Bills for Anti-Terror Law, Agency in LS

The Bills, for the establishment of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and to amend the law to bring in more stringent provisions to deal with terror crimes, were finally presented to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, they were moved by Home Minister P Chidambaram, a day after the Union Cabinet approved them.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2008, among other things, has deterrent provisions such as detention without bail for up to 180 days and the enhanced penalty of life imprisonment for those involved in terror.

The National Investigation Agency Bill 2008, will enable the proposed agency to function in a concurrent jurisdiction framework, and take up cases under specific Acts for investigation.

The NIA will have provisions for setting up of special courts which will hold back-to-back hearings. Any case pending in a special court may be transferred to any such court. The superintendence of the agency shall vest with the Centre.

It empowers the Central government to decide what constitutes terror and investigate such attacks in any part of the country covering offences, including challenge to country’s sovereignty and integrity, bomb blasts, hijacking of aircraft and ships and attacks on nuclear facilities.

The NIA Bill notes the spike in terror attacks, not only in the militancy and insurgency affected areas and regions affected by Left wing extremism, but also in the form of attacks and bomb blasts in major cities.

A large number of such incidents were found to have complex inter-State and international linkages and possible connection with activities such as smuggling or arms, drugs, pushing in and circulation of fake Indian currency and infiltration.

“Keeping all these in view, it has for long been felt that there is need for setting up an Agency at the Central level for investigation of offences related to terrorism and certain other Acts, which have national ramifications,” the Bill said.

Notwithstanding law and order being a State subject, NIA officers above the rank of sub-inspector will have special powers to pursue and investigate any terror offence sans frontiers.

$10 Million for ‘Two Shoes’

The US president has "no hard feelings" and trusts Iraq's legal system to decide an appropriate punishment for the Iraqi journalist who flung shoes at him, said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, who incidentally received a black-eye in the melee following the show-hurling incident.

Muntazar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at George W Bush during a Baghdad press conference, calling him a dog.

Zaidi on Tuesday appeared before an investigating judge and "admitted the action he carried out", a High Judicial Council spokesman said.

Iraq's military earlier denied claims by Zaidi's brother that the journalist had been beaten in custody.

The TV journalist allegedly suffered a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding after the incident, his older brother, Zargham, told the BBC.

Zaidi has been remanded in custody while the judge investigates the case as part of complicated legal proceedings that could take months before a possible trial.

Tuesday saw a second day of rallies being held across Iraq hailing Zaidi a hero and calling for his release.

Meanwhile, offers to buy the shoes Zaidi threw were reportedly being made around the Arab world for as much as USD 10 million.

No War on Terror - No Peace, India Tells Pak

Training guns on cross-border terror, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister AK Antony on Tuesday said peace efforts with Pakistan will have to wait till Islamabad initiated demonstrable action against terror perpetrators and havens inside its territories.

The unified rhetoric rang through election bound Kashmir and the national capital. As India called on Pakistan to follow up on its promise of action against the “elements” which orchestrated the attacks in Mumbai last month and the future of bilateral ties depended on Pakistan sincerely investigating the incident.

“We expect good sense will prevail in the backdrop of these assurances and [hope] a conducive atmosphere can be built up. That is possible only after words are followed by action,” Mukherjee told the media in Srinagar.

The assurances he referred to were extended by former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on January 6, 2000 and reiterated by Asif Ali Zardari at a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 24 this year. Both the leaders had promised to dismantle terror infrastructure vowed to block the use of Pakistan’s soil for launching terror strikes in and against India.

Dispelling prevalent notions, Mukherjee called on the international community to refrain from linking the Mumbai terror attack to the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.

He added that evidence of Pakistani hand in previous terror incidents against unarmed civilians in India was submitted to Islamabad on several occasions. India also forwarded a list of 40 people wanted for various terror related crimes in India.

Citing the example of Maulana Masood Azhar, Mukherjee questioned: “What is the problem in handing him over?”

Azhar was in jail in India and released in exchange for air passengers aboard Indian Airlines flight IC-814, which hijacked by terrorists to Kandahar, Afghanistan in December 1999, when the National Democratic Alliance government was in power.

Mukherjee said internal dialogue on Kashmir would continue and called upon separatists to join the process by participating in democratic politics.

Meanwhile in New Delhi, quashing speculation of India planning air strikes against terror camps in Pakistan, AK Antony said India was not considering military options at the moment but added that he could not comment on what course of action would be adopted if Islamabad failed to initiate action against terror networks operating out of its territories.

