Pak Says 124 Detained for Links to Terror

MEA Says no Let-up in Pressures

Results brought forth by the excruciating pressures unleashed on Islamabad by a refusing to relent New Delhi were finally visible Thursday, as Pakistan said it had detained and placed under surveillance some 100 people linked to the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jamat-ud-Dawah in connection with the Mumbai attacks, and constituted a three-man team to probe the incident.

Pakistan said it needed more information from India to proceed with its investigation, including access to the site of the terror attacks, and reiterated its offer of a joint probe.

According to reports, the investigation team, drawn from Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), comprises of Additional Director-General Javed Iqbal, the head of the Special Investigation Group of the FIA’s anti-terror unit Khalid Qureshi and agency director Liaquat Ali Khan.

At a press conference, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik listed actions initiated by Pakistan since the Novembr 26 terror strikes in Mumbai: shut down 20 offices of the JuD, 87 schools linked to it, two libraries, seven seminaries, eight other “small organisations” about which no details were provided, and seven websites.

Malik added that 13 disaster relief camps run by the JuD were also shut down, but did not comment on if the JuD’s Muridke headquarters had been sealed.

Malik said 124 people, including Hafiz Mohammed Saaed, the head of the JuD, Mufti Abdulrehman, Colonel (retired) Nazir Ahmed, Amir Hamza, and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, had been detained.

He parried questions on if Zarar Shah, the LeT operative reportedly responsible for the terror strikes was among those detained.

Carefully choreographing his words Malik said Islamabad was “fully committed” to helping India with the investigations into the Mumbai terror strikes.

He said Indian investigators need to give the FIA access to the attack sites to enable the Pakistani agency to convert “information” provided by India into “evidence” admissible in a court of law.

Meanwhile, in an interview to a leading English daily Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said there would be no let up in pressure for Pakistan this time around.

Mukherjee said that diplomatic rope-a-dope tactics employed by Islamabad will not bring about desired results, as India is determined to push for strict action against those responsible for the Mumbai terror strikes.

“Pakistan's response has to be one which can convince us that Pakistan is ready to tackle this (terrorism) seriously. We don't want a repetition of what happened after the Parliament attack (when Pakistan gave commitments which it did not fulfil)," said Mukherjee.

He dismissed as unconvincing Pakistan's reported action of shutting down five Jamaat-ud-Dawa camps and detaining 120-odd terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and other groups, and demanded proof of the action.

Making no efforts to cover up for the scepticism prevailing in India over Islamabad’s claims, he said similar bans in the past have proven to be half-baked.

Hamas Minister Killed in Strikes

Said Siyam, the Hamas interior minister, was killed in an air raid on his brother's home near Gaza City on Thursday. Siyam, a top Hamas leader who controlled thousands of Hamas security troops in Gaza, was killed in the strike along with his brother and son, say Hamas and Israeli officials.

Earlier, Israeli troops and tanks moved closer into the heart of Gaza City, prompting fierce gun battles with fighters from Hamas.

Two other Hamas officials - the interior ministry's security director Saleh Abu Sharkh and the local Hamas leader, Mahmoud Abu Watfah – were also killed in the Israeli strike that targeted Siyam’s brother’s residence, reported the BBC website.

The UN's relief agency, Unrwa, said part of its HQ in Gaza was up in flames after being hit by Israeli shells.

Unrwa spokesman Christopher Gunness said three of the agency's employees were hurt in the attack.

About 700 people were sheltering in the compound at the time, he said, and the fire burnt through stocks of food and medicine, approaching five full fuel tanks.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and apologised for the attack, but said Palestinian fighters had been firing from the UN site.

"It is absolutely true that we were attacked from that place, but the consequences are very sad and we apologise for it," he said.

"I don't think it should have happened and I'm very sorry," said Olmert.

The coastal enclave came under heavy fire from the east in the early morning as Israeli soldiers and tanks continued to thrust into Gaza City.

Several residential complexes, including one that houses the residence of Rushdi Abualouf a local BBC employee, were hit in the suburbs of the Gaza city..

