The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Syrian army batters Damascus, 40 killed Moscow believes Assad won't use chemical weapons Amman, August 22 Syrian army shells crashed into southern Damascus on Wednesday and helicopters fired rockets and machineguns during an assault to shore up President Bashar al-Assad's grip on the capital, opposition activists said. They said at least 40 persons had been killed in what they called the heaviest bombardment this month. "The whole of Damascus is shaking with the sound of shelling," said a woman in Kfar Souseh, one of several districts hit during the military offensive to root out rebel fighters. At least 22 persons were killed in Kfar Souseh and 18 in the nearby district of Nahr Eisha, activists said. "There are 22 tanks in Kfar Souseh now and behind each one there are at least 30 soldiers. They are raiding houses and executing men," an opposition activist in Kfar Souseh, who gave his name only as Bassam, told Reuters by Skype. More than 250 persons, including 171 civilians, were killed across Syria on Tuesday, mostly around Damascus, Aleppo and the southern city of Deraa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition monitoring group. Fighting a 17-month-old revolt against Assad's rule, the army has used tanks and helicopter gunships this week in an offensive around the capital which has coincided with the departure of UN military observers after a failed mission. Activists in the southwestern suburb of Mouadamiya said Assad's forces had killed 86 persons there since Monday, half of them in cold blood. There was no immediate government account of the latest fighting, but state television broadcast footage of weapons it said had been seized from rebels in Mouadamiya, which was one of the first areas to join the uprising against Assad. — Reuters Journalist shot dead Syrian soldiers killed a Syrian journalist sympathetic to the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad during a raid in Damascus on Wednesday, opposition activists said. Mosaab al-Odaallah, who worked for the state-run Tishreen newspaper, was shot at point-blank range at his home by troops conducting house-to-house raids in the southern Nahr Eisha district of the capital, the activists said.
	ISI colonel provided vital help in locating Osama: Book Washington, August 22 A colonel in the Pakistan's spy agency ISI had provided vital help to the CIA in tracing Osama bin Laden, a new book has claimed. The book also claims that Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani may have been briefed by the US on its operation to kill Osama bin Laden, some five months in advance. 'Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him', penned by eminent American journalist Richard Miniter, hit the stands yesterday. The new book also says that land of the Abbottabad compound, where the Al-Qaida leader lived with his family, was "carved out" from the Pakistan military academy compound. "A colonel in Pakistan's feared intelligence service, the Inter-Services Institute or ISI, provided vital help in locating Laden when he walked into the CIA's Islamabad station in August 2010," says the book. Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs inside his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in May 2011. "And Pakistan's Army chief of staff may have been briefed in December 2010, five months before the nighttime raid on bin Laden's concrete castle. "Far from taking a risk, there are indications that a cover story had been developed with the Pakistani military and that Obama had their tacit consent for the mission," claims Miniter, a former reporter with 'The Wall Street Journal' and 'The Washington Post'. "In a never-before-reported account, Pakistan was more involved in the bin Laden operation than Obama's team admitted. When the CIA revealed that an ISI colonel had contacted the CIA in Islamabad and offered information about bin Laden, a debate followed," it says. — PTI
	Special to the tribune Naked images of Prince Harry posted online US website TMZ publishes pictures Royal sources confirm them as genuine Shyam Bhatia in London Britain's Prince Harry has been accused of bringing the royal family into disrepute after his nude pictures were blasted across the Internet. The sensational pictures taken on a mobile telephone depict a totally naked Prince Harry. One shows him hiding his private parts with his hands and another taken from the back shows him in his bare bottoms as he hugs a so far unidentified naked woman. The pictures, confirmed by royal sources as genuine, were apparently taken after Queen Elizabeth II's grandson played a game of 'naked billiards' at his hotel room in Las Vegas. The Prince, aged 28, is third in line to the British throne after his father, Prince Charles, and his older brother, Prince William. The controversial pictures have created panic among the British royal family's advisers who have to decide how best to limit the damage caused by the release of the pictures. Harry, trained as an elite Apache attack helicopter pilot, is also expected to be given a dressing down by senior army colleagues responsible for defending the reputation of the country's armed forces. Previous controversies involving Harry have included his admitting to smoking cannabis and underage drinking. A few years ago he was pictured at a fancy dress party, wearing a Nazi Afrika Korps uniform. The following year he was overheard saying of an Asian army colleague, "Ah, our little Paki friend." But while previous personal scandals could be dismissed as youthful excesses, similar excuses are unlikely to win much sympathy with the public today, not least because he enjoys tax payer-funded, 24-hour police protection. Last night one former member of the royal protection team was quoted as saying: "We're paying huge amounts of money for this young man to be followed everywhere he goes by security. He's a young man with lots of testosterone but there is a balance and occasionally that balance slips." The American website TMZ, which published the pictures, describes how Harry and his pals made friends with "a bunch of hot chicks" who thereafter participated in a 'raucous party.' Harry has in the past been euphemistically described as a 'party loving' royal, but any previous excesses have been balanced against his work as an army officer, his efforts to raise money for injured service men and women and, most recently, his ambassadorial role at the London Olympics. Questions are now being asked about whether he has sufficiently matured to take on future high profile roles on behalf of his country and the British royal family. Previous controversies Prince Harry admitted to smoking cannabis and underage drinking. A few years ago he was pictured at a fancy dress party, wearing a Nazi Afrika Korps uniform. The following year he was overheard saying of an Asian army colleague, "Ah, our little Paki friend."