“We are not planning any military action but at the same time unless Pakistan takes actions against those terrorists who are operating from their soil against India and also against all those who are behind the Mumbai terrorist attack, things will not be normal,” said Antony.

He was speaking on the occasion of ‘Vijay Diwas’ commemorating the 37th anniversary of India’s military victory over Pakistan in the Bangladesh liberation war.

Denying a build up of troops along the border, he said: “Everything is normal because our forces are always ready,” while negating reports speculating that India was planning to call off the five-year old ceasefire with Pakistan.

Set Your House in Order, Deoband Tells Pak

Responding to Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN Abdullah Haroon’s claim, that Darul Uloom, Deoband held strong influence over the country’s terror-infested north-west and FATA provinces, clerics and scholars at the seminary said Islamabad should set its own house in order.

Haroon had said Deoband should direct its “fatwa” against terrorism specifically to Pakistan’s north-west and tribal agencies, the seminary responded by issuing a statement saying “controlling jihadis in their (Pakistan) territory is their business not ours” and added that Fatwas issued by the institution applied to the “whole world.”

Though believers in Islam’s purist traditions, Darul Uloom had earlier issued a fatwa stating that Islam does not sanction the killing of innocents.

Darul Uloom organised an anti-terror convention in May which adopted a “declaration against terrorism”. The meeting, organised by Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind, was followed by a similar convention at Hyderabad.

Haroon’s statements also came in for criticism from the external affirms ministry, spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said “Statements by the Pakistani permanent representative are indeed regrettable,”

“The Dar-ul Uloom Deoband is one of our highly respected institutions of Islamic learning,” he added.

Explosives Found in Paris Store

Rattling the nerves of Parisians at the height of the Christmas shopping season, a package of dynamite planted in a luxury Paris department store -- Printmps -- was found and removed by the police on Tuesday, the package was discovered following information provided by a French news agency.

The store on the elegant Boulevard Haussmann, was just beginning to fill up with shoppers at 1100 hours (Paris time) on Tuesday when the police swooped in, they discovered five sticks of dynamite bound together on the third floor of the men's store. There was no detonator with the dynamite, French officials said.

A previously unknown group calling itself the Afghan Revolutionary Front said in a warning mailed to Agence France-Presse that it had planted the explosives in the store. It demanded the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan and warned that it would strike again if President Nicolas Sarkozy did not bring the troops home by the end of February.

Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie and the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, rushed to the scene, where bomb-squad vans on the cordoned-off the area.

"For the moment, we have found sticks of dynamite in just one location," Alliot-Marie told reporters. She said the dynamite was "relatively old" and had no detonator, adding, "From what we know so far, this was not a device that was intended to explode."

Sarkozy, speaking from the eastern French city of Strasbourg, said security officials were analyzing the explosives.

"Vigilance against terrorism is the only possible option," he said in a live television broadcast.

In its statement to Agence France-Presse, the Afghan Revolutionary Front said, "Send the message to your president that he needs to withdraw his troops from our country before the end of February 2009, or else we will act again in your capitalist department stores, and this time with no warning."

France has about 3,000 troops deployed with the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

Dikshit to be Sworn in Delhi CM Today

Sheila Dikshit, who steered the Congress to a spectacular hat-trick in assembly elections in Delhi, will be sworn in as chief minister for the third time in a row Wednesday. Unlike five years ago, the 71 year old was unanimously chosen chief minister by party legislators.

Dikshit and ministers in her cabinet will be administered the oath by Lt Governor Tejendera Khanna.

Dikshit became chief minister of Delhi in 1998 and led the Congress to impressive electoral victories 2003 and 2008.

The Congress won 43 seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly and the BJP 23. The Bahujan Samaj Party won two seats. One seat each went to the Lok Janshakti Party and an independent.

Samiti Reiterates Xmas Bandh Call

The Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati Shradhanjali Samiti on Tuesday said it will go ahead with plans of a state-wide Orissa shutdown on Christmas day to press for the arrest of the Swami’s killers. The statement came a day after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said his government would not permit any bandh on December 25.

“Though more than four months have lapsed since the brutal killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati along with his four associates, the state government has failed to perform its statutory responsibility in bringing to book the killers and the conspirators. The deadline declared in this connection has come to an end,” said the press statement issued by the Samiti while urging the people of Orissa to observe a peaceful Bandh across the state on December 25.

Samiti Presiden Ratnakar Chaini while addressing the press in Bhubaneswar said the arrest of four persons in connection with the murder of the Swami on Sunday was “nothing but eyewash”.

He charged that Chief Minister Patnaik’s refusal to permit the Christmas day bandh was guided by the Church.

