The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	2 Pak Oppn parties challenge Speaker’s ruling in Gilani case Afzal Khan in Islamabad The main Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Monday filed petitions in the Supreme Court against National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza’s ruling dismissing plea for disqualification of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani following conviction of contempt of court. In separate petitions, both the parties contended that the Speaker’s ruling was tantamount to subverting the principles of democracy, equality and the independence of the judiciary. The PML-N petition questioned whether the Speaker’s ruling under Article 63 (2) of the Constitution could defeat the judgment of a seven-member Bench of the Supreme Court which had attained finality after Gilani’s decision not to file any appeal. It further asked whether this ruling “can flagrantly disregard the rights of all citizens”. Imran Kan’s party filed the petition in the Supreme Court through senior lawyer of the court Hamid Khan seeking replies from four respondents: Mirza, Gilani, the federation of Pakistan and the Election Commission of Pakistan. The petition contended that the Speaker’s ruling was in violation of fundamental rights of access to justice and independence of judiciary. On Saturday, Gilani’s counsel Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said his client has taken a political decision not to appeal against his conviction by the Supreme Court for bringing the court under contempt and ridicule. The Speaker based her ruling on the contention that the indictment did not contain the allegation of ridiculing the court to warrant disqualification. Analyst says that three things were at stake in Gilani’s trial: conviction, sentencing and disqualification. His sentence has already been served and his conviction has no chance of being overturned on appeal, leaving just the matter of disqualification to be decided. The Prime Minister and his advisers decided that the Speaker’s ruling was final and could not be questioned in any court.
	Parties demand Nepal PM’s resignation, Prachanda says no Kathmandu, May 28 In the midst of a raging political crisis in Nepal, major parties today demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai for "unilaterally" dissolving the Parliament even as Maoist supremo Prachanda rejected such calls. Prachanda said the present Bhattarai-led government will not step down despite the failure to draft the Constitution by the May 27 deadline. "Resignation of PM Bhattarai cannot be the alternative," he said while addressing reporters at his party office here, soon after concluding the party's politburo meeting today. Prachanda, however, stressed on the need to form a national consensus government. He blamed the reluctance on the part of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to accept federalism based on ethnicity for the failure to promulgate the new constitution at the last hour. "They did not try to understand the sentiment of people who favour federalism," said the Maoist supremo. He also held the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML responsible for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly as they did not lend support in the last-ditch effort to save it by declaring a state of emergency. Prachanda said there was no alternative to going for fresh polls in that situation. — PTI
	Death sentence for men, women who danced at Pak wedding Islamabad, May 28 A tribal 'jirga' or council in a remote area of northern Pakistan has condemned four women and two men to death for "staining the honour" of their families by singing and dancing at a wedding, according to a media report today. The men and women from Hazara division in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province were allegedly caught on videotape singing and dancing at a wedding in violation of the tribal custom of gender segregation, The Express Tribune reported. The women, who are all married, were called from the homes of their in-laws and locked up in a room in Seertaiy village of Kohistan district. The men managed to flee before the jirga could act against them. The jirga has tasked 40 young men to kill the men and women. "A tribal jirga has declared them Ghul (fornicators). And they might be killed any time," said Muhammad Afzal, the elder brother of two men condemned to death. Afzal said the women allegedly sang 'mahiyas' or folk songs at the wedding two months ago and danced in the presence of 'na-mehram' or those who one can marry in Islam. — PTI
