| Musharraf fires fresh salvo against critics; vows not to quit Islamabad, July 5 : In a fresh salvo against his detractors, President Pervez Musharraf has said he will not quit his post or leave the country because he still has a role to play along with the political parties in steering Pakistan out of the "present crisis". Criticising reports that he might attempt to flee the country or be arrested, Musharraf made it clear that he has no intention of going abroad. Maintaining that the army still supports him, he said he would step down only if he thought such a move would solve the country's problems. "Yes, I have been silent for the past three to four months under a well thought-out plan. But I am not afraid, I'm not afraid at all. You see, I never learnt what fear is. It was never taught to me," he told a gathering at a dinner hosted by the business community in Karachi late last night. Musharraf also said he had "been trained to respond both in offensive and defensive manner, especially (while) defending the national interest". The President, who has been facing pressure to quit since his supporters were routed in the February 18 general election, said: "I have to play my role along with the political parties to steer the country out of the present crisis. So I am not leaving the country." Flaying detractors who claimed the army had turned against him, he said: "The army will never leave me alone. Those who said the armed forces are not with me are the worst hypocrites and rumour-mongers." Insisting that he had committed "no crime or sin", Musharraf said he would not "take a single day to resign" if he believed such a move would benefit Pakistan and solve its problems. US top defence official opposed attack on Iran privately New York, July 5 : US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates had once privately expressed his reservations over an attack on Iran, saying such a move "will create generations of jihadists", a media report said today. The remark, according to the latest issue of New Yorker magazine, was made at an off-the-record lunch meeting with Democratic Senators late last year. "We will create generations of jihadists and our grand children will be battling our enemies here in America," Gates is quoted as saying in the magazine. The article, by investigative journalist Seymour M Hersh, said the remarks stunned the Democrats and one of them asked whether Gates was speaking for President George Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney. "Let's just say that I am here speaking for myself," Gates is quoted as replying. The magazine also said that a spokesman for Gates confirmed that he discussed consequences of a strike at the meeting, but refused to give details. Pak denies Khan's accusation, says Khan case 'closed' Islamabad, July 5 : Pakistan's Foreign Ministry insisted today that its nuclear proliferation case was closed, a day after the disgraced architect of its atomic program claimed the army under President Pervez Musharraf helped spread the technology. Abdul Qadeer Khan told The Associated Press yesterday that Pakistan's army supervised a 2000 shipment of used P-1 centrifuges to North Korea. It must have been sent with the approval of Musharraf, the then-army chief who took power in a 1999 coup, Khan alleged. "It was a North Korean plane and the army had complete knowledge about it and the equipment," Khan said of the shipment. "It must have gone with his (Musharraf's) consent." The comments caused a stir in Pakistani media and newspapers played the story prominently on their front pages today. Mohammad Sadiq, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, offered only limited comment, however. "The nuclear proliferation issue is a closed case," Sadiq said, reiterating a longtime Pakistani stance. "We do not think that a debate is required on it." Pakistan has repeatedly denied that its army or government knew about Khan's proliferation activities. Still, Khan's allegations would match expert assessments that running such a network would have been difficult without some involvement from Pakistan's security apparatus. Iran ready to talk, but enrichment not negotiable: spokesman Tehran, July 5 : Iran Saturday said it was ready to open talks with the West on a range of issues, but its right to uranium enrichment was non-negotiable, official IRNA news agency reported. Government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham told reporters that Tehran was ready to talk with all countries, including member states of the P5+1 on its peaceful nuclear programme within the framework of international rules and regulations. Iran Friday had handed over to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana its response to a package of incentives offered by five UN Security Council members and Germany (P5+1) in a bid to dissuade the Islamic country from uranium enrichment. The details of the Iranian response has not been divulged. Tehran's stand on its nuclear issue is based on the legitimate rights of the Iranian nation as well as the international regulations, he said. Sarkozy says India should be invited to G8 summits Paris July 5 : French President Nicolas Sarkozy says it is neither reasonable nor fair for the Group of Eight industrialized nations to hold summits without including emerging countries like China or India. Sarkozy says that "everyone must be invited" to the G-8 meetings if the world wants peace and development. In the past, Sarkozy has made it clear he would like to see the exclusive club enlarged. But his remarks today come just two days before the annual G-8 summit in Japan. Sarkozy noted to a gathering of his conservative political party that no Arab, African or Latin American country is a member of the G-8, and neither is China or India, whose combined populations make up a third of humanity. For Sarkozy, the situation "is not fair." Musharraf is unconstitutional President: Shahbaz