TEHRAN: Iran rejects Western pressures over its nuclear activities and will never give up its rights, Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator said Thursday ahead of crunch talks with world powers in Baghdad next week.

“If we participate in the negotiations… it is because of our resistance (to Western powers). Thanks to our resistance, we have defended the rights of the Iranian people,” Saeed Jalili said in a speech broadcast on local television.

“The Iranian people will never give up even an iota of their rights,”Jalili added, in reference to the Islamic republic’s nuclear drive which the West suspects is masking a weapons programme. Tehran vehemently denies the charge.

After a 15 month hiatus, Iran and the P5+1 powers — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany — held their first talks in Istanbul in mid-April, which were described as “positive.”The parties agreed to more in-depth discussions in Baghdad on May 23.

“I advise Western officials against making calculated mistakes. In Baghdad, we can negotiate for cooperation on the basis of respect for Iran’s undeniable rights,” Jalili said.

“The path chosen by our country is a path of no return. The (West) would like to block Iran’s progress in the nuclear domain, but they have failed. Iran today has become a nuclear power,” he added.

“To those who say that time is running out for dialogue, I reply: What is running out is the policy of pressuring Iran, because this strategy has not yielded the results” expected by world powers.

The United States and the European Union have tightened economic sanctions on Iran, imposing tough restrictions on its vital oil industry, to pressure it over its disputed uranium enrichment programme.

US President Barack Obama warned Iran in March that time was running out to resolve the standoff through diplomacy.

But Jalili was defiant on Thursday, insisting that sanctions and international pressure were not affecting Iran’s determination.

“Those who think they can pressure Iran with these sanctions are wrong… because the sanctions have allowed us to make progress,” he said.

He argued that the conditions imposed on Iran at talks in Geneva in 2009 for the delivery of uranium enriched to 20 percent for its Tehran research reactor had in fact forced it to produce the nuclear fuel itself.

“We told them: ‘If you do not give us the fuel, we will produce it ourselves.’ I will never forget the smiles from certain members of the P5+1.

“But in less than two years we produced the fuel, and we are using it today.” Iran currently enriches uranium to 3.5 percent and to 20 percent. The former it says is to power its Bushehr nuclear electricity plant and the latter it says is to generate medical isotopes in its Tehran research reactor.

Uranium has to be enriched to 90 per cent or above for use in an atomic bomb. Several Iranian officials have in recent weeks hinted that Tehran may under certain conditions suspend its drive of enriching uranium to the 20 per cent level.

Tehran says it wants international acceptance of its right to peaceful nuclear activities, for sanctions to be lifted and for the threat of US and Israeli military action to disappear.

(Dawn)

JERUSALEM: US plans for a possible military strike on Iran are ready and the option is “fully available”, the US ambassador to Israel said – days before Tehran resumes talks with world powers which suspect it of seeking to develop nuclear arms.   

Like Israel, the United States has said it considers military force a last resort to prevent Iran using its uranium enrichment to make a bomb. Iran insists its nuclear programme is for purely civilian purposes.

“It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically and through the use of pressure than to use military force,” Ambassador Dan Shapiro said in remarks about Iran aired by Israel’s Army Radio on Thursday.

“But that doesn’t mean that option is not fully available – not just available, but it’s ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it’s ready,” said Shapiro, who the radio station said had spoken on Tuesday.

The United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany have been using sanctions and negotiations to try to persuade Iran to curb its uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for reactors, medical isotopes, and, at higher levels of purification, fissile material for warheads.

New talks opened in Istanbul last month and resume on May 23 in Baghdad.

Israel, which is widely assumed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal, feels threatened by the prospect of its arch-foe Iran going nuclear and has hinted it could launch preemptive war.

But many analysts believe the United States alone has the military clout to do lasting damage to Iran’s nuclear programme.

In January, Shapiro told an Israeli newspaper the United States was “guaranteeing that the military option is ready and available to the president at the moment he decides to use it”.

US lawmakers are considering additional legislation that would increase pressure on Iran, with further measures to punish foreign companies for dealing with Iran in any capacity.

(Dawn)

ADEN: A suspected US drone strike killed two al Qaeda militants on Thursday in eastern Yemen, as an army offensive against the extremist group entered its sixth day, a local official said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the two al Qaeda suspects were killed in a strike on their car in Shibam, a historic city in Yemen’s Hadramawt province.

Air strikes on al Qaeda targets in Yemen have increased since the Yemeni army, backed by US experts, launched an offensive on Saturday to retake southern cities that in the last year had fallen under al Qaeda control.

At least 144 people have been killed in the last six days of fighting which has centred around the three cities of Loder, Jaar and Zinjibar in the southern Abyan province.

A military official involved in the offensive said on Thursday that al Qaeda gunmen retreated from three locations on the outskirts of Loder.

“We have cleansed Loder (of al Qaeda) and the fighters have been forced to flee,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

Al Qaeda remains in control of Zinjibar, Abyan’s capital, though diplomats and officials said on Wednesday that the Yemeni military was advancing towards the southeastern entrance of the city.

One local official said on Thursday that the Yemeni airforce launched several late night airstrikes on the southern cities of Shaqra and Arqoub, both near Zinjibar, though no casualties were reported.

A force of around 20,000 soldiers from all regions in the south are believed to be engaged in the operation launched on Saturday.

They are backed by armed militias, mostly local residents of the towns and cities in the south that since the ouster of veteran leader Ali Abdullah Saleh and the election of a new president earlier this year have thrown their support behind the Yemeni military.

(Dawn)

MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan faced a police probe and a lifetime ban from Mumbai’s main cricket stadium on Thursday following a furious late-night row with staff at the ground, officials said.

The actor, who co-owns the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kolkata Knight Riders, took a group of youngsters including his daughter Suhana onto the pitch of the Wankhede Stadium after a match on Wednesday night.

A security guard tried to stop them from playing, leading the multi-millionaire actor to argue angrily for 10-15 minutes before finally giving up and leaving the stadium, an AFP photographer witnessed.

“Security officials told him to leave, but Shah Rukh Khan started the brawl,” Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) secretary Nitin Dalal told NDTV news.

“He entered the ground half an hour after the game. The officers told him that this was not the right time. He misbehaved and he used foul language,” he added.

Dalal said the MCA had filed a police complaint and would ban the cricket-crazy star from future attendance at the Wankhede Stadium.

“He’ll not be allowed for any match—Test match, one-day international or any T20 or IPL matches hereafter. That is what we have decided,” said MCA treasurer Ravi Savant.

The sweaty and dishevelled appearance of Khan, one of the most popular stars of the nation’s prolific Bollywood film industry, was a far cry from the carefully managed image presented through his advertising and acting roles.

The 46-year-old was embroiled in another ugly row in January after a female director accused him of assaulting her husband at a late-night party.