Columns of thick black smoke continued to rise about the city, as if in protest of the grave irregularities and war crimes being committed by Jerusalem’s irreverent army.
A total of 1,083 people in Gaza have been killed since Israeli operations commenced, Gaza's Ministry of Health said on Thursday - 70 higher than the previous day's figure. Nearly a third of the dead are children, say Gaza doctors.

Thirteen Israelis - including three civilians - have died.

Reports said at least 15 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel since the early morning, injuring eight people in Beersheba.

Speaking to the media after meeting Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire, and said the suffering in Gaza was a "dire humanitarian crisis" that had reached an "unbearable point".

Meanwhile, Hamas and Israeli negotiators were said to be making progress towards a ceasefire agreement as they held separate meetings with Egyptian mediators in Cairo.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, says any ceasefire agreement would have to result in the opening of the border crossings that Israel blocks to prevent the smuggling of weapons.

The Israeli blockade of Gaza borders has repeatedly resulted in grave commodity crises in Gaza that spirals prices of food items and the anti-Semite sentiment in the region.

Israel launched its offensive on the Gaza Strip on 27 December and has refused to allow international journalists to enter Gaza without supervision, making it impossible to confirm reports of war crimes coming out of Gaza.

Maya Turns 53 Amid Protests

The grand celebrations associated with BSP supremo Mayawati’s birthday were missing this year, as the occasion was marred by protests, dharnas and gheraos organized by opposition parties who worry that the third front prime ministerial hopeful’s reign in the country’s most politically significant state may foil their electoral advances.

Mayawati attributed the toned down celebrations to the Mumbai terror strikes, but opposition parties said the fanfare was missing due to the murder of a PWD engineer which was linked to the fund raising drive around the leaders 53rd birthday.

Not one to cow down, UP Chief Minister, Mayawati who unveiled various populist schemes on the occasion said: "Thanks to the Opposition, this year we collected twice the money we collected last year, and this will be used for the next Lok Sabha elections."

She said that the fund raising marking her birthday was started at the behest of her mentor Kanshiram who said the day should be observed Arthik Sahyog Diwas with the sole objective of assisting the party financially.

Berating those that grudge the support she enjoys Mayawati said “Perhaps, it is not going down well with opposition parties, which are funded by capitalists," she said.

Attempting to take the opposition attacks head-on she said: "The engineer's murder has nothing to with the fund raising," while blaming the opposition of indulging in a "sleaze" campaign to malign her and the BSP.

Though relatively mellow the day was not shorn of drama, as zealous UP police officials ordered the use of force against SP workers in Lucknow that observed the day as ‘Thu Thu Divas.’

Later in the day SP chief Mulayam Singh accused Mayawati of adopting undemocratic methods to stifle the opposition, he said the party had submitted a memorandum to Governor TV Rajeswar demanding the dismissal of the government.

Meanwhile, SP national general secretary Amar Singh, Rampur MP Jaya Prada and Bhojpuri film star Manoj Tewari were denied entry into Gorakhpur on Thursday. They were there to lead the SP agitation.

Amar Singh was stopped at the Gorakhpur airport.
A Home Department spokesman later said the district administration feared that Mr. Amar Singh’s entry would cause a law and order problem.

Home Secretary Javed Ahmed said Amar Singh returned from the airport.

He added that Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav were among the SP leaders arrested in Lucknow.

Trouble erupted when opposition parties, including the SP and the Congress staged state-wide protest. The police resorted to a lathi charge and burst tear-gas shells to disperse a mob of agitating SP activists who skirmished with security personnel in the Kaiserbagh area of Lucknow.

Several SP and Congress workers were injured in the lathi charge.

Congress Fires Spokesman Satyavrat

Clearly indicating that it could not afford to alienate allies Samajwadi Party (SP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Thursday dropped Satyavrat Chaturvedi from its panel of spokesmen, a day after he suggested hat SP general secretary Amar Singh needed a neck up check up.

At the AICC briefing, Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari, however, had disassociated himself from Chaturvedi’s statement saying he was not aware of the statement.

Tewari had maintained that Congress wanted seat adjustments in UP with the SP to defeat the "anti-people" BSP government in the state.

