deaths in the country and renewed shelling of Homs. The resolution by the 15-nation Security Council is the first it has approved since the anti-government uprising in Syria began 13 months ago. Moscow and Beijing twice vetoed council resolutions condemning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's assault on protesters opposed to his rule that has killed thousands of civilians. The resolution called upon President Bashar Al Assad's Syrian government as well as the opposition to ensure that the advance team is able to carry out its functions. Voting in favour of the resolution, India said it has consistently supported all efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis through an inclusive Syrian-led political process that meets the legitimate aspirations of all sections of Syrian society. India's Permanent Representative to the US Hardeep Singh Puri told the UN Security Council, which met here to vote on the resolution, that Minister of External Affairs S M Krishna spoke to UN-Arab League joint envoy Kofi Annan earlier in the morning and "underscored India's support for his mission." "We have voted in favour of the resolution today so that an advance team of the UN supervision mission may be deployed expeditiously to monitor the cessation of violence," Puri said. — PTI
	N Koreans vow loyalty to regime after launch flop Pyongyang, April 14 Tens of thousands of people gathered in a football stadium today to shout support for North Korea's ruling dynasty, a day after a failed rocket launch seen as a major embarrassment for the regime. In spring sunshine, bemedalled soldiers, women in colourful hanbok gowns and men in dark suits and ties packed Kim Il-Sung Stadium to hear fulsome praise for the family that has headed the nation since its founding in 1948. "Let's safeguard Kim Jong-Un with our lives!" they shouted, referring to the young man proclaimed as "great successor" after his father Kim Jong-Il died last December. The event was the latest in a series marking the centenary of the birth on April 15 of founding leader Kim Il-Sung, father of Jong-Il. Celebrations will culminate tomorrow with a massive rally and probably a military parade in the huge city centre square named after the first leader. The festivities are designed to build loyalty to the dynasty and especially to the untested leader, aged in his late 20s. He sat under a giant portrait of his grandfather as the ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-Nam extolled the family's achievements in a lengthy and passionate speech. "Failure is the mother of success," said Jong Dae-Chol, a commerce ministry deputy director. Kim Tae-Sung, an officer in the 1.2 million-strong military, used the same phrase. As for the new leader, "he is a really caring person", said Kim Yong-Suk. — AFP Warships search for rocket debris Seoul: South Korean warships on Saturday scoured the Yellow Sea in search of debris from a failed North Korean rocket launch that has heightened tensions in the region and brought international condemnation on the country's new leader amid a week of lavish celebrations to mark the centenary of the nation's founder. South Korea's navy has deployed about 10 ships, including a corvette with sonar radar, to search for rocket debris, a Defence Ministry official said today. He refused to provide further details and asked not to be named because the sensitive mission was still under way. US Navy minesweepers and other ships were also believed to be in the area and were expected to join the search. — AP
	Bashir is Pak envoy to India Islamabad, April 14 Pakistan’s former Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, who has been part of the post-26/11 Indo-Pak dialogue process, is the country’s new High Commissioner to India. Sixty-year-old Bashir has been appointed as the new envoy to India in place of Shahid Malik, Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Ahmed Khan announced today. Bashir had served as Foreign Secretary from 2008 to March this year, when Jalil Abbas Jillani took over from him. The former Pakistan Foreign Secretary has been part of the Indo-Pak dialogue process following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. He also served as the Ambassador to Denmark, Lithuania, China and Mongolia and did a stint at Pakistan’s Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. Bashir had travelled to New Delhi when President Asif Ali Zardari made a day-long private visit to India on April 8. — PTI
	US rules out any pattern in Shah Rukh’s detention Washington, April 14 The US has ruled out any pattern or racial profiling in detention of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan twice in the US in the past three years. "I wouldn't necessarily look at this as some sort of pattern, but rather two separate incidents," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, as the treatment meted out to the star sparked widespread condemnation in India. Khan was detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani, to address students at Yale University here. — PTI
	59 Taliban killed in offensive by Afghan forces Kabul, April 14 Afghan forces backed by air support from NATO aircraft have launched a broad sweep of the country’s northeast borders killing 59 Taliban insurgents in a major offensive in a province that serves as a militant supply route from Pakistan. The Afghan forces are for the past three days combing mountainous region in Kamdesh district in Nuristan province, which touches Pakistan, in a spring onslaught on Taliban bases. “Fourteen armed insurgents were killed, 34 wounded and 18 others arrested by Afghan forces during the last 24 hours,” the interior ministry said in a statement. Kamdesh is a strategic base for the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan and serves as a spring board for militants crossing from Pakistan’s turbulent Wazirstan province, a spokesman said. — PTI