Khan has also been summoned to appear before a court in Jaipur later this month after he was seen smoking at the city’s main cricket stadium, in violation of anti-smoking laws.

(Dawn)

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Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, however, accused the West of ignoring violence by “terrorists” and said he would demand an explanation from Annan when he visits Damascus later this month.

“After regime forces raided the neighbourhood of Shammas (in the central city of Homs), 15 civilians were found summarily executed,” Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP, in what he branded a massacre.

The overnight killings came a day the Observatory accused troops of another massacre in the town of Khan Sheikhun, in the northwestern province of Idlib, when they opened fire on a funeral procession and reportedly killed 20 people.

At least 12 more people were killed in incidents around the country on Wednesday, the Observatory said, while another four died of wounds suffered during the funeral in Khan Sheikhun. (AFP)

The single currency, which fell below $1.27 on Wednesday to hit its lowest level since mid-January, bought $1.2745 and 102.34 yen in Tokyo morning trade, up from $1.2715 and 102.13 yen in New York late Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the single currency fell to $1.2681 at one stage, its lowest against the greenback since January 16, while it also tumbled below 102 yen.

On Thursday, the dollar was changing hands at 80.26 yen against 80.32 yen, after official data showed Japan’s economy grew by 1.0 percent in the January to March quarter from the previous three months.

The euro was slightly higher on short covering as a mixed picture on Asian markets improved risk sentiment after world stock exchanges tumbled Wednesday, said Junichi Ishikawa, forex analyst at IG Market Securities in Tokyo.

“Investors are adjusting their positions after the long streak of euro weakness,” he told Dow Jones Newswires.

Ishikawa said the euro “has been slightly oversold” but still expected weakness in the common currency over the longer term.

Tokyo share prices were sluggish Thursday morning but Hong Kong and Shanghai shares rose, defying concerns over Greece’s future in the eurozone.

Christopher Vecchio, currency Analyst at DailyFX, said: “With the eurozone backdrop very much in place now, volatility is here to stay, and rallies should be capped by $1.2800 (in euro/dollar trade).”

Greece on Wednesday swore in a senior judge as caretaker prime minister who is charged with holding new elections after an indecisive vote. (AFP)

But the couple could both face jail sentences if found guilty after being charged on Tuesday with obstructing justice, along with four others, in the first criminal charges from Britain’s News of the World phone hacking scandal.

The scandal has already led to Brooks, 43, leaving her job and to the closure of the News of the World, the tabloid she once led as one of Britain’s youngest newspaper editors — and one of its few female editors too.

But until recently the couple were close to Cameron and moved with some of Britain’s biggest names as part of the socalled “Chipping Norton set”, an elite social circle based in a quaint Oxfordshire town.

They reportedly first met at a party hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, presenter of the popular TV motoring show “Top Gear”, at his Chipping Norton estate.

Red-haired Brooks — until last year the chief executive of Murdoch’s British newspaper arm News International — comes from a relatively humble stateeducated background, and is known as ambitious and a skilful networker.

Born Rebekah Wade in north-west England, she joined Murdoch’s News of the World at age 20 as a secretary, and 11 years later was the paper’s editor.

She became so close to Murdoch, now 81, that she was sometimes called his fifth daughter.

After three years Brooks moved to become the first female editor of sister paper The Sun, where she stayed for six years before being promoted to chief executive of News International.

Her husband is a long-time friend of the prime minister, having met him at the elite boarding school Eton College. Charlie Brooks, 49, is four years older than the premier but they remained friends as Brooks went on to become an amateur jockey then a racehorse trainer.

Known for his lavish socialite lifestyle, he has also written a racing column for the Telegraph newspaper and a novel, “Citizen”, subtitled Greed, Speed, Corruption and a Race to the Death.

It was praised by The Sun for its “sex, intrigue and horses… the perfect ingredients for a smashing read”.

Rebekah was herself the subject of tabloid stories in 2005 when she was arrested then released without charge after her first husband, actor Ross Kemp, suffered a cut to the mouth.

Burhan Ghalioun, head of the opposition Syrian National Council. — Photo by Reuters

AMMAN: The Syrian National Council opposition group re-elected liberal politician Burhan Ghalioun as president at a meeting in Rome on Tuesday, two sources at the meeting told Reuters.

Ghalioun, a secular academic, has been leader of the opposition in exile since the SNC’s creation in August 2011.

Some fellow activists have criticised him for being out of touch with the opposition inside Syria and for failing to unify the SNC.

But the 67-year-old has the backing of the Gulf States and France, and is seen as a consensus figure in the group, where militants, who are divided into different factions, hold sway.

Aware that he is an acceptable figure to the international community, the militants have supported him.

“Ghalioun was re-elected for another three-month term,” one of the sources told Reuters after a meeting of the council’s general secretariat, which chooses the president every three months. “He won 66 per cent of the vote.”

George Sabra, another liberal who is an ally of Syria’s top dissident Riad al-Turk, came second, the sources said.

Turk, an 81-year-old former leftist who spent 25 years as a political prisoner, operates underground inside Syria. The opposition looks to him for moral guidance.

(Dawn)

Today is Mother’s Day, so let us wish a happy day to all the mothers who are in this world, wherever they may be. In Pakistan, this celebration is only now beginning to make an impact on our society and signs of celebration can be seen in places, especially the commercial outlets — it’s a lovely way to honour your mother and detractors — who say we already have a family system, which pays tribute to mothers — should not be allowed to dub it a ‘western’ idea and knock its importance.

Why can’t we give mothers special attention to show we care for and love them on their day? We have been taught that paradise lies beneath the feet of a mother — so celebrating this notion is in keeping with our belief and if there can be special days devoted to children, women in general etc: then why not to mothers? Sending flowers and gifts are now a common practice, so don’t be shy — send your Mum a special message on her day; don’t forget to pamper her and let her know you love her and though she may already know this, there’s nothing like putting your feelings into words and loving gestures.

In the times of the ancient Greeks, Rhea, the Mother of the Gods, was honoured with a special festival which some say is the forerunner of the present Mother’s Day. The first observation of a Mother’s Day took place in 1872 when Julia Ward Howe, social reformer and poet, suggested a day to honour mothers, a day dedicated to peace something we all hope and pray for these days Mary Sasseen, a devoted teacher and daughter, tried to begin the tradition of honouring mothers but a cruel twist of fate occurred when she died in childbirth. Following her mother’s footsteps, Anna Jarvis Jr. took Howe’s idea a step further in 1907 and started her own crusade to found a memorial day for women by campaigning for a nationally recognised Mother’s Day. Anna succeeded in getting her hometown to celebrate Mother’s Day on the anniversary of her mother’s death — the second Sunday in May. Eventually, this was officially declared as ‘Mother’s Day.’ It continues to be one of the most commercially successful holidays all over the world, even more than Christmas and Valentines Day, so Happy Mothers Day all you wonderful mothers out there!