Chaturvedi’s ouster from the panel is unlikely to impress the SP, which in the days to come is expected to seek the scalp of at least one other senior Congress leader.

US Jet Sinks in Hudson, Passengers Rescued

All passengers on board a bird-hit US Airways aircraft have survived after the pilot crash-landed the jet into New York's Hudson River. Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot, guided the aeroplane over the city's skyscrapers, landing it on the fast-moving Hudson, which runs between New York City and New Jersey.

The aircraft apparently hit a flock of birds after take off from LaGuardia Airport on Thursday, disabling its two engines.

All 155 passengers passengers and crew members were rescued before the aircraft sank into freezing waters.

David Paterson, New York's governor, called Sullenberger a hero, saying: "We've had a miracle on the Hudson.

"The pilot somehow, without any engines, was able to land this plane ... without any serious injuries," Paterson said.

Federal Aviation Administration, the US aviation authority said that there were a number of injured people who had been taken to New York hospitals.

The jet, which crashed near several commuter ferries on the river, floated downstream until rescue boats arrived as hundreds watched from office towers overlooking the river.

Laura Brown, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman, said Flight 1549 had just taken off en route to Charlotte, North Carolina, when the crash occurred about a minute later.

The pilot radioed flight controllers that he had hit birds a few miles from the airport, law enforcement sources said.

A passenger said that a few minutes after the plane took off he heard what sounded like an explosion.

One passenger, Jeff Kolodjay, from Norwalk, Connecticut, said: "The engine blew. There was fire everywhere and it smelled like gas."

He said the pilot announced that the plane was going down and told passengers to brace for the impact.

"People were bleeding all over. We hit the water pretty hard. It was scary."

The plane initially sank up to its windows.

Rescuers using coast guard vessels and ferries opened the door and pulled passengers out.

Temperatures in the Hudson hovered at around -10C, on what is one of the coldest days of the year.

Miliband Oversteps Welcome, Snubbed

India on Thursday snapped back at British foreign secretary David Miliband, who is on a visit to the country, for expressing views on Jammu and Kashmir, saying though the visiting dignitary is entitled to his views New Delhi did not need “unsolicited advice on internal issues in India.”

In an article published in The Guardian on Thursday, Miliband said: “The Lashkar-e-Toiba has roots in Pakistan and says its cause is Kashmir.”

In the article titled “War on Terror Was Wrong”, Miliband wrote: “Although I understand the current difficulties, resolution of the dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists in the region one of their main calls to arms, and allow Pakistani authorities to focus more effectively on tackling the threat on their western borders.”

He, however failed to add if similar ploys could be negotiated in strife torn regions like the Gaza, where the Israeli army continued to UN resolutions and civilian lives by the hundreds.

In a carefully worded response to Miliband’s views, foreign ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said: “Miliband is entitled to his views, which are clearly his own and are evolving. India is a free country and, even if we do not share his view, he is free to express them. However, we do not need unsolicited advice on internal issues in India like J&K.”

Mumbai Witness Says FBI Took Her to US

The mystery shrouding the disappearance of Anita Uddaiya, a key witness in the 26 November terror strikes on Mumbai, deepened on Thursday with the 47 year old claiming she was taken to the United States and questioned by the FBI on her sighting of Pakistani Terrorists reaching Mumbai shores.

Anita, a scrap dealer, lives in the Colaba Fishermen Colony off Cuffe Parade, where the terrorists had landed in a dinghy before melting into crowds to resurface at several locations to spawn death and destruction.

The lady had spotted the 10 odd men as they alighted from the dinghy. Since then, she has been helping the Mumbai crime branch as the most valuable eyewitness to the carnage.

The FBI, which is actively involved in the ongoing probe, was also allowed to interrogate her last month.

Since her mysterious disappearance on Sunday, reports said that she had been taken to the US for further interrogation by the FBI, the Mumbai crime branch however refused comment.

Anita resurfaced on Wednesday and reported to Cuffe Parade police station and said she had gone to Satara to meet her sister.

But on Thursday, she claimed that she had been taken to US by investigators who questioned her for a couple of hours.

