W O R L D

IAEA nearing deal with Iran ahead of key 6-nation talks
Vienna, May 22
The UN nuclear watchdog chief said on Tuesday he expected to sign a deal with Iran soon to ease investigation into suspected work on atom bombs, potentially brightening prospects for big-power talks with Tehran to stop a drift towards conflict.
IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano speaks to the media near Vienna on Tuesday. — AFP

Putin shows who’s the boss, shifts ex-ministers to Kremlin
Moscow, May 22
Russian President Vladimir Putin named several trusted former cabinet ministers to Kremlin posts on Tuesday, asserting his authority in a move likely to weaken Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's new government and undermine its mandate for change.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

2 NRIs jailed for UK visa scam
London, May 22
Two men of Indian origin, who accumulated over £800,000 pounds from an immigration scam that involved setting up three bogus companies as fronts to help people stay in the UK illegally, have been jailed for a total of 11 years.

IAEA nearing deal with Iran ahead of key 6-nation talks

Vienna, May 22
The UN nuclear watchdog chief said on Tuesday he expected to sign a deal with Iran soon to ease investigation into suspected work on atom bombs, potentially brightening prospects for big-power talks with Tehran to stop a drift towards conflict.

Speaking on the eve of the Baghdad meeting where six powers will test Iranian willingness to put transparent limits on its nuclear programme, Yukiya Amano said his wish for access to an Iranian military site, where nuclear weapons-relevant tests may have occurred, would be addressed as part of the accord.

But the powers will be wary of past failures to carry out extra inspection deals between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran, and Western patience is wearing thin. European sanctions to block Iran's oil exports are to take force in July and Israel has mooted military action. Iran, which denies any ambition to develop nuclear arms, has threatened reprisals and oil prices have risen on fears of a new Middle East war hitting a shaky world economy.

Amano himself acknowledged that "some differences" remained before the deal he hashed out during a rare visit to Tehran on Monday could be sealed, although chief Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili had told him these would not prevent agreement.

"(A) decision was made to conclude and sign the agreement. I can say it will be signed quite soon," Amano told reporters at Vienna airport after returning from Tehran.

The veteran Japanese diplomat described the outcome of his meetings in Iran as an "important development".

“We understand each other's position better."

Asked what differences persisted, Amano said only that they were "details of discussions on this document".

Underscoring Western scepticism arising from the checkered history of IAEA accords with Iran, the acting US ambassador to the Vienna-based agency called on Iran to cooperate immediately and substantively with UN inspectors. —Reuters 

Nuclear safe?

n UN watchdog chief says differences remain but not big obstacles

n IAEA headway with Iran may boost big power talks with Iran

n West sceptical of Iran's sincerity

Putin shows who’s the boss, shifts ex-ministers to Kremlin

Moscow, May 22
Russian President Vladimir Putin named several trusted former cabinet ministers to Kremlin posts on Tuesday, asserting his authority in a move likely to weaken Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's new government and undermine its mandate for change.

Bluntly showing who is in charge, Putin issued a decree bringing prominent allies into his administration less than 24 hours after announcing their replacements in a new cabinet that Medvedev has championed as an overhauled engine for reform.

One of Putin's closest associates, Igor Sechin, landed a job as head of Russia's largest oil company, Rosneft.

The appointments signal that Putin, back in the Kremlin for a six-year term after swapping jobs with his protege and placeholder two weeks ago, will use the levers of Russia's presidency to control economic and security policy.

They further tip the balance of power in Russia's ruling "tandem" away from Medvedev, the younger, more liberal ally Putin steered into the Kremlin in 2008 when he faced a bar on a third term after eight years as president.

"The President's administration will become the centre of decision-making," said Yevgeny Minchenko, director of the International Institute of Political Analysis, a Moscow think tank.

Putin brought seven members of his former cabinet into the Kremlin, including former Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina, ex-Health Minister Tatyana Golikova, former Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev and ex-Transport Minister Igor Levitin.

His decree confirmed loyal lieutenant Sergei Ivanov as his chief of staff and kept Nikolai Patrushev, another longtime associate, in place as secretary of the presidential Security Council.

Hours later Medvedev named Sechin, Putin's energy 'tsar' in the previous government and one of his closest confidants, as CEO of state-controlled oil company Rosneft, giving the president another avenue of influence.

Putin (59) named his last interior minister, Rashid Nurgaliyev, whose term was marred by police violence, corruption and abuse scandals, as a deputy to Patrushev at the Security Council, an influential advisory body. — Reuters 

2 NRIs jailed for UK visa scam

London, May 22
Two men of Indian origin, who accumulated over £800,000 pounds from an immigration scam that involved setting up three bogus companies as fronts to help people stay in the UK illegally, have been jailed for a total of 11 years.

Solicitor Srinath Aredla (39) and Santosh Koletti (33), who lived in Hounslow, West London, set up three bogus companies that issued payslips and wage payments to their clients, making it appear that they had well paid jobs.

This documentation was then used to support applications to stay in the UK as highly skilled migrants.

The applications were submitted by Aredla who worked as a solicitor, a Home office release said.

Aredla was sentenced at the Isleworth Crown Court to six and a half years while Koletti was jailed for four and a half years.

The two were arrested in August 2011.

The scam was detected when the UK Border Agency noticed a large number of applications from employees of the same group of companies that were being dealt with by the same solicitor.

Officers recovered documentation and passports linking the men to visa applications that were in progress.

Inquiries revealed that a large amount of money had gone through their bank accounts.

As many as 21 persons who are known to have been clients of Aredla and Koletti have already been removed from the UK, the release said.

Last week, an Indian citizen who arrived as a student in 2000 and went on to perpetuate a series of immigration scams to earn hundreds of thousands of pounds by helping many Indian citizens and others to stay in Britain illegally, was jailed for 10 years.

Vijay Sorthia (35) is to be deported to India at the end of his 10-year sentence, while his wife, Bhawna Sorthia (31) who helped him carry out the scams, was jailed for 15 months, and also faces deportation to India.—PTI 

Karachi airbase attack
3 Pak naval officers punished 

Islamabad, May 22
Three senior officers of the Pakistan Navy have been penalised after a court martial found them guilty of negligence and dereliction of duty during a deadly Taliban attack on a key naval airbase in Karachi last year which also destroyed two US-made surveillance aircraft.

The navy's media arm confirmed that the three officers were tried "under the naval law and were accordingly penalised". It did not identify the officers or give details about the punishment.

Reports in the media identified the officers as Commodore Raja Tahir, who was the commander of the Mehran naval airbase when it was attacked on May 22 last year, Lt Commander Ibrar-ul-Hasan, the airbase's security officer, and Capt Mohammad Israr.

Tahir's seniority was reduced by a year, while the seniority of the two other officers was reduced by six months, the media reports said.

A board of inquiry headed by Rear Admiral Tehsinullah Khan had probed the terrorist attack on the Mehran airbase that killed 10 security personnel and destroyed two P3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft. Four attackers were gunned down or blew themselves up after a 16-hour standoff within the base. — PTI