Issues pertaining to safe motherhood highlighted

Islamabad

As the world celebrates Mother’s Day to pay tribute and offer gratitude to mothers, the civil society organisations have taken this opportunity to highlight vital issues related to safe motherhood in Pakistan.

The information shared by the Population Council with media explains links of safe motherhood with birth spacing whereas Rutgers WPF Pakistan has adopted the theme of ‘Early Marriages’ as focus of all their activities organised on this particular day.

The Rutgers WPF celebrated the Mothers Night on Saturday to commemorate the International Mother’s Day. The theme was ‘Early Marriages: Raising Awareness and Promoting Prevention of Early Marriages.’ The event activities revolved around highlighting the issue of safe motherhood and the fact that motherhood at young age is not safe.

In Pakistan, marriage at an early age is a reality for many young women. According to Unicef, from 1987 to 2005, child marriages amounted for 32 per cent of all marriages in Pakistan. Parents marry off their daughters at an early age due to cultural, social and financial reasons. What they do not keep in consideration is how the marriage will affect their daughters.

A direct consequence of young age marriage is early childbirth and greater vulnerability to related complications especially morbidities such as fistula, post-partum haemorrhage, sepsis and hypertensive disorder due to biological and physiological factors. Globally, early pregnancy has been found to be the leading cause of death among young girls between 14 to 18 years of age. Girls under 15 years are five times more likely to lose their lives during childbirth or pregnancy as compared to older women.

Early marriage compromises the development of girls: it marks the end of their education; they are ill equipped to face livelihood demands; they are required to perform heavy amounts of domestic work; they have constrained decision-making and reduced life choices and they are more likely to experience domestic violence. All of these factors contribute to married girls and child mothers being ill prepared for their roles as informed wives and mothers.

The participants of the event suggested that to end the practice of child marriages, it is important to advocate widely and passionately about the harmful consequence of early marriages and to work towards changing attitudes of families and society at large. Improving access to education for both boys and girls, as well as making education free and compulsory are also important strategies. Sustained advocacy and awareness raising can contribute towards decreasing the pressure on young women to have children, when the families know the dangers of early motherhood.

The material shared by Population Council Pakistan said that on May 13 the world celebrates Mother’s Day but in Pakistan, unfortunately, many households and families will be denied this opportunity because of the untimely deaths of mothers during pregnancy and childbirth.

According to Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07 and Unicef, Pakistan has an alarmingly high Maternal Mortality Rate (276 maternal deaths per 100, 000 births) with an estimated 20,000 women losing their lives every year due to causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Just 16 per cent of the poorest women give birth assisted by a skilled attendant. Infant mortality is also among the highest in Asia — second only to Afghanistan.

Dr. Ali Mohammad Mir, Director Programmes Population Council, said that in Pakistan, there is a need to pursue strategies to ensure that all women have access to safe and effective maternal health services. He said that Islam places especial importance on the status of mothers. In fact heaven has been placed under the feet of mothers. He said that most of the maternal deaths are preventable as they occur in women who have pregnancies that are too closely spaced or too many; in women who are either too young or too old. Dr. Mir informed that one of the most effective and efficient ways of preventing maternal deaths is by spacing pregnancies. He said that according to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07, 1 out of 3 births are spaced less than 2 years apart and presently less than 22 percent of women are using a modern contraceptive method.

A quarter of women in the reproductive age group would like to adopt family planning but are unable to do so. This is referred to as the “unmet need for family planning”. He said that in the past, family planning was promoted as a way to control fertility and lower population growth. “The concept had limited acceptability among masses as they failed to appreciate the benefits of family planning,” he said. He said that a recently completed Population Council project illustrates how much can be done to increase contraceptive use, improve health and well being of the people even in most remote parts of the country.

Dr. Mir explained that when a woman has access to family planning she can space her pregnancies at longer intervals. “This has a positive impact not just on the health and well-being of the mother and the child to be born but also on the woman’s other children, who can thus get the due care and attention they require and deserve.”

City marks Mother’s Day today

* Population Council official for pursuing strategies to ensure safe, effective healthcare to all women

Staff Report

LAHORE: Mother’s Day is being celebrated today in most parts of the world to pay tribute and offer gratitude to our mothers who have raised us facing many tribulations.

In Pakistan, unfortunately, many households and families will be denied this opportunity because of the untimely deaths of mothers during pregnancy and childbirth.

According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07 and UNICEF, Pakistan has an alarmingly high Maternal Mortality Rate (276 maternal deaths per 100,000 births) with an estimated 20,000 women losing their lives every year due to causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

Just 16 percent of the poorest women give birth assisted by a skilled attendant. Infant mortality in the country is also among the highest in Asia – second only to Afghanistan.

On the occasion of International Mother’s Day, Population Council Director (Programmes) Dr Ali Muhammad Mir said that in Pakistan, we must pursue strategies to ensure that all women have access to safe and effective maternal health services. He said that Islam had placed special importance on the status of mothers. He said that most of the maternal deaths were preventable, as they occurred in women who had pregnancies that were too closely spaced or too many; in women who were either too young or too old. Dr Mir informed that one of the most effective and efficient ways of preventing maternal deaths was by spacing pregnancies.

He said that according to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07, one out of three births was spaced less than two years apart, and presently less than 22 percent of women were using a modern contraceptive method. A quarter of women in the reproductive age group would like to adopt family planning but were unable to do so. This was referred to as the “unmet need for family planning”.

He said that in the past, family planning was promoted as a way to control fertility and lower population growth. The concept had limited acceptability among the masses as they failed to appreciate the benefits of family planning.

He said that a recently completed Population Council project illustrates how much could be done to increase contraceptive use, improve health and well-being of people, even in the most remote parts of the country.

The project promoted the concept of birth spacing as a means of ensuring health of mothers and their children, thereby, ensuring family well-being, he said. The project changed the way people thought about family planning and influenced personal behaviours, explained Dr Mir. He said that in the project, high-quality services were ensured, and in less than four years, contraceptive use increased dramatically — by an average of nine percentage points — in 14 districts across Pakistan.

The greatest increase occurred among those with the most need: poor, rural, and young couples, he said. The project titled ‘Falah’ (prosperity) successfully averted 3,000 maternal deaths nationally over the course of its implementation period.

Mother’s Day to be celebrated worldwide today

* It is the time to express gratitude for hardships a mother bears in bringing up a child

ISLAMABAD: People across the globe, including Pakistan, are celebrating Mother’s Day today (Sunday) to share their sentiments and express profound love for their mothers.

The day to honour motherhood is celebrated on second Sunday of May and is a time to appreciate mothers and mother figures, expressing gratitude for the hardships they bear in bringing up a child.

Like every year, the day will be marked with the same spirit and enthusiasm and public and private organisations as well as schools will arrange colourful programmes in connection with Mother’s Day celebrations.

