End Terror to Normalise, PM Tells Pak

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday asked Pakistan to prevent its territory from being used for terrorist activities against India, saying the nation always stood for better and normal relations with the neighbouring country. He said India wanted to have normal relations with Pakistan and resolve all the bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, through dialogue.

Addressing an election rally at Shangus in the Anantnag disrict, Premier Singh said that in view of the recent attack on incidents in Mumbai it was clear that certain elements in Pakistan were involved in such attacks.

He said India wanted good relations with Pakistan, but cautioned that better ties would only be possible when the neighbouring country stopped its territory from being used against this country. “Our silence should not be misconstrued as our weakness”, he asserted.

AICC general secretary Union minister and JKPCC president Saifuddin Soz, former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Prithviraj Chavan and the local Congress candidates were present on the occasion.

Singh said he always favoured better relations with Pakistan. “We want to have normal relations”, he said, adding that all issues, including the Kashmir issue could be solved through dialogue. “We cannot change borders, but restrictions on the cross-LoC movement of people can be eased”, he commented.

He added that cross LoC links other than Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawlakote roads could be reopened. “There are great steps ahead”, he said.

The Prime Minister said the cross LoC trade would be made more frequent and assured that more links for people-to-people contact and trade would be opened. The Prime Minister, however, cautioned that all this would be possible only when Pakistan checked the undesired terrorist activities against India from its territory.

The Prime Minister also asked the militants to shun the path of extremism, violence and bloodshed. He emphasised that all issues could be resolved only through talks, dialogue and other democratic ways.

“If you vote the Congress to power” in the state, “Hum Jaan Lagakar Kaam Karengey”, the Prime Minister said. “Our effort will be to ensure that everybody has access to power, roads, drinking water and employment”, he commented and vowed to move ahead on the path of development speedily and honestly.

He said his association with the people in Kashmir had been “very special” and he was always happy to be among people here. He also hailed the people for their overwhelming participation in the ongoing Assembly polls saying “your interest in the elections shows that you believe in democracy”.

He said the Congress was the only party that could come up to their expectations in addressing the issues of employment, education, healthcare and better governance. He added that the state progressed a lot during the Congress governments and particularly during the past six years.

He pointed out that during the past three years of the Congress-led coalition government in particular, the state witnessed a lot of progress. In case the Congress returns to power, the government would further expedite the pace of development, he promised.

Bush Earns ‘Two Shoes’ for Iraq War

An Iraqi journalist, employed with the Al-Baghdadia channel, hurled two shoes at US President George Bush on his farewell visit to Iraq on Sunday, highlighting the anger and hostility still felt toward the outgoing US leader who acknowledged that the war is still not won.

Muntazer al-Zaidi jumped up as Bush held a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, shouted "It is the farewell kiss, you dog" and threw his footwear.

The president ducked out of way and the first shoe hit the American and Iraqi flags behind the two leaders. The second was off target.

Zaidi, a reporter with the Al-Baghdadia which broadcasts from Cairo, was immediately wrestled to the ground by security guards and frogmarched from the room.

Bush laughed off the incident, saying: "It doesn't bother me. If you want the facts, it was a size 10 shoe that he threw".

He later played down the incident. "I don't know what the guy's cause is... I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it."

Bush, on his fourth and final official trip to Iraq since he ordered the March 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam, admitted: "There is still more work to be done."

As he and Maliki signed a security pact setting out new guidelines for US troops in Iraq, the president said: "The war is not over, but with the conclusion of these agreements... it is decisively on its way to being won."

Earlier, Bush ventured out in a motorcade through Baghdad streets, the first time he has gone somewhere other than a military base or the heavily protected Green Zone.

Bush hands over the delicate task of overseeing the US withdrawal from Iraq in five weeks to Barack Obama, who has pledged an end to the deeply unpopular war.

Bush has staunchly defended the invasion that triggered years of deadly insurgency and sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and more than 4,200 American troops.

Time for Action, Gordon Brown Tells Pak

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown supported India’s contention that the Lashkar-e-Tayeba was responsible for last month’s terror attack on Mumbai behind the Mumbai terror attacks and observed that Pakistan had a “great deal to answer for,” later, In Islamabad premier Brown said “the time has come for action.”

Arriving in New Delhi, for a rescheduled visit Sunday morning Premier Brown met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior officials.

Promising to communicate India’s concerns over Islamabad’s continued support to those planning and committing terrorist crimes in India, Brown said he wanted the world community to ensure there were “no safe havens for terrorists” and “no safe place for those who finance terrorist activities.”

Brown was to arrive on December 18 for a day-long visit. He pushed forward his tour to the subcontinent in order to interact with top leaders in India and Pakistan owing to escalating tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of the dastardly terror singe on Mumbai.

In India Brown was acquainted with the main features of the investigation into the Mumbai strikes which New Delhi is convinced were launched from Pakistani territory.

