W O R L D

Indo-Pak ties crucial for Afghan peace: Cameron
London, July 18
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said India and Pakistan can play a "crucial role" to bring peace to Afghanistan through their resumed bilateral dialogue process.

Britain's PM David Cameron in London on Wednesday. — Reuters

Illegal transportation of arms
N Korean crew may face 6-yr jail: Panama
Panama City, July 18
North Korean sailors whose dilapidated ship was halted near the Panama Canal and found to be carrying military equipment could face up to six years in jail, a prosecutor has said.

Actor Paul Bhattacharjee found dead in UK
London, July 18
British-Indian actor Paul Bhattacharjee, who appeared in the James Bond film 'Casino Royale' and a number of popular soaps and plays in Britain, has been found dead in East Sussex, Scotland Yard said today.

Mandela turns 95, health improves steadily
Pretoria, July 18 People across the globe today joined South Africans in celebrating 95th birthday of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, with the good news that the ailing peace icon's medical condition has "steadily" improved from a life-threatening lung infection. Well-wishers carry a large banner of Nelson Mandela outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria on Thursday. — AP/PTI

WikiLeaks case: Judge declines to dismiss charge of aiding enemy
Meade (US), July 18
A military judge refused today to dismiss a charge that Army soldier Bradley Manning aided the enemy by giving reams of classified information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Indo-Pak ties crucial for Afghan peace: Cameron

London, July 18
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said India and Pakistan can play a "crucial role" to bring peace to Afghanistan through their resumed bilateral dialogue process. “India and Pakistan can play a crucial role in bringing peace back in Afghanistan,” Cameron told British Asian newspaper "Asian Lite" during a visit to a factory in east England. “Both countries should recognise the fact that a stable, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan is in their interests too,” he said yesterday.

As NATO and US forces prepare for their scheduled withdrawal from Afghanistan next year, the West has pinned its hopes on regional powers like India and Pakistan helping bring stability to the war-torn country. “The newly elected Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, is an experienced politician and he believes India and Pakistan can have a better bilateral relationship. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh takes a similar view,” Cameron said.

“I hope these two statesmen can act in the interest of both their countries and also the world, fostering better Indo-Pak relations,” he said.

India and Pakistan recently agreed to draw up a calendar to resume their bilateral talks.

The initiative was announced after a meeting between External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Pakistani premier's special adviser on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of a recent ASEAN foreign ministers’ meet in Brunei. — PTI

Taliban office ‘plot’ to break up kabul

Kabul: The Taliban office in Doha was a plot to break up Afghanistan orchestrated by either Pakistan or the United States, a top aide to the Afghan President has said. Hamid Karzai's chief of staff said Kabul was concerned about growing closeness between Pakistan and the United States, and that there was still a huge rift with Washington despite top-level efforts to patch up the disastrous fall-out over the office. — AFP

Illegal transportation of arms
N Korean crew may face 6-yr jail: Panama

Panama City, July 18
North Korean sailors whose dilapidated ship was halted near the Panama Canal and found to be carrying military equipment could face up to six years in jail, a prosecutor has said.

The 35-man crew of the Chong Chon Gang -- which was stopped as it approached the major waterway last Friday -- is in custody at a former US military base in the port of Manzanillo in northern Panama.

The Soviet-era weaponry, discovered among tonnes of sugar during an anti-drugs search, belongs to Cuba and was being taken to North Korea for repair, the communist allies have said.

Panamanian anti-drugs prosecutor Javier Caraballo told reporters late yesterday that the sailors may face jail for transporting arms illegally.

"This type of behaviour could carry a sentence of between four and six years," he said, noting that the crew are staying silent.

"They took up their right not to testify," he said, standing next to the seized ship in Manzanillo.

Panama on Monday said it had discovered the shipment after impounding the vessel and conducting a drugs search. The ship's captain tried to kill himself and the crew rioted, according to Panama's President.

The crew remain in custody at the Fort Sherman military base and "are in perfect health", said Caraballo.

North Korea has demanded the vessel's return, saying the shipment formed part of a legitimate deal with Cuba.

Yesterday, Panama officially requested United Nations inspectors to scrutinise the cargo.

"The cargo is illegal because it was not declared. Anything that is not logged, even if it is obsolete, is contraband," said Panamanian security minister Jose Raul Mulino. — AFP

Actor Paul Bhattacharjee found dead in UK

London, July 18
British-Indian actor Paul Bhattacharjee, who appeared in the James Bond film 'Casino Royale' and a number of popular soaps and plays in Britain, has been found dead in East Sussex, Scotland Yard said today.

The 53-year-old actor, who had been missing since July 10 after rehearsals for a stage production in London's West End, was found on cliffs in Sussex, south-east England.

"Officers investigating his disappearance were contacted by the Sussex police and informed that the body of a man, matching his description, had been recovered from cliffs at Splash Point in Seaford, East Sussex, on Friday, July 12," the Metropolitan police said in a statement today.

"The body was identified in Sussex as that of Bhattacharjee. Next of kin have been informed. His death is being treated as non-suspicious," the statement added.

The actor, who grew up both in India and Britain and was now based in Redbridge, north London, was last seen at the Royal Court Theatre in central London on July 10. The actor also appeared in 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel', 'White Teeth' and 'Dirty Pretty Things'. — PTI

Mandela turns 95, health improves steadily

Children hold placards to greet Nelson Mandela on his birthday outside the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria on Thursday. — Reuters

Pretoria, July 18
People across the globe today joined South Africans in celebrating 95th birthday of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, with the good news that the ailing peace icon's medical condition has "steadily" improved from a life-threatening lung infection.

South Africans commemorated the country's first black President's birthday with 67 minutes of public service as part of the Mandela Day initiative to honour the 67 years he spent working for the African nation.

The celebrations united South Africans in diverse ways. Mandela, regarded the founding father of South Africa's multi-racial democracy, was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on June 8 for a recurring lung infection. — PTI

WikiLeaks case: Judge declines to dismiss charge of aiding enemy

Meade (US), July 18
A military judge refused today to dismiss a charge that Army soldier Bradley Manning aided the enemy by giving reams of classified information to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

It is the most serious charge Manning faces, punishable by up to life in prison without parole. Col Denise Lind, the judge in Manning's court-martial, denied defence motions to acquit him of that charge and a computer fraud charge. The defence had cited a lack of prosecution evidence.

Lind found that the government had presented some evidence to support both charges. — AP