The mother’s week celebrations started from Monday and private channels have been telecasting special transmission in this connection since then, while they will present different plays and shows to highlight the importance of the day and recognise the amazing role of mothers.

Though Mother’s Day celebrations take place at different times in the world but the feelings with which people celebrate Mother’s Day are the same.

Several other countries celebrate Mother’s Day on different dates depending upon what they have decided about the specific day.

People send their mothers cakes, cards, flowers, terry bears, small fruit or gift basket, sweets, candies and chocolates. In the recent years, the most dedicated gifts for the Mother’s Day have been flowers, perfumes, cakes and special sweets.

Mothers are actually the guiding force and are responsible for developing the character and personality of a child. Mothers shape the lives of children and Mother’s Day is the opportunity to pay tribute to them for their contribution.

The tradition of Mother’s Day started with ancient Greeks who celebrated their annual spring festival in honour of Rhea, the mother of many gods and goddesses in the Greek mythology.

Ancient Romans too celebrated a spring festival by the name of Hilaria in honour of Cybele, a mother goddess, some 250 years before the holy Christ was born. app

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Pakistanis win global award for film on drones

ISLAMABAD: A short film on the US drone attacks in Pakistan, made by students of Iqra University, has won an award at an international annual film festival held in the US.

The 20-minute film “The Other Side” was awarded the Best Audience Award at the National Film Festival For Talented Youth (NFFTY), held in Seattle.

The short film was written and directed by Danish Ali along with five other team members, Online news agency reported.

The film revolves around the idea of assessing social, psychological and economical affects of the US drone strikes on the people in the northwest tribal areas of Pakistan. It identifies the problems faced by families who have become victims of missiles fired by the drones.

This year alone, there has been more than 10 drone strikes, in which at least 83 people have been killed.

However, the filmmakers were unable to attend the award ceremony as their visa applications were rejected.

“If we had got the visa then it would have been easy for us to frame our point of view in front of the other selected youth filmmakers,” Ali said.

The National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), held annually in Seattle, showcases work by filmmakers aged 22 and under from across the world.

It was created in 2007 with the aim of becoming the most influential youth-oriented film festival in North America. The festival includes film screenings, filmmaking workshops and panels, concerts by youth bands, and a gala opening night.

It is organised by the Talented Youth — a non-profit arts organisation that was founded in 2007 with NFFTY as its flagship programme.

Twin suicide car-bomb attacks have killed at least 55 people and wounded 372 in Damascus, Syrian officials say.

The blasts happened near a military intelligence building during morning rush hour. State TV showed burnt cars and two deep craters in the road.

The government and the opposition blamed each other for the attack – the deadliest in Damascus since the start of Syria’s uprising 14 months ago.

The two sides are supposed to observe a ceasefire monitored by a UN team.

However violence has continued unabated across the country, with the restive city of Homs shelled again overnight.

The international peace envoy on Syria, Kofi Annan, said the Damascus blasts were “abhorrent” and counter-productive for all parties.

Body parts

Central Damascus is under the firm control of government forces, but the city has been hit by several bombings in recent months, often targeting security buildings or military convoys.

Thursday’s attacks occcurred in the southern suburb of al-Qazzaz shortly before 08:00 (05:00 GMT), as people were going to work.

The interior ministry said the “terrorist blasts” were caused by two cars “loaded with more than 1,000kg of explosives and driven by suicide bombers”.

The explosions damaged the facade of a 10-storey military intelligence building involved in the crackdown on the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

It is part of a broader military compound of the Palestine Branch, one of the most feared among the more than 20 secret police organisations in the country, correspondents say.

The unit was originally set up in the 1950s to interrogate suspected Israeli spies. But over the past decade, it has evolved into the country’s counter-terrorism unit, and is infamous for interrogations and torture, they say.

Large crowds gathered despite the security cordon, shouting slogans and chants in support of President Assad.

All the while, the emergency teams looked for body parts and bulldozers were at work clearing away some of the debris. The whole area looks like a wasteland, says the BBC’s Lyse Doucet at the scene.

One Damascus resident, who gave his name as Ahmad, told the BBC the blasts were the biggest explosions he had ever heard.

“The whole of Damascus heard them. At first, I thought they were air strikes,” he said.

The Norwegian head of the UN observer mission in Syria, Maj Gen Robert Mood, visited the site. He said the Syrian people did not deserve this “terrible violence”.

Homs shelling

The opposition says the attacks were carried out by the government itself to discredit rebel forces.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army bombarded the city of Homs overnight.

Opposition activists described the bombardment as some of the heaviest shelling in Homs for weeks.

Eleven UN monitors are now stationed there to try to implement a ceasefire.

The observers are in the country as part of the joint UN-Arab League peace plan and began deploying last month.

There are now about 70 monitors in Syria as a whole, but their presence has had no effect in quelling the violence.

The UN says at least 9,000 people have died since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011. In February, Syria’s government put the death toll at 3,838 – 2,493 civilians and 1,345 security forces personnel.