“The Indian police is interviewing people. We also know there have been arrests in Pakistan. We also know that the group responsible is LeT and they (Pakistan) have a great deal to answer for,” said Brown informing the media of his interaction with Prime Minister Singh.

“I am travelling to Pakistan and will meet President Zardari. I will explain the concerns that the Indian people have about what has happened and about issues related to Pakistan,” he observed.

“I hope the world can see how it can work together to combat terrorists,” he said.

He reiterated Britain’s commitment to help both countries jointly combat terror. “We will work together to build international support to tackle terrorism and roots of terrorism in this world.”

Arriving in Islamabad following his visit to New Delhi, Premier Brown, in a belligerent mood, asked Pakistan to clean out terrorists operating out of its territories in order to make the world a more secure place.

“The time has come for action, not words,” Brown said at a joint press conference with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

He said that a majority of terror plots investigated by the British were linked to Pakistan.

“I have told President Zardari that three-quarters of the most serious terror plots investigated by British authorities have links to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan,” he said.

He said he had been reassured after his talks with the Pakistan President that “his (Zardari’s) authorities are determined to act against those who were behind the Mumbai attacks.”

India Rubbishes Pak Accusations of Air Space Violation

Two weeks after New Delhi vowed strong action against “elements in Pakistan,” following the terror attack on Mumbai, Islamabad on Sunday accused India of breaching its air space and declared emergency at all airbases, India, however, rubbished claims and added that no complaints were received from the Pakistani side.

Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted the country’s Air Force spokesman Air Commodore Humyun Viqar as saying that Indian fighter jets breached the country's airspace over Lahore and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir twice last night.

Viqar claimed Pakistani fighter jets responded to the violations forcing the Indian to abandon the sortie and return to base. He asserted that Pakistani Air Force would remain on alert to "thwart any aggression" from India.

According to the official, the violation by Indian jets took place at 2330 hours Saturday and again at 0130 hours on Sunday.

Not negating possibilities of a "technical violation" by Indian jets. He said "But we are ready to deal with any misadventure. We are monitoring the situation, we are on alert," he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Information Minister Sherry Rehman told Pakistani Engliss daily ‘Dawn’ that Indian side had termed the violation an "inadvertent incursion". She added that Pakistan did not want to prolong the matter.

Indian Air Force officials on Sunday morning rubbished reports that its fighter jets had violated Pakistan's air space and said they had received no complaint from the Pakistani side.

Responding to Pakistani allegations a senior Indian Air Force (IAF) official in the Western Air Command said "There is no truth in the allegations, it is all rubbish."

He added, "We haven't even received any complaint from the Pakistani air force."

The incident comes at a time when accusations are ‘flying high’ on both sides between the two nuclear-powered south Asian neighbours after the dastardly Mumbai attacks, killed over 170 and wounded scores of others.

Pakistan has come in for huge international criticism since the attacks, activists and politicians in India are seething with rage over the attack, which arguably were the most audacious on Indian soil ever.

No Ban on JuD in Pak

Despite a UN Security Council label terming it a terrorist organization and an ongoing crackdown on its offices and leaders, the Jamiat ud Da’wa (JuD) is yet to be banned by Pakistan. The dichotomous action on the other side of the border comes in wake of the terror attack on Mumbai.

Pakistan has, reportedly, sealed over 100 of JuD offices and more than 50 of its leaders have been arrested.

Eleven JuD operatives, including its chief Hafeez Saeed, are currently placed on the Exit Control List, which forbids them from leaving the country.

Holding that the JuD was a front for the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayeba (LeT), the UN Security Council on Wednesday acted on a request from India and the US and banned the organisation.

New Delhi has blamed the LeT for the November 26/11 attacks on Mumbai and the December 13, 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament.

"There is no need to issue any such notification against the organisation once it is banned by the UN," Dawn on Sunday quoted a senior interior ministry official as saying.

Pakistan, he said, had not banned the JuD, but being a signatory to the UN charter, was obligated to implement the decisions of the world body.

Speaking of operations against the JuD, the official said so far 109 of its offices had been sealed across the country and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK).

Meanwhile, legal experts say arrested JuD leaders were only being held in preventive detention they could take recourse to the law and could even be released.

"Preventive detention meant confinement of a person to stop him from committing an offence while at the time of detention there was no proof that he had committed a crime," The News quoted a constitutional expert as saying.

This meant that those held had the right to move the courts against their detentions, he added.

Raje out of Rajasthan?

Licking its wounds since a shocking defeat in the recently concluded assembly elections, The Rajasthan state BJP is still looking into reasons that led to the debacle. With accusations flying thick, the party is assessing the damage and reasons, lest an encore be witnessed in the parliamentary outing next year.

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje and state unit president Om Prakash Mathur stayed on in Delhi on Sunday, as the party leadership continued an analysis to stick blame and to, perhaps, work out an amicable middle path between the warring leaders.