Karachi, July 5 : Pervez Musharraf is an unconstitutional President and should step down as soon as possible for the good of Pakistan, PML-N president and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said today. Shahbaz's comments came close on the heels of Musharraf's assertion last night that he would not step down or leave the country because he still had a role to play in steering Pakistan out of crisis. Musharraf also said his silence over the past few months should not be mistaken for weakness. "I don't know whether he is a weak President but I do know that he is an unconstitutional and illegal President. We don't accept him as a constitutional President," said Shahbaz, the brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif. "The sooner he (Musharraf) leaves, the better it will be for the country. He should now show mercy to Pakistan," Shahbaz told journalists here after meeting National People's Party chief Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi. German beheads Hitler statute at Madame Tussaudsh London, July 5 : A German man today "beheaded"t] Hitler's statue at the famous Madame Tussauds in Berlin"t] shortly after the attraction was opened to visitors amidt] controversy over installation of the notorious dictator's] waxwork in the museum.Llation of the notorious dictator's] The 41-year-old rushed to the Hitler figure, scuffling with a guard assigned to protect it and a manager beforefling tearing the head off the life-size statue, police saidrefling The inclusion of Hitler in the exhibition has arousedg controversy in Germany where Nazi symbols are banned and theg the Fuhrer was positioned behind a table, which was supposedg to prevent visitors posing with the statue - or damaging it.G The man was arrested and is now in custody, Berlinit.G police spokeswoman Uwe Kozelnik said. He claimed he wanted to protest the figure being included in the museum. He wanted to Police detain 4 protesters agitating ahead of G8 summit Sapporo (Japan) July 5 : More than a thousand people marched in northern Japan today to protest an upcoming summit of top industrialized countries and police briefly clashed with marchers, detaining four people. No injuries were reported. Protesters gathered at a park in central Sapporo to demand that the Group of Eight nations take urgent measures to stop global warming, grant indigenous people greater rights and combat world poverty and discrimination. Demonstrators also criticized globalization, which they blamed for deepening poverty in marginalized regions, fueling the world's dependence on fossil fuels and accelerating rising temperatures. "Who gave the Group of Eight the right to rule the world?" asked Walden Bello of the Focus on the Global South activist group. "The G-8 is a conspiracy of governments that have led the world to its most severe crisis in the last 50 years." Modi's detractors claim victory at his refusal seek US visa New York, July 5 : NGOs canvassing against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US have claimed that the BJP leader's decision not to seek visa to attend an upcoming conference in the country was a victory for "secular" forces. Modi was invited by the organisers of a major Gujarati world conference being held in New Jersey in August. The United States had denied him visa to attend the last conference in 2005 and he had addressed the delegates through a video link. In a statement, Coordinator of Coalition against Genocide Shiak Ubaid said their aim now is to expose the organisations in the United States controlled or influenced by "Hindutva fascists." The Indian American groups across the United States are sharply divided over the invitation to Modi. While some organisations are working behind the scene mounting pressure on the US government to grant him visa to attend the meet, the Coalition Against Genocide, an umbrella organisation of some 25 bodies, has written a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking her to deny visa to the chief minister. Sobhraj may face three year jail term for bigamy Kathmandu, July 5 : Charles Sobhraj's hope of settling down with a Nepali women when the celebrity criminal is released from Kathmandu's Central Jail may not materialise, for he may have to stay behind the bars for three more years if he ties the knot with his new found love. Nicknamed the 'Bikini killer' and 'Serpent', Sobhraj has been accused of luring young women and killing many of them. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a District Court in July 2004 on charges of murdering an American and a Canadian tourist in Kathmandu in 1975. The love affair of the criminal mastermind and his "engagement" to 20-year-old Nepali beauty Nihita Biswas has grabbed media attention in the Indian subcontinent. Sixty-four-year-old Sobhraj has been 'engaged' with Nihita and plans to marry her when he is released from the Nepal prison, where he is languishing since September 2003. Serving a life term on murder charge, Sobhraj is already married to Chantal, who lives in France. He also has a wife in Australia, a media report said. However, Sobhraj claims he has already divorced his first wife. Rice 'proud' of Iraq invasion: interview Washington, July 5 : US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that she was "proud" of the US decision to invade Iraq and said the Middle East had improved since President George W Bush took office. In an interview with Bloomberg television, Rice also cited progress in North Korea and China as evidence that the Bush administration, which has just seven months left in office, had made strides over the past eight years. "I am proud by the decision of this administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein. I am proud of the liberation of 20 million Iraqis," Rice said in the interview taped earlier in the week. "Iraq has been very tough. Tougher than any of us had dreamed. We can never replace the people who have