CNN) — Two “terrorist suicide attacks” killed up to 55 people in Damascus on Thursday, the bloodiest such strike in Syria’s capital since an uprising started 14 months ago.
The Syrian Interior Ministry said 55 civilians and members of the security forces died in the blasts, which injured 372 others and “caused massive material losses.” The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack left at least 59 dead and destroyed the nation’s intelligence agency.
“Two booby-trapped cars loaded with more than 1,000 kg (2,200 pounds) of explosives and driven by suicidal terrorists carried out the terrorist blasts,” the ministry said in a statement Thursday.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said the blasts occurred at an intersection in Qazzaz, a densely populated neighborhood, with employees and students heading off to work and school.
Two opposition movements — the Syrian National Council and the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change — blamed the regime for the attacks. Opposition members have said Bashar al-Assad’s government has staged high-profile bombings in the large cities of Aleppo and Damascus in recent months to undermine the credibility of the resistance.
Annan: Civil war possible in Syria Can Annan’s Syria plan be salvaged? Annan: Syria running out of options School becomes sanctuary in Syria
“This is a government-planned attack, and we are used to provocations using these tactics,” said Ausama Monajed, the adviser to the president of the council. “We are in touch with the armed resistance.”
A top-ranking officer in the anti-government resistance condemned the blasts and also suggested the regime could be responsible.
“There are no other parties in Syria who are technically capable of making such a huge explosion, except for the regime itself,” said Brig. Gen. Moustafa el-Sheikh, the head of the military council of the Free Syrian Army. “Not even al Qaeda can do that.”
Members of the U.N. observer team in Syria inspected the site. Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the observer mission, said, “Those who stand behind these explosions” should understand that the acts cause great suffering, SANA reported.
“They should stop these heinous acts and give a chance to the Syrians to go forward in a peaceful direction without having the innocents being killed,” SANA said, citing Mood.
The observers are attempting to monitor a cease-fire and peace plan forged by Arab League and U.N. joint special envoy Kofi Annan, who strongly condemned the strikes.
Annan “is saddened by the loss of life resulting from the two blasts and extends his condolences to the families of the victims. These abhorrent acts are unacceptable and the violence in Syria must stop,” Annan’s spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, said in a statement.
“He reiterates his call to all parties to adhere to the cessation of violence. Any action that serves to escalate tensions and raise the level of violence can only be counterproductive to the interests of all parties. The joint special envoy calls on all parties to avoid further bloodshed and to protect civilians. The Syrian people have already suffered too much.”
The attacks sent residents dashing through bloody streets littered with debris.
Videos on state television showed panicked residents running down bloody streets strewn with body parts and burned cars. Some gingerly hauled the injured from scorched cars, while others zipped up the dead in what appeared to be body bags.
Amid the chaos, plumes of smoke and white ashes rose into the hazy skies as rescue crews rushed toward the injured.
The government said the blasts led to scores of car crashes and damaged autos.
The blasts come hours after a leading opposition activist group said regime forces have killed hundreds since a cease-fire went into effect about a month ago.
As of Wednesday, at least 1,025 people have been killed, including 60 children, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. The deaths include executions and tortures, the group said.
The United Nations has warned that the country risks plunging into a civil war if the warring sides in the uprising don’t adhere to the cease-fire that went into effect on April 12.
“If this opportunity is not seized, I fear that what joint special envoy Kofi Annan has warned about will come to pass: a full-scale civil war with catastrophic effects within Syria and across the region,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
Violence has continued despite the cease-fire brokered by Annan last month, and the U.N.-backed peace plan is the only chance to stabilize the country, Ban said.
“There is no escaping the reality that we see every day: innocent civilians dying, government troops and heavy armor in city streets, growing numbers of arrests and allegations of brutal torture,” he said.
Opposition members and world leaders have accused al-Assad of failing to observe the truce and cracking down on protesters despite his pledge not to do so.
Attacks have continued almost daily, including gunfire from security forces that killed three people in Daraa, Homs and Idlib provinces Thursday, opposition activists said.
A day earlier, a bomb blast went off near a convoy of U.N. observers entering the southern city of Daraa. There were no casualties among the observers, but the Syrian government said 10 soldiers were wounded.
The observer mission in the nation comprises 70 monitors to ensure the cease-fire is implemented. The monitors are operating in Damascus, Homs, Hama, Idlib, Aleppo and Daraa. The number is regularly expanding, with the mandated total of 300 observers expected within weeks.
Syria has become a grave concern for the international community, according to Ban.
“More than 9,000 people have been killed during the last 14 months. This is totally unacceptable and an intolerable situation,” he said.

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The countdown to the London Olympics began with the kindling of the Games torch by the sun’s rays in ancient Olympia on Mya 10, sparking a relay that will culminate with the lighting of the Olympic stadium’s cauldron at the opening ceremony on July 27

ANCIENT OLYMPIA: The countdown to the London Olympics began with the kindling of the Games torch by the sun’s rays in ancient Olympia on Thursday, sparking a relay that will culminate with the lighting of the Olympic stadium’s cauldron at the opening ceremony on July 27.

On a warm and sunny day at the site of the ancient Olympics, actress Ino Menegaki, playing the high priestess, appealed to sun God Apollo and needed only a few seconds to ignite the torch at the ruins of the Temple of Hera with the help of a parabolic mirror, 78 days before the Games get under way.

The relay’s first torchbearer, Spyros Gianniotis, a Liverpool-born Greek swimmer who won the gold medal in the 10-km open water event at the 2011 world championships, started the seven-day Greek leg of the relay before the flame is handed over to London organisers on May 17 and flown to Britain a day later.

The second torchbearer was 19-year-old Alexander Loukos, a Briton of Greek origin.

“With this ceremony we begin the final countdown to a dream that came to life seven years ago in Singapore, when London was selected to host the 2012 Games,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge in a brief speech.

This is the last torch ceremony of his presidency, as Rogge steps down next year after 12 years in charge.

“The energy that passes from the sun to the Olympic flame will light a torch that will travel from this birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games to the country that invented modern sport and the spirit of fair play, heralding the opening of the 2012 London Games on July 27,” the Belgian surgeon said.

Olympic, London and Greek officials were seated inside the stadium where the ancient Games were held and some 5,000 spectators watched the ceremony from the grassy slopes hugging the arena.

POLICE PRESENCE

A strong police presence around the ancient site, and in the town of Olympia, made sure the event went off without a hitch. Four years ago human rights activists briefly disrupted the Beijing Olympics ceremony.

London becomes the only city to have received the Olympic flame twice – the first time being for the 1948 Games.

Britain’s capital also hosted the 1908 Games, but the torch-lighting ceremony and relay were introduced for the first time for the 1936 Berlin Olympics as part of Nazi propaganda.

“I feel incredibly excited and I think it’s a very, very big moment,” London Games chief Sebastian Coe told Reuters.

Coe, twice a 1,500 metres Olympic gold medallist, visited Olympia in 1975 as an 18-year tourist, hardly expecting to be back in 37 years to watch the torch being lit for an Olympics hosted by Britain.

“For me, it really links what I did at Los Angeles and Moscow (Games) with the ancient Games. I think for me this is probably the moment that what I did in ’80 and ’84 properly comes into context,” he said.

The 70-day British leg of the relay will use 8,000 torchbearers and travel 12,800 km around the country, taking in 1,018 communities and the 1,085-metre summit of Snowdon, before ending inside the Olympic stadium on the opening day of the Games.

The relay will also take in landmarks around Britain with the flame travelling by canal boat, cable car, tram, steam train, hot air balloon and even motorcycle sidecar on the Isle of Man TT course.

More than 95 percent of the population will be within an hour of the route.

“As a country we have a tradition of coming to big events like this quite late and then we get very, very enthusiastic about it,” Britain’s Sports and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson told reporters.

“I’ve been sort of expecting that there would be a slow, steady buildup to this and as soon as the torch arrives I suspect, if not hysteria, quite enormous enthusiasm is going to take over.” AGENCIES

————–

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (Reuters) – The countdown to the London Olympics began with the kindling of the Games torch by the sun’s rays in ancient Olympia on Thursday, sparking a relay that will culminate with the lighting of the Olympic stadium’s cauldron at the opening ceremony on July 27.

On a warm and sunny day at the site of the ancient Olympics, actress Ino Menegaki, playing the high priestess, appealed to sun God Apollo and needed only a few seconds to ignite the torch at the ruins of the Temple of Hera with the help of a parabolic mirror, 78 days before the Games get under way.

The relay’s first torchbearer, Spyros Gianniotis, a Liverpool-born Greek swimmer who won the gold medal in the 10-km open water event at the 2011 world championships, started the seven-day Greek leg of the relay before the flame is handed over to London organizers on May 17 and flown to Britain a day later.