The party action is said to be an exercise carried out to cushion the party from any similar ‘surprises’ in the parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in a few months time.

Several rounds of talks between Raje, Mathur and the central leadership of the party are reported to have failed to yield an end to the stalemate.

Raje and Mathur are camping in Delhi in accordance with directives issued by party bosses, who are expected to hold parleys with other leaders from the state before reaching a conclusion.

With the deadlock continuing to impede on party work, the state BJP decided against convening its lawmakers to formally elect a leader of the legislature party.

The meeting may now be held after the central party leadership decides on a future role for Raje.

The ongoing crisis has left the party with few options as shunting Raje or Mathur out at this point may trigger dissent and hurt the party’s showing at the hustings.

Raje may well be offered a plum responsibility in the central party office in the next few days, especially, as the party is left with only one female leader of stature since former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti, a known Raje adversary, quit the party.

Leaked! The Truth behind Railway Exams

Railway Recruitment Board examinations in Allahabad were cancelled on Sunday following leakage of question papers as Uttar Pradesh Police claimed to have busted the racket with the arrest of a Railway employee and 11 others. 284 aspirants, who purchased the ‘leaked’ papers, were also arrested.

A Travelling Ticket Examiner with the Railways identified as Bedilal, arrested by the Special Task Force of the UP Police in Lucknow, was said to be the "kingpin" of the gang allegedly involved in the racket.

Eleven others were arrested in Allahabad when an STF team, acting on a tip-off, raided an examination centre at Jhusi on the outskirts of city. Nine of those detained belong to Bihar.

Copies of two original question papers, their 180 hand written copies, original certificates of a number of examinees and 31 mobile phones were recovered from the possession of the arrested gang members.

Examinations at all the 37 centres across Allahabad were cancelled after the leakage causing widespread resentment among the examinees who staged vociferous protests.

Nearly 50,000 candidates were to appear in the tests for 705 posts of loco-pilots.

Bedilal, a resident of Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh, was also arrested on February 26, 2006 on similar charges, say police sources.

STF sources said the gang used to charge a huge sum of money from examinees for providing them question papers along with answers.

Bedilal is, at present, posted in Gonda district which falls in the North-Eastern Railway zone.

Navy, Pirates Find No Takers

A day after INS Mysore responded to an SOS message transmitted by an Ethiopian merchant vessel to ward-off pirates attempting to hijack the ship in the Gulf of Aden, The Indian Navy is saddled with two-dozen pirates, it captured during the operation, as no country was willing to take them into custody.

India has, reportedly, approached Yemen asking it to prosecute the pirates in line with its commitment of contributing to anti-piracy operations in the area.

According to the Navy, 11 of the pirates belong to Yemen. The remaining 12 are Somalis. With a huge political crises continuing since the President of Somalia fired his government, there are no official takers in Somalia.

The subject was the focus of discussions at a roundtable on anti-piracy operations in Manama on Saturday to which India was invited. The consensus that emerged was that there was no enabling provision in the international law to deal with a situation where pirates are arrested in the international waters.

INS Mysore has to carry the pirates on board till a country accepts them for prosecution.

WB Congress Desertions Begin

Hitting the Congress at a time it will hurt the most, MLA sudip Bandopadhyaya announced plans to quit the Congress to join the Mamta Banrjee led Trinamool Congress on Sunday. In a separate development a breakaway faction of the Congress has also decided to ally with the Trinamool.

Bandopadhyay is scheduled to meet Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi on Monday.

Bandopadhyay left the Congress to join the Trinamool when the party was formed in 1998. He rejoined the Congress after his expulsion from the Trinamool in 2004. He expressed his resentment over the manner the Congress leadership had been ignoring “his seniority in politics,” citing it to be one reason for deciding to leave the party.

Another senior leader and former president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee Somen Mitra resigned from the party in July to form the Pragatisheel (Progressive) Indira Congress Dal that is now an ally of the Trinamool Congress.

Coming ahead of the parliamentary elections, the defections are significant, especially as they are being viewed as a pointer towards a possible principal the Trinamool will choose if it manages to improve poll showings next year.

Four More Arrested for Kandhamal Murder

Four more people Sunday were arrested in connection with the August 23 assassination of senior VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, taking the total arrests in the sensational case that had triggered widespread communal violence in Orissa's Kandhmal district to seven.

The police success came less than 24 hours before a right wing ultimatum expired, the saffron parties had earlier urged the state government to arrest the killers of the VHP leader, failing which they would organize a state-wide bandh on December 25.

Police officials have confirmed the arrests, which were made during conducted by the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Kotgarh area of Kandhmal district.

"We're looking for seven accused. We arrested four Christians, believed to be Maoist supporters, for killing Saraswati and four of his followers at an ashram in Jalespeta on August 23, from a place bordering Rayagada district. Search operations are on to nab the other three,'' the TOI quoted a source as saying.