The dawn to dusk bandh, according to Chaini, would come into force at 0600 hours and terminate at 1800 hours on the same day.

Samiti activists also plan a 10 minute drum and cymbal cacophony to “wake up” the Patnaik administration.

Responding to a discussion on Kandhamal crisis in the state Assembly on Monday evening, the Chief Minister had said that no bandh will be permitted on December 25 and the government will come down heavily on anyone attempting to vitiate peace and harmony.

“Days of religious festivals of every community should be days of amity and goodwill. Orissa has a long history of communal harmony and peace. Let not the shocking and tragic incidents of communal violence that took place in December last year and August this year ever be repeated again,” Patnaik had said.

The Samiti, an organisation formed in the memory of the slain Swami had issued an ultimatum on November 15 saying it would observe Orissa bandh on December 25 if the state government failed to arrest those responsible for the assassination by December 15.

98 Cosa Nostra Dons in Police Net

Italian police Tuesday conducted sweeping raids, arresting 98 suspected dons of the crouching Sicilian mafia -- Cosa Nostra -- as they planned to form a new command structure. The raids, the largest in recent years, struck the nascent hierarchy to prevent bloodshed between the bosses.

"The operation has thrown the Mafia into a very serious crisis," said Francesco Messineo, Palermo's chief prosecutor, who ordered the arrests.

The Sicilian Mafia has been trying to overcome disarray in its ranks since Bernardo Provenzano was arrested in April 2006. Many of the top mobster's encrypted notes were cracked, shedding light on Cosa Nostra's organisation and leading to the arrests of some close aides.

"If that operation… brought Cosa Nostra down to its knees, this prevented it from getting up again," said Pietro Grasso, the national anti-Mafia prosecutor.

The operation – called Perseus, after the Greek mythological hero who beheaded Medusa – "severed all the strategically important heads of a new ruling structure that had to deliberate, as it once did, on all serious acts", Grasso said.

The arrests targeted 89 suspected crime family bosses and mobsters intent on setting up a decision-making commission, or "cupola".

(Internet)

Mumbai Terror: Cops Get Sabahuddin Remand

A Lucknow court on Tuesday granted Mumbai police the transit remand of Sabahuddin, an alleged Lashkar-e-Tayeba (LeT) militant and prime accused in the attacks on the CRPF camp at Rampur and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. He will be investigated for possible links to the Mumbai attacks.

Last week, Mumbai police had got the transit remand of Fahim Ansari, another LeT militant, from whom the Uttar Pradesh Police had recovered hand-drawn maps of potential targets in Mumbai in February 2007. Both men will be moved to Mumbai.

Before coming to UP, Mumbai police had shown Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the Mumbai attacks, the photographs of Sabahuddin and Fahim.

According to reports, though Kasab did not identify Fahim, he said Sabahuddin looked like someone whom he had seen in one of the LeT training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

“Kasab probably knows Sabahuddin, but it can be confirmed only after they come face to face and are interrogated together. We may also get information about some other links within the country which the LeT had used in the Mumbai attacks,” Assistant Commissioner Police of Mumbai Crime Branch, Ashok Dhurate was quoted as saying.

“Sabahuddin was a very important man in the LeT set up. At the time of his arrest, he was LeT’s area commander in Nepal where his job was to facilitate operations in India,” an unnamed Mumbai Crime Branch officer involved in the 26/11 attack case wasquoted as saying by the Indian Express.

(Internet inputs)

Malegaon Blast: Rahirkar Remanded to Police Custody

The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court in Mumbai remanded Ajay Rahirkar to police custody till December 20, Rahirkar, an accused in the Malegaon blast, is the treasurer of right wing group Abhinav Bharat. Eight other accused were sent to judicial custody till December 29.

The prosecution had sought Rahirkar's custody on the grounds that Rahirkar transferred funds from Abhinav Bharat's treasury to carry out the blast.

"Rahirkar had gone to Ujjain along with wanted accused Ramji Kalsangra and had prepared for explosives to be used in the blast," special public prosecutor Rohini Salian argued before the court.

The prosecution also filed their reply to the bail application filed by Rahirkar and co-accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit.

"There is enough evidence to prove Rahirkar and Purohit's involvement in the blast and the investigation is still on and thus it is premature to file for bail now when the case is still in the remand stage," Salian said.

Purohit, who is in the custody of Matunga police station in connection with a forgery case, was also produced before a metropolitan magistrate who remanded him to judicial custody till December 18.

Another accused Rakesh Dhawde who is in the custody of CBI for his involvement in the Nanded blast, was today remanded to police custody till December 21.