The second torchbearer was 19-year-old Alexander Loukos, a Briton of Greek origin.

“With this ceremony we begin the final countdown to a dream that came to life seven years ago in Singapore, when London was selected to host the 2012 Games,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge in a brief speech.

This is the last torch ceremony of his presidency, as Rogge steps down next year after 12 years in charge.

“The energy that passes from the sun to the Olympic flame will light a torch that will travel from this birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games to the country that invented modern sport and the spirit of fair play, heralding the opening of the 2012 London Games on July 27,” the Belgian surgeon said.

Olympic, London and Greek officials were seated inside the stadium where the ancient Games were held and some 5,000 spectators watched the ceremony from the grassy slopes hugging the arena.

POLICE PRESENCE

A strong police presence around the ancient site, and in the town of Olympia, made sure the event went off without a hitch. Four years ago human rights activists briefly disrupted the Beijing Olympics ceremony.

London becomes the only city to have received the Olympic flame twice – the first time being for the 1948 Games.

Britain’s capital also hosted the 1908 Games, but the torch-lighting ceremony and relay were introduced for the first time for the 1936 Berlin Olympics as part of Nazi propaganda.

“I feel incredibly excited and I think it’s a very, very big moment,” London Games chief Sebastian Coe told Reuters.

Coe, twice a 1,500 meters Olympic gold medalist, visited Olympia in 1975 as an 18-year tourist, hardly expecting to be back in 37 years to watch the torch being lit for an Olympics hosted by Britain.

“For me, it really links what I did at Los Angeles and Moscow (Games) with the ancient Games. I think for me this is probably the moment that what I did in ’80 and ’84 properly comes into context,” he said.

The 70-day British leg of the relay will use 8,000 torchbearers and travel 12,800 km around the country, taking in 1,018 communities and the 1,085-metre summit of Snowdon, before ending inside the Olympic stadium on the opening day of the Games.

The relay will also take in landmarks around Britain with the flame travelling by canal boat, cable car, tram, steam train, hot air balloon and even motorcycle sidecar on the Isle of Man TT course.

More than 95 percent of the population will be within an hour of the route.

“As a country we have a tradition of coming to big events like this quite late and then we get very, very enthusiastic about it,” Britain’s Sports and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson told reporters.

“I’ve been sort of expecting that there would be a slow, steady buildup to this and as soon as the torch arrives I suspect, if not hysteria, quite enormous enthusiasm is going to take over.”

(Editing by Clare Fallon)

MOSCOW: Two-time Russian champions Rubin Kazan on Wednesday won their first ever Russian Cup, beating Dynamo Moscow 1-0 in the final match at Yekaterinburg.

Midfielder Roman Yeremenko was the hero of the match, scoring the winning goal in the 78th minute with a 30-yard (metre) strike past Dynamo goalkeeper Anton Shunin.

Rubin previously played in the Russian Cup final in 2009 but were beaten 1-0 by another Moscow club, CSKA. (AFP)

Rubin Kazan have won their first ever Russian Cup after beating Dynamo Moscow 1-0 in the deciding match in Yekaterinburg.

The final seemed an impossible task for Dynamo as they haven’t beaten Rubin in any competition since 2006.

The Muscovites had all of their star-attackers – Kevin Kuranyi, Andrey Voronin and Zvjezdan Misimovic – in the starting lineup, but it was Rubin who created chances.

In the first half, Roman Eremenko was first on the rebound after a header from Nelson Haedo Valdez, but Dynamo’s defender Vladimir Rykov somehow managed to redirect the ball into the crossbar.

After the break, the crossbar again saved Moscow keeper, Anton Shunin, after Bibras Natkho blasted away from 30 meters.

But Rubin still collected their well-deserved goal as another impressive long-range effort from Eremenko ended in the far corner of the Dynamo’s net, making the tally 1-0.

The team from the capital had 12 minutes to equalize, but Rubin proved their class as one of the best defensive teams in the country, with the score remaining unchanged.

“I want to congratulate all the fans in the Republic of Tatarstan and all those who support our team abroad,” Kurban Berdyev told Rossiya 2 channel. “The Cup was the only trophy which separated us from winning everything in Russia. Thank God we have it now.”

Rubin’s run to their maiden Russian Cup was an impressive one as they never conceded a goal in the whole tournament.

The Kazan side has also received the right to represent Russia in the Europa League this autumn.

The final was marred by the actions of Dynamo fans who rushed the pitch and tried to hamper the Rubin celebration. But police managed to calm the hooligans down without using excessive force.

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INDONESIA: A Russian Sukhoi Superjet carrying 46 passengers went missing on Wednesday. Reports have indicated that the jet was on a demonstration flight and disappeared from the radar during a flight meant to last 30 minutes.

A search operation is being carried out in order to find the airplane.

“46 people had been aboard the plane, which vanished from radar near Bogor, a city in West Java province,” stated Gagah Prakoso, spokesman for Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency.

Prakoso further stated that the authorities are still looking for the jet and they are still unsure as to whether the jet had crashed or not.

The plane took off from Halim Perdanakusuma airport, Jakarta at 07:00 GMT. The concerned airport is only used for commercial and military flights.

According to the rescue agency, the jet fell from 10,000 ft to 6,000 ft at around 14:30.

The passengers on the jet are all invited guests and the Russian embassy had earlier stated that a demonstration would take place in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The Sukhoi Super jet 100, is capable of carrying 100 passengers, and is the first commercial airplane of military plane manufacturers Sukhoi.
The plane disappeared from the radar around the Bogor area, the official said.

A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 on a demonstration flight with 46 people on board went missing south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Wednesday, a search and rescue official said.

“The plane disappeared from the radar around the Bogor area. We are still looking for it and we are uncertain whether it crashed,” said Gagah Prakoso, spokesman of national search and rescue agency.

Russian jet goes missing in Indonesia

JAKARTA: A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 on a demonstration flight with at least 44 people aboard went missing in a mountainous area south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Wednesday, officials said.

‘The plane disappeared from the radar around the Bogor area. We are still looking for it and we are uncertain whether it crashed,’ said Gagah Prakoso, spokesman for the national search and rescue agency.

The plane took off at 2pm (3pm Singapore time) from east Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma airport, which is used for some commercial and military flights, he said.

‘At 2.50pm it dropped from 3,000m to 1,800m,’ the agency added in a text message to AFP. (AFP)

————

A Russian passenger jet with at least 44 people on board–including embassy officials–went missing on Wednesday during a demonstration flight in Indonesia, according to reports from the region.

The civilian Sukhoi Superjet 100 “disappeared from radar screens during a flight from Jakarta meant to last 30 minutes,” BBC News said.