	Pak Christian boy’s body found with torture marks Lahore, August 22 As the furore over the arrest of a minor Christian girl over blasphemy charge is yet to die down, the body of an 11-year-old boy from the minority community, bearing torture marks, was found in Faisalabad city of Pakistan's Punjab province today, the police said. Samuel Yaqoob, a resident of the Christian Colony of Faisalabad was brutally tortured before being killed. He had been missing since the evening of August 20, when he had stepped out of his home to go to the market. Yaqoob's burnt body was found near a drain today. His lips, nose and belly were cut off and he could hardly be recognised as his body was badly burnt, relatives said. — PTI
	GURDWARA SHOOTING AFTERMATH Call for Congressional hearing on hate crime Washington, August 22 In the aftermath of the shooting inside a gurdwara in Wisconsin, a group of more than 150 organisations have called for a Congressional hearing on hate crimes. Six Sikh worshipers, including four Indian nationals, died when an ex-army man went on a shooting spree inside the Gurdwara in Oak Creek city in Wisconsin on August 5. While the police is yet to determine the reason for the shooting, Sikh advocacy groups have termed it a hate crime. Led by Washington-based Sikh Coalition, the 150 organisations representing a wide range of faith based and rights advocacy groups, yesterday sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee to conduct hearings on hate crimes and the proliferation of hate groups in the US. Citing the massacre of Sikh worshipers in Oak Creek, and a string of attacks on Muslim communities nationwide during the last month, the letter notes that hate violence continues to affect the lives of thousands of individuals due to their race, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, and immigration status. "We want to do everything in our power to make sure what happened in Oak Creek never happens to anyone again," said Rajdeep Singh, director of Law and Policy for the Sikh Coalition. "Given the persistence of hate crimes and sheer number of hate groups in the United States, we want our policymakers to be proactive about uprooting bigotry in the United States. "As First Lady Michele Obama visits the aggrieved families in Oak Creek this Thursday, we hope that Congress will do its part by looking at ways to improve our nation's hate crime laws," Singh said. "During the last month alone, six worshipers at a gurdwara in Wisconsin were massacred by an attacker with known ties to hate groups, and approximately ten Islamic institutions and Muslim communities in seven states have experienced attacks including vandalism, a suspicious burning, shootings, and the desecration of religious sanctuaries," the letter said. The letter said according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups in the US (currently numbering over a thousand) has grown by almost 60 per cent since 2000. — PTI
	‘Young gun’ Gill to address Republican convention Washington, August 22 Republican party's "young gun" Ranjit 'Ricky' Gill has become the third Indian-American after Governors Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley to get an invite to address the party's National Convention, reflecting the growing influence of the community in mainstream US politics. Endorsed by some of the top Republican leaders, including former Florida Governor Jebb Bush and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, 25-year-old Gill is the only Indian-American from the party to contest for a seat in the House of Representatives. "It will be an honour to speak on behalf of our Valley and Delta communities on a national stage," Gill said in a statement, as the Republican National Convention announced his name among the list of speakers for the first two days of the convention beginning August 27. "While we face some of the greatest challenges, our communities are among the most under-represented in America. My remarks at the convention will focus not only on giving our communities a voice, but also on ensuring the survival of our American Dream for this generation and those to come," said Gill, who has been named "young gun" by the Republican Congressional Committee. Convention Chief Executive Officer William Harris said, "We're extremely pleased that Ricky Gill will be able to address the delegates, alternate delegates and other convention guests." — PTI