“I was informed that US officers, who questioned me about the Mumbai attacks earlier, will take me to America. They came on Sunday morning and took me to America,” claimed Anita.

When asked about her Wednesday’s claim that she had gone to Satara, she said she had been told by US officers to maintain secrecy about her visit.

Four American officers, including one that spoke Hindi, drove up in a swank vehicle and took her to St. George Hospital “to see my husband Rajendra, before I was taken to the airport,” she said.

“It was an uncomfortable journey of 17-18 hours,” she said. She could not say where she landed but on alighting from the flight, she was taken to a posh hotel.

After a couple of hours, “we all went to a building where I was asked several questions about the terrorists and Mumbai attacks,” she said.

“The questions were translated in Hindi by one of them and whatever answers I had given were also explained to them in English. Everything was over in two to three hours,” she said.

She said she was again driven back to the hotel and then to the airport to board a flight back to Mumbai.

(Internet Inputs)

Todis Garnted Bail in Rizwanur Case

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Kolkata industrialist Ashok Todi and his brother Pradeep Todi in the Rizwanur Rahman death case, while warning the Todi’s against threatening witnesses; the apex court asked the Todi brothers to surrender their passports before the court.

Rizwanur's mother Kishwar Jahan had opposed Todi's bail plea in the High Court. Todi's brother Pradip and brother-in-law Anil Saraogi are also accused in the case.

Seven persons have been named in the case as accused, including three police officers, former deputy commissioner (detective department) Ajoy Kumar, former assistant commissioner anti-rowdy section, Sukanti Chakraborty and Krishnendu Das. They have been charged with abetment of suicide, criminal intimidation and conspiracy.

The three police officers and Saraogi are on bail, while the others are in judicial custody.

Ashok Todi had earlier surrendered before the CBI court on December one.

Rizwanur, according to CBI, committed suicide a month after he married Todi’s daughter, Priyanka. His body was found near railway tracks on September 21, 2007.

Final Session of Parliament Starts Feb 12

A fortnight-long session of Parliament, the last of the current Lok Sabha, kicks off on February 12, announcing the schedule Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said: "We have decided to convene the Parliament session from February 12 and it will last till February 26."

He was speaking in New Delhi after coming out of a meeting with the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.

"There are two-three ordinances that we have to replace as well. The private members day is also there. These decisions have been taken in the meeting today," he said.

To a question posed on new legislations the government planned to table during the final session, the minister said: "it all depends on time and the cooperation of members."

"Some of the bills passed by the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha are pending. They have to be taken up and so we need the cooperation of the opposition also," he said.

On chances of a no-confidence motion during the session, he said, "it depends." The President's address would outline the Government's future policies and programmes and both houses would have discussions on motion of thanks to the President for her address.

This would be the last session of the 14th Lok Sabha, the term of which expires in mid-May.

Satyam Techie Shot Dead in US

Akshay Vishal, a 26 year old engineer from Hyderabad, by tainted IT giant Satyam Computers employee, has been shot dead in the US where he had been working for the last three years. He is the seventh victim from Andhra Pradesh to be killed in the US in the last two years.

The 26-year-old was working in the US since 2005 for Satyam's client Falcon Jet Airways in the Little Rock town in Arkansas.

Akshay was shot at on Tuesday and succumbed to injuries on Wednesday...

"There was no enmity or anything. The anti-black attitude of America might have brought this death to him," said Akshay’s father, Lakshmana Murthy.

Akshay is the seventh young techie from Andhra Pradesh to be killed on the American soil in the last two years.

Barely two months ago, a 25-year-old software engineer from Hyderabad, Aparna Jinaga, was found dead in her flat.

A Srinivas, a post graduate medical student, was killed last year.

Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, both PhD students, were also killed last year.

Jayalakshmi, wife of a techie and her two children were found dead at their house near Detroit, last week.

Jayalakshmi’s husband Nerusu Lakshminivasa Rao is still missing.

Not a single crime has been cracked till date.

Some 100,000 young professionals from Andhra Pradesh work in the US and the recent spike in crimes targeting them has sent shock waves across the state and the Indian diaspora living in the US.