According to CNN, the aircraft went missing at about 2 p.m. local time. Pilots requested permission to descend from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet, but air traffic controllers lost radio contact. “The plane began making its descent but vanished from radar screens at 6,200 feet in a mountainous area,” CNN reported.

The plane was carrying Indonesia businessmen and Russian embassy officials, Reuters reported. (There were conflicting reports of the exact number of people on board. Reuters said 46, the BBC and CNN said 44.)

The demonstration flight–the second of the day–was part of a tour of six Asian countries. The Superjet 100 was the first commercial airliner produced by Sukhoi, a military plane manufacturer. The mid-size jet can carry up to 103 people. Sukhoi plans to produce 1,000 superjets.

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) – Russia’s newest civilian airliner disappeared Wednesday from radar screens during a half-hour demonstration flight in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, state-run RIA Novosti news service reported.

There were 44 passengers on board.

The plane went missing at about 2 p.m. in the area of Bogor, West Java, Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told Metro TV.

The pilots requested permission to descend from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet, air traffic controllers said. After that, all radio contact was lost.

The plane began making its descent but vanished from radar screens at 6,200 feet in a mountainous area.

By the time the plane was due to return it should have burned up its fuel, RIA Novosti said.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 airplane arrived in Jakarta as part of a demonstration tour of six Asian countries. It had been to Myanmar, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, and was due to visit Laos and Vietnam after Indonesia, RIA Novosti said.

Sukhoi manufactures military aircraft and is known especially for its fighter jets. Its civilian aircraft is narrow-bodied with a dual-class cabin that can transport 100 passengers over regional routes. It flew its maiden flight in 2008.

In March, a Superjet 100 operated by Russia’s Aeroflot Airlines was forced to abandon its flight to Astrakhan, Russia, and return to Moscow because of problems with the undercarriage, according to RIA Novosti.

A similar defect in another Aeroflot-operated Superjet 100 plane had to be fixed in Minsk in December.

Russia’s state-run United Aircraft Corp. said the defect did not affect passenger safety.

Russian passenger jet reported missing in Indonesia

A new Russian passenger jet carrying 46 people has gone missing on a demonstration flight in Indonesia, after taking off from Jakarta.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 disappeared from radar screens 50 minutes into what was meant to be a brief flight.

An eyewitness reported seeing a low-flying plane flying towards a mountain but did not hear any explosion.

Aerial searches for the plane have been hampered by darkness and wet weather.

But rescuers have continued looking for the plane on the ground.

The plane, which took off at 07:00 GMT, is believed to have had about four hours’ fuel aboard, the BBC’s Karishma Vaswani reports from Jakarta.

Gagah Prakoso, spokesman for Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency, said 46 people had been aboard the plane, which vanished from radar near Bogor, a city in West Java province.

He told BBC News it was unclear who was on board because they were people invited by Sukhoi, but they were “likely to be reps of Indonesian airlines”.

Eight of those on board are Russians, including pilots and technicians, the Russian embassy in Jakarta told Reuters news agency.

‘Flying low

The plane took off from east Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma airport at 14:00 (07:00 GMT), on its second flight of the day, the Indonesian search and rescue agency spokesman said.

Indonesian officials plotted the plane’s movements on a map

“At 14:50 it dropped from 10,000ft [3,000m] to 6,000ft,” the agency told AFP. Its location was described as being near Mt Salak (7,200ft, 2,200m).

Rear Marshal Daryatmo, chief of the national search and rescue agency, said the crew had not had time to explain why they wanted to change course.

Juanda, a villager who lives near the mountain, told local TV: “I saw a big plane passing just over my house.”

“It was veering a bit to one side, the engine roaring. It seemed to be heading toward Salak, but I didn’t hear an explosion or anything.”

Jocean Bowler, an American running an organic farm on the slopes of the mountain, which is a popular tourist destination, said: “Salak’s a big mountain, I didn’t hear anything.”

Russian blogger Sergey Dolya, who was accompanying the Sukhoi delegation and broke news of the plane’s disappearance, has been filing updates on Twitter, from the emergency operation centre in Jakarta.

“The ground [search] operation will continue all night,” he wrote.

“They will try to climb to the highest point. In the morning, they will continue with five helicopters.”

Sukhoi officials have been on an Asia-wide tour in recent months to show off their aircraft to airline firms.

The Superjet, a mid-range airliner that can carry up to 100 people, is military plane-maker Sukhoi’s first commercial aviation plane.

It was created by a joint venture, majority-owned by Sukhoi, with Italy’s Finmeccanica and a number of other foreign and Russian firms also involved.

Sukhoi aimed to sell 42 of its planes to Indonesia, which has witnessed a fast-expanding aviation market to cater for a growing middle class in the world’s fourth most populous nation, Reuters adds.

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(The Nation)

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Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi attends a meeting in downtown Milan, Italy. — Photo AP

ROME: Silvio Berlusconi’s party has suffered sweeping losses in local elections while populist comedian Beppe Grillo made major gains as Italians voted against austerity and the establishment, analysts said.

The preliminary results from the first round of partial local elections are already clear enough. Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party failed to reach the second round in several major towns and cities including Palermo in Sicily.

“This failure represents the end of an era in which the right had Berlusconi as its chief and managed one way or another to win elections by imposing its vision of the world,” sociologist Antimo Farro told AFP.

Berlusconi’s former ally in government, the anti-immigrant Northern League party, suffered a similar fate with losses in its northern strongholds.

“This movement close to the ideas of (French National Front leader) Marine le Pen suffered a major defeat mainly because of the corruption scandals” in recent weeks over its use of public subsidies for the party, Farro said.

The People of Freedom and the Northern League governed Italy between their election victory in April 2008 and November 2011 when a parliamentary revolt and a wave of panic on the financial markets ousted Berlusconi.

The main beneficiary of their losses has been the Five Star Movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo, a protest party that has railed against the privileges of Italy’s political class and held a string of expletive-laden rallies.

(Dawn)

Admiral James Stavridis Nato Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. — Photo AP

KABUL: Nato forces in Afghanistan Tuesday admitted responsibility for the deaths of a civilian family of six in an airstrike in the southern province of Helmand last week.

The admission came a day after President Hamid Karzai summoned Nato’s military commander and the US ambassador to warn that civilian deaths threatened the strategic pact he signed with US President Barack Obama last week.

“At this point in the investigation we are able to confirm the incident and will be formally apologising in the next couple of days to the family,” a spokesman for Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) told AFP.

“We are deeply saddened by any civilian deaths, and particularly regret incidents where civilians are killed as a result of actions by Isaf,” said Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Upton of Isaf’s southwest regional command.

The Helmand provincial governor’s office said in a statement that the family was killed unintentionally in an airstrike last Friday after Isaf checkpoints came under attack by insurgents in Sangin district.

“Unfortunately six members of the family including two boys, three girls and one woman were killed as a result of the incident,” the statement said.