been lost. We can never do anything to soothe the pain of the family and friends that they have left behind, but we are seeing a change in Iraq for the better," she said. The interview aired as the United States marked the Independence Day holiday. The US military has lost 4,113 personnel since the March 2003 invasion, according to independent website www.Icasualties.Org. Egypt uncovers tunnels, weapons near Gaza border Rafah (Egypt), July 5 : Egypt uncovered three tunnels near the Rafah crossing on its border with the Gaza Strip Saturday and seized weapons and explosives in the strategic Sinai peninsula, according to security sources. Police uncovered two tunnels in Barahma, north of the Rafah border crossing and a third tunnel, south of the crossing, the sources said. Quantities of fuel were found in the tunnels, the sources added without giving further details. Police also found TNT explosives in Hilwa near the town of Arish in northern Sinai, and nine automatic rifles and ammunition in Muqdaba, in the centre of the peninsula. The Sinai desert in northeastern Egypt is strategically important because it borders Israel and the Gaza Strip and has been the scene of several wars between the two countries. Pak suspends operation against militants for peace talks Islamabad, July 5 : Pakistani security forces today temporarily suspended a crackdown against militants in the troubled tribal belt bordering Afghanistan to allow local elders to negotiate with them. An 18-member peace jirga met Lashkar-e-Islam chief Mangal Bagh at Tirah Valley in the Khyber Agency to discuss measures to end fighting in the region between rival militant groups. Two more persons were killed today in clashes between cadres of Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansar-ul-Islam, taking the toll in recent fighting between the groups to 91. Pakistani paramilitary forces had on June 28 launched a crackdown on militants in Khyber Agency, located near the North West Frontier Province capital of Peshawar. Taliban frees two abducted Pakistani journalists Islamabad, July 5 : Taliban insurgents Saturday freed two journalists from their captivity in a tribal region in northwestern Pakistan, News Network International news agency reported. Pir Zubair Shah, a part-time employee of The New York Times and Akhtar Somroo, photographer for the newspaper, were abducted Friday by Taliban insurgents in Mohmand Agency. The report quoted a Taliban spokesman as saying that the journalists had been freed after preliminary questioning. Journalists entering the area must inform the Taliban. The two journalists did not inform about their arrival, hence they were picked up for questioning, he said. Pakistan's tribal regions are considered to be dangerous for journalists. Last month, a TV journalist was shot dead by unidentified men in Bajaur. Dalit meet in US demands private sector quota Washington, July 5 : Seeking affirmative action for marginalised Dalits and minorities in India, an international meet in the US has made a strong demand for reservation in the private sector besides a quota in the sphere of judiciary. Inaugurating the three-day Dalit and Minorities International Conference in New York Friday, India's Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan called for empowering deprived sections through education and employment. Paswan, who is chairman of the Dalit and Minorities International Forum (DMIF), described the two sections as natural allies as they are confronted by similar conditions and said fruits of economic progress must percolate down to vulnerable segments. Condemning discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion and caste, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief said there was need for a strong political will to end the caste system which was making the country weak from within. Several other speakers also expressed anguish over "low representation" of marginalized sections in India's private sector. Post 9/11, 3000 Pak nationals die in terror-related attacks Islamabad, July 5 : More than 3,000 Pakistani nationals, including 1,080 soldiers, have died in terrorism-related incidents and the war on terror since the 9/11 attacks on the US nearly seven years ago. Over 5,000 people have been injured in terrorist attacks since Pakistan joined the war on terror. Almost 3,500 militants were killed during the same period in operations conducted by the Pakistan Army. Pakistan faced some 81 suicide attacks since it became a frontline state in the war on terror. If incidents of sectarian violence over the past seven years are included, the death toll would be higher, The News daily reported today. According to figures compiled from media articles, websites and official statistics provided by the spokesman of the Pakistan Army, over 3,050 Pakistanis have been killed in terrorist attacks since September 11, 2001, the report said. Outcry over 'compulsory' sex education in UK London, July 5 : The government's plan to impart compulsory sex education in primary school classes has sparked a row in Britain, with family campaigners claiming that the views of parents and teachers are being ignored. Government advisors argue the basic sex education that children receive in science classes does not go far enough. It has been revealed that children as young as four are set to be given compulsory sex education in primary school classes. The fpa (formerly the Family Planning Association), Brook and the Sex Education Forum are recommending the introduction of compulsory lessons, the Mail online of Britain said. It would bring sex and relationship education on to the curriculum alongside other compulsory subjects such as maths and English, the report said. "All the evidence shows that if you start sex and relationships education early - before children start puberty, before they feel sexual attraction - they start having sex later," Simon Blake, Brook chief executive said. |