	ISI chief’s US visit put off Islamabad, May 28 New ISI chief Lt Gen Zahir-ul-Islam's planned visit to Washington this week has been put off due to unspecified reasons against the backdrop of strains in the US-Pakistan relations. Islam, who became the ISI head in March, was expected to travel to the US at the invitation of CIA chief David Petraeus. No new schedule has been announced for the visit, 'The News' daily reported today quoting its sources. The report said "contacts between the defence establishments of the two countries are still at the lowest ebb". However, the two countries have initiated negotiations on intricate issues and the US has designated Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides as its pointman for the talks while Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh will represent Pakistan, the report said. Shaikh and Nides have discussed the steps to be followed for the negotiations, which will also focus on the issue of reopening supply routes for NATO forces in Afghanistan, the report said. Pakistan had closed the supply lines after a cross-border NATO attack last year killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Following US Ambassador Cameron Munter's decision to step down this month, Nides will play a key role in the negotiations with Pakistan. Shaikh is "comfortable about the fresh contacts between the two capitals and hopeful of moving forward soon," the report said. — PTI
	Bangladesh indicts two war crime suspects Dhaka, May 28 Bangladesh today indicted chief of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami Matiur Rahman Nizami and his close aide Abdul Quader Mollah for "crimes against humanity" during the country's Liberation War in 1971. "This tribunal hereby charges you (Nizami) on 16 counts of crimes against humanity," pronounced chairman of the three-member panel of International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 Justice Nizamul Haque as the incumbent Jamaat chief was produced at the crowded courtroom. Mollah, the assistant secretary general of Jamaat, was indicted by the second three-judge panel of ICT-2 where its chairman Justice ATM Fazle Kabir said charges against him was framed on six counts. The two Jamaat leaders' indictment came two years after their arrest and with this war crime charges were framed by the special tribunals against five high-profile suspects. The others who were indicted earlier are former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam and party leaders Delwar Hossain Sayeedi and main opposition BNP's lawmaker Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury. — PTI
	2 Tibetans immolate themselves in Lhasa Beijing, May 28 A wave of self-immolations in protest against the Chinese government, which rocked regions close to Tibet for several months, has now spread to Lhasa, where two Tibetans for the first time set themselves on fire outside a famous temple leaving one of them dead. Dargye from Aba county in the Tibetan area and Tobgye Tseten from Xiahe county attempted self-immolations at Pargor Street, a popular market place in the heart of the Tibetan capital Lhasa yesterday, Tibet's regional committee of the ruling Communist Party of China said today. — PTI
	Iran ‘link’ to plots to kill diplomats Washington, May 28 Intelligence agencies of four countries have uncovered new evidence of an alleged campaign run by Iran-linked operatives to kill foreign diplomats in at least seven countries, including India, in the past 13 months. A report in The Washington Post referring to the investigations carried out by intelligence agencies of several countries said today that "US and Middle Eastern officials now see the attempts as part of a broader campaign by Iran-linked operatives to kill foreign diplomats in at least seven countries over a span of 13 months". These countries, according to the daily, include the United States, Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Thailand, Pakistan and the former Soviet republic of Georgia. In India this year, there was an attempt to kill an Israeli diplomat. Israeli and Indian officials have described substantial Iranian links to a car bombing in February that seriously wounded the wife of an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi, the daily said. In the US, authorities foiled assassination attempt on the Saudi Ambassador in Washington, while in Azerbaijan security agencies early this year made a series of arrest to foil a bid to kill US diplomats. "In recent weeks, investigators working in four countries have amassed new evidence tying the disparate assassination attempts to one another and linking all of them to either Iran-backed Hezbollah militants or operatives based inside Iran, according to US and Middle Eastern security officials," the daily said. An official report last month summarising the evidence cited phone records, forensic tests, coordinated travel arrangements and even cellphone SIM cards purchased in Iran and used by several of the would-be assailants, said two officials who have seen the document, the daily said. However, the newspaper said that alleged attempts seem to be halted as Iran began to shift its tone after weeks of bellicose anti-Western rhetoric and threats to shut down vital shipping lanes. — PTI Terror Tale * Foreign diplomats were allegedly on the terror radar in the US, Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Thailand, Pakistan and the former Soviet republic of Georgia * There was an attempt to kill an Israeli diplomat in Delhi in February and officials have described substantial Iranian links to the bombing * The report said the alleged attempts seem to have halted as Iran began to shift its tone ahead of the N-talks