Isaf forces had apologised and promised to help the remaining members of the family, governor Muhammad Gulab Mangal said.

President Karzai told Isaf commander General John Allen and US ambassador Ryan Crocker that if Afghan lives were not protected the Strategic Partnership Agreement would “lose its meaning”, a statement from his office said.

The pact covers relations between the two countries when US-led Nato forces helping Karzai’s government fight a Taliban insurgency pull out in 2014.

Tens of civilians had been killed in Nato bombardments in four provinces in recent days, the statement charged.

Allen said after the meeting that he assumed personal responsibility for incidents in which civilians were killed and expressed condolences to the families involved, an Isaf spokesman said.

“He said he will fully investigate these incidents and report back to President Karzai,” the spokesman said. “We don’t have all the facts right now.”The number of civilians killed in Afghanistan’s war has risen steadily each year for the past five years, reaching a record of 3,021 in 2011 — the great majority caused by militants — according to UN statistics.

(Dawn)

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani left here for the United Kingdom Tuesday on a five-day visit to participate in the first Pak-UK summit level review of the Enhanced Strategic Dialogue.

The prime minister was seen off by federal ministers, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Khalid Shamim Wynne, Chief of the Air Staff Tahir Rafiq Butt, Naval Chief Air Commodore Muhammad Asif Sandhela and senior officials at the PAF Base Chaklala.

PM Gilani was accompanied by a high-level delegation including Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Finance Dr Hafeez Sheikh, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Minister of Investment Saleem Mandviwala, and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shahnaz Wazir Ali.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Faheem will later join the prime minister in London.

The Pakistani premier is scheduled to meet his British counterpart David Cameron, besides having an in-depth interaction with members of the British Cabinet, parliamentarians, prominent businessmen, investors and leading media representatives.

(Dawn)

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DAMASCUS: World powers are racing against time to prevent all-out civil war in Syria, UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned, as a watchdog on Tuesday reported more killings of civilians by Syrian security forces.

Speaking ahead of a key UN Security Council meeting on Syria on Tuesday, Ban again condemned the “brutality” of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces but said attacks by opposition groups have also “escalated.”

“We are in a race against time to prevent full-scale civil war — death on a potentially massive scale,” Ban said. The UN already estimates that well over 9,000 people have died in the 14-month uprising against Assad while rights groups have put the number at more than 11,000.

“The government continues to assault its people,” the UN secretary-general told the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington on Monday.

“Every day we see the most appalling images — troops firing in city centers, innocent civilians dying, even children. Security forces are arresting and torturing people with great brutality.”The UN chief also criticised the Syrian government for holding parliamentary elections on Monday while violence is still raging and for failing to involve all parties.

At least 25 people were killed in violence across Syria as the vote was taking place and on Tuesday three more people were killed by regime forces, according to monitors.

“Only a comprehensive and inclusive political dialogue can lead to a genuine democratic future in Syria,” Ban said through his spokesman Martin Nesirky. “These elections are not taking place within that framework.

“Moreover, a democratic process cannot be successful while violence is still ongoing,” he added.

Washington also dismissed the vote as a sham.

“It’s not really possible to hold credible elections in a climate where basic human rights are being denied to the citizens and the government is continuing to carry out daily assaults … on its own citizens,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said.

“To hold a parliamentary election in that kind of atmosphere borders on ludicrous,” Toner told reporters.

Monday’s vote, which was boycotted by the opposition, was called despite the country being in the grip of an uprising that began in March of last year.

A UN-backed truce that went into effect April 12 has failed to take hold fully and both regime forces and rebels have been accused of violating the ceasefire.

Pro-government media said turnout was high in the election that marked the first time Syria has held a vote since the adoption in February of a new constitution allowing for multi-party polls.

“Millions of Syrians defied terrorism and chose their representatives in parliament,” said the daily Al-Watan, which estimated voter turnout at 60 percent.

The ruling party’s Al-Baath newspaper said the turnout attested to the popularity of the regime.

“Millions of Syrians sent a clear message: that the great majority of the people support the reforms undertaken by the president and want to push forth in building a modern and democratic Syria,” the newspaper said.

The vote, initially scheduled for last September, was postponed to May 7 after Assad announced the launch of a reform process backed by a referendum.

A total of 7,195 candidates registered to stand for the 250 seats, state news agency SANA said.

The opposition dismissed the vote as a ploy by the regime to buy time and dupe the international community into believing it is serious about reforms.

On the ground, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Tuesday that Assad’s forces during the night swept through Al-Tamanaa village in Idlib province, firing shells and bursts of gunfire in which a man and a 50-year-old woman were killed.

The northwestern Idlib province, which borders Turkey, is a stronghold of the Free Syrian Army and a hotbed of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Another civilian died by sniper fire in the central city of Homs, the Observatory said.

(Dawn)

ISLAMABAD – Japanese Ambassador in Pakistan Hiroshi on Monday called on President Asif Ali Zardari at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Matters relating to bilateral relations and enhancing mutual cooperation in various sectors particularly promotion of trade and investment between the two countries were discussed during the meeting.

The President extended his heartiest felicitations to the Japanese leadership and people on the eve of celebrations being held this year marking 60th anniversary of Pakistan-Japan diplomatic relations. He said that throughout this period Japan has always been in the forefronts whenever Pakistani people were faced with difficult times. He appreciated the Japanese response in providing relief to the flood victims in Pakistan and also lauded the role of Japan at FoDP forum. The President said that on the eve of celebrating the 60th anniversary of our diplomatic relations, it was high time for the two countries to focus on broadening the scope of mutual cooperation and to extend it to the areas of trade, investment, energy and infrastructure development, fisheries and dairy sectors.  He expressed the hope that the Friendship Year would further strengthen partnership between the people and the two governments.

The President said Pakistan was cognizant of the constructive role of Japan in the global and Asian affairs and we see Japan as an important player for peace, progress, cooperation and stability in the world.

The President acknowledged the Japanese assistance to Pakistan in the eradication of polio.

Noting the current trade volume between the two countries, which at present was far below the potential, the President said that there was a great scope to further enhance mutual cooperation, especially in the economic sphere.

He said that Pakistan with its proven natural resources of 186 billion tons of coal and huge reserves of Natural Gas offered great opportunities to Japanese investors to invest in energy sector in Pakistan. The President also invited Japanese investors in Pak agro-industry in terms of land development, provision of high quality seeds, crop farming, cultivation diary and fisheries sector development.

He said that we look forward to Japanese assistance in market oriented capacity building of Pakistani manufacturers, growers and designers in terms of internal level processing, packaging and designing standards.

The President also appreciated the personal role of Mr. Hiroshi Oe in strengthening Pakistan-Japan relations.

Hiroshi Oe thanked the President for meeting and assured Japan’s continued assistance to the Government and people of Pakistan.

(The Nation)